I Became a Fake Priest the Saintess Is Obsessed With

106 – Contaminated Mana

One day, I suddenly had a question.

As I watched the demons suffering day after day in Eve’s laboratory, I became curious as to why the contaminated mana only affected demons and not humans.

I thought that if I could realize that, I would be able to free the demons from their pain, so I began researching about demons and contaminated mana in earnest.

I expected to be able to find out the details easily, but even after several weeks, I found out very little information about them.

The only book where information could be obtained was in fairy tales and folk tales about demons and polluted mana, which were abstract stories and did not contain any detailed information.

As the number of demons increased in the lab, my questions also grew.

“Do you want me to tell you about demons and contaminated mana?”

In the end, I told Eve my questions.

Because of my neglected relationship, the only person I could ask was Eve.

“Okay. “To be precise, I wonder why contaminated mana only affects demons but not humans.”

“hehehe. Mr. Adin, I guess you are really serious about your research now? “When I first came here, I just watched from afar and seemed unmotivated.”

“…Be quiet and answer the question.”

I stopped Eve from teasing me with her angry tone.

This woman has a habit of teasing me when I look even the slightest bit disheveled.

“That’s what I know.”

“Do you know? “Then let me know quickly.”

“Hey, did you know that this information is harder to get than you think? “I only recently found out this information.”

“……Well, is there something you wish for?”

“You are quick to notice. “If you help me volunteer for free today, I’ll let you know after it’s over.”

“Are you planning to go out today too?”

“Yes. Because the number of sick demons is increasing. Even if I go every day, it’s not enough.”

“Ha… Okay, just today, I will help you without receiving any money.”

“Yes~ The money is solid!”

She sighed as she saw Eve smiling innocently like a child at being able to save money.

She inherited all the wealth from her prosperous parents, so they say that a woman with a lot of money has a very salty temperament…

After finishing the story, Eve and I left the lab and headed deep into the back alley where we would do volunteer work.

The deeper you go into the back alleys where lower-class people live, the more despised those on the outside live.

Among them, demons live in deep places, in the depths of back alleys, emitting the smell of rotting corpses.

Not all demons live deep in the back alleys.

Rather, it is rare to see demons living within the city, and most demons live outside the city.

“Now, this medicine has the effect of neutralizing contaminated mana. “Take this once a day and you’ll be fine.”

“Thank you… “

Eve often went deep into the back alleys and distributed medicine and food to her demons.

Every time I gave the blue pill that was supposed to neutralize contaminated mana to the demons, I had a strange thought inside.

‘Is it possible to neutralize contaminated mana?’

Contaminated mana in fairy tales is described as an absolute disease that cannot be cured.

I was a little suspicious, but since pharmaceutical information was something that only the upper class could acquire, I couldn’t do much research about the blue pill.

“This area is over~ Shall we move on to the next location? Huh? Why are you doing this, Mr. Adin? “Why, I have a question for my mom, but she looks like a 5-year-old who can’t bear to ask?”

“I’ve never made an expression like that.”

“It’s all visible on your face, right? “Do you have any questions?”

“…About two things.”

“You were right to be curious, after all. Tell me. “I will reward you for carrying heavy supplies here.”

Eve walked leisurely down the narrow alley.

After clearing her mind of her questions, I opened her mouth to ask her.

“First of all, why do you come to a place like this and do volunteer work? “I don’t mean to use the demons as samples, but I really don’t understand why they are purely showing favor.”

“There is no particular meaning. It is literally service. If you are looking for a little meaning… “I guess it’s just to appease the pity inside me.”

I nodded at her answer.

I roughly expected the answer to this question.

From the moment she first met Eve, she called the demons humans, and she seemed to truly mourn the pain of her demons.

“Then…” “Is it true that this blue pill neutralizes contaminated mana?”

“Ah, in that case, you were lying to the demons.”

“What?”

She was embarrassed by Eve, who casually told her she had lied.

She truly cared for the demons, so why did she lie like that?

“The blue pill is just an ordinary nutritional supplement. “There is no effect of neutralizing contaminated mana.”

“Why did you lie to them?”

“It’s for the demons who don’t eat.”

“You distributed food to the demons, right?”

“No. They haven’t eaten for several months. “The proof is that he is getting thinner day by day, and that he does not eat the food I gave him and instead passes it on to others.”

Definitely, as Eve said, I only saw the demons giving the canned food they brought to young demons or distributing it to neighbors in the back alley, but I don’t remember seeing them eating food.

“It seemed like he wanted to starve to death without eating. “That was the only way to provide nutrition.”

“Why do you want to die?”

“Because they are demons. “Because they are addicted to contaminated mana, they complain of the pain of their limbs being torn tens of thousands of times every few seconds, and because of their hideous appearance that is different from that of ordinary humans, they cannot mix with others and fall into depression.”

“…I think it would be better for them to die, so why are you trying to save them?”

“It feels uncomfortable to pass over knowing that other people are dying.”

I glared at Eve, who was ahead.

When I stopped, Eve also stopped and looked back.

“What you are doing to them is just quackery. “You are just making fun of them.”

After hearing my story, Eve lowered her head.

“I know it’s presumptuous, but… “I just can’t stand by and watch their deaths.”

Eve was quiet for a moment, then looked me in the eye, as if she had promised.

“I’ll tell you now what I said if you help me today. “It was about why only demons are affected by contaminated mana, right?”

“Yes.”

“It’s simpler than you think. Current humanity is contaminated with mana… Nope. “If they have evolved to be able to accept magic power, then the people called demons are the so-called old humans who have not evolved and cannot accept magic power.”

“What?”

I couldn’t understand most of Eve’s words.

It’s not a pocket monster from fairy tales, it’s evolution, etc. I couldn’t understand what they were saying.

“Umm… Where should I begin to explain? First of all, should I tell you that normal mana and contaminated mana are the same substance?”

“They are the same substance… ?”

“Yes, the two are the exact same substance called Ra.”

“Ra… ?”

It was a word I had never heard before in my life.

“Ra means radioactivity. Oh, you still won’t understand me if I say this? “Just know that it is a very dangerous substance.”

“…Then why doesn’t that thing called Ra have any effect on humans?”

“To know that, we have to bring up forgotten ancient history. Would you like to listen to it?”

“If you can tell me, please say it slowly so I can understand.”

“hehehe, I’m not that good at freezing either, so I’m not confident I can explain it well. Still, let me explain… “

Eve thought carefully and finally opened her mouth.

“About 20,000 years ago, unlike today, Ra, or mana, was a hazardous substance that could not be used by humans at the time, so it could not be used by individuals and was handled only in a very small number of research facilities.”

“How much mana was being handled?”

“It was about twice as much mana as is currently spread in the world.”

“There are so many… “

“Yes, they even knew how to extract energy from enormous amounts of mana, so in the past humanity prospered even more than it does now.”

Kwasik!

The sound of something exploding was heard at Eve’s feet.

Checking at her feet, she saw that Eve had left one of her cans on the floor and popped it by pressing it with her foot.

“But suddenly a great war broke out among mankind. To win the war, people used mana, which can release enormous amounts of energy, and fired magic bombs so that the ancient Earth was covered in magic.”

“Wasn’t mana said to be a harmful substance in ancient times? Those people… “

“Most of them died. “On Earth contaminated with mana, 97% of plants and animals became extinct.”

“Who are the 3% who survived?”

“After losing its original form and being transformed horribly, it remained alive in a contaminated area. “

“Ah, when animals and plants are infected with mana, think of demonic beasts, and when humans are infected with mana, think of demons. Because their descendants are demon beasts and demons.”