Ch.117Persuasion (1)

*

I proudly revealed to you that I was the legendary master of spirits, but Alice’s reaction was one of confusion, fear, and pity.

Even when I explained about the spirits and the Green Lady, she just shook her head and looked at me with worried eyes.

“Poor thing, you must have fallen into such delusions after losing Laila.”

Watching Alice tear up with a troubled expression, I couldn’t hide my frustration.

She touched her forehead and said, “Well… you’ve spent your whole life in our mansion, and too many difficult things happened all at once… It’s understandable.”

“No, sis, that’s not it…”

“This wasn’t the time to be stubborn. I had no idea Ash was this broken…”

“Hey, listen to me.”

“I’ll forgive Silvia. I can’t burden you anymore… But let’s talk more about this Demon Lord business.”

“…”

Alice hugged my head tightly, then leapt down from the branch.

I heard the crack of her legs breaking as she hit the ground.

But she acted as if nothing had happened, walking steadily toward the cabin.

I stared blankly at her retreating figure and sighed.

“…Well… making peace is a good thing, but, hah…”

I felt like a clown, and my heart grew heavy.

Somehow, I got the result I wanted, but it felt strangely unpleasant.

“Well… if those two make up, that’s fine… I guess…”

I shook my head vigorously to clear the unsettling thoughts.

I needed to explain about the spirits to Silvia anyway, so I could just explain to both of them at once when they were together in the cabin.

Pia, who was sitting beside me swinging her crossed legs, looked at me and said:

“Ash.”

“Hmm?”

“Are you stupid?”

“…”

Pia tapped both her shoulders, then wiggled her fingers and raised both hands above her head.

It was a gesture like she was mimicking flames.

“…Oh.”

“So you are stupid?”

Just like Alice, how could Silvia see the fox’s form if she couldn’t see Pia?

It must have been because of the flames surrounding her.

As I stared blankly at Pia and nodded, she flicked her tongue and laughed.

“You really are stupid, right?”

“Pia. You’re amazing.”

“Pia is amazing, Ash is an idiot—”

“…I admit it.”

After thoroughly mocking me, Pia vanished.

Left alone, I scratched my head for a moment, then slowly climbed down the tree trunk.

I was worried that Silvia and Alice might fight, but judging by the lack of shouting, they seemed to be having a decent conversation.

I headed toward the cabin.

Standing at the door, I could hear the two of them talking.

I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any shouting or cursing.

Deciding it would be unwise to interrupt and spoil the mood just when the two had finally calmed down, I waited until their conversation stopped.

A few minutes later, when the voices ceased, I gently opened the door and stepped inside.

“Are you two okay now?”

“…Ash.”

Silvia rushed toward me with a worried expression.

Alice stood with her arms crossed, leaning against the wall, quietly watching Silvia.

I nodded at Silvia.

“Did you apologize properly?”

“…I did. Alice accepted it too… but more importantly…”

“…?”

Silvia looked down at me with tear-filled eyes and said:

“You could have told me earlier…”

“What?”

Silvia gripped my hand tightly and said:

“I knew you were struggling, but…”

“…Ah.”

“I never thought you’d fall into such delusions… really…”

Her voice was thick with self-blame.

“No, it’s not a delusion…”

“Ah, of course… I believe you, Ash.”

Silvia said this while firmly holding my hand, her eyes welling up.

It was clear she didn’t believe me at all.

Her attitude was closer to humoring the ramblings of a mental patient.

It seemed the two hadn’t so much reconciled as they had stopped fighting out of concern for my condition.

I sighed and said:

“No… hah, both of you, sit down for a moment.”

“Ash,”

“I’ll explain everything.”

“…Ash, I believe you, but—”

“Just sit down first…”

I let go of Silvia’s hand and slowly created flames at my fingertips.

*

The gazes of Silvia and Alice grew even more pitying and shocked.

Apparently, explaining about spirits while showing Pia surrounded by my magic wasn’t such a good idea.

Their harsh reaction was understandable.

Unlike the fox form with its mystical aura and charm, the image of a burning six-year-old girl was grotesque and terrifying even to me.

“What kind of magic is this? What kind of pervert created magic that summons the form of a burning little girl?”

“Maria said… magic takes on the nature of its user… Damn, I had no idea Ash’s mind was this broken…”

“Um, that’s—”

Alice glared at Silvia and growled:

“…It’s because he’s been with you that Ash has become so strange.”

“Sis, that’s not it…”

Silvia glared back at Alice and retorted:

“Until yesterday, Ash never said anything like this. It’s because you showed up!”

“No… that’s not…”

As a sharp chill began to form between the two again, I couldn’t hide my dismay.

Stuck between them, I looked at Pia with reproachful eyes.

Pia, engulfed in flames, stared back at me and said:

“Sorry.”

Then she vanished.

Was she apologizing for suggesting this idea that created such chaos?

Or for creating the chaos and then irresponsibly running away?

I couldn’t tell, but what was certain was that the two women were leaning toward each other as if they might come to blows at any moment.

I quickly stepped between them and said:

“Please, both of you, listen to me!”

“Ash…”

Alice sighed deeply, clutched her head, and spoke:

“Ash, spirits don’t exist in this world. They only appear in fairy tales.”

“No, they do. What you just saw was my guardian spirit, Pia. Do you think I have some kind of fetish for burning little girls?”

“Then why the fuck is your guardian spirit a burning little lady? Aren’t spirits supposed to be more… cute and dainty?”

“She’s normally just a fox-like girl. The fire is just something I added because neither of you can see spirits!”

Alice was horrified.

“You added the fire?”

“Well, that sounds weird now that I say it… but, uh, she doesn’t feel any pain.”

“…Uh.”

“…”

Shit.

It feels like the more I explain, the worse it gets.

“Ash, that’s a bit…”

Silvia muttered with a sour expression.

As if she hasn’t turned people into mashed potatoes.

“Sigh.”

At this point, I had to change my approach.

Since neither of them could see spirits, it was impossible to provide evidence that I was a spirit master.

If I had exceptional skill in controlling spirits, or if I had many spirits, it might have been easier to prove.

But I only had Pia by my side, and all I could do was ask for her assistance with magic.

In the end, the only option I had was to convince them through logical explanation from the beginning.

I took a slow, deep breath, and began speaking in a calm voice:

“Silvia.”

“…Yes?”

“Do you remember how far it was from Millwood Village to the carriage accident site?”

Silvia nodded.

“And do you remember how terribly injured my body was when I first knocked on your cabin door?”

“Yes, it took weeks for you to open your eyes again… and even longer to start walking…”

Silvia looked up at the ceiling as if recalling that time.

“Looking back, those were good days…”

“…”

Now that I realized her unhealthy obsession with me, her comment sounded creepy, but I chose not to react.

Perhaps she was simply missing her cabin that no longer existed—the cabin that I had burned down.

“…Logically, how could I have walked such a long distance with those injuries?”

“Well, that was Ash’s willpower…”

“Silvia, could you walk that far with the same injuries, just through willpower?”

“…”

Silvia shook her head.

“It’s true that Ash cared for and loved Laila, but Ash was never particularly strong-willed.”

Alice, who had been quietly listening, murmured.

I pointed at her and nodded.

“Exactly. At that time, I somehow dragged my dying body toward a distant light and barely reached Silvia’s cabin. In reality, there shouldn’t have been any visible light from that distance.”

“…So Ash, you’re saying… something helped you reach Silvia?”

“That’s right.”

“And that was a spirit?”

“Correct.”

Finally, it felt like we were making some progress.

I seized the opportunity and turned to Silvia again:

“Silvia. We came to this lakeside together. Or even when you lived alone, you must have come here often.”

“I… guess?”

I flung open the cabin door and pointed outside.

My finger was aimed at the massive tree where the Green Lady had taken root and grown in the middle of the lake.

“That wasn’t there before, was it?”

Silvia slowly approached the door, peeked out, and exclaimed with wide eyes:

“Huh? Certainly…”

“…Ash, what is that tree?”

Thanks to Silvia’s reaction, Alice seemed to be starting to listen to me as well.

We were almost there.

“The Green Lady… the queen of spirits who ruled this Reclining Forest has transformed into a tree.”

“…”

“…That sounds too much like a fairy tale.”

Sensing the atmosphere growing cold again, I frantically waved my hands.

To add sincerity, I even dropped formalities as I spoke to Silvia:

“Silvia, you remember. When I was dying from mana poisoning. I told Alice about it too. That I nearly died from mana poisoning, that I separated from the person I was living with then,”

“…”

Unlike Alice, who was still frowning in disbelief, Silvia seemed to realize something as she stared at me and murmured:

“Then at that time… when you disappeared…”

“Yes, the Green Lady saved me. She removed the mana from my body, purified the mana in this lake, and then used all her power to transform into a tree.”

“Indeed… after I lost you, I came to this lakeside, but you weren’t there… and that tree…”

“…”

Seeing Silvia trying to piece together the situation and understand my explanation, I breathed a sigh of relief.

While the Green Lady was removing the mana from my body, I was in the spirit realm, and during that time, Silvia couldn’t find me anywhere in this forest.

Then I suddenly appeared at the lakeside, which must have been puzzling for her.

But my story was scratching that exact itch, so to Silvia, the spirit story could no longer sound like the delusion of a madman.

“I learned that I was a spirit master, and that the fox appearing through my flames was my guardian spirit, from the Green Lady’s explanation.”

Then Alice tilted her head and asked:

“When did you start seeing spirits?”

“Being able to see them without surrounding them in flames… that was after meeting the Green Lady.”

“…”

“…Why?”

“Then the timeline doesn’t match. You said spirits helped you when you first came to this forest during the carriage accident.”

“No, I mean… hah, this is really difficult.”

It seemed it would take a while to make the two of them fully understand.

I firmly resolved to master spirit arts as I continued my explanation, gesturing earnestly.