Ch.180180. Manifestation (3)

“…Do you know how worried I was?!”

The spirit’s telepathic voice echoed in my head. The fire spirit, taking the form of a young child, was floating in midair.

The spirit was tightly pursing its lips, clenching and unclenching its fists, glaring at me as if ready to pounce at any moment.

‘Well…’

As I took in the sight of my spirit, I checked the reactions of the people around me.

Everyone seemed to be imagining what conversation might be passing between the spirit and me based on the spirit’s intense reaction.

They were just guessing, though, since the spirit was only transmitting its voice into my mind.

They could only speculate about our bond based on the atmosphere they sensed.

Among them, two people showed the strongest reactions.

“That spirit…”

Sione, who had some idea of how I’d made a living before I died and fell into this world all alone.

She was staring blankly at the spirit with her mouth half-open without even realizing it.

“…Myung!”

Meanwhile, the cotton ball was showing signs of confusion at the sudden appearance of a top-tier spirit.

It seemed to have developed some kind of rivalry or jealousy and was saying something very weakly to the spirit.

…Not that the newly reunited friend was paying any attention.

It couldn’t be helped. She was completely focused on her contractor whom she hadn’t seen in a long time.

“You’re just staring… say something, will you!”

I had called her name once, but apparently that wasn’t enough.

I wanted to naturally greet her and ask how she’d been, but the Mana that had been drained in chunks to summon the spirit before me, along with my energy and mental strength…

I was in such a state of extreme exhaustion that even saying a single word was quite difficult.

And I think the mental drain was particularly severe.

To speak properly, I needed to recover more from my dizzy vision and tired mind.

So I just stood there with my shoulders tensed, watching the spirit slowly approaching me.

“Eek… you absolute bastard…”

The spirit came toward me, fluttering its small wings and moving its legs as if walking on air.

Despite its face and aura full of resentment, its gait remained elegant and noble. Looking at the spirit, I pulled up memories of her.

‘Tania.’

When I had just awakened my abilities and had the spirit arts skills of a snot-nosed kid, Tania was the first spirit I somehow managed to summon and contract.

I first met Tania when she was a lowest-tier spirit.

She was even smaller and weaker than the cotton ball on my shoulder now. From that small form until becoming the top-tier spirit she is now, she had been with me all along.

My appearance must be quite different now from the last time I summoned her. But perhaps because we’d spent some time together, she recognized me immediately.

Tania, who had always been a bit foul-mouthed for a spirit, was directing her curses and anger precisely at me.

“You…!”

Tania raised her hand as if to strike me.

I hurriedly opened my mouth, breaking into a cold sweat.

“Tania.”

“…!”

Finally hearing me call her name, Tania looked up at me with round eyes.

“If you’re going to hit me, control your strength. If you hit me as hard as before, I might just die.”

“Just die, then.”

Tania swung her fist straight at my solar plexus.

If a top-tier spirit were to punch with full force, it would leave a gaping hole in my chest.

However, thanks to Tania controlling her strength, I was spared from having a hole punched through where my heart was.

Instead, just…

Thud… Thud…

Her small, powerless fist merely touched my solar plexus and fell away.

“Is that all you have to say after meeting me again after so long?”

Tania, a spirit who had lived in Korea all along, finally complained in fluent Korean through her actual voice instead of telepathy.

“Um… have you been well?”

I too opened my mouth in Korean instead of the continental common language for the first time in a long while.

“The spirit realm is boring. If you were alive like this, you could have summoned me sooner.”

“Even if I summon you now, you can’t watch dramas anymore.”

“What? Do you know how much I was looking forward to the ending of ‘Happy House’!”

“You could tell just by the story. I’m telling you, the male and female leads will break up in the end.”

“Ugh… you don’t know until you watch it all! The title is ‘Happy House’! That wouldn’t be happy!”

After fuming about the drama for a moment.

Tania stopped punching my solar plexus and put on a serious expression.

The elegance that wasn’t apparent when she was complaining revived as she set the mood.

As Tania’s sharp eyes came alive coldly, the cotton ball closed its mouth. And tension began to be felt from Sione’s arm supporting me.

And the elf, Edelin, who had made it possible for me to summon Tania, was quietly watching us with a doll-like expressionless face.

“By the way…”

Tania’s ruby-like beautiful red pupils deepened.

“How are you alive? We spirits get reverse-summoned even if our bodies are torn to shreds… but you’re human.”

“…”

“…Unlike that bastard, I was by your side watching until the very end.”

“Did I die that horribly?”

“At least the other humans died in one blow from that demon. You probably suffered the most.”

“…”

Not-so-pleasant memories and sensations from that time resurface.

“But looking at you now… your energy feels smaller than before… and your ugly face has become handsome.”

“No, I wasn’t ugly. Even back then, my face was quite decent—”

“Shut up. You’ve never even properly held a woman’s hand.”

“No, even I have—”

“Don’t tell me you’re counting that time you briefly held hands while bandaging an injured female Hunter’s arm?”

“…Sorry.”

This is driving me crazy.

My head, which was already dizzy, became even dizzier as the spirit I met after a long time dredged up all sorts of past events.

It’s fortunate that Tania is speaking in Korean now. If it were the continental common language, I would have been quite embarrassed.

As I sighed deeply, Tania, who had been staring at me intently, hugged me.

“Still… I’m glad you’re alive.”

“…”

“You seem to have changed in many ways. You must explain everything.”

As I quietly nodded, Tania glanced behind. She was conscious of Edelin’s presence.

“…The High Elf seems to have something to say, so I’ll—”

Whoosh!

“…Kuk!”

Tania suddenly snatched the cotton ball.

“I need to talk with my junior. Tsk. Can’t you stay still?”

“It’s still a low-tier spirit. Be a little kinder—”

“Hmm… making a contract with another spirit while we were gone. You didn’t have the strength to summon us but had enough to make a new contract.”

“No, the difference between top-tier and low-tier—”

“I’m disappointed. Plus, you’re cheating? Changshik in the spirit realm will be really sad if he finds out. He may not look it, but he’s a sensitive one.”

Changshik.

Another top-tier spirit who had originally contracted with me.

It was the nickname Tania had arbitrarily given to Elvis while watching dramas.

I pressed my temple and waved my hand limply at Tania.

Only then did Tania smile slightly at the corner of her mouth like in the old days.

“…Just go play over there.”

“Yes~”

With those words, Tania took the struggling cotton ball and flew off somewhere in the garden.

With only me, Sione, and Edelin left, the High Elf finally slowly approached us.

Her gleaming ashen pupils revealed that her interest in me was not small.

An understandable reaction.

Not only had I just been conversing very familiarly with a top-tier spirit I had summoned,

But I had also been speaking in a language they had never heard before.

‘Even for an ancient being who has lived over a thousand years and reached enlightenment, this scene must be quite intriguing.’

But that aside.

First, I needed to deal with my current condition.

To manage my drooping body, I pressed closer to Sione, wrapping my right arm more deeply around her neck.

“Whoa, Ray.”

“It’s hard to stand. Could you support me a bit more firmly?”

“How about I carry you on my back instead?”

“A grown man being carried on a woman’s back is a bit…”

“Then how about carrying you in front…”

“Pardon…?”

“You know, like a princess carry… if I carry you, it would be quite comfortable…”

“I’ll have to decline.”

What’s with the princess carry?

Novels have completely ruined the young lady.

As we were having this pointless chat while Edelin approached,

she must have been listening, as she smiled politely and said:

“Then shall we talk over there? There’s a spot in the garden with a small table and chairs set up for enjoying tea and sunshine. It’s a perfect place for conversation.”

I followed Edelin’s gaze. She wasn’t looking at me or Sione.

She was just quietly looking somewhere behind me, where Tania and the cotton ball had flown off to.

“Let’s talk slowly about the spirit just now, the biggest headache in the Great Forest currently… and the future seen in the oracle, accompanied by the scent of flowers and tea.”

After the brief commotion.

Now it was time to discuss the essential reason we came to this Great Forest.

The time had come to talk about the oracle and those damned demons.