Chapter 19 - Divorce Ceremony (1)

At first, I thought the spirit might be hostile towards me. If that were the case, I would surely have to fight the spirit. So, I entered the spirit's interior with some level of preparation.

But it seemed there was no need for that.

[Simply put, that spirit is saying it wants to lend you its power. It wants to make a formal contract, you know?]

The spirit didn’t show much hostility towards me. And considering the Spirit Sword's words explaining the spirit's behavior to me. Wasn't everything going very smoothly?

Is this my ability...

Wasn't this thanks to my constitution? The spirit that was absolutely not friendly to the magic tower's mages. Seeing that even a spirit I was meeting for the first time was treating me favorably, it might be a much more amazing ability than I thought.

"Hmm... What exactly is a contract?"

However, I still didn't know exactly what a contract was. Was it something where we exchanged something? That was what I thought, but there was nothing certain yet.

I had to ask the Spirit Sword about that part.

[Simply put, you can use the power that spirit has. Freely. As if it were your own power from the beginning.]

The Spirit Sword answered as if it was simple. When one made a contract, the spirit lent one its power. No, more precisely, one could use the spirit's power as one wished.

It seemed to be closer to that.

"Is it good to do that?"

[Usually, humans want to do it but can't.]

"It's amazing, right?"

[That's right. It's a human being able to use a spirit's power.]

Just hearing about it, it felt more amazing than I thought. To be able to use a spirit's power freely. Although I didn't know well what I could do yet, considering how hard the magic tower people were looking for spirits…

Since spirits were absolutely not ordinary beings, I might gain incredible abilities. Just hearing about it, it seemed like something I must do. But I couldn't sign the contract yet.

"So what are the conditions?"

In any world, one should always read contracts carefully. What if, in exchange for the contract, they asked for my life or the soul of a child? I couldn't agree to such demands, right?

No matter how good a product was, I could only purchase it if I set appropriate conditions. That was why I had to ask the Spirit Sword what those conditions were, but there was no need to worry about that part either.

"Beep beep~"

[It says there are no conditions?]

"Huh?"

No conditions? 

The Spirit Sword translated that the black spirit in front of me said it didn't set any conditions. It meant it would make the contract for free.

"This isn't a normal situation, right?"

[That's right. Usually, they absolutely never make contracts for free like this.]

The Spirit Sword said that regardless of what this spirit's ability was, it generally never set such conditions. Wasn't it like offering a top-grade weapon for free? While it was certainly a very good situation...

"..."

I couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious. Was this really okay? I felt like I needed to completely shake off this uneasy feeling.

"There's just one thing I want to ask..."

[What is it?]

"Can you ask why it created that black sphere?"

I asked the Spirit Sword to relay my words. This spirit had created a black sphere and occupied the church. Wasn't this quite a hostile act towards humans?

I wanted to know why it did this before making the contract. If I made the contract and this spirit caused some trouble, I would have to take full responsibility, so I had to make this clear.

So I asked, and...

"Beep beep beep!!!"

[It says it was to show off its ability?]

What?

[This child, although it's intermediate level, is a spirit of darkness. Dark-type spirit magic is usually associated with 'shielding'. It probably wanted to show off its ability.]

So that was what it was? It seemed there wasn't any particularly strange intention. It was possible to show off one's ability before making a contract.

Anyway, this misunderstanding has been cleared up.

"Well then, I'll make the contract."

"Beep beep beep~~~"

There was nothing left to be suspicious about.

I decided to make a contract with the spirit of darkness. Well, if it wasn’t a bad kid, there was nothing wrong with just making a contract, right? Finally, when I said I would make the contract, the spirit of darkness was bouncing around and circling me.

This kid really just wanted to make a contract because it liked me... I felt sorry for suspecting it. Anyway, I decided to make a contract with the spirit, and as if those words themselves were a trigger, changes started occurring in my body.

It felt like something entered my hand. When I looked at the back of my hand, there was a black pattern drawn. This must be the proof of making a contract with the spirit.

"I look forward to working with you."

"Beep beep beep!!!"

It felt like I had made a new friend to be with from now on. And so, the contract with the spirit of darkness I met for the first time today was completed.

"So what's your name?"

So what's its name? 

As it was a spirit that had contracted with me, I had to ask about that part, but I couldn't get a proper answer.

"Beep beep?"

The spirit's reaction seemed to be asking what a name was. The Spirit Sword explained why it was reacting this way.

[Spirits usually don't have names.]

"Is that so?"

[That's right. Names are originally needed to communicate with someone. Communication is unnecessary for spirits.]

So spirits didn't even have names. Well, from the perspective of spirits who originally lived alone, names might be unnecessary. But now it was going to live with me, right?

"I should give it a name."

Moreover, if I just call it “spirit” while it was with the Spirit Sword, it might get confusing. What should I name it... I thought for a bit and came up with a decent name.

"From now on, you're Beepbee...!"

"Beep beep~~~"

Since it says, "beep beep", why not call it Beepbee... Names were usually better when they were intuitive.

[You... what kind of spirit name... nevermind.]

The Spirit Sword seemed quite dissatisfied with my naming sense, but since the subject itself liked it, it didn't seem to want to say anything.

Isn't it fine?

Why is it reacting like that? I think my skill at naming isn't bad, but people around me react like this.

I was going to name Eleana something else originally, but Levia was horrified and stopped me. I don't know why, though.

Anyway, the situation seems to have worked out well.

"Okay, Beepbee. Can you remove the black sphere surrounding this church?"

"Beep beep beep!"

I asked Beepbee to return the situation to normal, and Beepbee immediately made the black sphere disappear. The background suddenly seemed to brighten. The sky that shouldn't have been visible originally could be seen.

And I could see Daphne running towards us with a very surprised expression in the distance.

"How did this happen?"

"I made a contract with the spirit."

"What???"

I briefly explained to Daphne what had happened. I pointed at Beepbee carefully hiding behind me and said. I said I found the spirit and made a contract with it.

Hearing those words, Daphne showed the most surprised expression I had seen so far.

"That's amazing. To make a contract with a spirit...! This is the first time something like this has happened."

Is it natural? 

To end up making a contract with a spirit like this. If one thought about what the magic tower's goal was in coming to this small frontier village, it was a natural thing.

"This is an incredible thing. Mr. Davian, if you'd let me research this a little..."

As if this was a great discovery that would go down in history. Daphne was holding both my hands and looking at me with sparkling eyes, but...

"Is it really that special?"

Kailyn didn't seem very pleased. She spoke in a cold tone with an expression of considerable displeasure.

"Huh? Kailyn, what do you mean?"

"Well, it's obviously just an intermediate spirit, that level doesn't matter. Our goal wasn't an intermediate spirit in the first place. Our target was a top-tier spirit, wasn't it?"

She said she wasn't interested. Telling us not to make a fuss over a mere intermediate spirit. Of course, Daphne immediately refuted Kailyn's words.

"No, but Kailyn. This is quite amazing. Even an intermediate spirit, in terms of mana, even skilled mages from the magic tower..."

It really was amazing. Considering that there are no mages who had met or contracted with even a low-level spirit, let alone an intermediate one. And knowing how different and amazing the power that spirits themselves possess was, she said it was absolutely not something to be overlooked.

"I don't need it."

"Kailyn..."

But Kailyn didn't listen to those words.

"Looking for spirits, it feels like we've just wasted our efforts. I should leave this village now."

Kailyn said that an intermediate spirit still had no value to her. Kailyn's appearance of spitting out quite irritating words.

I don't know why she's acting like this...

Had she forgotten that she was the one who tried to find the spirit's entrance and enter to meet this intermediate spirit... Anyway, Kailyn says she was leaving this village. I was happy thinking I wouldn't have to see Kailyn anymore! But at that moment...

"Davian."

"What?"

Kailyn called out to me.

"The time is one month from now, the place is the church near your and my family homes."

"Huh?"

"I'm talking about the divorce ceremony. We'll hold the divorce ceremony then, so be prepared."

Ah, right. There was still something important left? It seems I might have to see Kailyn one more time in the future.