BSS 10

chapter 10

[Rai?]

“Yeah, Rai! How’s it sound?”

It was the name of the dog I’d raised in my previous life. Not that I felt the need to explain that.

[I like it. My name is Rai.]

…Was it too much to name him in five seconds? Technically, I didn’t even come up with it—I recycled it—so I guess the sincerity was questionable. I briefly wondered if I should’ve given him a cooler name, but then… that sounded like effort.

[May I know my Master’s name?]

“My name is Jini Crowell.”

[Jeanie Crowell.]

“Jini!”

[Jeanie.]

Even spirits ignore my name now.

[I will remain by your side until the day your life ends. Glory to my Master…]

Humans or spirits, when everyone keeps getting my name wrong, maybe it’s not their tongues—maybe it’s a brain problem.

✦ ✦ ✦

I felt the warm sunlight pouring in, but I stubbornly kept my eyes shut.

I didn’t want to wake up.

But then, a voice that shouldn’t exist in my head started ringing loudly.

[Master! Master!]

It wasn’t a voice in the normal sense.
It echoed directly inside my mind—blocking my ears wouldn’t help.

A spirit’s voice.

[Master.]

At first, I ignored it and clung to my dreams. I was exhausted from staying up until dawn dealing with the contract. Spirit contracts drain a ridiculous amount of mental energy.

But eventually, a thought hit me like lightning.

Wait. Why is he still here?

My eyes snapped open.

“Rai? Where are you?”

[Here. The doorknob.]

“…Why are you not returning to the Spirit Realm?”

Still half-asleep, I rubbed my eyes.

[I am a natural-world spirit, so I don’t need to return to the Spirit Realm.]

“What does that even mean? Who gave you permission?”

[I did. I will devote myself to Master my whole life! Aren’t you pleased?]

“No… sounds annoying? And honestly, you seem way more excited than me.”

He definitely wasn’t this cheerful yesterday.

Rai’s voice now was like a balloon pumped to near explosion.

[Annoying? I’m hurt that you don’t appreciate my loyalty.]

Normally, spirits existed only when summoned. They lived in the Spirit Realm and came into the human world temporarily when called.

And summoning was basically a paid service—
you spent mana to summon, and mana to maintain their presence.
Every second they existed in this world, it cost mana.

But this guy…

“Now that I think about it, my mana isn’t draining. How are you still here?”

[Like I said, I’m a natural-world spirit. I was born in the natural world of the middle realm, so technically, this is my home.]

“…Huh?”

[As long as I have a contractor, I can freely remain in the human world.]

Another thing I’d never heard before.

Even though I majored in Spirit Studies, most of what Rai said was completely new—
a metal spirit, a natural-world spirit, a spirit that exists freely without siphoning the summoner’s mana…

“Oh! I get it. So because you were born here, you don’t have to go back to the Spirit Realm.

Normally, spirits have to use power to stay in the human realm, since it’s not their world. But you…?”

[I don’t need to. This world is also my world.]

“Got it.”

So he wasn’t technically being summoned—just… hanging out here.

[As expected of my Master. You’re not completely stupid.]

That was definitely meant as a compliment, but it still annoyed me. What a smug little punk.

I knew he was unusual when we made the contract, but he was stranger than I thought.

Maybe Teacher Eiel would know something about him.

For now, I nodded and climbed out of bed. Talking to a doorknob felt weird.

“Why are you in there, anyway?”

[To form a body, I need to absorb metal and reconstruct it. But I can’t use power without Master’s permission.]

“So using power requires my mana, huh?”

[**Of course. The only reason I can stay here is because of the contract. I owe everything to Master.

Ah! Since you’re awake—may I absorb this doorknob? I want to move…**]

“Absolutely not.”

I need my doorknob.

[Then the candlestick?]

“No.”

[The washbasin?]

“Nope.”

[Is this how you treat someone so devoted to you?]

We weren’t anything special…
Well, we were contract-bound. An eternal soul contract until one of us died—
and it had only been one day. Still counts as a relationship, I guess.

“You’re a metal spirit, right? Fire spirits can create fire—so you can make metal.”

[Great idea, but Master doesn’t have anywhere near the mana for that.]

“…Ahem.”

[Creating something from nothing requires massive mana. Generating metal is dozens of times harder than making trivial fire.]

There it was—that offended tone.

This guy had a temper.

I scanned the room for something metal I wouldn’t miss.
But most of the academy was made of wood and stone.

In my old world, everything was metal.
Suddenly, that felt nostalgic.

“There’s nothing here you can eat. But I know a place! The alchemy room has metal lying around everywhere.”

[Is that heaven?]

“Yes! We’ll go there. It’s the school’s, but what’s the school’s is basically the student’s, right?”

[I don’t understand, but it sounds promising!]

Maybe we’d get along better than I thought.

“So once you absorb metal, you’ll have a physical body?”

[**Correct. I can create a body out of the metal I take in.

Since the middle realm is a physical world, staying as a spiritual form requires huge amounts of mana.**]

“And right now, you can only possess objects made of metal?”

[Yes.]

“That’s kind of ghost-like. Well, instead of the doorknob, go into this candlestick.”

[Very well.]

Carrying a candlestick sounded easier. He could move through any metal, and I basically had a haunted candlestick now.

Better than a haunted washbasin.

[Master. Someone is standing outside the door.]

“Huh? Who?”

Just as I picked up the candlestick…

[Green hair. Smells like a wind spirit mage. Probably male.]

Rai was surprisingly sensitive to presence.
Right as he warned me—

knock knock!

—someone knocked.

Wow. Built-in intercom function.

That was the first useful thing about him.

“Miss Jini?”

I recognized the voice before he even finished.
It was Teacher Eiel. The only wind spirit mage in the academy.

I must’ve slept through class again. Unfortunately, being the only student meant missing class was painfully obvious.

“Just a moment!”

I hadn’t even wiped the sleep from my eyes. I threw on my uniform, tied my ribbon, tucked the candlestick under my arm, and whipped the door open.

“I was on my way!”

Actually, I was planning to skip class and go to the alchemy room, but still.

BANG!

An unexpected sound exploded in the hallway.

Oh.
Teacher Eiel had been standing right against the door.
He clutched his forehead, shaking.

“Ugh! What do you think you’re doing?”

“Ouch. Why were you standing directly in front of the door?”

“Miss Jini, when something like this—”

“Are you trying to make me feel bad? Ugh. Now I’m uncomfortable.”

“Miss Jini!”

“…Fine. My deepest apologies.”

Why make me apologize first thing in the morning? He came here on his own.
I muttered a half-hearted apology and picked my ear.

“Do you know what time it is?”

“Noon?”

“And class starts at?”

“Eleven.”

“And your explanation?”

“Kids need sleep. This academy abuses human rights. I’m only ten, why do I have so many classes? It’s torture.”

Eiel looked like he wanted to explode, yet he never hit me.
Truly a saint.
Any other teacher would’ve gone ballistic.

“You overslept? I thought you were skipping on purpose again.”

“Why would I?”

“You usually skip to protest about wanting a spirit contract. I figured today was no different—”

“Oh! That? It’s done!”

“…Done?”

“I successfully made a spirit contract on my own!”

I said it proudly.
He looked at me like I claimed I hunted a dragon with a feather duster.

Not a shred of belief in his dead-fish eyes.

“Aha. Right.”

“It’s true! Look!”

I shoved the candlestick toward him.