The Golden-Haired Summoner - Ch. 25
At Rai’s sudden outburst, I turned in that direction. My abrupt movement caught Hansen and Philo off guard, but they quickly followed.
When I got closer to the boy’s mat, my face instinctively scrunched up.
The items he was selling…
There was no consistency at all. In fact, these weren’t products—they were more like…
[Is this just trash?]
[No! I smell a Spirit Stone!]
[A Spirit Stone? What for? To eat?]
Spirit Stone… Spirit Stone… What was that again?
Was it a stone that enhanced affinity with spirits? Or was it a stone that contained a sealed spirit?
I knew I had learned about it in class, but I couldn’t recall the details immediately.
[Wouldn’t eating a Spirit Stone be cannibalism for you?]
[Do you think all I do is eat?]
[Uh-huh. No?]
[…Not always, no.]
“Ah, w-welcome!”
The boy had been frozen stiff when I first stepped in front of the mat, probably unsure if I was a real customer. But after a moment, he awkwardly greeted me.
I gave him a slight nod and crouched down in front of the mat.
[So, where’s this Spirit Stone you’re talking about?]
[See that yellow gem next to the old brown book? That’s it.]
Everything on the mat looked old and worn-out. Where had he even picked up all this junk? I reached out and picked up the yellow stone Rai had pointed out.
To be honest, it was closer to a rock than a gem.
The surface was rough, and it was generally opaque, making it look like just another pretty stone. But when I examined it closely, I noticed a strange golden glow hidden within.
A deep golden color spread outward from the stone’s center, like cracks running through raw ore. When I held it up to the sunlight, it became obvious.
Something was inside.
The faint instinct of a Spirit Mage flickered within me, whispering that much.
[Is there a spirit inside this?]
[Yes. There’s a faint trace of spiritual energy within it.]
[What kind of spirit?]
[Hmm? It gives off a tingling sensation… Maybe a Lightning Spirit? Or something even weaker. It’s hard to tell because it’s so faded.]
[Lightning…]
[So? Should I absorb it?]
You’re trying to eat it again?!
Was he possessed by gluttony or something?! My brows furrowed even deeper.
[Let’s hold off for now. This is for sale, remember?]
The owner was sitting right in front of us, yet Rai was already planning to snatch it. He was even more shameless than me.
And this boy—who knew how many days he had gone without food—was clearly skin and bones, his cheekbones visible through his sunken face.
[And… isn’t it kind of wrong for a spirit to eat another spirit?]
[It’s not like the spirit is trapped inside. This stone is just a gateway to draw it out.]
[Like a Contract Inscription Scroll?]
[Not quite, but similar in function.]
Now, what should I do?
Should I go back to the inn and get money? Was this worth that effort?
As I turned the Spirit Stone under the sunlight, deep in thought, an image of Undine crossed my mind—my lovely water spirit.
And then, even as a literature student, a simple scientific fact popped into my head.
Water is an excellent conductor of electricity.
[Rai, does this mean we can summon a spirit with this?]
[Hard to say. It’s ancient, at least several thousand years old, and it’s cracked…]
[Can’t you fix it? This is a repair job, not a new creation.]
[Oh, you’re right. I think I can manage that.]
Hope bubbled up inside me.
A moment ago, this had just seemed like some random rock. But now, it felt precious.
This miserable journey was finally proving useful!
Well… if I weren’t traveling, I wouldn’t even need offensive power, but still!
An unexpected lucky find! This must be the luck of a genius!
I couldn’t stop my lips from curling into a smile.
[How do I activate the contract inscription? You know, right?]
[Just infuse it with mana.]
[Fufufu…]
[But Master, even if you fix it, there’s no guarantee the spirit inside will appear. Spirits come and go at their own will. Not all spirits are friendly toward humans.]
I ignored Rai’s words, unable to hold back my giddy grin.
Maybe I was looking at this Spirit Stone too intently because suddenly, the scrawny boy spoke up hesitantly.
“U-Um…”
“I want to buy this.”
“Huh? That stone?”
“Yeah. You’re selling it, right? How much?”
The boy blinked, completely shocked, as if the idea had never crossed his mind.
“That stone… uh… um…”
“Don’t tell me you don’t even have a price set?”
“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t think anyone would actually buy it…”
From his awkward and clumsy demeanor, it was clear he had no experience selling anything.
I mean, just look at his so-called products.
Some of them looked like things no one would take, even for free.
“My Lady? Are you really going to buy that stone?” Hansen asked.
“Yeah. Hansen, sorry, but could you go back to the inn and get my bag? That’s where my money is.”
“That’s no problem, but…”
“Wait. My Lady! Hansen is injured. Shouldn’t I go instead?” Philo interjected.
Only then did I remember—Hansen had hurt his shoulder.
No wonder he’d been moving slowly. Even when I ran away earlier, it was Philo who came after me.
“I don’t care who gets it, as long as I get my money.”
“I’ll go right away.”
“In my room, there’s a table. My bag is on top of it—just bring the whole thing.”
“Understood.”
Philo disappeared into the crowd in an instant.
I turned my attention back to the Spirit Stone, inspecting it carefully.
Then my gaze wandered to the other trinkets.
Finally, I looked at the boy himself—because I had one question.
Where did a kid like this even find something like this?
“Do you even know what this is?”
“A… pretty rock?”
“Then where did you get it?”
I was just curious.
It was a casual question, nothing more.
But the moment I asked, the boy’s face went pale, his whole body trembling.
His eyes widened with fear, and he shook his head frantically.
“I didn’t steal it! Please believe me! I swear!”
I couldn’t understand why the boy was reacting this way.
I tried to meet his gaze, but it was impossible.
His left eye was strange—it moved on its own, unfocused, as if it were broken. The sclera was a murky white, clouded like a faded marble.
That explained why he had been avoiding my gaze this whole time.
“Ack—! I’m sorry! I usually keep it covered… it must look awful…”
“Who cares? That’s not what I asked. I just want to know where you found this.”
If I were the type to flinch at the sight of something grotesque, then I would have already fainted foaming at the mouth when I saw an orc being butchered, blood and flesh splattering everywhere.
But the most horrific sight I had ever seen was not that.
It was my own death.
It was people being crushed to death, a nation collapsing in ruins, people only concerned with their own survival.
All of that cruelty.
Compared to those things, an orc with its guts spilling out or a boy with a damaged eye meant nothing to me.
“…That is…”
“This is?”
The boy was terrified.
He was overreacting to every little thing. When Hansen took a single step closer, his sword clanking, the boy panicked and started rambling, as if he were being hunted down.
“We—we’re innocent! My father found it while gathering herbs in the mountains! It was just lying there, abandoned, along with that book! He told me it had been there for years without anyone claiming it—we didn’t steal it!”
“This book too?”
“Yes… My father thought I could learn to read if I had it, so he picked it up for me.”
He hesitated before continuing.
“The stone, though… I thought maybe I could sell it to pay for my mother’s medicine… But I swear, it had no owner.”
“Come on, kid. Nothing is ever truly ownerless.”
“……It was just… sitting there… for so long…”
“Think about it. Things don’t just fall into a forest on their own. It had to belong to someone, right? Well, whatever. Your excuse is decent. Selling something that isn’t yours is technically a crime, though.”
“Agh… My Lady…”
I had only teased him a little, since his guilty expression was so obvious, but it was Hansen who ended up scolding me instead.
Wasn’t this the kind of thing a knight should be more strict about?
Guess it was that commoner sympathy at work.
“How noble of you,” I muttered sarcastically.
“Oh well. Not my problem.”
Seeing someone terrified like this was annoying.
I acted as if I had lost interest and picked up the book he mentioned.
If it had been lying with the Spirit Stone, then it must be just as filthy.
But as I brushed off some dirt, I realized something unexpected—the cover was surprisingly intact.
It was high-quality leather, unmistakably expensive at a glance. The binding suggested it was ancient.
After spending so much time in the Academy library, I had developed a knack for judging the age and value of books.
There was no title on the cover—an odd detail.
I ran my fingers across the surface before unlatching the clasp and opening it.
“…This isn’t written in Common Tongue.”
It was Ancient Script.
Not just that—a dialect from the northern lands.
A language that had died out at least four thousand years ago—one that only mages and Spirit Mages could still read today.
And yet… this boy’s father thought he could learn to read with this?
He must be illiterate himself, then.
[Master, that’s Ancient Script.]
[Yeah.]
So Rai could read Ancient Script too?
Well, considering he was over ten thousand years old, that made sense.
Despite its age, the book was well-preserved—it must have been enchanted with a preservation spell.
Flipping through the pages, I scanned the legible parts.
Being stuck in the Academy for most of my life had finally proven useful.
Unintentionally receiving a high-class education had its perks.
As I concentrated on deciphering the text, the first line stood out:
「My name is Ardo. I am a Spirit Mage.」