Walking alongside the river, I head upstream.
The dead fishes floating on the river is making my stomach growl.
…… But, it shows that the river is indeed infected.

Behind us is Baron, holding a large spear, trying to catch up to us.

There was a bear-like monster hanging on a tree’s roots in the riverside.
Checking its status, it’s been poisoned and paralyzed just like the Lithuvar Tribe.
Baron saw the monster too and he gasped.

As we went further up the river, Baron didn’t seem to care at the other monsters that got poisoned anymore.
I’ve been using〖Presence Sense〗as we go on, but so far, I’m not picking up anything strange as of yet.

Baron suddenly went ahead of me.

“Ryujin-sama! Ryujin-sama!”

He’s moving his hands in a frantic manner, like he’s trying to tell me something.
…… I, I don’t know what you mean…… it’d be faster if you just say it aloud……

“…… Gru~uo?”

“Their village! We’re about to enter their territory! In the state our village is in, it’d be best to avoid confrontation with them…… p-please understand, they are not Ryujin-sama’s enemies……”

Their village?
…… Ah, I forgot, they have a second village just up ahead.

It’s the anti-Ryujin village.
But, even so, we still need to follow the river upstream to find the source of the curse……

Then suddenly, my〖Presence Sense〗picked up something hostile.
It’s in the river.

The grass near the river is stained with blood.
I know that blood’s smell, it’s Hibi’s.
I unintentionally grit my fangs.

If this is where Hibi was attacked, then the source should be around here.
I stop and stretch my neck on the river.
There were glowing stones aligned in a circle under the riverbed.
They were glowing purple and the light is mixing with the water.
So, this is what’s been causing the infection, huh.

“Gruo!”

When I roared, Baron held his great spear tight and came to me, looking at the river.

“That’s, the source of the poison…… I’ve never seen something like this before, then it must be from the outsiders……”

“Gra~a!”

When Partner roared, warm gentle lights appear and sink down the river.
The light touches the magic circle and the purple light from the stones disappeared.
The stones then get carried away by the current.

【Normal Skill〖Holy〗has risen from Lv 1→2.】

…… Nice. Good job Partner.
The rest of the river downstream will be cleaned in no time.

“A-As expected of Ryujin-sama! You removed the poison!”

Baron shouts, overjoyed.

Now we don’t have to worry about the curse.
I’ll leave Baron to explain it to the villagers.
The only thing left is…… I’ll have to stay vigilant for any direct attacks from Derek’s group……

I don’t know how many enemies there are.
Hopefully it’s just five or six of them…… I think I can manage 20, but any more than that and it’s gonna be difficult to fight while protecting the village.

I did heal up the villagers…… but, I doubt they’ll all be fighting fit.
That means we’ll only have a few fighters on our side.

With the lack of shrine maiden right now, it’ll be difficult to set up a telepathic command center for the villagers.
And, if they attack us in multiple directions, there’ll be lots of casualties.

“Let’s go tell everyone about this now, Ryujin-sama!”

Baron raises his arms high and waves it around, trying to get my attention.

“…… Gruooo”

I growl, while shaking my head, portraying refusal.

I don’t intend to go back yet.
Now that I’m here, there’s still something else I want to do.
I’d prefer it if Baron would help me out with this one too.

“Ryujin-sama?”

If there’s a risk that I can’t protect the whole village from this imminent threat…… I’d like to have the anti-Ryujin village offer us their assistance.
I’m sure they also have that woman who can use〖Presence Sense〗.
She’s probably the shrine maiden who they branded as a traitor.
If we manage to get them to our side, we’ll have no problems communicating with the villagers.

I defeated the Manticore and saved the children for them.
This should clear away any bad image they have of me.
The long-awaited chance I’ve been waiting for, the Ryujin village and the anti-Ryujin village peace treaty, is here…… finally.

It’s a bit earlier than I thought, and I wanted more time to settle both villages down before asking Hibi for this peace treaty idea.
But, Hibi’s not here anymore and the Ryujin village is in danger, so I have no choice.
Besides, this “threat” could also be endangering the antiRyujin village too, and if we both agree, we’ll be helping each other out.
Now that I know the true identity of their Dragon God, my fellow Ryujin-senpai, I think I can persuade the anti-Ryujin village to some extent.
At the very least, it’s not a bad idea.

And…… it’s a miracle that the curse was placed here in this part of the river.
Perhaps Derek’s team didn’t know about the separate villages of both tribes.
If they would, they’d have placed the curse further upstream to infect both villages.
Since the cursed river doesn’t reach up to the anti-Ryujin village, everyone there should still be healthy and well.
Now that we’ve come all this way, it wouldn’t hurt to ask them for help.

【“Those guyz…… suck”】

What, why?
You were playing with their children a lot, and even when we were low on MP from being humanized, you still used〖High Rest〗on them.

【“I meant the old creep and the smug jerk”】

…… Old creep…… smug jerk…… you mean, Nagrom and Yarg?
Well yeah, true, they both do suck.

Especially Yarg…… he might still have a grudge against us.
Specifically to Partner, since she bit his finger and all.

“Ryujin-sama, if we remain here any longer, they might come for us…… maybe we should……”

Baron moves around his arms and makes a gesture, acting like I don’t understand his words.
…… I already understand your language though……

“Gru~uo”

I growled and instructed Baron to come with me as I head further upstream.

“R-Ryujin-sama! A-are you implying that it was them who poisoned the river?!”

Baron hastily follows us.