Information arrived from an unexpected quarter.
It came from Prada.
She had brought a map she won at an auction in the Royal Capital. It was an extremely old document, and since all the names of the nations written on it were no longer in use, it was almost entirely impractical for navigation.
However, its exotic design was a pleasure to look at. Thinking it might be valuable as a historical or cultural artifact, Prada brought the map to the Village of the Great Tree.
The first ones to be delighted were Zabuton's children. They seemed inspired by the idea of incorporating the foreign designs into their weaving and decorations. Next were the High Elves. They were fond of the map, saying it felt nostalgic, and they requested that it be displayed in a prominent place.
The reception was also quite positive among the angels, the beastman girls, and the Civil Official Girls. My own assessment, however, was different. I was less interested in the design and more interested in the content—specifically, the labels written on the map.
Several large cities were listed, and it detailed exactly what kinds of minerals were buried where.
Wait... wasn't this a resource distribution chart?
I saw labels for Wind Magic Crystals, Fire Magic Crystals, Sword Magic Crystals, Beast Magic Crystals, and Silver Magic Crystals. There were Wing Demon Crystals as well. What I had thought were just decorative designs were actually pie charts or box graphs indicating estimated mining volumes, classified into large, medium, and small.
Most importantly, there were Wing Demon Crystals listed with a "large" estimated deposit. I looked at Prada.
"This map is said to have been used by the Elder Dwarves of antiquity," she explained. "I heard you were looking for minerals, so I brought it thinking it might be of use."
Ooh!
"I can't read the details myself, but I thought the dwarves in this village might be able to make sense of it."
I called for Donovan. Prada mentioned she had work to do, so she left the map and quickly returned to the Village Five Art Museum. It seemed she had come all this way just to deliver it. I was truly grateful.
When Donovan arrived, I showed him the map. I apologized for interrupting his work and asked for a bit of help.
"What is it? I was just at the point where a good batch of sake was almost ready... Oh, this is a nostalgic format."
"Can you read it? I want to know where this is."
"I can read it, but... the country names are far too old. We're talking more than a thousand years. Two thousand... no, maybe three thousand years ago? I don't know the scale, either... Hmm? No, wait. This topography... Is it around there? No, the landscape changed because of the Great Waves back then... when was that again?"
After puzzling over the map for a while, Donovan called for reinforcements.
I thought he meant the other dwarves, but I was wrong. The reinforcement he summoned was Erme, the maid serving the Ancient Devil Versa. I wondered if it wouldn't have been easier to just ask Versa directly, or perhaps Bulga or Stifano.
Apparently, since Versa was a shut-in who spent all her time writing books, she didn't know much about the world. And if Prada wasn't familiar with the map, there was a high probability that Bulga and Stifano—who were of the same generation—wouldn't know much either.
That made sense. Erme was supposedly younger than Versa, but she was still significantly older than Prada and the others. To welcome Erme, who had kindly responded to Donovan's call, I presented her with a parfait piled high with fruit.
"Ah, this is delicious," she said.
Then I asked my question. I told her I was looking for the location depicted on the map and asked if she recognized it.
"Let's see... it's northeast of the Village of the Great Tree."
Erme took a casual glance at the map while eating her parfait and seemed to pinpoint the location almost immediately.
"The scale of this map is one to fifty thousand. Based on the map's size, it depicts an area roughly the same width as the Forest of Death. I believe the city shown here at the edge was a place called Edderi. It's been destroyed now, though."
Edderi? That was a name I didn't recognize. And it was destroyed? That sounded ominous. As I was about to ask for more details, Donovan chimed in. He knew the name.
"It's the place where they said a massive swarm of undead appeared a while back."
A while back? Undead? Ah, that's right. I remembered hearing that Kierbit and the others had gone to exterminate a horde of undead.
"That's the spot," Donovan confirmed. "The city in that area was definitely Edderi. If this city on the edge is Edderi, then the rest is off the map... but Howlin Village should be around here. Which means the Village of the Great Tree is roughly here."
The map was of a place much closer than I had expected. When I expressed my surprise, Erme gave a small chuckle.
"The Prada-san of today wouldn't give the Village Head a map of a place too far away to be useful."
"Is that so? She told me she couldn't read it, though."
"She probably just couldn't read the finer details, but she surely understood the gist of it. She's just not very honest with herself."
I see. I'll have to make sure to thank Prada properly again later. In any case, we found the location. This was great news.
"Thank you, Erme."
"Could I have another parfait?"
"Of course. I don't mind."
I could see the Fairy Queen watching us from a distance, anyway. Making one or making two didn't make much of a difference.
"And Donovan, you were a huge help as well."
"I know, I know."
"Tonight, please drink to your heart's content."
Now that we knew where the map pointed, the next issue was whether the Wing Demon Crystals were actually buried there as indicated. There was a very real possibility that the site had already been mined dry. If there were a massive hole from open-pit mining, it would be easy to spot, but...
I checked with the angels who had accompanied Kierbit to exterminate the undead, and they said they hadn't seen any such traces in that area. All they found was the ruined city of Edderi. In that case, the only thing to do was to head to the location on the map and try some trial mining.
Still... was it okay to just start digging on my own? There were things like mining rights to consider. I wondered how that worked in this region. I decided to consult someone knowledgeable.
"Frau, do you have a moment?"
"I'm afraid even I don't know who holds the mining rights off the top of my head."
"I see."
"But it's in the vicinity of Edderi, correct?"
"Yeah. You head northeast from the village, cross the mountains, and you reach Edderi. I want to mine in a spot even further northeast from there."
"If I recall correctly... Edderi was a city requisitioned by the Demon Kingdom Army as they were expanding the front lines. I seem to remember learning in history class that the area around Edderi was granted to a certain noble... I'm sorry, that's the extent of my knowledge. My father would probably know more."
"No, that's plenty. Thank you."
Just then, Beezel arrived, so I decided to ask him.
"That would be Count Pugyal," Beezel answered.
"Then I should meet with the Count and discuss the mining rights—"
"Actually, I have a power of attorney right here. He is handing the mining rights over to you, so you may mine as you please. Furthermore, the ownership of anything extracted will belong entirely to the Village Head."
"Wait, what?"
"This morning, Count Pugyal barged into my mansion in the Royal Capital, and that's how it ended up."
"Uh... well, in that case, I should offer him some form of thanks."
"No thanks are necessary. He specifically stated that if you feel grateful, the one thing he wants is for you to not thank him."
"Really?"
"He said that whether ancient ruins are uncovered or mountains of gold and silver are found, it can all belong to the Village Head. He doesn't care."
"Is that... is that really okay?"
"His words were: 'Having left a ruined city abandoned all this time, with what sort of face could I possibly assert any rights now?' He also said that if the Village Head feels uneasy about taking all the profit, he would like that profit to be distributed among the common people."
I see. If he went that far, I wouldn't argue. I would gratefully accept the mining rights.
With the legal hurdles cleared, the next step was finding people to do the mining. I supposed I could just ask Howlin Village to handle that. As for getting to the site... perhaps I should try out the repaired airship.
We hadn't actually secured the Wing Demon Crystals yet, but since we had gone to the trouble of fixing the ship, it would be a waste not to use it. Naturally, I intended to board the airship and head to the site myself. Lately, the villagers hadn't been nearly as resistant to me leaving the village as they used to be.
Heheh. I was actually looking forward to it.
But what if we couldn't find any Wing Demon Crystals? That would be a shame, but until the research into a new gas to replace the Levitation Gas progressed, the airship would just have to rest in the storehouse. I truly hoped it wouldn't come to that.