Luna Village - 5

Night. Before me, a row of low-grade magic stones I've gathered lies neatly arranged. By the window, Coill, sipping wine, stares at me with an uninterested expression.

With fewer drinking companions, I'm now alone, gazing at the moon.

The transfer of magical essence into the degraded magic stones I discovered myself. After finding them, I've practiced repeatedly and grown quite skilled at it.

Currently, I hold a low-grade fire mana stone and a degraded low-grade fire mana stone in my left hand, and a randomly selected light mana stone in my right hand—three mana stones in total.

I trigger a reaction between the two low-grade mana stones in my left hand to perform mana transfer. My left hand grows warm as I hold the stones.

Then, I bring the light mana stone near the one undergoing mana transfer.

But nothing happens—the mana transfer ends without a sound.

"Guess it won't work... I thought a stone of light might react better."

What are you doing, Taro?

I mean, I'm trying to figure out a way to measure the magic essence leaking from the body, but I just can't seem to get it right.

"You say you can detect magical essence!?...Yeah, that's impossible. Countries all over the world have tried for ages and failed. If anyone could do that, the existence of magical practitioners—key assets in every nation—would be completely exposed."

"So, detecting magical essence would actually give an advantage, which is why they've been so eager to investigate it."

"That's right. But we couldn't find anything. Well, there was one thing we did figure out—monster beasts can detect the magical essence we use."

It's impossible for any nation to find it, even with knowledge from the original world. No matter how hard we try, we just don't know how to proceed... This is truly a challenging task.

We continued trying to detect where exactly the magical essence was coming from, but we couldn't figure anything out at all.

For several days following, I helped the villagers with their magical essence manipulation training, constantly searching for spare moments to investigate whether I could detect the essence.

"Taro-kun, please fix this..."

While they practiced magical essence movement,

Magic stones that are only partially activated, or those with colors that are only half changed, are being mass-produced. The technology is still immature, and the essence cannot be perfectly transferred. I restore them so they can practice again. Honestly, last time I should have just fixed them myself instead of going out to buy new ones.

"Thank you," she says, then returns to the others.

Those practicing elemental transportation in the village are steadily improving, becoming increasingly proficient at moving elemental energy. A few have even mastered it completely.

We should be able to gather enough people within a few days. That way, we can use the crystals for a longer time.

Looking up at the sky, I wonder. Where should we go next...?

According to the diary left behind by the hero, the next destination lies south—a city known as the Arasoot Confederation.

One of the five major nations in this world, located the farthest south.

Yet, it's a country that doesn't carry any particularly notable rumors. What kind of nation is it, exactly?

The hero also visited this country in pursuit of slaying a legendary beast.

That suggests there might be ruins or ancient sites nearby. Perhaps we should conduct a brief investigation with Puetji before heading there.

Several days passed, and on that day, as usual, training came to an end.

After finishing training, I began pondering methods for sensing magical energy.

But there was absolutely no progress. Since this wasn't a matter of life and death, I thought I could just continue my research casually afterward. Still, after days of utterly failing to understand anything, my mood began to sink.

To cheer myself up, I wandered around the village for a while, and there I saw Rilka gazing up at the sky, lost in thought.

Come to think of it, I hadn't spoken to any of the villagers or children for several days.

"It's been a few days since we last talked. What have you been doing lately?"

She glanced briefly in his direction, then looked away as if nothing had happened, and once again gazed up at the sky.

"I haven't done anything. I'm sure I won't have anything to do from now on."

"Why do you think that?"

"Well, I already have a role set in this village..."

Indeed, when I first arrived in the village, she had targeted me with a specific purpose in mind—trying to sneak into my room.

Probably, she'll do the same thing to future visitors to the village. She's never questioned that role before.

Yet through her adventures, she has come to know the joy of venturing beyond the village and town, and exploring the wider world.

She was always lively and curious about many things. Perhaps she wants to go on more adventures and learn about other towns and people.

But she doesn’t know how. At times like this, she doesn’t know what to do.

"Isn't there anything else you'd like to do? Oh right, you said before you wanted to see the sea. Haven't you thought about going there?"

"There's no way I can do that. I don't even know how. I wish I hadn't gone on this adventure if I was going to end up like this."

The ruins survey must have been really enjoyable for you. I don't want you to lose that spirit you've built up.

And I, too, felt some sense of responsibility for dragging you along, even if it was just by chance. That's why I kept thinking about what I could do.

There's no problem.

In this village, there's one way to travel anywhere in the world.

How about trying the Rilka Mineral Collection?

"Mineral collection? Now that you mention it, no one's been sent out from the village recently... But I can't fight, you know?"

Not everything is about fighting. There are tasks like Coil's—gathering information. And Rilka, I remember you could use healing magic, just a little? If you train that, you could heal your companions right away when they're injured on adventures. That means you can become anything you want. So why not give it a try?"

"Anything I want... I understand. I'll talk to my father first."

Two days later.

Rilka came to find me, her eyes swollen...

"Taro, come with me to your father's place—he's been called by the village chief."

We immediately headed to the chief's home, where Rilka's father, the village chief, was seated. His expression clearly showed dissatisfaction. He seemed to already understand the situation.

Following the chief's gesture, I took a seat in front of him. Rilka sat at a respectful distance to the side and behind me.

"It's troubling, Taro-sama. My daughter has something she must do within this village. Even though you've dedicated yourself so fully to our community, I ask that you refrain from acting on your own accord."

"What exactly do you mean by 'acting on your own accord'? She's acting out of concern for the village. Can you not consider that?"

"No, I'm afraid not. My daughter is still young, and she has no experience in battle."

"That's precisely why we should have her gain experience by working alongside other villagers. Having more experienced individuals in tasks like gemstone mining and dealing with the outside world can only benefit the village."

The village chief falls silent for a moment. Indeed, this person is someone who thinks clearly about costs and benefits.

He hesitated for just a moment after my comment—clearly considering whether his daughter could actually work in gemstone mining. Now it's just a matter of emotion...

"Even so, it's not feasible. There's someone who can use precious recovery crystals. With enough practice, even the manipulation of spiritual energy that Taro has taught could become possible. Besides, collecting magic stones comes with danger."

"So, you're saying that if there are enough people in the village capable of spiritual energy manipulation, or if someone in the village can use recovery crystals, then it might be worth considering?"

"That's true, but didn't you say yourself that you couldn't be sure whether everyone in the village could master the spirit energy transfer technique?"

When I discussed teaching the spirit energy transfer technique to the villagers with the village chief, I was asked how many people would actually be able to learn it. At the time, I said it probably wouldn't work for most, but at least one person might be able to manage it.

Considering that, my statement does indeed seem contradictory.

"Admittedly, it would be difficult as things stand. But would you reconsider if all the villagers I'm currently teaching could use it too?"

"Indeed, in that case, I'd be willing to reconsider."

Whether the conversation ended because further discussion was deemed pointless, or because the other party believed it impossible, was unclear. The discussion concluded there.