Chapter 10. Stubbornness and Arrogance (8)

“Ugh!”

“You money-grubbing bastards! You think gold can buy everything!”

“What are you priests trying to do by coming all the way here!”

Almost all the sounds heard were of this nature.

Most dwarven sanctuaries are said to be mobile. The reason for being at the end of the mine is simple: it’s where the most casualties occur.

Since dwarves originally built their kingdom underground and lived there, the act of mining ore was probably sacred in itself.

However, such actions change over time.

Even if the act of digging the earth is considered sacred at first, power eventually concentrates in the hands of the leaders who direct them.

As the scale grows larger, and another leader emerges above the leader, at some point, the pioneers who were originally the most valued are pushed to the fringes of power, and the most important position is occupied by the head of those leaders.

The beings at the very edge of dwarven society were the miners, who were farthest from the central power.

When they could mine ore properly, they were treated quite well, but if they couldn’t, they were simply abandoned.

“…”

I clenched my fist slightly.

The light accumulated in my ring faintly leaked out, illuminating the surroundings.

The expressions of the people who saw that changed slightly. Those who seemed ready to harm us first stepped back a little, and the dwarven infantry also retreated in surprise.

I extended my hand slightly forward, towards the person at the very front.

Did I look like I was about to use magic? That person seemed ready to flee at any moment.

His hair and beard were patchy, and his body was thin and gaunt, unlike other dwarves. Anyone could see he was malnourished, and he had wounds all over his body.

As I slowly extended the light towards that person-

“…No!?”

That person cried out in alarm and looked down at his hands.

Perhaps he had been digging for stones without proper equipment? The wounds on his hands, missing several fingers, slowly disappeared.

The blackened areas around the wounds also slowly faded.

…As expected.

Dwarves can store mana in their bodies. And usually, royal dwarves have a much larger amount. Among them, a princess who is exceptionally talented can create mana orbs with her own power.

However, there are also cases of the opposite. Just as there are people who can eat a lot of food without any problem, there are also small eaters who are full after eating very little.

I looked back at the priests.

The priests had openly displeased expressions.

For dwarves, mana is an object of worship.

And for such dwarves, how would those who cannot properly withstand mana appear? It’s understandable. Even on Earth, if someone cannot withstand holy power, they would be treated as monsters.

“I want to treat the injured.”

Since they worship mana, most dwarves would vehemently detest accepting holy power. It’s natural. Their body’s mana would be completely drained.

But, for those who cannot properly accept mana in the first place, they have nothing to lose.

“Let’s treat those with severe mana wounds first.”

I said with a bright smile.

“Could you please form a line?”

*

“Anna.”

“Yes?”

When the number of dwarves I had healed exceeded three digits, Ria called me.

I turned my head and was startled by how close Ria’s face was.

“Why?”

“Can you really persuade those guys with something like this?”

“Persuade? Whom?”

“No, those guys. Aren’t you here to persuade them?”

Where Ria glanced, the priests were gathered, looking at us strangely.

Perhaps it looks like I’m healing a blessing. Well, from their perspective, it would be difficult to understand me doing this kind of action. From Earth’s standards, it would look like I’m sprinkling mana everywhere.

However, that’s not an entirely accurate analogy.

A dwarven woman sat in front of me.

As the old men said earlier, the woman had an unkempt beard hanging down. I only guessed she was a woman from the shape of her body visible below her neck, as her beard was just cut short.

The woman wordlessly handed me a child.

“May I… examine it?”

As I said, spreading my hands, the woman wordlessly handed the child into my arms. Her arms looked weak. Whether she hadn’t washed properly, a smell wafted from the woman’s body, but I could still tolerate it. It was a smell I had been smelling all along.

I took the child into my arms.

“…”

Ria stopped talking.

The child cradled in my arms was difficult to distinguish from a human child. In fact, there were almost no differences.

However, it was slightly different from the image we usually associate with ‘children.’

When I removed the tattered cloth wrapped around the child, Ria gasped.

The child’s body was stained with mana all over. It wasn’t just that there were wounds and the surrounding area was stained; it looked infected and contaminated from beneath the thin, pale skin.

Holding the child in my arms, I closed my eyes without a word.

There was no need to even pray. Holy power poured over my head as if it were slightly flustered.

When I opened my eyes again, the child’s skin color had returned to normal.

The child, who had been lying limply with eyes closed, slowly opened its eyes.

It was still thin from not being able to eat, and looked weak, but at least it wasn’t dead.

“…May I know what water this child drank?”

At my question, the woman looked up and at me.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but the sound that came out did not form into words.

The inside of her mouth, visible at a glance, was empty.

“…”

I wordlessly handed the child back to the woman’s arms.

“Let’s go. Together.”

As I stood up, Ria also stood up without a word.

The knights, who had been steadily arriving for the few hours we had been here.

“I would like one of the priests to guide us.”

I asked, looking at the priest.

“…You said the inside of that slum was the original location of the sanctuary.”

I asked, recalling the conversation the dwarves had while coming here earlier.

The priests still had very displeased expressions, but seeing the arrived knights, they eventually nodded.

Perhaps it was the princess’s order, and the fact that I was an important guest-

Well, it was good that I brought the inquisitors with their broad shoulders.

…Although they were forcibly assigned by the church, well, anyway.

*

To continue the story from earlier, dwarves don’t live solely on mana.

They eat something, just like us. Mana is merely a supplementary means for survival; it does not guarantee the life of a dwarf itself.

If that were the case, I wouldn’t be treated as a guest like this.

And I wouldn’t have been able to heal dwarves with holy power.

“…”

I looked at the puddle in front of me.

Just by standing here, I could feel a strong mana that made my skin tingle. It wasn’t as large as the gnome lakes, but the intense mana felt there suggested its concentration.

So, this is ‘water mixed with mana.’

The reason I could survive without dying after drinking this was probably just because I am a dwarf. Even if my ability to accept mana is low, I can withstand it much better than a human.

“…I see why the slums were created.”

Ria said.

Right.

It’s not just a place where the injured gather.

They must have gathered for various reasons. After all, it’s not a space where people can live. That’s probably why they said it was ‘dangerous.’

That’s probably why the princess mentioned this place first.

There are probably places like this all over the Dwarf Kingdom.

Far away, I could see an abandoned sanctuary. A mass representing some intangible god that dwarves believe in was being consumed by mana.

“Wait!”

The priest shouted, as if he knew what I was about to do.

“No!”

The fat priest who had run all the way here blocked my path and shouted.

“This mana-“

“It’s sacred to the dwarves, isn’t it? I know. But if it’s like this, people will just keep dying. Magic stones can be utilized, but you can’t do anything about mana mixed in drinking water, can you?”

I raised my hand.

“And, as an expert, please listen carefully. If you leave this as it is, it will eventually cause great harm to the Dwarf Kingdom.”

“But…!”

“I don’t know what religious beliefs you have, but if you stand here like this, all the mana you’ve accumulated in your bodies will be drained.”

Only after I said that did the priest turn pale and flee.

No, even so, there’s a limit.

…

Well, perhaps because they don’t know that ‘limit,’ such a thing happened.

I sighed deeply and closed my eyes.

Sensing that things were about to get a little complicated.