By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 16 - Chapter 12

Chapter 10, Episode 12: Cursed Energy Cleansing 101

After thirty minutes of climbing up the mountain on slimeback, we arrived at a cottage near the summit. This was where the warlock tasked with keeping tabs on the cursed land stayed during their shift. It was far enough from the cursed land that no cursed energy came this way, making it a great spot for our base of operations.

“It needs a cleaning,” I said. Rosenberg had said that the warlock managing this cursed land only came here a few times a year, and the run-down cottage showed it. Now that I was going to be officially put in charge of these testing grounds, I was going to make sure this place was going to be unrecognizable by the time I was done with it. First things first, we just needed a place to spend the night. I sent the cleaner slimes out to give the place a scrub, and sent sticky slimes out to create a perimeter along the cottage, as well as spider slimes into the rafters and under the floorboards to take care of the vermin and pests.

And there was no sense standing around while the slimes were working. “Could I ask you to do a quick task while the cottage is being prepared?” I asked the group.

“Lay it on us. We’re all here to work,” Welanna assured me.

“Then I’d like for you to scout out the area around the cottage. I’d love to take a close look at the environment soon, but I’d first like to make sure there aren’t any Undead, or wild beasts, or other imminent dangers.”

“Got it! You can leave it to us!” Miya answered, and the adventurers began assigning areas to scout out.

In the meantime, and with their permissions, I coated their weapons with Light magic to make fighting Undead easier, should it come to that.

“Master Ryoma, we shall prepare lunch,” Sebas said.

“We’ll make instant meals and quick meals, like sandwiches,” Hudom added.

“I can help with washing and chopping,” Eleonora said.

The three of them laid out the cargo we’d brought up with Space magic and started preparing lunch. That left me and Rosenberg.

“If there are no other urgent tasks, why don’t we go over the files to prepare for the work that has to be done here. In places like this, where a warlock doesn’t stay full time, reports can be outdated,” Rosenberg said.

That was similar to the situation in the City of Lost Souls, where things had gotten much worse than anyone had expected. Seeing how the newest of the files I’d received was from half a year ago, it’d be worth going over them again so we could look for any changes that might have happened since.

From a bird’s-eye view, this mountain resembled an oval that stretched to the northwest and southeast, with the cursed land halfway up the west-southwestern slope. It was marked by the bald patch I’d seen from the bottom, where there was no vegetation, and showed evidence of a landslide. Even before the landslide, the west-southwestern slope was far steeper than the eastern side, and ground on the eastern side felt solid—that would be the better option for climbing up and down the mountain like we’d done today.

“I’m curious about the center of the cursed land itself. I didn’t see any Undead on the way up...” I said. The adventurers would report if they encountered any in the area surrounding the cottage.

According to our files, there was a small settlement on that part of the mountain long ago. Those who lived there were all exiles from nearby towns and villages, and they were making ends meet by strong-arming travelers who used the travel road at the bottom of the mountain. As long as the travelers paid for passage, the settlers not only left them alone but even acted as guides and bodyguards. Back when that was the only road through the area, merchants didn’t mind paying a relatively small sum for safe passage, and the settlers were never prosecuted for it. Once safer and easier paths opened up, there was no need for merchants to pay the toll. Without anything else to offer travelers, the settlers became outright bandits. In response, the army burned the settlement to the ground. With the settlement and all its residents gone, the mass grave left in its ruin was abandoned for ages until it began to emit cursed energy.

“With proper maintenance, Undead do not appear, even in the center of cursed land. The trouble is that the cursed energy is killing the grass and trees, causing landslides. The increased danger of it makes it more difficult to inspect and cleanse the land,” Rosenberg explained.

“My familiars can inspect it from the sky, at least. If we use the spell I created, the landscape won’t matter much when I purify it. Wind speed and direction will come into play,” I said.

“I would like to see that spell in action when we have a chance. Using familiars to scope out the area is a good idea as well. Now, I think it’s best to show you the special magical items we use to measure the density and range of cursed energy.” Rosenberg retrieved a slender, dark carrying case from among the cargo Sebas had unloaded. He opened what resembled a case for a flute to reveal a golden stake with a scale on top of it, before sticking it into the ground. Holding the staff steady to keep the scales level, he kind of looked like a surveyor using a laser level. “This is that magical item. There’s no cursed energy here, but when I pour magical energy into it where there is cursed energy, the scales tip in the direction where the cursed energy is more dense. Taking measurements at regular intervals while we approach the center of the cursed land can help us map out the boundary of cursed energy.”

“You mark where it first reacts,” I said.

“Precisely. Measuring more frequently will allow us to pinpoint the boundary. If the center hasn’t been found, we continue going in the direction where there is more cursed energy until we find a spot where the scales remain balanced. However, it is imperative that we use some sort of spell or item to protect ourselves from the cursed energy, and that we never push too far. Finding the sources of cursed energy means we’re heading into the thick of it,” Rosenberg explained. Instead of trying to make a beeline for the epicenter, it was recommended to narrow down the center by approaching from different directions, ensuring safety first. “Still, it will be quicker to find the source in one go if the cursed energy isn’t too thick in the air. That’s why we determine the severity of cursed energy to determine if we should attempt to find the center in one attempt or several. Do you see the dial on the scales?” Sure enough, there were detailed markings near the fulcrum of the scales that showed the angle at which the scales tilted. “As a general rule, anything up to thirty degrees is considered safe. Caution should be used from thirty-one to sixty degrees. I recommend turning back as soon as you see a reading of fifty degrees, just to be safe. Never go into cursed energy measured at sixty-one degrees or more. And you should always cleanse your clothes and tools after emerging from dense cursed energy.”

“So, there are clear, numerical guidelines... I’m sure some people get hurt because they don’t follow those standards,” I said, more to myself.

Rosenberg’s gaze found the ground. “Your assumption is correct. I was just about to say that the primary cause for accidents in this line of work is warlocks not following these guidelines. A warlock’s job can be quite repetitive. Some young warlocks cut corners, and even supervising warlocks grow complacent. Duke Cassiel regularly sends letters to every warlock in his network that highlight the number of recent accidents and urge caution. Still, accidents continue to happen.”

Did something happen to him? Rosenberg suddenly looked terribly tired. I knew what he was talking about too. When I was still in school, I’d worked part-time at plenty of construction sites and factories that straight-up ignored safety protocols. From my personal experience, not too many sites used precise numbers to standardize procedures. Off the top of my head, I recalled a site where the manual was so vague that it didn’t explain anything, another one where following the manual was “inefficient” and doing so would earn you a talking-to, and even a site that didn’t have any manual or written directions whatsoever. It wasn’t the same thing exactly, but the same type of negligence seemed common in this world too.

Rosenberg watched me as those thoughts ran through my mind and said, “I’m glad there’s no need to explain it all.” Then, he gave me specific instructions on how to use the magical item, including how to properly read the dial and the recommended distance between measurements. None of it was particularly complex. Those who designed this item must have wanted to make it easily usable by anyone.

“For accurate readings, make sure to gently pour your magical energy into it. Beyond that, it all comes down to practice. I brought this one for you.” Rosenberg offered me the stake.

“Wait, you’re giving it to me? Not lending it?”

“Every warlock needs one. It isn’t particularly expensive or difficult to get one—it was a simple request through the Cassiels. Think of it as a gift to commemorate the start of your apprenticeship, albeit unorthodox,” Rosenberg said.

“Thank you!” As soon as I took the stake, a rustling made my head snap towards a bush behind me. My first instinct was to expect a monster out of habit from when I was in the Sea of Trees. “Oh, you’re back,” I said. Mizelia and Cilia had returned. “That was quick.”

“We didn’t scout out the whole mountain, just the area around here. And we had split into two groups,” Mizelia said.

“The other three should return shortly,” Cilia chimed in.

True enough, the others returned after a couple of minutes.

“This area looks safe. There were no Undead, and not even any large wildlife. There were plenty of tracks and nests of small animals and birds on the east side. Even if food runs out, hunting will be an option.”

“You could build a farm here, too, Ryoma. Untouched land like this is usually difficult to till, but the soil seems rich. I wouldn’t expect any landslides over here, and there was a large patch of flat land to the southeast.”

“I only saw bugs to the south. There was some vegetation, but it seemed gloomy, somehow. It was like there was barely any life. Same to the west, actually.”

“We got a bad feeling before we came to the summit, so we went around to the north, where we didn’t get that feeling. There were animals in the north too. If there aren’t many animals to the south and west, it’s probably because of the cursed energy.”

“So the atmosphere changes at the boundary of cursed energy.”

I considered what to make of all that information. “Lord Rosenberg, is the mountain walling off the cursed energy?”

“Yes. The center of cursed energy here is the grave at the ruined settlement, which means there is a lot of cursed energy stored in the ground. Despite regular cleansing, cursed energy must have piled up in the soil, which spread to the south and west through the landslides, affecting each area’s ecosystem. We can also assume that the water main of the mountain has not been tainted. When a water source is afflicted with cursed energy, its effect spreads wider and faster. In this instance, cursed energy would have seeped through the entire mountain if that were the case.” Rosenberg segued into explaining how cursed energy interacted with different materials.

Cursed energy corroded everything and had a tendency to pool together. Its behavior was affected by the state of the matter it corroded. For example, soil soaked up cursed energy more easily, but once it did, it was difficult to spread or cleanse. That’s why cleansing a cursed land took so long. On the other hand, cursed energy spread more easily through air, which couldn’t store as much and could be cleansed more easily. Water was somewhere in between earth and air for all properties. It could get tricky when a water source was corroded because the water could seep into the ground and transfer cursed energy to the soil. As Rosenberg had said, that made it easier for cursed energy to spread through the entire terrain.

“Some people describe this as earth and water working together. In another example, if the earth is dry enough to be sandy, the wind can carry the corroded sand—earth and wind working together,” Rosenberg said.

Because of these interactions, it was important to consider the earth, water, and air in relation to how wide cursed energy could spread. He also said that he sometimes took samples and tested them to measure how much cursed energy was imbued in them, kind of like soil and water tests on Earth.

Even the adventurers were listening intently to Rosenberg’s explanations as they learned more about cursed energy. Our conversation—which seemed to be half business and half small talk—continued until Hudom came over to bring us to lunch.