BSS 37

Chapter 37

“Eh?”

“Come here. You need to earn your meal!”

Tch. As if I even eat that much. I grumbled but still had to do as Shavel ordered.

In this mercenary corps, Shavel’s word was law.

The one who decided to take me all the way to Veilan was Shavel, after all.

Anel may have suggested it, but without Shavel’s approval it wouldn’t have been possible—so I had to treat him as my benefactor for now.

“Turn on the light, kid.”

He always called me “kid” even though I had a perfectly good name. It was annoying.

“Ador!”

[Hm? Hm? Gasp! I’m going back.]

Night had fallen deeply, and everyone was unpacking to set up camp.

Shavel, of course, didn’t pass up the opportunity to make use of my convenient abilities.

Ador, summoned above the campsite, quickly scanned the surroundings—and immediately tried to flee back to the spirit realm.

But while he could come freely, he couldn’t leave freely. I kept the mana connection firmly in place.

“No.”

[You’re trying to use me as a light again! My skin crawls just thinking about doing that kind of work!]

“You only did it once yesterday.”

[It doesn’t suit me!]

“You’re a spirit… Fine, how about this? If you put up with it and help until we’re done, I’ll give you free time afterward. You love wandering around the human world, don’t you?”

[Really? Really? Promise?]

“Of course. Do you not trust your master?”

Three minutes should be enough anyway.

[It’s not my fault that my master is rarely trustworthy.]

“So you’re saying you won’t? That’s too bad. Go on then! Who knows when I’ll summon you next…”

I started reducing the flow of mana feeding into Ador. His figure began to fade.

[I’ll do it! I said I’ll do it—master!!]

“See? Should’ve done that earlier.”

I felt like I was finally learning how to deal with spirits.

Some spirits, like Undine, didn’t need coaxing, while others—like Ador—needed to be pushed and pulled.

When Ador cast Light, the surroundings brightened enough that torches weren’t needed. Under the glow, the mercenaries moved busily.

The important luggage—the escort target—was piled in the center, and the men arranged their sleeping spots around it. Small campfires flickered here and there.

“Ador, you can rest now.”

As soon as I gave permission, Ador, itching to escape, zipped off into the distant forest. Who did he take after to be such a free spirit?

“Hey, help over there now.”

Just when I was about to take a break, Shavel shoved me toward the cooks. My cheeks puffed up automatically.

“…Aren’t you working me too hard?”

“Those who don’t work, don’t eat.”

This is child labor! Do you hear me? Do you know what high-quality personnel I am?!
I had a lot I wanted to shout, but I had to swallow it all.

Is this the misery people feel when they run away from home? Well, I technically just got lost… but still, having no allies was demoralizing.

“Tch. Ridiculous. Undine?”

[Master. I was waiting for you to call.]

Among the mercenaries, Undine was far more popular than Ador.

After all, Undine gave them clean drinking water. In the mountains, water supply was always a serious problem, and Undine resolved it effortlessly.

I went around filling pot after pot with clean water. Preparing food for twenty people required more water than I expected.

A few mercenaries tried to touch Undine out of curiosity, but since spirits weren’t beings of the material world, anyone other than the summoner couldn’t touch them.

You could cut them with a mana-coated sword, but a regular sword would just pass through like slicing water.

“This is the last pot. Fill this one too.”

[Yes!]

If it were Ador, he would’ve complained about being given tedious work, but Undine simply smiled and followed orders.

“That’s right. Ador!”

I suddenly remembered Ador, who I’d let go earlier. As I turned toward the forest, Kenta strode up to me and held out his huge palm.

What?

“Huh?”

It looked like he was giving me something, but his hand was empty. I looked between his hand and his face.

Kenta was the mercenary I was second closest to after Anel.

His body was twice the size of an average person, packed full of muscle. He could split a fist-sized rock with his bare hands.

In my previous life, splitting an apple barehanded was considered superhuman. This world was on a different level.

The presence of mana made a huge difference.

It allowed humans to surpass human limits.

“Hey, spirit-kid. I’ve got a favor.”

At first he called me “kid,” then once he learned I was a spirit-user, he started calling me “spirit-kid,” which was even stranger.

“A favor?”

“Let me borrow the snake.”

[Ssshaa!]

Of course, Rai was the most popular.

Kenta and Rai had been mortal enemies from the moment they met. They wrestled often but never managed to decide a winner.

I knew exactly what would happen to Rai if I handed him over now. But I still obediently took Rai from my clothes and put him in Kenta’s hand.

“Thanks, spirit-kid!”

[Eek! Master, how could you?!]

“Grow stronger and come back! Whoever wins is on our side!”

A lion pushes its cubs off a cliff to make them stronger, right? Fighting mercenaries would be a great opportunity for Rai.

There was no better real combat experience than fighting skilled people.

Rai screamed, but my work was done. It was time to rest.

Humming happily, I headed toward Anel’s tent.

***

“What’s this?”

“Why isn’t the food being served?”

“Hey! Give us food!”

“Aaah, wait a bit. The meat isn’t done yet.”

The cook—with a huge scar running from his forehead to his mouth—answered politely enough.

Despite the mercenaries yelling for food, he firmly held the lid of the pot down. The lid clattered violently, as if something inside was trying to escape.

[You wretches! Grrraaa!]

Rai?

[Shaa! Ssshaaa! You wicked humans! I’ll twist all your necks off!]

The angry voice of Rai was clearly coming from inside the pot.

I blinked and looked at Kenta in the food line. Kenta avoided my gaze, pretending to look elsewhere.

I was right.

These idiots… They were cooking Rai into snake stew.

“Oh! It must be done! Get ready, everyone! Tonight’s meat is special!”

“It’s been a while since we had snake, huh?”

“They say the tougher the snake meat, the better it is for stamina.”

At some point, the pot stopped shaking.

Rai wouldn’t die from being boiled, so he was definitely pretending to be dead.

These ignorant people…

How dare they take someone’s pet snake and try to cook it?!

No wonder Anel worried so much.

While I scowled, the pot lid slowly opened. The men all leaned in eagerly to look inside.

I quietly stepped back.

Rai was terrifying when angry.

“Huh? Where’s the meat?”

The cook tilted his head and looked into the pot—

And a long, black shape shot out of the soup, latched onto his nose, and wriggled violently.

“Gguuaaaah!”

[SssHAAA! I’ll kill you!]

“Aaaah! Save me! Hot! H-hot!!”

“Kerk!!”

So the cook’s name was Kerk. Getting bitten on the nose by a superheated chunk of metal must be incredibly painful.

As I watched with mild sympathy, Kenta panicked and moved to pull Rai off Kerk.

[You! I’ll kill you first!]

Rai immediately switched targets to the one he hated most—Kenta.
Have you ever seen a snake fly? I was seeing it now.

Rai, who had been hanging off Kerk’s nose, launched himself and wrapped tightly around Kenta’s neck in one swift motion.

Oh, that’s actually dangerous.

Rai’s constriction strength could snap thick trees with ease.

He had once crushed a man’s wrist without much effort.

All the metal he had absorbed had given him enormous weight and strength, turning it into brute power.

Even without my mana, Rai was a formidable weapon.

“Rai!”

“Fight!”

“Woohoo!”

“Get ’em!”

I rushed forward, thinking this was bad—but the mercenaries?

They immediately started cheering for the fight.

Mercenaries, honestly!