Because You Looked Despairing

Humans had created the Contaminated Region.

To be honest, Kikori had already had a feeling that might be the case.

Spatial distortion.

The reincarnators called Heroes.

The powerful magic and convenient tools they had left behind.

The rule known as designation as forbidden magic.

Taking all of those together, it was not hard to imagine that something outrageous had happened in the past.

“…Then the spatial distortion too…”

“I didn’t see it myself, but that’s what they say, you know? It was a loooong, long time ago, way back in the distant past, though.”

Apparently, there had once been an incredible human.

An outrageous human with outrageous mana who wielded outrageous magic.

As a result of various circumstances, that human used an overwhelmingly powerful spell, and spacetime warped, turning a fairly wide area of the world into a place where dense mana kept erupting as if it were running wild.

That did not bring very good effects for humans, but for monsters it became an easy place to live.

“That’s how it is. Got it?”

“Then this is all humanity’s fault, isn’t it?”

“Not exactly? They say that person used that kind of magic in the middle of a full-scale war between humans and monsters. Well, it’s not like I want to take humanity’s side, though.”

“I see…”

“Yep. I only told you because you looked like you were in despair.”

I see. No wonder the details had been glossed over.

The Contaminated Region had been created by human magic. It was exactly the kind of scandal people would want to hide.

Even if it had been done in order to win an all-out war, he could understand why they could not say it openly.

He did not know what things had been like back then, but the war situation must have been such that something like that had seemed necessary.

“I’ll tell you one more thing. Humans are probably trying to reach deeper inside because they want to erase the spatial distortion, don’t you think? Apparently they said something along those lines.”

“Can it be erased?”

“Who knows? But with this labyrinthization and with how the spatial distortion is being maintained, I don’t think it’d be strange if there were something like a core behind it all.”

If you broke that, wouldn’t it disappear? Orphe said, but Kikori tilted his head.

“No, wait. Why are you telling me this?”

“Because it’s not like telling you causes any trouble. Even if the spatial distortion disappears.”

“…Is that so?”

“It is, you know? Well, I don’t know what the other monsters think.”

“And the monster at the deepest part—”

“I told you, I don’t know. Ah, but dragons might hate it if the spatial distortion disappears. It’s become an obvious territory for them.”

As Orphe laughed and said things like, “Ahaha, serves them right…,” Kikori found himself thinking that monster society was complicated too.

Still… he probably could not talk about the information he had heard here after all.

If word spread that he had heard it from fairies, there was no telling what kind of disaster would follow.