Ch.87Hersy Minerva (3)

“You, you! What do you think you’re doing!”

Ruide grabbed Miho’s shoulders and shook her violently.

Miho replied with a prim expression.

[I synchronized with my physical body.]

“…Synchronized?”

[It’s one of the Great Spirit’s powers. I’ve currently transferred my physical body to you, Master. In other words, you’re now in the state of a spirit.]

Ruide spoke menacingly. He didn’t want this at all.

“Change it back. That’s an order.”

Miho scratched her protruding ears with an impudent expression.

[Ah- I’m sorry. Once synchronized, it must be maintained for at least three days.]

“…This is a breach of contract. I never gave such an order.”

Miho glared at Ruide.

[Rather than worrying about that, shouldn’t you be more concerned that I might never undo the synchronization?]

“What…?”

[Hmph. The synchronization doesn’t negatively affect you, Master. The contract states ‘Do not harm the covenant maker.’ How could giving you an immortal body possibly violate the contract?]

“I can just reverse this with magic. Don’t do something you’ll regret and change it back.”

[What can you do? Synchronization is done with spirit power, which has nothing to do with mana.]

An ominous flow of magical power emanated from Ruide’s body.

“How dare you.”

[You’re the insolent one, Master!]

Miho shouted what she had been holding back.

[Your recent behavior isn’t like the Master I used to love!]

“W-what nonsense is that?”

[You used to be like a fairy, but lately you’ve become like a gold dragon with a nasty personality! You’ve changed, Master! You bad person!]

“I’m human! Not a fairy or a dragon!”

[Fine. I absolutely won’t change you back until you resolve the Hersy situation properly.]

Ruide became serious.

“I’ll terminate the contract.”

[Hmph, then I’ll just make a contract with Hersy. She has enough magical power too, you know?]

Miho coldly turned her back.

She tore through space, attempting to disappear somewhere.

“Hey!”

Ruide bit his lip hard.

He blocked the space the nine-tailed fox had torn with magic.

Miho was startled.

‘H-he can interfere with dimensional realms using magic?’

That was something beyond common sense.

Even the Great Spirit nine-tailed fox had never seen or heard of such a thing.

Even the great mage ‘Dellin’ couldn’t touch dimensional realms.

Miho turned around as if she’d seen a ghost.

‘I must have provoked Master too much. I-I should apologize before being annihilated.’

However—

Ruide hung his head and said:

“At least make me taller.”

[…..]

Miho stared at Ruide with an incredulous look.

**

Ruide lay listlessly by Dellin’s Lake.

Suddenly, he remembered hearing that spirits were genderless. That was true. Nothing had changed in his body except for what should have been there was now gone.

The sense of loss was no joke, but it was better than becoming a woman.

Ruide pulled the phoenix pillow closer to his body.

Still, he was furious.

‘She does something this insolent and then deceives her master?’

Miho had claimed it was fine because she had done something beneficial, but—

Ruide knew the truth.

The reason Miho could disobey him.

It was because of the familiar contract.

At the time, he had underestimated Miho’s level, but now he knew. Miho was truly a Great Spirit, and Great Spirits were among the strongest beings in this world.

Being such an entity, a low-level magic circle like a familiar contract wouldn’t work on her. Just as you couldn’t bind a dragon with a familiar contract.

‘That fox-like girl… well, she is a fox.’

Anyway, the solution to this dire situation was simple.

He needed to establish a formal spirit contract. He could find it by searching through ancient books in the library. An ancient spirit contract magic circle. By modifying it to force a contract, he could teach her a lesson.

But that would only be possible after three days. Meaning, he had to remain in this state for three days.

So Ruide planned to spend those three days at Dellin’s Lake, quiet as a mouse.

Sleeping away time was what he did best, after all.

“…I should change my hair color first.”

It would be troublesome if someone recognized him.

That would be a hundred years of regret.

With a dying expression, he scribbled on the ground. He imagined the most ordinary eye and hair colors.

The magic circle emitted a faint light, and he felt magic settle on his hair. Without checking, he knew it had changed successfully.

“Sigh. What a life.”

Ruide lay down, looking up at the sky.

-‘Your recent behavior isn’t like the Master I used to love!’

He recalled what Miho had said during their argument earlier.

It bothered him for some reason.

‘She says I’ve changed?’

He stretched his hand toward the sky.

A much larger hand than before. Yet still a small hand appeared in his view.

‘This is ridiculous.’

If she had known the original ‘lazy Ruide’ as his true self, that would be one thing.

But Miho first met him after the possession. Yet she claimed he had changed.

And what’s wrong with changing anyway? He had finally obtained a life as a wealthy idler. He intended to live however he pleased and enjoy it.

Rustle—

Just then, he sensed someone approaching. Ruide was slightly flustered.

As he sat up, a familiar man was standing there. An arrogant face that suggested the world was beneath his feet. It was Damon.

“Girl. Why are you here?”

Fortunately or unfortunately, Damon didn’t recognize him. But—

“I’m not a girl.”

“Huh?”

“I’m a boy.”

Ruide vehemently denied it.

Damon blinked.

“…Surprising. You’re telling the truth?”

The imperial blood could distinguish lies.

“Well, never mind. I came looking for my friend. Have you seen a small child about this tall?”

“Don’t know.”

Damon’s eye twitched. He found this strangely disrespectful.

“What’s your name, commoner?”

“Rui…”

Ruide quickly changed his words.

“Louise.”

“Judging by your reluctance to reveal your family name, you must be a commoner.”

Ruide swallowed hard and nodded.

“And yet, you dare speak informally to me. With such an insolent attitude, no less.”

“…!”

That was something he hadn’t considered.

Just as he tensed—

“I like it.”

“What…?”

“I’ve seen many insolent commoners, but you’re the first who truly seems unaware of your wrongdoing.”

Damon extended his hand, looking very satisfied.

“I admire your spirit. What do you say? I can’t be friends with a commoner, but I could raise you in my household.”

Ruide looked at Damon with dead eyes.

“I have class.”

He got up abruptly, ignoring Damon’s outstretched hand and walked past him.

After staring at his empty hand for a while, Damon read the magical residue where Ruide had been lying.

“Interesting. What game are you playing now, Ruide?”

The corners of Damon’s mouth turned upward.

**

Imperial Academy Grand Library “Repository of Knowledge”

Hersy was looking for books related to Dellin in the ancient magic section to study for the “Dellin’s Magic Theory” exam.

‘Lady Amelia’s advice is right. The reason my brother is dissatisfied with me is because he thinks I’m not suited for this position.’

Hersy decided to take the competition seriously.

The immediate thing she could do was to perform well on exams.

And to quickly resolve the succession issue by accumulating various achievements.

To do that, she couldn’t continue as before. She needed to give her all.

The upcoming “Dellin’s Magic Theory” lecture was the highest-level course in Dellin’s magic series.

Having skipped grades quickly because of Ruide, Hersy would be competing with third-year students.

It was also the only subject she would take alongside Klein.

‘I need to show overwhelming results. That way, I can make my brother give up voluntarily.’

Though the subject was called magic theory, the climax was practical application.

She would need to demonstrate the most beautiful and powerful of Dellin’s magic that had been passed down to posterity.

Hersy was searching through Dellin’s books for this purpose.

After pulling out one mythological book, she headed to the table with determination.

The ancient magic book section rarely had people coming and going due to the difficulty of the texts, but someone was lying face down there.

It was a person with violet hair. Violet itself was a common color among commoners, but this shade was unique.

It sparkled just like starlight. Like a seashell on a sandy beach.

‘Pretty…’

Hersy thought unconsciously. But she soon frowned.

‘Sleeping in the library, what undignified behavior.’

She sighed.

‘It’s a loss to think this way about a commoner.’

She quietly sat down.

“Mmnya.”

As she opened her book and tried to concentrate, the woman sleeping in front of her talked in her sleep.

She was subtly fidgeting and smacking her lips, which greatly irritated the sensitive Hersy.

“Excuse me.”

Unable to bear it any longer, Hersy tapped her arm.

She flinched briefly and then raised her head.

‘Has this girl been at the academy?’

Hersy was momentarily dazed when she saw her face.

She had thought she would be pretty just from seeing her hair, but it was beyond her imagination.

A face that would make you stop and look if you saw it on the street.

Above all, she resembled someone.

‘Ruide?’

Hersy quickly erased that question.

‘What am I thinking? How dare I compare a common street commoner to Ruide.’

“I’m sorry, but please sleep in the dormitory. The library is a place for studying.”

Ruide, rubbing his eyes with a sleepy expression, immediately said:

“Hello, Hersy.”

“?”

It was common for commoners to speak informally. They didn’t know manners.

But this kind of natural disrespect was a first. Moreover, the way she spoke reminded Hersy of someone, which made her very displeased.

“Do you know me?”

Ruide only then realized he wasn’t in his original form.

But he handled it calmly.

“We can get to know each other from today.”

“I have no reason to get to know you.”

‘This is why commoners…’

Just as she was about to ignore her, her attention was drawn to the book the girl was reading.

< Advanced Ancient Spirit Studies >

It was an ancient, worn-out book. A book made in an era before preservation magic was popularized.

‘That’s an obsolete field of study. Did she just pull out any random book? Or could it be…’

Hersy unconsciously glanced in that direction.

Flip, flip.

The pages turned quickly. It didn’t look like she was actually reading it.

‘This is ridiculous.’

As expected, she was just pretending to read. It was impossible to read such an ancient text at that speed.

Ignoring her, Hersy turned her attention back to her own book to find useful magic.

A moment later, Hersy found a spell that piqued her interest.

-Dellin performed magic in front of many people. It was to make them acknowledge his abilities. That magic was enchanting. That’s the only way to describe it. All of Dellin’s magic is amazing. That magic wasn’t the most powerful or flashy. However, that magic was the most beautiful of all the magic Dellin had shown.

Below were numerous visual descriptions of what kind of magic it was.

At the end was a drawing of the expected magic circle. As soon as Hersy saw it, her shoulders twitched.

“What is this? It’s too difficult.”

It was a spell that made her head spin just by looking at it.

‘But I have to do this much. As the successor to Minerva.’

It didn’t have to be perfect. This book was mythological. It was merely an excerpt of impressive parts from Dellin’s myths.

Most of it was conceptual art. There was no need to reproduce it perfectly. Even if she could do something similar, it would be an “overwhelming magic.”

Hersy decided to be motivated and copied the magic circle into her notebook.

“It’s like fireworks.”

“…?”

Just then, someone’s hair touched her cheek.

Hersy looked up. It was the person who had been sitting across from her until just now. She was leaning in, examining the magic circle.

“Want me to teach you?”

With her right hand gripping the nape of a white fox.