Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Spirit
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Suddenly, Dipne said she wanted to talk about Kailin.
I was a bit surprised that she had approached me first.
But for now, I decided to go along with her.
"Um... Lord Davian."
"Yes. What is it?"
By the time we reached a spot where no one else was around,
Dipne cautiously opened her mouth.
I wonder what she wants to say.
Up until this point, I had no idea what her intentions were in approaching me, but I soon found out.
"Well... what I wanted to say is... I heard about what happened..."
It seemed Dipne also knew about the relationship between Kailin and me, and what had gone down.
She said she understood the current situation perfectly.
"I know what Kailin did was wrong, but she's still working harder than anyone as a mage. She has talent as a mage too..."
Dipne didn't think Kailin was blameless.
But she was clearly trying her best to defend her.
"So please don't hate Kailin too much."
Dipne bowed her head to me, pleading.
She begged me not to think too harshly of Kailin.
"Especially since she's my one and only friend."
Her precious person.
She was desperately trying to shield her friend.
'As expected... that's what this is about?'
Only after hearing Dipne's words did I finally understand the situation.
Dipne was covering for Kailin.
'At this point in the story, the two of them are pretty close.'
Indeed, right now, they were friends.
In fact, Kailin later constantly obstructs Dipne at every turn.
But they didn't start off on bad terms.
On the contrary, they were on extremely good terms at first.
'She took good care of Dipne.'
Kailin had been the one to befriend the timid Dipne, who was always on the outs.
Dipne was deeply grateful to Kailin for that, and Kailin didn't particularly dislike her either.
Their relationship was more than enough to call them friends.
Of course, it wouldn't last long.
'That was only possible because Dipne was second-in-command.'
The reason Kailin looked after Dipne was because she herself was first-in-command and Dipne was second.
She could befriend her precisely because she was superior.
Kailin never saw Dipne as a rival.
She always thought of her as beneath her.
So when the Hero Party was formed later,
and Dipne overtook her and joined the Hero Party,
it was only natural their relationship fell apart.
'She's the one who ends up getting the biggest backstab from Kailin later.'
Of course, Dipne still considered Kailin a friend.
But Kailin even exploited that goodwill from Dipne.
She got seriously hurt because of it in the story.
'She'll find out eventually.'
When you think about it, Dipne is actually a pretty pitiful character in the story.
She has no idea right now, though.
'For now, I'll give her an appropriate response.'
Anyway, I was in the middle of a conversation with her.
I gave Dipne a suitable reply.
"I don't hate her or anything."
"Pardon?"
"I already knew that's the kind of person Kailin is."
"I see..."
I don't particularly hate Kailin.
I might have back when I still had expectations for her.
But now that those expectations are completely gone, there's no reason to hate her since I'm not expecting anything anymore.
It's not like I can hate a roadside pebble for not doing what I tell it to.
And besides...
"Kailin is going to..."
end up dying anyway.
Even if I don't hate her, the world will come to hate her.
She's not headed for the guillotine for no reason.
Is there any need to hate someone like that?
I don't think so.
I'm just trying to cut her out of my interest entirely.
"Huh? What about Kailin?"
"Nothing."
Of course, I couldn't tell Dipne about that ending.
I almost spoiled it by accident.
"That's a relief..."
In any case, the conversation with Dipne ended on a good note.
She let out a sigh of relief at my satisfactory response.
It must have been satisfying for her, knowing her friend's issue was resolved.
But not for me.
I wasn't satisfied at all.
'The story's getting twisted again.'
Because having this conversation itself was a problem.
I want to avoid messing with the story as much as possible.
The Saint Levia was unavoidable, but after the Hero, now I've gone and talked to a mage like this too.
I have no idea how the story will play out later.
I was just about to sigh over what might happen next.
But isn't there a saying that you should turn crisis into opportunity?
Since I've already ended up talking to Dipne, I figured I'd extract some information.
"Dipne, I have something I'm curious about too. Mind if I ask?"
"Oh? Sure...! I don't know what it is, but if I can answer, I will."
Dipne was suddenly showing a very friendly reaction to me.
There was one thing I was truly curious about.
Information even I, who read the original story, didn't know.
It was about spirits.
"Why are you looking for spirits?"
I didn't know why the Magic Tower was searching for spirits.
From the mentions in the story, they seemed extremely important.
But no spirits actually appeared, and the reason for the search never came up.
I just knew they were doing it.
The protagonist was too focused on other things to pay it any mind.
But now that I'm possessing the body, I couldn't help but be curious.
About why they were so desperate for spirits.
"Hmm..."
Did Dipne know?
She pondered my question for about 30 seconds.
Then she gave me an answer.
"Because they're convenient, aren't they?"
Spirits are convenient?
It was hard to grasp at first.
But her further explanation made it clear.
"To understand easily, compare a spirit user and a mage using the same elemental magic."
"The difference?"
"Yes. Both a spirit user and a mage can use elemental magic. But the spirit user just borrows power from the spirit, while the mage has to cast it themselves."
"Is that important?"
"Yes, very. In the end, you're just telling the spirit to do it. Like the difference between a shop owner and a freelancer."
The difference between a shop owner and a freelancer.
Her analogy made it easy to understand why they wanted spirits.
So, they were seeking spirits to have them cast magic on command?
'Is it that big a deal?'
That was my reaction.
But the mages apparently saw it differently.
"This is key to breaking limits. No matter how strong or capable a mage is, there's a limit when working alone. That's huge. It's important even for non-mages. Even if you can't use magic, a spirit can do it for you."
By borrowing a spirit's power, you could become far stronger.
That's why she said they were desperate to find one.
"I see."
Spirits are that important, huh.
I could kind of understand why the Magic Tower folks were after them.
It made sense now why they were so obsessed in the original story.
"But... spirits rarely show themselves to humans. Even if you find one, they won't lend their power."
Of course, finding a spirit was like trying to pluck stars from the sky.
Spirits apparently weren't very friendly toward humans in general.
"Why is that?"
"Because they're mysterious beings. They don't reveal themselves unless you're equally mysterious."
Spirits are enigmatic entities.
They seek to preserve their mystique.
Maybe that's precisely why they possess such great power.
In any case, meeting a spirit seemed incredibly difficult.
"So honestly, I don't think this magic circle will work either. We're calling them earnestly, but there's no response."
"Hang in there."
"Hng..."
Dipne's expression grew gloomier as she talked about spirits.
She knew how important they were, yet she'd never seen one even once.
She knew the magic circle wouldn't make a difference.
I offered her some appropriate consolation.
"Anyway, it was nice talking today. I have things to do, so I should get going..."
"Let's talk again sometime."
"Sure. See you."
Dipne headed back to the church.
To search for spirits.
Once she was out of sight,
"Master."
I called out to the Spirit Sword.
[Why are you calling me?] The Spirit Sword responded immediately.
I asked her the obvious question, and got the obvious answer.
"You're a spirit, right, Master?"
[I am.]
"I see."
So the being I'm talking to really is a spirit.
Which means this is the kind of spirit the Magic Tower folks, Kailin included, are looking for?