NOVEL NEXT Ch. 40
Spirit King.
There was no need for many words to describe him.
No, in fact, one word could sum it all up.
‘God.’
He was a God that exist in the material world.
He was the very foundation of nature that formed the material world.
In other words, he was the personification of this planet where living beings set foot and dwell.
Thus made Deltain voice his doubts.
‘Just who on earth is that woman?’
Who exactly was Agnes Levadine that he personally oversaw her?
Why did he place such strict warnings on premature spirit contracts?
It couldn’t be explained by her high spirit sensitivity alone.
There was an immense, indescribable gap between the Spirit King showing favor to her and them controlling her contracts.
Staring intently at Agnes while deep in thought, Deltain soon came up with one possible cause.
‘… magic flower?’
Magic Flower Actrias.
That could be related to the spirits.
No, once he shifted his thinking in that direction, it made sense.
Couldn’t the abnormality in Agnes’s spirit sensitivity be due to the magic flower?
When he thought about it, was there anything ordinary about the materials for the Eternal Contract?
Just the items he’d obtained so far included the organs of top-tier demons capable of challenging for the throne, and the eyeball of a sea beast that ruled the deep waters below.
From that perspective, it wouldn’t be too much of a leap to consider that
“Deltain. So, what now?”
At that moment, Agnes asked.
Deltain’s expression became more serious.
‘It’s still all just a hypothesis.’
He needed more clues.
Expanding his thoughts, Deltain considered how to proceed in the current situation.
“Ask if I can pose a few questions to it.”
Agnes turned her head.
After a moment of moving her lips silently, she nodded.
“It says you can.”
Deltain focused his mind.
*
Agnes gazed at the spirit in front of her.
‘It really does look strange.’
The spirit, just as Deltain had described, had no fixed form. It was simply a mass of luminous, viscous energy squirming around like clay.
It was colored the same crimson as the roses in this garden.
As soon as the thought crossed her mind, the spirit responded.
[That’s right. I was born in this garden.]
Agnes’s fingers twitched.
“You can read thoughts?”
[Yes.]
“Don’t do it. It feels unpleasant.”
The luminous mass shrunk.
[… sorry.]
It even appeared a bit dejected.
Agnes chuckled.
‘It’s more docile than I expected.’
It was quite different from what she’d heard from Deltain.
While she was continuing her thoughts, Deltain spoke up.
“Ask why you shouldn’t form a contract with it.”
[I don’t know.]
“It says it doesn’t know.”
“Why doesn’t it know?”
[They just told me not to. That we had to wait.]
“It says we have to wait but doesn’t know anything beyond that.”
As Agnes relayed that to Deltain, his face twisted into a frown.
It was an expression he often made when he was displeased.
“Then ask another question. Ask if it knows anything about magic flower.”
[I don’t know. But you do smell like flowers. It’s a very pleasant scent.]
“It says it doesn’t know about magic flower, but I smell like flowers. Very fragrant, apparently.”
“Ask what it actually knows.”
[I don’t like him.]
The spirit puffed itself up, seeming irritated.
Agnes blinked and then burst out laughing.
“It wants to kill you.”
“Tell it to try.”
Deltain replied, running his hand through his hair.
His expression was growing increasingly dark, and it seemed like he might snap soon.
But the next words he spoke were calm.
“… ask where the Spirit King is.”
Whether out of curiosity about this new discovery or frustration from the situation not going his way, Deltain’s question took on a different tone from before.
The spirit responded.
[Everywhere, but also nowhere.]
“It says the Spirit King is everywhere but also nowhere.”
“Do you think I didn’t know that? I’m asking where the Spirit King can manifest.”
When Deltain clicked his tongue in frustration, the spirit quivered and answered.
[In the place you’re headed to, next.]
“We’re headed to that place.”
Deltain’s head snapped up.
“The snow-covered mountain?”
[Yes.]
“That’s right.”
A gleam flashed in Deltain’s eyes. As if something had come to mind, he was about to speak, but the spirit, seemingly annoyed, shook its form.
[I don’t like him. I won’t tell him anything else.]
“It says it dislikes you and doesn’t want to say anything more.”
Deltain’s face went blank.
Agnes laughed so hard that her shoulders shook at the sight of his expression.
Veins popped out on Deltain’s forehead as he asked.
“You think this situation is funny?”
“Your expression is just too cute.”
“This is no time for jokes.”
Deltain’s eyes turned red with frustration.
Ignoring him, Agnes turned back to the spirit.
“So, are you leaving?”
[Yes, I’m done talking to you.]
Agnes tilted her head.
“Talking to me?”
[I’ve wanted to talk to you for a long time. There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask.]
The spirit wavered as if hesitant.
Although it was just the trembling of the light, Agnes could naturally sense its unease.
‘Oh, right. It said it was born here.’
Suddenly recalling that fact, Agnes wondered if this spirit had been watching her for quite some time and asked.
“What is it?”
And then.
[Is Leah gone now?]
Her body gave a slight shudder.
Yet, the spirit continued speaking.
[I can’t see Leah. She always used to hum while tending to the roses here, but she hasn’t been around for some time now. Someone else is tending the roses. I miss Leah. When I heard her humming, I could drift off to sleep so easily.]
The spirit looked sullen.
It resembled a child looking for its parents.
No, it would not be wrong to think that way.
This rose garden had been built for Agnes’s mother, who was also the wife of Duke Levadine.
[Huh? Where is Leah?]
With those words, Agnes felt the locked doors of her memory slowly creak open.
Scenes replayed in her mind as fleeting thoughts.
A woman standing in the center of a lush rose garden, her smile, and her warm voice.
-Agnes.
It weighed down on her once more.
Agnes responded quickly.
So quickly it seemed as though she hadn’t even processed her thoughts.
“She’s dead.”
What surfaced was a smile.
But it carried no emotion within it.
It was just empty and transparent.
“My mother passed away. Ten years ago.”
The spirit flinched.
[… so, I won’t see her again?]
“You won’t. Not ever again.”
The spirit’s form wavered.
Agnes continued to gaze at the spirit with hollow eyes.
[She’s really gone….]
“You didn’t know even after ten years?”
[Time doesn’t matter to us. We don’t perceive it. It holds no meaning for us.]
“Fools.”
The spirit looked at Agnes.
And then, it realized something.
The girl, who once only reached up to Leah’s chest, had grown considerably taller.
[… I see. So, Leah is truly gone now.]
“Are you sad?”
[Yes, I think so.]
“Your answer is vague.”
[I don’t know. I’ve never learned how to feel. But…]
The spirit looked at itself.
It contrasted the human concept of sadness with its current emotions.
And finally, it spoke.
[… I think I will continue to think about Leah. Since I don’t perceive time, I’ll think of her forever. And every time I do, this ache will return. I believe this is what sadness feels like.]
The spirit felt remorse.
It was because of the realization that it had already committed something that another spirit once warned it never to do.
‘I am a fool.’
The lifespan of a spirit was infinite.
As long as the nature that sustained it didn’t fade, it remained eternal and constant.
So too was its heart, which was why a spirit must never fall in love.
-We cannot let go of love once it’s held. So don’t fall in love with something that will disappear. The sweet moments will be brief, and the longing will last far longer.
Despite the warning, the spirit had already fallen in love.
The spirit closed its eyes, facing the reality that it would now spend an infinite amount of time yearning for Leah’s humming.
[I’m going to sleep.]
With those words, it vanished.
*
On the night that the spirit contract failed, Deltain sat in his office, deeply engrossed with a serious expression.
‘The magic flower is connected to the spirits.’
It was a crucial realization.
Surely, it was a breakthrough in the extraction of the magic flower, which had been stagnant for so long.
There was also now a possibility that the spirits of the snowy mountains might be linked to the magic flower.
Deltain didn’t believe it was mere coincidence that the spirit of the rose garden pointed toward the snowy mountains.
Since it was a direct order from the Spirit King, it was certain that during the quest to obtain
No, it was even more than that.
Under certain conditions, they could manifest a physical form and appear before those who lacked spiritual sensitivity.
Deltain had something he wanted to ask the Spirit King.
‘He might know what the Eternal Contract is.’
In other words, the Spirit King was akin to a God.
He was a being who influenced the order of this world.
Surely, he must know the true meaning of the quest.
Now, there was only one choice left.
‘I must take her to the snowy mountains. No matter what.’
Deltain jumped to his feet.
“Gerhart!”
“Yes.”
“We’re changing the car. Get it ready; I’m going to start tuning it now!”
The problem at hand was Agnes’s abysmal mental defense.
In other words, the demon was the issue.
A mental barrier formed through a spirit contract was now out of the question.
So, if the demon couldn’t be defeated that way, there was only one solution left.
‘I’ll create a mobile Saint Hall.’
It would be troublesome, but by turning the car itself into a Saint Hall, the issue would be resolved.
*
<167 days remain until the blooming of Magic Flower Actrias.>
Time passed until the day of departure.
Deltain stood gazing at the vehicle, just barely completed before the deadline.
It was a large black sedan.
The angular body and oversized wheels gave it a rugged appearance, but the silver silhouette wrapped around it was elegant.
As a design, it was quite a refined sedan.
<4th Tier magic: Saint Hall has been applied.>
Deltain exhaled a long sigh as he looked at the finished sedan, then flung the engraving tool he was holding into the corner.
‘Finished.’
The magic itself wasn’t difficult, having already crafted a larger version for the capital’s scale.
By stripping it down to its essential functions, the performance was reduced, but Deltain was content not to push further.
‘If I add anything more, the fuel efficiency will drop.’
The more engravings he added, the more mana the vehicle would consume, and the slower it would become.
Considering the journey to the northernmost end of the continent, such mana consumption was not ideal.
‘Now…’
Time to wash up and change clothes.
Then, he could pick up Agnes Levadine and leave the capital.
Deltain roughly gauged the time by glancing at his wristwatch and called for Gerhart.
“Gerhart!”
“Yes.”
“Are the hounds ready?”
“They’re prepared. They’ll be waiting near the northern gate of the capital.”
“Good. Pack up the car while I wash up. And bring me a sandwich.”
Just as he was about to leave, Deltain paused and looked again at his wristwatch.
It was 4 PM, well past mealtime, meaning Agnes was likely hungry as well.
After a brief moment of thought, Deltain spoke again to Gerhart.
“… no, make it two sandwiches. One with extra pickles.”
He left the garage after saying this.
Deltain remembered that Agnes liked sandwiches with lots of pickles.