I Kidnapped the Hero's Women-Chapter 223: Securing water resources (2)

The eerie atmosphere of the back mountain.

Trees rotting and twisted grotesquely everywhere.

As I entered an area where the stench of decaying animal corpses lingered, Yuria pinched her nose and shouted.

"Ah, here! So this is why so many evil spirits come here!" "Evil spirits? What evil spirits?" "I can see a ton right now! Looks like a lot of people died here in the past!"

Yuria, clutching the sleeve of my coat tightly and hiding behind me, muttered quietly.

It seemed there were quite a few evil spirits wandering around here.

I was planning to begin the construction immediately, but things had gotten complicated.

"This won’t do. We’ll need to dig up the mountain." "Uh...?"

If I left the source of the contamination unattended, it would just get dirty again even after purification.

So, the first priority was to remove everything that was causing the pollution.

I mobilized my workforce (the skeleton soldiers) to dig up the back mountain, and at a shallow point, we found numerous human bones.

What was strange was that the bones weren’t buried in a single spot, but rather scattered around separately.

And they were all found with everyday clothes and personal belongings, not burial shrouds.

"I heard this place used to be famous as a suicide spot. People who were infected with the plague would come up here and end their lives before passing it on to their families. There were quite a few who did that... Fortunately, the plague has greatly decreased, so that doesn’t happen anymore." "..."

So that’s why the back mountain was so contaminated.

People who had contracted the plague kept jumping to their deaths, and animals that fed on the corpses perished, disrupting the ecosystem.

It turned out to be a self-inflicted problem caused by humans, and there was nothing left to say about it.

"Thud! Thud thud thud!" "Yuria, what are they saying?" "Hmm... They’re saying, 'If you want to be buried in a sunny spot and achieve peaceful rest, come over here, but if you want to serve as a member of the skeleton army and serve the great necromancer, stand over there.'" "So which side has more people lined up?" "Everyone, without exception, is lining up to join the skeleton army..." "..."

[The evil god, 'Kali,' claps his hands with joy, saying that our necromancer’s army has grown even stronger.]

While I wasn’t paying attention for a moment, the skeleton army was busy recruiting... or rather, conscripting.

The recruitment success rate was an astounding 100%.

As Yuria gently infused mana into the bones we had unearthed, they began to tremble slightly.

Soon, the bones clicked into place and stood up as fully restored skeletons.

Among them, there weren’t just human bones, but also horse skeletons.

By chance, we had even managed to secure military steeds.

Naturally, the military horses became the property of the skeleton royals.

As I mounted the skeletal steed, the skeletal royal took on a more commanding presence than before.

"Thud! Thud thud! Thud!" The newly conscripted skeletons were initially confused, unsure of what to do, but after hearing the commanding bellow of the skeletal royal, they quickly lined up in order.

They would likely start by cleaning the bones, then be equipped and undergo basic training.

These were ancient, elite guards, so they were undoubtedly the perfect candidates for training the new recruits.

Thanks to them, the skeleton army grew in size, and the source of contamination in the back mountain was removed, achieving two goals at once.

"Alright, Earthy! Muddy! Let’s start the purification now!" [Kyaaa! Got it!] [Kraaa! I’ll get started now!]

Under Yuria’s command, Earthy and Muddy grew larger.

With their enlarged forms, they began the purification work on the back mountain.

"Yuria, you’re amazing... You’ve tamed both evil spirits and elementals!" "Heheheh!"

Charlotte, watching the scene, looked at Yuria with sparkling eyes, and Yuria proudly placed her hands on her hips and grinned.

Indeed, Yuria was talented in many ways.

I couldn’t help but smile, feeling proud of her.

[Kraa! Hurry up and create an underground waterway, Great Earth Spirit! You’re making us late!] [Kyaaa! Hurry up and do your job! There’s still a huge pile of things to purify!] "Ah! They’re fighting again...!"

As Earthy dug underground tunnels to create a path and Muddy flowed water through them to purify, the two kept arguing with each other.

Yuria tried to mediate, but I stopped her.

"Let’s leave them be for now. Their competitive spirit is actually making the work go faster." "Ahh...!"

Unless their competition got out of hand and delayed the work, the current rivalry was speeding up the process.

Each one was trying to get the work done faster in order to avoid being blamed for delaying things, and this was encouraging them to work with greater urgency.

Thanks to this, both Earthy and Muddy, who were usually laid-back, were now moving faster than I’d ever seen them, literally tearing apart the back mountain.

What was originally expected to take at least three days was completed in half a day.

"Wow! Wow! The back mountain looks amazing now...!" "The back mountain, which used to look like a cursed wasteland, has become so beautiful...!"

The day after the work was completed, we went to check the view of the back mountain and were left in awe.

The back mountain, which had been covered in bones and rotting trees, stinking with the odor of decay, was completely gone.

In its place, fresh, green sprouts had sprouted overnight, and the air was filled with the pleasant scent of fresh grass.

The soil was rich with earthworms, showing that the ground had been greatly improved.

The plants growing here would soon turn the area into a dense forest, using the decaying wood as fertilizer.

The sound of birds chirping echoed all around, and insects like butterflies and bees had become plentiful.

It was clear that the ecosystem of the back mountain had been completely revived.

'Now, no one can say that Vermont Territory has a cursed wasteland.'

The dreadful rumors about Vermont Territory had mostly stemmed from the desolate back mountain.

From today onward, no one would be able to gossip about a cursed mountain in Vermont.

One of the major problems had been transformed into something so beautiful, and it felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest.

"Ah! Let’s go check on the valley now, Uncle! Hurry, hurry!" "Alright. But let’s take it a little slower..."

Excited, Charlotte grabbed my sleeve and tugged, and we headed further up the mountain toward the peak.

Normally, the stench around the valley had made it almost impossible to approach,

but even as we got closer to the sound of water flowing, no foul smell wafted through the air.

"Wow! It’s so clear!"

Soon, before us appeared a clear stream flowing fast.

I could already see crayfish living there, and with just basic purification, the water was of such high quality that it could be drunk right away.

"Shall we open the dam now?" "Sure!" "Sylvia, it’s your turn." "Why do you always give me the task...?" "If I give it to Charlotte, she’ll probably evaporate the whole valley. You’re the only one who can control your strength." "..."

Sylvia sighed and stepped forward.

Then, with a flash of her sword, a red blaze shot into the sky.

Moments later, the massive dam was split in two by a red aura.

Sylvia sheathed her sword, and after a brief pause, the dam let out a rumbling sound, and the logs that had been blocking the valley split in half and collapsed.

Water poured down from the valley like a waterfall.

Soon, the waterway that ran through the middle of the village swelled, quickly becoming a full-fledged river.

With this flow, we could easily create two or three reservoirs to store water in preparation for drought.

The problem of water scarcity in Vermont Territory was now almost certainly solved.

"Well, we can head back down now..." [Kyaa! I was faster!] [Kraa! What are you saying, slowpoke!] "...Is that coming from underground?" "Seems like it...?"

At that moment, the ground beneath us rumbled, and from within, I heard a familiar voice mumbling.

Could it be Earthy and Muddy?

Had they been fighting all this time, from last night until now?

I stood frozen for a moment, dumbfounded.

The rumbling from the ground grew louder and closer.

"Ah! These two! You’re still fighting? You both did well, so stop it!" [Kyaa! We weren’t fighting!] [Kraa! We weren’t fighting!] "...!?"

Then, Muddy and Earthy suddenly shouted in surprise as they burst out of the ground, clinging to each other.

Before Yuria could say anything, the ground exploded and a huge jet of water shot up, creating a loud noise.

"Ahh!? Muddy, what is this?" [Kyaa! I didn’t do this!] "Wait, the water’s warm!?!"

"...?"

[Kali, the evil god, is greatly impressed that our Earthy has pinpointed the exact location of the hot spring!]

Startled by Charlotte’s words, I touched the falling stream of water, and sure enough, it was warm.

Not just warm, it was hot.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freewebnσvel.cøm.

Could this be... a hot spring?

Could it be one of the rare natural hot springs in the entire Empire?

I was already picturing myself sitting on a pile of gold, my mouth hanging open.