"Welcome back, Master Touya. Welcome back, madams."
"Ping!"
"Pong!"
"Pang!"
Shirogane bowed lightly, and the three Gollems by his side followed suit.
Seemed like they were learning well.
We'd come back to the Reverse World to see if the massive Phrase invasion in
Sandora ended up having any effect on this side.
The regular Phrase were seeking the Sovereign Core, so there'd be no reason
for them to come to the Reverse World, but the metal devils were different. I
was concerned that a large number of those types might've come out into this
world, so I decided to investigate.
I did a search on my map for them, but no hits came up. Thankfully it seemed
like my fears were for naught.
"Hey, Touya! Do you think he was including me when he said madams just
now, huh? Huh?!"
"Absolutely not. He just meant to say madams and you."
"You mean madams and mistress, right?" I rolled my eyes as Doctor Babylon
grinned at me.
I'd brought five people with me this time. Babylon, Yumina, Lu, Linze, and
Leen.
Sue, Elze, Yae, Sakura, and Hilde had things to take care of so they passed.
Sue was with family, Elze, Yae, and Hilde were training with the knight order,
and Sakura was helping her mother at the school.
I only came to check if any of the Mutated Constructs had come in, so frankly I
didn't have anything else to do in the Reverse World. But Leen and Linze said
they wanted to read for a while in the library, and Doc Babylon said she wanted
to check out a city since she didn't get to leave the house last time.
I figured that it'd be a waste to just pop in and go straight back, so I decided
to take her around. Yumina and Lu decided they'd tag along, too.
"Alright, let's go to the Theocracy's capital, then."
"We can eat while we're there, too."
"Sounds good..." I opened up a [Gate] to the capital and brought us to a back
alley near the main street.
We walked out to see the regular hustle and bustle.
I picked up a newspaper and we all headed toward the cafe we dined at the
last time.
It was already mid-afternoon, so there were a few vacant spots. I ordered a
few snacks, as well as a drink from their menu called "kophee." Judging from
the scent... It was just coffee.
As I picked at my food, I scanned the newspaper in front of me. If Leen were
with us, she'd have absolutely told me off for having poor table manners.
"Newspapers are definitely useful, huh... Maybe we can introduce a printing
press to Brunhild."
"The world doesn't have much in the way of long-distance communication
technology right now. We could mass produce stuff using Babylon, but we don't
want it to open up the floodgates for stuff like propaganda or fake news. It'd be
handy, but we don't need to make all the social developments. Let's just wait
and see if they manage it themselves." I shrugged my shoulders and took a sip
of my kophee before passing the paper to the Doctor. Yep, that's coffee. It's a
little bitter, though... Needs sugar.
"Oho?" Doctor Babylon made a weird noise as her eyes fixed on a certain part
of the paper. Her eyes narrowed as she dug around in her pocket, produced a
small lens, and looked through it to inspect the news. You just carry around a
magnifying glass? "What is it?"
"Well... Look at this article." I read the headline she was pointing at. It said,
"Pirate Ship Drifts Ashore At Barköl Harbor."
"Huh...? Let's see... Unidentified ship, assumed to be pirate, drifted in at
Barköl harbor... The entire crew of thirty-four men has been apprehended...
What about it?"
"Look at the photo of the wrecked ship. Right here. Look at the emblem on
the sails. It's tattered, but don't you get it yet?" Hm? Emblem? I borrowed Doc
Babylon's magnifying glass and looked closer at the black-and-white image. It
was certainly a wreck of a ship, alright.
I looked carefully and realized what I was looking at. An emblem of a unicorn,
a shield, and stars. I was completely floored. "That's the Refreese National
Emblem!" I stared down at the image in absolute shock. It couldn't be... And yet
it was. The ship that had gone missing a while back. The McClane. I skimmed my
eyes over the rest of the article and found that the ship had crashed into the
harbor and washed ashore, and the crewmen had all been apprehended under
the orders of the man who ruled Barköl. They couldn't speak the language of
this world, so they had no way of defending themselves.
"But why would a Refreese ship be in this world?"
"I have no idea... God said that people could drift between worlds now and
then, but this is ridiculous..." I shrugged my shoulders as I answered Lu, but my
mind was abuzz. Is this just a coincidence? Or is this related to the weird stuff
lately?
"Well, we can't just leave them alone. Let's go help them out."
"Hold on a second. What do you plan on doing afterward, hm? Return them
home?"
"Well, obviously, I... Oh... Oh."
"Use your head. If you rescue them like that, you'll have to explain the
Reverse World to them. Not just the crewmen, but also the Refreese
government, and then the other world leaders too! I don't think the world is
ready for that yet." She had a point. I couldn't expect the other world leaders to
accept this matter as nonchalantly as my fiancees did. Well, there was a chance
they'd understand due to the Phrase, but it was still a bad idea.
"There should be a spell from the Dark school that hypnotizes people, right?"
"You mean [Hypnosis], right? We could definitely use that to alter their
memories, yeah."
There were a lot of ancient Dark spells that could manipulate people
mentally. I could use those spells to manipulate memories, confuse people,
send them into frenzies, consume them with lust, make them lose their sanity,
or even just turn them downright braindead. Frankly, those spells scared me.
I didn't really want to use spells like that against anyone who wasn't a really
horrific villain, but I had no real choice in this situation. Plus, they'd been
thrown into jail in a foreign land with no knowledge of what their captors were
even saying, they'd probably be happy to lose memories like that.
I'd read up on [Hypnosis] in the Babylon Library before, so I was sure I knew
how to use it.
"Alright, let's go save them. Seems like that harbor is in the Panaches
Kingdom." I used my map to check where the place was, taking care not to
project the hologram since we were in a public space.
"It seems to cover the territories of Palouf and Lihnea in our world... Palnea
island." Yumina muttered to herself as she looked over the map. She wasn't
wrong, it was basically identical, just flipped.
It was quite a bit away from Allent, though.
"I'll fly over there, okay? You guys sit tight while I do that."
"Alright. Please take care."
I could've used [Teleport], but I was still a bit scarred from the last time. I
decided not to be lazy, since it'd only take about thirty minutes.
I headed into a back alley and cast [Invisible], then shot off into the sky with
[Fly]. I applied [Accel] for good measure and rocketed away like a missile.
After a while, I had a good view of the sea below me. Soon enough I saw the
coastline of Palnea island, or rather, the Panaches Kingdom.
I landed in the harbor, which was found in the south-east, and immediately
opened up a [Gate] to the back alley near the cafe I'd left behind. Then I got the
girls and headed back through the portal.
"There are a lot of ships here... Some of them look strange." Lu looked around
the harbor with curious eyes.
There were plenty of docked ships without any sails. Are they steampowered? Or maybe magic? I looked over to the pier and saw several men and
Gollems hauling cargo. Wait...That ship has arms. Is it a Gollem itself? I walked
along the harbor and saw several fresh fish for sale. The pungent smell of raw
fish hit me right in the nose, but it wasn't too bad. Seemed like they were
keeping the fish cool with ice generated by Gollems.
As I continued walking, we reached a place filled with the tasty scent of grilled
fish. Steel yourself, Touya... No getting distracted... Oh... Is that steamed sea
snail...?
"Touya, look!" Yumina pointed toward a crashed ship on the shoreline. I could
see the tattered sail hanging from the snapped mast. It bore Refreese's
emblem, there was no doubt about it.
We got close enough to see the nameplate engraved on the side of the ship.
Sure enough, it said McClane.
"Well, guess there's no denying it now." The ship managed to just barely
survive, much like the man it shared a name with.
I hailed a nearby sailor and asked him about how the ship came to be claimed
by the local authorities.
He said that about four days prior, the ship made landfall after a harsh storm.
There were thirty-four survivors aboard, and the rest were apparently dead.
The officials in the area tried to ask them questions about how they got there,
but neither party could speak with one another, so the inquest went nowhere.
They tried to hand over a map so the crew could point out where they were
from, but for some reason, the men tried to flip the map upside down, and they
just got stressed about it. The crews were also scared by the sight of the
Gollems. Some of the crew buckled under their own stress and started to raise a
fuss, so ultimately all the men were subdued and put into prison.
They found weapons and cannons aboard the ship, so it was suggested that
they were part of a pirate band that had been causing trouble in the area.
Welp... They're part of the navy, so the weapons make sense...
"Kind of ironic that they originally set off to take out the pirates, only to be
branded as pirates..." I felt a little sad for them, in all honesty.
Their fate hadn't yet been decided, but if they were found guilty of piracy
they'd surely be executed. I needed to hurry up and get them out.
The prison they'd been put in was a small building next to the harbor security
dorm.
It was still midday, but that didn't mean much to my magic. We headed
toward the building. It was made of something that looked like concrete and
had a fairly dull design to it.
There was only a single guard at the entrance, probably because it was the
afternoon.
There were all kinds of people walking up and down the street, and any
commotion would attract attention from nearby. That was probably the reason
for such short staff. Either way, we were lucky for it.
"[Invisible]."
We walked to a quiet area nearby, and I made everyone invisible. We walked
right past the guard and made our way into the entryway. There was a staircase
ahead that led to a jail area.
There were three cells in total, with roughly ten men in each. The men looked
powerless and miserable like the fight was completely gone from them. Some
were even sobbing.
I used [Silence] in a small radius to prevent the guard upstairs from hearing
us. That would prevent even a large commotion from being noticed.
I then undid my spell. The crewmen, who saw the appearance of sudden
invaders, instinctively cowered away from us.
"Is your captain here?"
"Y-You can speak our language?!"
"I can. I also know you guys were hunting pirates outside of Refreese." The
men looked shocked as a scruffy, red-bearded man pushed his way forward and
spoke to us.
"You can call me Simmons. I'm second-in-command. We lost our captain
when he fell overboard."
"What happened to you exactly? Please tell me all you can." Simmons looked
down with a mournful face as he began to recount what happened.
"I... I don't know... On that day we were headed to the pirate hideouts with
the others. But all of a sudden, this weird mist set in around us at all sides. It
was strange... Way too strange. The weather was fine until it suddenly
changed... The mist got deeper and deeper... And swirled around us, and I
swear it started glowing a dark gold. The golden mist swallowed us all up, and
we lost all sense of direction... Our compass just broke, it didn't work at all. We
couldn't navigate by the sun or stars, either. Then when the mist vanished, we
got caught in a storm. We held on for dear life, and some of us didn't make it...
When the storm ended, we washed ashore right here. We celebrated, cause we
thought we were saved... But we weren't. These strangers didn't understand us,
and we didn't understand them. They didn't even know the country we were
from. They have all these weird ships, and these strange iron animals I've never
seen before. Hey, tell me! Where are we? What are those iron animals? Why
was the map backwa—"
"Tempt, o Dark! Implanted Falsehood: [Hypnosis]." I'd heard enough and
triggered my spell before Simmons finished.
A purple mist began to spread through the air, clouding the eyes of all the
men in the jail.
"Listen to me. You were separated from the Refreese fleet and attacked by
sea monsters. You got out of it, but your ship was wrecked in a storm and
washed up on an uncharted island. The stress of your starvation and extreme
conditions caused you to see weird hallucinations. That's what those weird
ships and iron animals were. They were just wild visions. Just dreams."
"...Just... Dreams..." The crewmen just stared back with vacant eyes. I hoped
that'd be enough.
Lu asked me if that was morally justifiable treatment, but I thought it was
probably better for their long-term mental health to convince them that their
trauma wasn't real. Plus they had met with a storm, so the story was still kinda
true.
In the end, their trip to the Reverse World would just be a bad dream.
I opened up the cells and then opened up a portal to Drakliff island. Yumina
and the others guided the men through.
They walked slowly and unsteadily, like zombies.
Once the girls were through the [Gate], I left the prison through the entrance
I'd come out of. I walked up to the McClane's wreck and stashed it in my
[Storage], then immediately left for Drakliff island before anyone noticed.
I was sure that a vanishing shipwreck would definitely attract prying eyes
before long.
I wanted to get those men back to the regular world as soon as possible, it
wouldn't be good for them to keep them in that state.
All of a sudden, my smartphone started to vibrate. It was an incoming call...
And the one calling was none other than God Almighty.
"Uhh... 'Sup?"
"Ah, hello there, Touya. Seems like you found a little bit of trouble, hm?"
"Yeah, I'll say... Were you watching?"
"Indeed. There was something I wanted to tell you, you see. It is related to
the issue you have been facing recently... Would you mind paying me a little
visit?" I wondered what God Almighty wanted from me so bad that I had to go
up there and see him. I said I'd visit him when I had a chance, then ended the
call.
Hmm... Did a problem happen in the other world or something? I wonder what
the issue is...
Oh, crap. Can't spend too much time thinking about it. I got people to
relocate.
I sighed quietly as I walked to the Dimensional Disruptor Mk. II and fired it up.
◇ ◇ ◇
We brought the McClane crew back to the regular world, and dumped off the
shipwreck on a shoreline not far from Refreese, along with the men themselves.
They woke up a small amount of time later and saw the coastline over the
stretch of water. They immediately started swimming toward land and made it
without any trouble. There was a small road nearby that led toward a fishing
town, so I felt they'd be safe from there.
They'd stick to the script I gave them via the [Hypnosis] spell, so I was sure
it'd be fine.
"Guess we can take it easy now."
"I'm glad they're safe." We kept an eye on the men from the shadows to
ensure they got to the village safely. The villagers clothed and fed them, then
the men recounted their story. It seemed like the whole story with the Reverse
World had been rendered as a mere hazy dream.
I opened up a [Gate] and we all headed back to Brunhild.
I still had no idea how the McClane sailed to the other side, though...
There were examples of people being spirited away in this world, much like
my own... But I wondered if them going to the Reverse World was really just a
random coincidence.
On the subject of being spirited away, I remembered that I needed to spirit
myself away to meet God Almighty. I figured I could probably ask him more
about what happened.
I told Yumina and the others that I was heading out for a while, then headed
to the kitchen to pick up some pudding, cake, dorayaki, and other treats as a
gift for the old man. Crea wasn't in, so I was basically sneaking treats from the
kitchen without permission... I made a mental note to apologize if she was mad
about it later.
"Alright, I'm off."
"Give him my regards, you know?" Karen was in the kitchen eating some cake,
so I told her where I was going. I had a feeling I'd be blamed for the cake she'd
taken, too...
I fired up a [Gate] to the Divine Realm, and immediately stepped out to see
God Almighty in his regular room, seated on his cushion.
"Good day, Touya."
"Hey, it's been a while. Here, I brought you some snacks."
"Oh, thank you so much." God Almighty took the little box of desserts and put
the pudding and cake into his mini-fridge, and then placed the plate of dorayaki
in the middle of the table alongside some fresh tea.
"So what was it you wanted to tell me?"
"Well... I do wonder where I should start... I think I should explain to you how
I... Or rather, how we gods are placed as patrons of worlds." God Almighty
started to mutter a bit as he stroked his beard.
"As I am sure you know, the number of worlds that we gods survey is
immeasurable. But what we manage when we oversee these worlds are not
necessarily the worlds on a micro level. We, for example, cannot interfere with
civilizations that may develop there, even if the civilization was headed on a
path of death and destruction. In the end, death and destruction is just as
natural as life, after all. The worlds that head toward such a fate are typically
dealt with by the god of destruction, that is his job you see. It works in tandem
with mine. I typically birth new worlds once he eliminates one." Huh... This god
of destruction guy sounds pretty casual, contrary to his scary name...
"Now, it is not just ruined worlds that the god of destruction watches... There
are also deviant worlds. For example, a world in which a wicked god has
managed to gestate, and all preventative measures have fallen through..."
"W-Wait a second... You can't mean..."
"Fret not. The world you live in right now is not yet classed as a deviant world.
The wicked god has yet to descend and cause chaos there. But... I am afraid to
say that it is on the cusp of such a status." Wait... Does he mean that if the
wicked god starts mobilizing, then the whole world could get annihilated by the
gods? "And that is not the sole problem... The wicked god birthed from events
in your world has been spawning familiars and causing trouble in the space
between worlds. Look here, if you could." God Almighty raised his right hand
toward the small table, and suddenly a 3D hologram of the world I lived in was
projected atop it.
He then raised his left hand, and a 3D map of the Reverse World appeared
next to it. The two worlds were symmetrically lined up as if there was a mirror
between the two maps. I also couldn't believe it had taken me this time to
realize it, but both of the worlds appeared to be completely flat.
"This was the state of the two worlds in relation to each other about half a
year ago. However..."
The two worlds gradually began to grow closer and closer, until there was a
slight overlap on the two maps.
"This is how the two worlds look in relation to each other right now. The
wicked god and its spawn are attempting to fuse these worlds. Or rather... They
may have already succeeded to an extent."
"What?!" I knew that the Mutated Constructs and the McClane appearing in
the Reverse World had to mean something... But I had no idea something as
insane as this was even possible. "Why would the wicked god do that?"
"By merging the two worlds together, they would become a single world. Or
rather, a new world entirely, one that was not born from me. That would
separate it from my influence entirely. I am sure the servile god who died to the
beast originally planned something like this, and they are merely continuing it."
"That's crazy!" I had no idea what the implications of that even were. "Now...
These deviant worlds are typically dealt with by the god of destruction after a
collective divine consensus. If we were to leave it be, it would be possible for it
to generate negative effects and start influencing other worlds, after all. That
certainly would not be something we want." God Almighty's eyes pierced right
through me, causing me to instinctively gulp in fear.
"And that is why... We have reached a consensus. We will have you handle
this situation, Touya."
"Excuse me?!"
Hold up! How's that the consensus you came to?!
"Please handle the disturbance between these two worlds as best you can. If
you can achieve this, then by my authority as the god of worlds, I will formally
recognize you as a fully-fledged God. A High God."
"Whaaaat?!" But that's higher ranked than Karen, Moroha, and the others!
Can you even do that?! "In all honesty... I expect these two worlds to remain
connected. We do not have a god in place to be patron of this new joined
world. It will certainly become a new world, one that would cause me no end of
hassle to reclassify. That is why I wish for you to become its patron in my stead,
Touya."
"What? There's just no way I can do that! I'd be a fake god at best!"
"You are no fake, my boy... No pale imitation. It is not a difficult task, either.
All you need to do is ensure that the god of destruction has no reason to move
in on your world. It will be your territory."
Isn't that exactly what's happening right now while it's your territory?! Is this
really okay?!
"It is not as if you would ascend to such a status immediately, anyway. You
will be more than permitted to spend time down there in order to continue
your training period."
"For how long, exactly?"
"Let me see... Roughly two or three-thousand years should do."
That's extremely goddamn long, what the hell! I'm pretty sure the God Co. Ltd
would be guilty of an overly long training term for new employees if it was a real
company! So... Hold on, let me get this straight. I'm the new hire at this place...
And I'm spending two or three thousand years in training, and then on the first
day of my job, I'll be promoted to management?! This is a messed up command
structure, old man!
"Did you already decide this?"
"Not at all. It is quite fine if you say no, of course. You can take the path of
working up the ladder from the lowest ranks. But that would leave your world
in my hands, and I am quite sure it would become a deviant world before long...
If it was determined as potentially harmful to other worlds, then we would have
no choice but to annihilate it. It would be quite the waste if you went to all the
trouble of dealing with the wicked god only for that to happen."
"...I don't really have an option here, do I..."
"You will have to forgive me. I had planned on a method that wouldn't cause
as much of a fuss, but it is still rather messy..."
"No, I get it. Even if I didn't do anything, the god of destruction would destroy
the world and the wicked god alike, right? I'm just glad I might have a chance to
fix this mess... Plus I kind of want to give that thing what's coming to it, since it's
been causing trouble for everyone." I shrugged and chugged my now-lukewarm
tea. This was indeed troubling, but I knew it was inevitable. I didn't exactly think
I was management material, but I had a feeling two or three thousand years of
training might help.
All I had to do was beat the snot outta that wicked god.
"I am glad you accepted these terms, Touya. I would be rather sad if that
world came to ruin, too." God Almighty sighed and slowly drank his tea. I
wondered if he'd developed a little bit of a soft spot for the people of that
world after spending some time there.
"So if that world was judged worthy of destruction... What would happen to
me and the others?"
"You and your dependents, those girls closest to you, would be picked up and
evacuated to a safer world. Then everything would be obliterated by the god of
destruction, reduced to mere dust."
His response was honestly harrowing. Everyone in my country, all the world
leaders, everyone I knew... They'd be gone forever. I didn't even want to
consider such an option.
Whether it was the Phrase or the wicked god, the god of destruction would've
been tasked with taking care of it eventually. The only thing that made a
difference was the fact that I lived in that world. That's why I had to do my best.
I steeled myself and firmly resolved to work as hard as I could.
And that immediately went right out the window when I got home. I found
myself frantically rolling left and right on my bed in a panic. The responsibility
was way too much after actually thinking about it.
"Me? Managing a world? What the hell? How can I do that when I suck at
managing this country?" I continued to thrash and grumble as I squeezed a
pillow to my chest. Guh... I'm worrying way too much... I need to take care of
that wicked god... Auuugh...
"But... Guh... Gaaah!!" I felt like the receptionist at a business suddenly being
given a task way out of his depth. Why would you trust the receptionist with
something like that?!
Urgh... Usually, I could just ask a trusted higher-up to help me, but...
"No way that'd work... The only person out of that lot who's even vaguely
reliable is uncle Kousuke..." Ugh... A love life gossip, a battle junkie, a hunting
enthusiast, a music maniac, and a tiny drunk are my only alternatives...
Kousuke's not exactly good at anything except agriculture, either...
It was true that they were lower-tier, specialized gods... It wasn't exactly their
fault they only had one focus, but still...
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah... Just grumbling about some annoying stuff..." I heard a voice,
prompting me to sit upright on the bed. It was Yumina, wearing her pajamas.
She looked really cute in them.
"What brings you here...?"
"You seemed stressed earlier... You didn't eat much at dinnertime and
seemed distracted. I wanted to see if you were okay."
"Oh...Sorry for worrying you." Geez, I really am useless. How can someone like
me manage a whole world if I can't even keep my fiancee from being worried?
Ugh... I gotta stop dwelling on this, this sucks.
"So? Did something happen? Can't you tell me?"
"Well... It's just..." I'd already told Yumina and the others about my divinity,
and I figured that since they were my dependents on a divine level, they had a
right to know about what was troubling me.
I told Yumina exactly what happened between me and God Almighty up
there. I tried to word it delicately, hoping she wouldn't be too scared about the
idea of the world being destroyed.
"I see... So that's what you're upset about?"
"Mhm... I have to do the work of a real god all of a sudden... I mean... It'll still
be a while before I actually have to do it, but knowing it's there is kinda scary." I
laughed bitterly. I honestly felt a little pitiful showing this side of me, but it
wasn't like I could hide it.
"It's going to be okay. You can do this, Touya."
"I appreciate your support, but I'm still uneasy..."
"It'll be okay. I know it will be. This world and the other one are going to be
fine. It's you, Touya. I know you'll pull through." I looked up, finding her
mismatched eyes staring right back at me. I really wondered where that level of
confidence came from... Honestly, though... I was happy she thought so highly
of me.
"Plus you're not alone, silly. So don't carry this burden on your shoulders
alone. We'll all work with each other, okay? We'll make it through. I promise.
There are all kinds of people who'd be willing to help you!"
Yumina let out an innocent smile and closed her eyes. Her kindness pierced
right through me, prompting an instinctive response to lunge forward and pull
her close in a big hug.
"I'm sorry for worrying you. You're right... I have all of you. We'll face any
challenge together... I'm sorry I have to ask this of you, but I'll be counting on
you, okay?"
"Mhm..." Yumina hugged me back just as tightly. I was so thankful that I'd
met her, and all the others.
They were irreplaceable. Not just them, everyone I'd met so far on this crazy
journey in another world... They were precious and kind. I had to protect the
world
for
the sake of the people living in it. Real feelings of courage began to well up within me.
"No fair... How come Yumina gets to do that...?"
"Shh, Sue! Don't blow our cover!" Wait, what was that?! I suddenly looked
across the room. I then realized the abnormalities in the space around me.
There were a few distended curtains, an open closet with misplaced clothes,
my chair wasn't pushed in all the way under my desk, and I could see a foot
poking out from behind my bookcase.
"How long have you guys been there?!"
"Since you were rolling around on the bed..."
"That's since the beginning!" Elze and the others came out from their hiding
spots with guilty faces. Even Paula was there.
Was I really so out of it that I didn't notice they were hiding in my room while I
was having my meltdown?! "Why were you guys hiding to begin with?"
"Well... We ended up having a talk about who would come to comfort you..."
"Yumina-dono is very talented at rock-paper-scissors, she is." Seemed like
they were doing silly things again. I was about to sigh when Sue came bounding
toward me.
"Listen up, Touya! It's not just about you! We're here too, you big dummy!
We're the strongest family in the world, right? No way we could lose to that
Destruction guy!"
...The god of destruction isn't our enemy, Sue... I sighed and smiled. The fact
they felt that way made me happy. Sue then jumped up and hugged me like
Yumina did, and then grinned mischievously. Just as I wondered what she was
up to, she kissed me on the cheek.
"H-Hey! Don't you dare try to get one up on us, little missy!"
"Th-That's right! Just because you're the youngest doesn't mean you can get
one over us!"
"...I won't lose..." Elze and Linze started walking toward me, but Sakura
nimbly slipped between them and kissed me on the other cheek before they
could even get close.
"Whaaaat?!" Screamed all the girls in unison. That prompted a stampede, as
all of them came charging toward me. G-Girls, please! I'm flattered but you
can't all kiss me at the same time! Augh! W-Wait, is someone trying to undo my
belt buckle?! What the... Paula?! What are you doing?! Quit that! I ended up
under a dogpile of fiancees, but I was happy. I knew that together, we could
overcome anything.
◇ ◇ ◇
I was glad that I was resolved to do something, but that meant I had to put
some action behind my words.
The elimination of the Phrase and the mutants would carry on as usual for the
time being... But I wanted to see if I could mitigate the inevitable panic when
the Reverse World and the actual world fused together.
Though... Expecting people not to panic when their entire world becomes
twice as big and connected to another land with an entirely different culture
would be a bit much.
I was sure there'd be mass confusion on both sides.
That's why I knew what I wanted to do next.
"You wanna learn how to traverse different worlds?" I brought up the subject
during breakfast, while Karen was hungrily chowing down her toast, and
Moroha was gulping down her morning tea.
"Why would you wanna... Oh, because of what we talked about earlier?"
"Yeah. Being able to use that ability would make it a lot easier to switch
between the two worlds." I didn't want to have to go to Babylon every time I
wanted to make a trip to the Reverse World. Frankly, I'd been shying away from
learning that ability since I didn't want to lose any more of my humanity, but it
seemed like becoming a god was inevitable at this point.
"Well... We'd be fine teaching you that, yeah. We're here to help you out and
stuff, so don't worry."
"Umm... The only issue is that there isn't really anything to teach, you know?"
"What do you mean?" Karen, who had now finished her toast, said something
that surprised me.
"Using the ability to travel across worlds is basically the same as regular
transportation magic, you know? It'd be fine if you can grasp that, and you
already can. All you gotta do is come with me through a few worlds to get a feel
for it, and you should be set, you know?" Through a few worlds...? Does she
mean worlds other than this one and the Reverse world? "So which one of you
will show me?"
"I just said so, you know? Go around with me. Moroha is gonna be training
with the knights today. I'm fine with it, you know? I think it'll take you about a
day to get the fundamentals down." Karen drank her tea down then stood up. Is
that really something I can get down in a day? I'd rather be spared from
anything too brutal or taxing...
The two of us went out to the courtyard.
"Okay! Channel that divinity of yours through your whole body, you know?
When you feel it envelop you, you gotta let it seep out through your pores, you
know? Don't activate a full Apotheosis, just let it gently smother you all over the
place." I did as she instructed and let my own divinity flow through me, I spread
it out a little. I was surprised by how well I could control it, even to such a fine
degree. It seemed like I'd improved without realizing.
"Mm... That's good! So make sure you focus, you know? We'll try jumping
worlds now." Karen reached out and grabbed my hand, and I suddenly felt a
lurching sensation as my body felt as if it was moving upward.
I felt as if I was being pulled upward by a bungee cord, but the sensation was
suddenly cut short by a pressing force of gravity. My body felt like it weighed six
times as much... It was terrible!
"Guh..."
"Woo! We did it!"
Karen grinned, prompting me to look at my surroundings. We stood across a
vast, rocky plain. There were rocks rolling around in the wind here and there,
and the sky itself was a rusty red.
It was like the depiction of Mars from this one sci-fi movie I saw as a kid. I
couldn't totally recall the title. There was nothing around but a dust bowl. I just saw redrock sand dry sands.
"...This is another world?"
"That's right. It's hard to explain, but this world is about as old and developed
as the one we just came from, you know? It just has fewer people..." I asked her
to explain further, and she told me that this world was fairly advanced, but a
world war broke out. The resulting carnage turned the air and ground toxic, and
the very planet became inhospitable to human life. The survivors were living in
underground domes, apparently.
Karen then went on to explain that if we weren't using our divinity, then the
toxins in the air would've rotted our lungs and caused us to shrivel up and die. It
was quite harrowing, all in all.
"Well, it isn't too rare for apex predators to have that role stripped from
them, you know? Look over there." Karen pointed over in a direction and I saw
a tiny, six-legged frog-like creature scuttling around the rocks. It had adapted
and was getting around just fine, it seemed.
"That species might end up taking this world over someday, you know?" She
had a point. There was the Cretaceous—Paleogene extinction event sixty-six
million years ago on Earth. There were a lot of proposed theories as to why that
ended up happening. There was the theory that it was a meteorite, rising sea
levels, natural decline of the species, volcanic eruptions, pathogens, a shifting of
the poles, and some even believed aliens did it. It looked like that kind of thing
happened everywhere.
I wondered if the Phrase counted as an extinction event in action.
"Alright! On to the next, you know?" My hyperactive older sister grabbed my
hand again, and the bungee-jump sensation overtook my body once more. It
was horrible...
When the feeling subsided, I opened my eyes to see a beautiful grassy plain
spreading out before me. A gentle breeze carried a sweet scent in the air.
Clouds drifted through the skies, and there were even a few peaceful looking
mountains in the distance. It was a far cry from the last world I'd experienced.
"Guess it's an ordinary world this time..."
"The concept of the ordinary is fundamentally subjective, you know? This
world doesn't have a single animal in it, actually."
"Wait, what?" When Karen said that, I did notice how quiet things were.
There wasn't a single bird in the sky, nor did I see any insects or rodents
scampering about in the grass. This world was a world of plants.
Wait, then how does pollination work? Don't they need bugs for that at least?
What about the soil? Don't earthworms help enrich it and stuff...?
As I mused to myself, Karen bent down and pulled out a tuft of grass. Almost
immediately, an identical tuft shot out of the ground and replaced it. What... I
stared in disbelief and repeated her motion, pulling out a handful of grasp
myself. Just like before, the empty patch was immediately filled out. I had no
idea how that worked.
It seemed like applying my standards of sense to a foreign world was
pointless. It wasn't like it had to abide by the rules I knew.
"Alright, let's gooo!"
"Already?!" Karen didn't even bother explaining what was up with the grassy
world. Instead, she grabbed my hand and we went shooting off.
After that, we passed through countless realities. I didn't even know how
many we went through by the end of it, but it helped me grasp just how to
move through dimensions.
It was kind of like [Teleport], I had to develop a strong visualization of what I
was aiming for, and then seek out the world I wanted.
A metaphor used once was that the worlds were positioned kind of like steps
on a staircase. If you know which step you're on, then you should be able to
take steps up, down, or even diagonally.
Plus, any world I'd been to before would be easily revisited similarly to how I
used [Gate].
"So, time to try it yourself, you know? Head back home! If you get lost, I'll find
you." I closed my eyes and tried to visualize the position of my home in the vast
universe. Uhh... I think it's around... Here, maybe?
I triggered the jump. I'd gotten used to the bungee-like sensation, but it still
made me feel queasy. I opened my eyes and found myself near a small road in
the countryside. There were mountains in the distance, clouds in the sky, and a
field nearby.
A horse-drawn carriage went by, making a clattering sound as it did. I also saw
a large tree somewhere in the distance. It was then that I realized I recognized
this place.
I walked over to the trunk of the tree and placed my hand on it. It was exactly
where I thought I was.
This was the place where I first opened my eyes in this world. This was where
it all began.
That meant the carriage was probably headed to Reflet. As I took in the
nostalgic feeling surrounding the place, my sister warped in not too far away.
"If you had landed back at the castle I would've given you an A+ grade! But...
You made it back to the right world, you know? So you get a B-." ... Geez. I
thought about something that made me grimace for a half-second, then asked
Karen a question.
"...Would I be able to use this power to return to the world I was born in?"
"Umm... That world is pretty far down the chain, you know? It'd probably be
hard to reach it as you are now. But you could when you get used to it. I just
wouldn't suggest it..." Yeah... Fair enough. If I showed up there after being dead
for this long, that would cause issues.
Guess I could turn invisible and take a look around, though... I decided that I'd
definitely go back there someday, that day just wasn't coming any time soon.
As far as I was concerned, the world I stood in was my world. I didn't need any
other.
"Can I take others with me to other worlds like this?"
"You can do that, you know? Just be careful... That toxic world we went to
would've killed any of your fiancees, so don't jump to worlds you don't know!"
That would've been bad. Without the divinity that we gods had, there was a
chance I could've taken someone to a world where they would've just instantly
died. That got me wondering how Ende dealt with that issue. He probably had
the luxury of scoping out a world in the space between dimensions before
actually going inside. Come to think of it, I haven't heard from Ende... Wonder if
he's okay. Then again, he's not the kind of guy who'd die easily or anything.
"Actually that reminds me... That spirit world you took me to that one time,
was that another world?"
"Not exactly, you know? It's more like an add-on to existing worlds. Kind of
like a satellite that exists in its own bubble? If the main world was destroyed,
the spirit realm that corresponded to it would also vanish, you know?"
That made sense. So the spirits would disappear along with the world... That
got me wondering something else. "Wait, then... Doesn't the Reverse World
have its own spirit realm? Wouldn't it get mixed with ours when the two worlds
collide?"
"If the worlds were too far apart to start with then that would be possible,
you know? But the Reverse world is a neighbor to this one, so they share the
same spirit realm. But I don't really know how the spirits will react when the
two worlds become one. There could be cases like extreme climate change,
rising sea levels, or even displacement of landmasses, you know?"
"Wait a sec! Wait a sec! Don't just talk about something so serious in a casual
tone! Why didn't you tell me that sooner?!" After my sudden outburst, Karen
responded by staring at me blankly. Then she blinked once or twice, stuck out
her tongue, and threw me a wink.
"...Oopsie!"
"Hello, God Almighty? There's a goddess down here who isn't doing a very
good job at helping me! All she does is eat dessert, I'd like to swap her out for a
better model."
"No waaaaaay!! Don't be mean, you know? I taught you how to move across
worlds, you know?! I just forgot one teeny thiiiiiing!" I started faking a call to
the old man, so Karen started whining and grabbing on to my side. Geez... That
isn't a teeny thing at all! If the new world ends up falling to ruin due to the
spirits freaking out, it'd make me look like an idiot!
"So how do we deal with it?"
"Umm... You could warn the spirits in advance so they aren't surprised when
it happens? Or you could just make them your servants, you know? You have
divinity and all."
That was right. The Sand Spirit I met in Sandora said something to that effect.
That spirits were subservient to the power of the gods.
"Well, you aren't exactly a full god yet or anything, you know? There'll be
some spirits that would take more convincing than others."
"So... how do I go about making spirits obey me?"
"There are countless methods, you know?
"Method 1! Persuasion!
"You gotta talk it out with the spirits and make them see your side of things,
you know? It's a good, calm way out! Love and peace, you know?
"Method 2! Beat the crap outta them!
"Show them that they can't hope to match up to a god! Bully them into
submission, you know? Might makes right! Search and destroy, you know?
And that's it."
"That's two methods! You said there were countless ones! Gaaah!"
So I have to talk or use force? This ain't right!
"Method three... Blackmail..."
"What..."
"Figure out their weakness, you know? That won't really make them
obedient, though. They'll probably resist you and be upset. You gotta think
about it like you're the new boss at a company, you know? Some employees
will listen, while others will be more difficult. If you have the time, you can talk
to them one by one and solve their issues, but if you don't have time, then..."
"Then it's method two..."
I need to take the search and destroy route? No way, any company doing that
would go under! That'd be past shady dealings and going straight into criminal
activity. I can't do this! This metaphor doesn't even really work!
"What's the problem with method two? Didn't you use that exact method to
subdue Kohaku and the others?"
... Wasn't that different? No... I guess it wasn't, huh.
"If the spirit ends up being agreeable, then you can just leave them alone, you
know? If the spirit is less agreeable, then just overpower it and it'll obey. Spirits
are pretty honest like that." Really? They won't hate me? I don't exactly want to
be known as a spirit bully or anything. Is it really gonna be like an old TV drama
where the two people disagreeing have a fistfight then come to a heartfelt
understanding? I don't buy it.
"For now all I need to do is go to the spirit realm, right?"
"That's right, you know? When you approach the spirit, tell them that you're
the upcoming patron of this world and that they should listen to you even if it's
a little annoying, you know? After that, the spirits will probably divide into two
groups, the ones who say "Sure!" and the ones who say "Heck no!" Then you
just need to destroy the latter group, you know?" ...Destroy? I don't wanna kill
them! Sis, please don't be so overdramatic.
Well, I do remember hearing that spirits couldn't strictly die and would
eventually come back, so... I guess I don't need to hold back? I'd rather this went
peacefully, though... The whole peace and love thing sounds nice.
But I'm pretty used to things not going how I want them to, so...
Guess it's time for some old-fashioned searching and destroying.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Grooowraaauuugh!"
The giant Minotaur-like spirit staggered backward after I landed a solid punch
on his snout.
He was either a spirit of copper or zinc, I couldn't remember. After I'd landed
in the spirit realm and done exactly as Karen told me, they did just about what
Karen expected. They split into two camps that either liked me or hated me.
The ones that liked me were all like "Okay! We'll work with you!" while the
ones that didn't like me were all like "Grr! Why would we obey someone like
you, huh?!"
And that's how I came to be having a (fist-based) conversation with the
rebellious spirits.
I activated my Apotheosis so I wouldn't get worn out, but they were
surprisingly resilient. For example, this copper or zinc guy that I'd just beaten
was a specific type of metal, and if you went up the chain of command he and
his cohorts were dependents of the Stone Spirit.
I figured that if I could just get the Stone Spirit to join my side, then everyone
in his family tree would be on my side as well.
But I was wrong. Even though I'd converted him to my side, they still fought
back.
They just came up to me yelling stuff like "It doesn't matter if you convinced
stone-bro! We're more than enough for a puny god like you!", and then when I
beat one of them they were just like "Huh? Think you're hot shit cause you beat
the Tin Spirit?! He was the weakest one of us!" It was annoying as heck.
"Woohoo! He did it! Mister Touya does it again!"
"Ahaha, rough 'em up! Kick their butts! You're so amazing, darling!"
"Serves you right, you big meanie! Show him who's boss, tough guy!" The
spirits who had already pledged allegiance to me cheered loudly as they
celebrated my upper hand. For whatever reason, most of the spirits that joined
me identified as female, while the ones that went against me identified as male.
Thanks to that distinction, I felt like I just pissed off the guy ones even more...
I didn't exactly feel good punching them out, either way.
There were a few female spirits among the rebellious ones, too. But they
were more like rowdy delinquent girls... But still, spirit or not, I found it hard to
hit girls, so I did end up pulling a few punches here and there.
And then after I beat them, for whatever reason or other, those defeated girls
joined my crew and started cheering for me too.
"Oooh, lord Touyaaa! Go and win!"
"Do your best, sweetie!"
"Mm! I just wanna eat you up!" There were a few weird male spirits that I'd
defeated and converted, as well... They were cheering for me... I didn't exactly
want to be their friend, though.
"Come at me next, child!" Another shirtless, musclebound spirit came
charging at me. He wore a turban and had Arabian-esque pants on.
"Stormy! You better not fight against Touya!"
"Ghh... Enough outta you! Even if you feel that way, Wind, I can't just accept
him as my boss!" The Wind Spirit, clad in light green, frowned at her
subordinate and berated him a little more. It seemed he was the Storm Spirit.
He was supposed to listen to the Wind Spirit, but he just wasn't having it.
"Take this!" The Storm Spirit turned his legs into a swirling vortex as he
charged toward me. His fist was sparking with lightning as he raised it,
preparing to knock me down. But I simply raised Brunhild and shot him in the
head with a divine bullet.
"Ow!" Given that something so powerful only made him say ow, that was a
testament to how resilient spirits could be. The bullet was still just hardened
rubber, but the divinity I'd clad it in would've been enough to obliterate most
things.
Either way, his momentum was damaged, allowing me to punch him hard in
the side. I'd enhanced it with [Power Rise], too.
"Guuuuh!!" He flew backward and smacked into the Zinc Spirit that I'd
defeated earlier.
What a pain all these spirits were. They were so single-minded that I was glad
a good chunk of them had just joined my side off the bat.
"Woohoo! You're the best, Touya! Hey, Stormy! You're all thunder and no
lightning! Give up already!"
The Wind Spirit went after the Storm Spirit and started slapping him about.
Hey now... He's part of your family, right? Be nicer! You're making the poor guy
cry!
There was a hierarchy in the spirit realm, apparently, with the pillar spirits
standing at the top. They could be considered the representatives of all the
other spirits.
Apparently, the Wind Spirit was one of these pillar spirits, but I had difficulty
seeing her as something important. She was about as nonchalant as Karen was.
"Did you think something weird about me just now, you know?"
"I didn't." Karen was watching me fight, and she seemed sharp as ever. I just
pretended like she was wrong, didn't have time to deal with her hassle.
Among the other pillar spirits, there was the Water Spirit, the Light Spirit, and
the Earth Spirit. They'd all sided with me.
Interestingly enough, another of the pillar spirits was here. The Dark Spirit.
The very same one I'd fought back in Ramissh.
She had revived and assumed her true form. She claimed to have not been in
her right mind back during our last encounter.
The funniest thing about it to me was that she, who was once a monstrous
beast with several appendages, now took the form of a young girl with black
hair and black eyes.
She wore a black one-piece dress and shyly waved over toward me as she sat
next to the Light Spirit. Her hair was in a short bob, and she almost looked like
she was sitting with her older sister. The Light Spirit had curly, golden hair and a
bright smile.
The Dark Spirit that I had fought back in Ramissh had taken that form after
being contaminated with thousands of years of negative human emotions.
To be honest I felt kind of guilty knowing that I'd so mercilessly beaten
someone who seemed so innocent now. But even though I did that, she
harbored no ill will toward me.
It was possible that when a spirit died and rebirthed itself, the new one didn't
have any memories of its old life. But I dared not ask her.
Even so, seeing her innocently waving at me just made my heart ache. I'm
really sorry... Please forgive me. I didn't know you were such a sweetheart!
"Each and every one of you weaklings is a disappointment! Let me handle
this!" A female spirit stepped forward. She had blazing red hair and quite literal
sparks of fire in her eyes. She wore similar clothing to the Wind Spirit, but it was
cut shorter for ease of movement.
"That's the Fire Spirit, you know?"
"Oh? A pillar spirit?"
"A pillar spirit."
Karen was pretty blunt about it. Interesting... The Fire Spirit, eh? Does that
mean all the pillar spirits are women?
"Pillar spirits... Or rather, all spirits, go through a several-thousand-year life
cycle. In the end, they revive themselves and are reborn. They can become a
man or a woman, or even an animal, or something like a dragon, you know? It's
just a coincidence that most of this generation identifies as female. Their
personalities and emotions change based on the form they take, as well. That's
how they can get the most varied life experience, you know?" Huh... It's kinda
hard to fight against a girl, though... But I think this one's the last female
enemy.
"Get a load of this!"
The Fire Spirit charged toward me, a loud sound ringing out with each step
she took. She was generating explosions beneath her feet, intensifying her own
speed with each inch closer to me. Does she have dynamite in her soles or
something?! Geez!
"Haaah!"
She raised her hands and called forth several balls of fire. She cared not for
her surroundings, reducing it all to a raging sea of flames. I was worried about
the cheering spirits behind me, but the Water Spirit had already erected a
protective barrier for them.
I flew into the sky of the spirit realm and dodged each of her shots. I didn't
need to cast [Fly] when my Apotheosis was active.
"Don't think you can run...!" Suddenly, several pillars of flame came billowing
up into the air. They then split apart and completely surrounded me,
attempting to trap me in a pincer movement.
I quickly turned Brunhild into blade mode and slashed ahead, sending a wave
of divinity to disperse the fire.
"How?!"
"How about I get a turn to attack, huh?!" The maximum speed I could reach
during my Apotheosis was far faster than [Accel] and [Boost] combined. If I
actually used this kind of power back down in the mortal realm, then I'd
probably end up collapsing right away and going unconscious for a while... But
the spirit realm was closer to the divine realm, so I wasn't drained as fast.
I moved toward the Fire Spirit in the blink of an eye. I grabbed both of her
hands with one of mine, restraining her fully. I then took care not to injure her
too badly before sweeping her leg out from under her, then I slammed her body
into the ground.
"What?!" I pointed Brunhild's blade right at her chest. It was over.
"I... I lost..." I pulled up the Fire Spirit by the hand because she'd admitted I
was the victor. For some reason, her face was reddish around the cheeks. I
wondered if she was ok.
"Y-You're plenty strong, huh..."
"Hm? I guess so, yeah. I train against a sword demon every day." Even though
I trained with Moroha daily, I didn't think I was even close to matching up to her
ability. She was the god of swords, though... So in terms of technique, I was
completely screwed by default. But I felt like in terms of general battle ability
she was way above me, too.
"Alright. Who's next? You guys still want a piece of me?" I threw a few
inflammatory comments toward the other rebellious spirits. I figured riling
them up would make more of them attack me at once. I wanted it to be over
already.
"W-Well... G-Good luck in your fights...! U-Umm... I'll be cheering for you...
Gosh..."
"Hm? Oh, sure." The Fire Spirit emitted a few deep red flames for some
reason and shuffled off awkwardly. I didn't know what was up with her.
She was completely red-faced up to her ears, and she was emitting a few
reddish flames from her head. I wondered if she had a fever or something... It
wouldn't be unusual for the Fire Spirit to have a high body temperature, but she
didn't feel all that heated when I touched her arm.
Karen simply stared at me and looked frustrated for some reason. She let out
a sigh and started muttering.
"...It might be because of your divinity stemming from the highest tier of
godhood, but you really are a natural ladykiller... I fear for the future, you
know?"
"What are you talking about? I'm not a killer..."
What does she mean? I try to avoid fatalities whenever I can!
I sighed quietly and turned back to the other spirits, before suddenly realizing
that they were directing raw killing intent in my direction. Wait, what?! Did my
insult just now work or something?
"You piece of shit...! You took away our precious fire!"
"I-I'm so jealous! What the hell?! I'm so damn jealous! First, you run off with
Dark, and now you want Fire to yourself, too?!"
"Today I will kill a god!"
"Even if you took away the flame of our Fire Spirit, the embers of envy in my
soul are heating up!" Huh? What...? Why are they crying? Wait... Why are their
tears red?! Spirits are so damn weird!
"Death to the enemy!"
"Chaaaarge!" The remaining spirits all cried out in rage, and what sounded
like misery, before charging toward me. Why are you crying?! What did I do?! A
short while later, the spirits were scattered across the battlefield. They were
completely defeated.
For some reason, I felt guilty... It was almost like I was the villain here for
whatever reason.
"Hgh... I have no regrets... Even if I knew we'd lose, I still had to stand and
fight for what was right..."
"The embers of my envy will never fade... Someday we'll get that bastard...
Someday..."
"Ahh... Th-The Dark Spirit is such a hottie... Unf..." A few of them were
muttering things I really preferred to just ignore.
The Light Spirit stepped forward from the crowd and looked over to me. She
raised her hand into the air and began speaking loudly.
"We, the pillar spirits declare our recognition of the celestial spirit king,
Mochizuki Touya. It is our hope that he will guide us well into the future." The
Water, Earth, Fire, Wind, and Dark Spirits raised their hands into the air and
joined the spirit of light in their pledge.
And with that, the issue with the spirits was resolved. It ended up getting
pretty rowdy, but it was all over now.
Even so, I couldn't help but wonder if there wasn't a better way...
◇ ◇ ◇
"So what's the deal with Ancient Spirit Magic, exactly?" I sat around in the
glimmering spirit realm and asked the pillar spirits a question.
We were having a small tea party. I'd pulled a table and chairs out of
[Storage], along with some tea and snacks.
It was kind of a weird sensation, since the spirit realm didn't actually have a
ground or anything, so we were floating but not at the same time. It was even
weirder because the Storm Spirit I'd beaten up earlier had totally rolled around
as if hitting the ground when I knocked him over. I didn't understand the rules
at all.
"You know? That whole Ancient Spirit Magic thing?" Belfast's court magician,
Charlotte, was researching that if I recalled correctly. I hadn't gone to visit her
in a while, though.
"That is magic forged through contracts. We lend our powers to those who
bind a contract with us. But the proper way to form those contracts is no longer
around in the mortal realm. It would appear that our language, the Ancient
Spirit Script, has also been lost."
"There were times when our spiritual dependents could be called out by
mistake, but none of the people down there actually understood enough to see
what they were messing with. In the end, they just kept asking for power, and
nobody managed to form a proper contract." The Fire and Light Spirits
answered my question.
It seemed that that to contract with a spirit, you needed to form a mutual
arrangement. You were borrowing power from them, after all. Which meant
you had to see them as equals.
It was different from summoning a beast, as well. Spirits were allowed to
break the contract if they were unsatisfied. If they were asked to do something
they didn't want to do, they were also allowed to refuse.
If summoned beasts were like employees or laborers, then spirits were more
like friends. If you treated your friends like workers, then they'd obviously get
fed up with you and leave.
Then again, if you kept pushing your employees they'd probably get upset
with you as well.
"So I guess I should start spreading a more spirit-friendly agenda, huh? I guess
I should talk about how spirits are equal to humanity."
"Actually it might be troubling if we were contracted and then relied on too
much. We wouldn't want our contractors becoming too familiar with us,
either." The Earth spirit folded her arms.
Spirits were basically personifications of natural elements. Since the olden
days, people have revered mountains, worshiped the seas, feared foul winds,
and thanked the earth for its bounty. That was why spirits were indispensable
to the gods and went on to form the worlds they were assigned to.
"Well, putting you guys aside for a minute, Spirit magic should be usable by
contracting with your dependents, right?"
"That's right. Take one of mine, for example, a Salamander. If you formed a
contract with one, then you'd be able to use Fire Spirit magic."
The Fire Spirit shrugged as she ate a cookie. It seemed like the magic's power
depended entirely on the skill of the contractor.
Normal magic required you to have an aptitude in that particular element.
The elements of fire, water, light, earth, wind, dark, and null. If you didn't have
an aptitude for one, you wouldn't be able to use magic.
However, Spirit magic could actually be used by anyone that managed to
contract for it. But there were also some prerequisites to being able to forge a
contract, so I couldn't exactly say if it was easier or not.
This probably sounded obvious, but someone with an aptitude for Water
magic was more likely to get along with a water-related spirit. It wasn't too hard
to realize why the use of Spirit magic fell into decline over time, given that kind
of preferential treatment.
If someone was capable of using Water magic and had to choose between
using their own or asking a spirit to lend them their power to do something
similar... It's obvious that most people would just use their own Water spells.
But Spirit magic had its own perks. For example, no matter how big the scale
of the spell, it had minimal impact on the caster's own mana reserves.
That was pretty obvious, though. The one who actually used the magic was
the spirit being summoned. All the summoner had to do was use enough magic
to call the spirit.
So even a little child with a small amount of magic could potentially cast
devastating spells by becoming friends with a more powerful spirit.
That was why it was important to manage the world's understanding of spirits
and their nature.
The pillar spirits all agreed that my proposal of spreading Spirit magic
throughout the world again was fine. Obviously, the details of contracting
would be up to the individual spirits. It's not like they had to do anything they
didn't want to do. That's what separated this from a mere summoning ritual.
The spirits and the contractors were on equal footing.
Some of the rebellious spirits got angry at the idea, and declared that "We'll
never contract with anyone married, or anyone with a girlfriend! I'm not
lending my power to any Chads, they have it good as it is!" Frankly, they were
weirding me out, so I just let them stew in it. They had freedom of choice at the
end of the day.
I didn't really understand them, or why they were making paper masks with
the word "Envy" written on them, but I just decided to leave it be.
"The main issue is most people can't see spirits, I guess."
"Once a spirit gets recognized, then we'll always be visible. Fairies should be
able to see us pretty easily, too. There are also humans out there with a rare
birth condition that gives them spirit sight!"
The Wind Spirit had a point, the fairies would definitely be able to master
Spirit magic pretty easily. They were practically pros at regular magic anyway.
I decided to go find Charlotte and talk to her about it. She knew the most
about Spirit magic out of anyone that I knew.