CHAPTER 33.
The spirits surrounded Gnome and tried to comfort him.
Undine gently patted the grassy green crown of his head where a new sprout had grown. Sylph stroked his clay-colored cheeks. Salamander licked his small, stubby four fingers.
I could only watch in a daze.
— Gnome, Lian died because the dark sorcerers summoned demons. It’s not like he left us on his own.
— It was a choice he had to make. To protect the world. I’m sure Lord Lian didn’t want to leave us either. Right, Lord Lian?
“Huh? Uh, yeah, that’s right. I… I didn’t want to either.”
— You heard that? Even the contractor agrees. Gnome, say something if you understand.
— Dark sorcerers… I hate them.
— Yeah, yeah. All dark sorcerers are f**ing bastards, right? You can hate them all you want.*
The trembling building gradually came to a stop.
I thought spirits didn’t care much about human deaths…
But they were beings that could be hurt too. So hurt that they turned away from the truth.
— Lian, you don’t have to worry. We’ll take care of the dark sorcerers. We already have a plan.
“A plan?”
— We’re going to recruit a delivery person first. Humans are best at finding other humans. We spent a lot of time thinking about who to use.
— Owen’s out. He’s too damn kind. If we caught one, he’d probably just hold their hand and pray for redemption instead of torturing them. Right, Gnome?
— (Nods)
Undine continued.
— Luspell’s no good either. He’d probably just kill the dark sorcerer right away. We wouldn’t even get our turn.
— And we’ve prepared such a colorful array of torture plans. It’d be a waste if they died too quickly.
— So we decided to ask Leonhart. Isn’t he surrounded by all sorts of bootlicking humans? The more tools he has, the faster he’ll catch… Contractor, are you even listening?
The spirits of nature… planning human torture together?
It was so shocking I nearly blacked out.
“Um… it’s true that more people have started following Leonhart lately.”
— Perfect. Let’s go now that we’re talking about it!
“Huh? Go where?”
— To see Lord Leonhart. We’ll be back soon.
“No! Don’t you remember? You can’t let yourselves be seen!”
— As long as we’re not seen with you, it’s fine, right? We’ll just say we saw the summoning circle here. Unless they’re idiots, they’ll figure it out.
And then I’ll be sent straight to the guillotine.
“W-Won’t they start suspecting me as a dark sorcerer?”
— You’re worried about that? You have nothing to worry about. Trust us.
“Why?”
— Lord Lian, the summoning circles for demons have to be drawn using the blood of the dark sorcerer themselves. The circle is the key to finding them. There’s no way to mistake them for someone else.
Which makes it worse! There’s no way I can deny it if I’m caught!
I glanced to the side.
Gnome was looking up at me with wide, pleading eyes, as if asking for permission.
‘What if Gnome gets even more hurt…’
But I couldn’t hide it anymore.
I sighed and wiped a hand across my face.
“You don’t need to meet Leonhart. I know who drew that summoning circle.”
— W-What?!
— …Did you just say you know who it is?
— Why the hell are you just saying that now?!
“Because it’s me.”
— …Huh?
“I said it’s me.”
— …
“Technically, it was the original owner of this body who did it. But since I’ve possessed this body, it’s no different. So…”
The spirits just blinked silently. I stuck my tongue out and gave them a sheepish grin.
“Hehe, sorry, guys.”
— …S-Sorry? Did you just say sorry?! You think that fixes everything?!
— Ugh, I really can’t be on your side this time, Lord Lian.
— F** this… Guys! Get her!*
The spirits pounced.
Undine yanked on my hair, Sylph tugged at my cheeks, and Salamander whipped my calves with his tail.
Only Gnome hovered nervously in midair.
I stood still and accepted their punishments. Honestly, it didn’t hurt. Not even a little.
No matter how angry they were, my spirits would never hurt me for real. They’d never betray me. They were always on my side.
My nose tingled, and a deep part of my heart felt lighter.
All this time, I’d tried desperately to see them only as fictional characters.
‘I don’t think I can keep doing that.’
They were beings just like me—capable of feeling hurt, love, and pain.
Drawing a line between us had been foolish.
‘I’m such an idiot. Letting go makes everything feel so much easier.’
— You’re laughing? Do you even realize how serious this is?! Demons aren’t a joke!
“You guys are just too cute, I couldn’t help it.”
— Lord Lian, this isn’t something you can smooth over with sweet words!
“I know. That’s why I’m really sorry…”
— Argh! So frustrating! Why did I make a contract with this kind of human… Gnome! Why are you just standing there? You hit her too until you feel better!
But Gnome just stared at me with dark, round eyes.
“Gnome.”
I held out my palm. The little tree spirit hesitated, then gently settled onto my hand.
I stroked the sprout on his head with a fingertip, and Gnome blushed, eyes falling shyly.
“Gnome, did I hurt you a lot?”
— …
“I’m really sorry. I was so selfish… No, I won’t make excuses. Just… I’m sorry. Can you forgive me?”
Gnome looked away, then slowly nodded. The sprout on his head wobbled softly.
“Gnome forgives me. What about the rest of you? Still planning revenge?”
Undine was still fuming, her face bright red.
— Are you kidding? You’re Adrian, and Adrian is you. How are we supposed to take revenge?!
— Hah… The devotion of a spirit isn’t that shallow. Lord Lian, even if you’ve donned the skin of a dark sorcerer, that doesn’t mean we’ll stop caring.
“I know. I feel the same way.”
— S-S**, you’re so sappy… Still! I’ll never forgive the bastard who summoned the Demon King! Even if you beg me not to! Right, Gnome?*
— (Nods vigorously!)
“Yeah, yeah. Do whatever you want.”
Having reconciled, we enjoyed a brief moment of peace.
At least, until Sylph’s eyes suddenly widened.
— Wait! If people find out Lord Lian is the dark sorcerer, won’t that be bad?!
— Gasp! You’re right! Humans hate dark sorcerers even more than we do!
Gnome instantly drooped again. I quickly waved my hands.
“Oh, don’t worry. No one knows Adrian is the dark sorcerer.”
— How do you know that? You asked every human in the world?
“Think about it. Back when we were busting our butts trying to find the dark sorcerer six years ago—did you ever hear the name Adrian even once?”
— …Huh? Now that you mention it, no?
“Not even rumors about a noble from the Empire being suspicious. That’s how thoroughly Adrian kept the secret.”
Back then, one of our plans was to find the demon summoner and kill them—because when the sorcerer dies, their summoned demon is forcibly banished back to the underworld.
We were desperate. We had no chance against a hundred demons otherwise.
We collected every scrap of information on potential suspects. Adrian’s name never came up. Not even as a joke.
Proof of how perfectly he had hidden the truth.
“If no one sees the summoning circle, they’ll never know. So… can you erase it?”
The spirits shook their heads firmly.
— No. We can’t.
I stared in disbelief. That was the one thing I was counting on.
“Why not?!”
— Most summoning circles stay active once completed, even if left alone. But that one’s different.
— We don’t know why, but it’s designed to absorb life energy on its own. We can’t touch it.
“…Are you sure? You’re not just trying to get revenge, are you?”
— There’s already a f**ton of life energy pooled inside! To erase the circle, we’d have to drain all of it first, and how would we even do that? Have you ever seen a spirit drain life energy?*
Maybe a spirit of darkness could, but natural spirits can’t absorb human life force.
“This place was sealed for five years. No one’s been near it. How did life energy accumulate?”
— The entire building is within the circle’s range. You don’t have to be down here—just living here would do it.
— It doesn’t take a lot, just a bit more than what a human normally loses each day.
— It’s safe as long as you don’t walk directly over the circle. You’ll get weaker and thinner, sure, but humans starve themselves on purpose anyway, right?
So that explained why the lab and the servants’ quarters were in the same building—and why the servants were all so unnaturally skinny.
Knowing Adrian’s personality, there was no way he’d have toned down the life drain out of concern for them.
‘He probably set it up this way so people wouldn’t die outright and draw suspicion.’
A dry laugh escaped me.
At this point, I couldn’t tell whether I’d possessed a human or a full-blown demon.
