Volume 2 - CH 20

Holly’s main job was to purify the orchard.

The village was protected by the power of the saints, but it seems that 90% of the orchards were no longer able to grow because of miasma.

(The harvest is minus ninety percent. …… No wonder the fruit can’t even reach the city.)

With that in mind, Hirune entered the village.

“Thank you for coming to this village, Great Saint …….”

The villagers greeted her and made the holy seal when they saw Hirune and Holly.

They seemed grateful for the visit of the Great Saint, but there seemed to be a feeling of resignation behind their expressions.

(They’re welcoming, but they’re kind of apathetic?)

The Saints were little girls like Hirune, and they seemed disappointed.

The village looked idyllic, but when they entered, there was a sense of loneliness in the air.

Hirune and her friends greeted the village chief and walked through the village to the orchard.

(This is …… devastating ……)

Most of the trees in the orchard had fallen over due to the demons.

The soil was upside down and miasma was stuck to the fallen trees.

“The people in the village are depressed because the orchard is in such a state.”

Holly said sadly as she approached the miasma.

“that’s why we saints will purify the land as best as we can.”

Reciting a scripture cheerfully, Holly held up her hands and used the purification magic.

With a twinkle of stardust, the miasma disappeared from five meters around.

But soon miasma began to creep up, like water seeping out of the ground.

“It doesn’t matter how many times you try to purify it….it won’t work. Yesterday I did my best to use purification magic to purify the area from there to here.”

Holly pointed to the area she had purified.

(They’ve only made a little progress…… Holly’s still purifying, she’s not giving up.) 

Holly’s dedication was dazzling to Hirune. She thinks about what a wonderful girl she is.

“Even if we do purify it, we’ll have to come up with another way to revive the orchard. ……”

Holly crossed her arms. Jeanne and the soldiers guarding her also began to think seriously.

Hirune also groaned and began to think.

(It’s not enough to just purify …… and then …… oh, the sun is warm and I’m sleepy ……, I shouldn’t, I shouldn’t.)

Hirune looked around, Pinching her own thighs.

Then, at the edge of the orchard, she saw a figure moving.

Hirune approached it. Jeanne and Holly followed her.

“I’m not giving up yet.”

There was an old farmer who was swinging his hoe, muttering to himself.

He was shoving aside fallen trees and digging up the ground.

He was preparing a sapling, so it looked like he was about to plant a new tree.

“Hello, Grandpa.”

“Hmm? Oh, you’re a …… saint, aren’t you?”

The old man put down his hoe, removed his hat, and carefully made the holy seal.

Hirune bows.

“I’m Hirune, by the way. What are you doing here, sir?”

“I’m digging up the ground to plant sugar muscats. This is a sapling.”

“Sugar Muscat?”

Hirune asked back, it sounded delicious.

Jeanne shouted in surprise behind her.

“Sugar muscat is a fruit that was once a specialty of the south. It’s so sweet, soft, and fragrant that it produces crystals!”

The old man turned his head to look at Jeanne as she leaned forward to explain.

“Are you from the South, maid?”

“Yes, I am.”

Jeanne nodded.

“The sugar muscat was good, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, …… very much.”

Jeanne said nostalgically.

“ Don’t stop me because you think I’m drunk. The people in the village are trying to stop me from working the land because they think I’m desperate. …… Please ……”

“I heard that sugar muscats have stopped bearing fruit because of the miasma. It’s been five years now. ……”

The Sugar Muscat, once a specialty of the south, is a delicate plant that will not produce fruit if it feels the slightest bit of miasma. The miasma in the south has been spreading for more than a decade, so the sugar muscat has been out of circulation for five years. In the current environment, it’s impossible to produce fruit.

“I can’t give up! I want my grandchildren to eat Sugar Muscat again! So, Great Saint, please leave me alone!”

The old man said so, took his hoe and started digging.

Hirune, who had been listening to the conversation, looked at the soil and noticed something.

(Huh? It seems like the miasma was mixed with the soil for a moment there. …… Did it escape into the ground to avoid the light?)

Hirune squints her eyes and looked at the area where the old man’s hoe was swinging down.

The miasma was only visible for a moment as the earth was dug up with a crunching sound, then quickly disappeared into the ground.

(I knew it! Is the miasma that is contaminating the orchard sensitive to light? But the miasma that sticks to the …… fallen trees seems to be unaffected by the sun. …… ……)

Hirune remembered the lecture she had received from when she was an apprentice.

(Come to think of it, in Wanda’s lecture, she mentioned that there was some miasma that had a core, and that if you cut off the ends, it would merge with the main body and return to its original form. ……)

“Grandpa ……”

Jeanne murmured in a pained tone.

“No matter what I say, he’s always like that. He doesn’t listen to me, even when I tell him to stop because it’s dangerous.” 

Holly looked at him worriedly.

The soldiers guarding them were watching him, as if they understood how he felt.

(…… Let’s give it a try.)

Only Hirune was thinking about something else and approached the old man.

“Hirune?”

Holly’s call went unheard, and a thought came to Hirune.

“Grandpa, excuse me for a moment.”

“What? Saint?”

Hirune knelt down in front of the soil that the old man had dug up and put her hands into it.

“Huh?!”

“Hirune-sama?!”

Holly and Jeanne shouted at Hirune’s strange behavior.