The Golden-Haired Summoner - Ch. 10
[Rai?]
“Yeah, Rai! How does that sound?”
It was the name of a dog I had in my previous life. Not that I bothered explaining that.
[It’s a good name. My name is Rai.]
Was it too much to name it in just five seconds? No, it wasn’t even original—it was recycled. It did feel a bit half-hearted. For a moment, I regretted not giving it a grander name, but in the end, I decided it wasn’t worth the effort.
[Master, what is your name?]
“My name is Geenie Crowell.”
[Geenie Crowell.]
“It’s Geenie!”
[Geenie.]
Now even a spirit was ignoring my name.
[Until the day your life comes to an end, I shall remain by your side. Glory to my master…]
It seemed both humans and spirits were incapable of getting my name right. At this point, it wasn’t a matter of pronunciation but a fundamental lack of care.
—
The sunlight streamed in through the window, but I stubbornly kept my eyes shut.
I didn’t want to wake up yet, but a voice that didn’t belong in my ears echoed loudly inside my head.
[Master, Master!]
It wasn’t so much a voice as something else entirely.
The sound traveled directly into my mind, clear even if I covered my ears.
The spirit’s voice.
[Master.]
At first, I ignored it and wallowed in my dream. Staying up until dawn making a contract with a spirit had left me exhausted and physically drained.
Contracting with a spirit was an incredibly taxing process on one’s mental strength.
But before long, the thought hit me—why was that thing still here?—and my eyes shot open.
“Rai? Where are you?”
[I’m here, in the doorknob.]
“…Why haven’t you gone back to the Spirit Realm?”
Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I muttered in confusion.
[I am a spirit of the Natural Realm, so I don’t need to return to the Spirit Realm.]
“What does that even mean? Says who?”
[I say so. I’ll stay by my master’s side for my entire life! Aren’t you happy?]
“Not really… It sounds more like a hassle. And honestly, you seem happier about it than I am.”
This wasn’t the same cheerful tone Rai had used yesterday.
Now, Rai’s voice was as overly excited as a balloon on the verge of bursting.
[Hassle? It’s heartbreaking that you don’t appreciate my dedication.]
Normally, spirits were beings that existed only when summoned. They lived in the Spirit Realm and manifested temporarily in the human realm, the Middle Realm, at the summoner’s call.
This process, of course, was a kind of premium service. Summoning them consumed mana, and maintaining their presence also required mana. Every second a spirit was summoned, it drained mana.
But this one…
“Now that you mention it, my mana isn’t draining. How did you manage that?”
[As I said, I am a spirit of the Natural Realm. Since I was born in the natural world of the Middle Realm, this is essentially my home.]
“Huh?”
[That means, as long as I have a contractor, I can remain here freely.]
This was all new to me.
Even as someone who had majored in Spirit Studies, everything Rai was saying—about being a metal spirit, a spirit of the Natural Realm, or a spirit that could exist independently of my mana—was completely unfamiliar.
“Oh, I get it! So… because you were born here, you don’t need to return to the Spirit Realm.
Other spirits have to use ‘power’ to stay in the Middle Realm since they’re technically in a foreign world. But you…”
[Don’t have to do that. This is my world as well.]
“I see.”
It seemed like Rai wasn’t technically summoned. He didn’t have to return to the Spirit Realm, which made him quite unique.
[As expected of my master. You’re not entirely clueless.]
It sounded like a compliment, but it left me feeling oddly annoyed. Rai had a knack for being subtly irritating.
I had known this spirit was unusual when we made the contract, but it seemed to have even more quirks than I had initially thought.
Maybe Master Yael would know something about him.
I nodded absently and climbed out of bed. Talking to a doorknob felt weird.
“So why are you in there, anyway?”
[To create a form, I need to absorb metal and reconstruct it, but I can’t use my powers without my master’s permission.]
“Does that mean using your powers requires my mana?”
[Of course. My ability to stay in the Middle Realm is thanks to the contract. Everything depends on you, Master. Oh! Now that you’re awake, may I ask for your permission? Can I absorb this doorknob? I want to move…]
“Absolutely not.”
A room without a doorknob would be a problem.
[Then how about the candlestick?]
“No.”
[The washbasin?]
“Still no.”
[Are you really going to be like this?]
What did it matter to me and Rai’s “relationship,” anyway? Oh, right—we had an eternal soul-binding contract.
A fresh, new contract that wouldn’t end until my death.
“You said you’re a metal spirit, right? Fire spirits can create fire… so why don’t you just create metal?”
[That’s a great idea, but you don’t have enough mana for that.]
“…Ahem.”
[Creating something from nothing requires a lot of mana. Producing metal is infinitely harder than creating fire.]
I could feel his annoyance at even being compared to “something as trivial as fire.”
This spirit had quite the personality. Silently, I scanned the room.
Was there anything made of metal that Rai could absorb?
In this world, most buildings were made of wood and stone, so finding metal wasn’t easy.
In my previous life, metal was everywhere. For the first time, I felt a tinge of regret.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything here. But I know a place! If we go to the alchemy class, there are all kinds of metals lying around.”
[Is that place heaven?]
“Yes! Let’s head there. It’s not mine, but it belongs to the school, so it’s basically ours as students, right?”
[I’m not sure what you mean, but that sounds like a good idea!]
“So, if you absorb metal, you can move?”
[Yes. I can create a body using the absorbed metal. The Middle Realm is a material world, so existing here as a spirit form requires a significant amount of mana.]
“And right now, you can only inhabit metal objects?”
[Correct.]
“That’s kind of ghostly. For now, how about moving into this candlestick instead of the doorknob?”
[Very well.]
It seemed more practical to carry around a candlestick. Rai could move to any metal object, and now I felt like I had a haunted candlestick instead of a haunted doorknob.
Better than a haunted washbasin, I supposed.
[Master, someone is standing outside the door.]
“Huh? Who?”
Just as I picked up the candlestick Rai had moved into, a knock echoed from the door.
[It’s a man with green hair, and based on his scent, he appears to be a wind spirit summoner.]
Rai seemed exceptionally sensitive to presences, and the warning came just as the knocking started.
Rai was unexpectedly useful—like having an intercom!
That was the first real utility I discovered from this spirit.
“Miss Geenie?”
I recognized the voice even before it spoke. It was Master Yael. After all, there was only one wind spirit summoner at this academy.
Apparently, my absence from class hadn’t gone unnoticed. Since I was the only student, skipping class was always painfully obvious.
“Just a moment!”
I hastily threw on my uniform, not even bothering to wipe the sleep from my eyes.
There was a loud commotion as I tied my ribbon, grabbed the candlestick, and flung the door open.
“I was just about to head to class!”
Though in truth, I was planning to visit the alchemy lab instead.
‘Bang!’
A loud noise echoed in the hallway.
Oh no, Master Yael had been standing right in front of the door. He clutched his forehead, trembling as if in pain.
“Ugh! What are you doing?”
“That must hurt. Why were you standing right in front of the door?”
“Miss Geenie, in times like this…”
“Are you trying to make me feel bad? Ugh, now I feel guilty.”
“Miss Geenie!”
“…Fine, I’m ‘very’ sorry.”
Why was he making me apologize first thing in the morning? He was the one who came looking for me. Begrudgingly, I offered an insincere apology while scratching my ear.
“Do you even know what time it is?”
“Twelve?”
“When does class start?”
“Eleven.”
“And what do you have to say about that?”
“Kids need their sleep. This academy works us too hard. I’m only ten—why are there so many classes? I can’t live like this.”
Master Yael always had a pained expression during moments like these, but he never hit me, which made him a saint among teachers.
Any other teacher would have exploded in anger.
“You overslept? I thought you skipped class to make another protest about summoning a spirit.”
“Ah! If that’s what you were thinking, no need anymore!”
“No need?”
“I succeeded in forming a spirit contract on my own!”
I shouted confidently, but Master Yael’s face showed nothing but disbelief.
He looked at me like I’d claimed to defeat a dragon with a stick of cotton candy.
His deadpan expression said it all.
“Oh, sure.”
“I’m serious! Look!”
I shoved the candlestick in his face as proof.