The Sage's Story

Wyza said she could introduce Hikaru to someone studying the contamination of the animals, so he took the offer. He thought they might be able to help with holding back the evil that was running rampant in this continent.

The person's name was Zahadu, a sage—according to Wyza—though quite different from the sage Hikaru had in his mind.

「Well, h.e.l.lo there. Welcome. You must be Silver Face the meat hunter, hunting down all those animals lately. I'm really grateful for that. Even someone old like me wants to eat some meat.」

The sage wore a straw hat and overalls stained by mud and gra.s.s. He had a tanned skin, and wrinkles lined his bright and cheerful face.

「Oh, sorry if I'm a bit dirty.」he said.「I was taking care of some animals out back.」

「I see… You speak my language really well.」

「I studied the language back in the day. Though it's not been taught around lately. Anyway, please come in.」

Over 180 centimeters tall, he had a long and slender build. He clearly appeared to be more than sixty years old, but he moved in a spry fas.h.i.+on despite his age.

Zahadu's house was located in Dream Maker's eastern outskirts, near the mud walls that prevented enemy invasion, where weeds grew vigorously.

Creatures that looked like chicken, but with four wings and blue crowns, roamed the gra.s.sy fields.

「I'll make some tea.」

Only Hikaru and Drake came, as the girls were immersed in their new home.

Compared to the more modern buildings at the heart of the city, the sage's house looked more like a farmer's shed, with its battered walls and windows full of gaps. The only things that differentiated it from a shed were the kitchen and the bedroom inside.

「They call me a sage, but I think they're just messing with me.」

「Really?」Hikaru wasn't sure how to answer.

Zahadu was well-mannered, and Hikaru didn't really have any bad impressions of the old man. If someone treated you politely, you should do the same as well—that's what Hikaru believed. All the more so when he was the one who needed to talk to the sage.

The old man served fragrant tea in chipped cups.

「I use tea leaves gathered around this area, so they're not really the expensive ones.」Zahadu said.

「It's fine. I quite like it. So, you raise poultry here?」

「Yes, for eggs. I care for animals too in the process. When a posidonkey is injured, they bring it here.」

He's more like a doctor than a sage, Hikaru thought.

「Sometimes animals go berserk. It has something to do with the black magic rock that's sticking on their hearts. Once they're stable, I sell them to the Sorcery Department.」

「Are you talking about the animal contamination?」Hikaru asked, taken aback.

「You came here to ask about that, yes? In that case, you should see this.」

Zahadu led Hikaru to a shack outside the house, the chickens watching them along the way.

『It stinks! No, no, no! I'm outta here!』

Drake's sudden yelling caused Zahadu's eyes to grow wide.

「That creature can talk? Incredible. Are they common on your continent?」

「Ah, no, not really. Actually…」

Hikaru decided there was no point in hiding it and explained the situation to Zahadu. Drake, for special reasons, had to kill anything evil. To the drakon, the black magic rocks were dragon stones. Drake, however, ran somewhere far in the meantime.

「I see… Then I think you would want to see these.」

Hikaru followed Zahadu into the shack.

「Wow, there's a lot.」

Black stones of all sizes lay on the shelves lining the walls.

「The mana inside the black magic rocks seem to stabilize if left alone for a time. I tried pouring water on them and making them react with other rocks, but I eventually learned that leaving them alone was the best method.」

「What do you do with the stable black magic rocks?」

「The Sorcery Department uses them for sorcery. The s.h.i.+p you were on used plenty of it. Of course, they have to be extremely stable for uses like that. Otherwise, they use natural magic rocks.」

「So there are natural ones?」

「Of course. We mine them… Oh wait, I don't think I'm supposed to tell you that.」

「We have the same mines in our continent as well, but we call them Spirit magic rocks.」

Zahadu listened attentively as Hikaru explained the difference between Spirit magic, holy magic, and evil magic.

「I see! I didn't know all that since we can't really use magic.」

「But you say you can create magic items using these magic rocks?」

「We're just using the knowledge pa.s.sed down by our ancestors. We develop them, of course.」

Stable black magic rocks were purer and had higher power output. As such they were often used as disposable goods, like a large-scale explosion for construction or mining, or to power huge magic items.

「Right now, the Sorcery Department is planning to construct a large-scale clean water facility. They're wondering if they can use the black magic rocks for that. I think it's bad idea.」

Use the stones that made animals go berserk in producing potable water for humans? Yeah, they should definitely not do that, Hikaru thought.

「The Sorcery Department sustains the livelihood of the people, you see. They're more influential than the Construction Department.」

「Are leaders of the nine clans involved?」

「Yes. Rudendo has absolute confidence in the plan. People are also complaining about the low supply of potable water from the wells, so no one opposes it publicly. The current magic rock output from the mines is just enough to support our everyday lives, so they turned their eyes to black magic rocks instead. 」

Man, life in this place sounds tough. It doesn't sound like they're completely self-sufficient.

Black magic rocks sometimes ignited, so they were kept away from the residential areas and stored here in this shack. Hikaru and Zahadu left soon as the sage said staying too long was dangerous.

『Ow, ow, ow! Help!』

Drake was being chased and pecked at by the chickens after trying devour their eggs.

「Sorry about that.」Hikaru said.

「It's fine.」the sage said, laughing.

Hikaru learned a few things from talking with Zahadu. Except for the animals going berserk, nothing really changed otherwise; the quality of their meat remained the same. In fact, they tended to be more tender and flavorful, which the people loved.

Eiichi's notes didn't mention any black magic rocks as they were only discovered about a hundred years ago, which meant the study on them was fairly new. Before Zahadu studied them, no one really paid attention to these objects.

「I'll let you know if there's something else.」Zahadu said.

「Thank you. I'll come visit as well if something comes up on my side.」

As Hikaru started walking, Drake breathed a sigh, wrapped around Hikaru's neck.

「People here rely too much on magic rocks to live, huh? What about you? Did you learn anything?」

『Let's throw all those dragon stones away.』

「That reminds me. I thought for sure you'd say something about eating them.」

『Are you serious? Even I don't eat rotting dragon stones. But even when rotten, they're still dragon stones. It's best if you throw them all out.』

「So for you, stable dragon stones are rotten. What about that huge one I got? You know, the one where you slept for a long time after eating it.」

『That one was completely different. Normally, dragon stones won't go bad even after decades.』

「So the black dragon stones are sort of “defective”?」

『Yup! That's it! Yes, of course it's defective. It's a dragon stone that's not found inside an actual dragon.」

Hikaru suddenly stopped.「That's it.」

Dragon stones not found in dragons. Hikaru almost brushed Drakes words aside like it was just his usual pointless ramblings. They're just like dragon stones, but not really the real thing.

『What's wrong?』

「Tell me. What purpose does a dragon stone serve for a dragon?」

『Isn't it obvious? It's proof that the dragon is evil's p.a.w.n and that it's an enemy of drakons. It's also their source of power.』

「Who gives dragon stones to dragons, then?」

『Hmm… their parents?』

「I'm talking about a long time ago. Where did the first dragon received a dragon stone?」

『Oh, you meant that. It got the stone from the evil that lurks within the very foundation of the world. A being that wishes to destroy G.o.d, one who governs the laws of the world. It's an ent.i.ty that sees drakons, the world's mediator, as enemies.』

Drake was surprisingly fluid in his speech.

『The elders mention it all the time.』

「So can dragons give false dragon stones to other animals?」

『I'm… not sure. I never thought about it.』

「They probably can. If a dragon gives birth, it would give a dragon stone to its offspring.」

『Hmm, I guess.』

「It wouldn't be too far-fetched to a.s.sume that someone or something out there is trying to provide artificial dragon stones.」

『I'm not sure I follow…』

「I'm talking about false dragon stones. Those who received fake stones will create more stones to gather more followers. Gradually, the stone becomes more and more impure.」

Pyramid schemes popped into Hikaru's mind, something that was illegal in j.a.pan. Those on the upper layers would earn more without doing anything as more and more followers were recruited. The schemers would whisper sweet words into people, saying “The more people you recruit, the more you earn”.

Why do people create pyramid schemes? To make money. What about monsters, then? Dragons? The evil creatures?

『What's wrong? Why the serious look?』

「This is just a theory. I think those with black magic rocks are subordinates of the evil being lurking in the north. Gradually the network expands. It's basically a slow invasion.」