“A wall like that… And she made it in a matter of moments… Unbelievable…” Har Bell stood open-mouthed, looking up at what the witch had created with the power of Etorahk. Zero had even left room for a door, which she had likewise fashioned as if it was nothing.
“It is no more than a simple thing, but I have placed a barrier in the wall to convince other creatures that this is the territory of a dragon. The average monster will not even attempt to approach it.”
“Y-You can do that?”
“With the help of a dragon’s scale, yes.”
Zero looked over at Heath, who was wolfing down roast sakuhrm at the foot of the wall. Mercenary was by the dragon’s side, busy using his extraordinary knife skills to prepare the sakuhrm for consumption. Hort had used her own casting of Etorahk to form a long table and furnish it with a row of chairs on either side, such that the area under the impromptu wall had the lively atmosphere of an open-air restaurant. The Nurabehn who had gathered to goggle at the newly-formed wall seemed to have forgotten their earlier panic and fear, and were happily sampling the rare delicacy laid out before them.
“How do I put this…?” Har Bell deftly let one of her rabbit ears drop flat while the other remained upright. “I’m kind of at a loss… Ever since I brought you all here, everything about this world has started to seem different to me.”
The monsters that attacked her village had been repelled, while Har Bell had spent the time racing around with Kudo killing the leech-things and finding injured people to treat. In the past, it was all work she would have done alone. And it had never been enough─there were always lives she couldn’t save. This time it was more than just that, though. Without the members of the delegation by her side, the whole Nurabehn settlement would likely have been destroyed. And the Ignas and Exinov wouldn’t have batted an eyelash.
“Still, ’tis a strange thing,” Los said through a mouthful of sakuhrm as she popped up suddenly beside Har Bell. The rabbit-eared woman looked down at her, and Los shrugged. “Am I mistaken? The New World runs dry of mana, so its rulers contrive to eat the Nurabehn as a means of restoring their life force. Yet if that be the case, the Nurabehn are a vital resource─would it not then be in the rulers’ interest to protect them, that they might proliferate?”
“No… They would use up so much mana defending the Nurabehn that it wouldn’t be worth it.” Har Bell gave Los a grim smile. “The wizard phials I use are powerful, but I can only make two in a day, and even that’s a stretch… The next day my mana’s so dried up I can’t use any sorcery at all. For older wizards who sustain their bodies with mana, not being able to do sorcery for a day is basically a death sentence.”
“Barely scraping by, I see… Well─’tis to be expected in a land such as this. The mana stored in my little Ludens is so thick as to melt away into the very air of this place.”
“Ah, that’s right! When I was in the Forbidden Land I could make ten phials a day! I felt a terrifying amount of power inside me…” Har Bell looked over at Zero once more. “Not to mention the magic you all use… It’s truly incredible. All our thaumaturgical devices have to be prepared in advance─without them, we’re really no different from Nurabehn.”
“Then you should come and study,” said Zero. “The Wenias Academy of Magic is open and accepting applicants.”
“Though be warned…” Los swallowed a huge hunk of sakuhrm and grinned at Har Bell. “Dost require a license to practice magic.”
Har Bell was silent for a moment, then burst out laughing. The laughter left her feeling hungry, so she began tucking into some of Mercenary’s sakuhrm surprise as well.
“Come to think of it…” Saybil looked over at Har Bell. “Weren’t we in the middle of trade negotiations?”
The party hurried back to the tower square where they were subjected to a fearsome tongue-lashing from the priest, who had stayed behind to smooth things over after everyone’s sudden disappearance. The list of potential imports he and Lily had drawn up was unimpeachable, however, and they had largely settled the trade agreement itself, so no one felt they could protest in the face of his reprimands.
+++
Preparations progressed without delay. Many Nurabehn wanted to go to the Forbidden Land, but many were also reluctant to leave their familiar home, especially now that Zero had constructed her wall. With their settlement safe, surprisingly few of the Nurabehn in Kuravanuluox─which meant “repository of the Keybinder” in the local tongue─wished to emigrate.
“But their people are being eaten… Doesn’t that bother them…?” Hort asked hesitantly as she looked over the list of applicants.
Har Bell shook her head. “A lot of Nurabehn see it as an honor to be consumed and become a source of mana for the Exinov, and there’s some degree of benefit for those left behind as well. And once regular shipments of mana potions start coming in, they won’t have to worry about more people being consumed.”
“Still…”
“I get what you’re trying to say. But these are our beliefs. As long as those who want to get on a ship and leave can do so, that’s enough for me. As long as my little brother and my mother can live in that beautiful land of yours…”
“…Right.” Hort swallowed all the things she wanted to say and turned her mind back to her preparations.
“I…am a little worried, though. Isn’t Lady Danna Ryl asking you for an extraordinary number of potions? Won’t the Forbidden Land run out of mana?”
“Oh, uh, no.” It was Saybil who answered her. “She asked for ten times our present cargo─so fifty thousand potions. If that’s the size of each shipment, it won’t be a problem at all right now. Though getting that many bottles together might be kind of a pain.”
“I only hope the exalted Abyss Sorcerer is of the same opinion,” replied Har Bell.
“I’m…pretty sure he will be…” Saybil mumbled, confused. “I mean, I am the Abyss Sorcerer, so… Huh? I mean, it’s not like I’ve been hiding it, have I?”
Saybil looked over at Hort in mild consternation.