Chapter 81
Rumble! Growl!
In the dead of night, thunder and lightning raged noisily as darkness settled over the land.
It poured rain with brutal force, as though a typhoon had arrived.
As rain pounded the window, Jade, still in his pajamas, sipped his tea.
“It’s really coming down.”
-Looks like it’ll keep raining until morning.
“You can tell that too?”
-Of course! I’m a wind spirit! I can see exactly how the rain clouds are moving!
Silestin tilted his teacup, imitating Jade.
But there was nothing in it.
He was merely matching the mood.
-The rain clouds are huge and spread out. They’re thick, too. This downpour will continue for a while.
“The water spirits must be happy.”
-I suppose so.
Unlike Silestin, Elestra spoke in a calm tone.
In her eyes, water spirits danced through the storm.
Normally, they could only act near lakes or rivers, but perhaps because it was raining, they were all excitedly running about.
Kkyu?
Unlike Jade, who was leisurely watching the rain, Whid had been sleeping curled up on the bed before lifting his head.
He had woken up at the presence he sensed near the door.
“Come in.”
Jade spoke at the same time.
His tone suggested that he knew who was there despite the lack of a knock.
Creak.
Before long, the door opened, and Della carefully entered in yellow pajamas that made her look like a chick.
She was watching Jade’s reaction.
Della was hugging a pillow to her chest.
“It’s all right. Come here.”
Della’s worried expression, which had been clouded by the thought that she might be bothering him, relaxed.
It seemed Jade did not mind at all.
Kkyu!
Whid flew over at once and rubbed his face against Della’s cheek.
It was as though he were suggesting that they all sleep together now that she was here.
“The thunder startled you?”
Nod.
When she had slept alone in a storeroom during her academy days, she would cover her ears and tremble while waiting for the rain to stop.
She had been unable to sleep all night.
Back then, the presence of mice or cats had kept her from feeling completely alone, but the villa was different.
It was so clean that there wasn’t even a single mouse, let alone a cat.
So, after hesitating again and again, Della went to the room next door.
Jade had been the first person to come to mind when she was frightened, so despite her uncertainty, Della stood in front of his door.
“It’s enough to scare anyone. The thunder’s especially loud tonight.”
Flash!
No sooner had Jade finished speaking than lightning flashed.
It was intense enough to illuminate the entire room for an instant.
Della’s shoulders twitched at the sight.
“Next time, don’t hesitate—just come to me. I’m always on your side.”
“Uh.”
At Jade’s warm words, Della’s tense expression relaxed.
Then she quickly nestled into Jade’s arms.
He made room for Whid on one side as well.
“Hehe.”
Seeing Della nestled in his arms, Jade smiled like a proud father.
Once again, he thought that going to the Royal Academy had been the right decision.
Crackle. Crackle.
After warmly embracing Della and Whid, Jade deftly arranged the bed.
He placed the pillow Della had brought on one side of the bed.
Then he laid Della down on it.
Kkyu!
Whid naturally settled down beneath her.
He lay at Della’s feet, as she was still small-framed despite being well fed.
But then Jade heard a strange sound near his ear.
Crackle.
It was a strangely familiar sound.
However, Jade wasn’t the only one who heard it. Whid also craned his neck and stared at the window.
“That’s……”
-A lightning spirit!
-I thought one might appear.
Fzzzt! Flash!
Along with Silestin’s cry, light flashed from the window.
It wasn’t lightning, but something hopping and popping.
The lightning spirits, which repeatedly grew and shrank whenever thunder and lightning struck, cautiously passed through the window and entered the room.
Kkyu?
Perhaps because they sensed Silestin and Elestra as fellow spirits, the lightning spirits approached quite cautiously.
It was clear that they were watching everyone’s reactions, even though they couldn’t speak.
There were quite a lot of them, though.
At first there had only been two or three, but in an instant, there were more than ten.
-They seem interested in Jade and Whid?
-So it seems to me.
The lightning spirits that had approached cautiously circled around Jade and Whid.
It was as though they wanted the two of them to speak first.
“Lightning spirits, huh.”
Flash!
The lightning spirits gathered around Jade grew larger, as though reacting to his words.
But perhaps because their energy was not very strong, they were only about the size of lightning flashes.
Kkyuuu?
Whid tilted his head as he watched the lightning spirits circling around him.
Although he was friendly with spirits thanks to Silestin and Elestra, he had never experienced one approaching him first, so he was puzzled.
But then one of the lightning spirits clung tightly to Whid.
It openly displayed its affection.
Kkyu!
Whid was startled by the lightning spirit that suddenly latched onto him and flapped his wings hard.
Della was startled as well.
She had been quietly watching the lightning spirit when she was suddenly struck by a bolt from the blue.
However, perhaps because she found the lightning spirit fascinating as something she had never seen before, Della stayed where she was despite being startled.
“Uh!”
Instead, she instinctively grabbed the bedcover with both hands.
She clung to it desperately, as though determined not to fall to the floor.
-That one really likes Whid.
-It says it wants to make a contract?
“Really?”
Kkyung?
Though they were lesser spirits, Elestra and Silestin could understand what the lightning spirit was saying because they were spirits themselves.
So Elestra relayed its words exactly.
“With Whid?”
-Yeah.
Whid’s pupils grew so large that they could hardly have gotten any bigger.
Unlike the startled Whid, however, the lightning spirit clinging to him showed no sign of letting go.
It clung stubbornly to him and rubbed its body against him like an Ami Slime.
“How interesting.”
-Me too.
-Does that mean Whid is a drake spirit mage now!
Kkyuuu!
Whid reacted vigorously at the words spirit mage.
He was shocked to hear that he could become a spirit mage as well.
At the same time, he stared at the lightning spirit clinging to him with burning eyes.
“He seems to like the idea.”
-Maybe he wants to become a spirit mage too because Jade and Della are spirit mages.
“Still, it’s amazing. A drake making a contract with a spirit.”
-Why not? Dragons summon spirit kings. They even eat their friends.
Elestra answered cynically.
There was no rule saying that monsters could not form contracts with spirits.
Spirits treated all things equally.
They did not discriminate between humans and monsters.
“When you put it that way, I suppose.”
-Nothing treats all things as equally as spirits do.
-Exactly! We’re just like nature! We’re also the beings closest to nature!
Hearing that, Jade nodded.
Spirits made no distinction between villains and good people.
So there was no reason a monster should be unable to form a contract.
“The problem is communication……”
Jade’s words were cut off midway.
The contract had been completed the moment he spoke.
Kkyu!
Whid and the lightning spirit shone at the same time, as though announcing that the contract had been formed.
Then the lightning spirit excitedly flew around Whid.
Whid clapped as though he were happy as well.
“It worked?”
-A contract only requires both sides to want it. There isn’t even a special formula.
“So Whid can handle spirits now. But why are they all lesser spirits?”
-Lightning spirits are a little different from us. Unlike the four major elements, which have difficulty growing without a special trigger, lightning spirits can grow.
“Oh?”
Jade showed interest at Elestra’s words.
He had grown curious at the mention of growing spirits.
Then the lightning spirits circling nearby began to run wild.
Each one grew larger or moved dazzlingly, trying to attract Jade’s attention.
-Popular as ever. Of course! Jade is a human loved by spirits!
“Every time I see something like this, it really drives it home. But Della seems to lack affinity.”
Jade wore a bitter expression.
Unlike Whid, whom a lightning spirit had stuck to like glue, none of the lightning spirits approached Della.
Jade looked disappointed as they floated only around him and Whid.
-It’s hard to have affinity with every spirit. Jade is unusual. And Della isn’t untalented, either. Being an elf doesn’t mean you have affinity with lightning spirits.
“I know, but it’s still disappointing.”
Jade stroked Della’s head.
Since she was his only disciple, he had wanted to connect her with a wide variety of spirits, but there was nothing he could do when she lacked the necessary affinity.
-It’s not as if there’s absolutely no way.
“You mean a spirit stone?”
-You’re so smart.
Elestra chuckled.
She had been amused because Jade had immediately found the solution without even being given a hint.
“The problem is finding a spirit stone containing lightning energy.”
-There has to be one somewhere. In a place where lightning strikes often.
“There probably is, but finding it will be incredibly difficult. Still, we have the Great Forest.”
The Great Forest was known as the deadliest place in the world, or as the continent’s forbidden land.
In other words, since more of it was unknown than known, they might find one surprisingly easily if they searched.
“Uu!”
Della showed that she was all right by smiling brightly.
She was disappointed that she couldn’t form a contract with a lightning spirit, but she thought there would be another opportunity later.
She was happy enough as it was.
She had her master Jade and her friend Whid.
And with her older sisters, older brothers, and Moikan as well, Della had no regrets despite her disappointment.
“All right, then. Shall I form a contract too?”
No sooner had Jade finished speaking than the lightning spirits began to run wild.
They showed off as though performing their talents, each one urging him to form a contract with it.
But Jade had already made up his mind.
For no particular reason, he chose the one that felt best to him.
“Would you like to make a contract with me?”
Flash!
Perhaps it had never expected this.
Jade could sense the smallest lightning spirit being startled.
At the same time, the lightning spirits around it began to go berserk.
They seemed unable to believe that Jade had chosen the lightning spirit with the weakest energy.
-The feeling matters most.
-That doesn’t matter right now! What matters is that Jade chose one!
-Agreed. Honestly, they’re all more or less the same to Jade.
The lightning spirits that had been going wild quietly tucked their tails between their legs.
They wilted on their own beneath the sharp gazes of Elestra and Silestin.
Meanwhile, Jade extended his hand toward the smallest lightning spirit.
Swish.
The lightning spirit slowly approached Jade’s hand.
Then it obediently landed on his palm.
-Give it a name! A name is important to a growing spirit!
“Ite. From now on, your name is Ite.”
Flaaash!
Just as when Whid formed his contract, light burst from the lightning spirit.
In an instant, it wrapped around Jade.
At the same time, Jade felt that he and the lightning spirit had become mentally connected.
Crackle! Crackle!
Ite seemed to sense it as well, flying frantically around Jade unlike moments earlier.
It naturally pushed the other lightning spirits aside.
-It’s really living it up.
-From Ite’s perspective, of course it’s exciting. Humans with an affinity for lightning spirits are incredibly rare. Lightning spirits don’t even easily reveal themselves in the first place.
Seeing Ite grow to more than three times its size simply from forming a contract with Jade, Silestin and Elestra clicked their tongues.
It was so different from the timid manner it had shown moments ago.
Still, they could understand it to some extent.
“You can have your chance next time.”
As the storm gradually subsided, the thunder and lightning were fading into the distance as well.
So Jade stroked Della’s hair and waved to the lightning spirits.
He thought that this connection would end for now, but things might be different later.
Della seemed to think the same thing, as she smiled brightly and waved along with Jade.
Crackle!
The lightning spirits left behind flashes like farewells to Della before disappearing.
The lightning spirits left behind a flash like a farewell to Della before disappearing.