Chapter 218
The place Neilla guided them to was the innermost part of the temple, where a small pond was located along with a goddess statue. The small pond, formed by water that sprang up from underground, was surrounded by black stones and small, luminous shade plants, creating a clear and mystical atmosphere.
There, Neilla offered prayers and a simple ritual. It seemed to be something she always did when guests came, as she simply scooped up water and offered it. Ethan showed them how to wash their hands in the water, and the rest of the group followed suit in turn.
“Today’s meeting is by the grace of Aiha-nim. Everyone has worked hard to come from afar.”
She said that and smiled gently. Ethan simply bowed his head.
“High Priestess, I am,”
“Roina-nim, isn’t it.”
Roina’s eyes widened slightly. She hadn’t expected her name to be known. Neilla smiled again, creasing her eyes, and said gently.
“I believe you are generally aware of what has happened here. You probably came because of the disappeared Airas.”
Airas was the word used in Castrello to refer to the desert monsters. Contrary to its pretty name, it was a fearsome creature about 50 times the size of a human. Its appearance was similar to an earwig, but its torso was excessively large and the same color as the sand. At that surprisingly accurate word, Roina simply nodded.
Seeing that, the high priestess nodded.
“Airas cannot grow in a short time. From the beginning, it was something that should not have been done, to cut open their bellies to obtain magic stones. You have to wait 100 years for them to grow completely.”
“In that case… what method did you use before? Isn’t there a way to obtain magic stones without killing Airas?”
“That also requires Airas.”
Neilla raised a finger to her mouth and made a strange whistling sound. Then, a large insect that had been hiding nearby raised its head and came out. It was about the size of a large dog, and Roina flinched. It was her first time seeing such a large insect. She couldn’t help but be surprised. Nevertheless, its atmosphere seemed somewhat gentle, and her tension quickly eased.
“This is the appearance of a young Airas. They dig through the sand, find magic stones, and live off them. However, they have a habit of bringing some of them to their nests, and the amount is quite large, so we originally traded those that were naturally left over. That was sufficient.”
“Then why didn’t you reveal that method?”
“What do you think would have happened if we had revealed it?”
At that moment, Neilla, who had a gentle expression, wiped the smile off her face. Her expression seemed somewhat cold.
“They would have been consumed by greed. They would have raided the nests and killed all the Airas. Even these small larvae.”
As Neilla reached out her hand, the Airas that had appeared gently rubbed its head against her hand. Only then did Neilla wear a warm smile.
“Do you understand?”
“…Yes. I suppose so.”
Roina affirmed calmly. The Crown Prince would have definitely done that.
“But you know that magic stones are necessary to restore Castrello. Is there really no way?”
“Hmm……”
Neilla lowered her eyes and simply stroked the Airas with a warm hand, muttering. It was clearly a very affectionate gesture, but for some reason, it looked lonely.
“It won’t be easy. But those magic stones are Aiha-nim’s blessing.”
She seemed to have transcended everything, or perhaps she was exhausted. Her wrinkled hands seemed to show those years. But even so, despite her not very loud voice, she had a solemnity that made people focus.
“How could there be no way?”
Neilla said that and smiled bitterly. As if she already knew all of this would come. As if she had already foreseen and accepted all the misfortune.
“But isn’t there something more important than that, Roina-nim?”
And then she looked directly at Roina and said.
“The fragment of primordial magic that sleeps here. Have you found it?”
Roina’s eyes widened.
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