Zhao was surprised for a moment. He didn't know what Meirin wanted to talk about, but after seeing the solemn look on her face, he immediately nodded his head. "Well, then let's go back. Blockhead, you stay and help Meg and Rockhead." Blockhead agreed to stay, while Meg said that they would continue to look after the slaves.
Meirin and Zhao went to the living room after arriving at the castle. Zhao looked puzzled. "Grandma Meirin, what do you want to tell me that you couldn't say outside?"
"Master, when we came back today, on the way, I explored the situation with the lake, but I didn't find any strong water magic. There are only two explanations for this. One, the water spirit beast is very powerful, and very good at hiding its wherabouts from me. But that is almost impossible because I'm a mage of the eighth level. I am very confident that nothing can hide in the water if I tried to look for it. The second explanation is that there is simply no powerful water spirit beast at all. That would mean that there must be another reason why there are no fish in the water."
Zhao soon realized the seriousness of the problem. The underground lake was an important part of their plans for the future development of his fief. If there was no way to raise fish, then they would lose an important source of funding. If such a large lake couldn't be used, then that would really be a waste. Zhao was sullen. "Can you identify the reason?"
Meirin's face was also heavy. "I once heard a rumor, although I don't know if it's related to the lake situation." She paused. "They say that there is a reason why the Black Waste is so close to the carrion swamp. It's because every so often there would be an army of toxic undead spirit beasts that would charge into the Black Waste, and then kill every living creature. In doing so, they would poison the soil and turn this area into a wasteland of death. But no one has come to the Black Waste for a long time, so this rumor has never been proven. But if it was true, then this is probably the reason why there are no fish in the lake."
Zhao's face changed. If it really was like Meirin said, then this was big. Meirin, Green, Blockhead, and Rockhead could handle themselves, but some of the slaves couldn't fight. If undead spirit beasts really did come out of the carrion swamp and attacked them, then those people would die.
Zhao rubbed his forehead, which was a habit he had in his past life.
Meirin was also worried. If such a thing could happen, then they might have to stop their plans for raising money, making it hard for everyone to live here.
"If what you say is true, then we're in big trouble," Zhao said. "Grandma Meirin, we'll wait for Grandpa Green to come back before we discuss this any further. But I'll tell you, starting tomorrow, stop the slaves from cleaning the mines. Instead, we'll use the supplies we brought to build some simple weapons. The slaves could train at the same time they'll be making repairs to the castle. If anything happens, we could rely on the castle to withstand an attack. And if that doesn't work, I could put everyone in my space so we could avoid those undead spirit beasts."
Meirin frowned. "But we've already been in the Black Waste for a few days and yet nothing has come out of the carrion swamp, so there might not be a problem. I hope that my worries are unnecessary."