After my exorcism dance ended, kids and newly married couples returned to their homes. The rest of the folks stayed at the main venue and added firewood to keep the bonfires lit as they drank to their heart's content, making merry until daybreak.
The atmosphere was rather subdued, perhaps because it was the dead of night. Seemingly attracted by the groups of residents and the lit bonfires, a few other souls appeared belatedly.
As the sun climbed up into the sky, the majority of the souls ascended as if becoming a part of it, while the late souls, too, slowly dusted off the mana covering them through natural purification and left as well.
"Haaa...... It's over, huh? *Yawnn*......"
"Yeah, it has ended."
Teto and I looked at the sunrise during the daybreak while huddling in a single blanket together. I spent the rest of the night in Teto's company, watching over the bonfires and the souls. I was really happy it ended without any hiccups.
«Master, Teto-sama. Your bodies must be cold after spending the entire night outside, so we've prepared the bathtub. Please, have a bath and take a rest.»
"Alright, sounds good."
"Bath time with Majou-sama, let's go!"
Since I had used up almost all of my mana during the exorcism dance, I hadn't had enough leeway to keep my body-strengthening magic, cold reduction magic, and temperature regulatory magic up, and due to my underdeveloped body, it was rather tough for me to pass the night.
Afterward, I recovered around 30% of my mana, but compared to the mana I usually recovered by sleeping, it really paled in comparison.
I took a hot bath with Teto, and as the warmth slowly chased away the cold in my body, I was assailed by sleepiness.
"Majou-sama, are you going to sleep?"
"Hmm~, I'm fine. I'm okay."
While fighting back the drowsiness, I changed my clothes alongside Teto and crawled into the bed, and with fatigue piled up, we soon drifted into the dream world.
....................
..............
.......
"Hmm? This is... Oh, dream oracle."
I suddenly found myself in an empty space, before recalling it was the dream oracle space.
Teto was also next to me, and in front of us, there was Liliel, sitting on a chair, and Loriel, who had taken a seat on a bed.
Compared to the last time when Loriel seemed like an incarnation of sleep and listlessness, she currently looked like someone who had just woken up with a hint of liveliness on her face...... though she still looked sleepy.
«Chise, Teto. Thank you for your hard work. That was a wonderful dance.»
«Hnn...... The souls trapped in the subspace have returned without any problems. I've also regained some of my former power.»
Liliel offered her words filled with gratitude, while Loriel informed us of the winter solstice festival's result.
"I am glad to hear that. But I'm planning to hand over the duty of purification to someone else, will that be fine with you?"
I was going to push the duty to Baretta, Shael, Refrya, and the others. Once the winter came to an end, I was thinking of leaving for another journey. While the concept of distance was kind of meaningless in front of the «Transfer Gates», having the people who stayed in the «Forest of the Creation Witch» perform the ceremony sounded better than someone like me who hopped around from place to place.
Hearing my words, Liliel said—
«So you've finally made up your mind to leave for another journey. I had been telling you to live as you want for the past ten years already, but you really didn't realize it at all.»
"S-Sorry."
«As for the purification of the souls, it might not be comparable to when you do it but the gap can be closed with quantity. Moreover, the souls gathered are naturally purified by the forest's power, so as long as the forest remains pure…»
By fine-tuning the process to make it act like ritual magic, even residents would be able to purify the souls, so confirmed Loriel. Then—
«Chise, Teto. You must have seen the souls getting rid of their mana, no? It has seeped into the land and is currently revitalizing the earth veins.»
"Err... What'll happen then? When earth veins are stirred, it will cause the appearance of monsters, dungeons, and mana disasters, right?"
To be more precise, various problems arise when the mana in the earth veins stagnates.
«No, that land is currently being managed through the «Earth Vein Manipulation Magic Tool», so the magic tool will prevent such situations from happening. The only thing that will occur will be the growth of the land in accordance with the earth veins.»
"Grow? Oh, does it mean the forest will become bigger? That would be great!"
«No, I mean the plants and forests will grow of course but...... It's because it's under my patronage. The part that would grow will be...... the land.»
"Land......"
I wonder what land growing means? For a moment, the scale was so immense that my thoughts came to a halt, but Loriel supplemented by saying—
«Liliel onee-sama is the earth goddess— while she grants blessings of abundant harvest, she is also the goddess of the earth. That's why the land will also grow.»
"Err...... Is it a kind of protrusion of the earth, or some sort of diastrophism?"
«No, it's as the phrase implies. The very land will grow.»
Ever since the creation god created this world, it has been covered by the mana of the planet. Using the mana of the planet, the gods occasionally created substances such as land, ore veins, and water— causing the planet itself to grow larger.
«The growth of the planet has come to a stand-still in these 2000 years after it lost the majority of its mana, but by making use of the mana density of the said place, along with my authority, the land— the «Forest of the Creation Witch» is going grow larger.»
"By what margin is it going to increase?"
«I think it should be around 1% of the overall size of the «Forest of the Creation Witch» and the monster-infested region combined.»
"Ohh, so it's not a big deal...... Just that much is alright."
While the «Forest of the Creation Witch» could rival a small nation in size, a 1% increase wasn't that big of a deal, or so I thought. But something suddenly sparked in my mind, and like a rusty cog of a machine, I stiffly turned to Liliel and asked,
"Err, this is just a one-time thing, right? Or will it happen every year at the time of the festival?"
«Every year...... I presume. Oh, and of course it's not an eternity thing. The number of souls in the sub-space that need guidance would eventually decrease so the revitalization of the earth veins would be under control by then.»
«It should take around 100 years, so the land might increase by 1% each time.»
Liliel answered while slightly shifting her gaze away, while Loriel voiced the conclusion.
1% increment for the 100 years, the total would be 100%. From a long-term perspective, the land area would expand to several times its size. There was no way it would be just on par with a small nation by then, I dare say it would already be comparable to a mid-sized kingdom.
However, even if the cause of this was the mana the souls left behind, was it the only thing that kept the earth veins in an active state and increased the size of the land?
"The «Forest of the Creation Witch» has world trees and many more plants, and I release my surplus mana into the air as well to increase the mana density, will it not cause the land to grow?"
Teto, who was listening to me as I fired my questions, was already tilting her head in confusion, clearly not following the complex discussion.
Loriel answered my question.
«When mana closely intertwined with emotions is released properly, it leads to the flourishing of people, their families, and the place they reside in. The phenomenon is called divine protection, guardianship, and blessing by the people. But if it is released incorrectly, that will instead take the shape of a curse.»
The discussion became quite heavy, but I more or less understood the implied reasoning.
"I see...... so the blessings from the guided souls granted to the land lead to its growth under Liliel's authority, huh?"
«Precisely. Just planting lots of world trees to increase the mana density isn't enough to bestow blessings on the land. Blessings occur when someone with will impart it with their magic power. However, if spirits were attached to the world trees, they could also similarly give blessings.»
I see, the explanation about the mana indeed made sense.
«Alright, since I've taught you a fragment of the world's knowledge, I'm expecting an offering.»
«Hey, Loriel!»
Loriel, after explaining about the mana's nature, said which was followed by a rebuke from Liliel. I smiled wryly and extended my hand.
"Would this offering be to your liking? —«Creation Magic»! An assortment of Japanese sweets!"
"Ah, Teto would like some too, Majou-sama!"
I created a small mountain of all sorts of sweets with «Creation Magic» and shared a part of it with Teto, who happily munched on them.
Loriel, too, as if fearing that Teto would steal them all, hurriedly secured her share and similarly happily munched on them.
This amount should last for a while. If a regular human ate these, they would definitely gain weight, but well, it should be fine for a goddess.
As I was thinking that, Loriel, while having her cheeks stuffed with sweets, raised her hand and gave me a thumbs up, as if to say 'good job'. Liliel, on the other hand, was dumbfounded.
«Good grief, you really are a cheeky one, Loriel. Well, it's about time to wrap this up anyway. I'm looking forward to Chise and Teto's new journey.»
"Yes, although preparations and greetings are necessary before the journey."
"Majou-sama and Teto will go to see different sights!"
After that, the dream oracle of that day became hazy, and when we woke up, a whole day had passed since the winter solstice festival. At the same time as I realized that, my stomach made a gurgling noise.
