Spirit and Fai...ry (3)
Spirit and Fai...ry (3)
When I think of a pet, a dog is the first thing that comes to mind.
Whenever I happened across one on the street or spotted one through a screen, I thought they were adorable.
A tail whipping with excitement, a tongue adorably peeking out of its mouth, fur that made me want to gently run my hand through it.
I had thought about raising one.
They were cute, fascinating creatures who give affection and devotion to their owner regardless of who that person is, and I think I craved that affection from a dog too.
But I never raised one.
Because I didn't have the confidence to take responsibility.
When my living situation had become decent enough, I was tempted, but... could someone like me actually take responsibility to the very end? Doubts crept in, and I didn't adopt.
I was also afraid of the farewell.
Would I die first? Or would the pet die first?
I imagined the pet leaving first and myself remaining behind, desolate and alone.
Thinking that I'd probably want to die right then and there along with them, I couldn't bring myself to raise one.
- Woof-woof!
- Grrrrr...
- Heh-heh-heh...
[......]
My wish to raise a pet came true in an odd direction.
The once purely green forest was now brimming with color. The spirits had ascended to intermediate rank, one after another.
An intermediate spirit is at the stage of blossoming its innate talent. I'd heard that their forms vary just as widely as their abilities.
...But for some reason, a strangely high proportion of my spirits took the form of dogs.
They came in only five colors, but each one's shape was slightly different.
Some were breeds of dogs I commonly knew; others resembled dog-like creatures.
- Woof!
The lightning spirit who had just finished ascending was no exception.
With an odd look on my face, I lifted the little dog up.
Fwip-fwip-fwip-fwip! The tail attached to its rump spun like a bolt of lightning. The electricity crackling along with the tail was quite menacing, but fortunately, no harm came to me.
I examined its form. Its ears were broad and its legs were adorably stubby.
It looked just like a Welsh Corgi.
'Good heavens, an electric Welsh Corgi...'
- Heh-heh...!
[Nggh... tickles]
The panting spirit suddenly swept its tongue across my cheek. It wasn't awkward. I'd already ascended more than half of the spirits to intermediate rank, and I'd been subjected to a great deal of physical affection in return.
Even the ones sitting quietly on their haunches had initially rubbed their bodies against me and licked me to express affection.
Honestly, that... didn't feel bad.
- Heh-heh-heh...
At the same time, it left me deeply complicated in many ways.
The reason I learned spirit arts was because they provide a substantial force in anti-army combat.
When entering a dungeon or fighting along a frontline like in the Demon Realm, a large number of spirits serve as a great strength.
There's also a high chance of a massive surge of monsters from the Reverse Side. Along with necromancy, they'll surely be a powerful asset then too.
In other words, the reason I formed contracts with the spirits was ultimately to use them in battle.
...I'm using spirits, who seek my affection and wish to receive it, for combat.
As I belatedly recognized this, my heart felt as if it were being clenched tight.
'Hoo...'
I pushed the complicated thoughts down for now. This was something to mull over later.
- Grrrr...
I rubbed cheeks with the spirit in my hands and set it down on the ground. The creature, who seemed a little awkward and took quick, mincing steps on all fours, soon flopped its belly down at a slight distance.
The spirits gathered around numbered nearly 200.
At first, each ascension took about five minutes, but later they wrapped up in just over a minute, so the process moved along pretty quickly.
[It looks like it'll take more than a day at this rate, though?]
But even taking that into account, it still looked like it'd take longer than a day.
Professor Liana, looking slightly sheepish, tucked her hair behind her ear.
"Yes, that's on me. I forgot to factor in the time needed for the mindscape sharing..."
[I see... ... ...?]
I nodded along, then abruptly used my observation sense on her opposite arm, which had been moving repeatedly.
A dog... no, a wind spirit was being petted by Professor Liana.
'......'
I subtly shifted my focus. Right beside me was Ellia. She too was gently stroking one of the spirits scattered around her.
"Oh... now that it's intermediate rank, its texture feels a bit more defined."
"That's because its existence has become more concrete. It's not just your imagination."
"Do their appearances change when they become upper spirits too?"
"Yes, they often transform again upon becoming high-ranked."
While I had spaced out for a moment, the two of them had been chatting together amicably.
Maybe their hands had felt idle in the process? It seemed they were passing the time by petting the spirits nearby.
I could understand that. Whenever my own hands felt idle, I often found myself fidgeting with whatever was nearby.
- Poooh...
"...Ha-yul?"
"Cadet Lee Ha-yul?"
I understood, but honestly, I couldn't help my resentment.
When my cheeks puffed out on their own, the two chatting figures fixed their gazes on me.
Bewilderment seeped into their looks at my roundly puffed cheeks.
[Jealous]
[Jealous]
[Jealous]
The Confession Necklace clicked incessantly.
The emotion tinting the projected voice was a bit embarrassing, but even stronger than that was a childish desire to have my resentment acknowledged.
"Oh dear... here, come here."
Their fluster at my puffed-up cheeks was brief.
Professor Liana scooped me up, plopped me onto her lap, and stroked my back.
"Sorry for looking away. It was hard to talk to or touch Ha-yul since you were concentrating."
Ellia turned her attention to me as well. She gently patted my shoulder, her expression holding a hint of laughter.
The warmth and soft texture drew closer. The touch that stroked down my back and head in turn, and the attention pouring onto me, made my resentment melt smoothly away.
[Hmm-hmm]
...Shame followed belatedly. Along with the realization that my behavior just moments ago had been terribly childish.
But I also didn't want to pull away from the current situation. I stealthily deflated the air from my cheeks and changed the subject.
[...The mana is a bit taxing. I didn't know I'd expend this much mana.]
"Ah, that's an unavoidable part of it. The more mana the contractor has, the more mana the ascension requires—it takes a larger cut."
[Aha...]
"I struggled a lot in the past too. My mana capacity is quite large, and since spirit arts are techniques that don't typically have a high mana consumption rate, I'd barely ever felt mana exhaustion."
Professor Liana shrugged and stroked my stomach.
"Let me ask again; you don't have a headache or feel nauseous, right? If you're in a state of exhaustion, you need to tell me right away."
[Yes, I'm really fine. And thinking about that, I also brought an elixir with me.]
"An elixir?"
Professor Liana blinked. In response, I subtly pulled out the wooden case I had tucked away in my arms and showed it to her.
[It's an elixir I happened to obtain. Since I heard it expends a lot of mana, I brought it along to take.]
"An elixir, you say... wait a moment."
Professor Liana tilted her head and examined the wooden case.
"Oh my, this is an elixir produced by Taesan? And the ingredients are..."
Professor Liana, who had been inspecting the origin and ingredients engraved on the wooden case, suddenly stopped talking. Her green eyes rounded.
"Fairy Tree?"
[Yes, the root is the main ingredient, to be precise.]
The elixir's ingredient is the root of a Fairy Tree. As a result of personally inspecting it with my authorities, it's a genuine product manufactured by the Taesan Family.
"A Fairy Tree... er, will it be okay for you to ingest?"
After a brief moment of contemplation, Professor Liana carefully spoke. It was probably a concern related to my species. I nodded to indicate that she needn't worry.
[Yes, it should be fine.]
[In fact, it'll probably be even better for my body.]
Professor Liana's face remained tinged with worry, but after my repeated assurances, she finally nodded.
"Well, I suppose if a tree bears fruit, fairies are the first to pick and eat them..."
Thankfully, I had convinced her.
The fact that this elixir was processed for safety helped with the persuasion too.
After all, it's not one of those elixirs that'll cause your body to explode if you just eat it.
...Of course, in my case, I did collapse vomiting blood, but now is different.
Back then, I had absolutely no awareness of being a fairy, but now both my body and my self-awareness have changed.
Even if signs of a similar incident appeared, I could stop it myself. And Professor Liana is right beside me, so it should be fine.
'Fairy Tree...'
A tree species born for fairies to live and dwell in.
When I ate an elixir made from the roots of a Fairy Tree in the past and collapsed vomiting blood, did my species play a role in that?
I hadn't anticipated it at all back then.
So today, my plan was to eat it once more and confirm.
Conveniently, my mana was also almost completely drained. The situation was perfectly suited for taking it as a mana replenisher.
- Click.
As I opened the lid of the wooden case, a clear and refreshing mana surged up in the very center of the forest.
The spirits that had been listlessly flopped over snapped their heads up. Inside the case where all gazes focused lay a brilliantly gleaming blue pill.
'Hm...'
I nodded, feeling the mana that was stimulating my qi sense.
Both its appearance and the aura it gave off were similar to the elixir I had previously received from Hong Yeon-hwa. The manufacturing year and month were different, but it seemed to be a similar elixir.
[Then, shall I take it right away?]
Under the gaze of Professor Liana, who had me sitting in her lap, and Ellia, who was watching me right from my side.
I nodded in response and put the elixir into my mouth.
It was just like that time.
The elixir that settled on my tongue melted into a viscous liquid and flowed down my throat.
At some point, my consciousness blurred.
* * *
The forest, where sunlight streamed through the leaves, was profoundly tranquil.
- Zzz...
Through that tranquility, a faint breathing sound resonated.
"He's fallen asleep."
"He's nodded off."
It was Lee Ha-yul's breathing.
Liana looked down with a peculiar expression at Lee Ha-yul, who had fallen fast asleep in her arms.
His facial muscles were slack, his cheek pressed against her chest, his arms wound tight around her waist, and his breathing was soft and even.
He had fallen so deeply asleep that he probably wouldn't notice even if someone kidnapped him.
Fortunately, the spirits that had been scattered nearby had long been unsummoned, so there wasn't much noise to disturb Lee Ha-yul's slumber.
- Mmm...
[Tickles]
Liana, wearing a peculiar expression, pressed a finger into his cheek. Lee Ha-yul's wings gave a faint flutter, his lips formed a pout, and he buried his face deeper into her embrace.
"So there really aren't any problems after all... he just fell asleep."
"Hehe, he's cute."
Seated demurely beside them, Ellia let out a giggle.
When she reached out and stroked his head, Lee Ha-yul made a quiet purring sound and nuzzled against her hand.
The sight of that adorable, puppy-like behavior overlapping with the image of Lee Ha-yul insisting he wasn't related to dogs made her laugh even more.
'He's so greedy, too.'
At the same time, she recalled the way he had puffed his cheeks and sulked just because they'd touched the spirits a little.
Here he was, having no problem acting spoiled while keeping multiple women in that mansion of his, yet when Ellia merely patted his spirits, he whined about it. He was the very picture of greed.
Though, to Ellia, that kind of possessiveness was rather pleasant.
"Mm... is this the end of the spirit ascension?"
"We'll have to stop here. He's fallen into a deep sleep during the elixir absorption process; he probably won't wake up even if we try."
It's common for a body to fall into slumber after ingesting an elixir.
No issues could be felt even upon close examination, so this was likely one of those cases.
He'd probably sleep soundly through the day and wake up tomorrow after his mana had been replenished.
- C-c-crack.
"Hm?"
"Huh?"
An odd sound reached the ears of the two who were thinking along those lines.
A sound of something breaking, tearing... not a pleasant noise at all.
The pair, who froze stiff in an instant, met each other's eyes mid-air. And simultaneously, they cast their eyes downward, toward the source of the sound.
- C-c-crack.
It rang out again.
The place the sound echoed from was Lee Ha-yul, cradled in Liana's arms.
Lee Ha-yul's body, which had been nestled quietly, trembled as if convulsing, and the softly spread wings stiffened rigidly.
[Sharp Pain]
[Burning Up]
[Flames]
[Pain]
- Click-click-click.
Amid the cold silence, the Confession Necklace resonated, conveying its wearer's emotional state.
"......"
"......"
The faces of the two turned deathly pale.