The Great Spirit of Earth (2)
"Trash..."
Julia muttered through gritted teeth as she pulled off the neatly arranged sock on one foot, contrasting sharply with the messy one on the other.
"This is so annoying."
"Why? He taught you how to put them on properly, didn't he?"
"Even so, it's weird for him to touch a lady's legs however he wants. And grabbing my waist without saying anything, too."
"A lady?"
Charlotte tilted her head in confusion.
Uncle treating Julia like a lady? That didn't seem right at all.
"He treats us like kids. Picking us up by the waist and everything."
"H-Huh!? There's no way. That guy definitely has shady intentions toward us."
"Hmm?"
Was that true? Charlotte tilted her head this way and that, trying her best to see it from that angle, but she couldn't recall ever seeing any lecherous look in Aslan's eyes.
He just looked plain sinister. Yeah.
"Isn't that just your imagination?"
"No! I'm sure of it!"
"What's your proof?"
"The spirits told me. They said Aslan Belmont looks suspicious no matter how you look at him. Sometimes he glances at us with creepy eyes."
"Hmm?"
That creepy look... wasn't it just him calculating profits?
Uncle seemed to see us as nothing more than investments that would make him money.
"Come on, no way. There's no chance Uncle likes scrawny little kids like us."
"The maids say he's planning to raise us and then devour us."
"N-No way..."
"And the spirits mentioned something else. They said he mutters to himself about future plans for when we've grown up."
"Eek...!"
Charlotte's eyes widened in shock, her smile vanishing instantly.
Huh? That actually sounded plausible?
She was quickly convinced by Julia.
"What do we do!? At this rate, one of us is going to end up as Countess Belmont!"
"If we can't escape by the time that day comes, I'll marry him. You go ask Yuri for help and come rescue me later."
"Julia..."
Julia smiled faintly with a distant look in her eyes. There was something almost resolute about her expression.
Charlotte swallowed hard before speaking.
"No. If one of us has to do it, I'll marry him."
"Charlotte...!"
Countess Belmont. That sounded kind of cool.
Like a title not just anyone could have.
"I'll do it! Charlotte, you run away, please!"
"I'm telling you, I'm fine..."
"Stop being so stubborn!"
"You're the one being stubborn, Julia!"
Their voices grew louder and louder. As the sound leaked through the door gap, Silvia, who had been waiting outside for Julia to finish changing, doubted her own ears.
What on earth were those kids talking about?
***
"There's really nothing here. Now I understand why they called it a wasteland."
"Right. Even though the Ariente territory looks vast, most of it is land like this."
Standing before the wide plain where only dry weeds grew, Silvia touched the ground and gasped.
The soil was in terrible condition, unsuitable for farming. It was also too far from any water source to be livable.
Why had he accepted such land in the first place? Just as the thought crossed her mind—
'Ah! Lowering the interest rate outright would hurt his pride, so he accepted this useless land instead to show his goodwill while reducing the rate!'
Silvia reached her own conclusion and was impressed.
I must have doubted this man too much until now.
When you assume someone always has bad intentions, everything starts to feel twisted.
Even the worst villain could occasionally act with pure goodwill, couldn't they?
"I'm going to build a training ground here. Once Charlotte starts properly using the Super Strong Sword, the noise will be deafening. If we did it in Belmont territory, the residents' eardrums would burst. The people of Ariente territory matter less than my own citizens, after all."
"Ah. Of course."
Figures.
Silvia's eyes went dead.
As expected, she shouldn't have hoped for anything from this man.
How could none of her predictions ever come true?
She decided she simply wouldn't make any more predictions.
Having expectations only led to betrayal.
Assuming malice in advance only led to regret later.
She would just accept things as they were.
Judgment could come later.
'After all, I've already declared I'd stay by his side...'
As a knight, how could she go back on her resolve?
No matter what happened, she would remain by this man's side.
And she would witness his end with her own eyes.
Only then would it be too late to judge whether he was truly a villain or not.
Feeling somewhat lighter, Silvia followed behind Aslan.
"They should be coming out soon..."
"It might take a bit longer. They were arguing about which one of them would marry the young master."
"What?"
Aslan's expression turned dumbfounded.
A moment later, the bewilderment faded slightly. As he mulled over what he'd just heard, a bitter taste filled his mouth.
"So they both hate the idea of marrying me that much..."
He hadn't been thinking about marriage in the first place, but that was beside the point.
Hearing that the two girls who usually got along so well had fought because they didn't want to marry him left him feeling somewhat unsettled.
'Actually, they were fighting over who would marry me, but I won't tell them that. Serves them right.'
If he told them, they'd get smug about it.
It wasn't like they were fighting to marry him because they liked him.
Leaving the gloomy Aslan behind, Silvia turned her head away with a pout.
"You're finally out. Was fixing one sock really that difficult?"
"I don't know. Stick your head out here. ...yo."
"What are you doing now?"
"Inspecting Uncle's eyes!"
"...?"
Charlotte and Julia scurried right up to Aslan and stared intently into his eyes. After whispering to each other, they concluded, "Tsk. Doesn't seem like it."
"Stop doing weird things and follow me. We need to deal with the Great Spirit of Earth, don't we?"
"But what am I supposed to do? It's not a ghost, so I can't perform an exorcism. ...yo."
"Try talking to it first. If persuasion fails, we'll have to use Spirit Binding."
"Ugh. I don't like that."
Julia's face scrunched up.
Spirit Binding. It was a technique used by spirit mages to bind spirits under their control.
The stronger the mage, the higher-ranking the spirit they could bind, but Julia didn't particularly like using it.
It felt like she was tormenting the spirits.
Low-ranking spirits were more like insects, but mid-ranking spirits were clearly intelligent beings with emotions.
To break their will and control them as she pleased...
Ugh. She hated it.
She hated it even more than marrying Aslan.
Julia shuddered.
"If you don't want to do that, then persuade it properly."
"Haa... Fine. I'll give it a try."
In the end, it would probably go similarly to the vengeful grandfather incident.
Just like how the grandfather couldn't leave this world because of his lingering regrets, the Great Spirit of Earth must have some reason for interfering with the construction.
If she could find out the reason and reach an agreement, that would be enough.
With newfound confidence, Julia stepped forward boldly.
Feeling the gazes of the crowd that had gathered to watch, her confidence grew even more.
"Hah! Even the empire's greatest spirit mage gave up. What does that little girl think she can do?"
Ignoring Count Ariente's mocking voice, Julia pressed on.
It was strange.
Whenever people told her something was impossible or that she couldn't do it, her determination only grew stronger and her motivation soared.
Somehow, she felt like she could do it!
'And when Aslan says it, it feels strangely credible...'
Why was that?
When other people said it would work out, she felt anxious for some reason.
But when that man said it, she felt reassured.
His hands, too—maybe there really was something about him...
"Hoo. Let's go. I can do this."
Swish.
As Julia and her group arrived at the corridor, an eerie wind whistled through the low-lying fog.
Julia's lips trembled as she walked forward in silence.
'Something's ahead! And it's huge!'
The fog slowly began to clear.
This was supposed to be a straight path, but as a brown wall appeared beyond the mist, Julia's body froze.
It was much bigger than she'd imagined.
It looked taller than the mansion itself.
Julia's head tilted upward, and soon the spirit's form came fully into view.
[So you can see me.]
Julia's mouth fell open.
This was... this was...
"It's kind of cute, though?"
[...!?]
With its stubby proportions and round, chubby body, it was just big—otherwise, it looked adorable.
Julia suddenly felt all her tension melt away.
[Kyaaaaah! You think I'm cute!? Do you dare mock the Great Spirit of Earth who has absorbed this mountain's spiritual energy for a thousand years!?]
"But it's cute, so what can I do...?"
"Really? Is it really cute, Julia? What does it look like?"
"Wait a second. I'll draw it for you. Here!"
Scratch scratch scratch.
Julia showed them a rough sketch she'd quickly drawn on a wooden board with a pencil.
The Great Spirit's expression hardened as it examined the drawing.
"It's real! It's super cute...!"
[No, my true form!!!]
The Great Spirit of Earth's true appearance was revealed to the world.
In that moment, its dignity came crashing down.