Chapter 23 -
Just as Teto and I were dumbfounded at the scenery of fading colors as if losing its vitality, starting from this abandoned mining town where we lived for a while, we noticed the dwarven residents of the town gathering.
"Chise-san, Teto-san!"
"What's the matter, everyone? What're you guys doing here?"
As if they were just waiting for us to come out of the mine, the dwarves we were familiar with stepped forward.
"You were later than usual so we were waiting for you with everyone! We felt a tremor coming out from the mine's direction just a while ago, so we thought something big must have happened!"
"I see, I'm sorry to make you all worry. Either way, our investigation of the mines has come to an end today. We have subjugated the big monster in the mine."
"Oh, I see. That's great. As expected of the A-rank Adventurers Chise-sama and Teto-sama."
The town residents lavishly praised us, though I would have liked it if they refrained from doing so. My heart was unable to handle their admiration.
"Majou-sama......"
"I'm alright, Teto......"
We returned to the inn while thanking the residents who were worried about us and then went directly to our room where I was finally able to calm down and think about the situation.
"Say, Teto. That Mother, she was absorbing the mana that was flowing in the earth veins, right?"
"That seems so, probably."
"If I'm right, the earth veins evenly distribute the mana from the ground. No, wait. It's more like the mana is absorbed by the nearby places. And that's why the nature around the town is losing its mana."
I put my thoughts into words and confirm the situation.
Mother had been stealing the mana of the earth veins and causing poor harvests in the Lovile kingdom. Had Lariel's request been left unattended, the worst-case scenario would have been the land getting contaminated when Mother dies after reaching the end of her lifespan, causing the accumulated poison and curse to flow into the earth veins.
That's right, that would have been horrible.
"Lariel seems to not have thought about the result and the aftereffects which would follow as long as the worst scenario doesn't occur."
That was why she said to do something about the flow of time before leaving.
Sure, the situation would return to normal when the mana properly started flowing in the earth veins and spreading throughout the land. But the question was when will it happen? After a decade? Or a century? Could it be still said that everything changed for the better when the situation was restored but only after the town and the forest was destroyed?
I looked at the current situation while cradling my head.
"This town would become a miniature «Empty Wilderness» at this rate."
"Majou-sama, it's not your responsibility!"
"No, it's because of me. If only I defeated it with more caution...... Or had I defeated Mother before it sucked away the earth veins' mana......"
The town was in a festive mood at the news that the monsters in the mine had been defeated.
I could feel the trust in the gazes of the residents that looked at us, coupled with the fact that we also suppressed the bandits who tried to kidnap children, but, contrary to their belief, I may have pushed the town towards its destruction.
"I may have done something irreversible."
"Majou-sama! Just come up with a plan! It's still not too late! The land has still not lost all of its colors yet! It's fine as long as we take the lost mana back!"
"It's impossible. The scale is too big......"
It was fundamentally different from the time I replenished the mana in the ground of the small villages or forests that we passed through on our way to this town.
My mana capacity was simply not enough to restore the mana that had been drained by Mother.
"Teto will help out! Use Teto's mana too!"
"Teto, you...... You're right. It's still early to give up. It may be impossible with just me, but if Teto is also with me...... Let's give it a try."
I'm going to restore the mana of this land for the sake of the townsfolk who were kind to us.
"Let's go, Teto."
"Right after you-nanodesu!"
We slipped out of the inn while being careful so as not to be seen by the townsfolk and headed for the mine that was the center of all the mana loss.
"Teto. Match my pace as you pour in your mana, okay?"
"Alright-nanodesu! Teto's everything belongs to Majou-sama!"
"Then let's start. 一一««Charge(nanodesu)»»!"
Teto and I faced the ground and poured all the mana we could offer into it.
I had yet to completely recover the mana I used in the fight with Mother so I could only pour whatever mana I had.
Rather, my mana mainly played the role of assisting Teto's mana to efficiently move into the ground.
"Kuh, our mana is really not enough......"
It was a pipe dream to think that our mana could completely restore the lost mana in this land. I stopped Teto who had nearly emptied her mana.
"...... I knew it would be impossible."
My interaction with the inn's dwarven couple and their daughter, Arim-chan, and the townsfolk were always so nice. I just wanted to protect that and yet, I have done the opposite of it. I was aghast at my actions.
"Please, anyone, save the town."
I knelt on the ground and gripped the parched soil tightly in my hands.
*Pitter-Patter*
Water drops began to fall on the back of my hand just as I was at my wit's end.
"...... Rain?"
The clear, colorless night sky was suddenly filled with black clouds and it soon began to rain that was rich with the blessing of abundant mana.
«*Sigh* Lariel is really such a muscle-brain, at least think about Chise's feelings first. Even if the worst scenario is avoided, it doesn't mean she can leave you with such a mental scar......»
"......Liliel?"
«It's just a bit of manipulation through God's miracle. Besides, I couldn't overlook the parched land as the Earth Goddess.»
The voice of the Goddess who had reincarnated me into this world echoed inside my head and I understood that this blessed rain was her miracle.
The rain filled with mana enriched the ground and continued to fall non-stop without showing any sign of losing momentum.
"It's raining, Majou-sama. Let's go back."
"Yeah, let's go. Liliel helped us. There's no danger now."
Teto and I quietly returned to the inn and watched the rain from the window.
The intense rain occurred without any prior signs that night. The wind caused the window of the inn to rattle.
"The rain isn't stopping."
"Nanodesu. Let's rest today as well-nanodesu."
The rain continued to fall for three days and three nights, so we also had to halt our journey.
The abandoned mine, whose stability should have been hardened by the dwarves, collapsed as the result of that rain.
The damage was fortunately only limited to the mine itself which eventually ended the possible threat of new monsters making the mines their own new home or them somehow reaching the earth veins in the core region.
The lives of the townsfolk were basically unchanged, with the bats that left the mines once again settling in a part of the mines that barely survived and a bit of copper and iron ore peeking out from the walls of the rocks.
The only one who knew that the timing of the rain was just too perfect to be a coincidence and that it was actually the miracle of Goddess Liliel was just me and Teto.
