The Second Contract
"Are you ready?"
"I'm ready."
Ruen wasn't particularly nervous about his first spirit contract. After all, it was his first. With so little information available about spirit summoners in this world, he couldn't even perform a proper contract, and this would be his first time communing with a spirit. At best, he expected a Low Grade Spirit to appear.
"You're really ready, right?"
"……I said I'm ready. It's not like there's anything for me to prepare in the first place."
Oddly enough, Ophelia was the one who seemed tense. In her estimation, if the contract went well, Ruen might even form a bond with a Mid Grade Spirit. His talent was that extraordinary.
After Ophelia asked for confirmation one more time, Ruen let out a small sigh and answered. Ophelia exhaled a long breath of her own, nodded, and stepped back.
"Begin."
Standing atop the magic circle etched with constellations, Ruen gave a small nod at her words.
"Spirits dwelling in the myriad forces of nature in this world. In the name of the one who inherited the will of the first spirit summoner, Gigarius, I call upon you. Manifest before me now."
The moment he uttered the incantation that formed the foundation of spirit arts, the magic circle blazed with light. As Ophelia watched the brilliant glow, a passage from Gigarius's records flashed through her mind.
'The stronger the light, the higher the chance of a superior entity appearing.'
The light represented a spirit summoner's sensitivity to spirits. A strong light meant exceptional sensitivity. The thought made Ophelia swallow dryly without realizing it.
A Mid Grade? No…… This is clearly—
—something even higher.
When I was young—very young—I felt a little lonely. My father and mother were kind and loved me dearly, yet I was still lonely. Just a little. Father was often busy with family affairs, and Mother devoted herself to magical research. Of course, that wasn't a bad thing. Those duties were essential to sustaining the family, and without them, not only I but everyone in the household would have been in danger. Still, I spent long stretches alone, and sometimes the loneliness crept in.
Then one day, something approached me.
Meow……
It was a cat. I found it in the garden of the Calbrandt estate one day—sick, weak, and utterly exhausted. The moment I saw it, I decided to take care of it. I couldn't say why, but perhaps it was because of Father's teachings about protecting the weak. Or maybe I was simply drawn to the adorable creature.
Somehow, I managed to sneak the cat into my room without anyone noticing. And surprisingly, I succeeded in keeping it hidden. Even though I left a box for it in the corner and secretly brought milk and food every day, no one found out. Looking back, it was absurd—several maids came in and out of my room daily. They must have known. They were probably just pretending not to.
……Well, even if they had said something, it wouldn't have changed anything.
If I'd wanted a pet, my parents wouldn't have refused. I simply hadn't asked.
Anyway, I named the cat Elenia. I took care of it with all the devotion a child could muster. Thinking about it now, the maids probably washed and looked after it for me, but still. Elenia—Nia for short—grew up steadily alongside me. In hindsight, it was no ordinary cat, but……
The more I think about it, the more obvious it becomes that I lived quite comfortably believing it was just a cat. Even so, its small size meant it never left my room.
Nia disappeared about a year later. It happened on a day when I was terribly ill. My fever had spiked so high that my mind was hazy, and the rain poured endlessly outside. That night, Nia stayed by my side. The next morning, it was gone without a trace.
……I cried so much back then.
Because we'd spent a whole year together, Nia's disappearance left me sobbing for a long time. I'd always known Nia was a stray and would eventually leave, but when it actually happened, the sadness hit harder than I'd expected.
And now, I was facing it again.
"……So it was you."
Nia rubbed against my feet just like always, acting spoiled. I could only let out a hollow laugh as I looked down at it.
I'd already suspected it wasn't an ordinary cat. How else could a regular feline slip past the strict magical barriers surrounding a renowned magic household? Those wards were so powerful that not even a mouse could set foot inside. Yet Nia had passed through them all and reached me.
"Nia."
I gently stroked its head as it pressed its scent against my feet, just like before, and fell into thought.
Nia was a spirit.
Realizing once more that the spirit residing within me was Nia, I clicked my tongue. At this point, I couldn't even bring myself to complain about the spirit living in my body. No matter what, I couldn't badmouth Nia.
Besides—
"Back then…… you saved me, didn't you?"
That day, when I was so terribly sick as a child, my life had probably been in real danger. The fever had been so severe that my consciousness blurred; if I'd exaggerated it, I might have died. And the one who protected me—who saved me—was Nia. How could I possibly resent it?
Meow.
When I softly petted its snow-white fur, Nia sparkled its green eyes and pressed closer. Nia had always been affectionate, so I felt nothing strange about it. I simply continued stroking the fur of the cat I hadn't seen in so long. Somehow, petting Nia made my mind feel calmer.
If Nia is a spirit, does that mean I've already formed a contract?
Then what happens to my first spirit contract? Come to think of it, I had been in the middle of contracting when I ended up here. Where exactly is here?
As I looked around the pure white space, I spoke without thinking.
"Nia, where are we?"
I hadn't really expected an answer. Even if Nia was a spirit, we'd never had a conversation before. Not even after meeting here—Nia had only ever meowed.
So when the voice came—
[This is one of the passages connecting the spirit realm and the human realm. If I had to describe it, it's somewhere within the Spirit King's mental world.]
—I couldn't help but be startled.
"……Was that you just now?"
[It was.]
I let out a small breath and blinked. The mature, feminine voice coming from Nia felt strangely unfamiliar.
"Who are you?"
[I am Elenia.]
"……I gave you the name Elenia."
Nia yawned nonchalantly and introduced herself. But since it was a name I had given her, I could only stare at her in disbelief.
[The name you bestowed upon me. Elenia. Therefore, I am Elenia. Is there a problem?]
I had the distinct feeling that the corner of Nia's mouth had curled upward in a smile. Dismissing it as my imagination, I met her gaze and spoke.
"So what happens to my spirit contract?"
[You already formed one with me. A very long time ago.]
The "very long time ago" she meant was…… that day. The day I was sick. If I'd contracted with Nia then—
"Then is the contract over?"
If so, why had she brought me here? I looked at Elenia with the question in my eyes. Still pressed against my leg, she shook her head gently from side to side.
[Not quite. Even if the first contract has ended, the second one remains, doesn't it?]
"Oh. The second contract."
I didn't know what rank of spirit Elenia was, but the fact that we were conversing so calmly told me she was at least a high-ranking one.
[Well, they're nothing compared to me, but I did select only the ones worth keeping around.]
Her words filled me with anticipation. But then—
For some reason, none of them seemed quite right. A sense of unease crept over me.