Volume 3 - CH 4

My life in the «Empty Wilderness» with Teto and Selene began.

"The closer you get to the central region, the thinner the magical power becomes, there are no plants growing either."

The «Empty Wilderness» was a big piece of land rivaling even those of small countries, and we were currently aiming for the central region of such a place.

It was because several days before一一

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‹It has been a long time, Chise.›

"Goddess Liliel. Is this another Oracle in the dream?"

The night of the day we arrived at the «Empty Wilderness», that goddess once again showed herself in my dreams.

‹I guess I should say “Welcome back” first.›

"Yeah, I'm back. I even brought a child with me."

‹Fufu, I know. I saw her.›

Goddess Liliel chimed in happily. She seemed to have been keeping an eye on our situation.

"I will be using this wilderness for a while to raise the kid here."

‹Of course, I don't mind. However, can I also request for something?›

"What is it? I will try to do it to the best of my capabilities.›

‹I don't mind if you only do it in your spare time, but I just want you to let your magical power seep into the «Empty Wilderness» and cultivate it.›

"Argh..."

The information about the whole region of «Wilderness of Nihility» was transmitted to my head as soon as Liliel told me her request.

Although the maximum amount of information I could process was increased due to the skill ‹Speed Reading› and ‹Parallel Thinking›, it was still painful to receive the information about a whole region rivaling a small country at once. As such, I woke up.

"Huff, huff...... "

"Are you alright, Majou-sama? You woke up so suddenly…" asked Teto in a faint voice as I opened my eyes inside the tent.

"I just, huff talked with the Goddess for a bit...... "

My magical power reserve was still fine since the conversation wasn't as long as last time, but my head still hurt from the sudden information that was instilled in my brain.

Though, I now understood the whole situation thanks to the knowledge.

"I see, so this is the true form of «Empty Wilderness»."

«Empty Wilderness» was one of those places whose magical power had disappeared due to the recklessness of an ancient magical civilization 2000 years ago.

It all began when this piece of land was transformed into the true nihility state after its air instantaneously lost all magical power. It caused mana all over the world to stream into this region, destroying the balance of the ecosystem and causing the death of animals that relied on the world's magical power. This event almost brought the whole world to the brink of destruction.

The gods erected a giant barrier to stop the flow of magical power; isolating this region and thus, saving the world from destruction.

However, the magical power in the world simultaneously disappeared many times due to the rampage of magic experiments that reduced the density of the magical power in the air and upset the earth veinsーthe magic stream that flowed in the ground.

After that, the five gods of this continent, goddess Liliel and others, shifted the magical power that hadn't been used in the earth many times along with the reincarnated persons over the span of 2000 years, thus, filling it with magical power little by little.

But even so, the difference in the density of magical power inside and outside of the barrier was immense.

While there were still some weeds growing around the outer region of «Empty Wilderness», the central region continued to be infertile and unsuitable for life for as long as 2000 years.

The request from the Goddess was to improve the mana density in the «Empty Wilderness» and restore nature.

"Even the gods have limits, and that's why they're requesting me, a human, to do it."

The information instilled in me also contained the specific improvement method.

However, this method couldn't be implemented unless we headed to the central region of «Empty Wilderness». As such, my plan was to make this place our base to begin cultivating the land and also raise Selene for the time being.

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We arrived at the central region of the wilderness after I sorted out the favor asked by the Goddess and the knowledge imparted to me.

"Teto, what do you think of the soil here?"

"Completely bad. There’s no water so it’s hard and crumbly. It's completely tasteless."

I erected a barrier around us because of all the clouds of dust in the air. It was an inhabitable, infertile land that could barely sustain a grown human, let alone letting said human raise a child at the same time.

Neither shades from trees nor any watering place was in sight. The ground was hard and compact, so much so that we couldn't even raise crops.

Teto and I made a stone house with magic and used it as our temporary base. We decided to raise Selene there.

"Rain clouds can pass through the barrier but the soil here can’t store it."

"Teto can find a water vein if you let Teto search for it."

"You can do it later, Teto. The more important thing is to cover the ground here. 一一«Creation» Mulch!"

What I created was 20 kg of mulch wrapped in plastic. I then created several more tons of them and piled them.

But just that alone wouldn't be enough. As such, I turned to Teto.

"Teto, can you put out the soil you have saved so far here?"

"Oh, I’ve saved a lot!"

Teto replied cheerfully and put one part of her body to the ground. From there, a huge amount of soil surpassing 200 km in scope overflowed like a flood.

The mud, which was the main element that formed Teto's body, had absorbed the fertile soils from various lands during our journey, and the food she ate was decomposed and fermented inside, turning it into black soil. Not to mention the fact that the soil inside Teto also took in and raised all sorts of beneficial insects and microbes.

My plan was to use the mulch I had created and the soil Teto had produced to raise those insects and microbes. This would become the necessary component to revive the lands here.

"This is enough for now. I will mix the soils here, so can you please check and adjust the ingredients?"

"Leave it to me-ho!"

Teto tore apart the plastic bag containing the mulch and checked the composition of soil and leaf mould. Meanwhile, I mixed and regulated the amount.

After the soil composition was done, we covered the whole scope of the wilderness with the nutrient-rich soil despite the limited amount and dampened it by sprinkling water created with ‹Creation Magic›. Then, we covered it with a heat retention plastic that was also made with creation magic to prevent water from evaporating.

"I wonder how long it will take..."

"If you wait for around a week, their number will increase by quite a lot."

I really had to thank the strong vitality of those worms and microbes which allowed them to grow even under an environment that lacked magical power.

I cultivated the land with another magic while fertilizing it with the mulch.

"Sprinkle the soil in this place 一一 «Creation» Nuts! «Grow Up»!"

I mixed up the nuts in a part of Teto’s soil. Then, I rapidly germinated and grew them with the ‹Origin Magic› after putting in liquid fertilizer.

The plant-raising magic that was made up of light and water magic used up quite a lot of my mana. Merely growing the tree in front of me to no more than one year consumed around 1000 mana units.

However the forceful growth had also taken away the nutrients from soil and put burdens on the trees as they had grown up tall and lanky, looking as if they might collapse at any moment. In addition, it also made their lifespans shorter compared to naturally grown trees.

However, my plan was to raise many of such trees around our temporary home at regular intervals.

"First of all, I guess this place will grow into a shelterbelt for the soil."

The wind currents in this forsaken «Empty Wilderness» were very strong since there was nothing hindering them. As such, they could blow the moisture from the ground easily.

It would be troublesome if our painstakingly-made soil that raised the microbes dried up just like that. That was why I decided to grow these trees.

Besides, it didn't really matter if the lifespan of shelterbelts trees was short due to the forced growth or premature fall. All that mattered was their roots, which had stretched deep into the soil. Even if they fell, the fallen trees could be broken into fine wood and mixed into the soil; Then, the microbes would decompose it and turn it into new soil.

"I wonder if by repeating this process little by little, we can turn this whole region into woods."

"It's a small step, but it’s still indeed a step toward that."

At the very least, I wanted to turn this region into a place overflowing with greenery by the time Selene became aware of her surroundings.