The Fire Spirit Ignis

Ignis, the Fire Spirit.

The Silverrain family office lay under a silence so heavy it felt crushed flat.

A chandelier hanging from the high ceiling scattered the afternoon light like shards of glass, and from a cup of the finest porcelain rose the scent of bergamot, drifting up like a languid fog.

The head of House Silverrain sat with one leg elegantly crossed over the other and touched his lips to a cup of crimson tea.

Everything about the scene was peaceful.

Until he opened his mouth.

"So…… that mad dog has gone quiet for a while?"

At the low, gravelly question, a man in uniform—the family's captain of the guard—bowed his head, cold sweat beading on his brow.

"Y-yes, that is correct, my lord."

Clink.

The family head set his teacup down hard on its saucer.

The irritable crack of porcelain sliced clean through the stillness of the office.

"Only the other day she was raving on top of the fountain about burning us all to death. That half-elf scrap nearly roasted three of my guards into well-done steaks. And now you're telling me she's suddenly well-behaved? Does that make any sense?"

"……Well."

The captain delivering the report could not hide his discomfort; his words trailed off.

"I cannot say why…… but it is true. There was even a witness account yesterday that she rescued an elven child who was being attacked by thugs in a back alley."

"……Rescued? Her?"

One of the family head's eyebrows twitched.

"Hmph. Laughable. She used to look ready to burn me alive and devour the ashes, and now she wants to play the hypocrite?"

"Rather than that…… she seems to have changed ever since she met a human."

"A human……?"

"Yes. You may have seen him yourself, my lord. The counselor said to have been dispatched from the Holy See……"

At those words, a man's face flickered through the family head's mind.

When had it been—in front of the fountain.

That humiliating moment when he had tried to subdue a rampaging Ruby and nearly been swallowed by her flames instead.

And then, as if by a lie, the man who had parted the fire and appeared.

Aris Mardia.

The words he had left behind rose unbidden.

— If you catch her and throw her in prison, will that temper of hers get better? Or will she, in a fit of rage, burn the whole prison down and break out……

"Hmph…… that bastard did have a point."

"My lord?"

"……It's nothing."

The family head quietly took the teacup to his lips again, then shoved it away in irritation.

The simple-mindedness of underlings who knew nothing of the real situation disgusted him.

It was not simply because she was a mixed-blood mongrel that they left her alone.

She was not even a white elephant—she was a walking time bomb.

The strongest fire spirit, Ignis.

Elves, by nature, were a race specialized in governing water and earth. Fire was different.

It was an absolute power that should have been permitted only to chosen, noble bloodlines.

And yet that power had taken root in the body of that lowborn wretch.

Worse, because it had been forced into her, the condition was extremely unstable.

Kill her? Fools.

The moment the host, Ruby, died, the spirit with nowhere to go would run wild.

If a spirit of Ignis's caliber went berserk, not only the manor but half the city would be reduced to ash.

And if they locked her in the underground dungeon, she would melt the iron bars on a whim and escape, dragging the family's prestige through the mud.

A living disaster that could neither be killed nor confined.

That was why, even though Ruby Scarlet was a criminal, they could not arrest her—only make a show of pursuing her.

But now she had changed?

If an uncontrollable beast had recovered its reason, the story was different.

The family head's eyes narrowed.

In his mind, a calculator of profit and loss spun at high speed.

"……Now that she's quiet may be our chance."

"Chance, my lord?"

"A mad dog needs a club. But a dog that listens can be put to the hunt."

A thin, unpleasant smile touched the family head's lips.

He had just thought of the perfect way to dispose of the waste.

"Deliver a message to her."

"A message, my lord……?"

"Tell her the Celestial Spirit Tournament will be held soon."

The captain's eyes went round.

"Th-the Celestial Spirit Tournament?! That place is a sanctuary for purebloods! And the moment that filthy criminal blood sets foot there, the other houses will rain protests down on us!"

"Which is exactly what makes it interesting."

The family head propped his chin on laced fingers and murmured.

"That place is inside an ancient barrier. Even if the spirit runs wild, the spectator stands and the city remain safe."

Only then did the captain seem to grasp his lord's intent; he swallowed hard.

"Surely you don't mean……"

"I do. I will make her an offer. Win the tournament, and every crime she has committed will be pardoned—and she will be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠treated with the respect due an elf. Refuse? Then I simply threaten her into taking her own life on the spot."

For the family head, it was a deal that could not lose.

If Ruby died at another contestant's hands in the tournament?

Inside the barrier, the time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bomb would be safely dismantled.

Dress it up as an honorable warrior's death, and the family's face would be preserved.

How merciful House Silverrain was, even to criminals—or so they would say.

Conversely, if that mad dog actually won?

The family would gain a powerful living weapon that could command Ignis.

Even the other houses that had protested would shut their mouths before overwhelming force.

"She either becomes the noble sword of us elves, or she overreaches without knowing her place and burns to death in the spirit's own flames."

The family head rose from his seat, looked down through the window at the detached annex, and muttered as if pronouncing a death sentence upon Ruby Scarlet.

"Either ending is fine by me, isn't it? Deliver this at once."

He held out a white envelope.

An entry ticket to the Celestial Spirit Tournament—or rather, a de facto death notice.

"This should be entertaining……"

Ruby Scarlet's defenses were slowly crumbling.

But…… how long could I keep going on counseling and massages alone?

There was clearly a limit.

I scrubbed my face dry with both hands and let out a sigh.

Her past, the hidden settings, the events still ahead—I was desperately short on information.

Guesswork and gut feeling would only take me this far.

What I needed now was a solid walkthrough.

WhiteMage, who called himself a walking Heroine Encyclopedia.

If anyone knew something, it would be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that guy.

I snapped my fingers in the empty air and refreshed the interface.

Ding.

The familiar board screen unfolded before my eyes.

The earthbound gallery ghosts, with nothing better to do, were still spamming each other with meaningless garbage posts.

Among them, one title snagged my eye—and grated on it hard.

……Ha.

Advice based on what he knew? The real idiot was me for taking it at face value and actually doing it.

I swallowed the rising anger and hammered at the holographic keyboard.

The second my ID appeared, the comment section ignited.

At my urgent request, WhiteMage replied as if puzzled.

A wall…… of course I had.

Why did the elves hate her so much?

Just because of that one bloodline reason—being a half-elf?

And over that grudge, Ruby Scarlet burned everything? Far too simple.

I still didn't know a single concrete detail about what had happened in her past.

I couldn't keep massaging her forever and holding her hand under the pretense of a three-second rule test.

A precision dissection of the heroine came first.

That was when the tactless one butted in.

For a moment, silence fell over the comment section.

I fumed and waited again for WhiteMage's reply.

I'd cleared out the useless troll. Now it was time for real information.

Before the heat of the thread even cooled, WhiteMage's long reply went up.

WhiteMage left that reply and attached an image file.

I pressed the attached image in midair, and a detailed profile—the kind you'd only see in developer notes or a setting book—unfolded as a hologram.

"This bastard…… put a lot of work into this, huh?"

This kind of thing was just useless profile fluff.

I frowned and kept scrolling down.

Then something that made my eyes snap wide open appeared.

……Ignis?

As I turned the name over in my head, WhiteMage's comments continued.

WhiteMage's additional explanation unspooled beneath the text.

Still, it was genuinely useful information.

Hmm.

Anyway.

I'd dig into the past slowly.

The fact that a spirit—Ignis—had taken root in her body was an excellent walkthrough keyword.

In this game's worldbuilding, a spirit was not mere magical power.

It was a sacred being with a self of its own, a mirror that responded to its contractor's heart.

If Ruby hated the flame and that was why the spirit ran wild……

Then if I could soothe the spirit and commune with it instead?

It wouldn't just be about detonating power—it would mean she could freely regulate her firepower at will.

"In that case, the next session should be built around this."

I smiled, left WhiteMage a thank-you comment, and shut off the interface.

Tick. Tock.

The wall clock pointed to nine. Time to receive her soon.

"As for materials…… one candle should be enough."

I stepped out of the bathroom and straightened my clothes.

This time it wouldn't be empty words ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of comfort.

The flame she had spent her whole life treating as a curse—

it was time to turn it into the warmest gift in the world.