Chapter 86

After turning the men into stars, I approached the leather bag that had fallen to the ground, filled with money. Sami-chan's archery skills were indeed impressive; there wasn't a single hole in the leather bag, and the arrow had pierced precisely where the bag's opening was tied. I pulled the arrow out of the ground and picked up the leather bag. Then, Sami-chan descended from the tree, and Muto-chan, who had been flying in the sky, also landed beside me.

"So, what do you plan to do? The guys who were managing this reservoir and extorting money from the village are gone, but if we leave the reservoir as it is, the water won't return to the lake."

Muto-chan looked at the reservoir, which was still filled with murky water. It was smaller than a lake but still considerable in size, larger than a 25-meter school pool, and quite deep. If left as it was, the poorly constructed reservoir would eventually burst, causing damage as it flowed down the mountain and into the village. Since the villagers would no longer be extorted for water fees, they could manage it themselves, but...

"Destroy the reservoir."

When I said this, Sami-chan looked around the reservoir and muttered.

"This reservoir was created by digging into the original mountain and collapsing it. First, they dug down to reach the groundwater, then expanded horizontally."

"Uh-huh."

"Because the water table is not far from the surface, they were able to create this reservoir. ...How did they know the water table was so shallow here...?"

"An ordinary human wouldn't know. Maybe they were just lucky, or something."

Sami-chan's words made Muto-chan frown and hum thoughtfully.

"Little elf, if you drain the water from this reservoir, it will quickly fill up again. Even if you level the excavated area, it will just become a river."

"That's true... Lady Rini, with your power, you could destroy this, but then the water would burst out."

Sami-chan also looked troubled. But I puffed out my chest and confidently replied.

"Reni can do it. Watch."

I approached the reservoir and pointed at the water with my cat-like fingers. Not too much, not too little... I recalled the training I did with Hasano in the elf forest. The warmth in my chest slowly gathered at my fingertips. This was the sensation of magic flowing through the [Magic Circuits]. And then—

"Magic, [Microwave]"

—A wink.

At that moment, the water in the reservoir began to boil and turned entirely into steam.

"L-Lady Rini!?"

"Whoa, what the heck is this!!"

Suddenly, steam rose, forming a cloud-like mass. It was probably hot, so I made sure not to touch it...

"Cat's Claw!"

I swung my right hand, creating a whirlwind. The steam was caught in the whirlwind and rose into the sky.

"Good."

It worked! Just as I imagined! I couldn't help but giggle at how well it went. Turning the water into steam was my original magic, named [Microwave]! As the name suggests, it works like a microwave, moving water molecules to heat them. This time, I used it directly on the water, making it boil and turn into steam. When I was practicing [Magic Control] with Hasano, I accidentally cooled down the warm tea he brought me. I tried to warm it up and discovered I could do it. In terms of magic consumption, it uses much less than the purification magic I used for the [Crawling Armor]. Hasano told me it should be fine as long as I don't overuse it. It's an original magic that doesn't exist in the game.

"Lady Rini, are you alright!? Magic surge...!"

"I'm fine. I can control it."

Sami-chan, looking worried, hugged me to check if I was okay. To reassure her, I patted her shoulder.

"Still, watch."