Nocturne of the Sleepless Black Magician

The final task was the enormous pile of rubble in the center of town. Though it looked like a collapsed castle, according to the laborers it wasn't a building where castle lords or feudal lords had lived.

A place where townspeople gathered to make various decisions and talk to resolve disputes. All the residents fondly remembered and regretfully recalled what had been the town's symbol—a large mansion.

"Well then, this is goodbye."

A black sphere floated above her palm and slowly advanced forward.

"Coming from beyond causality, purifying sin and defilement and calamity, the deep source of souls. Now manifesting here, governing darkness and shadows, swallowing punishment and fear."

It was perfectly executed. The chanting of randomly arranged words was unnecessary and mere theatrics, but it was stylishly done. The large audience's reaction was dull, with quite a few holding their stomachs and laughing, but she didn't particularly mind.

Slowly pushing forward. Perhaps because the fake-sounding chanting had been unexpectedly long, the black sphere had become the largest size among those Safi had ever created.

A dark mass that sealed away even light. It advanced while trembling slightly and struck, and in the blink of an eye, the piled rubble vanished.

"Is this the end of all removal work?"

The foreman murmured with deep emotion. Several days had passed since creating holes along the highway. Progress had accelerated after halting the work of moving rubble to holes.

"Instead of moving rubble, wouldn't it be better to just erase it?"

A lady's single remark had been the trigger. Moving rubble apparently also aimed to collect buried household goods, but no treasures or usable tools were found. So they changed direction to complete rubble erasure.

There was only light work of leveling vacant land, with less heavy labor. The men had begun cutting timber for house construction, but that was work originally scheduled to begin in earnest over a year later.

They would begin constructing new wooden houses early. The first would be worker housing, and once completed, an increase in laborers could be expected. The development plan's timeline was significantly moved up.

"If only we could satisfactorily gather food, but things don't go that smoothly."

The rescued orchard family had begun making fields nearby, but the land was poor and prospects seemed dim. The saving grace was that the children had fallen in love with Safi's magic and were full of energy. The siblings weren't burdens or rice wasters but were celebrated like idols. What this town had been lacking might have been the enrichment of daily life.

"Big sister, are you going away?"

The brother and sister said in unison. With the big job finished, the time for farewell had come. Though Safi had given up, thinking she was helpless regarding the food shortage, she suddenly remembered the delicacies left abandoned in the sky. Those unappetizing monster fish.

The underground water vein she had accidentally struck before. The hole was full of water and had become a pond. She threw the monster fish in there. The taste was probably disappointing, but there was volume. This should prevent residents from falling into starvation for the time being.

"What a strange giant fish. Oh, isn't it moving... it's alive."

Surprisingly, the frozen monster fish revived as soon as it was dropped into the water. Terrifying vitality. As a test, Safi put other small fish from her secret stash into the pond, but they didn't come back to life.

"Big ones sell for high prices. Eating them would be outrageous. I told you, there are many eager buyers, and if stuffed, even museums would want these rarities. Young lady, is it really okay for us to receive these?"

The merchant she had first met was overjoyed. She remembered him saying they were worth several mansions. Though she had no idea how much that actually was, according to the merchant's rough calculations, they could be sold for amounts that would solve food concerns for several years or more. Very rough indeed.

Seeing the present swimming eerily in the pond, the siblings were delighted and the ladies cried. They shed tears of joy. Seeing such a scene and getting carried away, Safi dropped the remaining two fish as well.

Though they might be valuable rare fish, she didn't know how to sell them even if she kept them, and they couldn't become preserved food. Along with the monster fish, large quantities of small fish had also fallen. These were delicious to eat but would quickly rot unless frozen. It wasn't an amount that twenty-plus residents could finish in a day or two.

"The small ones... if any are left over and rot, please bury them in the soil."

When she made this offer, the young wife said there was a method to make them last. After removing the entrails, dry them in the sun. If properly dried, they would become excellent preserved food. The kind and sturdy people didn't seem to be teasing her.

The small black magician had never known such food existed.

Act 2 "At the Edge of the City of Tyranny, a Monster Asked a Question" Complete

❁❁❁ From the Author 🪄 ❁❁❁

Thank you for reading until the end of Act 2.

What kind of ending is this... Anyway, the story about dried fish seems to connect to the beginning of Act 4.

Before that, we'll quickly proceed to Act 3, which I agonized over whether to completely revise or delete.

(End of Chapter)