Desert Death

Rina worked in silence. 

She leveled up once by the time she finished elephant reed, despite not cutting as many times as she did when mining lime rock. 

She paddled the raft all the way to the front, then got off the boat, stepping right on the reeds. 

She jumped on the reeds all the way, to create some bruises on the reed. 

Then, with a vine, she started threading the reeds into a bunch, one reed in twist. 

She pushed as much of the reed's body in the pond as she could, then she started working on the tops. 

Elephant reed, as the name suggests, does bear some resemblance with the elephants. 

Especially the gigantic man sized leaves at the end of the reed. 

Only, these leaves could not be cut without burning off one’s fingers, or melting metal. 

Fortunately, she has a blade which is neither metal, nor mana. 

She cut through the membrane exactly in half. 

She repeated it with all the reed, once she’s done, she pushed off all the reed into the pond, 

leaving only an edge of the vine she threaded the reed with tied to a rock. 

The leaves are to be separated from the stems, which is another careful process. 

As she went through the third leaf, Rina felt that familiar feeling again. 

That she understood more about this skill than before. 

As expected, her blade is now 1.4 inches long. 

She wished she could go to the wild augmenter soon, so she could gain a status board, like the rest of the mages. 

She could not do that before she is sure the Bright family and the royal entourage have no doubts about her at all. 

She started transporting the leaves to the grain drying ramp. 

It’s not a building. Instead, on the mountain plateau, there’s a gigantic boulder jutting out. Its top is flat as a road, so the villagers dry their grain there. 

When someone needs a giant flat surface to do some work on, villagers go there. They clean it up afterwards. 

That is what Rina intended to do. 

She laid out the elephant ear leaves on the rock surface, one after another, each covering edge of the other. 

In that way, she created a green carpet on the rock. 

She had to do more than three trips to finish the task. 

Her sister Ria came to find her, at the behest of mother. 

“ Rina ! When are you coming home? “ She asked, following behind her. 

“ When Daddy apologizes. “ Rina answered easily. 

Hopefully, her dad won’t apologize within a week, giving her time to make another feud with the family about not joining the royal academy. 

That will give her enough time to investigate the forest, and figure out the location of the spare augmenter that was found in the wild. 

Just at that time, Edam returned from the forest, with a basket of mushrooms. 

Rina paused for a moment. 

Did she leave a note at his house ? 

How did Edam find her ? … 

“ He followed me. Ria answered, almost out of habit. The sisters sometimes know what the other is thinking without even looking. 

Rina ignored Ria. 

She looked at Edam and continued. 

“ Bring those mushrooms here. “ She said, pointing at a giant rock with depression the size of an arm. On rainy days probably a shallow pool that fits a gallon would form in that depression. 

It’s perfect to act as a natural mortar. She picked up a round stone, to act as pestle. 

First she put a lime rock in it, then cracked it. 

On top of that, she put the elephant reed leaf stem, then smashed it gently. 

Immediately, there was a foaming in the mortar, along with a sizzling sound. 

Ria and Edam were struck dumb. They stared at the reaction with their mouths open. 

Then, Rina picked a mushroom, put it into the mix. She smashed the mushroom into the now wet and foamy mix. 

The bamboo ends she trimmed off but kept from yesterday came into use now. 

“ Use this as a spoon, and spread this mixture on top of those leaves. “ she told Edam. 

Edam closed his mouth which was open in embarrassment, then started assisting Rina. 

Ria moved forward and stuck to Rina to see the reaction better. After all, the reaction is more than enough to attract a child’s attention. 

As she retrieved the third mushroom, Rina noticed the strange mushroom. 

The yellow brown golf ball sized mushroom, with its filaments the size of lily stamens, and a round bubble at the end. 

A round sphere with a lot of filaments with round barbs… 

“ This mushroom, Where did you get it ? “ Rina questioned urgently. 

This is the ‘desert death’. A mushroom whose appearance is considered a harbinger of doom in the demon continent. 

The mushroom itself is a magical mushroom, which absorbs any and all moisture in the air, stored within itself as water storage. 

Sounds very simple, doesn’t it ? Reality is just the opposite. The mushroom could absorb moisture from everything, ie. from dead matter, dead animals and more importantly, alive animals. 

Sleeping near one is sure fire way to death. 

That is just the basics. 

In the future, there was a desert called river of death that divided humans and demon territories. 

The demon forces were able to camp in the river of death just fine, while any human forces that tried to do the same died overnight. 

The number of losses amount to almost ten million, from their country alone. 

Could you imagine ten million of youth, cream of the crop, capable of magic, which is an inherited trait, died without kids. An entire race is leveled down by such an event. 

Yet, could demons be blamed for such a thing ? 

Rina thinks not. 

In the first place, when the first loss occurred, the army could retreat. After all, in love and war, all is fair, there’s no need for demons to show any mercy to humans. 

On the contrary, this wisdom is expected of their rulers, who, without any concern, just drove people forward for greed of their own. 

Did Rina think she could change this sort of future by herself ? 

Not even a chance. 

In the first place, she may count as above average, but she is by no means talented or gifted. Sure, if she works her ass off while stepping on every other person’s head, she would reach the top. What would her reward be, save for more work ? 

Is it even the kind of work she liked ? No. 

She does not have the power to stop the death of ten million. 

However, she does have power to offer all these ten million people a choice. 

Those who choose death, she will not stop them, those who choose refuge by keeping their heads down, she will offer them a way and guide them as best as she can. 

But for now, the first appearance of these mushrooms means a flood is imminent. 

She never heard of a flood in her previous life. The students who accepted to attend the royal academy were taken to the bright mansion the next day itself. 

Thus, it’s probably only her, Edam and Heddle who are out right now. 

If a rain cuts them off, then what will happen to the surveillance on them ? 

Oh wait ! she could think about that later. 

First, she needs to get as many of these desert deaths as possible into her hands. 

While they may kill people in the desert, they are going to be life savers in case of floods, for they could absorb humongous amounts of water. 

Once the mushroom reaches maturity, it has chances of growing a water source bead in its body. Water source beads are the best way of ensuring you have enough water in any sort of situation. 

“ Edam, Ria - Listen to me first. “ She stopped working, and called out to both of them. 

“ I need you to go into the forest, and collect all the mushrooms that look like this. Do not touch them with bare hands. Take a clay pot with you. Pluck the mushrooms with a long stick, and place them directly in the clay pot. If you touch the mushroom or go more near it than necessary, there’s a chance you will die of thirst. However, as long as it is put in the clay pot, it is alright. You just have to close the lid perfectly, you will be alright. 

Collect as many mushrooms as you can. As long as you even feel the slightest hint of thirst, come back. Your lives matter more than mushrooms. However, do try to collect as many as possible. 

Edam, look after her. She listens well, but she is still a child. So she could get distracted. “ Rina told her classmate. 

In fact, this is too much information leak. Information about ‘desert death’ does not exist anywhere. 

If a royal mage or so came inquiring about her, this does have a chance of getting exposed. However, Rina did not think at this point she was a notable enough parsonage for investigators to come after her. 

So, she took a chance.