The Golden-Haired Summoner - Ch. 21
“Really? Move aside!”
Monsters—I had heard about them endlessly, but this was my first time seeing one in person.
I cracked the carriage door open slightly and peeked outside to assess the situation.
Our delegation was being escorted by about twenty knights, and they were handling the orcs with ease.
It wasn’t a particularly concerning situation. Well, of course, they were the Imperial Knights of Dmitri, renowned for their strength.
“Oh… so that’s an orc?”
[Yes, they’re not that strong.]
Orcs were known as aggressive monsters that frequently attacked humans.
They lived in groups and could speak, but their intelligence wasn’t high enough for them to be classified as humanoid beings. Instead, they were categorized as monsters.
Since they were numerous, they were among the most common creatures encountered in the forest. But I hadn’t expected to see one in real life.
I had heard they were gluttonous, willing to kill people just to steal their food. True to that rumor, they had pig-like faces. With their shaggy fur and large frames, they almost looked like primitive humans at first glance.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the monsters I was seeing for the first time.
[Master, should we absorb that?]
Following Rai’s gesture with his tail, I turned to look at what he was pointing at—a sword containing mithril lay abandoned on the ground.
Huh, what about its owner? Did he die?
I leaned out further to search for the red-haired knight purely out of curiosity.
Before long, I spotted a knight sitting near my carriage, clutching his shoulder.
A brown-haired knight was standing guard, fending off the orcs to protect him.
“Looks like he’s injured.”
[Should we let him die?]
“He wouldn’t die from a wound like that… Wait, why do you sound like you’re hoping for it?”
[To be honest, I kind of am.]
“Hey, no matter how much you want that mithril, valuing metal over human life is a serious problem, don’t you think?”
[Why? I’m a spirit of metal. Of course, metal is more important to me.]
Fair point. Rai sounded so confident that I couldn’t argue back.
[Besides, Master, didn’t you say that anything left on the ground is free for the taking? Look at it! That is clearly a lost item.]
The owner was right there, but still… I thought it over for a moment before nodding.
“Alright. Go grab the sword.”
As I spoke, I reached under the seat for my shoes, put them on, and threw on my coat, preparing to step out of the carriage.
[You’re going outside?]
“Yeah.”
[Why? You hate anything bothersome.]
“Because this is a perfect chance to try out some attack magic.”
I had been looking for an opportunity to experiment, and this was just right.
While the knights were handling the orcs, I could slip in and test a few spells. After all, orcs were supposed to be sturdy.
[Then, can I eat the mithril?]
[Of course not! …But maybe just a little?]
[…So if I understand correctly, that means yes?]
[Hmm, I think missing one percent of its composition wouldn’t be noticeable… What do you think?]
[Absolutely. No one will ever notice. It’ll be seamless.]
Rai and I leaned our heads together and shared a knowing smile.
Conscience never gave me what I needed. It was always a nuisance. The only thing that truly got me what I wanted was greed.
Greed and selfishness—villainous, yet never unprofitable.
[Alright, go fetch it, Rai!]
[On it!]
Rai was always the quickest when fetching things, and I was at my most diligent when causing trouble.
“Undine.”
As I called out to Undine and stepped out of the carriage, the metallic scent of blood hit my nose.
Night had fallen, casting the area in darkness, but it wasn’t hard to tell that flesh and blood were splattered everywhere.
Though I couldn’t see everything clearly, this scene was unmistakably rated for audiences 19 and up.
If those being slaughtered weren’t orcs but humans, I would undoubtedly feel something completely different.
Bubble.
Undine floated in front of me as if trying to speak.
Frowning at the scattered orc limbs, entrails, and corpses around me, I couldn’t help but feel better when I saw the adorable spirit bobbing toward me.
Smiling slightly, I whispered,
“Undine, we’re going to try a spell called ‘Aqua Ball.’ Can you do it?”
I had to admit, I was always extra gentle and affectionate when talking to Undine. I never used this tone with Rai.
Undine gave a small nod and then created a large mass of water above her head.
At first, it was about half the size of the carriage, but it quickly shrank down to about the size of a human head.
So, Aqua Ball was compressed water.
“Hmm. Would that actually hurt if it hit someone?”
I was curious.
Estimating the amount of mana I had expended, I casually pointed at the back of a nearby orc’s head.
Undine moved her hands above her head like she was throwing a ball, and the Aqua Ball slowly soared through the air before striking the orc’s back.
“Kuhek?!”
The orc stumbled forward from the sudden impact but quickly got back up, glancing around in confusion. His soaking-wet body looked heavy, but…
There was no sign of damage whatsoever.
“…Is this really an attack spell?”
[Sorry… Master.]
“It’s way too weak. I can’t use this in actual combat—huh?”
Wait a second. I could’ve sworn Undine just spoke. I froze, my hand mid-scratch against my chin.
“Undine?”
[Yes.]
“Undine.”
[Yes, Master.]
No way!
“You couldn’t talk before, could you?”
[Now.]
“Now?”
[A little.]
Undine shyly smiled, and I suddenly wanted to tell the whole world how adorable she was.
My precious little one could talk now!
Others might not think much of it, but to me, it was as touching as hearing a child say ‘Mama’ for the first time.
Instructor Yael had said that communicating with lower spirits required at least one or two years of training!
“My Undine is a genius!”
I was so proud of her!
[Master, I’m… happy.]
“Oh my, oh my.”
[I wanted to speak.]
To communicate with a contracted spirit, a strong bond of trust was required. More importantly, the spirit itself had to be eager to converse with its master.
In the end, it was a matter of affinity…
“Ah.”
Caught up in my emotions, I suddenly recalled that I had always been able to talk to Rai from the start. But that guy wasn’t cute. His talking wasn’t as endearing as this.
[Undine will become stronger!]
“Oh my.”
[I’ll do my best for you, Master!]
Ah, this must be why spirit summoners do what they do.
So engrossed in my bond with Undine, I completely forgot we were in the middle of a battle.
Who cares if she’s not strong? As long as my Undine is healthy, that’s all that matters.
“You there, young lady! It’s dangerous! Return to the carriage!”
Huh?
While I had been momentarily distracted by Undine, nearly all the orcs had already been slain. Impressive, knights!
I hurriedly ran toward the red-haired knight nearby. The knight who had warned me to stay put was startled and chased after me, but I wasn’t the type to listen to such things.
“You mustn’t come out!”
The red-haired knight was also alarmed when I approached and echoed the same warning.
Despite his shoulder bleeding profusely, he forced himself to stand as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have.
“I’ll help you.”
“What? The best way you can help is by staying somewhere safe, miss.”
“But the orcs are all taken care of.”
“Still, more could appear. Please, return to the carriage—”
“But you need water, don’t you?”
Where there are injuries, there must be water. Wounds need to be cleaned, and drinking water is essential.
The knight momentarily froze when he saw Undine sitting in my outstretched palm. He had clearly never seen anything like her before.
A translucent, beautiful entity made entirely of water.
“What… is that?”
“This is Undine. A spirit.”
“Is it magic?”
“How rude! Spirits and magic are completely different things!”
Why was it that people always failed to distinguish between magic and spirits? They were fundamentally different! That assumption annoyed me, and the knight seemed bewildered, unsure of what he had done wrong.
“My apologies.”
“Anyway, I can provide you with clean water. You should be grateful.”
It was rare for me to offer kindness first. I filled a wooden bucket nearby with crystal-clear water and even smiled more than necessary.
The knight seemed utterly baffled by everything I was doing.
If Master Yael were here, he’d probably be feeling ominous about this situation by now. Heh.
“T-Thank you, miss.”
“And your sword as well.”
At that moment, Rai appeared, diligently crawling toward us with the sword in his mouth.
“A snake?!”
“He’s my pet snake. He understands speech quite well.”
“But that’s my sword!”
“I told him to bring it.”
To be honest, retrieving the sword wasn’t necessary, but since I had taken some mithril from it, I would’ve felt guilty just taking without giving anything in return.
‘Wait, did I actually say I’d take some?’
Not sure. I couldn’t quite remember.
As I smiled, Rai dropped the sword at the knight’s feet with an oddly competent motion—for a snake.
“Can snakes really be this smart?”
“Rai is a bit special.”
“By the way… why are you being so kind to me?”
“Does a person need a reason to do good deeds?”
I was, if anything, quite shameless.
[Master! I absorbed the mithril and replaced it with an alloy.]
[Good job.]
[You said to absorb 1 percent, but the sword only had 1 percent mithril in it! So I just ate all of it.]
[…No, I meant to absorb only 1 percent of the mithril content, not the entire amount.]
[Oops? Too late! It’s already part of my bones and flesh.]
This greedy little pig had interpreted my words however he wanted.
“How can I ever repay you? May I ask for your name?”
“No.”
I quickly stepped backward. It definitely wasn’t running away. I had just suddenly remembered an urgent errand.