Sylvie handed me the seed of the World Tree. At first glance, it looked like an ordinary seed. There seemed nothing remarkable about it, until I probed it with my qi sense. Then I detected an enormous amount if spiritual qi imbued into the tiny thing, more than enough to make me shudder.
This was just a tiny fragment of the World Tree, and yet it already possessed such power. No wonder they said it could serve as the core for the fairy village or even as a dungeon core.
"Thank you."
"No, I should be the one thanking you. You fulfilled my request perfectly and brought my younger sister back safely, despite the great risk to your own wellbeing. I can see that you got hurt in the process, but not only did you not complain, you are concerned for us. I can't thank you enough."
Sylvie bowed deeply again, causing me to be a little flustered. I tried to get her to raise her head, not comfortable with her excessive gratitude.
"We had a deal, and your reward more than makes up for it. So please, don't worry about it."
"Oh? Sis, you offered them a World Tree seed in exchange for rescuing me?" Silvia poked in, reaching out to cling to Sylvie's arm. Her older sister flinched.
"Silvia! I'm sorry, but I had no choice. If it's to rescue you, then it's totally worth it…"
"Don't worry, sis! I'm not blaming you." Silvia laughed and patted Sylvie's shoulder. "I would have totally done the same thing if I were you! And honestly, I can't think of anyone more deserving of the World Tree seed than these people who saved me! They're much better than those old fogeys back in the village!"
"Silvia! Don't be so disrespectful to the elders. They were only considering the safety of the village."
"Don't worry about it, sis. It's not as if they're around to hear us." Silvia whistled before snickering. "You really ought to lighten up."
I watched the fairy sisters, fascinated. Despite their identical physical appearances, they were really a stark contrast in personalities. Sylvie was the serious, hardworking and earnest type, whereas Silvia was carefree, bright and friendly. That said, I was glad to see Sylvie smile as she hugged her younger sister. It was the first time I had seen her so cheerful, and she really looked cute with a smile.
As if detecting my thoughts, Myria poked my side.
"Hey, don't go having weird thoughts."
"I didn't."
"Hah!" Silvia burst in with a giggle as she hopped to the front to study me intensely. "I recognize that look! It's the look of primal instinct that every male possesses! I bet you want to do naughty things to my sister, you bad boy!"
"Silvia!" Sylvie snapped, her cheeks blushing. "Don't be so rude to your saviors! And stop having such indecent thoughts! Mind your tone!"
"What? It's okay, isn't it? He doesn't seem to mind. Do you?" Silvia grinned slyly at me. I rolled my eyes.
"If I say I do, would you stop your jokes?"
"Eh…you're no fun. You're really a good match for my sister."
"He belongs to me," Myria said sternly, and I shuddered when I felt a sudden chill emanating from her. Silvia was disappointed.
"I suppose I should have expected that. Why are all the good guys already taken? Ah, because they are good."
"By the way," Long Wang said, clearing his throat. "What will the two of you do? Will you continue to stand guard over the barrier to your village in this forest?"
"That's…" Sylvie hesitated as she stared at her feet. "I don't know. Honestly, I'm considering leaving the village…and Spectral Forest."
"Eh? You want to leave your village?" I blurted out in shock. Sylvie nodded slowly, biting her lip and clenching her fists.
"That's right. Even though the villagers were prioritizing the safety of everyone over a single individual, and I understand why they made the choice that they did, the fact remains that they chose to abandon Silvia. I don't think I can forgive them right now. Perhaps it's best if I distance myself from the village, at least for the time being."
"I see. That sounds like a good idea." I scratched my head.
"Also…" Sylvie swallowed and glanced at the World Tree seed in my hand. "Though it is very unlikely that the villagers will ever find out that I traded away a World Tree seed for a favor, I think it's best if I'm far, far away from the village if they discover about the deal. It definitely wouldn't go down well with the village chief, especially."
"He'll definitely freak out!" Silvia laughed, earning a glare from her older sister.
"I thought you said they wouldn't notice?" I asked, concerned. Sylvie nodded.
"I'm sure they wouldn't notice, but it's not like the chances of them finding out is completely zero. It's just a precaution."
"Oh, yeah. I understand." I nodded. Then I frowned, concerned. "But where will you go after you leave Spectral Forest? Do you have any destination in mind?"
"Um…not really." Silvia smiled sheepishly as she rubbed her head. "We have no knowledge of the outside world. We spent almost our entire lives living in the village and in Spectral Forest."
"Yes." Sylvie looked very worried. "I will admit that I feel anxious about leaving our village by ourselves. We have no idea where to go from here. But I don't think we can stay in our village either."
"It's simple," Myria said confidently as she spread her hands in delight. "The both of you can just follow us. We'll show you around the human world! And you will be safe with us! I'm sure Jun Wen here will protect you from any danger!"
"Uh…I'll try my best…"
"Hmm, I have no objections. In fact, I think that's a great idea!" Silvia beamed. She clutched her older sister's hands. "Isn't this exciting, sis?"
"Um…but I don't want to cause you too much trouble…"
"It won't be any trouble," Myria said enthusiastically. "Sylvie, as you know, I'm from Atlantis. And I managed fairly well in the surface world, with Jun Wen's help. I'm sure the both of you will adapt quickly too! And the surface world is so much fun! There's so much to explore, so much to enjoy…I really can't wait to show you around, especially in the surface cities!"
"That certainly sounds like quite the adventure!" Silvia quipped in delight.
"Will that really be all right?" Sylvie was staring at me. I nodded.
"Yeah. If anything, Myria will handle any troublesome stuff."
"Hey! Why are you shoving the responsibility to me?!"
"I mean, you're the one who suggested it, and you seem to be enjoying the idea, so I thought maybe you will want to do it yourself."
"You're not getting out of this, you know!"
"Sure, sure. I'll help." I turned to Sylvie and Silvia. "Myria is right. I will do my best to protect you both. I can't offer any guarantees – there will certainly be enemies as powerful as Murderous Crow, and I'm still no match for her. But I'll do my best to help you guys enjoy your lives in the human cities."
"Worst case scenario," Long Wang said with an amused grin. "The both of you can serve as maids in my lord's dungeon."
"Oh! That's an idea!"
"Hey, Silvia! Why are you happy about that?!"
"Because we get to wear maid costumes! I've always heard about that and wanted to try them out! We'll look good in maid costumes, don't you think, sis?"
"W…what are you talking about?!"
"Um, if we are going to hire them as maids in our dungeon, it'll defeat the purpose of them leaving their village to explore the world freely," I muttered. Long Wang shrugged.
"It's just a worst-case scenario, my lord. Of course, it's best if it doesn't come to that."
"Right." I tried not to roll my eyes. Placing the World Tree seed in my storage device, I then turned to the fairy sisters. "Anyway, you girls are more than welcome to come with us."
"Thank you!" Sylvie bowed, unable to conceal her delight.
"Yay! We are comrades from now on!" Silvia cheered. Then both she and her sister stretched their hands out and spoke in unison.
"Make a contract with us!"
"Huh?!"
I almost choked on the sudden request. I glanced at Myria, who shrugged. Long Wang, on the other hand, gave me a thumb's up and a grin. The butler definitely approved of me adding more people to my list of summoned spirit. Swallowing, I turned back to the two fairies.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Definitely!"
"I am. Jun Wen, you helped us a lot. I have no idea how else we can repay the favor other than pledging ourselves to you."
"Um, you gave me a World Tree seed, remember?"
"Personally, I do not think that's adequate of a reward." Sylvie lowered her head and shifted her feet uncomfortably. "You saved my sister's life."
"My older sister made the deal with you, so that counts as her payment. But I have yet to repay you for saving my life!" Silvia piped up. "So you should be honored to have me as your contracted spirit! Plus, you get my sister in a two for one deal! It's a pretty sweet deal, right?"
"Hey, Silvia! What's with that high and mighty tone? Be more polite!"
"And you can see that sis will be very devoted to you!"
"I'm not sure I like the sound of that," Myria said. Silvia hastily raised her hands.
"I mean as a contracted spirit! So don't worry about it, ma'am!"
"Are we…not good enough?" Sylvie asked forlornly. I felt my chest squeeze and I sighed heavily.
"Of course not. You're way too amazing for someone like me. I would love to have you girls on board. But the problem is that…I can't just make contracts with a high level spirit like fairies all of a sudden. I don't know how…"
At that moment, the system chose to display a notification window.
-Congratulations to the user. Quest completed. The following rewards will be granted: Two Ultimate spirit contracts. –
Huh? Ultimate spirit contracts? What the hell were those?! And that was suspiciously convenient. Almost as if the system had planned everything from the start. Not to mention, I could have sworn the system somehow watched the same anime series that Long Wang did…
As if he heard my thoughts, Long Wang turned to give me a stare. "You should give it a try, my lord. It's not like you have anything to lose. On the other hand, if you succeed, you will obtain incredible combat potential. As you already know, fairies are the species best at casting magic."
Myria folded her arms. "I can't say I have no misgivings about this, but I also think you should give it a try, Jun Wen. Sylvie and Silvia seem like very good girls, and the spirit contract will provide mutual benefits."
"Okay." At least it wasn't a one-sided contract where I somehow gained the powers of the fairy sisters even though they wouldn't get anything in return. Taking a deep breath, I turned toward them. Both Sylvie and Silvia were watching me in anticipation, one seeming anxious and the other excited.
-Would you like to forge spirit contracts with the fairy sisters? –
"Yeah."
And just like that, the ultimate spirit contracts were used. Spirit formations appeared underneath them, huge circles with arcane runes arranged in a pattern. The glow of binding qi suffused them and linked them to me, turning them into my contracted spirits. After a blinding flash of light, the magic circles vanished, and everything appeared to return to normal.
"Is that it?" Silvia asked, almost disappointed.
"Um, yeah. I'm not sure what else you were expecting."
"I can feel the connection. I also feel stronger now." Sylvie was studying her hand, gathering qi into her palm and watching the esoteric energies accumulate faster. I recognized my summoner abilities buffing her spellcasting. "Yeah, you definitely succeeded."
"That's great to hear. From now on, I'm responsible for you guys. If anyone dares to hurt you, I'll make sure to pay them back a hundredfold." I held up a hand, as if to swear an oath.
"Excellent!" Silvia cheered. Both she and her older sister hurried toward me eagerly, smiling brightly as they reached out to grab my hands. In perfect synchronization, they expressed their joy at the same time.
"Take care of us, my master!"