The Time Spirit's Contract
"My... my vision..."
Until now, whenever the Gold Eyes activated, Roy had only been able to read the flow of mana. Yet now the dark cave stood revealed in perfect clarity.
At this rate, the magic I learned from Lily will be completely useless...
While Roy scanned the cave interior with astonished eyes, the spirit spoke once more.
"Child. Your meager mana is still far too weak to bear all that I am."
Roy bristled a little.
Do you have any idea how hard I worked just to summon you?
"Then why did you contract with me?"
"Because you will grow."
"How can you be so sure? Don't tell me you've already seen the future."
"That is forbidden, Child. With the mana you possess now, even maintaining this form of mine is a burden."
Roy felt his mana draining away at a terrifying speed. From the moment the spirit before him had absorbed every drop of power from the mana vein, from the instant she had manifested that colossal body, his mana had begun to be sucked dry.
"Is that not so?"
"......"
"Yet you need not be so disappointed."
The form that had filled the entire cave shrank back to the tiny figure she had first appeared as. The pitch-black exterior vanished without a trace, leaving the shape of a human girl. Only the jet-black beast ears and tails remained, making her look for all the world like a young beastkin child.
"This should be more manageable. If I cannot even maintain this, I will be in quite the predicament."
As the spirit's size diminished, the torrent of mana pouring out of Roy slowed dramatically. Even so, he was already near his limit.
"...What happens when my mana is completely gone?"
"Worry not. The contract has already been sealed. I will simply hide myself for a time. Once you recover, we shall meet again."
"I see... Sorry, but... then... I'll see you... next..."
Roy toppled over on the spot. He lacked even the strength to keep his eyes open; his eyelids slid shut of their own accord and stole his vision. Just before sleep claimed him, he muttered one last thing.
"Damn it... If I'd come alone... I would've been... in real trouble..."
Lily had held her breath through every moment of Roy's contract with the spirit. The instant he collapsed she rushed forward.
"Roy! Roy!? Are you all right!?"
The boy lay unconscious, and the spirit who had contracted with him had vanished. Yet the contract itself had not failed. Lily had experienced something similar with Shedy, so she did not panic. She hurriedly checked the fallen Roy's neck and heart, confirming he still lived. Thankfully his breathing was steady and he showed no visible injuries.
She had overheard enough of the conversation between Roy and that enormous monster to grasp the situation roughly. She also understood that his mana had been completely drained, leaving him like this.
"Just what was that monster...?"
Even as the question lingered, Lily quickly lifted Roy onto Shedy's back. She also gathered the bag filled with mana stones and the unicorn horn that still radiated pitch-black energy.
"Shedy. We need to go—quickly."
Lily herself was feeling a drastic change. The vast ocean of mana that had blanketed the forest had vanished without a trace, and because of it she was pouring several times more mana than usual just to maintain Shedy. If they failed to escape the dungeon even a little faster, disaster awaited them.
"Did he bring me along knowing this would happen?"
Lily stuck out her lower lip, her expression thick with worry as she hurried toward the witch's house. Fortunately her mana did not run dry before they arrived.
The real problem, however, began the moment they got there.
Roy's entire body was soaked in blood. He lay unconscious. The bag held suspicious mana stones. Lily could not think of a single excuse that would satisfy the witch. Yet she could not simply waste time outside with a fainted Roy either.
Hngh... I'm doomed...
With no other choice, Lily knocked on the door, her face already on the verge of tears.
Roy lay in the bedroom while the witch, the baron, and Lily gathered in the living room to talk. An ordinary conversation would have been nice, but that was only Lily's small wish.
"So you're saying Roy coaxed you into entering the dungeon?"
"Yes... I'm sorry."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Roy told me not to..."
Lily answered Ilia's questions with a pitiful expression that looked ready to burst into tears at any second. The baron sat quietly beside them, listening to the mother-daughter exchange with a calm face, but when Lily's face crumpled he could no longer hold his tongue.
"Ilia. Both children returned safely, so leave it at that. It seems Roy is the one at fault, so I'll give him a proper scolding once he wakes."
"Clive! This is our matter. Stay out of it."
"......"
The baron clamped his mouth shut at once. No words came to mind under the witch's eyes that looked ready to spit fire. Ilia turned back to Lily.
"Then why did Roy faint? He wasn't injured anywhere. What on earth were you two doing?"
"As I said earlier, Roy's mana was completely exhausted."
"I'm asking why his mana ran dry!"
"While he was contracting with a spirit..."
Ilia and the baron's gazes locked onto Lily even more intensely. Their round, widened eyes made their curiosity plain. A barrage of questions from the witch and the baron followed at once.
"A spirit? Why enter a dungeon just to summon a spirit?"
"That boy Roy. He told me he wanted to stay three more days so he could summon a spirit. So how did it turn out, Lily?"
"I asked first, Clive. You keep quiet!"
"......"
The baron closed his mouth again. Reading the adults' moods carefully, Lily answered the witch first.
"He said he wouldn't have enough mana for the contract with the spirit. So he said we had to go underground where the mana density was highest..."
Ilia pressed a hand to her forehead and sighed. Her head ached. Was there a more troublesome child in the entire world? No—this went far beyond mere mischief. How dare an eleven-year-old brat set foot in a dungeon of all places?
"So he ran out of mana while fighting monsters?"
"No. We defeated every monster. The... the sword cut so well that it was easier than expected. Roy fainted after he contracted with the spirit."
"That sword does cut remarkably well, true."
The baron thrust out his chin as if proud, then immediately wiped the look from his face and put on a serious expression the moment the witch's sharp glare landed on him. He turned to Lily instead, as if needing to say something.
"Lily. Even if Roy insisted, you're the older sister. You should have stopped him."
"I'm sorry."
"Hold on, Clive! You're skipping over something important!"
The witch pressed Lily again for details on how they had hunted the monsters inside the dungeon. Even if the children's mana levels rivaled her own, what could two mere children possibly accomplish? The sword cut well? If that alone had been enough, they would have cleared the monsters long ago instead of sealing the place.
With no choice, Lily described everything that had happened inside the dungeon in meticulous detail. The witch had roared that she would throw her out if she told even the smallest lie. The corrupted unicorn. How Roy had climbed down alone from Shedy's back. How she herself had bound the beast immobile with vines, and how Roy had beheaded it with a single stroke of his sword. She left nothing out.
"......"
After hearing the entire story, Ilia remained silent for a long while.
"Good heavens..."
The baron, meanwhile, felt his head throb at Roy's still-unfamiliar behavior. The moment the boy received freedom he strutted about as if the world held no dangers—a complete greenhorn who knew no fear.
I never should have given him free outing privileges...
Worse, it had been a bargain, so he could not simply revoke it. Yet he could not lock the boy away by force either. That child would certainly try to escape in secret.
"Then show me the mana stones and this so-called unicorn horn."
The witch's voice was colder and lower than ever. Clearly she still could not believe Lily's words and demanded proof. Lily gathered the bag and the unicorn horn she had hidden outside before entering the house and brought them in. The horn was so long it snagged on everything, making the task difficult.
The bag brimmed with mana stones—most of them large enough to confirm they truly came from twin-headed dogs. As for the hard unicorn horn, its sheer thickness and length drew hollow laughter.
"So it wasn't a lie..."
"What did I tell you? That's just the kind of boy my son is..."
Silence stretched for a time. Neither adult could decide what lecture the children needed. Looking at the horn too long to stand upright without touching the ceiling, each privately wondered whether they themselves could have felled such a monster. Alone, one life would never have been enough. Even together, one life would still fall short. Even with many people, success without a single casualty remained uncertain.
"They fought that terrifying monster using the absolute minimum of mana just to save power for summoning a spirit? That boy really is..."
The more he thought about it, the more absurd it became. While the baron muttered to himself, the witch finally opened her tightly sealed lips.
"Lily. Go to your room and stay there without moving until I call you."
"Yes..."
In the end Lily received a confinement order and quietly retreated to her room. But this was only the first round. She was certain the real scolding would come after Roy woke up.
Ahh, yesterday truly was an eventful day.
Roy only regained consciousness the following day. Exhaustion and mana depletion had plunged him into deep, dreamless sleep.
"Huh!?"
He snapped fully awake and sat bolt upright in bed. Every scrap of clothing had been stripped from him.
"Ah, right. I was covered in blood..."
He finally found the source of the strange emptiness he felt. The clothes were gone, and so were all the amulets he had been wearing here and there. Thankfully they lay neatly arranged on the table beside the bed.
"Whew, that startled me."
Even if someone saw those amulets it would not be a serious problem. He had encrypted the magic circles so thoroughly that reverse-engineering them was nearly impossible. In his previous life, not even the soaring imperial mages had managed it. The only person capable of such a feat was himself—the one who had poured an entire lifetime into this very research.
I'm still just a child, so I'll let it slide this once, but I need to be more careful from now on. Fainting from mana exhaustion of all things...
The end of his previous life rose in his mind. These amulets protected his body. He must never remove them. He was still young enough that no real enemies targeted him yet, but the future was unknown.
The amulets matter, of course, but more than that I need to gather people I can truly trust.
In his past life, everyone around him had only coveted his techniques. Not a single person had been trustworthy. This time, however, he had decided to live differently. The amulets were important, yet he had realized that securing people he could rely on no matter what mattered even more.
Lily, who had safely carried his unconscious body home. The baron, who had confided the family secret of the Dragon's Breath. It had almost certainly been the baron who undressed him and placed the amulets beside the bed.
Even if we're half-siblings, he wouldn't have made Lily do that... right?
On top of them, there was the witch who had taught him how to brew the Elven Liquor. Having such reliable people at his side was truly a blessing. Without them he would still be lying in that pitch-black underground dungeon, or he would have become late-arriving twin-headed dog feed.
"Do you not trust me?"
"Waaaah!?"
Roy jumped and frantically scanned the room. No one was there, yet the voice was unmistakably familiar.
"Sh-show yourself!"
Moments later, the Time Spirit Noah Chrono Nyres slowly materialized atop the bed where Roy sat.
"Heh heh. Slept well, did you?"