Ch.162162. The Marquisate’s Troublemaker (1)

The role of spirits is extensive.

With will and personality, they can flexibly and actively respond to situations they face. Even without specific orders, they sometimes assist by attacking, and other times by guarding and defending.

For spirits summoned to the mortal realm, the concept of death does not apply. Even if they suffer damage equivalent to destruction or worse, they are simply recalled to the spirit realm. Because of this, neither spirit summoners nor the spirits themselves need to fear death in the mortal world, nor do they fear it.

According to their connection and trust, and occasionally through forced commands permitted to spirit summoners, spirits can be operated more actively and definitively across a wide range.

And among their many roles, there are fields where they particularly shine with competence.

‘This is what a spirit is.’

Sione continuously shoots whirlwinds while the cotton ball occasionally flies to her cheek, bumping into it as if telling her to rest.

Spirits can assist not only spirit summoners but also other humans in handling spirit magic. Moreover, for archers like Sione and me, the ability to borrow magical power like spirit magic makes a huge difference. Although it was only a low-ranking spirit, contracting with the cotton ball could be considered fortunate.

‘Yes, fortunate indeed.’

That fortune given by that elf over there who mercilessly cuts through enemies’ necks and pierces their windpipes with no mercy in her hands.

These days, whenever I see this cotton ball, I’m reminded of the various stories I heard from Friel Arielt just as we were leaving the Count’s residence.

The carriage is now approaching our next destination, the Marquisate of Kallia. I should probably start preparing myself mentally to live among elves whose outsides and insides don’t match.

For now, I’ll stop this train of thought here.

I instructed the cotton ball and Sione:

“Rather than simply shooting and bursting, try practicing using the wind to create free-flowing, unpredictable trajectories for your arrows.”

“Trajectories and paths?”

“Yes, aren’t arrows that only draw parabolas and straight lines too simple? Without surprise and greater speed, such arrows will inevitably be blocked by knights of different calibers.”

Sione, who had just drawn an arrow from her quiver, turned her head toward me.

“From now on, you should draw your bowstring with care to shoot more irregular arrows. Now you can infuse wind into the arrowhead with the help of the spirit.”

“But… it’s your spirit that infuses the magic, not me. I’m a novice when it comes to magic… controlling it seems difficult.”

Sione expressed doubt about her ability to handle magic.

It was understandable.

I heard that when she was desperately seeking knowledge to change her supposedly incompetent self, she had also shown interest in magic. She probably faced her aptitude or lack thereof at that time.

Also… it’s even awkward to imagine Sione being good at anything other than archery and eating cookies.

Of course, this—

“Can you help?”

—Meow!

This cotton ball here will help.

“Lady Sione, you just need to continuously imagine the path you want your arrow to take, build confidence in that vision, and then forge that will into your aura. This little one will respond to your intentions.”

“The spirit will do it directly?”

“Yes. This one will do it.”

The source of a spirit’s power, or rather its essential nature, is Mana. Mana imbued with natural energy. They are beings born fresh from natural objects filled with suffocatingly abundant Mana. Therefore, they are naturally adept at reading Mana.

“So… rather than worrying about magic, you should be more concerned about how many cookies you’ll have to give this one.”

Mana that visualizes with the caster’s will, intensely concentrated. If you just infuse it with confident, deep wishes, this cotton ball will identify Sione’s intentions from the Mana cluster, the aura she creates, and assist her.

I said that jokingly to lighten the mood and smiled slightly.

“Uh, hmm…”

…How serious is she really about food?

Sione, who had been smiling at my suggestion to set aside worries, quickly changed her expression when cookies were mentioned.

She’s certainly consistent.

“Okay, I’ll try it that way then.”

Sione shot her bow again.

The arrow with swirling wind moved in a straight line.

Whoosh—

Suddenly its trajectory began to bend.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

After zigzagging erratically, it finally lost power and fell.

“…This is much harder than I thought.”

The arrow’s display was enough to draw Friel Arielt’s attention back to us.

It seems that bending an arrow’s trajectory to create more diverse attacks will require more practice.

* * *

The sudden attack by monsters tainted with Magia was quickly resolved.

As Friel Arielt’s sword became increasingly stained with blood, the number of monsters rapidly decreased.

When there was nothing left to cut down, she swung her sword in a circle and smoothly sheathed it with a fluid motion.

“I didn’t expect help to come so quickly. Thank you for your assistance, My Lady.”

Friel Arielt approached us and expressed her gratitude. Having extinguished dozens of lives by herself, a faint scent of rusty iron wafted from her as she came closer.

Sione, perhaps realizing from this unpleasant smell that Friel’s level of force was by no means low, nodded at her greeting with a somewhat cautious expression.

“I only did what was natural. Thanks to your initiative, we were able to overcome this without much damage… you set an example for those who arrived late.”

“I’m glad you say so. And also.”

Friel’s pupils moved. To Sione’s bow received from Ainel, and then to me and the cotton ball that had climbed back onto my head.

“If you’re curious about spirit magic techniques, feel free to come find me. It would be fun to discuss archery again like before.”

It was at that moment when Friel said this.

Rustle, rustle…

A presence began to be felt from the adjacent forest.

Friel simply rolled her teal eyes to identify the source of the presence, while Sione and I turned our heads to see who it was.

“Lady Friel, I have a report.”

Elisa, Friel Arielt’s subordinate, with blood-stained sleeve cuffs. Apparently, before Friel danced with her blade among the monsters, she had instructed Elisa to scout the surroundings.

Elisa must have rushed through the wind, as her hair was disheveled and flowing behind her. Her expression was cold and composed as usual, but somehow she gave off an impression of being more intimidating than before.

“I found monsters corrupted by Magia in this vicinity. Seventeen in number, successfully eliminated.”

“Hmm, and?”

“As you mentioned, being close to the Great Forest, it’s quite possible to encounter a few intoxicated by Magia here and there, but…”

A small wrinkle formed between Elisa’s brows.

“While the children of the forest surely control the monsters within the Great Forest, the appearance of over ten creatures in two groups here is unusual.”

“…”

“Though it’s just my brief opinion, from what I can see, this situation… it seems apostles have appeared near the Marquisate and are at work.”

“So that’s it—”

Friel, who had been listening to Elisa with a cold gaze, briefly stroked her chin, then swept her disheveled bangs back and gave Sione and me a fresh smile.

“I had originally planned to head straight to the Great Forest… but it seems we should visit the Marquisate first. Would that be alright, My Lady?”

Having confirmed with her own eyes and ears that this matter related to the cult was by no means trivial, given the atmosphere of their conversation, Sione nodded after some thought.

“Thank you for your consideration, My Lady. However, in this case, I think I need to have a little talk with you and Ray.”

“A talk?”

“Yes, since the County is at the westernmost edge of the kingdom, news about this place would reach there slowly… and I understand you haven’t attended many political gatherings like the Academy or other banquets.”

While Friel’s eyes curved like crescent moons in a quiet smile, the sparkle in her teal pupils that had been like stars in the night sky grew cold.

“The current state of the Marquisate is quite chaotic both internally and externally—”

Externally, there’s the heightened tension from Imperial troops continuously crossing the border and the ensuing conflicts. And then there’s the proximity to the Great Forest, which faces prophecies of extinction and fire.

And internally…

‘…The fake male knight Eunice Kallia mentioned.’

Unlike the male nobles here who value loyalty and integrity and are raised like delicate flowers, there exists a scoundrel of the Marquisate who has fallen into debauchery with female knights.

“If nothing else, you should definitely know about the second son of the Kallia Marquisate, Allen Kallia.”

While the second daughter of the Sianella County had succeeded in reforming herself, the second son of the Kallia Marquisate was an unreformed failure.