The One Who Guides Wind and Flame (2)

Hurried along by the wind spirit, I eventually broke into a run.

It hadn't been all that long since I left the Man-Eating Great Swamp, and I hadn't properly rested yet, but my curiosity was winning out for now.

After all, I couldn't help wondering why the wind spirit was showing such intense interest in, or attachment to, someone—or something.

If it had been a water spirit or a fire spirit, I could have understood it.

Water generally flows onward, but it sometimes remains in one place, and it is closely involved in the lives of many living things, including humans.

That was why the water spirit dwelling in the spring I had encountered before felt an attachment to the tribe that worshiped it and their descendants, and why the spirit appearing in the picture-story show I had adopted for the elf caravan was a water spirit.

Fire, too, was closely involved in people's lives, and fire spirits dwelling in forges often lent their strength naturally to blacksmiths.

There were even cases in which people found divinity in blazing flames, kept a fire burning for a long time, and made it an object of worship.

When spirits had such relationships with people, it would not be unheard of for them to try to stay close to them.

But while wind spirits were certainly full of curiosity, they had a nature that kept them from staying in one place, so they rarely showed much interest in human affairs...