Chapter 87

"Y-Yes!"

Samu-chan, upon hearing my words, gently moved away from me. I showed her a thumbs up and then descended into the bottom of the drained reservoir.

"Good to go."

As I slowly and gently descended, the drained reservoir felt the same as the dried-up Lake Ryōu. The difference was that water was still gushing from the bottom on the mountain side. There must have been an aquifer here, and it was still active with plenty of water.

"I'm going to work on the reservoir!"

I pumped myself up and opened my item box. The item I took out was—

"Earth!"

Earth!

"Earth, earth, earth!"

I pointed to a spot, and a square piece of earth plopped down there. I moved to the side and started placing earth blocks in a row along the bottom of the reservoir. It was just like in the game, where you could place blocks one by one. You could build houses or farms on the land you had set as home, and there were various possibilities.

Thinking of each block as a unit in reality, it was a bit strange to see square pieces of earth suddenly appear, but it would be fine as long as I filled in the gaps properly. As I was working, a voice called out—

"What is this...! Young elf, what are you doing!?"

"Filling in the earth."

"I can see that! That's not what I mean! How can you take things out of empty space!? And that earth looks like it was cut directly from the ground!"

"Yeah, it is."

Muto-chan descended to the bottom and touched the earth I had placed, exclaiming in surprise. Samu-chan, who followed, also touched the earth block and swallowed hard.

"Miss Rini... Is this related to the underground passage you made when we went to the Schultem mansion?"

"Yeah, this earth was dug out with a pickaxe."

"...I thought it was strange at the time. If you had dug an underground passage, there should have been leftover earth. But there was none."

"I had it with me."

"Ah, I see. ...As expected of Miss Rini. You always think so far ahead."

I made the underground passage to the Schultem mansion when I was three. What a nostalgic memory! The earth I'm placing now might not be from that time, but the principle is the same. Each block of earth I dug out was stored in my item box, and I can take it out whenever I need it.

"Can you explain this!? You're not using earth magic to collapse and fill the surrounding earth! How can you... restore it as if nothing ever happened...?"

"Right. Normally, to fill in a dug-out pond, you would need to bring earth from somewhere else. However, it's impossible to make the earth exactly the same as the original. No matter how much you compact it, it will remain soft, and rain will wash it away or water will seep through, causing the ground to sink and eventually turn back into a pond."

"But the earth you're placing, young elf... The hardness, the quality. It seems to have already blended with the surrounding earth, as if it was carved out from the beginning..."

"In that case... this land can be restored to its original state."

After the two of them shuddered, they looked at me. So, I nodded confidently.

"I said I could do it."

That's right! I'm going to make it as if the reservoir never existed. And I'll restore it to a lake without drying up or changing the location of the aquifer.

"I'll stop placing earth here."

I pointed to the spot where water was gushing. Placing earth here would block the flow of the aquifer. So, I decided to—

"Round stones."

When I selected the item box and pointed, a block of round stones appeared.

"Huh? Not just earth!?"

"I have lots of materials."

"I see... Earth would block the water, but round stones have gaps, allowing the water to pass through."

"Yeah, it would be better if it looked more natural..."

Ideally, there would be small cracks in the earth or gaps between large rocks. But it's hard to recreate the exact original state. So, I decided to create a path with round stones to restore the aquifer to the lake.

"I'll do the rest."

I called out to Samu-chan and Muto-chan and continued working. I placed earth blocks and connected the round stones to the aquifer leading to the lake. Sometimes I made mistakes, and when that happened, I equipped the "Special Pickaxe" to break the earth.

After connecting the aquifer, I placed the square earth blocks up to the ground level—

"Done!"

—The reservoir was completely gone!

In the game, it's a simple task of placing blocks one by one, but doing it in reality required quite a bit of physical effort. I had to move from one block to the next and climb up to the next level. I wiped the sweat from my forehead, feeling a sense of accomplishment.

"What is this... an extraordinary ability...?"

"As expected of Miss Rini...! What a wonderful power...!"

After touching the boundary between the original ground and the earth I had placed, the two of them had different expressions. Muto-chan looked utterly amazed, while Samu-chan clasped her hands in front of her chest, almost worshiping me. I nodded in response.

"Now, we can fight the Water Snake."

—Now, it's time to face the Water Snake!