Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress
Chapter 110: Forest Fire to Drought

Chapter 110: Forest Fire to Drought

"We want to help Safiro. But before that, we have to know how things ended up in Safiro’s current situation. Will you tell us what you know?" Arabella asked and Nadia’s eyes shined with hope.

[They will help Safiro!!!]

"Yes, Your Majesty. I will say everything I know!"

Nadia then began her tale several years back.

The Arno Kingdom and the Safiro Tribe never got along due to a fight over territory and a difference in cultural beliefs.

The fertile lands of Safiro were desired by Arno. They had fought over it countless times but there was often no clear winner.

There were times when Safiro was pushed back but more often, they were the ones who won.

But Arno still kept fighting with them. Especially Count Dempsey who was the lord of the territory in the Arno Kingdom that shared borders with Safiro.

When Arno was conquered by Valeria three years ago, they finally had the backing to be able to get Safiro.

Once it had stabilized, Arno attacked Safiro, and the Safiro Tribe was defeated. And Count Dempsey was assigned to Safiro by Duke Arno.

Conquering Safiro was counted as Duke Arno’s feat so it was akin to Safiro falling under Arno’s rule.

However, since Safiro was once equal to Arno and Ferdinand sent his knights, Safiro was counted as another territory in Valeria. Thus, the Chief’s family was given an estate in Riva.

But in practice, Safiro was under Arno Dukedom. Duke Arno was tasked with managing Safiro and in turn, he assigned Count Dempsey to as the one in charge of Safiro.

Count Dempsey maximized the opportunity.

After Safiro’s defeat, most of the fertile lands they used to till were assigned to nobles from Count Dempsey’s territory.

Only a little was left for the tribesmen but they couldn’t complain since they lost in the war.

Thankfully, they still had Mt. Esme which provided them with fruits and animals.

The river also had a lot of fish so there was no problem with the food supply.

But a few months later, Count Dempsey wanted to mine in Mt. Esme. The Safiro Tribe was heavily against it since Mt. Esme was the home of their guardian deity Esmeralda.

They believed that Esmeralda would be furious if the mountain was disturbed.

Count Dempsey tried to persuade them at first but they repeatedly refused.

And one night, everyone was shocked when Mt. Esme was suddenly on fire.

They tried putting it out as much as they could but it kept burning for several days until it was burned to the summit where the Sacred Tree was.

"On top of Mt. Esme was a gigantic tree that our ancestors had forbidden us to cut no matter what happens. It was called the Sacred Tree where our guardian deity, Goddess Esmeralda resides. My father and our warriors tried to protect the Sacred Tree from the fire but to no avail," Nadia recounted.

She said a lot of their strongest warriors died of burns and suffocation as the entire mountain was engulfed by fire.

"My father and the warriors who survived said that they were saved by the Goddess."

Nadia relayed that her father and the warriors said the forest itself tried to fight the fire.

The trees moved to put out the fire and there were even roots that came out from the ground and released water. The warriors and Nadia’s father tried to use these roots as well to put out the fire.

"It was hard to believe but Father said the Sacred Tree seemed to be crying as water suddenly flowed from it. They used the said water to try dousing the flames but it was to no avail. Everything caught fire in the end. Even our residence and the Sacred Tree."

According to the tale from Nadia’s father, the Sacred Tree’s roots wrapped around them and brought them to the foot of the mountain along with the corpses of those who had perished.

"Father and the warriors said they heard a gentle voice say: ’Thank you for your efforts, but it’s too late now.’ They passed out after that but they were sure they heard the voice of our Goddess Esmeralda."

[It must be the dryad.] Alwin thought. [But if Mt. Esme was still a lush forest at that time, the dryad should have been able to put out the fire right when it began. Were her powers limited even in her own domain?]

From Alwin’s thoughts, Arabella learned that with the gigantic tree on top of the mountain, the dryad was quite powerful. Her roots were probably all over the whole mountain. Thus, Mt. Esme should have been the dryad’s territory so she should have been able to feel everything that was happening in it. She should have been able to feel the fire and stopped it before it got worse.

[Or was it because of a third party?]

"Everyone in Safiro was saddened by the fire and prayed for the safety of Goddess Esmeralda for days and nights."

Once the fire completely stopped, the tribesmen climbed to the summit but the Sacred Tree was already burned. Only the trunk and several branches were left of it.

They tried bringing water since it might still have some life. They hoped they would see buds from it someday. But none came.

They tried planting trees to help Mt. Esme recover as well, but all the trees they planted died. And they noticed that even after two months, no sprout had shown itself in Mt Esme and the soil began to dry up.

Soon, they noticed that even the supposed fertile lands surrounding the mountain began to be less productive.

The supposed fertile lands no longer yielded as much as they did before. The water in the river became less and less as well.

And soon, both the fertile lands and the water dried out as well just like Mt. Esme.

Yet, the culprit who caused the fire remained unsolved.

They were sure it was not someone from Safiro since all the tribesmen treasured Mt. Esme. They suspected it was someone from Dempsey but could not throw the blame without proof.

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A/N:

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