“Please explain the current situation.”
Miller nodded and led them to the water’s edge.
“As you can see, the water has turned dark and cloudy. The villagers first noticed the change yesterday morning. I arrived here just past noon.”
“How far has it spread?”
“It was like this by the time I arrived, from the other side of the wharf to this part of the shore.”
In short, the abnormality remained concentrated within the same range. That in itself told her it wasn’t spreading at an alarming rate.
“Did you inhibit the spread with a cleansing ritual?”
“Correct. The purification itself works, momentarily reverting the water to its original clean state, but then it immediately goes back to this. I’ve been doing all I can to stop it from spreading more. I determined we’ll either need several clergy members to handle this or a high priest.”
Fiona agreed with Miller’s judgment, but there was one thing she didn’t understand.
“Then why didn’t you simply request more? I believe that would have been faster and more efficient than summoning me for my opinion.”
“But I did request the dispatch of several clergy members… I just assumed you were here along with them. Is that not the case?”
Miller seemed genuinely surprised. That only deepened her confusion. Because they had definitely received a request for the saint only.
“Perhaps there was a miscommunication at some point… Regardless, our first priority here is verifying the situation. Would you continue purifying as you have until now?”
In any case, she and Miller were here and needed to do what they could.
The priest walked to the shore and folded his hands in prayer. When he did, the murky, stagnant black water gradually became clear. A short time later, the water around them was pristine again, but the moment Miller stopped praying, the darkness encroached again.
Just like he said, while the purification had an effect, it didn’t solve the problem.
“The black water is spreading in a fixed direction, which means there must be something at its source.”
They followed the trail of the stagnant water to its possible source and discovered it ended near the wharf. When they searched for where the color was the darkest, they found a tiny bag fastened to one of the pillars. The bag, dripping with some sticky black substance, was dirty and smelled rank.
“This is the cause, isn’t it?”
Fiona picked up the bag by the string. Miller’s expression changed to one of horror as he stared at it.
“How utterly vile. No wonder the water’s been corrupted.”
“I know it looks like a normal bag, but we still have to do something about it. What do you think, Fiona? Should we take it back to the Temple?”
“No, that’s too much work.”
She silently prodded Linus, who tilted his head curiously, to take hold of the string. Then she rolled up her sleeves.
“Take that!”
She raised a fist high and swung it at the small bag. The moment her punch landed, her magic activated and scattered the black fragments before transforming them into particles of light that sparkled and vanished. Seeing that everything except the string Linus was holding had disappeared, Fiona rolled her sleeves back down.
“Wh-What did you just do?”
Though Miller asked the question fearfully, as a priest, he should already know the answer.
“I crushed the source, of course!”
“Hm, not sure that completely captures what you did, Fiona.”
“You only needed a single try…no, a single strike to purify something so polluted?”
Linus still cocked his head thoughtfully, whereas Miller trembled and blinked rapidly.
“If it isn’t a natural object, then someone set it there in bad faith, right? Are you sure we can afford to erase the evidence, Fiona?”
“We can’t be certain they had ill intentions. Besides, there are priests who can trace the magical energy back with just this string. On top of all that, leaving it be would have only increased the harm. And lastly…I simply didn’t wish to carry such a disgusting thing with me.”
“Fair enough.”
She carefully wrapped the string from Linus in a handkerchief before putting it in a pocket. That was when she realized his hand was dirty, but she didn’t have anything to wipe off the smudge since she just used her handkerchief.
“I apologize, Your Highness. Let me ask if anyone has something to clean you up.”
“No, it’s fine.”
So saying, he pulled out his handkerchief from his breast pocket, took Fiona’s hand, and wiped her fingers gently and carefully.
“What? No, stop, Your Highness; I meant finding something to wipe off the smudges on your hands!”
“Oh, really? I appreciate the offer. Perhaps I’ll take you up on it then.”
He gave her his handkerchief with a grin. Unable to fight back, she wiped his fingers. She was sure he would have been fine with anyone doing the deed, but she did it herself since it wouldn’t take too much time or effort. Linus’ strangely good mood told her he, too, had loathed having his hands dirtied.
“Right, so all that’s left is the water in the lake. Can we leave it to you?”
Miller had already been purifying it, and in such situations, it was better to let the local priest or priestess take the lead. However, the man shook his head apologetically.
“It pains me to admit that I’ve almost entirely exhausted my magic reserves.”
It made sense. He’d been performing the cleansing ritual continuously since yesterday to prevent the abnormality from spreading further. He must be tired, too.
“Don’t worry about a thing, Brother Miller. Because of your efforts, the pollution was contained to this area. Thank you very much.”
No matter how effective the purification process, it would have been a disaster if that stagnant water had filled the lake. There was no guarantee the other clergy members would have made it in time, and above all else, the residents of the regions would have been in a quandary without a clean water source. When something happens, people tend to focus on those who directly solve the problem, but in most cases, solutions are found only because of the ones like Miller, who investigated and held down the fort until help arrived.
“No, please, you exaggerate. I don’t deserve your thanks.”
Miller flushed for a moment, then, for whatever reason, went deathly pale in the next. It almost gave her whiplash to see the dramatic change in his expressions.
“P-Please, you misunderstand!”
“Whatever are you referring to?”
“A-Apologies, I didn’t mean you, Lady Saint. M-More importantly, might I impose on you to perform the purification?!”
Despite Miller’s request to her, his eyes kept darting somewhere else. Curious, she followed the direction of his gaze and found herself staring into indigo eyes.
“So, Fiona, how exactly does a purification work?”
At the sight of Linus’ beautiful smile, Miller’s spine went ramrod straight, like someone shoved a stick into him.
“Each person performs it a little differently. Generally speaking, one touches the corruption, cocoons it in magic, and cleanses it. The range and speed of the ritual depends on a person’s magic and skill.”
“I see.”
Fiona suspected Linus must be learning about the process for the first time since he rarely had the opportunity to witness a purification as the crown prince. Though Miller’s color wasn’t very good, and his face was strangely stiff, perhaps that might be due to exhaustion from performing the ritual all night long. For fear of his well-being, she decided it was best she finished the purification.
“As well, I’ve been told that anyone as powerful as the pontiff can make the corruption disappear simply by touching it without a need to cover it in magic.”
“Wow, I had no idea.”
Perhaps encouraged by Linus’ admiration, Miller’s expression finally relaxed a bit.
Fiona rolled up her sleeves again and headed toward the lakeshore.
“It’s easier to set a range and concentrate only on it, so the basic idea is to envelop the area with magical energy. The advantage of not doing that is that it allows one to target a wider area, but the focus and magic required are different orders of magnitude. Most priests hardly utilize this method.”
“Is it really that amazing?”
Careful to keep her skirt from getting wet, Fiona crouched and raised her fist.
“Yes. A high priest’s purification ritual is a wondrous sight to behold. All that light…”
“Take that!”
She punched the water’s surface, and magic activated as droplets flew up in the air, spreading instantly like ripples. The blackened, brackish water returned to its original translucent state as beads of light fell around the vicinity like a rain shower.
“Whaaat?!” Miller shouted in shock, and the village headman, who’d followed them but kept a short distance away, also stared up wide-eyed at the light orbs. Only Linus smiled in enjoyment.
“Fiona, are we about done here?”
“Yes, sir.”
She pushed her sleeves back down and stepped away from the water’s edge. Though she had tried her best to avoid the water, a few droplets had landed and dampened her clothes.
“Fiona, you were just as lovely dressed in light.”
“Yes, well, purification is a refreshing experience, both for the viewer and the doer!”
“…You really don’t get it, do you? Which is incredible in its own way.”
In a good mood, Fiona shook the water from the hem of her skirt. With a wry smile, Linus dug his fingers into his cravat. He exerted a bit of force to undo it and then unwound the length of fabric to wipe off the droplets still clinging to Fiona’s clothes.
“Your Highness, stop. You’ll get wet.”
“I’m more concerned about you, Fiona. Here, let me wipe your face, too.”