Chapter 622 - Backyard of Stray Priest ㉔
This is an afterword to Chapter 21.
On the southern ridge of the mountain with the mine in the Northeastern Forest, a brand-new mountain hut stands. In the bed of that mountain hut, the Lich woke up with the dawn.
When he was confined underground, he didn't care about the distinction between day and night; he slept when he wanted to sleep and stayed awake when he wanted to stay awake, immersing himself in strengthening magical beasts. He was that indifferent to his own health.
Since he made his own body immortal through sorcery, as long as the spell isn't broken, that flesh will never perish. And since he became a Lich by casting on himself the curse he was taught by the Demon Race, he is immortal unless he himself wishes to perish.
Of course, it's a different story if he fights and is defeated by a strong person capable of breaking the curse maintaining his body, but fortunately, he fought such a strong person and survived by surrendering to them.
In short, no matter how unhealthy a life he leads, he has a body that cannot even die.
That man is now leading his daily life while paying attention to food and sleep, as if he were a living human.
For the first time since becoming a Lich, he is leading a healthy life that should originally be unnecessary.
"Umu, I was able to wake up with the sunrise today as well."
After offering a prayer to the statue of the Goddess on the shelf on the wall, he went outside. The Lich was originally a priest. He was a worshiper of the Goddess, just like most people living on this island. He converted after forming a cooperative relationship with the Demon Race, but after becoming involved with the Sertoria Royal Family, he returned to his original ways.
Looking east, he stared directly at the sun that had just risen over the mountains of Medioland across the sea. The surroundings were still dim. While watching the sky, which had a deep hue that could be called ultramarine, gradually change to blue, he muttered to himself with satisfaction.
After washing his face with fresh water flowing from a crack in the cliff near the hut, he drew water into a bucket. Taking off the black robe he was wearing and exposing his upper body to the early morning air, he wiped off his night sweat with a hand towel soaked in water. Recently, he has also been taking a bath every evening. Upon moving into this hut after receiving a new request, he had been presented with a simple bathtub from the royal palace. He can boil the bathwater himself. He just heats the water he produced with Water using a Fire Ball.
After changing his clothes, he returned to the hut. Opening the lid of the wooden box provided by his employer, he took out dried meat, oats, and dried herbs and put them in a pot. Holding the pot, he threw one Fire Ball into the stove made of stones where a tent was pitched.
Until the beef jerky pot boiled, his daily routine before breakfast since moving to this hut was to enjoy pre-meal wine while gazing at the forest at the foot of the mountain, which regained its vivid green colors as the sun rose, and the sea spreading beyond it.
Previously, he never found enrichment in the beautiful color changes of the early morning. After all, he had been confined underground for a long time.
Since entering the service of the Sertoria Royal Family, he has been flying around here and there using Flight Magic together with Henry, Eleanor, and their direct subordinates. Sometimes on the coast, sometimes on cliffs in the mountains or forests, they dug holes to sleep in and ate together while watching the sunrise or sunset. Before he knew it, that became his daily routine. Since his job and status became clear, he has been living in a hut beside a secret magical beast breeding ground in the forest of the Royal Capital area, and he has continued the same way since moving there. Sometimes he hunts and dresses the prey he obtained himself. Also, there were times when Henry and the others brought what they called gifts—barrels of high-quality wine—to open and drink together.
Around the time he finished eating and washing the pot, the Lich's magic detection ability sensed the activation of Teleport. It's the arrival of a guest.
The teleportation magic circles are in the basement of the mountain hut. There are three in total, meaning they are connected to three locations.
(Early. Did something happen?)
Normally, they should come before noon. If they come in the morning and early at that, it's not a daily guest.
(Did they come from the Royal Capital... or from the mine...)
If it's from the mine, it might be good news. The Lich thought so.
"Yo! Master Magical Beast Researcher, are you doing well!"
The guest was a Dwarf who was doing mining at the Silver Mine. He was carrying a hemp bag on his shoulder. Seeing the size of that bag, the Lich's mouth softened.
"Thanks to you, I am doing well. Here, look at this. Look at this skin luster. I've become healthier than before."
"That's good to hear."
He is, of course, an acquaintance of Alex. They had even fought once. Currently, they were cooperating with each other in the research of mana concentration, starting with the breeding of slugs being done inside the Silver Mine. How much mana concentration affects living things to what extent, which the Lich was researching, was an interesting subject for the Dwarf who spent much time underground as a Great Spirit of the mine. They often drank together and exchanged opinions. Of course, the knowledge obtained in those conversations was summarized in reports to Wilson, who was the Lich's superior.
"By the way, about the contents of that hemp bag."
"Ah, it's the item you requested. It's quite a high-quality piece."
"I'm looking forward to that."
What Alex took out from the hemp bag was a Magic Stone found in the lower layers of the Silver Mine. It should be called iridescent, as it emits light that is a mixture of seven hues when it catches the sunlight. It's about a size larger than a human head.
"This is a good item."
The Lich said with satisfaction after measuring its size.
"Right? I had a hard time finding it. If you tried selling this to humans, you could buy one or two villages, buildings and residents included, with just this one piece. You could become a big landowner."
Normally, Magic Stones of that size are not traded. Aside from the price, there was a problem with the Magic Stone itself. This is because Magic Stones emit mana.
The mana emitted by a Magic Stone is directly proportional to its weight. The larger it is, the more mana it emits. Therefore, the price changed depending on the size.
It is said that the mana emitted by a Magic Stone that is too large affects the human brain. There were times when people fell into poor health for unknown reasons, and it was said that in some cases, they would go mad or fall into darkness. The theory that it might be a monster's curse was also widely believed. In reality, it's unknown what's going on. However, it was a fact that if one spent their daily life with it nearby, people in poor health and sometimes dead people would appear.
Roughly speaking, there is a guideline for the size that can be considered the limit for daily handling. That was about not exceeding a human head in total volume. High-end magic tool shops manage that amount as the limit in their stores. However, it's expensive, and what's used for trade is at most something crushed to the size of a fist. Even so, it's worth more than five gold coins. And the price is not directly proportional to the weight. This is because the rate of increase is extremely large. Of course, even if there were humans who handled large Magic Stones, they would be betting their very lives. It's because they are creatures with resistance to changes in mana concentration, like the Lich and Dwarves, that they handle them with unconcerned faces.
"With this much, you should be able to sufficiently maintain the mana amount of the ancient era you guys talk about."
"Umu, let's try an experiment immediately."
At Alex's words, the Lich nodded with satisfaction.
The Lich, who went to the basement of the hut with Alex, used one of the teleportation magic circles to jump underground. It was the room next to the slug ranch, a sort of station for those who look after the slugs to rest.
The room was furnished with bunk beds, a table, a cupboard, and a sofa, allowing several people to spend a certain amount of time there. The space was also reasonably large. There was even something like a fireplace, but there was no trace of fire being used.
The station has one door. Opening the door leads to a passage. At the end of that passage is the slug ranch.
The actual breeding management is handled by the Dwarves, and as if to show that, several high-quality barrels from Finis are rolling around. There are seven bowls in the cupboard. The Dwarf on breeding duty can spend time while drinking alcohol.
The slug ranch is arranged so that four squares are lined up to form a large square. There are corridors around each room, and normally food is scattered from there. The corridors of each room are partitioned with iron doors. Each room contains dozens of slugs. Walking straight down the corridor, there is another door at the back of the second room. Opening it reveals one small room, which contained only five slugs. This is the room to be used for the experiment this time. The size is about the same as the station. It's a newly established room.
In the center of the room, a stone slab with a monster-repelling magic circle drawn on it is placed. The slugs cannot enter the magic circle, but they were gathered around the magic circle, seeking the very minute amount of mana drifting from it.
The Lich went around the corridor and scattered Magic Stone powder in the four corners. The slugs began to move slowly to the corners in search of mana. Next, he moved the magic circle stone slab onto the corridor using Clump Stone.
Alex transferred the Magic Stone he took out from the hemp bag into a barrel and placed it on the stone slab, and the Lich once again returned that stone slab to the center of the room. After confirming that the slugs returned to the center, they went back through the passage to the room.
"If things go according to my plan, if we place that Magic Stone in the fireplace of this room, the mana amount in this room should become sufficiently thick. Of course, distance is also important, but it's fine as long as they don't get too close. If they are exposed to thick mana here for about a day, that influence can be maintained for a good number of days even after they go out of the room. Therefore, they just have to repeat the same thing before the influence of the mana disappears."
"I'm impressed you can understand such fine details."
"It's the result of two thousand years of research."
The Lich puffed out his chest proudly.
"And can you tell that with slugs?"
"Indeed."
He is nodding greatly, but Alex doesn't understand.
"What are you saying will happen to those slugs?"
"They swell up."
"Swell up..."
According to the Lich, mana has the same effect as when a dead slug is thrown into water. Slugs absorb thick mana and their bodies swell. However, if the mana is too thick, they swell up too much and eventually burst. However, by keeping the mana concentration they are exposed to appropriate, they will grow large but apparently won't reach the point of bursting.
"Even in the ancient era when mana was thick, there must have been slugs. If so, it shouldn't have been a thickness that made them swell and die. If we reproduced that concentration in an experiment, they would swell but it should be within a reasonable range. We should be able to tell by feeding them and watching their condition. With the memory of the Dwarf's senses and the confirmation of the mana thickness through the changes in the slugs that I devised, we'll see the two coincide. If so, I think there's no mistake."
Alex was amazed by the Lich's meticulousness. His memory of senses is something inherited from ancestors several generations ago. He had a certain amount of confidence, but it couldn't be called strong evidence. However, if the Lich takes supporting evidence through experiments, at least the Dragonewts won't fall into poor health. And Alex can avoid taking the responsibility alone.
He heard that as a result of conducting strengthening experiments on various magical beasts for two thousand years, he discovered that there is an appropriate mana thickness. If that thickness is exceeded, depending on the creature, its body may transform strangely or it may become violent as if it had gone mad. Of course, if it exceeded a certain concentration, there were many cases where it led to death. An extreme example is exactly the mana leakage accident that occurred in the Northeastern Forest, and as a result, even the beautiful Dryad's forest that was maintained by powerful mana was replaced by a cursed forest covered with black, twisted trees. He can apparently tell such adjustments of mana concentration with slugs.
"Heh, that's impressive."
"Well, I am an expert."
The way the Dwarf, a Great Spirit, said it with admiration was a great joy for the Lich.
The two headed to the hut outside and drank together while gazing at the forest spreading below from beside the stove. They were having idle talk, but even in that, Alex sensed how much the Lich felt a sense of purpose in his current life.
"How is it? This country?"
Alex asked suddenly.
"I like it. Because of my nature, I don't know when or how I will perish. I might not perish. However, as long as that Priest Jeanne and the people around her are alive, I think it would be good if we could join hands."
"Isn't it Henry-san or Eleanor-san?"
"Of course, I am also grateful to the Sertoria Royal Family. However, hearing the stories of you guys, the Beastmen, and the Dragonewts, they say that even that Royal Family wouldn't have had a request like this time without Priest Jeanne's actions."
"Well, Jeanne is special, after all."
"In appearance, she is nothing more than an ordinary girl, though."
"Not just in appearance, but apparently her innate abilities are actually mediocre."
"Umu, something must be lending her strength. I suppose she's a person of that caliber."
"That might be true."
Alex himself has been having experiences one after another since he met Jeanne that haven't appeared in the long history of Dwarves until now. He doesn't know the reason why, though.
"Hm? It's about time. Let's go see the slugs."
"Yeah, it seems so."
The two looked at a lit candle to measure the time.
When the sun passed due south, the two of them sensed the activation of the teleportation magic circle.
"They're here. It's surely two pairs of Dragonewt couples."
"Umu. Until now, I could only speak of vague things. Today, I can finally explain the Dragonewt fertility method with confidence."
"Well, do your best. After all, the future of those Dragonewts is at stake."
"Leave it to me. After all, I have been researching the relationship between mana and magical beasts for two thousand years."
By the time the two finished toasting to the future of the Dragonewts, the door of the mountain hut opened and four Dragonewts appeared.