Chapter 237 - Chapter 5 To The Lake Of Oracle
The destination we jumped to via the [Teleportation Circle] was the basement of a fortress at the mouth of the river flowing from the lake where the Water Dragon resides. From the pier of that fortress, we were to take a riverboat west for about half a day. Accompanying us were Aira, Crown Prince Gwyn-sama of Finis, and about five escort knights. On our side, only Evans-sama and Hughes-sama were absent.
The river was wide, and since it was a sailing ship, the boatman used wind magic, allowing us to proceed comfortably even upstream.
The area around the river was, of course, a plain, but on both sides, there were mountains beyond gentle slopes. It felt like the river was flowing between low undulations. The green ears of rye were swaying in the wind. There were herds of goats. Grazing must be flourishing here too.
Roberts-sama relaxed his posture slightly and enjoyed the passing scenery while drinking wine with the royalty and knights. It was a complete sightseeing trip.
Gwyn-sama was a bit tense, but he didn't have the intimidating aura he had during the dinner party. He seemed to have softened after the talks.
The Bishops were similar, but their posture remained proper.
The journey proceeded leisurely as we enjoyed plenty of conversation along the way.
The temple we were aiming for was supposed to be at the entrance of the river flowing out of the lake, but because the Water Dragon was rampaging, the Priestess had also evacuated. When we visited the hut serving as the evacuation site, there were five priestesses.
As Gwyn-sama explained, one older priestess came out from the back. She was painted blue and had blue ribbons woven into her hair. She seemed to be called Obaba-sama. To be precise, only this person was the Priestess, and the others were called apprentice priestesses.
"You have come from the Royal Capital?"
Unlike the apprentice priestesses, Obaba-sama could speak our language. We exchanged greetings.
I showed her the Black Stone and the Fireflies, and explained that I could talk to Aira through [Thought Communication]. It surprised her quite a bit, but she understood.
When we asked about the situation, it was exactly as we had heard in the Royal Capital. When one gets to a certain distance from the lakeshore, the Water Dragon suddenly pokes its long neck out and creates large waves with the fins of its front legs. Thanks to that, the temple was flooded, and the lakeside fortress on the north shore was also destroyed.
"The Water Dragon is protecting this land and the island with the ruins where the Ancient Priestess is enshrined. Please, I beg of you, do not subjugate it."
She bowed deeply toward Gwyn-sama and Aira.
(Obaba-sama. We have come to calm the dragon. Rest assured.)
"To be able to speak with Aira-sama... nothing could make me happier. Please, I leave it in your hands."
The apprentice priestesses surrounded Aira and spoke to her one after another. She is quite beloved, isn't she?
Now, time to start.
We headed toward the lake by boat. Since it was better to slow down, the boatman got off, and a total of eight people—the guards and the attendant knights—rowed with oars.
On the way, I called out Dune and Mel. Since I had told them we were coming here after the dinner party, both were wearing Green Marble. The 'in-and-out' version.
As we reached the vicinity of the entrance, a long, narrow lake stretching east to west came into view. There was a plain on the north shore, but overall it looked like a submerged valley. The width was narrower than half of Nakanohara Lake, but because it was long, we couldn't see the other side, let alone the fortress. I saw one small island.
"It's quite filthy, isn't it?"
Dune suddenly grimaced.
"Is it dirty?"
When I asked, it was more than just dirty. At first glance, the water looked beautiful, but in reality, it was slowly eroding living things, eventually making them sick. Looking closely, many of the plants near the shore were withered and brown.
"This is some kind of curse. If left alone, it will contaminate all the way to the river mouth."
"Can't something be done?"
"I can stop the curse from spreading. But unless the curse itself is lifted, purification won't be possible."
Even for a water spirit, dispelling curses is outside her specialty. If anything, it's the domain of priests.
"We must investigate. If we can find out what kind of curse it is, Bishop Harrison and I might be able to do something."
Bishop Phillips said.
"We should just meet the dragon. Let's ask it what happened."
Everyone was taken aback by Mel's suggestion, but we, who were used to that kind of behavior, agreed, and we decided to head out onto the lake just like that.
We reached the entrance of the lake and entered as we were. As Flora proceeded while calling out, the distant water surface bubbled, and a long white object poked out from the center. There was a head at the top, and diamond-shaped eyes were looking at us.
It was the Water Dragon.
Mel turned into her spirit form and flew over.
Judging by the dragon's occasional cries, they were likely talking.
Eventually, the dragon's neck slowly approached.
"Dune. It says it wants to talk to you."
Mel came back.
I had Dune stand at the prow, and we rowed right under the neck.
The dragon's body had things like light purple spots in places. It was worse on the belly than the back. It might be a disease.
Dune began talking to the dragon just like that. Flora provided simultaneous interpretation of the content.
On a certain night of the new moon three years ago. It seems someone rowed a boat out onto the lake toward the island.
The dragon protects the ruins on the island. It surfaced in front of the boat to stop them.
Occasionally, there are humans who test their courage. It thought they were just that kind of group again and took it lightly, but they suddenly fired a silver harpoon with a ballista.
Caught off guard, the dragon still created a wall of water and somehow dodged it. As it sank the boat as if to crush it, this time, someone who had swum through the water struck a harpoon into its flank.
It killed all the insolent ones on the spot. The wound wasn't that deep. It stayed hidden underwater to heal the wound.
It noticed the anomaly about a month later, around the time small light purple spots began to surface around the closed wound. It thought it had become sick.
The water gradually began to get dirty.
If animals, including humans, drank it, they might get sick. For the time being, it decided to drive them away so they wouldn't approach. The spots gradually spread, and each one became larger. The goal of the attackers was the ruins. It stood its ground to protect them. And so, only time passed.
"It was quite a nasty attack. There aren't many curses this powerful."
Bishop Phillips was furrowing his brow.
"We must do something."
He consulted with Harrison-san, and it seems a policy was decided.
"Most likely, it's a curse using the dragon itself as a medium. The source of the activation must be somewhere in the lake. If we destroy that source, the water contamination should be stopped. First, we must move the dragon, which is the medium, away. Let's evacuate it somewhere temporarily. Then, we will pinpoint the location of the source. Finally, the purification of the lake that has already been cursed, but for this, we will have to rely on Dune-dono."
First, where the source is, and how to evacuate the dragon.
"I know the location of the source. The water told me. It's at the bottom of the lake. Three places."
Dune solved the first problem easily.
"I can carry the dragon in a large air bubble."
Mel solved the second problem easily.
The policy was set.
As we were about to move to the task immediately, James-sama and the others told us to wait until the sun went down.
"Wouldn't it be better to do it quickly?"
"I'll explain the reason later. Tell the dragon we'll come back again in the middle of the night."
Without understanding why, we went back for now.
We returned to the river mouth and entered the temple. It seems we would wait for night inside. Beatrix was getting impatient.
"Did something happen?"
"It's a political reason. We'll have the dragon die here."
Gwyn-sama nodded at James-sama's words.
I couldn't help but doubt my ears.
"Brother! What on earth are you saying? Have you lost your mind?"
Gladys-sama grabbed his collar and was stopped by Roberts-sama.
"Don't be so hasty. Listen to the end. It's more convenient to make it look like the dragon died. It's not actually going to die."
"?"
The origin of the matter was the war in the north that broke out three years ago.
Finis joined forces with Northern Gram and tried to invade Septanaquila. At that time, Medioland supported its ally Septanaquila, and as a result, Septanaquila added part of Northern Gram's land to its territory.
"At that time, I was in the royal palace of Septanaquila, but on the night before I was to return home after the war ended, I received a tip from a certain priest. That the King of Septanaquila, in coordination with the people of the Ruined Town, placed a curse on a certain place in Finis to force Finis to withdraw its troops."
Apparently, such things happen often. Of course, every country takes countermeasures, but they aren't perfect.
"On the surface, they acted as if they withdrew due to the stalemate of the front lines, but in reality, it was to deal with the anomaly in this lake near the Royal Capital."
Gwyn-sama took over James-sama's story and glanced at James-sama to prompt him to continue.
"At the time, I didn't think it was much of a deal. For the time being, I thanked that priest and gave him money, asking him to let me know if anything happened. After that, there was no word, but we reunited at the departure ceremony for the Demon Lord subjugation. That priest died in the subjugation war, but before departing, he entrusted me with several sheets of parchment. The content was an investigation into the plot of the people of the Ruined Town to curse the Water Dragon of this lake to death and plunder the treasures of the island's altar."
The priestesses gasped.
"Cursing the Water Dragon that protects the lake to death is an unpardonable act. I told the King of Finis about it and introduced Jeanne. I thought that with Dune and Mel's power, something could be done."
Because there were eyes everywhere, they couldn't talk about it in the Royal Capital.
"Not bad!"
Mel sat on James-sama's right shoulder and kissed his cheek. James-sama puffed out his chest proudly. His face being slightly red was likely because he wasn't used to Mel's behavior like that.
"However, testimony alone is unreliable. Therefore, we will make it look like the dragon died. We will set a trap and catch the insolent ones ourselves."
It was a resolute attitude. Mary was so moved she almost rolled her eyes back, so I hurriedly supported her.
"As expected of my brother. Even though I didn't know, I apologize for my rudeness earlier."
"Umu. I didn't think you'd grab my collar."
"She's a proud demon wife, after all."
Gladys-sama turned bright red at Roberts-sama's words.
"We'll catch the people who plotted evil, but what about Septanaquila?"
The mage who doesn't believe in non-interference in administration was relentless. This is probably a political secret.
"Medioland will do nothing. The King of Septanaquila probably did it without considering the gravity of the matter. Most likely, he was just made to provide economic support while being led on by the people of the Ruined Town who were after the Black Stones of the ruins."
James-sama said without changing his expression.
"You'll do nothing?"
"That's right. Nothing."
"Hmph," Beatrix smirked.
"Well, fine. If I can trade with such amazing people who save dragons, I won't say anything."
James-sama and Gwyn-sama nodded slightly and smiled at Beatrix's words.
Late at night, we set out the boat. As we proceeded while illuminating the dark water surface with [Light], the dragon's neck came out.
Kuon, kuon, it was crying something.
"It seems to be happy that Jeanne came."
Flora suddenly said?
"Eh? Me?"
"To be precise, it's happy that a user of light magic came."
The dragon brought its face close. While squinting as if it were bright, it peered into the light in my right palm. Its face alone was about the size of a bear's body. I timidly stroked its snout with my left hand. Perhaps it was happy, as it closed its eyes and stayed still.
There were palm-sized spots on various parts of its neck too, so I illuminated them to look. Unlike the white and beautiful parts, they were bumpy.
"Mold is growing on it."
Dune said while patting the spots.
"It's a curse. Because its body is weakened, strange mold seems to be growing on the surface of its body. Unless we cut off the curse, remove the mold, let it live in clean water, and feed it fresh fish to restore its strength, it will die."
If it's mold, there's [Anti-Sepsis]. It's worth a try.
I had Gwyn-sama bring the lantern close and chanted.
"I-It disappeared..."
Gwyn-sama was speechless. Although it was only a tiny bit, part of the spot had disappeared. It was a success.
"You. Can you heal the dragon!"
He grabbed my shoulders with both hands. It was a bit painful.
When I reflexively grimaced, Dune splashed water in Gwyn-sama's face.
"You're in the way. Do you want the dragon to die?"
When Mel threatened him, he said, "Sorry," and stepped back.
"Since they are the Great Spirits. It would be best to leave it to them first."
Harrison-san was comforting Gwyn-sama.
"I can remove the mold, but that doesn't mean I can heal it. I think it's better to do as Dune says."
It would be better to have him calm down for now.
Dune said it would take several months. We decided to have stationary magic circles and activation scrolls for [Anti-Sepsis] made. Neither Dune nor I can stay here constantly. Especially in Dune's case, there's also the purification of the water in Nakanohara Lake.
James-sama dug a large hole near the hut where Obaba-sama and the others lived, and Dune moved the water from the river flowing into the lake by flying it through the air. Mel carried the dragon in a bubble, and after that, we decided to lay boards with magic circles drawn on the bottom. Apparently, Obaba-sama will make the magic circles. It's an application of the pond from before. We'll send in clean water with [Teleport] and simultaneously remove the mold with [Anti-Sepsis]. It should be fine if we exchange it once every two weeks. Once it recovers, we can call the mages from the Royal Capital and have it go up the river connected to it.
As for the source of the activation of the curse, when Dune avoided the water all the way to the bottom of the lake in just that part, strange doll-like objects tied with chains were submerged. Everyone was stunned and froze at the sheer awesomeness of Dune's technique, but Mel urged them to hurry, and they regained their composure. Since she said it was dangerous to approach, Bishop Phillips and Harrison-san were lowered to the bottom of the pond in a [Wind Barrier] to dispel the curse, and after James-sama burned the remains with [Prominence], he cooled the lakebed with [Blizzard] and returned the water. Since all three were burned, one problem was solved.
After that is the purification of the cursed water accumulated in the lake.
"How long do you think it will take?"
Even for Dune, it would take several months.
"The volume is too much. If we were to replace this much water all at once, the impact on the living things themselves, not just around the lake but all the way to the river flowing into the sea, would be too great."
For now, because rain falls in addition to the water flowing in, the surface is relatively clean. Additionally, considering the natural purification capacity of the lake and river, it's not to the point where one would get sick from drinking it. The problem is the water accumulated deeper than the middle, and this is something humans likely can't do.
"Since the dragon is evacuated, if strange creatures influenced by the curse emerge, we won't be able to exterminate them, right?"
That won't do. We have to do something.
When I consulted Obaba-sama, she said there was a secret technique.
"There is something called a Purification Orb. It is an ancient method of water purification. I won't know until I check, but perhaps the way to make it is written in the ancient documents."
We decided to leave the literature research to Obaba-sama and the others.