The battle between the Griffin and the participants lasted long, but with our superior numbers, even this formidable magical beast eventually succumbed.
The participants raised a victory cry after defeating the powerful enemy.
Amidst this, Trao approached the knight who had bravely fought the Griffin first.
The knight, thinking he would be praised, smiled with a flushed face.
“I’m sorry, but you’re disqualified,”
Trao told the knight matter-of-factly.
“Why?! I fought that Griffin on equal terms!”
The knight showed anger at the unexpected words.
“You’re disqualified because you think it was equal. If I hadn’t attacked the Griffin, you would be dead.”
At these words, several of the surrounding participants nodded.
They must have noticed the arrow Trao had shot. Those with real ability were properly aware of their surroundings.
“So what if I would have died?! If we fear death, we can never defeat the Demon Lord!”
The knight persisted.
“You don’t have to die to defeat him. I’m going to defeat the Demon Lord without losing a single person.”
After a pause, Trao frowned.
“Risking your life in battle is foolish.”
Lilith, hearing these words from Trao, remembered the time when the Demon Lord subjugation team was annihilated.
Trao’s words, “without losing a single person,” must surely come from his experience of witnessing that scene.
As someone who had seen the same sight, she understood his feelings painfully well.
Trao intended to defeat the Demon Lord without sacrificing anyone, just as he said.
Come to think of it, he always watched over the participants’ battles, probably because he was determined never to let anyone die.
Trao doesn’t lie. He always achieves what he says. But he probably needs support too.
(If I stay with senpai, I might end up in hell too…)
Lilith gave up on going to heaven. It was an unbecoming thought for a priestess.
Still, she resolved to support Trao until the end. She didn’t think of passing that role to anyone other than the members of Garnet.
Even if it was a sinful path.
(But maybe God likes people like senpai unexpectedly)
For some reason, she thought so.
Lilith brilliantly fulfilled her role as a healer until the end.
Not only did she simply level up, but Lilith herself felt that her capability as a priestess had definitely improved, including her situational judgment and efficient use of healing magic.
And Trao, by quietly supporting the participants, managed to reach their destination without sacrificing a single person.
However, by that time, the participants had been narrowed down to a hundred.
At the bottom of the lake of Illusion, the fairy Nimue, known as the Lady of the Lake, sensed the presence of approaching humans.
(It’s been a while since humans came. I wonder if they’re here for me?)
As Nimue was thinking this, something was thrown into the lake.
(As I thought, they have business with me. Well, can’t be helped)
With a not entirely displeased demeanor, Nimue picked up what had been thrown in.
It was a high-quality armor made of mithril.
(My, they’ve dropped quite a nice item. With this, I’ll have to give them fairy armor)
There was a legend about this lake. If one drops armor into it, the Lady of the Lake appears and asks the person who dropped it:
“Which armor did you drop?”
One is the armor they dropped. The other is armor one rank above what they dropped.
If they answer honestly, they receive the higher-ranked armor, but if they lie, the Lady of the Lake disappears with both armors. And whether they lie or not, she never appears before that person again.
In other words, a person only has one chance in their lifetime to answer the question.
Mithril armor is the best armor that people can normally obtain, but Nimue can bestow armor far superior to that, imbued with fairy blessings.
Holding both the mithril armor and the fairy armor, Nimue appeared on the surface of the lake.
“Which armor did you drop?”
Standing before the lake was a man with a friendly-looking face.
“It’s the mithril armor,”
the man answered cheerfully.
“You’re an honest person. As a reward, I’ll grant you this fairy armor.”
As Nimue handed over the fairy armor, the man said,
“Thank you very much,”
and bowed deeply.
Then Nimue disappeared back into the lake.
After a while, another armor was thrown into the lake with a splash.
This had happened several times in the past, but it was probably the doing of someone from the same group as the previous man.
They intended to use Nimue’s tale to improve the equipment of their entire group. Human greed knows no bounds.
However, for gods and fairies, anecdotes and legends are important rituals to enhance their existence, and cannot be ignored. Besides, exchanging a few pieces of armor wasn’t a big deal for Nimue.
As she emerged from the lake, a short red-haired girl stood there looking apologetic.
“Which armor did you drop?”
“The mithril armor.”
“You’re honest. As a reward, I’ll give you this fairy armor.”
As Nimue handed over the fairy armor, the girl bowed her head several times and accepted it.
After that, two more girls dropped their armor, and both apologetically received fairy armor.
Well, this much was expected.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
— Three hours later —
Splash! Another armor was thrown into the lake.
How many was this now? It must have surpassed twenty or thirty.
Even Nimue was utterly exhausted.
When she appeared above the lake, an adventurer-like man was standing there, so she silently handed him the fairy armor. She had stopped picking up the mithril armor and wasn’t even asking questions anymore.
“Thanks,”
the man said, giving a casual thanks as he took the armor.
Nimue pretended to leave but kept half her face above the water surface to observe the lakeshore.
“It’s done! Next person, please!”
The previous man walked towards the forest, and a knight-like man came to replace him.
Upon closer observation, there was a presence of a large number of people in the forest. There must have been a hundred of them.
(Humans are scary)
Nimue was in despair. She never imagined that so many humans would come, exploiting her anecdote. The greed of humans is truly terrifying.
How did they procure such a large quantity of mithril armor in the first place? They’re casually throwing it into the lake, but it should be quite valuable equipment in the human world.
Also, what were the magical beasts of the great forest doing? How could they let so many humans pass through to the lake? What did they think their purpose was? They’re supposed to be dangerous magical beasts; they should be more serious about attacking people.
And to her past self: Are you an idiot? Why are you being kind to humans? Human greed knows no bounds. You shouldn’t have gotten involved. If I could go back in time, I’d knock some sense into you and stop you from creating such a foolish anecdote.
Splash!
The knight-like man threw the armor into the lake. They should really consider the environmental impact. The lake bottom is already full of mithril armor.
(I quit!)
Nimue made a decision. She would stop exchanging armor. The anecdote ends today. Her existence might diminish, but that doesn’t matter. If she keeps indulging these greedy humans, she’ll be the one to run out of energy first.
So, Nimue decided to ignore the armor being thrown in.
“Mr. Trao! Nimue isn’t coming out anymore!”
After a while, the knight-like man called out towards the great forest.
In response, the man who first received the armor came out from the forest.
(So he’s the root of all evil)
“As expected. Dominique, scatter that thing in the lake.”
The man called Trao summoned a hooded girl from the forest. She was about the third person to receive armor.
“…Are we really doing this?”
the girl asked timidly.
“Yes. We’re just going to help Nimue-sama feel better.”
Told this, the girl took out a bottle containing a purple liquid from her pocket and began pouring it into the lake.
(What could that be?)
While wondering, the purple liquid spread thinly across the lake, reaching where Nimue was.
(This is!)
Nimue recognized the taste. This sensation that stimulates even fairies.
Black Lotus. A plant known as a fairy delicacy, and Nimue’s favorite.
[You humans there!]
Nimue appeared before Trao and the others. She also threw the fairy armor at the knight-like man.
[What was that liquid you just poured into the lake!?]
Excited by the taste of Black Lotus after so long, Nimue was agitated.
“It’s a liquefied extract from the Black Lotus, my lady.”
Trao answered respectfully. Beside him, Dominique was utterly reverent.
[I see. How many more bottles of that do you have?]
“About ten, I believe.”
Prompted by Trao’s glance, Dominique took out several bottles from his pocket to show.
[Very well. I’ll exchange all the armor. In return, give me all those bottles.]
“As you wish.”
As Trao signaled towards the great forest, humans started coming out in droves. There were about fifty of them.
Nimue flinched slightly but steeled herself for the sake of her beloved Black Lotus.
Several more hours passed, and Nimue finally finished exchanging all the armor.
It was no longer about the anecdote; it was just an assembly line process. She was told there were 100 sets of armor in total. This is getting out of hand. There should be limits to things.
Though exhausted, Nimue was very satisfied with the ten bottles of what they called Black Lotus extract in her possession. Fairies are crazy about the dew on Black Lotus flowers, but this extract was incomparably more delicious.
“By the way, Nimue-sama, I have a request,”
Trao approached Nimue.
“Could you bestow your blessing on this girl?”
The girl Trao brought with him was named Lilith. She appeared to be a fairly competent shrine maiden. She looked very humble.
[Leave, human. I don’t like you.]
Now that she had received the bottles, she had no more use for this man.
“I see. By the way, Nimue-sama, we can actually cultivate Black Lotus in this lake…”
[What?]
Those words couldn’t be ignored.
“Due to various circumstances, we’ve been working on improving Black Lotus varieties to grow in different places, and we believe some might thrive in this lake as well. Are you interested?”
Interested? The Black Lotus extract in these bottles is finite, but if it grows naturally in the lake, she could enjoy it infinitely.
[…Very well. I’ll give my blessing to that girl.]
Nimue embraced Lilith as if enveloping her and gently bestowed the spirit’s blessing upon her.
///
continue
///
Lilith felt her affinity with the world increase, and the presence of the divine became more tangible. Her healing powers would now be incomparable to before.
“Thank you, Nimue-sama,”
Lilith said tearfully, expressing her gratitude to Nimue. Nimue didn’t really care.
Afterwards, as promised, Trao cultivated Black Lotus in the lake. It was successful, and the lake truly became a paradise for spirits.
In later years, Black Lotus was officially designated as a dangerous plant, and its cultivation was prohibited.
The lake where Nimue lived became legally off-limits, and Nimue was able to spend her time quietly, without interacting with humans, just as she wished.
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