"I can't believe it..."
Yury, the Pri Minister of the Duchy of Niza, finally let out a few words from the bottom of his stomach. Next to him is the Dwarf King, lying on his bed, and beside him is the blue-faced Lady Considine.
Next to are May, Ferris, and Ruara. And an old man with gray hair.
"...I see that the Deer God has not abandoned us Dwarves after all..."
The Dwarf King mutters in a weak voice. Tears stread down his cheeks.
The dwarves were astonished. Of course they were. The deer they thought were enemies were actually their allies.
The dwarves had been taking advantage of the water that the Recolnae had produced to purify the water. Originally, the water used for refining ore was dirty and slly, and the quality of the rivers flowing through the Principality of Niza was poor. For this reason, the country used spring water from the mountains for drinking and agriculture. Therefore, the production of crops was limited.
However, if the river water was clean, it would be a different story. There would be no need to go all the way to the mountains to fetch spring water. Furthermore, by using the river water, they could expand their cultivated land. The dwarves were overjoyed.
In no ti at all, cultivated land was cleared in the principality and seeds and seedlings of crops were planted. And the land, which had been a steppe, was filled with crops.
At this ti, the Dwarf King and all the inhabitants of the Duchy of Niza were convinced of the further growth and developnt of the country. It was then that the deer attack occurred.
"The Deer God happened to taste the crops offered by the nearby farrs, and he knew that they were poisoned. He knew instantly. This would be the cause of the death of the dwarves.
"But if the river water is poisoned, will we not die? We live like this, though, don't we?"
Yes, the poison is not imdiate, but accumulates in the body. Of course, those who drink water from the poisoned river, but even those who eat crops made from the river water will accumulate the poison in their bodies.
"So you are saying that all of our people are poisoned!"
"No, we believe that the damage caused by the poison to the people has so far been minor.
"What do you an?"
"The principality has not drained the river to the town because it has focused on cultivating the steppes first. The people basically drank from the mountain springs as before, so the damage from the poison was minimal.
"..."
"The deer god knew that the crops were poisoned and that he could not allow his people to eat them. He prevented them from being poisoned by eating the crops himself.
"Are you saying that all those hundreds of deer were ordered by the Deer God!"
No, it was not a command, but the Deer God himself.
"What do you an?"
The Deer God differentiated and ford a herd. Each one of them was the Deer God himself.
"That's ridiculous..."
"Eventually, the country ran out of food and had to receive food aid from other countries, but the food was not poisoned, so the damage to the people was minimal.
"Then why is it that only the king and other mbers of the royal family are ill?"
"The fields of the royal palace that I warded, weren't those fields used to grow crops exclusively for the royal family? Moreover, didn't the water co from the river?"
"Ts... That's..."
"In the end, the royalty who drank the poisoned river water and ate the poisoned crops suffered the most."
"I don't doubt the aning of that, since we nobles, like our subjects, survived on relief supplies.... So... then... how do you explain this, Mr. Considine? From the looks of you, you seem to be in good health..."
"Master Considine is born with a strong resistance to poison. That's why he is poisoned, but not yet at the stage of onset of the disease.
"Why does only Mr. Considine have such a resistance? Isn't that strange!"
The Pri Minister is right. It would be better if you explained this to yourself.
I have given Considine my blessing. I promised Samashe that I would give her my blessing when a princess was born to the royal family.
"Sa, Samashe! You don't an the Empress Dowager of the last king...? You are...
"It's Thijos."
His eyes widened and he looked quickly at the portrait hanging on the wall behind him. It was a slightly younger man, but he looked exactly like Tillos.
"The duke-king, I presu.... You can't be alive..."
The Dwarven royal family has been a male line for generations. It is rare for a woman to be born into the Dwarven royal family, and in the several thousand years of history, there have only been four won born into the Dwarven royal family, including the Princess Considine.
About a thousand years ago, a crisis struck the Dwarf royal family. The current Dwarf King died at a young age. The only one left was Princess Samashe, who had fallen in love with the deer god Tiyos and lived a quiet life in the forest of Niza.
However, because of the circumstances, Samashe ascended to the Dwarf throne as Empress, and Tiyos was given the title of Duke. He entered the royal court and beca the Empress's assistant. For this reason, he was called "Duke-King".
A few years later, a child was born to the "Duke" and the "Empress", whose descendants lead to the present Dwarf King. The present attitude toward deer was also set by Samashe.
In those days, the demons in the forests were very tough. We had to live in our forests and exterminate them or our land would have been overrun.
Tiyos, the deer god, strokes his beard and recalls those days with nostalgia.
"What this Lord Rinos said is true. I could have co up with a better plan, but this is all I can think of, forgive . After the death of Samashe I thought I would never take human form again but I wanted to apologize for this. I promised Samashe that I would protect the royal family... but I let my grandson... the king... fall into this ss. Please forgive ."
"Ugh... I'm just so unworthy of you... I'm so sorry..."
The Dwarf King does not wipe away his tears, but squeezes out a few words.
"Good. It is good. But the poison was terrible. I was ready to die myself. I am proud of you who can take that poison and still live and think of your country.
The Dwarf king is crying his eyes out.
"By the way," he says, "the wards of Lord Rinos are wonderful. I did not expect so much damage to my body when I passed through it. The warding has shortened my life.
"You must be joking."
"No, it's true that my body is scarred. That ward is not at its strongest, is it? I suppose even the gods can't violate the wards you've seriously put up."
"Thank you."
"Well, Dwarf King, you still have much to do. You must not die here.
"With all due respect, Duke King. My body is already gone... and my son..."
No, you must not. Not yet. I have dicine to cure your poison. It is with this dicine that I am able to see you.
"My king, I am pleased to present my wife irias. Please take this antidote she has prepared for you. Master Eury, please distribute this dicine to the royal family who are ill.
I give the dicine that i made to Pri Minister Yury.
"If you drink it, you will suffer for a ti, but it will make you release all the poison in your body. Lord irius is the best dicine man. Drink it with peace of mind.
The Dwarf King silently took the potion of may into his mouth.
The king groaned in agony for a while, but with May's help, he steadily expelled the poison. He seed to have stored up more poison than expected and continued to spit it out for quite a long ti. The sheets of his bunk were stained beyond belief due to the poison.
Finally, the groaning stopped and the king began to sleep soundly.
"I think he's going to be all right now. But the poison has made the bones of his body brittle. He will need to rest for a while. It will take about a year for the bones to return to normal, but after that you will be able to return to your normal life."
"Thank you, Mae."
At the sight of this, Pri Minister Yury ran out of the room. He probably went to distribute the dicine to the royal family.
"Please take so, Miss Considine."
The lady, who had been staring at the potion handed to her, slowly looks at .
"I understand what you said about the deer. But the fact that you murdered Dr. Recolnai is another story. According to what you just told , they didn't intentionally make that poison, did they? If that's the case, wouldn't that an that Mr. Barsam killed an innocent man?"
I glance at May. Then I sigh deeply.
"This is... this is sothing I don't like to talk about, and it makes sick, but... Okay, let's talk about it."
May looks at with a surprised expression. And the king's breathing has stopped before I know it. From my bedroom window, I can see the city in the purple morning mist.
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