Ch. 30

“It’s really simple. You just need to name yourself.”

Naming things, whether spirits or anything else, was such a hassle. I had to put some thought into it when naming Rai, too. In that sense, Undine was the most obedient.

[……What do you mean?]

“You said you need a name, right?”

[That’s correct.]

“Then name yourself.”

[Kuhahaha!]

Rai started cackling, while the electric spirit looked utterly confused. I understood, though—naming was an important matter.

[What nonsense! A spirit naming itself? That has never happened in all of spirit history!]

“How would I know anything about spirit history?”

[I absolutely refuse to do something so foolish!]

The electric spirit scoffed, while Rai flicked his tongue and whispered in my ear.

[Master! I have a great idea.]

“A great idea? What is it?”

[That arrogant electric spirit’s name. I know the perfect one.]

“Really? Let’s hear it.”

[Electricity is zappy, right?]

That’s true. Rai seemed unusually excited, shaking his head in amusement. I didn’t know snake eyes could express laughter.

[So, how about Chiri?]

It wasn’t a bad suggestion. It was easy to say and rolled off the tongue well. I nodded in approval—Rai was occasionally useful.

“Oh, that’s good. Hey, electric spirit? Your name is Chiri—”

[Wait! I-I’ll name myself instead!]

Tsk. I liked that name. What a picky spirit.

“Then hurry up. I’m running low on mana.”

[Uuuugh… Ngh…]

“See? It’s hard, isn’t it? Naming things is tough.”

[Impossible! To think, after eight thousand years, my contract would fail over something so trivial… Sob, sniff…]

“Don’t cry! Now I feel like I’m bullying you! Just go with Chiri.”

[Never! Just call me the electric spirit instead! Sob!]

Seeing the once-proud spirit cry so miserably made me feel a little bad.

Spirits sure cried easily. Rai was like this too, though Undine had never shed a tear.

But what was I supposed to do with this stubborn thing? Should I name it Kos to match Rai and make them a pair? I still liked Chiri, so why was it rejecting the name so strongly? In that case… Oh! That name!

“Then how about Ador? That’s the name of the spirit scholar who developed the electric spirit stone.”

[Ador? That’s ancient language for ‘flame’… That’s a bit…]

“Oh, then do you want to go with Chiri?”

[Ador… That’s magnificent. I choose Ador! No, I insist on it!]

Well, if it liked it, that worked for me. Another annoying task completed.

“Alright, electric spirit. Your name is Ador.”

[My name is Ador. And my master’s name?]

Ador floated toward me, crackling with small sparks as it slowly circled around. It seemed to be observing me closely.

“My name is Geenie Crowell.”

[Geenie Crowell.]

“Yeah, call me whatever you want.”

[I shall serve you until the day you die.]

“Yeah, yeah. Now go back to the spirit realm. I’m running low on mana.”

[Master! Though I appeared today, you must summon me again soo—]

I cut off my mana flow.

That was the best way to deal with a talkative spirit.

Too bad this method didn’t work on Rai.

“What a noisy one.”

[Indeed. Lacked elegance.]

“It reminded me of you.”

[It was quite a graceful spirit.]

Amidst the charred mess, I flopped onto the bed. The room was covered in soot.

As I glanced around, wondering how to deal with the damage, Rai lifted his head right in front of my face.

[Master, you seem to be in a better mood now.]

“Huh? Now that you mention it, yeah.”

I felt lighter. Did electric spirits feed on negative emotions?

It was too noisy for me to stay depressed. And it had such an airheaded side that I couldn’t help but laugh.

I had gotten an unexpected mood boost.

“All those worries seem so stupid now.”

Remembering my past life, feeling guilty about the swarm dying because of me—it was pointless to dwell on things that couldn’t be changed.

Especially my past life. That confusion had haunted me for ages. Why did I die like that? Why did I retain my memories? But there had never been an answer, and by now, I had accepted that there never would be.

Death seemed to follow the same logic.

Maybe I was just justifying things to myself, but I felt at peace.

[As expected of my Master. Those with strong wills don’t break easily, and even if they do, they recover quickly.]

“Willpower? Nah, I just hate hassles.”

[Humans often struggle with the idea of killing. But isn’t it the law of nature? The strong survive, and the weak perish. Sympathizing with the weak will only make you weak. Surviving is the obvious choice.]

“Hah, I guess being over ten thousand years old makes you sound like a wise old man.”

[Old man?! Master, that’s too cruel!]

Rai flailed in strong protest, wriggling his head and tail. Normally, if I ignored him, he’d start rolling around dramatically. A snake rolling? Now that was a rare sight.

I chuckled, then suddenly remembered something from earlier.

“Oh, right. About that diary entry from Ador—do you know why spirits help humans?”

[You mean why we make contracts?]

“Yeah, that.”

[We learn emotions from humans. We learn what life and death mean.]

“Huh?”

[But that’s not the only reason. There’s a much older, fundamental cause. Do you know the true reason spirits exist?]

I thought about it for a moment. Even a dog in a temple for three years would pick up on some teachings.

“Balance and harmony.”

[Correct. We exist to maintain the balance of the world.]

“That much, I already knew. But it doesn’t answer my question.”

[Let me put it simply. Whenever something powerful enough to threaten balance emerges, or even shows signs of emerging, we lend power to humans. It’s all to maintain the world’s balance.]

I had been listening to Rai absentmindedly when I suddenly had to blink hard in surprise.

“That… sounds way too cosmic.”

[The conclusion is simple. Spirits exist to restore balance when it begins to tilt somewhere.

When harmony and equilibrium are disrupted, we naturally come to this side. It’s not something decided by anyone—it’s simply the flow of the world.]

“You’re just casually telling me all this? Even ancient spirit scholars didn’t seem to know this. Aren’t spirits supposed to keep a lot of secrets?”

[It’s not really a secret. It’s just that very few spirits actually know about it. Low-ranking spirits probably don’t understand it at all… Higher spirits would know, but they don’t run their mouths. And the Spirit Kings look down on humans too much to ever bother explaining.]

“And you?”

[I’m an independent entity, so I don’t care about all that.]

It was a peculiar way to think, but honestly… Rai was actually pretty—

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Geenie Crowell? You’re in there, right? Open this door immediately! The burning smell is reaching the next room!”

“Ah.”

“Geenie!”

Should I run? I glanced at the window but quickly realized I didn’t have the guts for that.

Judging by the voice, the person knocking was Ms. Iritho.

What should I say? My eyes darted around the room, taking in the thoroughly scorched table and the overall blackened state of my surroundings.

After deciding on an excuse, I opened the door.

Ms. Iritho, usually so gentle, was now staring at me with a stern expression, adjusting her glasses with one hand.

“Geenie Crowell! There was even mana fluctuation detected. What on earth happened in here?”

“Uh… well…”

“Tell me the truth!”

She was indeed the strict economics teacher. But my excuse was flawless.

“You know how I went into town earlier and almost got into serious trouble, right?”

“The Swarm? The knights informed me. I let you rest because I assumed you needed to recover.”

“The shock was too much. I ended up falling asleep…”

“Wait, did you properly thank the knights? They saved your life.”

Oh. I had been too overwhelmed to even think about that.

“Of course! I expressed my deep gratitude.”

“Good. Then, please continue your explanation.”

I started gesturing as I spoke.

“I fell asleep, but then I smelled something burning and woke up. And what do you know? The table was on fire! So, as a water spirit mage, I naturally summoned Undine to put it out. Just a minor incident.”

“If there was a fire, you should have called an adult.”

“But I am a water spirit mage. My first instinct was to summon my spirit.”

“…Sigh. I see. But next time, please call an adult first. Fires are dangerous.”

“Understood.”

“You weren’t hurt, were you?”

Ms. Iritho’s gaze swept across the room as she asked.

“With all the trouble you had today, dealing with a fire on top of that must be exhausting.”

“It’s like bad luck is following me around today.”

“I’ll check if we can change your room. You shouldn’t have to sleep in a place like this. But… why did the fire start in the first place?”

I hadn’t thought that far ahead. Ms. Iritho was sharper than I expected.

Since I let my guard down, I hesitated for a second before answering.

“I must have left a candle burning when I fell asleep… and my snake must have knocked it over.”

I pointed at Rai, who was sprawled on the bed, belly up.

[Huh? Master! When did I—?!]

“Oh, so that’s the famous snake. The one His Majesty personally allowed you to keep? I’ve heard about it from time to time. I didn’t realize you brought it on this trip.”

“He’s usually so quiet that you wouldn’t even notice he’s here.”

“He does seem quite gentle.”

“Right?”

“But since there was already one fire, I’d suggest putting him in a basket or something. Just to be safe.”

“…Yes, ma’am.”

“I won’t scold you too harshly since you already had a rough day, but you must be more careful, Geenie. Haven’t you been taught to place candles in a bowl of water before sleeping? And also—”

Ms. Iritho spent quite some time lecturing me before finally sighing in relief and heading downstairs.

She’d probably be back soon to let me know if I could change rooms.

I returned to my charred room and started digging through my melted bag.

Maybe something could still be salvaged? But no, the electric spirit was too powerful—nothing was left intact.

Its attack power was impressive, which was good for future battles… but losing all my pocket money was definitely depressing.

And yet, there was something even more shocking. The moment I realized it, I let out a scream.

“AAAHH!”

[What’s wrong?!]

“My book!”

No wonder it burned so well—it had been my book! Now, all that remained was a pile of blackened ash.

The ancient spirit scholar’s diary I paid ten gold for!

“A thousands-of-years-old book, even protected by preservation magic!”

[Oh dear, it seems not even magic could save it from fire.]

I hadn’t even read half of it before it became premium firewood. It could have been an incredible research document on spirit history!

Once again, I was hit with overwhelming stress—only to remember that the person responsible was technically me.

Because now, the one causing trouble… was my own spirit.