After thirty minutes of climbing up the mountain on slimeback, we arrived at a cottage near the summit. This was where the warlock tasked with keeping tabs on the cursed land stayed during their shift. It was far enough from the cursed land that no cursed energy came this way, making it a great spot for our base of operations.
“It needs a cleaning,” I said. Rosenberg had said that the warlock managing this cursed land only came here a few times a year, and the run-down cottage showed it. Now that I was going to be officially put in charge of these testing grounds, I was going to make sure this place was going to be unrecognizable by the time I was done with it. First things first, we just needed a place to spend the night. I sent the cleaner slimes out to give the place a scrub, and sent sticky slimes out to create a perimeter along the cottage, as well as spider slimes into the rafters and under the floorboards to take care of the vermin and pests.
And there was no sense standing around while the slimes were working. “Could I ask you to do a quick task while the cottage is being prepared?” I asked the group.
“Lay it on us. We’re all here to work,” Welanna assured me.
“Then I’d like for you to scout out the area around the cottage. I’d love to take a close look at the environment soon, but I’d first like to make sure there aren’t any Undead, or wild beasts, or other imminent dangers.”
“Got it! You can leave it to us!” Miya answered, and the adventurers began assigning areas to scout out.
In the meantime, and with their permissions, I coated their weapons with Light magic to make fighting Undead easier, should it come to that.
“Master Ryoma, we shall prepare lunch,” Sebas said.
“We’ll make instant meals and quick meals, like sandwiches,” Hudom added.
“I can help with washing and chopping,” Eleonora said.
The three of them laid out the cargo we’d brought up with Space magic and started preparing lunch. That left me and Rosenberg.
“If there are no other urgent tasks, why don’t we go over the files to prepare for the work that has to be done here. In places like this, where a warlock doesn’t stay full time, reports can be outdated,” Rosenberg said.
That was similar to the situation in the City of Lost Souls, where things had gotten much worse than anyone had expected. Seeing how the newest of the files I’d received was from half a year ago, it’d be worth going over them again so we could look for any changes that might have happened since.
From a bird’s-eye view, this mountain resembled an oval that stretched to the northwest and southeast, with the cursed land halfway up the west-southwestern slope. It was marked by the bald patch I’d seen from the bottom, where there was no vegetation, and showed evidence of a landslide. Even before the landslide, the west-southwestern slope was far steeper than the eastern side, and ground on the eastern side felt solid—that would be the better option for climbing up and down the mountain like we’d done today.
“I’m curious about the center of the cursed land itself. I didn’t see any Undead on the way up...” I said. The adventurers would report if they encountered any in the area surrounding the cottage.
According to our files, there was a small settlement on that part of the mountain long ago. Those who lived there were all exiles from nearby towns and villages, and they were making ends meet by strong-arming travelers who used the travel road at the bottom of the mountain. As long as the travelers paid for passage, the settlers not only left them alone but even acted as guides and bodyguards. Back when that was the only road through the area, merchants didn’t mind paying a relatively small sum for safe passage, and the settlers were never prosecuted for it. Once safer and easier paths opened up, there was no need for merchants to pay the toll. Without anything else to offer travelers, the settlers became outright bandits. In response, the army burned the settlement to the ground. With the settlement and all its residents gone, the mass grave left in its ruin was abandoned for ages until it began to emit cursed energy.
“With proper maintenance, Undead do not appear, even in the center of cursed land. The trouble is that the cursed energy is killing the grass and trees, causing landslides. The increased danger of it makes it more difficult to inspect and cleanse the land,” Rosenberg explained.
“My familiars can inspect it from the sky, at least. If we use the spell I created, the landscape won’t matter much when I purify it. Wind speed and direction will come into play,” I said.
“I would like to see that spell in action when we have a chance. Using familiars to scope out the area is a good idea as well. Now, I think it’s best to show you the special magical items we use to measure the density and range of cursed energy.” Rosenberg retrieved a slender, dark carrying case from among the cargo Sebas had unloaded. He opened what resembled a case for a flute to reveal a golden stake with a scale on top of it, before sticking it into the ground. Holding the staff steady to keep the scales level, he kind of looked like a surveyor using a laser level. “This is that magical item. There’s no cursed energy here, but when I pour magical energy into it where there is cursed energy, the scales tip in the direction where the cursed energy is more dense. Taking measurements at regular intervals while we approach the center of the cursed land can help us map out the boundary of cursed energy.”
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