Chapter 3: Silbarein Count's Study
The study in the Silbarein Count's estate reflected its master's personality—prioritizing efficiency over luxury, restraint over ostentation, unlike other nobles' offices.
And the master of that study, Raidel Silbarein, was wrestling with a mountain of documents.
'The situation is more serious than expected. This is bad.'
-Thud.
He irritably set down the headache-inducing report and slumped back in his chair like a collapsing puppet.
As an upper spirit contractor and the head of a count's family with years of experience, this volume of paperwork wasn't entirely unfamiliar to him. But the recent events were something Raidel had never dealt with before.
The Theresia Duchy. One of the four great ducal houses, ruling the empire's primary granary in the south. His wife's family homeland had been struck by an unprecedented famine.
Since about a third of the empire's grain came from the Theresia Duchy, the imperial family had reacted immediately, and Raidel—as the duke's son-in-law and a spirit contractor—had cooperated in the investigation.
'The problem is, even after identifying the cause, we have no solution...'
The investigation quickly pinpointed the famine's origin. Mages on the team had sensed changes in the mana, and Raidel had confirmed it with his own eyes upon arriving in the duchy.
'The spirit's mana has vanished.'
Raiden had always felt the air thick with spirit mana whenever he visited the ducal house. Even as an upper spirit contractor, the vast, dense water mana he couldn't see made him certain that Nereis was nearby.
'But who would've thought Nereis had dissipated.'
Yet when he visited for the investigation, Nereis's presence had vanished without a trace. When he asked Duke Theresia just in case, the answer was that odd signs had appeared a few years prior.
They'd swiftly identified the cause, but weeks later, no viable solution had emerged.
Even he, one of the empire's top contractors with his pact to the upper wind spirit Sylphid, couldn't grasp how to compensate for the absence of a top water spirit like Nereis.
'Ever since Elesia died, things have piled up too much. This is largely my fault.'
Raiden sighed and habitually opened the drawer where his cigars were kept. But having resolved to quit smoking, it now held a belated gift instead.
'Come to think of it, yesterday was Linea's birthday...'
He'd kept his distance to avoid Bellona's watchful eyes, but he hadn't meant to skip her birthday.
'She's such a fragile child... I hope it didn't hurt her too deeply...'
As a bitter taste filled his mouth and he closed his eyes, voices came from beyond the door.
"Is this the right place?" "Yes, but we really shouldn't..." "Miss Linea? What brings you here? And who's this man beside you?"
'Linea's come. It's been a while since she sought me out first.' "Edmund. Let them in."
Pushing aside his guilt, Raidel schooled his face into a cold mask to greet her—but it shattered the moment he saw Linea peeking at him nervously from the arms of a stranger.
"...Who are you?"
But the man's actions were even stranger.
"You Linea's dad?" "Yes." -Pow!
The moment he answered, Raidel flew back from the flying fist, a mix of shock and pain surging through him. Glancing at Linea mid-flight, he saw...
"..? ..?"
Linea was tilting her head, as if the man had covered her eyes and ears.
'What the hell is this madness.' "Guhk!"
Man, that felt refreshing.
Linea kept fretting, so I ended my little "consultation" with one punch, but now all the pent-up frustration from before is gone.
Raiden must've caught on that I'd covered Linea's eyes and ears, because he got up casually and handed her a birthday present.
'He remembered it, even if late. Guess that's enough for now.'
It wasn't like he'd deliberately ignored her birthday, and he looked so worn out it was pitiful.
'I knew a count doesn't get to slack off, but I didn't expect it to be this bad.'
To the point where, despite his handsome features that made half of Linea, he evoked the image of an overworked salaryman burning the midnight oil.
'Not Raiden's fault, though.'
I'd come to change how the count's household treated Linea, but Raiden didn't seem like the abusive or neglectful father type. Not entirely innocent, maybe.
'So the countess is the problem, then.'
Of course, that woman from the ducal house, not Linea's real mother. Elesia must've been a kind, beautiful woman, judging by Linea.
'How could anyone hate something this cute? Weird.'
Looking at Linea playing with the doll Raiden gave her from my lap, she smiled back at me.
Yeah. Definitely that woman's the odd one out.
Convinced in my mind, I stroked Linea's hair as Raiden spoke up in his odd half-formal tone.
"So, you're the spirit contracted to Linea?" "That's right." "Then you must be the Water Spirit King."
Whoa. That's impressive.
"Spot on. How'd you know?" "I've sensed Nereis's mana before. No spirit has purer, more potent mana than a top spirit like Nereis—except a Spirit King. I apologize for my earlier rudeness."
Guess a count from a spirit contractor family doesn't lose his edge.
"No worries. I threw the first punch too. Oh, and my name's Kalion—call me that. There are three other Spirit Kings besides me, after all." "Understood, Kalion. Thank you for your understanding." "Yeah, yeah."
Conversation done, I started pinching Linea's soft cheeks. I'd done the same to my baby sister in my past life—brings back memories.
'Kids' cheeks shouldn't be this thin. Gotta get her eating properly first. I'll have Shiri look into some nutritious foods.'
Raiden said that with Linea now contracted to a Spirit King, he had no reason to tiptoe around Bellona anymore. As I plotted my "Fatten Up Linea" project solo, Raiden hesitated before making a request.
"Kalion, I'm sorry, but could you help me?" "With what?" "Nereis, who lived in the Theresia Duchy, dissipated, causing the famine. I know you bear ill feelings toward Bellona, but the duchy produces so much for the empire—I'm begging you."
He'd braced for a tough ask, his face darkening, but brightened at my reply.
"Thank you so much! I'll never forget this favor." "Good, don't. But something's off." "What's odd, sir?" "You heard Nereis died, so I made a new one and sent it. But from what you say, the situation's weird."
I pondered briefly, but no clear answer came. No way Nereis ignored me and slacked off, right?
Shiri usually handled this stuff, so I summoned her to ask. And got an earful right away.
[No matter how thrilled you were, how could you just charge off like that!]
"Haha, sorry. Anyway, about that request?"
[Trying to gloss over it again! Sigh, Nereis arrived properly.]
But if Raiden's asking me, that can't be...
Ah, wait...
"Raiden, where's the Theresia Duchy?" "The empire's southern granary." "Shiri, where's Terranos?"
[It's the land of a big river and plains south of the humans' kingdom... Ah!]
'What a letdown.'
After hastily summoning Shiri to confirm, it turned out to be a simple mix-up between human and spirit place names.
"So Theresia will return to normal soon without me lifting a finger. Don't worry too much." "Understood."
But I couldn't have misunderstandings like this again... Ah, right.
"You said you wouldn't forget the favor?"
Ignoring Raiden's anxious look, I turned to Linea.
"Linea, mind if I borrow your dad?" "Yesh? Hm?"
Too busy playing to follow, she replied with a little noise instead of words.
Ah, my contractor's just too adorable.
"That's all for today's lesson." "Good work."
I headed to Linea, leaving Raiden with his exasperated expression behind. No surprise—he probably thought making a noble house head his daughter's tutor was a joke.
But who am I?
The Spirit King unbound by human hierarchies.
Raiden had been my personal tutor for months now, and even after the Theresia issue resolved, he didn't seem any less busy.
"Kalion, look at this!"
Arriving where Linea practiced mana, she spotted me, ran over with a proud grin, and shoved a mana orb in my face. Her mage tutor said she had real talent.
My proud contractor Linea!
But why was a spirit contractor like Linea training mana?
Because of this world's spirit contracting method. To contract a spirit here, you needed two things: affinity to summon them, and mana to seal the deal.
Her affinity was overflowing since she summoned me, a Spirit King, but as the neglected kid in the count's house, she'd never learned mana properly.
"But I'm already contracted to Linea, right?" "That seems to be thanks to Elesia's keepsake."
I'd doubted a mere necklace could do that, but Raiden explained it was a relic from my predecessor Spirit King.
An ancestor of the Elesia family had successfully contracted my senior, and when that ancestor died, my senior followed without regret.
Of course, he hadn't abandoned the descendants—he left them a gift: the necklace passed down as the Elesia heirloom.
'Just what did they do for a Spirit King contractor family to fall like that?'
At the time, I'd felt distrust toward Linea's grandparents.
'They must've had their reasons~.'
Decided to think positively. In a way, it let me meet Linea sooner, right?
Anyway, through these lessons, I caught up on common knowledge lost to my reclusive life, while Linea raced toward completing our contract. Time flew by like an arrow.
"Soon it'll be a year since I contracted with Linea."
That's right.
The monumental day marking one year since our contract was right around the corner. Which meant my one and only contractor Linea's birthday was approaching too.
I plunged into the dilemma of a lifetime.
'What to get her for her birthday?'
I recalled gifts for my baby sister in my past life, but this world lacked parents' eternal foe and kids' best friend: Lovely Ping!
