Chapter 203
Chapter 203
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 203
>Chapter Title: One in the Morning, Two in the Evening
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I left the invisible wyvern—no, spirit—behind and focused on looting Baharmut.
A good chunk had burned up during my chase with Infernal, but I still managed to salvage quite a haul.
“Ugh, if it were up to me, I’d take it all…”
There’s an old saying: greed is the enemy.
I wanted to stuff my subspace until it tore, but hogging too much tends to backfire.
Besides, the most important item from Baharmut was still waiting.
‘The fragment of the cursed grimoire.’
The piece suspected to be from Reverse Heaven.
According to Gaias, extracting it required a specific procedure, and it was about time to head back.
Anyway, I returned to the battlefield.
Damian, who had already pulled himself together, greeted me.
“Buddy! You’re back? Check this out.”
“...?”
Damian beamed as he showed me something, and I couldn’t hide my surprise.
Shimmer—
As he waved his hand, a silhouette rose in the air.
The hazy outline sharpened bit by bit until it took the form of a tiny turtle.
“This is…”
“Her name’s Bish. Wind attribute. She wanted to be friends, so I said yes.”
“…Bish?”
“Yeah, Bish.”
Damian… had contracted a spirit?
Stunned speechless, I heard Mysern senior’s voice in my ear right then.
“Looks like she took a liking to Damian. Even I was shocked. To think a spirit would want to contract with him… Ahem.”
Mysern senior cleared his throat awkwardly, clearly surprised too, but I regained my composure quickly.
‘Yeah, it’s not impossible.’
Think about it.
To the spirits, we’re their saviors.
So what?
‘Of course they’re grateful.’
Damian contracting a spirit wasn’t that shocking.
‘Still, a contract, huh…’
Remembering something I’d forgotten, I took in the scene.
The ruined battlefield. Floating above it were countless orbs of light. Too many to count. I turned to Mysern senior.
“How many spirits are here total?”
“Hmm… Over ten thousand ranks, I’d say.”
“Ten thousand…”
“Why?”
“No reason. Even for me, ten thousand’s a bit much…”
“...?”
It was a real pickle.
I’d come to Baharmut dreaming of ten thousand slaves—no, spirits. But facing that number for real made my head spin.
‘If each one munches even a single moonlight stone, that’s a fortune.’
No, forget the stones.
If each one pipes up, my head’ll explode.
Time to get serious.
How to handle ten thousand spirits? Need a solid system.
‘Like an army—ten-man squads, hundred-man captains, thousand-man commanders?’
Not a bad idea.
Final orders through the ten-thousand commander, distribute moonlight stones to them—they’ll sort it out.
“Five thousand stones should do.”
The ones who miss out might gripe, but that’s fine. The commander takes the heat, passes it to the thousand-man, and so on.
I just toss occasional favors to the neglected ones, build some goodwill.
‘Perfect.’
Yeah, perfect.
With my plan set, I stepped forward.
“Alright, I’m ready.”
“...?”
“One moonlight stone in the morning, two in the evening—that’s the deal. First come, first served get two in the morning, one at night.”
Even I thought it was a sweet offer.
Not that I planned to stick to it.
I never said when, just that I’d give them when I could. Kind spirits would understand.
Anyway, I dangled the bait and pictured the tower to come.
Ten thousand spi—no, spirits stacking up to the heavens. It’d go down in continental history.
Not like those tired founding myths—chosen by a dragon or a lake goddess’s sword proving legitimacy.
This was real: ten thousand spirits.
But why…
“...?”
I tilted my head at the eerie silence.
Mood? The spirits’ lights flickered like they were baffled too.
That’s when Mysern senior spoke up.
“You didn’t think they gathered here to contract with you, did you?”
“...?”
“...?”
“…They didn’t?”
That’s what I figured.
Work’s done—what else keeps them here?
They’d revived all they could, and it wasn’t a farewell party.
That’s when…
“Sigh…”
Mysern senior let out a heavy breath.
“What’re you planning to do with spirit contracts anyway?”
“Well… it’d be nice to get friendly?”
“Doubt it.”
Right. Wrong.
But I couldn’t say that in front of them, so I flashed an innocent smile. Then Mysern senior spoke.
“No idea what you expected, but… the spirits say you need to take something. They gathered to give it to you.”
“Take something…”
“The cursed grimoire fragment? Didn’t get details. They clammed up.”
“...”
I took in the spirits again.
That’s why they were here?
“…You alright?”
Mysern senior said something, but it didn’t register. Just a hollow mutter escaped me.
“Why… no contracts…”
Not one of these spirits wants to contract with me? Something’s wrong.
Where’s my ten thousand slaves? My tower?
“Put yourself in their shoes. Who’d want to contract with you?”
“No, even so.”
That’s when Damian stepped up.
“Master gathered them earlier and gave a speech. Said don’t ruin your life on one bad choice.”
“...”
…Ah, that’s it.
Now the spirits’ cold shoulder made sense.
No wonder it felt off—Mysern senior beat me to it.
My glare at him sharpened, but he coughed and looked away.
“Ahem. Couldn’t be helped. They just got their freedom.”
“...”
Why’s he all principled with me but not them?
‘…Guess it can’t be helped.’
Chest aching with regret, I brushed it off.
Ten thousand slaves, the tower… all gone. Heartbreaking, but done.
…Damn.
“Ahem. Don’t be too bummed. I’ll make sure you’re compensated well. Really well.”
“…You promise?”
I got his word twice, then let it go.
That’s life.
Nothing goes your way.
Wiping tears from my eyes, that’s when a voice came.
“Aster, what’s wrong?”
Chenbi, finally showing up. I shook my head—nothing.
Mysern senior explained to him, and Chenbi tilted his head.
“Huh? Aster, no spirits wanna contract with you?”
“…? There are?”
Where? I scanned around wide-eyed.
“No, not here. I brought one.”
“Brought… one?”
“Yeah, Gaias helped. But you gotta talk to it first…”
“...?”
Chenbi glanced back at Gaias.
Gaias had shrunk to Eiki’s size, grooming his front paw before looking behind.
Toward the dark passage.
Not pitch black, though.
A faint light peeking from the door.
“...?”
Staring at it, Chenbi said,
“Wyvern? Anyway, a wyvern.”
“Wyvern…?”
“Yeah. Invisible, so I had Gaias sniff it out. Hiding in the ruins’ corner.”
“Why hide?”
“You’ll see. Go talk.”
I glanced at Chenbi and headed to the spirit—no, wyvern.
It flinched its light as I approached, panicking. Up close, something felt off.
‘Was it this small?’
The light was tiny now.
Way smaller than before.
The palm-sized thing had none of its old swagger. Then it spoke.
[Hi, nice… to meet.]
“No fire?”
[…?]
“Kidding.”
I broke the awkwardness with a joke and asked,
“Why’d you shrink?”
[Fought… hard. Almost… gone. Poof.]
Ah, so while the others cheered it on, this one pitched in, burned out, nearly vanished.
“But why hide?”
[Scared, me.]
“Of what?”
The wyvern mumbled dejectedly, and I got it.
[Hu-mans. Like strong spirits.]
“And?”
[Weak now, me.]
“So?”
[Buddy… hate me now.]
Humans it knew favored strong spirits, so it figured I’d ditch it now that it was weak.
“Hmm…”
I stared at the wyvern.
It peeked at me, light flickering nervously. Soon it spoke.
[Weak… okay?]
Pitiful trembling.
I nodded.
“Nope.”
[…!]
Spirits gotta be strong. That’s best—for stacking the tower higher, more.
But.
“Don’t have to be strong.”
[…!]
One word, and its light shook—heaven to hell.
Moments ago, world lost; now, hole in broken sky, raging.
[Th-then…]
“Let’s contract.”
[…! R-really?]
“Of course.”
Strong spirits are best. But that’s just my wish.
What matters is the spirit itself.
‘Especially since…’
I eyed the wyvern steadily.
Chenbi said in hundreds of futures, it stayed by me to the end.
Got freedom it craved, but contracted anyway, added what little power it could, then horrifically erased by Infernal.
What more words needed?
“Wyvern for a name?”
[I… Wyvern!]
One word, and it perked up, light blazing bright.
I smiled faintly.
‘At least… one.’
A well-raised spirit beats ten thousand slaves, they say.
I believe it.
Wyvern’ll be a great partner, eventually a great spirit towering alone.
That’s the power of friendship.
Or whatever.