Chapter 251 - Chapter 18: Light Magic
The Cait Sith stared at the short wooden stick remaining in his hand. Beyond his fist, it was just splintered with nothing left.
"To be shattered by sword pressure alone. A magnificent technique."
"My apologies. If it were a proper weapon, it wouldn't have ended like that. It might have been a bit of a cheating method."
"A duel is based on rules, so there's no need for concern."
At Roberts-sama's words, the Cait Sith slowly shook his head.
He let out a sigh and told the Demon, "I lost."
"It can't be helped. Your opponent is the one who took the Demon Lord's head. You did well."
The Demon patted the Cait Sith's shoulder in appreciation.
"It's a loss, a loss. We're retreating across the river."
The Fenrirs hung their heads with a "Whaf."
"Jeanne-dono. The result of the duel is my loss. Truly, I am constantly surprised by the people around you."
"You are a spirit, aren't you? You should be neutral. Why are you with the monsters?"
"Because I am employed. I do not choose my employer. In that sense, I am neutral. I have been employed by humans before, too."
"Who are you employed by now?"
"The Demon Lord. He has died, but the contract is for twenty years, so it is still valid."
"What will you do now?"
"I'll look for food with my monster subordinates in the Black Forest. That forest isn't very bountiful, so we'll have to work hard to find some."
How pitiful.
"Can't we do something? The point is just not to fight, right?"
I looked at Eleanor-sama. Eleanor-sama looked at Henry-sama.
Henry-sama crossed his arms and thought for a while, then gave a single deep nod.
"Very well. Cait Sith-dono, Dryad-dono. Let us form a pact."
The Demon and the Elf were excluded from Henry-sama's proposal. He said it was strictly a pact between the Kingdom of Sertoria and both the Cait Sith and the Dryad.
"As long as it doesn't violate the current contract, there's no problem."
"Fine, but I don't have anything to give you."
The Elf Prince looked like he wanted to say something, but Roberts-sama took him toward the swamp. He'll probably soothe him while watching the frogs.
The Demon feigned indifference but was clearly eavesdropping.
"There's the mountain where the Lindwurm's nest was. To the northeast of that mountain, there's a forest of a certain size surrounded by mountains. I will permit you and your subordinates to enter that forest. It should be several times larger than this forest. However, only up to the foot of the mountain. Between the river and the mountains. We will build a fortress on the mountain. Never climb up. Anyone who climbs up will be considered a target for subjugation and will be attacked without warning."
"In other words, it's fine to hunt in that forest, right?"
"That's right. But only while you are there. The period shall be until the Demon Lord is resurrected."
"Understood. And the compensation?"
"Talk to Eleanor about that."
Henry-sama gave Eleanor-sama a look. Eleanor-sama would likely decide the specific details of the negotiation.
"First, I have something I want to confirm with the Dryad. You said those black trees are monster trees, but for example, if we dug them up by the roots and planted new seedlings, would they not return to normal?"
"The water and soil might have changed."
When I asked Dune and Mel, they said that mana gushing from underground wouldn't change the water or soil enough in a thousand or two thousand years. If it's pooled deep underground, the surrounding water and rocks would change, but unless a natural disaster like a shifting of the ground occurs, it wouldn't affect the lives of living things.
"Even so, it's impossible. Even if the concentration has lowered, the mana is still flowing out. You have to find and block the holes that some people dug."
"What if we ask the Dwarves?"
"If the Dwarves say they can do it, then they can, right? ...I see, your aim is the silver mine."
"Exactly. Of course, if the Dwarves judge it's impossible, we'll give up. But if possible, I intend to have the mana outflow stopped and the silver mined by the Dwarves alone. Please permit the Dwarves to enter your forest to the east of the mountain. It's also compensation for the Cait Sith."
"And then, plant new trees and restore the forest."
"Yes. However, let's have the Elves do that. That is, if they pledge to follow your instructions entirely regarding the forest's restoration."
When Eleanor-sama smiled, the black Dryad gave a smirk.
"Fine. I'll work them to the bone. Until the forest is completely restored, even if it takes hundreds of years."
Eleanor-sama's proposal was to return things to their original state.
Restore the Dryad's Forest to the north of the mountain, the Elf Village to the east, and other areas as monster territory where humans would not enter. The Elves would take responsibility for restoring the forest. Except for the places where Henry-sama permitted hunting, the river would be the boundary for the truce. However, this is until the Demon Lord is resurrected.
The Elf Village won't be able to be restored until the forest is, but they'll have to work hard at it.
"What about the mountain?"
As a result of the black Dryad's confirmation, the mine is under Dwarf management, so basically humans won't interfere. In other words, the mountain will be managed by the Dwarves.
The Elf Prince, after being slapped by the Dryad, was forced to agree whether he liked it or not.
The Demon said nothing. Whether it was the Black Forest or whatever, it seemed to have no effect on the Demon Race.
You'd think more causes for monsters to increase would be convenient for them.
"The ones that became monsters due to the influence of mana that was too dense won't listen, so they're useless. They were originally insects or beasts, after all. Even we subjugate them and use them for food. They're too greasy and don't taste good, though. Besides, the Demon Lord's army isn't born from mana outflows."
"How are they born?"
"If you want to know, defeat me."
"Um, if we defeat you, we can't hear the answer, right?"
"You noticed. In other words, it's a secret. I can't tell mere humans."
Then don't act all cool and just say that from the start. You're smirking for no reason.
"Could you tell me one more thing?"
This time it was Eleanor-sama.
"What?"
"Where did the Gargoyles go?"
"Gargoyles? What are you talking about? You humans must have manipulated them and taken them somewhere! Don't play dumb. Those things take time to make!"
"Eh? Ah, that's right. My apologies."
"Honestly. Hey, Cait Sith, we're leaving. Dryad, come later."
With a light wave, he entered the forest with the Cait Sith and the monsters. They're probably going back across the river.
Left behind was the black Dryad, sitting with her legs crossed on the back of the Elf Prince who was on all fours, smirking with her arms crossed.
At any rate, the pledge was made.
It's time for a banquet.
Parting with Roberts-sama and the others, I return to the Flatlands on the ultra-high-speed bowl. Beowulf, who is on duty with the Kingdom's army, and Mary, who returned to the Royal Capital, are absent, but everyone else gathered by evening. Since Eleanor-sama contacted him, Harris-sama also came.
Incidentally, the Elf was excluded by the Dryad's wish.
"Sister... how piteous... to be in such a state..."
Serena was shedding tears seeing the black Dryad's appearance. The black Dryad seemed to be the elder.
Little Serena was watching with her mouth hanging open.
"It's alright. It was truly painful until it became like this, but once it happens and you get used to the environment, you can manage somehow."
She gently hugged the shoulders of the one clinging to her while crying and patted her head. Spirits gathered around them.
"I never thought the Elves had messed up like that. They sure were reckless."
"Oh, Dwarf. You were here too."
When I contacted him through the Teleportation Circle, he came warping over.
"Call me Alexander the Great."
"The Great?"
"N-no. Just Alex is fine."
Violet was patting his head.
"Is the Arachne here too? There's everything here, isn't there?"
"I'm Violet. You've had a hard time too, haven't you? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you. More importantly, what's with those names?"
"Jeanne and the others gave them to us. They're names for friends who gather at this banquet hall. You see, if other humans find out, things get complicated. I'm Serena. This girl is Little Serena."
"Hello, Big Sister."
Little Serena offered a greeting.
"We're going to toast. Everyone, move over here."
Lyudmila clapped her hands in front of Flora's hut, which had taken root. The south-facing door was wide open, so Flora's figure was visible.
As everyone moved, Flora was trying to come out from the flower.
"Flora, are you okay? Don't push yourself."
I held out my palm to catch her and lowered her to the ground. In her human form, her belly was slightly protruding.
"I'm fine. It's good to move occasionally. Once a day, I have Lyudmila help me look at the fields."
The black Dryad also approached.
"Aren't you an Alraune? You've been pollinated."
"I'm Flora. But what happened to you? That appearance."
"I came from that Black Forest to the northeast. I was hit by mana gushing from underground. My body mutated and became like this."
She explained briefly.
"Oh, how terrible! Are you okay?"
"Somehow."
"Hey. Are there any Alraunes left?"
"I'm sorry. I couldn't save them..."
"I see..."
I supported the slumped Flora while letting her sit down.
"But it looks like a new flower is about to bloom here."
"Yeah. Jeanne and the others are taking care of me. The Goblins will be here soon, too. There are Alraunes as well, but they're not quite used to it yet."
While she was speaking, Paul-san's bowl came flying in.
"It's quite a crowd. I heard you brought someone new?"
The Goblins arrived with him. Little Serena let out a cry and started a game of tag. The Chururi couple also flew in.
"Hey! You little ones! We're starting!"
Matilda, who had been watching the game of tag, called everyone together in a loud voice when the time was right, and Beatrix led the toast.
According to Alex, mining silver should be fine. Since silver mines are that kind of place to begin with, the Dwarves know what to do.
"Originally, places with silver veins have mana gushing from underground to some degree. It's impossible to completely suppress it. So, you have to firmly solidify and bury it from the bottom to thin out the concentration that's gushing out. That's the only way."
Dwarf mines are reportedly dug little by little while coating the walls with mortar. Even if there are monsters, they can manipulate them with Subordination, and if anything happens, they can instantly escape outside with Teleport. The title of Great Spirits of the Mines isn't just for show.
"The Elves just thought they could dig, right? Digging with magic is ridiculous. It's a wonder they weren't buried in cave-ins. What? It collapsed many times? Sigh... well, fine. Let's do it. My brothers and I will do it. In exchange, we expect to be paid well."
"How about one barrel of Finis alcohol per day?"
"Only one barrel? There are seven of us!"
Since the negotiation with Eleanor-sama had begun, I left it to her and proceeded with the banquet.
Today's main dish was cheese hot pot for the first time in a while. It was full of smoked meat, vegetables, and mushrooms. For Violet, there was a block of roast beef specially made by Angelica-san. When she sliced it thin with a knife and saw the meat juice the color of blood seeping from the cut, her eyes sparkled.
"Mmm! I can't stand it!"
Because she shouted so loudly, everyone was startled into silence; seeing her stick out her tongue with a "sorry" made everyone burst into laughter.
"The forest seems like it will recover."
After eating and drinking for a while and the atmosphere had softened, I tried asking the black Dryad. The negotiation between Eleanor-sama and Alex seemed to have concluded with two barrels a day and two blocks of dried meat, and in exchange, they would bring back any magic stones they found.
"Thanks to you. Thank you."
"Sister. I will also cooperate. I will grow seeds into seedlings and send them to you."
"Thank you. First, let's wait for the Dwarves' work to finish."
In Little Serena's lap as she replied "Yes," she was holding the bowl with both hands, drinking apple juice.
"Jeanne. Thank you. I heard you were the first to speak up."
"But the one who made the decision was Henry-sama."
The fact that Henry-sama came was surely due to the King's consideration. Sertoria, as a nation, had formed a non-aggression pact with monsters through spirits. The compensation seemed like it would be appropriate, and this time I might get away without hearing any complaints.
"This is the second time I've been helped by humans."
The black Dryad said something unexpected.
"The second time?"
"Yeah. I think they were called Priestesses. There were five of them. They brought soldiers too. It was before I became like this, before the mana gushed out. The Demon Lord had been resurrected somewhere and the monsters in the Northeastern Forest became active. On the west side of the mountain. At that time, part of the Demon Lord's army came to my forest to build a fortress, so I was fighting with the Elves, and they came to reinforce us."
Five Priestesses? The five Ancient Priestesses? Chronologically, that would be the era when the ancient people ruled the island.
"They used Light magic, you see, and drove them away. After it was over, we had a banquet together. Just like this. It's kind of nostalgic."
She narrowed her eyes while watching everyone making a fuss.
"Sister. Jeanne can use Light magic."
"Is that so? Are you a descendant of those Priestesses or something?"
"No. It's not like that; I heard my parents were just ordinary farmers."
"Hmph. Is that so. And you can use Light magic?"
"Ah, yes."
I rolled one Firefly in my palm.
The black Dryad watched it, saying, "It's true."
"I heard there are five Light magics."
"Yes. Three types are intermediate, and two types are basic, but I can use them."
I explained the effects of the five magics. The black Dryad listened with a "Hmm, hmm."
"The one that drove away the monsters might have been Light. Because a blindingly strong light shone down from the sky. It was warm. It seemed painful for the monsters, though; they ran away screaming."
Warm? Does it have that kind of effect if it's high-level... no, super high-level?
As a test, I let it float above my head and illuminated Serena, who had moved away and closed her eyes as much as possible.
"It's not warm. And it's not that blinding."
I had her open her eyes slowly, but in the end, she was able to look directly at it.
"But I can tell it's a gentle sensation."
Let's see; Violet approached and held her hand over it. Then, she looked at the light.
"Well, it's fine. I don't particularly feel anything."
As expected, there's a limit with intermediate. But maybe I've figured out how to use it as a higher-level magic. For now, I'm using it mainly for blinding, but eventually, I might be able to drive away monsters...
Wait a minute. If it was shining from above...
I called Marcelo-san.
"Um, please snipe my Firefly with intermediate Holy."
"Alright."
Just in case, I moved away from everyone.
"Light!"
I let the Firefly float above my head, illuminating myself and Marcelo-san.
"Holy Lance!"
When the light pierced the Firefly...
"Oh, the light has become stronger and warmer... ah, is it like Megiddo Fire?"
I called the black Dryad. Violet and Serena came with her. I had Little Serena go over to the Goblins.
"Ah, was it a light like this? It was stronger, though."
I had Violet first just hold her fingertip over it.
"It's a bit painful."
She hurriedly pulled her finger back. It didn't seem like she was injured.
As I thought. I layered Holy on top.
If this is a composite magic with Holy of an advanced level or higher as a high-level magic, it might be reproducible. Since Sight and Thought Communication are cast on humans, they're impossible, but the remaining three could be enhanced.
I called Eleanor-sama, Harris-sama, and Wilson-san to explain.
"So Holy can be layered on Light..."
Harris-sama also held his hand over it and said it was certainly warm.
"Did it have such an effect? Didn't Jeanne release Repellent into water to make insect-repelling water and spray it on the fields?"
I asked Wilson-san to refrain from holding his hand over it.
"Yes. If I use Holy at the same time, the effect might increase."
"If so, it's a revolutionary discovery. According to Flora, Anti-Sepsis can also prevent diseases to some extent, right?"
"Yes, I'm actually spraying it in the village of Regnentes. If I combine this with Holy too..."
"That's wonderful. Please experiment immediately and report the results."
"Yes. I'll have Flora and Lyudmila help me too."
At that moment, Serena's cry went up.
"Sister! Your hair..."
Looking, the tips of the black Dryad's hair, which had been continuously bathed in light, were turning slightly green.
"Jeanne! Please continue! Sister is returning to..."
I calmed her down and called Dune. I had to check her physical condition or it would be dangerous. Mel too—no, everyone gathered around.
"There's no problem. Violet is fine too."
"Thank goodness. My heart was pounding."
For Violet, it might have had a bad effect. It would be terrible if she got sick.
While having Dune check her condition, I illuminated the black Dryad with the Firefly combined with Holy. Gradually, her hair color changed to a deep green. Her dark skin tone seemed to be getting slightly lighter.
Everyone watching held their breath. The black Dryad, looking in a mirror, also put her hand to her mouth and widened her eyes.
"To think such a thing could happen."
"Maybe because she was originally a spirit. The mutation she underwent to avoid being affected by mana might be being canceled out."
At Eleanor-sama's words, the black Dryad replied.
To protect herself, she had apparently changed the surface of her body as if wearing a film. She said she couldn't return to normal on her own, but this might cure her.
When the hair color had changed up to around her temples, Dune called for a stop. Her skin was clearly lighter in color.
"We should watch for a bit. Sudden changes aren't good for the body. Let's stop here for now."
While hugging Serena, who was clinging to her and calling "Sister, Sister," the black Dryad was also tearful.
I tried other magics, but they weren't warm, and Violet didn't feel anything either. It was only Light.
"Light magic... the spirits all call it that. Light might not be holy magic after all."
It's just as Eleanor-sama says. Certainly, the people of Finis also called it Light magic. Moreover, people who weren't in the clergy, like the First King or the warriors who climbed the mountain, used it.
"The survey of the mountain will resume soon. We might find out something."
"Understood. I'm looking forward to it."
After toasting with everyone around the black Dryad, it was decided she would come once a week to bathe in the light. Immediately, Eleanor-sama, Wilson-san, Alex, and the black Dryad flew in the bowl and moved one black tree. With this, the black Dryad could come anytime.
"I've thought of something good."
While everyone was surrounding the black tree, Will raised her hand.
"It's a name for this person. How about Renata? It's a name used on the continent. The original word is Renatus. It means rebirth. Unfortunately, it's used for male names, so we'll make it the feminine form, Renata."
The black Dryad looked puzzled for a moment but then burst out laughing.
"Fine. Then I'm Renata. So it seems, Serena."
"Yes. Sister Renata. How is it? Do you like this place?"
"Well. To put it modestly, it's the best."
Everyone cheered, and there was another toast.