Arc 6 - Crisis of the western continent and Witch's bond
Chapter 1 -
Several months passed after my disciple Yuishia left for a journey riding on the back of Dragon Grandpa.
I was surveying all the places in the «Empty Wilderness» with Teto and Baretta.
"Magic gives birth to magic, and further enhances the transformation of nature, huh?"
"Oh, amazing! There's a waterfall here!"
«Previously, when the maid group conducted an investigation, we identified a great water source.»
I looked up at the top of the waterfall where a large amount of water flowed down and the rainbow it created made me squint my eyes.
The progress of the earth veins' regeneration brought about shifts throughout the wilderness terrain. (T/N -Author strikes again with their changed setting huh)
The once nearly flat land now had undulations, with protruding rocky mountains and small river and wetland formations. It became suitable for the caves and nests that served as the habitats for mythical beasts.
Furthermore, the food like fruits and nuts from the planted trees that the herbivore mythical beasts stored underground to cope with winter sprouted in spring and grew rapidly under the blessing of mana.
Nature was gradually eroding the once barren lands, and, according to my guess, almost all the spots within the great barrier would be covered by nature in another 30 years.
"But it seems like nature's overgrowth might encroach upon our mansion and the settlements of the Angel and Dragon-Demon races as well."
"That would be troublesome."
«Master Teto-sama. I don't think you need to worry. Currently, we are at the stage of managing the land's growth through the control mana tool. In the next stage, we plan to sow rare magical plant seeds in suitable environments as I requested before to balance the influx and outflow of mana.»
The mana plants that Baretta had requested were exceptionally rare herbs created by my «Creation Magic». Among them were
-the Ambrosia, a mythical herb that only bloomed once every 50 years;
-Taros lotus, a purple plant known for treating fatal diseases, which took in poisonous traits if raised in any other place besides a high-quality marshland;
-Mandragora, a versatile mana potion ingredient that could also be classified as a magical creature; and
-the fruit called Hamon, said to be used as a raw material for divine sake and the all-purpose healing elixir.
Any of these were materials whose acquisition difficulty level would be rated at least B-rank if the collection request was posted for them in the Adventurer Guild.
Aside from that, Baretta reported that she would create a habitat for the rare plants that could serve as ingredients for various mana potions to adjust the excessive growth of the forest caused by an abundance of mana. Considering all that, I guess there would be no problem.
As I was walking through the forest with Teto and Baretta while contemplating all this, two shadows passed overhead. The owners of the shadows seemed to have noticed us as well as they drew a huge arc and landed in front of us.
"Witch! And her followers! What brings you here today?"
"Is there something happening here?"
The ones who landed in front of me were the angel race Sheal who possessed white wings and Yahada of the Dragon-Demon race riding on the back of a griffon.
It seemed like in order to act with the angel race members like Sheal who could fly in the sky, the Dragon-Demon Yahada was cooperating with the flying mythical beasts that have migrated to the «Empty Wilderness».
"Just taking a stroll. I wanted to see the «Empty Wilderness» with my own eyes."
"The witch is as serious as ever. You are the ruler of this land, after all."
"Hey, Shael! I apologize, Majou-dono!"
Yahada warned Sheal, whose attitude had mellowed down compared to before, for her carefree remark. I chuckled wryly and told him it was fine.
Teto also didn't seem to mind, and Baretta had moved a step behind following her maid etiquette, and watched us from there.
"I don't mind. Besides, I am not some great persona that others should obey respectfully."
"No, Majou-dono is the benefactor of our entire race and our Grandfather! It would be a felony to have such a carefree attitude in front of you like Sheal!"
"Anyway, why are the two of you here?"
When Teto noticed my awkwardness at Yahada's attitude, she asked a question to the two of them in order to change the subject. Sheal proudly showed us the contents of her stuffed bag.
"This! We came to pick up gems and ores!"
"These are ores we found on the slope of a mountain that rose up in the west due to the terrain changes! It takes time to walk there from the village, so we borrowed the powers of the angel race and griffons to pick them up."
In the two bags were the collected rough ores and beautiful stones.
Since the floating island back then lacked metal resources, Sheal and Yahada were happy to find metal ores and gems.
"Oh, that's great."
"Amazing, all of them look so delicious-nanodesu~"
"!? I am not going to hand them over even if you're a golem demonic race! I'm going to give them to Grandfather after polishing them nicely! He likes shiny things very much!"
To the east of the «Empty Wilderness» was the home of the Ancient Dragon of Verdigris. After being released from his connection with the floating stones, he has been flying freely around the world.
He often left this land for more than a month at a time and always came back with beautiful shiny things he picked up on his way back. 'It's really true, huh? Dragons do have a fondness for treasures and shining things,' or so I thought at that time.
I ask them various things like how their lives have changed from living on the floating island to now.
"How are you two doing? Have you gotten used to life on this land?"
"We're flying around every day! And delivering... were they called letters? That!"
"My days are also fulfilling."
They both were part of a demonic race group, consisting of several hundred people, that had originally been living on the small floating island. The baby boom that happened after they immigrated to the «Empty Wilderness» has also calmed down, and they split into two groups right now.
One group built a village where the former floating island was located near the place where Dragon Grandpa resides and was engaged in fishing and farming in the nearby rivers and springs.
Another group built their village by the outer region of the «Empty Wilderness» near the house where we used to live in with Selene and were either hunting down monsters and animals or felling trees outside the barrier.
Aside from them, those with other jobs were spending their time cooperating with mythical beasts like Yahada.
Those who were focused on hunting received help from the spirit dog Cu Siths and the wolf mythical beasts Fenrirs while those who were on forestry or agriculture jobs like woodcutters get the help of the cow mythical beast Gaurens and the goat mythical beast Tanngri–snirs for plowing the fields or transporting lumber.
For quickly traveling through the vast «Empty Wilderness», there were the flying mythical beasts like Pegasus, Griffon, or Hippogriffs.
Then there were also the deer mythical beast Elks whose regenerating horns made for excellent materials, one-horned beast Unicorns that boasted great purification power, the female Gaurens who provided milk, etc.
There was also the goat mythical beast Barometz that got its golden wool trimmed by the village women. They were all living in harmony without harming the mythical beasts.
But of course, some mythical beasts preferred the embrace of nature rather than living among the people.
There are also some mythical beasts, while very few, that had resistance to low-mana environments and choose to leave the «Empty WIlderness» to go on a journey.
I listen attentively, nodding along as they shared their stories.
"I will bring vegetables, meat, and other mythical beasts' materials to your place next time, WItch!"
"Then it seems like we need to leave the barrier and hunt down some great monsters!"
Yahada showed a broad smile as if saying it was a nice idea at Sheal's words.
"Thank you, I'm looking forward to it then."
I said my words of gratitude to them, while internally wracking my brain on how to tell them the worth of the materials they were sharing like good neighbors which if displayed in the outside world would fetch terrifying prices due to their rarity.
In fact, given how they were living until now with limited access to metal resources, I could already envision them exchanging these materials for copper or silver coins readily.
At present, no one has come to the «Empty Wilderness» from outside, but the great barrier Liliel and the others had erected was gradually fading as the years pass by.
In the past, it used to block anything from entering, but now it only obstructed the flow of mana or the people and monsters that harbored ill will. Now, wild animals could go in and out of the «Empty Wilderness», and occasionally harmless monsters also pass through sometimes.
There was the possibility of people coming from outside the barrier for business in the future.
"Someday, we have to be ready for it, huh?"
«Master, you can leave the countermeasures to us.»
"Alright, Baretta. I'm leaving this to you."
Baretta and I quietly discussed the matter.
Nevertheless, time sure flies fast. It has been more than five years since Sheal and the others have completely relocated here from the floating island.
They, who are from the demonic race, age slowly, and their life expectancy was also around 200~300 years, so it kind of felt like it was just yesterday's matter.
While I was immersed in such nostalgia, Sheal looked as if she just remembered something.
"I almost forgot. We saw a huge tower on the western mountain ridge earlier. Did you build it, Witch?"
"Tower?"
"I couldn't think of anyone besides Majou-dono who could raise such a structure in a short time frame, however, the slanted tower looked a bit crude, unlike Majou-dono's craftsmanship, which strikes me strange."
"No, I have no idea about this."
"Is that so? Well, that's all I had to say. We're heading back now."
"Alright, be careful on your way."
We saw off Sheal and Yahada who once again soared into the sky, and for the time being, returned to our residence in the central region of the «Empty Wilderness» while wondering about what even was that slanted tower.
T/N - (Not exactly sure if it should be bond of destiny, but considering the recurrence of past characters, going with bond for now)
