Book 16: Chapter 34
Mom didn’t say anything on the way to the spring. I speculated Mom was worried. We guaranteed that we wouldn’t give the spring water to humans, and it was impossible for somebody to sneak into the underground level. For some reason, Mom was still nervous.
The soldiers underground weren’t alive. If they were living soldiers, you might get away with saying they were bribed, but bribing mana soldiers? It was an impossible theory. They weren’t afraid of even me. In fact, they took the initiative to attack me, let alone a human being. If a human came by, they’d most likely be a corpse.
We went to the underground level of the imperial palace, which was where the lifeline of elves, the spring for all elves and the nearby magical creatures, was. The place was akin to the mother of the forest. The gurgling sound coming from the spring was as clear as usual. The soldiers approached us upon hearing our footsteps. They were expressionless as they were in the past. They respectfully saluted Mom but ignored me. I didn’t find that to be an issue as I wasn’t their creator. Mom ignored them, we continued to the centre. The elven spring soon came into sight.
I doubted Mom would be able to find out if somebody did steal from the spring, since it was impossible to tell if somebody took a bottle or two. If humans really did get their hands on elven spring water, we wouldn’t have any idea if they were organised crime.
Mom gently dipped her hand into the water and shut her eyes. I had no clue what she was sensing. I couldn’t sense any magic when I was next to the magical spring because I was surrounded by powerful mana. The inspection didn’t take long.
“There’s nothing wrong with the spring. The mana is normal, and nobody stole from it. There will be traces left behind if mana was active somewhere. The humans claim to have mana, yet it wasn’t from here.”
That assertion relieved me. I was nervous something happened to Troy City, as it was the elven land’s neighbour.
Human crops couldn’t be planted at Troy City due to elven mana, which was why we relied on the elven dye for income. If they wanted to obtain magic-infused water, they could get their hands on it from Troy City. That said, it was unlikely. While the water at Troy City did contain mana, the water there had mixed with humanity’s waters for a long time. That, in turn, diluted and thereby reduced the potency of the mana. In essence, it was only enough for plants to grow; however, it wouldn’t have any effects on humans. I, therefore, reasoned that they couldn’t obtain what they wanted.
“Where did they get their hands on water rich in mana, then?” I wondered. I asked, “So, the water…”