Chapter 7. Favor and Calculation (6)
Chapter 7. Favor and Calculation (6)
Yesterday, I'd had a long conversation with Clanet about this and that.
And after returning to our lodgings, I'd also pieced together the information I'd heard from other people.
From what I'd heard, her family was famous for processing Mana Stones.
If you asked whether they were the best, opinions differed, but the general consensus was that a family of that caliber couldn't really be said to be the best at any one thing in the first place.
People usually said you had to shop around to avoid getting ripped off when buying something, but the reason we'd come straight to the Stram Workshop, run by Clanet's family, was also because any family would obviously accept a proposal right away if it involved processing Mana Stones that used Holy Power.
"Still, we can count ourselves lucky that each individual family holds strong power."
"If they didn't, the deal itself wouldn't have worked out, would it? If the Gnome Government told them not to, it'd fall through just like that."
It was also fortunate that few families had ever handled Sacred Objects.
Gnomes, true to their appearance, were a race of immense curiosity. If they'd been people who had frequently handled Sacred Objects from the start, they might have shown little interest or demanded an enormous sum from us, but handling a Sacred Object that only someone like me in the whole world could create was another matter entirely.
Once word of this spread, other families would react too. Of course, that didn't mean I'd give it to just any family. No matter how you looked at it, even I couldn't "mass-produce" Sacred Objects.
"Still, be careful."
As I was organizing my thoughts, Rina spoke quietly.
"You're aware that your value has risen enormously over these past few weeks, right?"
"......Yes, I'm aware."
I nodded.
From merely a disobedient Saintess Candidate, I was now someone who possessed limited Precognition and could even produce Sacred Objects at will.
"I'll be careful not to let it become too troublesome."
"......No, that's not what I meant."
Ria answered with a slightly hurt expression at my words, so I let out a small laugh.
*
Perhaps because my announcement that I would speak with a specific family in Gnomish society had served as a catalyst, the number of people requesting audiences with me had also increased.
Fortunately, there was no major problem even if I refused almost everyone. That was because there was no reason I "absolutely had to speak" with them.
I'd deflected most of the talk toward the Church, but there was one matter I simply couldn't refuse.
"A lake contaminated by Mana?"
"Yes, if the Saintess Candidate would permit it, I would like to show you the place."
I recalled once more what Ria had said. The remark that my value had risen excessively.
Showing me a Mana-contaminated lake could only mean one thing. They were asking whether I could purify it.
We weren't the only ones who could gather information at the banquet. They could gather information on their side, too.
The fact that I had purified Mana-contaminated land wasn't exactly something that could be called confidential, either.
"......."
After hesitating for a moment, I glanced toward Ria.
Ria's expression said, "There's no need to go out of your way"—
Well.
At the very least, as someone who had experienced that incident last time, I wanted to check it out once.
Besides, it was also something related to the "original work."
A lake contaminated by Mana.
Actually, it would be more accurate to say that describing it as "contaminated" was wrong.
What filled the lake wasn't water contaminated by Mana, but Mana itself.
......Well, at least I'd prevented one trigger before. There was no way a problem on the scale of the novel would erupt now. Besides, chronologically speaking, this was "earlier" than the novel.
But given what had happened last time, I couldn't be certain of anything.
If there was one thing I could be certain of— yes.
If I stopped things before even the "omen" occurred, then at least the casualties would be far fewer than in the original work I'd read.
"Yes, I'd like to go see it."
I nodded and answered.
*
The "lake" wasn't inside the Gnomes' residential area.
It was outside, a place that existed like an oasis in the middle of the desert.
No, perhaps there had originally been an oasis there. In the original work, traces of civilization had reportedly remained around it, however faintly.
But now—
"......."
A vast, Black Lake lay there.
Most oases have a water source somewhere else. Since rain in the desert evaporates in an instant once the sun rises, it naturally meant there was somewhere steadily sending water to this place.
In other words, even that water source might be contaminated by Mana.
Could there be something like a mineral vein below? If there was a vein where Mana Stones were mined......
"What do you think?"
The Gnome beside me asked. He was a high-ranking Gnome I'd also seen at the banquet.
Even if he asked what I thought......
I could tell it was a dangerous situation. Honestly, last time that sphere had formed from the Mana, so I was almost curious why one hadn't formed this time.
"Has the area been expanding as time passes?"
"It has. It doesn't evaporate at all, even under this blazing sun."
As expected, something was steadily flowing in from somewhere.
"......."
After thinking for a moment, I approached one of the knights standing nearby.
As I drew near, the knight snapped crisply to attention.
"I'll borrow your sword for a moment."
"Yes!"
Shing.
The knight drew the sword, carefully gripped it by the blade, and extended the hilt toward me.
Taking the sword, I stepped forward a little more.
At a glance, the sand was just the desert sand we knew. Pale yellow sand.
But when I lightly traced the tip of the blade I held across the sand—
Ssss.
Very faintly, something sizzled, and a wisp of smoke rose.
"......."
It was the same this time, too.
Not just the lake—the land touching that water, steadily absorbing it, was also contaminated with Mana to the fullest extent.
"Hah."
I'd read about this in the novel. No, perhaps the situation in the novel had been far more severe than here. Enough that the Mana had encroached all the way into the Gnomes' residential area.
But even so, seeing the situation with my own eyes like this was a completely different matter.
"Shall I speak frankly?"
I said, wiping the sweat running down under the beating sun.
"Yes. I will take it to heart."
"Those Sacred Objects you purchased—you'd better not plan on using them in a war."
"Pardon?"
"Even if you dumped all of them into that lake, it probably wouldn't be enough."
At my words, the Gnome's face hardened. Was it a reaction to how dangerous the situation was, more than he'd thought?
Or was it a reaction to me speaking against the government's policy?
"......."
With a troubled heart, I stared quietly at the lake.
*
"......Is that a Prophecy too?"
"Huh?"
"I saw your expression change the moment you heard the word 'lake.'"
"......You can even tell something like that?"
"Your face is incredibly easy to read, you know? If you ever plan on doing politics or something, you should learn to keep a poker face first."
"......."
I closed my mouth.
Had lying about it being a Prophecy at the start been the problem?
Now it had become awkward to say it wasn't a Prophecy in the first place. Though, saying something like "I knew from the beginning" would probably have been taken as a Prophecy anyway, so it likely wouldn't have mattered how I'd phrased it.
"If I...... said I'd been deliberately keeping quiet about something, would you come to dislike me?"
At my words, Ria made a thoroughly baffled expression.
"Would I suddenly dislike you just because you told me one lie?"
I knew Ria wasn't that kind of person.
But even so— would I come to dislike Ria if she told me one lie?
Hm.
Honestly speaking, at this point, I didn't think that would ever happen.
Sometimes she pulled pranks that got on my nerves, and she'd refute every last thing I said down to the weirdest parts, which drove me crazy, but none of that was reason to hate someone to death.
......Ria's points of contact with Lee Si-yoon had largely vanished by now, but if she were to start dating Lee Si-yoon at this point— hm.
No, actually, that would probably make me pretty angry.
In more ways than one.
"No."
When I answered, Ria let out a small laugh and placed her hand on top of my head, stroking it gently.
There was no one around. The Gnomes had set up a private tent for us.
"Same here. If you're hiding something related to God, there must be a reason."
That was reassuring. Well, except for the word "God," that is.
"So, what are you going to do? About that lake?"
I fell silent for a moment, lost in thought.
Gradually, a white light began falling over my head, and I waved my hand to brush it away.
Ria seemed to have realized what choice I would make from the moment she saw that light. At first, she let out a short, incredulous laugh, then stroked my head again.
.......
I could wave away the light falling over my head with my hand, but somehow, Ria's touch alone was something I couldn't refuse.
Even though I knew she'd stop if I just smacked her hand away.
"......Would it be all right if we extended our stay?"
"Well, it's not like there's anything urgent on Earth."
At Ria's answer, I felt somehow even more ticklish, and I pressed my lips firmly shut.