“Please, make yourself comfortable.”
A beautiful round table set in the garden.
Around the table were five chairs, but only the Spirit Lord and Leo were seated.
Naphras and I take our seats.
Chirp chirp.
Why is Naphras still in bird form?
“I had to call upon my dear friend due to an urgent matter. I hope it’s not too much of a request.”
“I have some free time now, so you don’t need to worry.”
I shook my head while lifting a pretty teacup that was on the table.
The tea had a subtle pink hue.
It smells nice.
“And…”
“?”
“Ugh?”
Squishy~
Leo’s cheeks next to me puffed out.
Since the fusion was quite advanced, they now looked just like a Nymph’s cheeks.
“It’s Lord Leo’s request, so there’s no reason to refuse.”
“Another cheek…”
“Hehe. Leo is indeed cute.”
“Uuuuuu…”
I removed my hand from the squishy cheek.
Leo was cupping his cheeks with both hands, groaning.
Chirp.
Naphras also raised his head while sipping tea in his sparrow form.
─ Yena still seems to like Nymphs, huh?
“Because they’re cute. No particular reason to dislike them.”
One of the few healing elements in a world heading towards ruin.
Back then, Nymphs were quite vigilant, so I couldn’t touch them often, but it was even more satisfying when I did touch them.
─ What about Spirits?
“Spirits are cute too. It’s just that the frequency indicates their rarity.”
While Spirits come stickily, Nymphs are busy fleeing.
Moreover, Spirits are spiritual beings, so unlike Nymphs, they can’t be touched, and even if forced, there isn’t much sensation.
Naphras nodded in understanding with his bird body.
Of course, being a sparrow with almost no neck, his whole body just bobbed up and down.
Tap.
The Spirit Lord, Arne, sets down his teacup.
“You seem to have a good connection with the Wind Spirit King.”
“Just a brief past…”
“Oh, is it about your time as an alien?!”
Leo’s eyes sparkled from where he was playing with the spirit.
It was already obvious that I wasn’t an ordinary user from the fusion and past information.
I didn’t know exactly, but under the current circumstances, I had no reason to hide it.
“Yes. It’s not that great of a story.”
“It seems super awesome… Have you met any other Spirit Kings besides Wind and Earth?”
“Of course.”
“Whoa!”
Leo gasped and toppled backward.
The Earth Spirit caught Leo as he fell, and the Wind Spirit helped lift Leo back up again.
What great reactions.
“Fire, Water, Lightning, Ice. I’ve met them all. Although I don’t know where they are now.”
“Then what about… no, no, Light?”
“No, no, what about the light?”
“The Light Spirit King…”
The eight attributes of spirits.
In the beginning, the first spirits had only four attributes: fire, water, wind, and earth, but over time, another four attributes were added.
Among them, fire and wind mixed to give birth to “lightning,” while water and earth mixed to create “ice.”
And light and darkness…
The Spirit of Darkness was born from the experiments of the demon race, but light is not born from the celestial race.
“Unlike the demon race, the celestial race does not experiment with spirits. Even if they were to do so by chance, they wouldn’t be able to accept the holy power.”
Unlike the magical characteristics of “corruption” and “erosion,” the holy power possesses the characteristic of “purification.”
Usually, when a spirit is excessively exposed to holy power, it doesn’t merely transform into light. Instead, it often oxidizes under intense power.
“I know Lord Leo made a contract with the Light Spirit, but… it’s correct to say that the Light Spirit King doesn’t really exist. Naphras hasn’t seen it, right?”
—I too have confirmed the existence of the Light Spirit, but I’ve never seen the Light Spirit King. I suspect it was created by Leo’s special power.
Leo is a “user” influenced by the “system,” not an ordinary human or nymph.
Rather than saying the Light Spirit has always existed, it’s more accurate to say that another attribute spirit acquired “light abilities” through the system.
“What do you think, Lady Arne?”
“Hmm… It seems the very existence of the Light Spirit is ambiguous, so I share similar opinions with the Spirit King.”
“……”
“Of course, my disciple has definitely contracted with the Light Spirit.”
Leo sulked as he rubbed faces with the Light Spirit, while Arne affectionately patted her cute disciple’s head.
“I suppose it’s time to get to the main point.”
Swish. Arne, who had been wearing a gentle smile until now, gazed at me with serious eyes.
“You know Birang Brennis, right?”
“I know her well.”
The six swords of the Empire, Cloud Envoy Birang Brennis.
She’s the Empire’s sword wielding the Azure Fated Blade and is an ally of the Spirit Lord.
And she’s a student attending the Eli Academy.
“That girl has been receiving teachings at your friend’s academy by order of Duke Huangyeol for quite some time now. She has likely undergone mental growth, but her physical growth is probably minimal.”
Birang is one of the strongest among the top five in the Empire, a fully realized Sword Saint, and a master capable of slicing through even Leo.
Moreover, as a resident of this place—not a user—she wouldn’t have had any need to learn mana manipulation.
In other words, there’s no particularly good reason for Birang to be at the academy.
“Nevertheless, her talent is superb. She also possesses exceptional pride in her strength.”
Although she has received quite the scolding once.
It seemed Arne read my thoughts and chuckled softly.
Then, she returned to a slightly serious expression and lifted her teacup again.
“…Seeing your friend, it seems Duke Huangyeol’s purpose has been somewhat achieved.”
“Is that why you called me here to tell me this?”
“Is that so?”
“I have been watching Duke Huangyeol even before the Empire existed. I’ve been with him for over hundreds of years and know his tendencies and thoughts better than anyone.”
“Hoo-rok.”
“Duke Huangyeol will continue to etch a debt of the heart onto you. From close acquaintances to the weak who fall at a mere touch, frail creatures, the fate of the world, and bizarre entities.”
“……”
“Birang has been raised by the Empire since she opened her eyes. Her life is intertwined with the Empire, and she can never abandon it.”
“Do you think that if I give Birang affection, she won’t attack the Empire?”
“Of course not. The friend I saw in the last war doesn’t show kindness even to those who cross the line.”
The reason Magic Lord lost his position among the Three Lords and became a fool.
She crossed a ‘line’ that must never be crossed.
Ta-gak.
“Duke Huangyeol will never cross the line. He will try to keep things pleasant while continuously sending people like Birang to gradually build a connection to the heart.”
“I heard they plan to send Nea. She hasn’t come yet, though.”
Saintess Nea of the Empire.
I need to give her some mental training, but for some reason, she hasn’t shown up even a week before the year changes.
I don’t know if her invitation was canceled halfway or if she herself refused to come.
But I suspect the latter might be true.
Arne’s expression became a little sharper.
“…! I see. Nea. That girl is essentially…”
“The decision regarding Duke Huangyeol isn’t based on my relations with someone. So there’s nothing to worry about.”
My criteria for ‘purging’ targets is solely limited to whether they’ve committed enough sins to cross the line.
No matter how friendly I am with someone, if they cross the line, there’ll be no exceptions.
“For the time being, I plan to leave the Empire as is. We have mutual agreements.”
“…I understand for now. That’s not what’s important right now.”
“? This isn’t important?”
Wasn’t I called here because of Duke Huangyeol?
“That’s of course important. But before that, I have something to request.”
As Arne lightly gestured, a small droplet of water appeared in the air.
Inside the light droplet, a small life wriggled while curled up.
A bluish…
“Spirit?”
“My friend. Have you encountered the ‘Water Spirit’ recently?”
“…Water Spirit?”
The Water Spirit.
Now that I think about it, I haven’t come across one recently.
Unlike in the past, it’s quite rare to see spirits in Deoen, but one can still occasionally find subordinates or intermediate spirits while wandering around the continent or dungeons.
Spirits are aggregates formed from natural elements, and meeting one or two spirits is easier than expected.
But I have never met the Water Spirit.
“By the way, I…”
“We were by the sea, Lady Lily!”
“That’s right. We practically lived in the sea.”
I kept wandering around the ocean, clearing sea dungeons.
In fact, I often cleared dungeons related to Kiki Island or the sea, yet I still never encountered the Water Spirit.
Leo nods vigorously as if he agrees.
“Exactly! I roamed the beaches a ton, but not a glimpse!”
“The Water Spirit has drastically decreased in number over the past 7 to 8 months. It has gradually stopped showing itself and may be on the verge of extinction in just about a month—”
—Let me explain, contractor.
A sparrow swoops over the chair and lands right in the middle of the table.
The small bird, holding a tiny cookie in its beak, starts to nibble away.
It looks like it’s talking with that tiny beak, but it’s actually conveying its voice through a mental connection.
—Right now, the Water Spirit is in a state of ‘spiritual synchronization’.
“…!”
Spiritual synchronization.
The Spirit King is the master and king of spirits of each attribute, allowed to issue commands to them.
However, unless it’s something special, they don’t generally give commands. If that ‘command’ becomes profound, it can trigger ‘spiritual synchronization’.
It means one’s state gradually changes to become similar to that of the ‘Spirit King’.
Something similar occurs with Beastmen, as their emotions used to shift according to the emotional state of their king.
When the king laughs, they laugh; when the king cries, they cry—a strange phenomenon.
This was called ‘emotional synchronization,’ but it can’t compare to spirits.
‘Unlike the Beastmen, whose emotions only change, spirits can change both body and soul. And even the mind.’
Due to this enormous backlash, the spiritual synchronization that normally wouldn’t happen has suddenly occurred…
“It must be related to the Kraken.”
—That’s right.
The Water Spirit King is the water itself, a natural element.
And the Kraken is a being that has a tremendous impact on the sea, meaning the Spirit King’s state has likely undergone some strange change.
Moreover, in the past, the Spirit Kings assimilated their existence into nature to break free from the demons.
If, like Naphras and Nord, they have slept for a long time and their existence merged again, and if the Kraken’s powers mingled in…
—…perhaps something more serious than with Nord will occur.
Before long, the Kraken will appear, leading an army.
Along with minions named the Water Spirit and the Water Spirit King.
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