"By the way, Mr. Considine. How is your mother, the Dwarf King's wife?
My mother... died three years ago.
"Didn't he die shortly after the Recolnae showed up?"
Well, that's just a coincidence.
"One day the queen fell ill. She tried all kinds of restorative magic and medicines, but she did not recover. Then Recolnai came to her with a medicine. When she took it, she felt better as if it were a lie. Isn't that right?"
"..."
"But after a while, I started feeling sick again. Then Recolnai brings the medicine. It gets better. But after a while you get sick again. It was a repetition, wasn't it?"
But your mother was not in good health to begin with...
"To tell you the truth, that drug is a drug that amplifies physical illness. It's a poison with a paralyzing effect that makes you feel no pain or suffering for a certain period of time.
"Mr. Barsam!"
What was the final illness from which your wife died?
Well, that's...
"The queen, Tiyaka, was ill all over, and there was nothing that could be done for her."
Father!
"King, Mr. Considine, what is the life span of dwarves in general?"
I live about 200 years.
"The goal of the Recolnais is the destruction of the Dwarves. The use of poison is the most effective way to kill a large number of dwarves at once. However, the life span of dwarves is long. This means that their life force is that strong. So Recolnai used the queen. Somehow, he made her get sick by giving her a medicine. Then he gives her poison under the guise of a cure. That is how they were able to confirm the efficacy of the poison. In other words, the princess was used as a test subject.
"That's absurd..."
"And I've heard that Dwarves live longer than women. If the poison works on the queen, it should work on all dwarves.
Lady Considine is stunned. With trembling hands, she pulls out a carefully wrapped paper package from her pocket. When she opened it, she found several black pills.
"Don't tell me that these pills that Dr. Konsidie and Ms. Utonica gave you are the poison that killed your mother?
"Yes, I'm sure of it."
"Perhaps it was Utonica who nursed the princess. She pretended to nurse her while she observed the effects of the poison on the queen. Unaware of this, the queen was daily thanking Utonica for her care. But he was laughing inside.
"No way..."
"The final experiment with the poison they made was chosen for you, Mr. Considine. Fortunately, the princess was not afflicted with an unidentified illness like the other royalty. If the young female dwarf fell ill and died soon, their poison would have been complete. The other dwarves would surely have been killed. Therefore, when the unicorn attacked her in the forest, the lady was stabbed in the thigh, not in the chest. They were probably planning to give her some medicine to heal the wound right away, like an anti-inflammatory or something.
No... no... no...
"I understand how you feel. But it's the truth. Perhaps you are not convinced. So I'd like to try an experiment.
I'll order Ferris to transfer one of Recolnay's men to come to us. The king and the princess are both astonished when the man suddenly vanishes, and a moment later he appears with a black rabbit.
The king and the princess were surprised. This is the shifting technique used by the Poseidonians. It is easy to use once you know the formula. Master Considine was transferred with it.
The lady who was on the verge of collapsing from anemia in the imperial mansion was once put to sleep by magic and transferred to Niza while she was asleep.
"So that's what happened when you woke up and found yourself in the royal palace..."
"Well, Mr. Considine. Do you recognize this black rabbit?
This is Mr. Rehammer, who used to work for Dr. Recolnai...
"Well, Rehammer. You don't look so good. I'm wondering if you're sick. When I told you this, the Lady Considine will give you some medicine. Accept it! Please give him the medicine you just gave him, Lady Considine.
The lady takes out a black pill and gives it to Rehammer. Rehammer's body moves for a moment at the sight of the pills. And the hand of Lady Considine shakes as she gives him the potion.
"Then you can drink it. If it causes side effects, I can heal you with my restorative magic. Drink it.
"Uhhh..."
"Drink!"
He takes the potion from the man's hand and forces it into his mouth.
"Whoa! Ggh! No!"
Immediately the man spit out the drug.
"Are you sure it's poison?
I carefully wrap the spit-out pills in a cloth.
"I'll have my wife test it, just to be sure. May, check this medicine. Maybe one of the dwarves should be there.
I'll look into it.
I'm counting on you."
The Dwarf King stares at the ceiling with his eyes closed. Lady Considine is stunned.
"This is foolish talk. She has the murderers of her wife in her service, and now her own daughter is about to be murdered....
The dry laughter of the Dwarf King echoes through the room. And then his voice turned into a cry.
Later, the potion that Lady Considine was carrying was proven to be poison by Mei. In the presence of Prime Minister Yury, who had just returned, she gave the potion to a bandit who happened to be locked up in the dungeon, and he died instantly.
The Poseidonians who had been bound by my wards in the forest were all taken into custody while May was conducting her experiments. It took a lot of work to put up wards for each of the 40 or so Poseidonians, making them incapable of transference techniques and thoughts. In addition, all those who had self-destructive skills were deprived of those skills.
Thanks to May's medicine, all of the poisoned royalty were safely out of the poisoned state. Lady Considine also took the potion and threw up all the poison, but she has not been seen by us since that time. The Deer God went back to the forest soon after that. But he is always willing to see us. When we have time, we will visit that big tree with an offering.
I asked May to investigate the river water right after the Posehai's poison experiment and found it to be in a very polluted condition. The Dwarf King immediately issued a ban on the use of the river water.
May immediately created a medicine to detoxify the river water. According to May, the quality of the water will not improve immediately, but only the poisons have been neutralized. The only thing left to do now is to wait for the river to be purified naturally.
Later, when the Dwarf King's health had reached a lull and his complexion had finally returned to normal, albeit slightly pale, from the reddish-black it had been, we discussed in earnest the measures to be taken.
The biggest problem was soil contamination. We considered the possibility of removing the contaminants by letting rainwater soak into the soil like Krumphal did, but this poison is not so easy to remove, apparently. After May's investigation, we decided to take two countermeasures.
First, May and Fairlie will work together on the land that has been used as farmland.
It turned out that the powder produced from the wings of the fairies could neutralize the toxic substances in the cultivated land. When Mei and I were talking in the house, Fairy said to me, "Is this the kind of powder like this? He flapped his wings and dropped the powder. May examined the powder and confirmed that it was an ingredient that neutralizes poisons. The great thing about her is that she has developed a medicine to make the powder even more effective.
The original farmland was lightly contaminated, so May and Fairy could handle it, but the problem was the newly cultivated farmland.
The problem is the newly cultivated farmland. The pollution condition of the newly cultivated farmland is very bad, and the same is true for the fields in the royal palace. The palace was to be abandoned immediately and some kind of building was to be constructed. As for the remaining large area of cultivated land, they decided to solve this problem by brute force.
In other words, the strategy was to fill up the land on top of the original land and confine the contaminated land within the soil. Fortunately, Niza is a mountainous country. We will cut down the slope of the mountain and use the soil to make a fill. We are going to use my earth magic and hire dwarves and other adventurers to help us. The Heedata Empire was to play a central role in helping to alleviate the anticipated food shortages, and the Duchy of Niza was able to make some headway in its recovery.
However, neither May nor I are likely to be able to leave Niza anytime soon. Everyday I transfer from my house to the royal palace or to the site of the disaster. Incidentally, only the Dwarf King, Lady Considine, and Prime Minister Yury know about my shifting techniques. Well, actually, I am using my shifting wards to move around, but for the time being, I have asked them to keep it a secret. I suppose they don't want to cause a sensation.
Two months have passed since we first visited Niza. We had finally decided on a reconstruction plan to some extent and were about to start working on it in earnest when I was summoned to the Dwarf King together with Mei.
"King Dwarf, how are you feeling?
"Mm. I can't stand up yet, but I feel much better than before.
I'm glad to hear it. So, what can I do for you? I have a favor to ask the Dwarf King, too.
"Well, my business is merely a request. It is of no importance. The Marquis of Batham's request is much more important. Whatever you want.
"I'm sorry, this is very difficult for me to say, but..."
"Don't be shy. Don't be shy. I'll help you in any way I can.
Hearing these powerful words renews my spirit. I take a deep breath and look straight at the Dwarf King.
"I have no other request. The forty captive Poseidai, will you give them to me as my servants?
A tense atmosphere fills the Dwarf King's room, so tense that one forgets about the early summer heat and humidity.