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“Hmm, I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do about this.”

Satsuki-san had lowered the coffin and was sitting there. She crossed her arms as if cradling her heavy chest and tilted her head.
Her gaze seemed to be fixed on the source of the hot spring. Hot water was bubbling up from the ground. It was barely more than a tap turned upside down and left slightly open—hardly enough to run a hot spring inn.
I was about to go over and speak to her, but Kuzuha-chan’s mouth moved faster than mine.

“Um, Satsuki-san. Can’t you fix it?”
“Oh, hello, you two. Well… it’s a bit tricky. It seems a curse has been placed on the water veins themselves.”
“Water veins, you say?”
“Oh, Arje-chan, don’t you know about them? Water veins, longmai, leylines… there are several ways to refer to them, but they’re the flows of mana that crisscross the world.”
“I see.”
“The flow in this area is usually clear and leans toward the Water element, which is why high-quality hot springs well up here, but it seems that flow has been cursed and has become stagnant.”

I don’t really understand what she means. To begin with, I don’t even fully grasp what “mana” actually is myself.
Judging from what Satsuki-san said, it seems that in this world, mana resides not only in living creatures but in the world itself. So does that mean the flow of mana here has been disrupted because of a curse?
I remembered the blocked waterway I saw a little while ago. I wonder if something like that is happening behind the scenes.

Whether or not I fully understand the mechanism, if this trouble was caused by a curse, then it’s my job to handle it. Ugh, what a hassle.

It’s not particularly taxing in terms of mana, but using magic still causes fatigue. Since I hate getting tired, I reluctantly begin to channel my magic.
Since I’m only dealing with a curse, I’ll focus the effect of my spell on that aspect. It’ll reduce my mana consumption, even if just a little.

“Restore the Flow”

I muttered a suitable phrase as a trigger and released the spell.
The magic activated as usual, and a miracle—something taken for granted in this world—occurred.
Leylines or felines or whatever it is, I don’t really understand, but since magic takes care of everything, I don’t need to think about the details. The sun sank into the distance, and the power of magic purified the world—

“!”

—and suddenly, I felt a sensation as if something had snapped.
The sensation was accompanied by a tingling in my palm, and my arm snapped upward as if propelled from below. When I slowly lowered my hand to look at it, a reddish-black pattern was splattered across my palm, only to vanish almost immediately.

…A curse, huh?

As the pattern faded, I felt an unpleasant sensation, as if my skin were being lightly brushed by a fingertip. That creepy sensation was a curse. It’s the first time I’ve been cursed, but I’m pretty sure that’s what it was.
It must have been rigged so that a counter-curse would activate against anyone trying to lift the curse on the leyline. It didn’t affect me since I have high curse resistance, but it seems it was strong enough to make my hand snap back.

“Arje-san!?”
“I’m fine. Looks like it was a pretty powerful curse.”

I don’t know who this vampire named Elsie is, but doing something like planting a landmine under the partition that stops the flow suggests she has a pretty nasty personality.
That said, this solves the hot spring problem. The curse has been lifted, and the hot water is flowing again.
I let out a sigh and gazed at the source of the hot spring—only to realize my assumption was wrong.

“…Huh?”

A question mark slipped out almost unconsciously.
The hot spring was still gushing only a tiny amount—just enough for a child to splash around in.
It was exactly the same as before. Nothing had changed; it was still cursed.
If there was any change at all, it was simply that the light of dusk that had been reflecting off the water was gone—that was all.

“Well, well… this is quite a hassle, isn’t it?”
“Do you understand what’s happening, Satsuki-san?”
“It seems the curse is structured so that whenever you try to break it, another curse is triggered; and by using that as a starting point to peel away the surface layer of the curse, it refuses to be completely broken.”

Her answer was the kind that made me feel exhausted just hearing it.
In other words, it seems the curse is designed so that not only does it explode on you when you try to remove the partition, but the curse is also set up so that only the top part of the partition can be removed.

“This is the kind of spell that’s exhausting just to cast… It’s astonishingly meticulous, but it’s so complicated it’s almost admirable. Who on earth cast such a ridiculously serious curse?”
“I’ve heard it was a vampire named Elsie.”
“Ah…”

Satsuki-san looked up at the sky, either in exasperation or resignation. Above her were trees rustling gently in the breeze, and as she gazed at them, her posture ended up accentuating her chest. She really is well-endowed, isn’t she?
Eventually, Satsuki-san lowered her tilted head and sighed. She pressed both arms against her chest to hold down the jiggle caused by her movement, and,

“I guess this is a calamity, a disaster so to speak.”
“You know her?”
“It’s not so much that I know her as that I’ve heard about her. She’s a dangerous individual with a bounty on her head from the Lantz Knecht Association.”
“Lunch Net?”
“Lantz Knecht. To put it simply, they’re people who provide military force for money. They mainly take on contracts for temporary military forces, reconnaissance in dangerous areas, and escorting merchant caravans. The association manages these people and offers bounties on dangerous individuals to recruit people to take them down.”

To sum it up, they seem to be something like mercenaries or bounty hunters.
The one being targeted by such people—in other words, the wanted vampire—is Elsie. Hmm, she’s definitely going to be a hassle. I’ll try to avoid getting involved even if I run into her.

I decide how to handle this unknown threat and refocus my attention. This time, I’ll give it my all.
The object the opponent placed is designed to resist removal, which is why I failed to get past it the first time. Even if it’s a hassle, I should give it my all.
I can’t pull off the kind of nimble tricks they’re using. So I’ll handle it with brute force.

I slowly cool my mind, as if dropping my head into water.
I know how to infuse more magic into it. I just need to think hard. It’s not my strong suit, but since this is a necessary phase right now, I have no choice.
The sound of a hot spring bubbling up. Leaves rustle, and night insects begin to chirp. Kuzuha-chan’s voice cuts through the waves of sound.

“Arje-san, you don’t have to push yourself…”

It wasn’t exactly pushing myself, so I ignored her. It’s just unbearably tedious, and I just want to get it over with.
There’s no real meaning in raising both hands. It’s a matter of mindset. Into the air, which has grown cold, I cast my words once more.

“Restore the Flow.”

With those words, spoken as if chewing them over, magic was conjured once more.
As expected, the recoil—no, the backlash—came. This time, I endured it. As before, there was a sensation like being stroked, sending a shiver down my spine.
I exhaled and looked at the result of the spell; it seemed to have had at least some effect. There was a loud “gopon!” sound, and the amount of hot water gushing out increased.
Still, it’s hard to call it a complete success. The hot spring is bubbling up from the ground, and the surrounding rocks show color changes that are evidence the hot water usually reaches that far.
The boundary between the parts that have been exposed to direct sunlight for years and those that haven’t seems unlikely to be reached with just this much.
A mountain breeze blew as if to mock me, ruffling my headdress. I consciously smoothed it down, careful not to let my mind become unsettled as well.

…I already used my full power and it still managed to suppress me so far.

My healing magic and mana enhancement skills are maxed out. In other words, I can wield the most potent healing power in this world, without a doubt.
Even in a world where magic is commonplace, it’s a power that still makes everyone’s eyes widen as if they’ve witnessed a miracle. I’m wielding that much power, and yet, it’s being blocked.

It’s not being completely nullified. Little by little, the curse’s power is weakening.
If I repeat the dispel spell a few more times, I should be able to remove the curse completely. I just don’t know how many times it’ll take.

“This looks like it’s going to take a while. Please wait a little longer.”

I spoke without turning to look at Kuzuha-chan behind me. Something—I couldn’t tell if it was a sigh or a word—brushed past my ear, but since that was all, I didn’t respond.
If it doesn’t work this time, I’ll just keep trying. Since I’m seeing results and I have the mana, there’s no need to rush.

“Stop it, Arje-chan.”

My attempt to focus was interrupted, so I turned toward the direction the voice came from. Before I knew it, Satsuki-san had come close to me. Our eyes met.
They were the same color, but her gaze seemed much warmer than mine.
Satsuki-san smiled brightly and pointed. She was tall, yet her fingertips were slender—a distinctly feminine trait.

“She doesn’t wear any nail polish,” I thought to myself as I looked at what her finger was pointing at. There lay the thing she had been carrying all this time.
A black coffin, now lying on the ground. It seemed to blend into the darkness of the night.
Taking my hand—as I stood there confused, not understanding what was going on—Satsuki-san’s smile deepened.

“Shall we rest for a little while?”

Huh? In that?