episode_0152

About 10 minutes have passed since the moment when Sally was asked to contract with an unnamed wind spirit.

Just moments ago, the wind spirit was wandering around Professor Erin’s garden without any specific contractor, but now it had become an official contracted spirit.

“I never thought this would actually work.”

To be honest, I had thought of making some excuse and giving up if it didn’t work on the first try.

It’s true that opportunities to contract with intermediate spirits don’t come easily, but that doesn’t mean I would casually contract with just any intermediate spirit.

While it’s possible to gain spontaneous advantages in battle with the help of spirits and seek guidance from them in complex situations, spirit contracts don’t just come with those benefits.

In a way, it meant permanently adding an uncontrollable ally to my side, so there were times when spirits acted differently from my intentions.

I had intended to capture and arrest them with binding magic, but there were instances where spirit attacks accidentally killed the target or poured water on a burned enemy during a fire attack, scenes that occasionally appeared in the Luminor Academy.

To avoid such situations, I had to approach spirit contracts carefully, and if the other party’s reaction was subtle, I was ready to cut it off immediately.

“Ooh… Would you like to make a contract?”

“Ooh!”

Although communication wasn’t possible yet with an intermediate spirit, seeing it eagerly nodding along and sticking close to me showed a strong willingness to contract.

If it wanted it this badly, it wouldn’t feel right to send it away… I guess I’ll just have to accept it as fate.

With that thought in mind, I had almost depleted my remaining mana to complete the contract a while ago.

Just as I finished the contract and stepped away, Sally, who had been absent for a moment, rushed over to me.

“Lilith! You just contracted with it?! You did, right?!”

“Yes, yes. Since I did, please don’t get too excited, Sally.”

“Aww! So cute! Do you have a name by any chance? If not, should I come up with one for you, sis?!”

“Uh, ooh?! S-sorry!”

Seeing Sally rushing towards the spirit with what seemed like a dangerous expression, and the spirit panicking and fleeing, I intervened and held Sally and the spirit in my hands to isolate them.

“Wait, Sally. You promised not to do anything strange, right?”

“I didn’t do anything strange, did I?”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, um… I just greeted it… Isn’t it normal to greet someone on a first meeting…?”

“If you’re trembling like this after just greeting someone for the first time, shouldn’t you be more cautious when approaching an intermediate wind spirit as a high-ranking flame spirit?”

“Oh, okay… S-sorry…”

…Somehow, it feels like she’s just pretending to reflect on her actions for now, but later on, she’ll probably become shameless again.

For the sake of the contract I painstakingly made with the sylphid, it was necessary to mediate between the two spirits.

Since it was not Sally but the sylphid who officially contracted with me, as the contract holder with the spirit, I had a duty to protect her from Sally’s lecherous desires.

“I’m sorry. That annoying lolicon Salamander was being a nuisance.”

‘Ugh, fire, scary… Fire, scary…’

‘It’s not scary, so you don’t have to worry! I just want to become friends! You don’t have to be so wary just because I’m a fire spirit…’

“I told you not to come near, Sally.”

‘Ah, I got it…’

Seeing Sally make a slightly gloomy expression and step back a bit, I knew I had to handle the situation firmly and decisively, even though her usually cheerful demeanor had faded.

If I let my guard down here, I might end up being manipulated by Sally even after officially contracting with her, which would not only be unfair to the sylphid who contracted with me.

“Don’t worry. I will make sure it can’t approach you when I’m around.”

‘Calling it “it” is too harsh! We’ve been together for months!’

‘Hehe, fire, scary…’

‘Oh, no! I wasn’t trying to make you angry…’

It seemed like I had truly caught the sylphid’s attention, as Sally showed an indecisive attitude when the wind spirit seemed a bit scared.

Seeing her reaction, I was confident that I held the upper hand in this relationship.

Moreover, having contracted with the sylphid gave me a legitimate reason to create an environment where Sally couldn’t act recklessly.

“Sally, are you going to keep scaring the sylphid? If you keep acting like that without any consideration, I have ways to deal with you too.”

‘Wh-what?!’

“From what I heard earlier, it seems like you want to use me to get closer to this sylphid, but if you keep bothering me, I won’t contract with you.”

‘What are you talking about?! Why! We’ve been getting along well so far!’

“Getting along well is all from your perspective.”

At least, it wasn’t from mine. There were only a few times when Sally forcefully woke me up when I was tired, and I had to deal with the noise alone every time she caused a commotion, as Edan couldn’t hear her voice being a spirit.

Thanks to her protection buff, I had been enduring it so far, but in reality, I didn’t necessarily need Sally’s protection as long as I had the sylphid.

Even though she was an intermediate spirit, I could still benefit from the spirit’s protection through the sylphid, and I could tolerate the slightly reduced effect.

Since I had officially contracted with the sylphid first, it was only natural for me to prioritize the sylphid as a spirit contract holder.

“We haven’t even made an official contract, let alone a temporary one, right? But the sylphid has already made an official contract with me. If you do anything suspicious to ‘my spirit,’ I won’t turn a blind eye, even if you’re Sally.”

‘Okay, I got it! I won’t scare her, so please just give me a chance, Lilith!’

“Until the sylphid’s heart opens up, always maintain a distance of at least one meter. It’s absolutely forbidden to suddenly rush in and hug her like earlier.”

‘Ugh, okay…’

With a perplexed expression, Sally cautiously kept her distance from me.

For now, it seemed like I had successfully managed to distance that lolicon Salamander from the sylphid.

After the official contract, Seifeeld, who had reached a point where he could have a light conversation, began to chat lightly with Lilyss, starting with a simple introduction.

“I’m sorry, there was a bit of a disturbance earlier. Now this fire spirit won’t be able to come near you for a while…”

‘You, cool.’

“Pardon?”

‘You, strong. Your magic, tasty. Yeah.’

“Uh… thank you?”

‘Can I rely on you? Uh… master?’

“My name is Lilyss Blackwood Rosewood. You can just call me Lilyss.”

‘Yeah, Lilyss. I… uh, I…’

“What?”

‘I, I don’t have a name… what should I do…?’

Seeing this figure, it seemed that Seifeeld had not contracted with anyone before.

Unlike Sally, who seemed to have experienced a lot in human society, there was an innocence about Seifeeld that was untouched by time.

There was a strange feeling of affection that arose instinctively, making me feel a fondness for her for some reason.

“If you still don’t have a name, can I give you one?”

‘Yeah, yeah.’

“Since you’re a wind spirit, how about ‘Sei’? It has a wind-like sound to it, so I think it’s fitting.”

‘Yeah, I like it. I am Sei.’

“I’ll be counting on you from now on, Sei.”

‘Yeah, Lilyss.’

With those words, Sei cautiously flew onto my shoulder and leaned his body against me quietly.

It seemed that the fatigue had caught up with him belatedly due to the spirit contract.

Well, since the spirit contract involves using vast amounts of magic, it would require an adaptation period not only for me but also for the contracted spirit.

Whether the contract with her would be a gain or a loss for me in the future, I didn’t know. But still, she was the first spirit I had contracted with, so it was inevitable that I would feel a bit more affection towards her.

With these thoughts in mind, as I began to feel tired from using up most of my magic, I felt a gentle touch on the hem of my clothes from behind.

“Excuse me.”

“…Yes?”

“I’m sorry for just leaving like that earlier.”

Feeling a pulling sensation from below, for a moment I thought of the petite girl, and as I had expected, the flame mage who had just rushed out and disappeared was standing behind me.

I cautiously called out her name, not expecting her to suddenly return.

“Miss Blaze?”

“To become friends with a spirit, what should I do? And even if it’s a lower-level spirit, how can I quickly make a contract?”

…Judging by her expression, it seems she has made up her mind to some extent.

It seemed like she needed some time to think about her limits on her own. It would have been better if she had told me in advance.

Well, if she had decided to do it properly, I could only support her properly and help her.

“Have you made up your mind? Shall we start with a lower-level spirit for now?”

“Yes. It seems I was hasty in looking for a mid-level spirit. So, as you said, starting from the bottom… Huh?”

As if she had changed her mind, Agnes slowly raised her head and made eye contact with me.

For some reason, her gaze shifted from my face to my shoulder with caution.

With a slightly flustered voice, she asked about the intermediate spirit sleeping on my shoulder.

“What, what is that?”

“What?”

“The spirit sleeping on your shoulder…”

“Oh, you mean Sei? He’s the wind spirit I just contracted with while you were away.”

“You, you just made a contract? With an intermediate spirit?”

“I already have Sally, so wind and fire go well together in many ways, right? Of course, it will take time for Sei to get used to Sally as much as he is afraid of her…”

“Uh, uh…!”

“…Miss Blaze?”

“Ah, you coward!! That’s cheating!! Unfair!!!”

“W-wait, Miss Blaze! You asked me to teach you how to contract with a spirit?!”

No matter how uninterested she was in the character she had seen in the game, Agnes was truly an unpredictable character.

I wonder if I can get through this semester smoothly…