Chapter 19
Chapter 19
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Even Here, Life is Complicated (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The journey was unbearably boring.
Ride horses while chatting.
Rest for a bit, then ride horses again.
Eat a meal, then ride horses.
We rode horses nonstop.
I was so bad at riding that my butt felt like it was going to fall off.
After riding all day like that, we were now digging into the ground.
"Old Man, try it here first."
"Ahem. It's finally time to show you."
Closel Elder rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward.
"Not the whole thing— just dig the ground!"
"Don't worry."
The surrounding mana followed Closel Elder's gestures.
Magic was all the more fascinating the more I watched it.
The way mana moved was amazing, and the results were even more so.
"Dig!"
The ground caved in deeply.
The problem was that it was dug too aggressively.
The boulders in the excavated earth were shattered.
"No, I told you to go easy, Old Man... Do we really need to kill people twice?"
At my words, Parmon Elder quickly chimed in with a scolding tone.
"Closel, you're a grand mage—can't you even control that?"
"Be quiet. Didn't you smash the ground too?"
"Next, Irene! Dig over there."
She said spirits could dig the earth, right?
This was a sequence I was quite looking forward to.
"Gnome!"
At Irene's call, the spirit appeared.
At the same time, a thick earthy scent brushed past my nose.
"Oh..."
It was a sturdy figure.
Looking like an old man or a child, it was about the height of my shin.
It felt like a soul, but a bit different.
A living soul, maybe...?
If the earth were alive, it would feel exactly like this.
"...?"
Why is it staring at me like that?
Clear, transparent eyes.
Lips that looked quite stubborn, thick eyebrows.
Excellent features.
Do spirits have the same kind of physiognomy as humans?
The gnome walked around, examining me with interest.
As if checking something, it circled me and stopped in front of the rattle at my waist.
"Why?"
It glanced between my face and the rattle, then bowed its head toward me.
"Ho ho?"
"Gno... Gnome?"
I heard the elders' exclamations and Irene's flustered voice.
What a polite spirit.
It even greeted me properly.
"The little one's so sweet."
"...Pardon?"
The gnome kept staring at me.
Its gaze even seemed quite friendly.
"Chris, have you ever contracted with a spirit before?"
"No?"
This was my first time seeing a spirit up close, aside from the time Irene used one from a distance.
Back then, I only sensed it from afar, so this was truly my first proper look.
"For a spirit to act this friendly..."
The gnome pointed at the rattle and shook its body.
It looked exactly like me imitating during the ritual last time.
"You saw me doing the ritual, huh? Irene, were you spying on my house?"
"I was just following the branch's movements."
Her excuse was following the branch's sway.
I smacked my lips at Irene and turned back to the gnome.
"You must've had fun together. Want to dig the ground over there?"
"Chris, spirits only heed their contractor's requests..."
Irene stopped in shock.
The nodding gnome had started digging.
"...Gnome?!"
"That's it. Good job. A bit gentler now."
It was a mystical sight.
As the gnome mimed digging, the earth split apart.
The ground parted without damaging anything.
"A little more! Right there!"
Finally, I found what I was looking for.
"Hey! Elders!"
"Us?"
"Not you elders."
"There must be spirits nearby again. I can't see them..."
There had been spirits following us persistently since earlier.
I accidentally made eye contact, and they stuck like glue.
They weren't stray ghosts; they seemed to have some pitiful circumstances.
Four spirits.
One in full armor looked like a knight, the others soldiers.
The common point: all had gruesome wounds on their backs.
"These match your bodies, right, Elders?"
As the ground was dug up, bones emerged.
Not all were intact, some decayed away.
Probably from the Continental War, I guessed.
To think battles reached even these mountains...
"I'll bury you properly again, so please move on."
I removed the rusted armor from the bones, gathered the fragments, and looked up.
"Not going?"
- ....
Even after finding their bodies, the spirits' reactions were lukewarm.
Wasn't this what bound them...?
"Not the bodies?"
At my words, the knight spirit pointed to the ground again.
"Hmm? Gnome! Can you help a bit?"
"Chris... why do you keep commandeering someone else's spirit..."
Whatever Irene said, the gnome dutifully helped me.
Maybe it felt kinship since it's a spirit too.
Swoosh—
Swoosh—
The ground dug deeper, and onlookers could only sigh.
Especially Parmon Elder's sigh came from deep in his chest.
"Heavens..."
"A child...?"
The four skeletons lay surrounding and prostrated over one small child's bones.
They sacrificed their lives to protect it, but all perished together.
"...Looks like the Elders were looking for this child."
The spirits nodded.
Seeing their relieved expressions now, this child was their regret.
"The child already moved on. You Elders know that, right?"
No answer.
They just silently approached, reaching out to touch the untouchable bones.
Ignoring their own bodies, they kept stroking the child.
Gentle touches.
"Your regrets..."
Even as a shaman, I can't know every spirit's innermost thoughts.
I just feel their emotions and help release them.
They were grieving.
Sorry for failing to protect the child.
Pitying the child buried in these mountains.
They didn't follow me to recover their own bodies.
They just wanted the child moved to a warmer place.
Another hand slipped between the spirits' hands.
Parmon Elder's hand.
"The armor's too damaged to be sure, but the emblem suggests they were from the knight order we fought with."
Parmon Elder, silent while pondering the bones, finally spoke.
"Are their spirits still here?"
"Yes. Overlapping with your hand, Elder."
"I see."
Parmon Elder took a deep breath and stood.
His gaze, filled with myriad emotions, wouldn't leave the bones.
"I am Parmon, who fought alongside you. You may not remember me."
After a pause, Parmon Elder straightened.
A solemn voice emerged from his rigid face.
"Nameless knights and soldiers."
Parmon Elder's eyes didn't blink.
Fixed firmly, as if etching their forms.
"Nameless shields and swords..."
His heavy lips parted again.
"I will remember your sacrifice."
As Parmon Elder's words ended, bright smiles formed on the spirits' lips.
Pride swelled.
Relief followed.
"Haa..."
For them, it was the highest praise, received only in death.
The spirits faded gradually.
Leaving bright smiles, they vanished without regrets.
They had moved on.
"Now they've gone their way."
"Heavens..."
Closel and Irene watched solemnly too.
"People from the Continental War were all remarkable."
Parmon Elder smiled as if praised himself.
"Indeed. Did they find peaceful rest?"
I don't know where spirits go.
But the relief at their passing told me it wasn't bad.
Besides...
"They protected the child even in death. It'd be weird if they didn't rest in peace."
The child left long ago—why guard this place?
Not even their own bodies, but another's.
"Tsk tsk... Such lingering fools."
All stubborn spirits.
These ones, and those around Parmon— all so stubbornly attached.
Their regrets all for others.
"So much to do..."
Spiritual energy deepened further.
I tried stacking it, but it wouldn't; now it flows in as regrets resolve.
"Elders. How do mages and knights build mana?"
"There's specific training to accumulate mana."
"Meditation's best."
Enviable.
Just train and mana builds.
"Let's move on. Seems more around here."
"Right."
Irene's will mattered too.
Our journey's goal was the World Tree.
"Hmm..."
Irene gazed at the trees briefly, then nodded readily.
"Can't block the wind forever."
Did she sense the spirits moving on?
Spirits visible here and there.
Fleeing stray ghosts too.
Stray bastards flee at the sight of others moving on.
Obsessed with unleashing their grudges.
Anger, lust, greed— mostly filthy reasons.
Feels like more candles to light.
"Gotta send off every one that can go."