Wind Spirit Sister and the Doppelganger Trial
His field experience was obvious—he looked utterly mortified. "I'm truly ashamed. Since I broke the front door, I'll call a repairman first thing tomorrow morning and make full restitution."
Ronan apologized profusely, sweat pouring down his face.
After Reina smacked his back and dragged him away by force,
they'd temporarily boarded up the broken front door with thick planks.
A chill wind seeped through the gaps, but there was nothing to be done about it.
Quiet settled over the house once more.
I floated my arm from the bed toward Sariya sis, who was zipping around in the air.
"Sis, how're you feeling? You okay?"
Bombarded by my questions, Sariya sis spun a lazy circle in midair, then flexed her tiny, shrunken hand open and closed.
"Hmm, I feel super light. Like I've finally shrugged off that crushing weight."
She balled her fist experimentally. It was the size of a child's fern frond.
"But being peanut-sized like this feels kinda weird. I used to be overflowing with power, and now... I really feel weakened."
She added with a small sigh.
"My condition seems fine, but... I'm so sleepy. First time turning into a spirit, so I dunno."
Guess I need to dig up some info on spirits.
The council enlistment could wait—first thing tomorrow, library it is.
I perched on the edge of the bed and quietly recounted our short journey to the Imperial Capital.
Ronan and Reina, the entry exam, the real estate deal.
Sis listened silently, then floated up with an approving look, patting my head with her tiny fern-like hand.
"Good job, little bro."
Sis smiled softly.
"Now my power's yours too. You don't have to shoulder everything alone."
I suddenly realized she wasn't calling me "kid" anymore.
Just that shift made the corners of my mouth twitch upward.
"Oh yeah, you still haven't met Lannancy sis."
"She's probably off causing a ruckus somewhere, as usual."
We both pictured Lannancy sis's shameless face and chuckled softly.
"By the way, that thing earlier—you saved me, right? Reina's magic vines exploding from the wind pressure."
Sariya sis nodded at my question.
"Yeah. Probably from my final constraint. That's right around when I woke up."
She fiddled with her translucent wings as she spoke.
"You were in danger, so I must've used my power unconsciously. The backlash snapped me awake. Looks like I've become some kinda wind spirit."
"Wind?"
"Yep. But I can probably only use it once or twice a day. That one time earlier drained me completely..."
Nod... nod...
Even as she talked, sis's eyelids were drooping heavily.
"Get some rest. Don't push yourself."
I laid her back in her nest of outer clothes and gently patted her to sleep.
She'd told me not to shoulder it all alone.
But in this brutal world, I had to handle my share.
The next day.
Early in the morning, I finished signing the remaining contract papers with the real estate agent. Her hands trembled less than yesterday, but she still couldn't quite meet my eyes.
The moment the paperwork was done, I headed straight for the grand library in Zone 2.
To scour for spirit lore.
But after half a day choking on dust and flipping through books, I came up empty. What little there was on spirits amounted to fairy-tale basics.
'Mystical beings who live in harmony with nature. In ancient times, humans could contract with spirits, but now spirits avoid contracts.'
'Spirits are known as polar opposites to yokai, though the reason remains unclear.'
'The gateway to the spirits' dimension is said to be the World Tree, whose location only high elves know...'
That was it.
'No dice in a public library, huh.'
Looked like I'd need council access for the good stuff.
'The world's full of things I don't know. Maybe time to check out a real school.'
As I shook off my disappointment and reached to reshelve the books,
Whoosh.
Through the gap left by the pushed-in book on the opposite shelf,
a face suddenly popped into view.
"Oh?"
A woman with deep crimson-red hair that shimmered darkly.
Our eyes met through the bookshelf gap, and she gave me a strangely intrigued look.
"Well, well."
She looked around twenty.
Her black outfit was revealing, with thick silver ornaments dangling from her neck and wrists.
A faint, sweet grape wine scent wafted from her.
'Sweet smell?'
Nothing like the ManShinJeon's cookie stench. Not dangerous, but odd.
'Drinking in broad daylight, huh.'
I ignored it, slotted the book back, and turned toward the exit.
But then, the sharp click-click of heels quietly trailed behind me.
The red-haired woman from before.
She followed, muttering nonstop to thin air.
"Hm? Smells nice? Oh, you're ditching me for that kid?"
She paused, then grinned.
"I'd get so jealous."
No clue who she was talking to—nobody was there.
"Nah? Yeah, yeah, sure. He doesn't look special. That ratty hat maybe?"
She tilted her head.
"...Not that? Weird. Why should I care about your standards?"
It was pure crazy talk, no matter how you sliced it.
A weirdo stalker right in the heart of the capital.
My head throbbed; I stopped dead and whipped around.
"Hm?"
The woman blinked wide-eyed at me.
I fixed her with a firm, annoyed glare.
"Stop following me."
I turned and strode off briskly. She didn't follow, freezing in place.
As I walked away,
her dumbfounded mutter and eerie laughter echoed down the library hall.
"Did he just... see me? Right?"
Silence.
"Whoa... hahahaHA!"
Definitely nuts.
I shook off the chills from that creepy laugh and melted into the street crowd.
Days later.
Council headquarters, the Magic Spire.
The massive training grounds in Zone 1 buzzed with heat from recruits gathered for the enlistment test.
Hundreds of applicants clutched numbered tickets, waiting their turn.
In the control room overlooking the grounds,
Galahal, captain of the Heart's Eye Squad and exam proctor, stood with arms crossed, staring out the window. A gold badge gleamed on his chest, marking his rank.
Old but sturdy. In his youth, he'd ranked among the empire's top ten Swordmasters.
He tsked softly through pursed lips.
'Today's test'll be brutal, rookies.'
Council member deaths had spiked lately, thanks to ManShinJeon's ramped-up activity.
Idealists and welfare-chasers poured in from across the nation.
But he couldn't let them all die pointless deaths.
'Better they flunk out and serve on the northern frontlines than get shredded on-site with half-baked skills.'
Defying internal pushback, Galahal had prepped an extreme two-stage test just this once.
Stage one was a nightmare.
Face a yokai one-on-one in a sealed room, survive the time limit.
And not just any yokai—a tricky mimic that shifted forms based on its foe.
It perfectly imitated its target's appearance, copying their physical strength and energy almost flawlessly. A variant doppelganger.
Fight your perfect double in a sealed room.
Most crumbled against their own limits.
No reason for the captain himself to oversee newbie tests.
But one applicant: recommended by Ronan and Reina, veins bulging as they vouched.
'Spirit summoner, huh.'
Galahal's eyes narrowed.
Excluding elves, only two humans were known to wield spirit arts: the First Imperial Princess and ManShinJeon's Second Apostle.
A third? He had to see it himself.
Spirit arts were valuable, sure—their yokai-nullifying power was vital to the council.
But recruiting a weakling who couldn't pass basic enlistment would undermine discipline.
Especially a boy barely out of boyhood.
When the yokai's true form emerged in that room, he'd be lucky not to piss himself.
"Captain, no passes so far. Everyone's failed against their copies or forfeited."
Galahal nodded gravely at his adjutant's report, eyes shifting to the scrying orb.
A fight against yourself is always the hardest.
"Send in the next applicant."
Through the orb's screen,
a young boy in a battered tall hat shuffled nervously into the dark sealed room.