「That was a good song.」


  I called out to Manaril after she finished singing and got off the stage.

  「Un, thank you Daichi-san.」


  She said smiling happily.

  「How should I put it, your songs usually have a lullaby type sound to them, but when you do a concert they sound more energetic. Hearing the difference between them is also a type of enjoyment.」


  「Un, and the fact that you can tell the difference between them is a blessing for me as a singer.」


  「Well, I don’t think my ears are that special but……eh….huh?」


  As I was talking to Manaril I saw something moving from the corner of my eye.

  「That water moves even after the song is finished?」


  The purified lake water was moving even though there wasn’t any wind.

  「Yeah, that should be one part of Katarakta’s body.」


  「Huh? It’s still alive?」


  「Hmm, I think it would be more accurate to say it was reborn after being purified. Katarakta was originally an embodiment of the will of water. It wasn’t evil or malicious from the start.」


  Manaril said, poking at the water.

  After receiving that stimulus, the water moved a little and that was it.

  「After absorbing wicked thoughts and hatred inside its core, it turned into that.」


  「Then it was because of the bad cores?」


  I asked and Manaril nodded seeming sad.

  「Yes, water itself has a will, but the hatred from the black cores filled it with ill will. That ill will slowly turned it poisonous until eventually it turned purple. Right now it is in a state of low activity……so we need to keep an eye on it so that things like that don’t happen again.」


  So the source of the poison was that main black core.

  「Hm? In that case if we replace the cores with regular ones it would be alright?」


  「That’s right. But it’s basically impossible. You would need many superior magic stones (better than high grade) that can hold a lot of magic. If not, then any magic stones you try and use will be destroyed.」


  「Fumu fumu…….in other words, as long as we have a lot of cores, then Katarakta will no longer produce poison?」


  「Eh? W-well, now that the black core is destroyed at the moment it is possible to switch them out and that would stop the production of poisonous water…..」


  I see, I’ve just heard something good.

  I have something I need to try.

  I thought for a moment and called out to Dianeia, who was relaxing while sipping the water she was given.

  「Dianeia, sorry to ask this when you’re tired…but could you teleport me? I have something I need to get.」


  「Umu. Yeah ok, I can Daichi-dono.」


  **************************************

  I returned from my house with….

  「Umm, these are apples?」


  「Yeah, I was thinking that since it has the same structure as a water golem it should work.」


  For now I brought back a full box of freshly picked apples.

  There should be about 100 of them.

  「—here, how’s this?」


  I poured them into the water and it started moving around strangely. Then,

  「Oh, it looks like it’s going well.」


  The red fruit that I poured in wasn’t destroyed and instead gathered at the bottom of the lake. That wasn’t all…


  「………」


  From the surface of the water a small dragon shape appeared.

  A highly transparent water dragon, with a long shape, and a large number of apples floating in it.

  From it I couldn’t feel anything particularly good or bad.

  「Ok then, it seems we’ve made a clean Katarakta.」


  「No way….the substitution succeeded……?」


  The clean water dragon bowed its head in this direction and once again returned back inside the water.

  「Now it won’t let out poison water right?」


  Manaril was looking on in wide-eyed surprise, but my words seemed to shake her out of it.

  She broke out in a cold sweat as she looked at me.

  「Y-yeah. I don’t think there should be a problem…….but for apples to become the cores…..what happened?」


  Now that I think of it, I had never shown Manaril my method of crafting water golems.

  「Well, there are various circumstances. They are filled with magic so it worked.」


  At just the right moment a juice server golem was nearby, so I opened up the shell and let her take a look inside. She seemed even more shocked…


  「I-is that so? It’s reality so it must be so. It’s reality so it…..」


  「Mana-dono…I understand your feelings.」


  It seems she was convinced. Also Dianeia was patting her on the shoulder for some reason.

  「Well enough about that. We made Katarakta pure again, but is it already to leave it here?」


  It’s a lake in the middle of the plains without any connecting tributaries. Would it really be alright to leave it here? After all it was close to town.

  When I spoke up Manaril and Dianeia listened before looking at the lake. Manaril nodded.

  「I think it will be alright. Katarakta’s become small, it should be connected to the underground stream as well, plus this hole is unexpectedly deep. Since Katarakta has been purified, fresh water will gather in here. With the apple cores it shouldn’t degenerate.」


  「……..umu, if Mana-dono says so then I don’t have any problem with it. We will maintain surveillance just in case, but there’s no problem having a source of water here.」


  It seems neither of them have a problem with it.

  「I see. I made a mistake in creating this giant hole, but I’m glad that it turned out to be helpful.」


  And so a small and beautiful lake was created near the side of the magic forest.