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At the riverside, I face upstream . Peer at the river, I notice several belly-up dead fishes… It looks certain that the river’s the problem .

I check behind me as I move upstream, confirming that Baron is following me with a large spear in hand, then pick up my speed .

I notice a bear-like monster leaning limply on a tree by the riverside . Checking its status, I confirm that it has the [Poisoned] and [Paralysed] status conditions . Baron gulps in apprehension upon seeing it too .

After we continue on some more, Baron starts paying close attention to the surroundings . Thinking there must be something out there, I use [Presence Perception], but don’t notice anything in particular .

As I’m wondering what’s up, Baron darts in front of me .

“Dragon-god-samah! Dragon-god-samah!”

He frantically waves his arms, desperate to convey something to me… I-I don’t understand… Explaining it with your mouth would be faster…

“…Guo?”

“It’s them! From here on, their territory is close! With the village as it is now, it might be best to avoid provoking them… No, they’re not dragon-god-sama’s enemies, but…”

Them? Ah, that reminds me, the other village was upstream . But if we don’t find the source of the curse…

As I think that, [Presence Perception] suddenly picks up on some concentrated malice . It’s coming from the bottom of the river .

The grass nearby is stained with blood . That’ll be where Hibi was stabbed . I clench my teeth tightly .

If that blood is Hibi’s, then there must be something set up around here . I stop and dip my head underwater . A few suspiciously glowing stones are tumbling on the river bed, contained within a shining magic circle . The magic circle is exuding a purple light, which mixes with the river and flows downstream . This must be the source of the curse .

“Guoh!”

I howl, and Baron stops surveilling the surroundings with his spear ready and runs over .

“Th-that is the poison’s… It doesn’t look like anything I’ve seen before, so outsiders really must have…”

“Gaah!”

My partner chants, and the riverbed is soaked in a gentle light . The light flares up as it touches the magic circle, and the magic circle fades . The stones and light both disappear, fragmenting and washing away downstream .

【Normal skill [Holy] has risen from level 1 to 2 . 】

…Great, good job, partner . With this, the curse’ll fade away over time .

“Ooh! Amazing, dragon-god-sama!”

Baron shouts out, delighted .

The poison will start to disappear . I can leave the explaining to the Baron . Next is… They’ll probably be attacking directly soon, so we need to be alert…

I’m worried about how many enemies there are . If it’s five or six…or at the most, twenty, then that’s fine, but… If it’s any more, protecting the whole village would be difficult .

I healed the villagers, but… I only healed them to the extent that their lives weren’t in danger . Hardly any of them are in a fit state to stand on a battlefield .

Without a miko, the people of the village can’t coordinate the way they’re used to . If they’re attacked from several angles, there’ll be more casualties .

“Let us return at once and tell everyone, dragon-god-sama!”

Baron says, waving his arms .

“…Guooo”

I moan in a low voice, shaking my head .

We can’t return yet . There are still things I want to do here . If possible, I want Baron’s help .

“Dragon-god-sama?”

If it’s just myself, then there’s a serious risk that I won’t be able to protect the village… I need to request the anti-dragon-god village to aid the defence . There should also be a woman with [Presence Perception] there . Probably, she’s the miko who’s name people didn’t like bringing up . In order to get their cooperation, I want to convey as precisely as possible what it is we know .

Last time I was there, I saved their children and defeated the manticore . That shouldn’t have left them with a bad impression of me . I had thought that by waiting for the right timing, I could have the two villages reconcile…

It’s moving the schedule forwards a bit, but it’s also true that I was mostly just putting it off because I was anxious about whether or not they’d really be able to understand each other . With the dragon-god village in danger, I have no other choice . If I leave them alone, the damage might reach the anti-dragon-god village too, so helping them is also a factor . Plus, now that I know the true nature of the previous dragon-god, I have all that I need to persuade them . It shouldn’t be a bad idea .

What’s more… The fact that curse’s source was here is a miracle in a sense . Perhaps Derek’s group didn’t know that the villages were fragmented . If they’d set it up further upstream, both villages could have been covered . As the anti-dragon-god village is further upstream, they should be perfectly healthy . Since we’re already this close to them, there’s value in asking .

『I hate those guys…』

Why’s that? Didn’t you fire off [High Rest] like crazy even though we were stressed for MP since you were being pampered by the children?

『The shitty old man and the braggart . 』

…Shitty old man… Braggart… Ah, Nargrom and Yarg . Indeed, neither of them are very likeable .

Yarg in particular might hold a grudge . He had all the fingers of one of his hands bitten off, after all .

“Dragon-god-sama, they might come towards us if we’re here… For now, we should…”

Baron waves both arms up and down, trying to gesture to me… I understand spoken language, though…

“Guoh”

I moan, indicating for him to follow me with my eyes, then start heading upstream .

“Dr-dragon-god-samaah! I don’t think they were the ones who set up the poison!”

Flustered, Baron chases after me .