Chapter 563: The Stone and the Goddess of Fertility
It’s hard to shake the feeling that the White Goddess has a substantial form somewhere, but it’s fine. I’m not scared; I won’t mess up. After all, she’s already drained my magic power, so what difference would it make to go see her now?
The cave isn’t exactly smooth, but it’s not too slippery either, just wet in places. The air is fresh since I just entered, so I’m not worried about oxygen. There shouldn’t be any toxic gas in this kind of terrain.
“Ex-Staff!”
“Yes, Master!”
“We’re heading into a cave this time.”
“The hole is a bit too big for poking around, huh?”
Ex-Staff sounds a little disappointed; a rabbit hole would be just right.
With no light coming in from outside, I increase the light magic and proceed deeper into the cave.
—I’ve asked the Spirits to let me know if anything seems off. Even if the terrain is safe, there could be things that are dangerous from the Spirits’ perspective.
“Whoa, it’s slippery!”
Ex-Staff seems to be having quite a bit of fun.
I’m using the tip of my staff to walk, and the contrast between the slippery spots and the rough patches feels just right.
As I navigate the winding underground path, I come across clear signs of human intervention. Seriously, stop leaving handprints; it’s creepy. Is that dark red or brown? It looks like animal blood or something. It can’t be human blood, right?
A sound reverberates around me, reminiscent of some kind of resonance. The Spirits here don’t have words, but they understand human speech. They communicate through the echoes in the cave. Yet, the soft, floating sounds feel eerily unsettling—
Huh? Did they leave paint behind and get their hands all sticky? There’s some beast fat mixed in, but was it originally berry juice?
“Ha ha ha! I wanted to join in too!”
Ex-Staff would probably leave handprints on the wall if there were paint around.
Thanks to the self-reporting of the handprint Spirit in the cave, my image of something ritualistic has shifted to that of a child’s prank. It’s no longer scary, but it’s still a bit strange.
The Spirits themselves seem to have morphed into slightly frightening entities due to years of human worship, much like my own misconceptions. But after so many years submerged in the sea without human visitors, perhaps they’ve regained some of their original innocence?
In any case, my fear is directed toward whatever might disturb this place deeper inside, so I’m harmless since I’m already in a contract with the White Goddess.
On the ceiling, there are paintings of cows or buffalo, people with bows, goats, and many figures that look like they’re dancing. Spirits that resemble the very images leap down from the ceiling.
“I’m Ex-Staff, nice to meet you!”
Ex-Staff greets the Spirits that dart past us, while I’m busy naming the ones that approach.
Still, how did they manage to paint up there? It must be tough to paint on the ceiling. Michelangelo’s ceiling paintings? “I arch back like a Syrian’s bow”?
Ah, maybe the ceiling used to be the wall. Did the Giant Stone Spirit tremble a lot when it perished? I see, there must have been tectonic shifts. It seems the Giant Stone Spirit met a rather flashy end. No wonder there are so few Amijin people left.
As I go deeper, I find a massive octagonal rock sprouting from the floor. The stones on this island are mostly pale, but this one is a deep gray.
“Is this the end of the exploration? It’s a dead end here.”
Just as Ex-Staff said, the cave ends right behind us. The octagon faces the stone wall, and one of its visible sides depicts a plump white woman, while another side shows a female figure holding a bow, colored the same as the handprints.
Both images are slightly faded by the waves.
“Ah, you’ve come. My master. Thanks to you, I’ve managed to avoid fading away.”
The painting of the white woman swells, enveloping the octagon, and a goddess resembling a marshmallow-shaped Dogu from the ocean floor appears.
She’s plump and a Spirit of Stone, but she seems to preside over fertility. She mentioned being painted with stone pigments, so her essence likely ties back to the stone and the wishes of the one who painted her.
“I only did it for my own reasons, but I’m glad you’re safe. Still, you’re looking quite faded.”
I hope she can hold on since I’ll be planting a lot here soon.
“I’m fine. It’ll take a long time to fade further. There are no waves sweeping me away right now, nor is there anything rolling above. However, I’d like the descendants of the bloodline that birthed me to bring me white stones and berries.”
“Bloodline… not retainers?”
The white stones and berries must refer to the paint materials. But bloodline?
“It refers to the distant descendants of the person who painted me.”
“Are you talking about the people who lived here?”
It feels a bit off to say “distant descendants,” but it must refer to the Amijin people.
“Yes, the bloodline of those who wished for my fertility and brought me into being.”
As she speaks, the white goddess begins to transform.
A rich brown hue seeps from within her, spreading until she becomes a glamorous beauty with black hair. Her embroidered clothing and white shell bracelet stand out against her brown skin, and she holds a bow.
“Wait, did we meet during the contract?”
“Yeah. Both of them are me.”
The blood Spirit or goddess of the Amijin people appeared for a moment when I pressed my blood seal.
“I am the goddess of hunting and gathering, while the white one is for agriculture. It seems the bloodline descendants are wandering again, so I can exist more clearly than the white one. However, the essence of things and the essence of wishes remain unchanged; I am both a Spirit of Stone and the Goddess of Fertility.”
“To enrich the land, I just need to have the bloodline of those who lived here bring me the materials for paint, right?”
“Simply put, yes. That way, faith will return, and I can regain my power.”
It feels like we’re never coming back to this land that has been trampled by outsiders! Or maybe we’ll eventually drive out the intruders! There was a dramatic shift in attitude during the contract, so it seems like they’d be willing to help if I asked.
Besides, it seems they were once settled people, so I should ask if they could help with farming while also tending to livestock.