– King of Emperors’ POV-
「Are you certain?」
「Yes. The commander of the 4th knight order, Mizerost, has heard it from the envoy of Entor. He said that when soil contains magic, it will affect the crops. If it’s been affected by magic for a long period of time, nothing will grow at all.」
I let out a small sigh hearing Prime Minister Gaji’s words.
That’s something I never thought of.
According to the records left behind by the former king, supplying magic power to the field was one of the major projects undertaken by the entire country.
It was supposed to stabilize the yield of the crops.
However, the result was the opposite.
Even so, that’s something strange.
「Haven’t we been growing crops using magic for quite some time?」
「Yes, according to the records, it has been ongoing for a hundred years. The yield indeed increased since the beginning however, it seems to have had a sharp decline these last few years.」
「What are you trying to say?」
「Just my thought, do you plan on using the power of that broken magic stone?」
「Ah, you mean that.」
The magic stone found in the ancient ruins.
It was the source of the former king’s power and now, it has become a negative legacy of this country.
「But we were saved again.」
「That’s right. According to the eyewitnesses, his figure has been seen all over the country.」
「The god of the forest riding the Fenrir king.」
「I wanted to see that.」
I agree with Gaji’s words.
When I was thinking that it was about time for the 4th knight order to meet the envoys, a member of the 2nd knight order jumped into my office in panic.
When I asked him what was going on, he told me that he had spotted something that appeared to be a Fenrir in the sky.
I hurriedly gathered everyone available and instructed them to gather information.
The result was this bunch of documents before me.
-0-
What appeared was the Fenrir king along with several fenrirs.
In addition, there’s also a direwolf.
And then, there was someone in human form riding the Fenrir king.
He was probably the god of the forest.
The group had spent the day going through the fields of Emperors removing magic from the soil.
I don’t know why they helped us.
However, it is certain that they knew that the envoys from Entor were coming.
I’m sure they know since the people of this country had no idea that magic had a negative effect on soil.
If we had seen their act without anyone knowing, we would have thought that they are still angry at us.
「By the end of tomorrow, it will be known that magic has a negative effect on soil and that the god of the forest has removed it.」
「Right. As long as we endure this year, our food problem will be solved.」
「Yes, according to the envoy from Entor, if magic is removed, the crops will grow faster and the fruits will be bigger and tastes better.」
「I’m glad to hear that but we can’t expect to see the effect in our field any time soon.」
「That’s true.」
「Have you checked our food stocks?」
「Yes. It’s a little tight but I think it will be enough for the year.」
「Haa, great.」
We’ve been struggling with our food problem for a while now.
Even if we were to ask for assistance from other countries, the question of compensation would arise.
We were at a state where all routes were blocked.
I really can’t thank the god of the forest and the king of the forest enough.
「Are we still going to gather scouts for the forest?」
「That would be hard. We are still unsure if the anger had subsided and we still have fear.」
「I guess so.」
We wanted to send a scouting team to apologize to the kings and the god of the forest but we couldn’t get anyone.
There was a great deal of concern about whether it would be safe for the people from our county that had incurred the wrath of the forest to enter it.
I could understand this concern so I’m recruiting people instead of ordering them but we just can’t gather volunteers.
Though it was funny that the 4th knight order commander Mizerost was the first to raise his hand.
「Maybe we could gather enough men this time.」
「Will we?」
「Yes, there will certainly be those who think that the wrath of the forest has subsided and all that’s left is fear.」
I think that fear is quite a problem.
However, some of us would think there’s a chance of meeting the Fenrir king.
「Even if we are gathering volunteers, we should never pick anyone who’ll harm the forest.」
「Of course. We are only calling it a scouting team but to be precise, they are an apology team. It’s not like that would offend the forest. Well, Commander Mizerost will be joining the scouting team as the leader so it should be fine.」
That is certainly okay.
He has a strong sense of sanctity towards the forest.
「Come to think of it, Mizerost actually saw the king and the god of the forest, didn’t he?…..he’ll be bragging about it later.」
「He’ll probably brag about it for a few hours.」
「I should have been the one to meet the envoy.」
「What are you talking about? I think it should be me who has done that. I should have left my job for a moment.」
I can only laugh at Gaji’s serious expression.
Even the most serious man acts like this when it comes to the forest.
I want to build a good relationship with the forest like we used to.
「You hate his bragging that much?」
「I do. I can listen to him brag about other things but if he brags about this, I’m really going to get angry.」
「Does Gaji likes the king of the forest and the god of the forest that much?」
「…..they were the ones that led us to freedom. They are very special for the beastkins of Emperors.」
「I see.」
That is true.
We had been preparing for it but we hadn’t decided when we would liberate them.
It was the wrath of the forest that encouraged us to do so.
Without it, we should be still at the planning stage of their liberation.
「They are special to me too. They made my dream come true in my generation.」
「I would like to ask for a favor.」
「I’m sorry but I can’t let you.」
「…..I haven’t said anything yet.」
「This country needs Prime Minister Gaji’s help. Don’t join the investigation team.」
「….ah, no, that’s not….」
「Please.」
「It can’t be helped. I guess I can only give up.」
「I’m sorry.」
Gaji shrugged his shoulders after hearing my apology.
He knew it himself that he couldn’t but still tried.
He might be hoping for a slim chance but this county has yet to stabilize so Prime Minister Gaji’s help is necessary.
「Come to think of it, isn’t it about time for the envoy of the Entor Kingdom to arrive?」
「Is it that time already?」
「Yes.」
「Then, Gaji, I’m sure you said there were mages in the envoy of Entor.」
「Yes, there should be a few greater mages. If you want to travel through the forest, people that can cast a variety of magic are necessary.」
「Right. Would it be a problem if I ask them for help?」
「Is it about that thing?」
「Yes.」
That thing is the broken magic stone.
The magic stone that got stolen was returned to the original room and a problem was discovered after a while.
The mages of this country are trying to solve it with everything they have but there’s no result yet.
There are only a few greater mages in this country.
We only have few mages so it is not surprising that there are even fewer greater mages.
A great number of mages were purged during the reign of the previous king.
Among them were many powerful greater mages.
「It’s fine to ask for help but….」
「We would look disgraceful to the rest of the world. And that could be a problem itself.」
「That’s right.」
「But if it really returns to its original form, we can’t predict what will happen. It can also cause trouble to other countries and even the forest.」
I let out a long sigh.
The problem with the broken magic stone is that it started to repair itself.
It also absorbs magical power around it on its own.
We found out because the mages who were close to the magic stone suddenly lost all magic.
At first, we panicked thinking they were attacked by the magic stone.
I immediately ordered the greater mages to prioritize investigating what happened and it was found out that the magical power absorbed was used to repair itself.
We immediately put up multiple barriers around it to prevent it from absorbing magical power but after a few days, the inner barriers were destroyed which was concluded to be the magic stone’s fault.
Even the magical power contained in the barriers was absorbed.
Every day, we try to set up a new barrier to prevent it from breaking through but it breaks them each day too. We are in a state of continuous anxiety.
Moreover, because it absorbs magical power, we can’t even examine the magic stone.
「Yes, that might solve our trouble but there will be an immediate trouble after that.」
Yes, the next problem will be that this county will be at war with other countries.
Entor Kingdom has sent us an envoy which means they are friendly but the other two remain silent.
「Even so, I still want to ask their mage’s opinions. Ask them to be present at the audience.」
「I understand. What will you do if they ask why?」
「Though it might be useless to conceal what’s really happening, I want to explain to them while looking at their faces. Just tell them that there is something I wish them to hear.」
「As you wish.」
After watching Gaji leave the office, I leaned back on my chair.
I hope the mages of Entor know how to solve this problem.
「I’m sure Entor has a magic stone from a certain ruin too.」
The books that were left behind by the chief mage and the high mages who were in charge of the magic stone have something about it.
According to what I remember, there was something about other magic stones written on them.
That’s why I hope they know what to do.
I know they know how to stop that magic stone.
Leave a Reply