The Earth Spirit's True Form
"Oh no. It's angry."
Rumble...
A dragon's roar echoed down the mountain ridge. I couldn't see anything, nor could I understand what was being said, but one thing was clear.
"Why are you getting so mad! I was just complimenting you!"
"..."
"Put yourself in my shoes. What if Aslan called me cute... Ugh. Just imagining it makes me sick."
"..."
"But cute is still cute! What? You're embarrassed by that form? What's so embarrassing about—!"
One thing was certain: Julia was only making the Earth Spirit angrier. The drawing she had sketched made it painfully obvious.
"Pfft."
It was so adorable I nearly burst out laughing. Julia's clumsy yet earnest attempt at drawing was cute enough on its own, but the brown lump she had depicted was downright pitiful. If it were turned into a doll, children would probably love it.
"Cute? Where?"
"Let me see the drawing too!"
"Me too! I want to see!"
Thud, thud, thud.
People crowded around to catch a glimpse of Julia's drawing. Of course they were curious. This was the creature that had been causing earthquakes nonstop, driving everyone to the brink of madness. But just as they were about to flip the paper over—
"Kyaa!?"
Crash!
The mountain began to shake violently. The drawing slipped from Julia's hands and landed in the mud, its shape completely ruined. The earthquake didn't stop there. It only grew stronger, until standing upright became nearly impossible.
Damn it. This wasn't just a tantrum anymore. It was trying to kill us all.
"Everyone, evacuate immediately!"
"Mister! Shouldn't Lady Silvia just smash the spirit with a boom!?"
"A spirit's ethereal body isn't affected by physical force or ordinary magic. You need a special power to interfere with it."
For example, my Touch of Death. But that only worked on lower-ranked beings, so it was useless here. The other well-known method was...
"Aura."
"A tiny spark?"
"Aura should work."
"Then I'll—!"
"Stop. Even if you could attack it, how do you plan to fight something you can't even see?"
I grabbed Charlotte by the collar before she could charge forward. In theory, aura could cut a spirit. But that was only theory. There was no guarantee she could win. Charlotte couldn't even see the Earth Spirit right now. Even if Julia relayed its position in real time, the spirit could simply keep moving and make the fight far more difficult. Charging into an uncertain battle against a Great Spirit wasn't bravery—it was suicide.
"Then what do we do? At this rate, people are going to get seriously hurt...!"
"We retreat. What else can we do?"
If we kept acting recklessly, a disaster was inevitable. I tossed Charlotte over to Silvia and went to fetch Julia. Wrapping an arm around her waist, I lifted her up with ease. She immediately started thrashing and throwing a tantrum.
"W-wait! I'm still trying to talk it down!"
"Talk it down and we'll all be dead."
"Ah..."
Only then did Julia notice the chaos around us. People were tangled up with one another in their frantic scramble to escape. If the earthquake continued, casualties were bound to happen.
"That child doesn't seem to have any intention of hurting people!"
"Probably not. If it did, it would've buried everyone on the first day. Still, it's clearly in an extremely agitated state."
"Just because its true form was discovered doesn't mean it has to go this far... What a rotten little thing!"
"Julia. Use it."
"You mean the Spirit Tongue? I didn't want to, but if it's going to act like this, I have no choice...!"
"...!"
Julia furrowed her brows in clear irritation, drew in a deep breath, and shouted. To me, it looked like she was simply opening her mouth, but in reality, she was speaking in the language only spirits could hear. It wasn't an ordinary tongue. It was the Spirit Tongue—the unique power of a spirit mage that could bind spirits with words.
Will Julia's Spirit Tongue even work?
Persuasion was already off the table. The real question was whether the Spirit Tongue of someone who was still practically a novice could affect a Great Spirit. She had only ever used it on lesser spirits before.
...Would it work?
"The earthquake stopped!"
Rumble...
The terrifying dragon's roar fell silent. The violent shaking that had threatened to bring the mountain down ceased. Julia had done something!
"D-did it work?"
"Julia. What exactly did you say with the Spirit Tongue just now?"
"Just now? I-I just... said 'Become even cuter!' I was annoyed, so..."
"..."
Become even cuter? What kind of nonsense was that? I was so dumbfounded I froze for a moment. Then, from the sky above, a cluster of light began to gather with a soft shhh sound. The light condensed into a single point and started taking on a strangely familiar shape.
Round and plump, with tiny little arms...
Huh? That looked exactly like the drawing Julia had made earlier.
[Kyaaaaah! What the hell did you do to my body!?]
"..."
When the light faded, a brown something remained in its place. It looked exactly like Julia's drawing brought to life. But hadn't they said it was an enormous creature? The thing standing before us now was no bigger than a human head.
This was definitely...
"How cute. So this is the Earth Spirit's true form."
[Kyaaah! No! Don't look! Don't look at me! This isn't my real appearance...!]
The Earth Spirit tried to cover its large face with its stubby little hands, but it was pointless. It even tried to burrow into the ground to hide, only to be snatched up by Charlotte, who had dashed over in an instant. Now it dangled helplessly in the air, flailing.
Has it been completely neutralized?
I had worried it might use some kind of magic, but the miniaturized Earth Spirit could only thrash about in Charlotte's arms. It wasn't using any abilities at all. It didn't even seem particularly strong physically.
No, wait. If even Charlotte is struggling to hold it, just how strong is this thing?
Charlotte, who could lift the Super Strong Sword with ease, was barely managing to keep it in her arms. That meant the only person besides her who could handle its strength was Silvia?
[Let go! Let go of me this instant!]
"Julia, your drawing is amazing. It looks exactly the same...!"
[Kyaaaaaaaah!!!]
"Mister. What are we going to do with it...?"
[Don't hug me like that! Stop treating me like a doll!]
Squeeze.
Still holding the Earth Spirit tightly in her arms, Charlotte looked up at me with sparkling eyes. It was the same look she gave when she wanted something. She wanted me to let her keep it, didn't she?
Part of me wants to eliminate the future threat right here.
Honestly, I didn't care whether the Earth Spirit had been draining spiritual energy for a thousand years or not. The only ones who mattered to me were Charlotte, Julia, and Yuri. Everyone else could live or die for all I cared. Right now it was small and cute, but if it returned to its original size, it might seek revenge. The safest option was probably to kill it. After all, a spirit wasn't human...
Damn it. Has possessing Aslan's body corrupted me this much?
I snapped back to my senses. Had I been playing the villain for so long that I'd started thinking like one? Killing it couldn't possibly be the best solution, whether it was a spirit or anything else. I was the same person who had shown endless mercy even to Count Ariente, who had been rude from the very first meeting.
"Can't I keep it? I'll feed it, bathe it, and clean up after it so it won't be any trouble for you, Mister."
[I don't eat! I don't need baths! I don't poop! Do you think I'm the same as you humans!?]
"It says no. Please, Mister. I really want to keep it! I've always dreamed of raising a talking doll!"
"Julia. What do you want to do?"
"Me? I... want to get along with it. I used to hate spirits because they kept me from sleeping, but now that I can actually talk to them, I realize they're just innocent children. This one only became so rough because of its circumstances. I believe its true nature is kind and pure... yo."
If Julia herself was saying that, then I had no choice. I gave a small nod of approval, and Charlotte jumped up and down with joy. The Earth Spirit looked like it was getting motion sick and didn't seem particularly pleased, but...
"Alright. The incident is resolved for now. Once we finish paving the road, we can start operations right away."
"It... ended just like that? In such a ridiculous way...?"
Count Ariente stood there with his mouth hanging open, staring blankly into the air. He looked like a mess, probably from rolling around multiple times during the earthquake. Now that I thought about it, the road construction was nearly complete except for the paving, but paving wasn't an easy task either. Paving the road in front of the mansion could be handled by Silvia, but this was an enormous road stretching across an entire mountain. Even if I had her do it, it would take over a week of nonstop work. That was doable, but if Silvia was focused on construction, who would guard me?
"Count. The road construction is now only in the paving stage. I'd like to subcontract the work to Ariente Construction. In exchange, I'll waive next month's interest payment. How does that sound?"
"Work! You're giving me work!? Thank you! Sob! With this, next month will be a little easier! I don't know how to thank Sir Belmont's heaven-sent child!"
"Hahaha. Please, stand up."
Count Ariente clutched my hand, weeping with joy. Technically, I was just returning work that had originally been his and charging him for it again. Still, it was a heartwarming sight.