After a filling lunch of soup and sandwiches courtesy of Sebas, Hudom, and Eleonora, we were enjoying a nice, sit-down tea. My slimes had worked hard to clean the cottage, but it still seemed like a tight space for ten of us to sleep in. The cottage was a completely open concept (minus the bathroom) with no furniture, so we’d have to all sleep on the floor together, without so much as a partition to separate the men and women. I could admit that we were a large party, but a cottage this small still seemed inadequate.
“It’s only meant to be a temporary lodging for the warlock on duty. No amenities were needed besides a place to sleep. Since the warlock on duty could bring any number of assistants or apprentices, it was simpler to have one large space that could accommodate the whole party,” Rosenberg explained.
“Right, it’s only used a few times a year... And it’s easier to clean,” I said.
“Very true. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You’re the manager now, so you can always work on the cottage as needed.”
“Okay. I’ll build some more rooms later.”
“Later?” Rosenberg asked.
“With slimes and magic, I could build something similar to this cottage in less than thirty minutes,” I said. All I’d have to do was mow the grass with a huge bush slime, test and level the ground with soil slime magic, and lay the foundation with the help of a huge rock slime. After that, I could use sand slime magic to 3D print a building. That should suffice for our stay this time around.
Rosenberg looked confused, though. He apparently didn’t know about my constructions in Gimul, so Sebas gave him a summary of them while he served us tea.
Jeff and Welanna laughed across the table.
“Yeah, that’s the normal reaction,” Jeff said. “You’re the weird one here, Ryoma.”
“We would have had the same look on our faces if we hadn’t seen you renovate the city over New Year’s,” Welanna said. Sometimes, slimes were unbelievably versatile and helpful. “We should be getting back to work.” Welanna stood, and the other adventurers followed suit.
“There’s more tea,” Sebas offered.
“Just one cup was wonderful.”
“We’ve barely done anything to earn our keep yet.”
“There will be no stone left uncovered on the safer east side.”
“Tell us when you think it’s safe to go west. We will help.”
With that, the adventurers set out to scope out the area in greater detail.
“They are hardworking,” Rosenberg said.
“Yes, and very kind,” I added.
“Take care to maintain those good connections with others. Because hexes use negative emotions, warlocks are in constant danger of being ruled by them, losing their sense of either mortality or sanity. Even more so than other professions, it is valuable for a warlock to maintain friends who support them so they don’t fall. Who pull them back from the ledge... Who extend a hand and help you up if you should ever fall...”
Remily had told me the same thing. Hexes required magical energy warped by negative emotions, which were similar in nature to cursed energy. Even if a warlock only had good intentions of cleansing cursed energy, they were still susceptible to those emotions.
“I won’t forget it,” I said. “Regardless of any warlock business, I intend to cherish my relationship with all of them...and everyone here, of course.”
“It looks like I have nothing to worry about in that department. Once we finish this tea, shall we head out to investigate the cursed land? Put that magical item I showed you to practice,” my tutor said.
“Perfect!”
Magical items in hand, we set out for the settlement ruins. My afternoon class was going to be more hands-on.
“Is everyone okay?” I called.
“I can manage if we go slowly.”
“This is more treacherous than the file suggested.”
“They used to be bandits, right? They probably built these paths to make the village more difficult to invade.”
“Or the landslide has made this path smaller than it used to be.”
The trail leading up to the settlement was narrower and steeper than the file had indicated. Below us was a steep slope of at least sixty degrees, and some portions of the path were practically cliff ledges where we’d had to hug the wall and shimmy past. With a trail this narrow, riding slimes wasn’t an option.
“Let’s use Space magic or carve out a new path when we go back down,” I suggested. “That would be allowed, wouldn’t it?” I asked Sebas.
“Absolutely. The duke has already approved using any part of this mountain as a testing ground, and making any developments as you see fit. As long as it doesn’t affect the travel road on the bottom, you are free to add mountain paths.”
“If you decide to do so, please share details of the operation with me,” Eleonora said. “I will write up a report on it, along with one on the status of the cursed land, and submit it to the duke.”
“That would be great,” I said. There would still be some paperwork for me to fill myself, but I was mostly free to pursue the tasks that I enjoyed. In my previous life, I would have never imagined working under conditions like this. Just as I felt a surge of excitement, it was tainted by a mild sense of discomfort—a telling sign. “I sense cursed energy,” I announced.
“Then try out your item on a solid patch of ground,” Rosenberg said.
I did, just as he’d instructed. I pushed the stake into the ground, then held the balance level while I carefully poured my magical energy into it. I’d had a lot of practice with magical energy control, so that much wasn’t a problem. I saw the scales tip forwards to four degrees.
“Well done. Four degrees means we are still very safe. But there’s no guarantee as to what lies ahead. Let’s make sure to defend ourselves now. What is our objective here?” Rosenberg quizzed me.
“To form a layer of Dark magical energy around us that will protect us from cursed energy,” I answered. Light magical energy could also protect us from cursed energy, but that would cleanse and eliminate cursed energy around us, skewing our measurements.
When I explained that reasoning, Rosenberg nodded in approval and demonstrated the spell himself. “Protection.” Dark magical energy enveloped him, almost like the Curse Block spell Remily had taught me. Curse Block was also able to shield us from some degree of cursed energy, but Rosenberg explained that Protection is a more specialized spell that offered better protection, but only from cursed energy.
“Protection,” I said, trying out the spell for myself.
“Let’s see... Very good,” Rosenberg said. “For your first time, your magical energy is remarkably stable. Perhaps it is thanks to your experience casting Curse Block. That will be more than enough to protect you from cursed energy.”
With that stamp of approval, I practiced Protection a little more by casting it on Sebas, Hudom, and Eleonora. Then, we continued walking.
We carried on following the tipping of the scales, which brought us to the settlement ruin before long. Almost no sign of the settlement remained after the devastating fire and years of the mountain’s elements.
“This is where the cursed energy is the strongest, but it’s only at twenty-eight degrees,” I said. I’d expected ground zero to be a little more dangerous. Partly due to the Protection spell, I was sure, I could barely feel the effects of the cursed energy. If this was already what things were like at twenty-eight degrees, I could only imagine how much these scales would have tipped in the City of Lost Souls.