Chapter 19 - This is Ridiculous

"Burp."

I couldn't hide my bewilderment as I looked at the spirit making a small burp in my arms.

If it had been an ordinary orb, it might have been understandable.

But it suddenly swallowed an orb that was extremely compressed with only human negative emotions, so I couldn't help but worry.

Just in case, I grabbed the spirit upside down and shook it vigorously, but…

"Myaaaang."

It only made strange noises and didn't spit out the orb.

I looked at the spirit like that and pondered for a moment, then quickly shook off my worries and shook my head.

It doesn't seem to be in pain or changed for the worse, so there probably isn't any problem.

Moreover, the Sun Spirit was much sharper than it looked.

There was no reason for it to consume something that would negatively affect it without any reason.

Besides, even in the original work, there were cases where it ate things related to black magic and absorbed them as power.

There was a high possibility that it was converting this into its own power.

Looking at the spirit's face becoming rounder, I thought it might grow to a higher grade soon and stroked its head.

"Meuyang."

It seems a bit sulky, probably because I shook it earlier.

But seeing it still clinging to me, it seemed to be saying it still liked me despite being sulky, which made me smile slightly.

Just then, I heard a woman's voice speaking in shock from the side.

"W-why...? Why? Why? This doesn't make sense? How did you break it? How did you eat it? Why? How?"

Unable to accept the current situation, she scratched her face with her nails until it bled, denying what she saw.

Then she glared at me with her bloodied face and took out a staff from her chest, saying, "I, I have to kill you and take it out. If not, something terrible will happen. No, I have to take it out right now. Right now."

Her actions were reminiscent of a murderous ghost, but her essence was that of a black mage.

As she rushed towards me, she created numerous black tentacles and shot them at me.

It seemed they weren't simple tentacles.

Every time the black tentacles struck nearby, I heard something melting, so I was about to raise my mace to block them when…

Whoosh!

Even stronger flames than before spread from the spirit and burned all the tentacles.

"H-how... Ack!"

Not expecting to lose her tentacles so easily and lightly, she screamed as if being torn apart.

She reached out her hand towards the flames in denial, then calmed her eyes and started making a sound similar to wailing laughter.

At that moment, darkness attribute mana spread thickly around, and I felt my skin bristle all over my body.

Then, in a posture that looked like it came out of a horror movie, she crawled on all fours toward me rapidly, scattering a massive amount of black magic.

I looked at the black magic bursting from all directions and dozens of black tentacles appearing regardless of location, thinking this was an interesting act, and raised my mace.

"Die...!"

Towards her... no, towards something that was hard to consider human anymore, rushing at me grotesquely, I quickly circulated mana and the spirit's power.

Looking at the mace that started burning intensely, I calmly lowered my gaze and then struck it hard on the ground.

Crack.

The ground cracked, and intense vibrations spread in all directions, completely twisting all the tentacles.

Originally, it was impossible to give such an intense shock.

Perhaps because the spirit's power had become incomparably stronger, it made possible what was originally impossible, and intense power spread in all directions.

Not bad.

With this much, I should be able to do more.

I brushed up my hair and moved my feet, looking at the black mage who had quickly moved to the side for a moment to avoid my attack.

"N-not yet, not yet, I can do more, more, more!"

Every time I moved forward, countless black magic poured down, but all of these were blocked by the wall of fire summoned by the spirit and disappeared in vain.

With each step forward, the remnants of the slimy black magic scattered in all directions, turning everything to ashes.

I looked at her struggling, swinging her staff in front of me, and then without any hesitation, I swung my mace and ended the battle.

***

As I was silently looking down at the blackened, burned black mage, Loraine approached me with admiration and praised me.

"Young Master, your skills are improving rapidly by the day. At this rate, you'll reach low-grade Expert soon, won't you?"

In fact, this battle was won more by the spirit burning everything rather than my own achievement, so I awkwardly smiled and passed over it.

If the spirit hadn't helped, I couldn't have ended it so easily.

So, I decided to put in more effort and grow even more, when Loraine pointed to the back and said, "Then shall we go check inside?"

At those words, I nodded and said I would do so, then moved my feet and opened the door.

Since the place we were in earlier was a laboratory that felt like a huge aquarium, I thought the inside would also be large in scale.

But unexpectedly, what appeared was a narrow room reminiscent of a small chamber.

As I quickly looked around the room covered with formulas and theories, trying to find anything useful, I discovered one interesting item.

It was an unidentified item sealed in black cloth.

It seemed to have a locking spell on it, as when I tried to unfold the black cloth, it forcibly pushed my hand away and refused to open.

So I tried to tear it off with strong force, but Loraine quickly stopped me and grabbed my hand.

"If you're not careful, you might damage all the contents, so calm down."

"Really?"

"Yes. So let's leave this to Lord Lirelsu tomorrow."

Former royal mage Priltanin Lirelsu.

Siren's temporary teacher and an authority in magical studies.

Thinking that person could definitely unlock this, I nodded and opened my mouth.

"Then let's go back."

"Yes."

Loraine nodded with a bright smile, happy that the mission was over.

***

When we returned to the mansion, it was already late at night, and peaceful insect sounds filled the air.

Loraine left, saying it would be better to report about the black mages first, and I was heading to the room where the royal magician was staying to request his help when…

"Damian."

Siren ran towards me, showing signs of being very glad to see me despite her expressionless face.

"You're back now?"

Perhaps because I didn't come back last night, she welcomed me enthusiastically and clung to me.

Feeling sorry for not being able to pay attention to her due to being busy after bringing her here, I decided to have a light conversation and nodded.

"I had a magical achievement. Master Lirelsu was jumping up and down and crying."

I thought she might be joking due to her light vocabulary, but her expression was so serious that it didn't seem like a joke.

Thinking I wasn't sure, I decided to walk down the corridor for now and said to Siren, "Let's walk for a..."

"I have something to show you."

Before I could finish saying let's walk, Siren grabbed my hand and pulled me, saying she had something to show me, and walked forward briskly.

Seeing this, I thought of the time when I pulled Elisia's hand to show her the flower garden in the past, and smiled bitterly.

Siren pointed out the window and said to me, "Isn't it pretty?"

Wondering what it was, I looked and saw blue mana clinging to a tree growing in the middle of the garden, creating a mystical and wondrous sight.

The scene was like a work of art, so I was staring at it blankly.

Siren said to me in a somewhat proud voice, "I wanted to show you this."

"Really...?"

"Yes."

She had been proud until just now, but seeing me just staring at the tree without saying anything, she seemed to become anxious.

Siren suddenly became dejected, looked at me nervously, and pulled at my clothes, saying with an anxious expression, "You don't like it?"

I might not have realized that various thoughts were overlapping, causing me not to speak.

I quickly gathered my thoughts, shook my head, and directly expressed the emotion I was feeling.

"No, it's so beautiful that I was momentarily stunned."

"Really?"

At my words, Siren looked at me while fidgeting with her fingers, then turned her gaze away shyly and looked down at the tree.

Finding her cute, I smiled slightly and was looking at the tree again with Siren when Siren pointed to the inside of my clothes and asked one question, "What's that inside?"

It seems Siren's genius magical ability had reacted to the unidentified item I had picked up from the laboratory.

At that question, I took it out and showed it to Siren.

Siren looked at it intently and then said to me nonchalantly, "I think I can unlock this. Want me to do it?"

Her tone was as if she was casually throwing out that it wasn't a big deal, looking at a problem that wasn't too difficult.

Although I lacked the trust to leave it to someone who had just learned magic not long ago,

Perhaps because of her overly confident tone and knowing her talent, I nodded as if enchanted.

So I handed over the item wrapped in black cloth.

Siren touched it lightly and said to me, "It's done."

She said the locking spell was released just by touching it lightly, as she expressed.

I was feeling a glimpse of talent as I watched the black cloth flowing down smoothly when Siren, shining brightly in the moonlight, said to me somewhat proudly, "Do what you promised."

By promise, she must mean the praise I mentioned.

I was going to thank her anyway, but I didn’t expect Siren to push her head forward, making a gesture asking me to pat her head. 

It wasn’t a difficult request.

I was about to pat Siren's head when…

"Myeong!"

Suddenly, the spirit in my chest popped out and hit Siren's forehead hard.

"..."

Is she upset about not receiving praise, or is she upset about being hit?

Siren glared at the spirit with cold, calm eyes, expressing her anger.

Seeing Siren like that, I quickly patted her head and smiled slightly before things could escalate.

***

As expected, what was contained in the black cloth was a document containing the contents of an “assassination plan”, so I judged it right to deliver this to the family head and immediately headed to the family head's room.

Then, as I was recalling in my mind what to say and why I had found such a thing, I heard a voice from inside.

"Come in."

As I entered, I saw the family head working without a hint of disorder.

I didn't know what he was so busy with, but feeling that the position of the Carsaril family head was quite heavy, I was about to take out the document when…

The family head looked at me and said in a nonchalant voice, "You must have heard from the butler."

What did I hear? I hadn't even met the butler since returning, so I was blinking in confusion when the family head said, seemingly puzzled, "Didn't you hear from the butler that the Northern side sent a message saying they want to retract the engagement annulment?"

At those words, I laughed hollowly, finding it too ridiculous.