TUSM 7

Chapter 07

“W-Well, I told you exactly as it is…”

The servant wearing a cook’s cap pulled his neck in like a turtle. His neatly clasped hands were trembling.

I stared in disbelief at the plate he had offered me.

One piece of bread, a bowl of soup, a handful of stir-fried vegetables, and a few strawberries.

“No, why is this all you can give me?”

“Well, um… the servants’ menu and portions are fixed. Everyone gets the same amount.”

Does that make any sense?

It’s not like there’s a drought or a famine. How are people who run around working all day supposed to survive on just this?

…Is this some new kind of harassment?

Bullying? Something like that?

But if that were the case, the servant standing in front of me looked far too pitiful. Look—he dropped his gaze the instant our eyes met.

These people had once lived under the rule of a dark mage. If anything, they knew better than anyone how terrifying a dark mage was. There was no way they’d dare look down on one.

Still, just in case, I asked,

“Are you deliberately excluding me?”

“Th-Th-Th-That’s not it! I swear, it’s really the set amount….”

Lucifenia, after breaking free from the dark mage’s domain and becoming a grand duchy, had become one of the most fertile lands around. True, later in the story the true villain would appear near here and leave the territory half in ruins—but that was a year from now.

This shouldn’t be happening.

“W-Well, actually… recently a dark mage attacked the territory, and the land was contaminated. The knights are restoring the soil, but… for the next few months, we’ll have to keep things like this.”

“Ah.”

…Ah.

It hit me a beat too late.

“The wicked dark mages frequently tried to trespass into the Grand Duchy of Lucifenia to reclaim their old lands.”

Right. That was it. I’d only written it as a single line in the story, so I’d completely forgotten.

Dark mages were a bunch who never seemed to value their own lives. If Caius caught them, they wouldn’t die nicely—and yet, knowing that, they still targeted this territory.

Hmm…

Am I really one to talk?

Anyway, that wasn’t the issue right now.

I was starving to death.

“Excuse me.”

“H-Hiiik! I didn’t lie!”

“Could I take a look at the contaminated land?”

“Wow…”

I stared blankly at the scene spread out before me.

“This is… something.”

I was at a loss for words.

The site in question far exceeded my expectations.

On the left side of an artificially driven stake fence were lush crops and fruit. On the other side stood only blackened, burned-dead trees and chunks of land exuding a dark purple aura.

“These dark mages are vicious. Seriously vicious…”

And petty.

Since they weren’t confident they could kill Caius head-on, they just flipped over an innocent territory and ran.

Still, even so—how could they ruin perfectly good land like this? Who’s going to take responsibility for my hunger?!

At least the knights seemed to be working hard on restoration. Here and there were signs the soil had been turned over, as if they were bringing in fresh earth from outside to rebuild the fields.

The contaminated area was enormous. How long would it take to fix all of this?

“I’ll die before they’re done restoring it.”

Clutching my empty stomach, I looked around.

In the distance, I spotted a farmer in a straw hat moving between apple trees that bore no fruit.

I strode over and tapped his shoulder.

“Excuse me.”

“Eh—cough, cough… who—aaah! A witch!”

Crash!

Look at that reaction.

To show I had no intention of harming him, I calmly raised both hands.

“I just have something to ask.”

“P-Please don’t bite me! I’m sick, so I won’t even taste good!”

Who said anything about eating you?

“Over there—that’s all contaminated land, right? What used to grow there?”

The man fumbled around, picked up the straw hat that had flown off, and put it back on, blinking rapidly.

“T-That area…? We used to grow peaches there…”

“Oh, peaches. And then?”

“Beyond that were tomatoes and orange trees… but why do you ask?”

“Jackpot. Tomatoes.”

Just imagining it made my mouth water.

After thinking for a moment, I asked,

“If I restore that land to how it was, can I eat as much of the new fruit as I want?”

“…Pardon?”

“You said it’s unusable right now anyway because it’s contaminated. I asked a servant at the ducal castle, and they said it’ll stay like this for at least a few months.”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

“Then that means you’re agreeing, right?”

“Uh…?”

Perfect.

Leaving the bewildered farmer behind, I hopped toward the contaminated land.

“Ugh, the smell.”

Just how much dark magic did they pour into this place?

Even just stepping in made a nasty, stale stench jab straight through my nose and into my brain. The soil sank underfoot like a swamp, probably because of the contamination.

With this level of pollution, ordinary people vulnerable to dark magic would’ve fallen ill long ago.

Now I understood why the villagers trembled like leaves whenever they saw me. If things like this happened all the time, of course dark mages would terrify them.

“Let’s see…”

I rolled up my sleeves and loosened my hands.

Dark magic was troublesome not only because it was hard to track.

Phenomena caused by dark magic could only be undone by dark magic itself.

Usually, you’d resolve something like this by recollecting the magic permeating the soil—but if a white mage who couldn’t handle dark magic tried it recklessly, they’d more likely end up contaminated themselves and die.

“I’m being generous.”

Consider it giving an extra rice cake to someone you hate.

More than anything, I couldn’t endure the hunger anymore. If I wanted to eat, I had to do something.

Good thing I’d wolfed down the food from the kitchen in one bite before coming. If I hadn’t, I would’ve fainted from hunger before even getting here, let alone attempting restoration.

“Be grateful, Caius.”

Since I was at it, I might as well take care of the other farmland too, not just the orchard.

I stretched one arm forward and spread my five fingers wide.

“Yap.”

A dark purple mist billowed from my fingertips and drew a massive magic circle in the air.

When I poured my mana into it, the area around the circle began to glow dazzlingly.

In response, tar-like contamination surged up from the ground.

“Ugh, gross.”

To think they’d painstakingly bury something this foul under the soil. That was dedication, in a twisted way.

“Let’s absorb it.”

As I spread my fingers a bit more forcefully, the writhing contamination was sucked toward the magic circle like dust into a vacuum cleaner.

Yes.

It’s being absorbed!

The more that unpleasant, squelching sensation overtook my body, the fresher the air around me became.

But before long, I ran into another problem.

“…Huff, ngh. I’m hungry.”

I was too hungry.

The hand stretched out to absorb the contamination began to tremble violently. The magic circle shook along with it.

Did I use too much mana? I should’ve insisted on getting at least two plates earlier.

“Ughhh.”

In the end, my legs gave out and I collapsed flat on the spot.

The world started spinning like a lie.

I was almost done.

I couldn’t collapse now.

“Damn it… my peaches…”

I might be the only mage in the world who faints from hunger.

My consciousness slipped away.

I dreamed.

I dreamed that I’d escaped this hopeless possession and returned to my small, precious studio apartment.

Overwhelmed with emotion, I immediately ordered two sets of hamburgers and a whole pizza and devoured them all. The taste of the mortal world.

This was life.

Hamburgers were the best.

Pizza was the best.

Never again would I get possessed.

“Shouldn’t we wake her up?”

“…Is she dead?”

“Th-Then is that a corpse?”

Snap.

I opened my eyes.

A blue sky filled my vision.

“H-Hwaaaah!”

“Kyaaa!”

The people who had been gathered around me screamed and scattered in all directions.

Blinking blankly, I scratched my head and pushed myself upright. The fullness I’d felt in the dream vanished, replaced by gnawing hunger.

It was so good just a moment ago.

Why am I back in reality?

“S-She’s alive!”

“T-The corpse came back to life!”

The people who’d retreated far away were now holding farm tools, watching me warily. The farmer I’d met earlier was among them.

“I was never dead.”

I’m starving to death, and they’re calling me a corpse.

As I glared at them irritably, a sudden realization struck me.

“Right—the restoration!”

How did it turn out?