Chapter 60
The wind struck the window forcefully as if a storm was blowing.
The butler's brow furrowed as he quietly watched Luna from a few steps away from the dining table.
The sky was clear and the sunlight shone warmly.
Rigbed was a place where winds stayed gentle. Days with wind strong enough to strike windows were rare enough to count on one's fingers.
The butler knew what was causing this.
Whenever Luna's emotions wavered, spirits reacted, causing the wind to blow and flames in the fireplace and candlesticks to flicker violently.
He asked Luna, who was quietly eating alone at the table, "Young lady, are you alright?"
Luna's condition was gradually worsening. Even the butler, with no knowledge of spirit arts or magic, could vaguely sense it. Like sinking into a swamp, something was slowly but persistently consuming her.
"...It's too noisy."
Except for the wind rattling the windows, the mansion was extremely quiet.
"Do you mean the windows?"
Luna spoke weakly with unfocused eyes, "No... the singing."
"..."
This place was always as quiet as a monastery. The butler had never once heard singing in the mansion.
It meant unknown entities that only Luna could sense were stimulating her from nearby.
She put down her fork, leaving half her food uneaten.
"I'm done eating. I need to sleep. Bring medicine to my bedroom. The strongest one."
"Young lady, if you rely too much on medicine..."
Luna squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.
"It doesn't matter. Just bring it."
She stood up immediately. Then she moved toward the corridor, steadying herself against the wall.
"Young lady. How about requesting help?"
Luna suddenly responded irritably.
"Help? What help?"
"You don't need to solve everything alone."
If she asked, there were plenty of people in Rigbed who would help her.
"These things can't be killed, and even if driven away, they'll return again and again when I'm alone. This is my fate."
Luna dragged herself back to the corridor.
The butler watched her retreating figure with worried eyes.
And the shadow at her feet stretched abnormally long.
"...?"
The butler closed his eyes tightly and opened them again.
Luna had already entered the unlit corridor, and he could no longer find the shadow.
***
A week had passed since receiving spirit arts lessons from Silveryn, but nothing had changed much.
I couldn't see or feel anything. Though I couldn't expect visible results from such brief training, it was somewhat confusing that there wasn't even evidence of training like muscle soreness.
On the eighth day of spirit arts lessons, Silveryn called me early in the morning.
She was waiting for me in a spacious hall.
And in the center of the hall was a huge magic circle about ten paces in diameter.
Silveryn was crouched down, making minor adjustments to the magic circle.
Incomprehensible characters were written inside the magic circle. They emitted blue light that pulsed, weakening and strengthening like a breathing living being.
Silveryn sensed my presence just from my movement and said, "You're here?"
"Yes. Professor, this... can I step on it?"
"Yes, it's fine. Come here."
I wondered how long she had been working on it.
It was work that would take at least three or four hours to draw alone.
I carefully approached her, walking on tiptoe and stepping only on the blank spaces in the magic circle.
Silveryn turned toward me and said,
"It's fine, just come normally."
Silveryn stood up and stretched her arms toward the ceiling.
"Did you draw all this yourself, Professor?"
"Yes, it should have been quick work, but there were some special adjustments needed, so it took longer. Here. Come here."
Silveryn pointed to the center of the magic circle.
"I think it's better to make you form a contract first."
So the magic circle was for me. Thinking about Silveryn working alone made me uneasy.
Standing in the center, I carefully examined the magic circle and said, "Then, this is..."
"No. Contracts are much simpler. This is a magic circle to test your abilities."
"What are you testing?"
"Finding which attributes match well with you."
"Is there anything I need to prepare?"
"No."
At Silveryn's gesture, the butler who had been standing quietly by the wall approached her carrying what looked like a heavy leather pouch in both hands.
The butler opened the pouch in front of her.
She reached inside and took something out, then moved toward the edge of the magic circle.
What came out of the pouch were stones.
They had a different texture from ordinary stones. Like amber, they were transparent and each had its own distinct color.
She moved clockwise, placing seven stones at equal intervals, then said, "We'll start right away. Stay there. You don't need to do anything."
Then, Silveryn stepped outside the magic circle. When she chanted a spell, the blue light of the magic circle's characters grew stronger.
Soon after, the stones placed in the magic circle vibrated.
I wondered what exactly she was trying to test.
I held my breath without realizing it, due to tension.
The oil lamps lighting the hall were affected by the magic circle and suddenly blazed blue.
Though I expected something dramatic to happen with such a large magic circle, nothing special occurred except the lights growing brighter.
After about a minute, the magic circle's radiance gradually dimmed.
Silveryn crossed her arms and entered the magic circle.
"Is this all...?"
"Yes."
Silveryn's expression wasn't very good.
She checked the stones placed in the magic circle and sighed softly.
"All spirits reject you."
"...What?"
"Your spirit affinity. I expected this to some degree, but..."
Something seems to have gone wrong.
"What exactly happened?"
"This was to find out which type of spirit matches well with you. By forcibly drawing spirits and making them react to you. Even with no affinity, it shouldn't be this bad. You're... at an unprecedented level in some sense."
"..."
Seeing my expression, Silveryn spoke soothingly, "...Don't take it badly. As I said before, each quality has its pros and cons."
Silveryn picked up a red stone that had been placed in the magic circle and said, "You're incompatible with almost all spirits. Only fire spirits are somewhat close. However, it just a tiny bit, it’s not at a meaningful level,”
"Why is there a difference with fire spirits?"
"Well, did you work with fire often in Haman?"
"Yes."
"That probably contributed..."
"Does how one lives affect spirit affinity?"
"Right, if you had been a fisherman, it would have been water spirits. If a farmer, earth spirits."
She fell into thought for a moment.
"And..."
Silveryn started to speak but then closed her mouth and slightly avoided my gaze.
"...Why?"
She suddenly turned around, facing away from me, and said, "There are various other reasons. Anyway, what's important is that you need to use even this tiny advantage."
Spirit arts were completely unknown territory to me, so I had no idea how to approach it.
"What should I do?"
"Follow me. We'll proceed with the contract now."
***
A red bird smaller than my fist sat on the back of my hand.
This was my spirit.
As Silveryn said, the spirit contract ended too simply. So simply, it made me wonder if it should be this easy.
The contract was completed just by Silveryn placing her hand on my body and casting magic.
Her words about being able to make even neighborhood dogs form contracts weren't an exaggeration.
It feels strange to suddenly have a spirit overnight.
Of course, the contract wasn't everything. I wasn't capable of utilizing the spirit right away.
Even the lowest-grade spirit, which was basic level for spirit summoners, was too much for me.
So what I contracted with was a spirit embryo.
It was a spirit below even the lowest grade, not even a year old.
Though contracts with higher-grade spirits were possible, Silveryn added that I wouldn't be able to utilize them properly and it would put too much strain on my body.
The embryo spirit I contracted with was so young it hadn't developed self-awareness. She said it didn't even recognize that it had contracted with me.
It was closer to a primitive natural object than a conscious spiritual being.
Though it couldn't do anything except hover around me, it didn't reject me despite my lack of spirit affinity.
Considering my qualities, growing gradually with an embryo spirit was the best option.
"Here."
Silveryn handed me the red stone that had been placed in the magic circle.
"It's a spirit stone. Even with a contract, you can't summon it with your ability, so use this to call it."
For those with talent, spirit summoning was as easy as a monkey climbing a tree, but I couldn't even do that on my own.
"I understand."
"Now that we've finished the contract, let's continue training."
A thought occurred to me, and I asked her, "Teacher, I have a question."
"Yes, go ahead."
"Am I training properly?"
"Why?"
"All I've done is lie next to you."
The corners of Silveryn's mouth turned up slightly. She bent down slightly to meet my eyes and said, "You're doing well. Growth doesn't always require sweating and straining your body. It's important to know where you stand and what you resonate with. That also changes and helps you grow."