"There's no need for formalities."
"Mr. Shane, Lady Frieren, Lady Fern, Mr. Stark, Graf Granat Domain will never forget this kindness."
"At the sa ti, the reward will absolutely et your expectations."
Before the shattered castle, the count and his wife, both wrapped in bandages, expressed their sincere gratitude.
Neither Shane nor Frieren refused.
Adventurers who put in the effort and resolved a crisis deserved proper compensation.
Not only did this encourage more adventurers to fight demons, it also taught the rescued cities to better understand gratitude and cherish what they had been given.
"Thank you very much, Count."
"We'll remain in the city for a while and help everyone deal with the aftermath."
Although Aura had been successfully eliminated, the villages and cities attacked by the demons still needed ti to rebuild. And the mysterious Bloodthirst Curse urgently needed to be solved as well.
Over the next few days, everyone stayed within the main city.
Every day, Stark helped the soldiers and workers rebuild the damaged walls and houses.
A warrior's brute strength dramatically accelerated the progress.
Even the marble that normally required several workers to carve apart was chopped into neat little cubes after only a few swings of Stark's axe.
The countess had been seriously injured.
She should have remained indoors recovering.
But unable to stop worrying about the citizens, she walked around supported by Fern, accompanying the priests as they treated every wounded resident.
At the sa ti, they carefully checked whether anyone had been infected by the Bloodthirst Curse.
During the treatnts, Fern also began imitating Shane by lecturing everyone about the importance of "drinking hot water."
"Mr. Shane is a sage. He said that 'drinking hot water' was passed down from a great nation. It can eliminate suspicious toxins, promote digestion, and improve the body's condition. Therefore, everyone should 'drink more hot water' from now on."
"Okay!"
The crowd erupted in agreent.
The countess looked at Fern with an affectionate gaze.
In the distance, Shane looked at Fern with speechless amusent.
He had only made that stuff up casually back then to trick the younger Fern into developing the habit of drinking hot water. He never expected the girl to rember it so seriously.
At this mont, he and Frieren were accompanying the count as they inspected the entire city.
They needed to check the stability of the city's barrier and inspect the purification progress of the various water sources throughout the city.
Looking at the shimring barrier rippling faintly above the city, a trace of nostalgia appeared in Frieren's eyes.
"That barrier was just a little experint she made on a whim. I never thought it would actually last for a thousand years," Frieren muttered. "That woman always liked doing strange things. But in the end, she was always right."
"How annoying."
Shane smiled as he looked at Frieren.
She always said Flam was a terrible teacher and an irritating person.
But Shane could clearly see, within her gaze, emotions that had continued flowing across the river of ti itself.
This white-haired elf was every bit as tsundere as rebellious-phase Fern.
Following Frieren's gaze, he also looked up at the barrier.
Flam truly deserved her title as the brightest genius among humanity.
Creating magic capable of enduring for a thousand years was no simple feat.
At the sa ti, he thought of the mad sage, Sharl.
Just like the Millennium Barrier protecting this city...
In Sage Sharl's eyes, was Shane himself also another "Millennium Barrier" created to protect humanity?
Finally, the three of them arrived at the main river, the place most severely contaminated.
The water flow leading into the city had already been cut off by the floodgate, yet plenty of black toxic residue still floated within the river.
The city's priests had already collected samples and were analyzing them day and night, attempting to develop an antidote or find a healing magic capable of purifying the poison.
However, following Shane's suggestion, a massive water grate had already been constructed here in advance.
It was placed directly in front of the floodgate blocking the water flow.
The grate was made from the finest wood. The gaps between the bars were arranged tightly together, making it as dense as possible without excessively obstructing the water flow.
This was an important experint to solve the curse.
If successful, it would buy the priests far more ti to develop an antidote.
Walking before the water grate, Shane removed the waterskin hanging from his waist.
This waterskin possessed a green enchantnt attribute: [Water Purification (Green/Uncommon)].
Eight years ago, in Demon Bastion, he had nearly used this waterskin to scoop up the pool water soaked with the Venom Dragon. Back then, he had already wondered whether this attribute could remove the Venom Dragon's sinister energy.
Now was the ti to test it.
Of course, the test carried considerable risk.
This was his first attempt at using Attributes to oppose a curse.
Although his upgraded ntal power was more than sufficient to support Attribute manipulation, he wasn't certain whether there would be so sort of backlash.
To be safe, a squad of priests stood behind him carrying all kinds of healing potions.
At the sa ti, Frieren stood beside him, prepared at any mont to destroy the grate and stop the experint if necessary to ensure his safety.
Only after all these precautions were in place did Shane take a deep breath.
Then, he took a small step forward.
As his thoughts moved and his ntal power highly concentrated, a faint green point of light erged from the waterskin. Under his control, it gently drifted onto the enormous grate before him.
The already worn-out waterskin instantly crumbled apart and vanished.
A dim green glow flashed across the previously ordinary grate.
Then, a miraculous scene occurred.
The black tar-like poison sticking to the grate suddenly let out a sharp hiss and instantly evaporated as though exposed to extre heat.
It worked!
Shane imdiately clenched the pouch at his waist.
Inside were many more beans carrying the [Water Purification] attribute, all supplies he had gathered recently.
That massive pile of junk collected from the Solar Dragon's nest had produced quite a few surprisingly practical Attributes.
But at that mont—
Sothing abnormal suddenly happened.
Shane felt his ntal power draining away at terrifying speed!
As expected, his caution had been correct!
The Attribute operation should already have been completed. Logically speaking, his ntal power should no longer have been consud.
But for so inexplicable reason, every ti the [Water Purification] attribute cleansed the cursed toxin, it rapidly siphoned away his ntal power.
"Ugh..."
A wave of dizziness struck Shane.
The instant Frieren noticed sothing wrong, she imdiately raised her staff. Attack magic shot out without hesitation, shattering the water grate in an instant.
Just before losing consciousness, vague images suddenly flashed through Shane's mind.
A gigantic golden tree whose canopy covered the heavens.
Warm sunlight filtered through the branches, scattering broken patches of light across the ground.
Several ribbon-like strands of gauze hung from the branches, swaying gently in the wind.
The scene was soft and tranquil.
Standing beneath the tree, Shane saw a pair of fair, tender feet swinging lightly before him.
He wanted to raise his head and see their owner.
But a dense white mist suddenly swept over everything, and the vision abruptly shattered.
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