Omen (4)

The moment the summoning circle activated, a high-pitched voice exploded directly into my head.

“?”

Fuck. Another weirdo popped out.

“Um… Did it… not work? The spell couldn’t have gone wrong…”

Shub looked visibly flustered since she couldn’t see the spirit in front of her. She stared at me with an expression that screamed she was one second away from bursting into tears. If I poked her even a little right now, she’d probably explode.

“Uh, is something wrong?”

“Huuu… Th-that can’t be… It shouldn’t be…”

Yep. She broke.

Shub immediately made a heartbroken face and started waving her hands and feet around, desperately trying to prove her innocence. Meanwhile, the water spirit called Undine was still chattering nonstop at me without even pausing for breath.

“Haaa…”

Cain. That one. She's weird.

Sylph finally couldn’t hold it in and spat out a comment. I completely agreed. That wasn’t just eccentricity—that was straight-up madness. I usually try to be accommodating, but this one felt like too much to handle.

I resummoned Gnome. The moment she appeared, she was already huffing and puffing with a bright red face, immediately throwing a tantrum.

Hey! What the hell do you mean by reverse summoning! Why do you always leave Sylph alone!

“Because she knows when to shut up. You keep crossing the line.”

…

Whoa, fuck. What the hell is this thing?

“…”

I agree. The water spirit named Undine looked exactly like someone had pulled a mermaid straight out of a storybook. Her upper body was that of a short-haired girl, slightly transparent, while her lower half was a fish tail. The fact that such a tiny body could produce words without ever stopping for breath was honestly… less fascinating and more horrifying.

“Is it possible for spirits to go insane due to external mana interference?”

No way. Insane spirits are extremely rare. If they existed, natural disasters would be popping up everywhere you went.

…

Sylph avoided my gaze. That one used to pulverize people the second she saw them. When I stared ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at her pointedly, Sylph squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head vigorously.

I-I had my reasons. I don’t remember them though.

What? She did that? She looks normal but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she was actually a crazy bitch?

N-no! That was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just… a spirit’s. Instinctual.

Instinctual hatred for living beings? I know that one! We used to drag people underwater when they fell in! But since they couldn’t see us they thought we were water ghosts, right? But now that I’m materialized I don’t get why I did that. Huh.

“Um… Cain?”

Shub must have noticed my expression growing darker and darker. She approached cautiously and asked, her eyes filled with a mixture of surprise and curiosity. It looked like she had figured out the truth behind my reactions.

“D-do you… happen to be able to see spirits?”

“Ah.”

Well, I had been talking to thin air. Anyone who wasn’t crazy would have caught on. After thinking for a moment, I nodded. There was no point trying to make excuses now that I’d been caught.

“U-um… Then could you possibly tell me what the spirit I summoned looks like, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠what it’s saying, whether it’s speaking human language, things like that?”

“Your eyes are spinning, you know that?”

“Not at all. This is simply a request for cooperation in the interest of gathering information.”

The way she spoke so clearly and precisely proved that her eyes were definitely spinning. I glanced at Undine, then held out the back of my hand.

“I can’t show you her appearance directly, but I’ll at least show you the contract first.”

“Oh! Yes!”

Shub pulled out a notebook and pen from who-knows-where and began scribbling furiously. Was she sketching my face? Was that even allowed? Hmm… I had no idea.

“Undine. Let’s make a contract. My name is Cain.”

…Dude. You sure you can handle this?

“…Even if I don’t want to, I have to.”

The moment Undine’s hand touched the back of mine, a blue summoning circle was engraved there. When I showed the glowing blue circle to Shub, she practically shoved her face into my hand, grabbing it tightly.

“This is a spirit’s summoning circle… It’s truly… fascinating. Why is it written in the language of the Otherworld? And why can only you see spirits?”

“Hmm… I don’t know the reason either. Maybe I just got lucky.”

To be precise, it was thanks to the Chosen One skill, but even I didn’t know why that skill existed. Especially for an NPC who didn’t even properly appear in the game. Maybe I was a hidden character, or perhaps just dummy data. Either way, Shub brought her face so close to my hand that I could feel her breath, staring at it with intense concentration. Then her face suddenly flushed bright red and she practically threw my hand away.

Hey. She was the one who grabbed it first. Why was she acting like this?

“S-sorry! I-I spaced out again… It must have been really disgusting, right? I’m so sorry!”

“No, that’s not it…”

“I’m sorry for being such a pathetic demon…”

This pattern wasn’t going to continue forever, was it? She clearly still wanted to dig deeper into the topic of spirits, but I figured we should call it a day here. Seeing her shoulders slump like that almost made me feel bad… but I couldn’t help it.

I was fucking exhausted too! Plus, if I wanted to read that book, I needed Intelligence, so I had to figure out how to raise it. Since I couldn’t reset the stats I’d already invested, I’d have to look for items that increased Intelligence.

“Let’s have dinner together next time. That should be fine, right?”

“Ah, yes! I-I always eat dinner alone, so this would be my first time eating with someone else!”

“…”

She really must have had a rough life. I forced a smile, told her I understood, and sent the eagerly expectant Shub on her way before turning my steps toward the dormitory.

Hmm… It had been a while. Jogging back might help increase my life force too. Let’s run.

“Hmm~ Hmm~”

Shub was on her way back to the dormitory after buying food to eat alone for dinner. For some reason, her mood today was exceptionally good. While locking herself in the library and devouring knowledge was nice, she believed the truly delicious knowledge was always found in the outside world.

Learning about the existence called spirits was the greatest harvest she’d had since entering the academy. Beings formed from the mana that made up nature itself—just thinking about it made her heart race so hard she couldn’t calm down.

Then what kind of person was that man named Cain? To possess such incredible knowledge yet act so casually about it. If it had been her, she would have gone mad.

A flush rose to Shub’s cheeks.

What new knowledge would she get to taste if she stayed with him from now on?

“Spirits… Spirits…”

Shub kept repeating the word “spirit” under her breath. Such beings existed within nature—why had they never noticed before? Were the spirits being used during the process of artificially converting mana through magic? Were they some kind of energy source that was utilized as mana?

She was so lost in the swamp of her thoughts that she didn’t stop walking until she reached the dormitory door and smacked her head against it.

The identity of that book was also a mystery. A book written in the language of the Otherworld. Contaminated mana disturbed the minds of demons, so one wasn’t supposed to approach it carelessly, but Shub had no intention of going against her thirst for knowledge.

Knowledge was power. The reason the demon world had been destroyed was precisely because they lacked knowledge about the Otherworld.

In the end, the demon world was destroyed, and they had crossed over to a world that hated them to survive. The demons had fought with everything they had to be acknowledged in this world, and the integration between races seemed to have been successful. However, the deep-rooted anger toward demons that was engraved into the very roots of the races living in this world was not something that could be easily discarded.

Though it was an event from a very long time ago, the demon invasions that were covered in every history book still caused demons to shrink back. Among the noble families of humans, elves, and beastmen, there were many who still gnashed their teeth at demons, desperately trying to reduce their influence in any way possible.

Even so, Shub didn’t think this world was all that bad. No, it was actually one of the better ones. She could experience various cultures and see things from perspectives different from those of demons.

She wanted to seek knowledge. All the knowledge that could erase this deeply rooted hatred, and eliminate the Otherworld that had become its cause.

“Knowledge. I want to know all knowledge.”

She mulled over the word “spirit” once again. Since it had been written in the language of the Otherworld, perhaps that too was knowledge from the Otherworld. Maybe it could become a clue to opposing the Otherworld?

Her curiosity about the man named Cain grew even stronger. Before she knew it, Shub’s thirst for knowledge had reached beyond the Otherworld and spirits, extending its hand toward the person called Cain as well.