Chapter 45
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Spirit User's Forest (1)
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A week had already passed since my younger siblings came to visit.
During that time, I had two achievements to show for it.
One was that I could now handle the spirits my siblings had contracted with through secondary contracts quite well.
This hadn't been all that difficult.
Spirit arts were fundamentally about supplying mana to spirits and making requests of them, after all.
However.
"Make the wind a bit stronger."
[Like this? Could you put in a little more mana? Great! That's perfect! Just like that!]
"Blessings take more mana than I expected."
[Once you get used to it, you can grant even stronger blessings. How about practicing more? Put in more mana!]
Ka-ka-ka-kang!
"As expected of a spirit—your prowess is impressive."
[Hahaha! This is less than half my true power! If you want to draw out more, give me mana! More mana!]
All three spirits were constantly appealing to me for more mana.
Of course, perhaps out of pride, they never said a word when my siblings were around. But whenever I summoned them alone, they urged me to pour in as much mana as I wanted.
When I asked, they said my mana was an extraordinarily top-grade quality to them.
Directly contracting with them would be ideal, but even secondary contracts let them happily feed on my mana.
At any rate, it was a relief that these secondary-contracted spirits were so cooperative.
And the other piece of good news was...
I could finally use advanced magic.
Thanks to constantly casting intermediate spells in real combat during the monster parade, I'd grasped the knack for advanced magic.
"Ha, haha. Your Highness has now... surpassed me. Haha. Wow~."
Seeing Amelin clap with hollow eyes when I used advanced magic made me feel a twinge of guilt.
"I'll help you master advanced magic too. It's intuitive for me now—want me to describe what it feels like when casting?"
"Y-Yes, please..."
"Big bro overtook his personal mage!"
"Does that mean she's getting fired now?"
"Eep!"
"No one's firing you, Amelin. Kids! Don't say silly things!"
"Bro's mad!"
"Kee-hee-hee!"
"No need to worry too much, Lady Amelin! Our lord mastered Cloud Mist Step in a single day, Fist and Leg Arts in just a few days, and he still didn't let go of me or my daughter!"
"Y-You're right..."
"If you're still anxious, let's prepare for the future together by studying night service techniques!"
"Th-That...!"
What kind of studying is that, Tenka?
Ridel, standing right beside me, said nothing, so I didn't interject either.
The siblings' week-long visit meant it was time for them to leave.
Each clutched a clone of their secondary-contracted Honey Pouf spirit as they came out to say goodbye.
"Big bro! We had fun!"
"Let's play again next time!"
"Use our spirits well~!"
"Yeah, don't cause too much trouble back at the palace."
"C'mon~ We're not kids anymore."
"Don't worry~."
"We'll only tease Rune sis sometimes~!"
Rune sis might enjoy the teasing to a point, but overdo it and she'll really get angry.
Well, the kids knew that from plenty of experience.
The day after my siblings returned to the palace,
Kirigumo came back to the mansion.
"I'm back, Your Highness!"
"Welcome back, Kirigumo. Any results?"
"Yes! With Guild Master Tsubal's cooperation, we gathered information more smoothly than expected!"
"Guild Master Tsubal?"
"When Your Highness expressed interest in the heretics' information, he helped enthusiastically."
"I see."
I'd ordered Kirigumo to investigate and also asked the temple, but nothing substantial came of it.
The temple would rush off to deliver 'judgment' at the slightest trace, so all I got was a promise to share any new info they uncovered.
As a prince, I was genuinely glad for their zeal, but they advised leaving the heretics to them.
'From the temple's perspective, that's only natural.'
Heretics who worshipped evil gods opposing the main deity were unforgivable by their mere existence. They must worry I'd only endanger myself meddling as a prince.
"So, what information did you get?"
"Yes, we learned of a clan in the Spirit User's Forest that seals away an evil power."
"A clan sealing an evil power?"
To summarize what Kirigumo reported:
A clan dwelling in a forest to the east of the kingdom, skilled in spirit arts.
They had long contracted with spirits capable of wielding great purification power.
But a century ago, heretics attacked the clan. During the assault, the heretics plunged a weapon infused with an evil god's power—capable of laying waste to the entire forest—into the forest's heart.
The moment the weapon pierced the ground, the forest began to wither from that spot. Successive spirit users, contracted with purification spirits, poured all their strength into cleansing it, averting the forest's doom.
They repelled the heretics somehow and, with the temple's aid, weakened the evil-god-infused weapon. But they couldn't fully seal it or pull the sword from the earth.
In the end, over a hundred years, the inheritor of the spirits continues purification efforts in cooperation with the temple to this day.
"What's the clan's name?"
"The Septiyon clan."
Septiyon.
A name I knew.
After all, Septiyon was the name of a boss in Savior of World.
To be precise, Septiyon of Gluttony.
And that boss wielded a powerful weapon despite its debuffs.
'Who would've thought I'd learn this right after the kids left.'
Septiyon was also a boss with mechanics that aided Riki, Ruki, and Raki during their boss fights.
-Behold the might of the greatest spirit user! -
With that line, it would swoop in, easing the difficulty reliably.
'Though as a boss to fight, that reliability only pissed players off.'
At any rate, this was valuable intel for me.
It might be a chance to claim a boss weapon for sure.
In the game, defeating Septiyon yielded its weapon.
Attacking foes with the Gluttony Sword dealt massive damage and healed your HP.
But it built up a Gluttony Gauge on use. Fill it completely, and you'd drop dead.
'The only way to reduce the gauge wasn't status cure potions—it required 'food' to lower it.'
A weapon perfectly matching its gluttony theme.
Players rarely used it as a main weapon, opting for it as a sub-DPS for emergency heals.
'But if that gluttony gauge in reality feels like mental erosion or hunger gnawing at the body like poison...'
I might nullify the debuff and reap only the weapon's benefits.
"Well done, Kirigumo. Very intriguing information."
"I'm overjoyed it pleases Your Highness!!"
"Are you planning to visit the spirit user clan's forest this time?"
"Hm? Why do you ask, Ridel?"
"Because Aren-sama's face says you're set on going there."
She could read me like a book.
"Yeah, I think I will. I might be able to help somehow."
"How could Aren-sama possibly help?"
"My body resists poison completely. Maybe that evil-god weapon won't affect me either?"
"...I can't deny it—somehow, it feels like you could. But I can't just let you go alone. For safety, we should request a temple priest to accompany us."
"Yeah, let's do that."
"And this time, I'm coming too."
"You too, Ridel?"
"Yes. For Nardan Jungle, Mikel's back had limited spots, so no choice there. And in the monster parade, I couldn't contribute much. But that forest is two weeks away by carriage, as far as I know."
Ridel placed a hand on her chest.
"Even just the return trip is over a month. Riding Mikel would shorten it, but... as your exclusive maid, I can't be apart from you that long. Besides, without me, you'd pack nothing but preserved rations. That's bad for your health."
She was right—on the Nardan trip, meals were mostly the head chef's prep or village-bought preserves.
"Uh... s-so, this time it's Your Highness, the priest, and Lady Ridel traveling together?"
I shook my head at Amelin's question.
"No, Mikel's worked hard lately, so we'll take a carriage this time. Amelin, you and Mikel stay and guard the mansion."
At my current level, I could handle powerful spells solo without her.
"U-Understood, Your Highness!"
"Ridel, contact the temple for me. Tell them I want to visit the Septiyon clan's forest and request a priest to join."
"Yes, Aren-sama."
After instructing Ridel, I looked forward to testing just how useful a debuff-immune boss weapon could be.