Chapter 21 - Gift

I thought it would evolve immediately upon showing signs of evolution, but it seemed it still needed time as it didn't change no matter how long I waited.

So I stroked the head of the peacefully sleeping spirit and then laid down on the bed.

Although the incident hadn't been perfectly wrapped up yet, and I needed to keep an eye on the progress, It was almost over, so I could rest well just for today.

I thought about dedicating myself to training as usual tomorrow and slowly closed my eyes.

"..."

When I came to my senses, it was morning.

I checked on the spirit, wondering if it had woken up, but it seemed it still needed more time as I saw it was still asleep.

It's sleeping longer than I thought.

In the original work, it was described as “not long after”, so I thought it would wake up in a few hours at most, but it was still asleep even after I slept and woke up, which was somewhat puzzling.

Is it because it ate the black orb?

There was nothing else I could think of.

Looking at the spirit like that, I thought about laying it on the bed so it could rest comfortably, but…

If I leave it behind, it will probably feel very upset.

Having no choice, I decided to carry it with me and held it in my arms.

I thought it was a good choice as I saw the spirit snuggling into me while asleep, and got up.

***

Four things were needed to prepare for training.

Loraine, potions, tea, and a training place where Sister Lilia wouldn't find us.

Three of these were always prepared, so it wasn't that difficult to prepare.

However, while I was contemplating how to select a training location, which was quite tricky, Loraine coincidentally found a good place, so we could proceed with the training without any major problems.

"You've definitely become more skilled in combat, probably because you've experienced real battles."

I nodded as I blocked Loraine's attack.

As Loraine said, perhaps because I had experienced life-and-death real battles, I could read the opponent's movements more easily than usual, and I could now do things without hesitation that I would have hesitated to do before.

I was somewhat satisfied as I continued sparring, when Loraine made a suggestion to me, "So, I was thinking, how about focusing on real battles for growth from now on?"

"Real battles?"

"Yes. I think you'll grow faster if you focus on real battles rather than sparring now."

It wasn’t a bad suggestion, but... the problem was where to have these real battles.

The real battle we had this time had the justification of having to take down black mages, so it wasn't too difficult to encounter,

But usually, it was hard to have such justification, so it was quite difficult to engage in battles.

So when I asked about this, Loraine laughed "huhu" and waved her hand at me.

"There's a simple way for that. You can take on missions."

"Missions?"

"Yes. If you take on combat-related missions from the request office, you can engage in battles to your heart's content. It's a method I often used when I was growing rapidly."

Hearing those words, I thought it sounded good and nodded.

By taking on missions, I would be able to “gain various experiences”, and this would bring significant experience points to my combat ability stats.

I judged that it would be beneficial to do it no matter what.

So, keeping in mind to go to the request office, I swung my mace at Loraine.

***

While I was walking down the corridor to take a short rest after finishing training, I saw Siren sitting on a park bench in the small park located in the center of the mansion, blankly looking up at the sky.

I felt a strange emotion seeing her seemingly praying devoutly while receiving warm sunlight all over her body.

It was quite a contrast to see the one who was called the worst curse that bloomed by swallowing despair in the original work now craving and enjoying light.

Thinking it was fortunate that I had saved Siren, even if by chance, I approached her.

Siren looked at me intently and started waving her hand slightly.

Her expressionless face waving her hand was quite cute.

Smiling at that sight, I approached her and said, “Thank you for last night,” but Siren shook her head and said to me, "No need to thank me. Since you saved me, I've decided to help you for life."

So she said there was no need to thank her because helping was natural.

Hearing those words, I was reminded of Elisia's actions towards me in the past.

Those days when she didn't look at me properly despite me bringing warmth to the North, contrary to her promise.

As those memories bloomed in my mind, my expression naturally hardened.

At that time, I had endured by brainwashing myself that it was okay, but in reality, it wasn't okay at all.

So, as I was trying to shake off those memories, Siren grabbed my hand and rubbed it, asking me a question, "Is it warm?"

At that question asking if her hand was warm, the distracting thoughts full of pain quickly disappeared.

"Yes. It's warm."

"That's good then."

Siren nodded somewhat proudly as she looked at me, then tilted her head and said to me, "By the way, where did that dwarf go?"

"Dwarf? Oh, the spirit."

I carefully took out the spirit I had kept in my chest and said, "It's sleeping for a while to evolve."

"Ah, I see."

Siren looked at the spirit intently, then as if remembering something, tilted her head and said to me, "Come to think of it, haven't you given the spirit a name?"

"...You're right?"

Why haven’t I given it a name?

I wasn’t sure of the reason, but if I had to guess, I might have been too mentally overwhelmed to pay attention to such things.

"Wouldn't it be good to give it one? If I were this fool, I would have felt upset."

I thought they didn't get along well because they always bickered whenever they met, but surprisingly, they seemed to get along well.

At those words, I smiled slightly and asked Siren for her opinion, "Do you have any name recommendations?"

At that, Siren said to me as if it was obvious, "Myeongmyeong-i."

"...Isn't Myeongmyeong-i a bit much?"

Dogs were Meongmeong-i, cats were Nyaong-i, spirits were Myeongmyeong-i...

It was cute, but it seemed too thoughtless, so I tried to persuade her to choose something else, but…

"Myeongmyeong-i."

"..."

She seemed to be firmly stuck on the name Myeongmyeong-i and kept recommending it.

I nodded, saying I understood for now, and decided to finalize it when the spirit woke up.

***

After that, while I was having various small talks with Siren,

The mansion became somewhat noisy, and many people started moving along the corridor.

It seems the document I handed to the family head has been proven true.

Otherwise, there was no way so many people would move so orderly.

As I was watching knights and mages moving busily, Aiden, Damian's brother, approached me and, "Thank you."

He gently patted my back, expressed his gratitude, and then passed by.

As I was watching the back of my brother moving forward resolutely and cheering him on in my heart, this time Lilia sister appeared.

"I heard my little one did something great?"

Sister Lilia started rubbing my cheeks with both hands as soon as she arrived, expressing her affection and laughing "huhu", then turned her gaze and greeted Siren.

"Hello, Siren too?"

"Hello."

It seemed they had become close while I was away.

As I was thinking it was fortunate to see this, Sister Lilia patted my back and said, "Oh, right. Take Siren out to see the city. When you're not around, she just wanders in the park all day waiting for you, it makes my heart ache."

The moment I heard those words, I was reminded again of the fact that I had neglected Siren after bringing her to the mansion.

This was something I had no excuse for even with ten mouths, so I nodded with apology and said to Siren, "Want to go see the city together?"

At my offer, Siren nodded her head very quickly and held my hand tightly.

***

To be honest, I didn't know much about Siren.

All I knew was just the fact that she had swallowed countless despair and would become an archmage.

So I couldn't know what emotions and memories were mixed to form the feelings Siren had for me.

Of course, it could simply be gratitude for rescuing her or being in an emotionally unstable state.

Somehow, though, I felt there might be a more fundamental reason, and I silently looked at Siren.

Just as I was thinking it would be nice to be able to fully understand Siren's feelings later,

Suddenly, Loraine, who was following behind, laughed "huhu" and said to us, "It's obvious that the young master and Miss Siren don't know how to play, so I'll show you."

"...Will that be okay?"

"Yes. When I was in my prime... no, anyway, that's not important. Shall we go out first? I'll guide you."

With those words, Loraine led us and did all sorts of things.

Eating snacks, watching plays, eating snacks, watching birds, eating snacks, watching street concerts, eating snacks, buying clothes, eating snacks, eating snacks, eating snacks.

It wasn’t an illusion that one activity was particularly frequent.

It was because Loraine bought every snack she saw, spreading a strange logic that it would be a loss if we didn't eat them.

So the situation had become more of a food tour than a city tour, but since Siren was showing signs of enjoying eating snacks, I didn't say anything and was satisfied with it when Loraine pointed to one side and said, "And the last place I recommend is the large flower garden! I heard there's a flower that shakes its body or something. Anyway, it's an extremely popular place, so I'm sure both of you will be satisfied."

I looked at it somewhat strangely as I felt complicated every time I saw flowers.

As I was looking down at it for a long time like that, suddenly Siren pulled at my clothes and held out a flower ring to me.

"A gift."

It was a cute gift I was receiving for the first time.

I smiled with satisfaction and carefully accepted it, then Siren looked up at me intently and said, "I'll make it for you whenever you want."

She probably said this after seeing my expression.

Realizing this was the maximum expression of comfort that Siren, who was still awkward in human relationships, could express, I stroked her head and conveyed my gratitude.

"...Thank you."

"Yes."

As I was carefully putting the flower ring into my chest so it wouldn't get crushed, I saw a strangely familiar figure in the distance.

Wondering who it was, I narrowed my eyes and saw a somewhat unique sight.

A woman with a cynical but beautiful appearance that would suit the expression “haughty” without vanity.

She had characteristics that would remind anyone who saw her of a high-ranking figure.

So she gave off an unapproachable atmosphere that made it difficult to approach her...

But unlike her appearance, her behavior was quite familiar.

She was quickly clapping her hands while looking at a flower that was shaking its body wildly.

If she was clapping elegantly, it might have been understandable.

Thinking that her frantically clapping her hands didn't suit her, I stared at her, and only then could I realize her identity.

Liana, executive of the Information Guild.

She was one of the key figures in the protagonist's party who always pointed the protagonist in the right direction.