CH 129

“Are you crazy!? Why–“

“Shh!”

I controlled the village head with my hand while gesturing to him to keep quiet. In the meantime, Tia was concentrating with her eyes closed, still touching the spirit tree, and the black mist was gradually beginning to cling to her body.

“Oi, Ed-dono! Are you sure you don’t want to stop her?”

“It’s all right. Let’s just wait and see until the very last minute.”

I’m worried too, but Tia showed no signs of suffering. Then I should trust Tia. As I watched, waiting so that I could immediately pull her away from the tree if she showed even the slightest strange reaction, Tia eventually pulled her hand away from the tree and staggered away from it.

“Tia!?

“… Ah, yeah. I’m fine. I’m sorry?”

“Haha, it’s fine if you’re okay.”

I chuckled, trying my best to keep my composure. I didn’t want to let her know that my hands were sweating profusely. Men always want to look cool.

“So, did you figure anything out?”

“Yeah, It’s like the …… power is being sucked out of the tree? The power of the spirits that resides in it has gone somewhere else, and yet no new power is coming in. … If this continues, in the not-too-distant future it will just become a tree, not a spirit tree.”

“What!? No way…!”

“Eh, is that what spirit trees are like?”

The village head was exaggeratedly surprised by Tia’s line, but I couldn’t hide my surprise in another way. I had always thought that a spirit tree was a type of tree called a spirit tree, but if it’s just a tree, then perhaps it’s not?

“I see. I guess you don’t know that. A spirit tree is not the name of a special tree, but a tree in which many spirits dwell. And the reason why so many spirits dwell in a particular tree is because the inside of that tree is the most comfortable place for the spirits in the neighborhood.”

“Comfortable….? How can I put it…”

“Ho-ho-ho, quite ordinary?”

“……, well, yes.”

I had imagined something more sacred or special, so it was quite unexpected that they were simply gathered in a comfortable place. But my reaction made the elder laugh, scratching his beard with even more amusement.

“Hohoho! Of course the spirits would want a comfortable place to dwell!　Furthermore, the reason why the elves build their villages near the spirit trees is because they are comfortable there as well. It is not that the elves cannot live without the tree, or anything like that.”

“What!? I-Is that so!?”

“What? Ed didn’t know?”

“I’ve never heard of it! Because elves are very protective of their spirit trees!”

Tia said this with a shocked look on her face, and I exclaimed with all my might. But Tia, seeing my reaction, gave a wry smile.

“Well, the presence of a spirit tree is a clear guarantee that it is a comfortable place for us to live. If the tree is weakening, for whatever reason, the power of the spirits nearby is weakening,…, which means it will eventually become uncomfortable unless it is addressed. In that sense, we take good care of them, and we are usually attached to them afterwards. Well, the spirit trees in our village are like our grandparents who have been watching over us since the earliest times, right?”

“Another misconception that people tend to have is that we elves reject civilization. It is not that we hate or deny civilization, it is just that natural objects, mainly wood, are easier for spirits to dwell in, and as a result, it is easier for us to have a comfortable environment, you understand? To a simple person like you, who cannot feel the power of the spirits, I would say, yes. It’s like saying, “I’d rather live in a house far from town, where the sun shines and the wind blows pleasantly, even if it’s a little inconvenient, than in a house where there are many stores nearby and it’s convenient for shopping, but there’s a bar nearby and the noise and smell of drunken people is in the air every night.'”

“I see…..”

I nodded in deep agreement with the elder’s explanation, which seemed to supplement Tia’s words. Wow, it wasn’t about principle or religion or anything like that, it was simply that this state of affairs was in the best condition and they were keeping it that way. Wow, I’ve never heard of such a thing before. … Really.

“Hahh. I was completely wrong about elves.”

“We don’t correct it because it’s not a misunderstanding that we’re bothered by. That is also the way of the time. We are not left behind; we are here by choice.”

“Ha! No, I have learned a lot. Thank you, Elder.”

“What, I don’t mind this much. Hohohoho.”

“Wait, we’re getting off topic! It’s not about that, it’s about the spirit tree!”

“Oh, yes. Sorry.”

It was a pretty interesting story to me, but surely the state of the spirit tree was an order of magnitude more important. Nodding with his eyes at my honest apology, the village head turned to Tia once again.

“So, Tia-dono, what do you mean when you say that the power of the spirits is being sucked out? Or rather, was it safe for you to touch this?”

“I don’t know how to say this, but…. Perhaps even someone other than me, who can touch the spirit tree and see the state of the spirits, would come to the same conclusion. And as for why it’s okay to touch it… I’m not sure why, but somehow it is.”

“What do you mean by ‘somehow’?! That’s just unbelievable…”

“I understand! I do understand, but even though I knew that, I still felt like it would be okay to touch it, and since nothing actually happened, I can’t really explain the reason…”

Tia glanced at me as she answered in a timid manner to the village head, who looked suspiciously. I don’t know anything about spirit magic either even if you look at me like that,…… hmm?

“Huh? Speaking of which, I think I’ve seen something similar to this recently…?”

“You saw!? Ed-dono, where the hell did you see that?

“Where was it… ah!?”

As I racked my brains, a flash of lightning flashed through my mind. Yes, this looks just like the ivy-like thing on the door leading to the Demon Lord’s place! Which means that ….

“Ed-dono!!N-no way!?”

While the village head was surprised, I slowly reached out my hand to the spirit tree. Then, of course, a black haze clung to my body, but I felt no effect on myself.

No, nothing at all? It feels like it’s trying to connect to somewhere…. It’s bad!?”

“What’s wrong!?”

“…, I see, I see. I think I know what this is, Satocho-dono .”

“Eeeeee!? What the hell is that!?”

“This is something called pollution magic, a special kind of magic that cannot be purified or converted into other magic…was it? And, if you come in contact with it, the magic power in your body will gradually be replaced by this contaminated mana, which is dangerous and will eventually lead to death. I guess that the reason why the power of the spirit is gone is that the power sucked out from here is going to the source of pollution magic, and this pollution magic is being sent instead.”

“Such a thing… so, how should we deal with it? Should we do something about the source?”

“I think that’s the only way. Or if you can use extremely powerful holy magic, you might be able to push back with that, but ….”

Perhaps, but I think that with a force as strong as Reil’s, it would be possible to push out the contaminating mana that has accumulated inside the spirit tree and drive it out. In that case, there would be a new problem of how to deal with the contaminated mana, but that is a different problem, so that’s okay for now.

But Reil was a saint and a Hero. I don’t think it’s that easy to find someone who can do the same thing.

“We have no knowledge of anyone who has such a powerful power. The reason Lunaritia-dono and Ed-dono are okay with touching this is because they have that kind of power, isn’t it?”

“No, we don’t. We have been studying this before, so we are just a little more resistant than other people. It is just as bad if you touch it for a long time.”

Aside from Tia, the source of the contaminating mana power is my power, so it doesn’t matter to me how much I touch it. However, since I don’t know what kind of actions the Demon King of this world will take as a result, it wasn’t a complete lie to say that it would be bad if I touched it.

“So, we still have to hit the source of the contaminated mana?…… Do you know where it is? We will help you as much as we can!”

“Thank you very much. I would like to cooperate with your investigation, even if it is only in a small way. Therefore, I would like to ask for permission to stay in this village.”

“I understand. I will give you permission in the name of the village head. Thank you very much.”

The village head, who had regained his composure, held out his hand to me. I smiled and took his hand, and somehow we managed to get permission to stay in the village.