The kitchen of the assembly hall quickly became the kitchen of the evacuation center.
Inside the large pot, the vegetable soup was turning into porridge. The remaining root vegetables were finely chopped, rice was added, and more water was poured in. The miso was kept light so that even tired elderly people and children could easily eat it.
The steam gathered beneath the low ceiling.
The sweet smell of daikon radish. The earthy scent of burdock root. The scent mixing miso and rice, calming the depths of the stomach.
“Yuma-san, the cafe side is open. I have brought out blankets, water, and emergency lights.”
Riko returned holding her smartphone. Her face was pale, but her voice was steady.
“We are not streaming. However, I posted a warning on the channel community. Prohibition of visiting the village. Prohibition of searching for locations. Wait for official announcements. The comment section is restricted.”
“That helps.”
“If people come from the outside, the village will not hold.”
That was right.
The villagers had begun quietly gathering in the assembly hall. Elderly people with bad legs, mothers with children, and people living in houses on the mountain side. No one made a loud fuss, but only their eyes worriedly turned toward the mountain.
Many blankets were already laid out on the tatami mats. The dining tables normally used for festival gatherings were pushed against the walls, replaced by bottles of water and paper cups lined up in rows.
The grandmothers held pouches containing their medicine and glasses tightly against their knees. The children gripped their mothers’ sleeves with sleepy faces, their shoulders jumping every time the door opened.
Without the steam from the pot, it would have felt even more suffocating.
The scent of miso and rice slowly pushed back the cold anxiety coming from the mountain.
Sota also came, led by his hand by his mother. When he saw me, he slightly shrank his shoulders.
“Yuma big brother, are you going to the mountain again?”
“Not decided yet. First, I will check the stream.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“It might be dangerous. So wait here with your mom.”
Sota pressed his lips together. His gaze fell onto Mikoto at my feet.
“Is Mikoto going too?”
“Meow.”
Mikoto meowed as a matter of course.
Sota handed over a small bag. It contained dried sardines.
“Take this with you.”
“Sota.”
His mother tried to stop him, but Mikoto brought his snout close to the bag and took just one. Then, he pushed the rest back toward Sota with his front paw.
“Meow.”
“Eat the rest while you wait, is what he means.”
When I translated, Sota smiled with a face that looked like he was about to cry.
“Yeah.”
Mikoto looked up.
“Yuma, porridge.”
“For Mikoto?”
“No. For the ones going.”
Sound reasoning.
I ladled porridge into a small bowl and ate it while standing. The thickness of the rice lingered on the tongue. The miso was light, but it had the sweetness drawn from the root vegetables. A little bit of fang-boar fat floated on top, warming the body as it went down the throat.
The meal before heading outside. First put fire into the belly of the human going to a dangerous place.
What the old mining village used to do, I was doing right here and now.
“Mr. Kamishiro.”
Saeki was standing at the entrance of the kitchen. She had taken off her coat and changed into easy-to-move attire. In her hands were a measuring instrument and a recording terminal.
“I will accompany you to check the stream. The survey team is blocking the abandoned mine entrance side. This side is to check the village’s water source.”
“Understood.”
“Those accompanying are myself, Mr. Kamishiro, and Mikoto. I ask the village mayor to wait in the assembly hall.”
“What about Kurose and Reina?”
Riko asked in a low voice.
At the edge of the assembly hall, Kurose and Reina were sitting at a distance. Kurose silently stared at the floor. Reina spoke to Sota’s mother, checking if anyone was injured.
“I will ask Shiratori-san to check the physical condition of the evacuees. The use of healing magic is under my permission. Mr. Kurose is prohibited from acting alone due to being an audit target. If necessary, I will ask for material transport.”
Saeki’s judgment was fast.
Kurose glanced over here for a second, but said nothing. He probably understood himself that he was not in a position to argue.
I lowered the heat on the porridge and left the pot to Riko.
“If the flavor gets too strong, add water. This small pot is for the children. Mikoto’s share is.”
“Do not let him eat too much, right.”
“Yes.”
“Meow.”
Mikoto meowed in dissatisfaction. With that meow, the atmosphere in the kitchen loosened just a bit.
The stream flows through the north side of the village. Water welling up from the mountain slope becomes a thin current, passes beside the fields, and enters the communal water tank. Normally, it is clear water so cold that dipping your hand in freezes to the bone.
Tonight’s stream was dark. It was not because of the moonlight. The water itself was mixed with something like a black film.
Every time it flowed between the stones, an oily light flickered.
“The numbers are rising.”
Saeki looked at the measuring instrument. “Exceeding drinking standards. Inflow into the communal water tank.”
“We can still stop it midway.”
I smelled the stream. Iron. Damp rock. And then, a bitter scent like burnt grain.
I dipped my finger into the water.
“Mr. Kamishiro.”
“I am not licking it.”
“Naturally.”
I held the black film clinging to my fingertip up to the moonlight. The magic level is dense. It is not just ordinary contamination. Something is flowing out from deep inside the abandoned mine through the water vein. It smells like ore powder, monster bodily fluids, and old barriers rotting away.
“To put it in terms of taste, it is cooking broth where the scum has boiled over too much.”
“Is that a metaphor?”
“Half of it.”
Mikoto stood at the edge of the stream and bristled his fur.
“This is not water. It is stagnation accumulated in the belly of the mountain.”
Saeki’s terminal made a recording sound again.
“Mikoto, passing that off as just a meow won’t work anymore.”
“Never mind that. It is urgent.”
Mikoto’s golden eyes turned toward the upper reaches of the stream. The direction of the abandoned mine.
I took out charcoal and coarse salt from my cloth bag. Things I brought before leaving the assembly hall. I added a little of my magical processing to the method people of the past used when temporarily clarifying mountain work water.
I built a small stone arrangement in the middle of the stream and placed the charcoal on it. I sprinkled a little coarse salt and pulled the flow of magic with my fingertips.
The black film slowly entangled onto the surface of the charcoal. The color of the water became slightly lighter.
“This is temporary.”
“How long will it last?”
“Depending on the flow rate. If we do not stop the source, the charcoal will lose.”
Saeki nodded and immediately sent out a communication.
“Close the inflow to the communal water tank. Enforce the drinking ban. Request the delivery of alternative water.”
Hearing that voice, I looked upstream. Deep in the stream. Through the gaps in the trees, the black water pulsed for just a second. Round bubbles floated on the water surface. The bubbles did not burst, slowly changing shape. Like eyes.
Mikoto growled low.
“Yuma.”
“Yeah.”
The water is not just dirty. Something from the other side is looking at us. Something that noticed we are trying to protect the stream.
At that moment, a beast’s howl echoed from upstream. The voice of ore-fang wolves. And not just one.
Saeki gripped her terminal again.
“Additional report from the survey team. A pack of ore-fang wolves is approaching the abandoned mine entrance side.”
The mountain at night shuddered.
I wiped my fingers blackened by charcoal and looked back toward the assembly hall. Over there are people waiting for porridge. The scent of things to protect still lingered on my clothes.