BSS 26

Chapter 26

Huh.

Could it be a senior predecessor? And from at least 4,000 years ago?

The preservation magic on this book was impressive, but a book left behind by an ancient spirit mage… that’s extraordinary.

Mr. Eiel would find this extremely fascinating.

There was no reason to close the book. My curiosity piqued, I read more carefully, and it turned out to be like a diary.

Judging by the tone, the owner of the book was an elderly man, and the pages were densely filled with notes about some research, written in a haphazard way.

I quickly flipped through the pages and glanced at the very last page.

“The Spirit Council is collapsing. Our lineage will soon end. I can clearly see a dark future approaching.
I am terrified that this pitch-black world is coming.
After the gods, even the spirits have abandoned humanity.
If the number of humans capable of summoning spirits continues to decrease, what could that mean other than our destruction?”

Hmm. It hasn’t collapsed yet. The world seems more or less fine. I glanced up at the bright sky and then returned to the book.

“We tried in every way to leave spirits in the world, but it was beyond our power. After long research, we created twenty-five contract circles, but only sixteen were complete.
Only the spirits of the four major elements respond properly to summoning. The spirits of the natural realm, which have no ranks, are all incomplete.
Our research to leave a path to the spirit realm bore fruit, yet it went unrecognized—truly a tragedy.
People do not fully understand the value of spirits.
Perhaps humans were the ones who first turned away from spirits.”

I see. So this person must be one of the ancient spirit mages who created the standardized contract circles still in use today. That seemed highly likely.

“Divisions within the council have deepened. Too many disagreements arose, and it reached a point where we could no longer work together. I decided to resign from the Spirit Council.
The last matter was what to do with the nine incomplete contract circles. Opinions clashed fiercely: some wanted them destroyed, others insisted they must be preserved.
To me, these spirit circles are like children. Destroying them would be harder than stabbing myself.
Spirit mages who agreed with me decided to take the circles they had researched for themselves.
Whether to hide them, destroy them, or somehow complete them, we left it to each person’s choice and went our separate ways.
Some mock me for being foolish.”

Incomplete contract circles, huh. I looked at the spirit stone again. I understood now that a spirit might not appear.

“Perhaps, as they say, their existence is meaningless. Perhaps destroying them would be the right thing. But I still dream of the moment these spirits will emerge into the world.
It may take an extremely long time, or they may never return…
What I feel may be hope, misfortune, or foolish obsession.
I agonized over this repeatedly, but I cannot abandon what I have created.
I bury them here, hoping someone in the future will find them.
Humans call forth spirits, but spirits choose the humans.
Waiting for someone to answer their call, I bury them in the land where my hometown and my mother were born.”

Wait… “them”? So it’s not just one? I pressed my face against the book and read the remaining lines.

“I do not know how much time will pass, so I have made them into spirit stones to preserve them. But even this is not permanent. After too long, the spirit stones will lose their purpose and return to soil.
I hope with all my being that someone will find them and the two spirits will emerge into the world again…
If they disappear into the earth, that too is their fate.
To remain forever in human memory is also their fate.”

No matter how I read it, it seemed they buried two spirit stones! And rare items at that! My eyes widened as I stared at the boy.

And somehow, I ended up raising my voice.

“Hey! You! Wasn’t this just one? There were two?”

Startled by my sudden shout, the boy jumped.

Two spirit stones? I was even more shocked! And the summoning circles for natural realm spirits are something no one in the world can acquire today.

“Yes… yes. There were two. The other one… my father took it to sell at a jeweler…”

“You sold it? For money! Do you even know what this is?”

My goodness! I was furious that the boy sold something I intended to buy.

“No! He was scolded and kicked out for trying to sell something stolen… so… sniff, my father collapsed as well…”

“Wait! That’s not the main point. What about my spirit stone? What happened to it?”

Nothing else mattered. Only the fate of my spirit stone was important.

“It was taken by the jeweler.”

“What kind of thugs are those! Trying to take someone else’s property! That’s a crime, a crime!”

I couldn’t contain my rage. Someone took my thing!

“But… if we are to be precise, we weren’t the owners either…”

“Hey! No, listen! If it hadn’t been taken, you’d have come here to sell it, right?”

“Th-that’s right?”

“Then I would have bought it, right?”

“…Would that work?”

“Yes! If I bought it, it’s mine.”

“Reaaally?”

He didn’t get it. How frustrating.

As I tore at my chest in exasperation, Philo came running, out of breath. But his appearance was shocking.

His face was bruised, and it looked like he was limping.

“Philo!”

Despite Hansen’s anxious cry, Philo carried out his duty first. He pushed Hansen away and handed me a bag. It was stained with blood.

“I’m sorry. It got a little messy.”

“More importantly, Philo, what happened to your face?”

Had he gotten into a fight in the meantime?

“I was punished for my mistake.”

What kind of punishment?

“It was entirely my fault. I was in a hurry to come up and couldn’t greet the captain in the dining hall.”

Amazing. Do knights always get punished over such trivial matters? Or was it because Philo was of common birth that he was treated harshly?

No need to think long. It was clearly the latter.

“You know, when they choose a knight commander…”

“Yes?”

“Don’t they consider personality?”

“…I think as long as skill and status are enough, that’s sufficient.”

At that moment, the boy who had been turned away suddenly screamed. I clicked my tongue in disapproval.

“A s-snake! A snake!”

“Huh?”

“There’s a snake on the lady’s back!”

Ah, he saw it. I calmly took Ly, who was hanging around my waist like a belt, out. As Ly slithered across my hand, Hansen and Philo’s eyes widened in shock.

[Hello, humans!]

Ly flicked his tongue happily, but the humans panicked.

“Get that away from there!”

“Why is it coming out!”

“Never seen a snake before?”

Hansen went pale and drew his sword immediately.

Ly’s voice was only audible to me; to everyone else, it was just a reptile.

“Hand it over! It must be killed immediately!”

“Why are you doing dangerous things? That’s a venomous snake!”

Huh? We’ve been together this whole time.

“It’s my pet snake. It’s been with me the whole time, didn’t you notice?”

“Eek!”

“Ah!”

“It’s not dangerous at all. Not venomous, and if you look closely, it’s actually kind of cute. See?”

I showed Ly up close, and they both jumped back. Adult men acting like this… unbelievable.

“Touch it! Our pet won’t bite!”

“No, that’s okay.”

“Me too…”

The two fully armed men avoided my gaze. I sighed lightly and, since Ly had been cramped inside my clothes, I lifted him onto my shoulder.

Ly smoothly coiled around both my shoulders. At first glance, he even looked like a snake-shaped shoulder ornament. Pretending to be a decoration was one of Ly’s specialties.

“Oh, right. I’ll buy this book too.”

I looked at the still-dazed boy with a very satisfied expression.

“And where’s that insolent jeweler?”