Chapter 10. Stubbornness and Arrogance ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠(9)

The light was bright enough to feel even through closed eyes, illuminating the surroundings, and I felt a faint dizziness.

It wasn't like at the Gnome lake, where I'd poured out everything I had. It seemed the Dwarven Kingdom had quite a few places like this, after all. To purify them all as quickly as possible—

"......."

No, wait.

Somewhat flustered, I opened my eyes again.

Before me was a pool of water that had turned transparent. A clear well, filled to the brim.

I could hear sounds of admiration around me. And grumbling that sounded dissatisfied, as if coming from the clergy.

Judging by the reactions alone, it might have counted as a 'success.' I'd poured in about as much power as I had while healing the Dwarves, and the well itself had at least turned clear enough to look drinkable.

However.

"Anna?"

Beside me, Ria called my name.

"......."

I knelt down where I was and scooped up a little water with my hand. Like the lake in Gnome Region, the water was faintly glowing. Saturated with Holy Power.

But the prickling sensation I still felt around me hadn't disappeared at all.

When I looked back at the pool, something was dripping down onto it from the rock face it was attached to.

A black liquid.

Mana itself.

It was quickly purified each time it entered the water, but that wouldn't last forever. Not unless the source itself was completely eliminated.

I rose from my spot.

"Anna?"

"Ria, let's go back."

As I said that to Ria and turned around, the people who had followed to escort us also shifted their steps, a bit flustered.

"No, wait."

And when I stopped walking, the others stopped too, a bit flustered.

I looked at the Dwarf priest. The one who had blocked my path earlier.

Had he blocked the way because he thought that pool was sacred simply as a pool in and of itself?

If so, wouldn't there be no reason to just leave it like this? There were abandoned Sanctuaries too.

I asked the priest.

"The people who live here—what do they do for a living?"

Inside a cave, and this deep at that.

In a place with Mana this dense, the only beings that can survive are those who can wield Holy Power like humans affiliated with the Church, those with resistance like Dwarves who can store a certain amount of Mana in their bodies, or Magical Creatures.

And Magical Creatures can't be used as food. The dishes I'd seen at yesterday's banquet were all butchered livestock, fresh vegetables, and things like mushrooms.

Dwarves dying from drinking Mana-contaminated water wouldn't be able to survive by eating Magical Creatures made of Mana itself.

"The drinking water...... that alone could never possibly be enough. There must be a minimum amount of water used for daily life. And they'd need to receive food as well."

"That is......."

The priest spoke with an expression that seemed to ask why I was asking something so strange.

"They make a living by scooping up the liquefied Mana in there and selling it. It's less efficient than Mana Stones, but if they mix it with soil and form it into lumps, each one is good for a single use."

"......That actually sounds more dangerous than mining Mana Stones. Do the priests handle that processing?"

The Dwarf priests exchanged glances with bewildered expressions.

"......I see."

That meant no.

Among the Dwarves, those with the most Mana all ruled over the Dwarven Kingdom. Naturally, their individual martial strength would be incomparably greater as well.

......That was only natural. It's common for such beings to rise to the top of society. And conversely, those who couldn't do such important work were pushed to the kingdom's edges.

In the end, those who could do it didn't.

Those who couldn't did the work.

Because otherwise, there was nothing they could do.

They drank Mana-tainted water and kneaded Mana-infused material with their bare hands and no protective equipment, rotting away inside and out.

I started walking again.

"Ria, let's return to the royal palace. I think I need to meet with the Princess."

"Okay."

Ria nodded. She didn't ask why.

*

As soon as we returned to the royal palace, I requested an audience with the Princess.

The Princess accepted my request immediately. As if she had been waiting.

"I haven't even received a report yet, and you've already come to see me in person."

At the Princess's words, I stared directly at her and spoke.

"I've been to see ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the place you told me about."

"You mean the place where the people living the hardest lives in this country reside."

When I'd asked, the Princess had told me about that place.

She had been right. It was hard to imagine anyone in this country living a harsher life than they did, and they seemed to be well known even among the Dwarves.

But— somehow, I had the feeling that the Princess hadn't simply told me about that place just because I'd asked.

Rather, hadn't she wanted to tell me something from the very beginning?

Even if I hadn't asked, I kept getting the feeling that the Princess would have told me to go see that place first.

"What did you see there? Did you see the suffering people, and the priests who ignore them even while knowing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠those people need help?"

I saw both.

But the most serious thing I'd seen wasn't that.

No, the most serious thing I'd 'felt' was—

"......I saw Mana."

I said.

The Mana stretching from that place, with no end in sight. A density beyond any comparison to the lake in Gnome Region.

I hadn't seen it directly. In the first place, my power couldn't even grasp where it ended.

"The entire mountain."

I told her what I'd deduced.

"Isn't that right?"

As if my words were correct, the Princess nodded.

"Yes."

And then, slowly, she extended her index finger and pointed at the ceiling.

"Up there. Most of the upper reaches of this Mana-stone-rich mountain are completely filled with Mana. That's why it's rich in Mana Stones, I suppose. Over eons, it has steadily transformed the rock of this mountain."

"......."

"I apologize. I couldn't tell you right away. I couldn't know whether your power, Sister, was truly a power that could help us, or whether you had simply come hoping to spread your religion."

"You wanted to know whether the stories you'd heard about me were true."

"And, if you did have the power to see such a situation, I also wanted to know how you, Sister, would judge this situation."

So ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she had wanted me to understand it more clearly than a verbal explanation could manage.

......No.

"......No. It was probably because you wanted me to be shocked."

"......."

This time, the Princess fell silent.

"You would have heard that I purified the contaminated lake in Gnome territory. You wanted me to...... see the situation for myself."

"......Will you forgive my rudeness?"

I couldn't think of what to say to that.

"Yes, you're right. We've been deducing the same. We Dwarves have...... lived for a very long time, tunneling passages all through this mountain range. Now we've hit our limit. Every member of the royal family knows that we must not dig any deeper."

Because if they dug further, the Mana would leak out.

But they couldn't easily relocate outside either. The moment you leave the Dwarven Kingdom, you're met with rugged mountain ranges. Mountain ranges so high and cold they're hard to compare to Earth.

If they went somewhere warm—

"The livable places are at war. And...... you would have passed through such a place yourself, Sister. Didn't you see what state it was in?"

The one place above ground where people could reasonably live was now an utter ruin.

Contaminated with Mana here and there, a place where it was now even questionable whether grass could grow properly.

They might be able to survive in the desert. If they could find somewhere with flowing water.

But most such places were Gnome territory. The Gnomes could never accept Dwarves, with whom the emotional rift had run deep for a long time.

Moreover,

I knew.

That Mana would definitely become a problem. Someday it would swallow that mountain, and swallow the Gnomes' territory below it too.

"Now you can understand the reason we had to research Gates."

"......."

I remained silent.

"Some among the royal family and nobility hope for such a thing. To pass through your lands and move beyond another Gate to live. Because opening a completely new world carries too much risk."

If a Gate happened to open in the ocean, a great flood could occur inside the mountain. And even if it wasn't the ocean, opening a Gate to an empty wasteland would be meaningless.

However.

"......I also know it's not an easy matter. Even if temporary, hundreds of thousands of Dwarves would pass through your country. And there's no reason to assume no problems would arise along the way."

"......."

I couldn't say anything.

"Furthermore, even if we were to cross through your Gate to another world— I can't know whether you would welcome that either."

If there's an obvious nation beyond a Gate, the government doesn't meddle excessively. The government doesn't want war, after all.

But, conversely, if there's no nation beyond it, the government effectively uses that place as if it were their own land. They make garbage dumps and radioactive waste disposal sites.

Giving up such a useful place isn't particularly appealing from the government's perspective either. And refugees wouldn't want to go too deep into a Gate.

"......Some would make 'radical' proposals, I imagine. How superior do Dwarves consider Dwarven bloodlines to be?"

As if she'd caught the intent of my question, the Princess smiled bitterly.

"......Enough not to treat other races as 'people.' Especially the radicals. Yes. Enough that if they learned half my blood is Gnome, there could be those who would try to assassinate me."

I closed my mouth.

Uh...... um, Princess?

You're just going to say something that sensitive so casually......?

Ah, no, wait— is this really something I should be commenting on?