The part that was dark reminded me of the cursed magic stone.

“…Maybe…”

I thought as I pulled some weeds out of the ground and threw them towards the darkened stone.

And then… The grass that touched the black part of the stone shriveled up and died.

But the grass that touched the blue parts were unchanged.

It was as if a part of the stone had become cursed.

…This made me even more confused as to the truth of this stone.

Out of my acquaintances, the only person who was likely to know anything was…the Dryad.

‘Is the Dryad busy now?’

I asked the slimes that I had left behind in her forest.

Some of my slimes were there in order to protect her if something happened.

The Dryad herself was able to teleport in an instant, so she could come if she was free.

Well, she couldn’t teleport if I was on a different continent.

‘She’s not doing anything!’

‘I’ll call her!’

The slimes said as they went to call the Dryad.

And then…a few minutes passed, and the Dryad appeared from the shadow of a nearby tree.

‘What is it?’

‘I found this strange magic stone. …What do you think?’

I said as I pointed at the part that had darkened.

After I stopped getting close to it, the stone had not changed in color at all.

‘Hmmm…’

The Dryad began to inspect it.

And then after a while, she answered.

‘It seemed like it is absorbing the magic energy from its surroundings. …I thought the magic energy was very thin here, maybe its related to that?’

Absorbing the energy…

I hadn’t noticed it myself, but could it be because of the stone?

I wondered. Then the Dryad looked at the darkened area and continued.

‘The black part is just like the cursed stone. …But I don’t know why it only affects a certain area…’

‘It’s because that’s the spot that I tried to touch. …It turned black right when my hand touched it.’

‘So…maybe it means that it turns black when that spot has absorbed a lot of magic? After all, you would have much more than anything in this forest.’

I see.

So it turns black after absorbing a lot.

In that case…

‘So this blue stone, it’s what a cursed stone is originally?

‘What do you mean?’

‘…Maybe!’

In that case, perhaps we were witnessing the birth of a cursed stone…

But the problem was, why was it here…

‘Do blue magic stones just grow naturally like this?’

‘No. It’s definitely made by humans. …Besides, I sense human magic that isn’t yours, Yuji.’

So maybe it really was the Blue Moon of Salvation that left it here…

It was good that we found it before anything happened. But they really were up to no good…

But it was just as I thought this…that I remembered that Rikardo was currently experiencing something very strange.

…Had nothing really happened?

‘Hey, Dryad. Do places that have less magic energy become colder?’

‘Of course? There are places, like near volcanic mountains, that are very hot. And it’s usually because there is too much energy there. …Though, there are some warm places where it’s very thin.’

In other words, this weather could be due to the magic stone…

‘I suppose I should just purify it for now. Also, we have to find the culprit.’

There was a part of me that wanted to keep it as a sample. But I couldn’t make the slimes carry something so dangerous.

But it would turn into a cursed stone if I touched it. I would be treated like some kind of terrorist if I walked around carrying that. And it would be my own fault.

‘Yes… If there is someone who wanted to make it, then they should come back to pick it up later!’

‘Right. …And there seem to be a few of them here. So the enemies base might not be too far away.’

So saying, I created a barrier around the magic stone and activated purification magic.

Perhaps it was because there wasn’t enough energy yet, but no monsters appeared this time.

‘Did you find any more magic stones?’

‘I did!’

‘Over here!’

‘There are so many!’

Apparently, this forest was full of them…

‘I’ll purify them one at a time, so tell me when you find them! Also, continue to hunt the Greedy Boars!’

‘Understood!’

‘Okay!’