Ch. 307
[There are quite a few formless types among non-attribute spirits. To borrow a human expression, it’s like only their minds exist. The illusion spirit is probably like that too?]
“Oh, so you don’t know much about the illusion spirit?”
[Well. I’ve never seen it… but I have heard rumors.]
“Rumors? That’s strange. Do rumors spread in the Spirit Realm too?”
[There’s nothing to do there except gather with spirits of the same attribute and chatter.]
The words, ‘But you were alone, weren’t you?’ nearly slipped out, but I managed to swallow them.
I wonder if he used to watch from the side while the other spirits gathered and chatted among themselves.
[Rumors spread quickly in the Spirit Realm, so if I know something, it means everyone knows… For a while, there was a lot of debate over whether the illusion spirit should be classified as a Dark Spirit. The Spirit Kings put it to a vote, but it ended in a tie, so I heard they put it on hold for now. Since it contracted with that human yesterday, I guess it’s fine for the moment?]
“A Dark Spirit…”
[They’re the ones humans treat almost like demons. We know they’re dangerous too.]
“…If it gets classified as a Dark Spirit, what happens to it over there?”
[It gets banished to the farthest corner of the Spirit Realm. And watched forever. So it can’t be summoned, so it can’t meet a master. Even so, if it meets its destiny, it’ll be summoned anyway.]
Just as humans had taken their own measures by subdividing the Contract Seal, it seemed the Spirit Realm also had its own way of preventing Dark Spirits from disturbing the order of the Middle Realm again.
Since it was a matter concerning another world, I’d never really felt it before, so I didn’t know… I guess I should take back my complaints about what the Spirit Kings were doing.
“Hmm, so that means the illusion spirit is dangerous enough to be classified as a Dark Spirit?”
[No! The spirit itself isn’t evil, and it doesn’t have enough power to threaten the world. The problem is that some humans who contracted with the illusion spirit went mad.]
“That happened?”
[An illusion is something you get trapped in if you can’t overcome it… You should know since you experienced it yesterday, but even when you realize it’s an illusion, it’s not easy to escape, right? And that’s when it only shows you what you fear. Imagine if it showed you a happy illusion.]
“I’d want to live inside the illusion.”
Even I wasn’t confident I could break free from that.
Compared to that, being shown what I feared almost felt merciful.
[Needless to say, it can show illusions to its own master too. And a few masters… couldn’t escape the illusions they summoned themselves and went mad. It would be easier than using it on others, so it’d probably be several times stronger too.]
“That’s… you could say it’s like a drug.”
[By now, wouldn’t the illusion spirit warn its master not to look at happy illusions they made themselves?]
If it showed you happy days with dead family, or a lover you once treasured, it would be so sweet you’d want to drown in it and die, even knowing it was fake.
That really did seem harder to shake off than suffering.
It suddenly occurred to me that perhaps fire, water, wind, and earth had become the mainstream and were left behind in spirit magic circles not just because they were easy to summon and systematic, but because they had almost none of the double-edged nature that non-attribute spirits possessed.
Just look at Rai, Ador, and Grufain. They were all powerful, but they came with just as much risk and disadvantage.
From what I’d experienced, the illusion spirit and the space spirit were the same.
They had such powerful and erratic natures that you had to handle them with your life on the line, and if you lost focus, the summoner was the one most likely to self-destruct.
[I think Lidrat Theatrazen held out until the very end without summoning it because he knew it was a spirit he couldn’t handle. The illusion spirit also requires several times more mental strength than other spirits. Most Mental Spirits are like that.]
“That’s useful information. I should write it down.”
I had started organizing everything because I wanted to learn what I could from yesterday’s battle and reinforce whatever needed improving, but it was more fun than I’d expected.
I especially enjoyed writing down what I learned about new spirits.
I really am the type who learns by doing.
I liked this more than studying theory.
As I moved the quill busily, I suddenly propped my chin on one hand and looked at Rai seriously.
“By the way.”
[…Who are you imitating?]
“Why did it show me something I fear? If it had shown me a happy illusion, I wouldn’t have struggled so much to get out, so it would’ve been easier to catch me.”
[I don’t know about that. Maybe the one creating the illusion sees it too? Or maybe they feel the same emotions? Mental Spirits always make you pay some kind of mental price.]
Judging by the way he usually acted, it didn’t seem like it at all, but Rai had a surprising amount of knowledge.
But he didn’t know everything, and moments like this reminded me how weak I was to curiosity.
“There’s only one way to find out. Ador!”
[I still can’t use invisibility!]
“Come here.”
[I’ve got a bad feeling about this. A very strong feeling that you’re about to make me do something weird.]
Sensing something suspicious, Ador stopped in the middle of flying over and hovered in place.
“Hoh, you’re getting pretty good at reading your master’s mind. Since you’re so clever, I’ll give you something worthwhile to do. When you go back to the Spirit Realm, do some digging for me. Find out everything you can about the illusion spirit and the space spirit. Since you’re all spirits, they’ll tell you if you ask, right?”
[…? Why do I have to work in the Spirit Realm too?]
“Because if you’re useless, there’s no point in summoning you?”
[Hey. Master? I don’t know if you know this, but it’s forbidden to divulge matters of the Spirit Realm in the Middle Realm. We don’t know what kind of chaos it might cause. It’s an unspoken rule, but everyone follows it! I can’t do something like that just because my master orders me to!]
I know that much.
Thanks to Rai, I simply know even better that the rule can be broken.
“Rai runs his mouth just fine, though?”
[That’s because he’s not afraid of anything! There’s no one above him! He’s all alone! There aren’t any spirits to scold him!]
“Why are you putting our Rai down! If you say he’s alone, it’ll hurt the feelings of the one who’s alone!”
[That’s right, that’s right! Master, hug me tighter!]
When I hugged the wolf by the scruff, Rai couldn’t hide his delight, his tail and ears flapping wildly.
[What are you talking about! He was never put down in the first place! Don’t be fooled, Master! That bastard was famous in the Spirit Realm as a god of destruction! How dare he act cute when it doesn’t suit him at all!]
“Rai? A god of destruction?”
[Yes! That detestable Metal!]
“Ador… didn’t you say before that you’d never even heard of a metal spirit?”
When he first contracted with me, Ador had ignored Rai, treating him like some low-level spirit he’d never seen or heard of.
[That’s because I didn’t recognize him since his form is different! In the Spirit Realm, he’s just some huge, black, nasty-looking thing! What kind of spirit goes around wearing a mask like that! If I’d known he was that brutish lump, I wouldn’t have gone near him!]
“Tell me more.”
[Everyone in the Spirit Realm! The unidentified thing everyone hates is that thing right there!]
Ador spoke as if he were grinding his teeth, despite not having any.
[Everyone said it! They all wondered why that foul-tempered thing wasn’t classified as a Dark Spirit! If he had been, he wouldn’t have been able to roam around tormenting us!]
“Hoh.”
[If he’s in a bad mood, he smashes anything in his way! If spirits are peacefully gathered together, he can’t stand it and goes over to mess everything up! He’s always barging into other spirits’ territories and throwing his weight around! He’s a loner everyone avoids because he causes every kind of trouble except making spirits disappear!]
Even while Ador passionately exposed his past right beside him, Rai simply scratched behind his ear with his hind leg as if he’d never heard any of it before.
Yeah, he really does have the personality of someone with no friends.
[You have to be able to predict him if you want to deal with him! There’s no pattern or logic to that bastard’s tantrums! He’s the one even the Spirit Kings gave up on!]
“I see. His behavior really is like someone I know. Geenie Crowell… Well, I couldn’t picture Rai cowering in loneliness anyway. It’s better to be the one beating people up than the one getting beaten, so it’s fine.”
[Master…! To think you love me this much!]
“But Ador, you just divulged matters of the Spirit Realm. Quite a lot of them, in fact.”
[…Hah!]
The talkative Ador was perfect for this job.
Rai had a contract that prevented him from returning to the Spirit Realm unless I died, and while it would make more sense to ask Undine in terms of loyalty, she had the Water Spirit King as her absolute ruler.
I couldn’t have her getting in trouble because of me, so Ador, who had no direct superior to speak of, was the perfect scapegoat.
“Since you’ve already broken the rule, go investigate it. The first time is hard, the second time is easy!”
[I said I won’t do it!]
“And practice your invisibility in the Spirit Realm too.”
[Excuse me, you shameless Master? There’s a limit to how much you can squeeze out for free… Someone’s coming.]
[Master? Someone’s coming this way.]
The two spirits warned me at the same time as they turned toward the door. They were like a security system.
Sometimes I felt like I was raising several dogs.
Though duller than Rai and Ador, I soon sensed it too—a presence moving down the hallway and heading straight for my room.
“This presence is… wait, let me guess.”
Rai, who had recognized the visitor first, was about to show off his usual intercom function, but at my gesture he shut his mouth and waited.
They were the footsteps of someone relatively light and unarmed.
“Is it Akia?”
[Correct!]
“Huhu, I’ve gotten pretty good, haven’t I? Ash’s tips were helpful.”
For a moment, guilt pricked at me, and I wondered if she had come to drag me off for all the trouble I caused yesterday, but I soon relaxed and got to my feet.
Then I flung the door open before Akia even had the chance to knock.
Akia, who had stopped in front of the door with her hand halfway raised, looked startled for a moment before breaking into a bright smile.
“Geenie-nim!”
“Akia, what brings you here so early in the morning?”
[It’s lunchtime, though?]
“Huh…? Did you forget? Today’s the day we were all supposed to have a meal together. I thought you were about to head out… but now I see you’re still in your pajamas?”
“…Was that today?”
“I made the reservation a week ago at the most famous restaurant around here. I said I’d treat you to a meal before we went our separate ways. Don’t tell me you really forgot?”
I remembered her saying the place was famous for lamb. But I had completely forgotten it was today.
If Akia knew how much I’d done over the past week, she’d understand.
Going to the Black Market, buying a slave, buying a mirror and getting burned for it, locating the Information Guild’s headquarters in this area, infiltrating the royal castle, winning the battle against Lidrat Theatrazen.
And learning more about non-attribute spirits than anyone else on the continent!
“Sorry, I forgot. I’ll get ready in a flash, so come in and wait.”
“I will.”
“It won’t take long. Sit wherever you like.”
After letting Akia into the room, I first gathered up the papers scattered across the table and shoved them into the bag.
They wouldn’t go in easily, so I was pressing them down when Ador called out to me in a puzzled voice.
[Hey? Master?]
“Hmm? One second.”
I need to hurry and put these away, wash my face, change my clothes, and if there’s time, braid my hair into one plait.
As long as I don’t brush it, I can get ready to go out in just three minutes.
[Uh… Master…?]
“My, how pretty… Is this ball of light a spirit too?”
[Master! Master!]
My hands, which had been tormenting the bag, froze on their own.
A spirit’s voice was, by default, only audible to its summoner. Which meant Akia couldn’t hear Ador’s urgent warning at all.
I spun around in a panic and saw Akia reaching out toward Ador.
No wonder they were calling for me!
“Stop! Akia!”
“Yes?”
“If you touch that, you’ll die… get hurt. It’s dangerous!”
The glowing mass of electricity drifting gracefully in the air looked like the kind of thing anyone would want to touch at least once.
But that was something you touched only when you wanted to kill yourself! Isn’t she far too young to die?