Since mana stones could be mined from places around the continent, they were obtainable, although expensive. However, magic stones were different. They were natural masses of extremely concentrated and refined mana. If used well, they could even make someone who had never felt mana before into a mage. As such, the uses of a magic stone were incomparably vast compared to mana stones.
Davey had not one, but 20 magic stones. Since they were pretty big, the continent’s mages would probably do anything to get their hands on them as soon as he put them on the market. It was no wonder people said that being a mage required a lot of money.
Davey would be able to obtain a large amount of money from selling even one of these magic stones.
“But I can’t sell them now.”
The problem was that nothing like this had ever been discovered on the continent. The only magic stones known in the continent were the very small amounts found in ancient ruins, and even those were worth hundreds of platinum coins. If he put these magic stones on the market now, Davey would become involved in all kinds of problems.
-All that glitters is not gold.
“No, now we have to think about what we can do with these.” Davey looked at the golem bodies on the floor. They were high-performance golems made using highly advanced skills, so the bodies could make Davey money too. They could even be worth more than the magic stones.
It was unbelievable that there were seven of these sites hidden in such a deserted countryside, since nobody wanted to visit this abandoned and cursed land.
Going down the stairs to the end of the passage, Davey saw a huge hall. “Wow.” He spoke in astonishment as he saw the inside of the hall. It was also a magic stone, but everything about it was different, even the size.
-It’s the core of the curse.
It was just as Perserque pointed out. The magic stones Davey had extracted from the golems’ forehead were all around the size of his fist, but this gigantic magic stone was incomparably bigger. It was about three meters tall and a meter wide, meaning that the entire rock was a magic stone itself. Davey didn’t know how that had been done, but it also had strange letters engraved on the surface.
“This would be a really big deal if it was discovered.”
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that this magic stone was so big and pure that several countries would go to war for possession of this stone as soon as it was discovered.
“I can run wild with 9-circle magic spells if I’m able to use the concentrated mana in here.” Davey scoffed at the unrealistic size and intricacy of the stone.
However, thinking about it now, the size of this magic stone made sense. It could control the climate of this vast territory because it was so large. It was a relief that the curse had only been in effect for five years; if Davey didn’t find this place, this place would’ve been a living hell for hundreds—no—thousands of years.
Usually, high-ranking mages had a couple spells that could control nature, like bringing about rainfall. However, the curse on this territory was on a much grander scale.
As Davey silently walked up to the magic stone, placed his hand on it, and released his devil mana to use [Re-fix Curse], a large amount of code began floating up. It was much more than when he had used [Re-fix Curse] on the ground.
-It seems like an awful lot of effort to dry out just one province.
“I guess there was something to this land.” Even as he spoke, Davey was busy reading the numerous letters flowing out. He was worried that there was one last guardian protecting this place, because this was the last hall and he could feel a strange flow of mana from one of its wide walls. However, since a long time had passed, it seemed that the last defense mechanism wasn’t activated.
“Huh… It’s made using this kind of system.”
This setup was interesting even for Davey, who had learned all kinds of magic theories. As a mage, he wanted to take on this challenging assignment.
-Can you rework it?
“It’s quite difficult…but I can alter it if I just find the pattern. Hm, is it this?” Davey grabbed a part of the mana arrangement laid out from the [Re-fix Curse] and twisted it, and a faint light began surrounding them. As the shaking mana arrangement equation started emitting a strange light, Perserque’s expression changed slightly. However, Davey could not take his eyes off the bright lights in front of him.
Whoosh!!! The shaking letters gradually calmed down and started glowing with a green light. Perserque let out a sigh of relief at the stabilized letters, then glanced at Davey.
-What did you change?
“Something…” Davey trailed off, quietly chuckling. “The drought went on for a few years, right? So, I watered the place first. It seems that it has become a rainstorm from being blocked for so long.”
The territory was probably crazy right now.
* * *
Two militia members, Gordon and Freeman, stared outside the palace from the sloppily repaired watchtower with a relaxed expression.
“Yawn… Having peace feels really nice.”
“Mister Gordon, why isn’t the seigneur slaughtering the rest of the goblins?”
They were granted this sweet feeling of ease only recently. At Gordon’s question, Freeman just chuckled and stared at the barren wasteland lying past the citadel walls. He said, “Hey, the seigneur has a plan. And there’s no rush, since all the goblins around here have been slaughtered.”
At first, they couldn’t trust Davey. It was natural; the exploitation of commoners by the nobles had gotten even worse after the nobility got hold of the power in the Rowane Kingdom. There weren’t any nobles that would come down to this countryside to pick on the residents, but they still kept in touch with those who had left this territory to find a better life.
Although they were commoners, they were royal subjects, not serfs. All the kingdom gave them was a tax exemption benefit when the territory was falling apart. The kingdom saw the territory as nothing much than a countryside, but the residents saw this region as home ever since Baron Alishad had managed the province.
And as this territory was dying, the kingdom, which had abandoned this place for years, had sent a greenhorn as the seigneur. The knowledgeable elders all said that the First Prince Davey, the newly appointed seigneur, was probably demoted and sent here after losing the battle for power. If that was the case, they also said that there was a high chance he would come here and take out his anger on the residents.
Obviously, the residents were anxious and worried. However, they couldn’t do much about it. There were also many goblin attacks at the time, so it was difficult for them to focus on anything else.
Then, the goblins had come over the citadel wall and even kidnapped some of the residents. It was difficult for the militia to attack the goblin village and rescue the residents, and just when everyone had given up, Davey had come to the province.
The boy, who had a charming smile, seemed a little different from everyone’s expectations. Some thought that he might beat the militia members in anger after hearing about the state of the province. If he were to really do that, some had even pledged that they would stand up against him with their lives. However, Prince Davey just silently looked around the territory, and he quickly noticed that the goblins had attacked the citadel. He didn’t look mad at all. With a terribly calm face, he dropped a bombshell on the militia members. ‘I will not let anyone die.
‘Charge in at will and let your anger drive your blade!’ Then, when Prince Davey pierced a goblin’s head with an arrow, the militia saw a miracle. They couldn’t describe the reality he was showing them as anything but a miracle. The holy light from his hands had strengthened them and had encouraged the militia members, who had been on the verge of giving up, to rescue the kidnapped residents.
Perhaps that young boy had read their minds. He had ignited the passion and motivation in the militia members, who were growing tired of the continued battle with the goblins.
‘We are one family as long as I’m the seigneur of this place. And I have no intention of letting my family members die in vain,’ Prince Davey had stated while leading the militia members. Prince Davey, the seigneur who accomplished miraculous things, had taken small groups of militia members and slaughtered goblins again, as if he was showing them that it wasn’t just luck.
Although Davey grumbled that he wasn’t a saint, little did he know that the residents now trusted the newly-appointed young seigneur even more than God. Their thoughts could get them imprisoned for blasphemy, but the residents had no intention to change their minds. It was natural for the person who performed miracles in front of their eyes to be considered more reliable than the God who did nothing but watch over them.
“Mister Freeman.”
“Hm?”
“It’s nice that we got rid of the goblins thanks to the seigneur, but does this territory have a future?”
It was something that would’ve normally made him angry, but Freeman couldn’t easily answer Gordon. Even an idiot knew that this territory was dying. The ongoing, never-ending drought was transforming everything into a dead land, except for the citadel, which the residents were living in. They were sure that even Davey, who showed up with a God-like presence, couldn’t do anything about this.
“Even if the seigneur is a saint, he can’t do anything about the heavens being angry and not allowing rain to fall here.”
“Sigh… Do we really have to leave the territory if this place dries up because of the drought?”
If the territory had been wealthy, they would’ve bought water; however, they were poor, and their practice of farming, which was their only pride, was coming to an end because of the drought.
Freeman closed his eyes after hearing Gordon’s bitter sigh. This was enough for them. Not even the most exceptional beings could do anything about the continued drought and the dying land.
The effects of the drought were now affecting the surroundings, which had been the only place that still had rainfall. They could tell that the nasty curse was closing in on the citadel—their only place to call home—from seeing the drying plains nearby, which had been grassy just the year before. And the effects of the curse were starting to spread in the citadel as well.
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