Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 40: Clouds Over the North
In the northern town of Kelvim, everyone had remained busy preparing to cleanse the undead beasts.
“Flora, bring the next container of water!”
“I’m on it!”
“I’ve filled all the jars here. Are there any more empty ones?”
“The old glassmaker made new ones!”
Amid the lively calls, I helped the townspeople prepare holy water.
Gilbert and the others had carefully washed and polished the pot used for stew until it gleamed. It now served the clergy as a vessel for turning spring water into holy water.
When the pot was placed on a stand and filled, the priest began to pray. Nearby children and elderly residents joined him.
According to the priest, holy water received a stronger blessing when more people prayed. Everyone available gathered around the pot, including me at the edge of the circle.
Barbara stood beside the pot and slowly stirred with a ladle, apparently to distribute the blessing evenly.
“Mm-hmm. Excellent work. Heh-heh-heh.”
“…Old woman, you’re laughing like that on purpose. We’re starting to resemble a group performing a suspicious ritual.”
Gilbert and the mercenaries carried a barrel of water and joked to make the hardworking children laugh. From a distance, the scene might indeed have appeared suspicious.
Dolph and the private soldiers were constructing a catapult.
Their strategy was to open only the upper part of the barriers containing the undead beasts, then use the catapult to hurl stones purified with holy water and reduce the creatures’ numbers.
“I never imagined I would someday purify stones…”
“One never knows what may prove useful. Perhaps we should purify many different objects…”
Despite his words, the priest looked cheerful as he made holy water for the stones.
◆◆◆
Two days before the planned cleansing operation, thick clouds began to cover the sky.
“The rainy season will begin soon. Rain will impair both our vision and our footing…”
Count Kelvim, the territory’s lord, stared upward.
“Will rain wash away the holy water’s blessing?”
“Don’t worry, Count Kelvim. Holy water is simply a catalyst through which clergy transfer a blessing into a vessel. Once a weapon has been purified and blessed, rain won’t remove it.”
When I questioned him, the priest explained with a gentle smile.
“We clergy manifest blessings directly as healing and purification, so we require holy water. Magic users, by contrast, bestow a blessing directly upon a vessel as divine protection.”
The priest of the Western Grand Church added this, and Barbara nodded beside him.
“…But a magic user’s blessing is fickle. You never know precisely what it’ll do.”
Barbara chuckled.
“Most often, what you pray for occurs. If you want a pot to produce hot food, pray that it’ll fill someone’s stomach. If you want a sewing machine to work well, pray that it’ll serve the person using it.”
Barbara patted the pot in which she continued making holy water.
“But as the priest said, blessings amplify one another. A single person’s prayer doesn’t determine everything. My pot behaves better when Flora uses it, doesn’t it? Because blessings strengthen one another, the results sometimes become unpredictable.”
The priest nodded and smiled.
“In that sense, Master Dolph is both craftsperson and magic user.”
“Exactly. Magic users exist everywhere, as do people with selfless blessings. Some possess especially powerful abilities to channel and amplify those blessings. Because they can accomplish wondrous things, we call them magic users.”
The thought that they were everywhere seemed wonderful. Though the town’s children and other residents lacked the power to fight, they prayed each day for peace and their families’ safety. When those prayers multiplied, they might someday become the magic of blessing.
As we finished our work and began preparing dinner, a commotion arose in town.
“An injured man! Get him treatment!”
A mounted private soldier carried a wounded man wearing unfamiliar armor and a shield.
“That shield—doesn’t it belong to a knight of the Duchy of Ziemeld? What happened?”
“I was carrying a message to Duke Ziemeld to request information, but the checkpoint was sealed and I could go no farther. While deciding what to do, I found this man on the road.”
“I provided basic treatment, but I specialize in barriers and am poor at healing…”
The priest accompanying the messenger was pale. They carried the injured man into the church, where clergy skilled in healing gathered around and began treatment.
“My God… No, I feared this. Is Ziemeld territory truly in the same condition?”
“What? How could the proud Knights of Ziemeld fail to complete their sweep?”
Unease spread through the town at Count Kelvim’s words.
Behind him, Lionel and Gilbert wore equally grave, thoughtful expressions.