Chapter 27 – Fountain Modification

As Hirune and Master Zuguri headed for the courtyard, the craftsmen cleaning the iron ore stopped at once.

They had all heard through the grapevine that the Great Saint was there secretly.

A few of them ran to call their colleagues who were taking a break, saying, “She’s at our post!”

(Looks like they’re busy here too. ……   I’ll be bothering you for a little longer.)

Hirune made up her mind when she saw the craftsman running.

“ What are you going to do when you see the fountain, Makura-chan?  There’s nothing but water spewing out here, you know?”

Master Zuguri’s words fell on deaf ears as Hirune observed the fountain.

(It’s like a working water fountain, isn’t it? What’s the principle behind the water spraying out so vigorously?)

Hirune stared at the water gushing out with the holy magic of sensing.

The fountain was surrounded by a stone circle.

It was similar to the fountain in the park she had seen in her previous life.

The difference was that the water channels were designed so that the spouted water flowed in four different directions, one flowing into the washing area of the steel mill built next door, and the other three into the city. The fact that the waterways were reinforced with iron plates made her think that this was an important place that should not be destroyed by miasma demons.

(The water splash is cool. ……)

The heat had built up in her body from being indoors.

The flying drops of water felt good.

(……)

(Hmm, I can’t see much below the fountain……)

Hirune put her hand on the edge of the stone to climb it.

(At the height of a ten year old, …… ugh ……)

She couldn’t climb it because she was not strong enough. Jeanne would’ve been able to fly up it.

She was groaning, then suddenly her body was lifted up softly.

“Do you want to see inside?”

“Yes. Thank you very much.”

“Be careful.”

Master Zuguri lifted Hirune and gently placed her on the stone.

The water level was high, it looked like it was too deep to touch.

In the center and around the center, the surface of the water had changed into a mountain shape. She could see how strong the spouting force was.

(The holy magic of sensing: …… Magnified eyes, tenfold!)

She cupped her hands like a pair of glasses and used holy magic with more magic power than before.

A magic circle floated at her feet, and her vision expanded to the center of the fountain.

(Can’t I just discern more with holy power? I’ll put a little more magic into it. ……)

Stardust danced happily, shining gold and supporting Hirune’s vision.

Perhaps this is also thanks to the fact that she was reincarnated from earth, the stones and ground became translucent like a 3D graphic analysis, and only the magic power flowing in the water was visible.

(This is very convenient. Is the magic power what appears sparky?)

The water seemed to come from underground veins, and on its way up to the surface, it was imbued with magical power.

It seems that when it takes on magical power, the gushing power increases.

(I see, I see. …… There’s a lot of holy Quartz around there. I can feel the holy power. I wonder if the magical power of the holy Quartz is increasing its momentum. ……?)

Hirune says it’s around there, but the Holy Quartz was buried around several hundred meters underground. Only Hirune, who used holy magic in an insane way, would have been able to find it.

(I didn’t know that the good night’s sleep stone had this effect. …… As expected, it’s a stone that I approve of.)

Cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

The holy Quartz was a stone of the highest quality.

Hirune cut off the holy magic of sensing, nodded pompously, and pointed her finger shrewdly underground.

“Alright! I’m going to make this fountain special! It’s all for a good night’s sleep!”

It was completely a late night kind of thing.

When she woke up in the middle of the night, her eyes were alert and she got excited unnecessarily.

It’s the kind of thing that makes you feel embarrassed later.

“Makura-chan..…what’s going on? I thought you might have fallen asleep watching the fountain.”

Master Zuguri said with concern, holding out his hands.

He was going to catch Hirune if she fell. He was a kind master.

“I’m sorry. I, Makura, would never do anything rude like dozing off. I can’t even imagine falling asleep standing up, no.”

It’s hard to believe this was coming from someone who sleeps during prayer.

“Ok, yeah, right. You can always tell me if you get sleepy.”

“More importantly, what’s going on with those guys?”

She noticed that a group of craftsmen had gathered at the fountain in the courtyard.

It seemed that everyone had come to see what was going on as the Great Saint continued to unfold the magic circle with the holy magic of sensing.

“Oh, they were wondering about Makura-chan….”

“Then close your eyes, master.”

Hirune interrupted him. Zuguri, who was about to give the order for everyone to return to their post, stopped talking.

“Close your eyes, everyone! My spell is a trade secret!”

What is she talking about?

The craftsmen looked at each other and whispered, “It’s a secret,” “It would be a pity if we upset the Great Saint,” “Right, let’s close our eyes.”

Eventually, they all smiled and closed their eyes in silence.

(Okay, okay. Now they won’t know. Wanda will be furious if word gets out that the Great Saint was here.)

Hirune looked at everyone who had closed their eyes, nodded, and held up her hands to the base of the fountain.

The target was the holy Quartz underground.

The effect is to permanently purify the water.

Hirune chanted the scripture slowly in her mind, creating an image of the Holy Quartz filtering the water.

The filtered water would automatically transform into holy water–in other words, all the water in the fountain would become holy water.

If Holly had heard, she would have said, “All holy water? And all the time?” she was sure Holly would scream.

(Scripture chanting complete — impart holy magic of purification to the holy Quartz –!)

When Hirune opened her eyes, a magic circle of elaborate shapes spread out at her feet.

It grew bigger and bigger, and became a huge magic circle that swallowed the entire steelworks beyond the courtyard

“Oh, it’s too big……, this will expose me as a saint…….”

It was too late.

Irrespective, Hirune injected her magic power.

Stardust gushed out of Hirune’s body and covered the entire area around her.

A golden wave washed over like at the beach, covering the shoes of Master Zuguri and the craftsmen.

As expected, they all opened their eyes to check the current situation.

“…… This is amazing.”

Master Zuguri was transfixed by the fairytale-like scene.

In the center of the glittering magic circle and the sparkling stardust bouncing happily as if the stars in the sky had come down to earth, there was the youngest great saint girl in the world.

Master Zuguri forgot to close his eyes and watched as Hirune’s long blond hair swayed fantastically.

The sight stirred his heart irresistibly, and he felt like running out right now and telling the whole town, “The Great Saint is here!” But his eyes and feet were glued to Hirune.

The stardust that flew out of Hirune gathered in one place, shining brightly, and when it transformed into a large sphere, it flew into the fountain.

(Still more magic power injection!　　Good luck, stardusters!)

A large amount of stardust pushed the sphere of stardust and plunged into the hole where the water spouted out.

The fountain was covered with stardust, and the water stopped flowing.

The surrounding area fell silent, and the only sound was the rustling of the stardust.

“……”

Master Zuguri looked at the fountain, where the water had stopped flowing, unsure of what was going on.

As if being sucked into the hole, stardust slid in one after another as if saying, “Go for it.”

(The water has stopped, hasn’t it? But that’s okay. ……!)

Hirune regained her energy, and the stardust fell into the hole in a spiral pattern.

After a while, it was clear that the stardust had reached its destination, and Hirune let the Holy Quartz absorb the stardust as it jumped in.

The filtration device using holy Quartz –  purification granting was completed.

(Fufufu ……, this is good. I’ve got the energy to keep it up for years to come.)

When Hirune cut off the holy magic, the magic circle that had been deployed became smaller and disappeared, and the stardust flickered in small flickers and fizzled out.

“That should do it. …… Hmm?”

Hirune heard a gurgling sound coming from the hole and turned her eyes.

That was the moment.

Water spurted out with a force that broke through the ground.

The people around shouted, “Oh!” and “Water!” and “Water!”

It seems that the water that was being held back by the stardust rebounded and spurted out all at once.

“Oh, so this is all holy water, huh? It’s so luxurious.”

Hirune says this carefree.

“It’s soaking the entire place.”

Hirune looked at the water falling like a downpour and spread her hands.

The water hit her head with a big splash. It was quite painful.

“O- bububu.”

Hirune was drenched for a while.

“Ah…”

“It’s dangerous, little girl. Get down.”

Master Zuguri picked up Hirune and brought her down from the edge of the stone steps.

“Thank you very much. You’re soaking wet too.”

Hirune giggled, enjoying herself.

It was funny to see Zuguri’s hair sticking to his forehead.

The master lowered his eyebrows in annoyance and looked at Hirune with a side glance at his men who were looking up at the fountain.

“Tell me alone, Makura-chan. That’s holy magic, isn’t it ……?”

‘Yes, it is. That’s right. I guess you found out.”

Hirune scratched her head and hesitated, wondering how to explain, then looked up.

“I’m the Saint of the Stream, Makura.”

The great saint said with a crisp face.

Master Zuguri froze.

Now, what’s a stream saint? The question came to mind.

“I’m making my rounds in the guise of an ordinary person. I am not the Great Saint Hirune. I’m not the Great Saint Hirune by any means. I’ve said it twice because it’s important. Please understand that much.”

“I see. Oh. I see.”

When the Great Saint told him, he could only reply, “I see.”

That’s enough for now, thought Master Zuguri, and decided to ask a question to get his mind back on track.

“By the way, Makura-sama, saint of the stream.”

“Makura is fine.”

“Makura-chan, can you tell me what you did?”

“Yes.”

Hirune nodded and glanced at the fountain.