The Spirits Depart
I always feel cheerful just looking at those losers. It was a few months after the party had begun the process of disbanding that I got the boot.
"Sylph, Undine, Salamander, Gnome—great spirits who uphold the order of the four elements, I offer my humble tribute to you once again today."
As usual, I was strengthening my bonds with the four great elemental spirits. It wasn't anything special; it was mostly a ritual I performed at appropriate intervals out of habit. But that day felt different. Even though it was customary, it was a rite between contractor and spirit, so none of them should have been absent. Yet all I could see were the physical forms manifested by Sylph and Gnome. The absence of Undine, who had always participated before, made the situation feel especially ominous. I couldn't even sense a trace of her mana.
Of course, it was only a hunch. I knelt on one knee before the spirits' manifested bodies and proceeded with the ritual as always.
"Ahem."
"If the supreme great spirits desire the will of fire, earth, water, and wind, and the spirits slumbering within all things..."
"Ahem!"
At that moment, Gnome, the spirit of earth, deliberately coughed and cut me off.
"Henry. Let's drop the formalities from now on."
I rose from my kneeling position.
"You used to ask for this all the time back in the day."
"I was innocent back then."
"And now you're not?"
"Far from it."
Just then, Sylph, the spirit of wind, called my name. "Henry?" Her voice was soft and teasing, whispering right beside my ear.
"Great spirit of wind, yes. Well. Sylph."
"Actually~ we have something to tell you, you know?"
"Say whatever you need to say."
That was the first time I learned the truth.
"We're going to terminate the contract with you~ All of us, that is~"
Even when spoken in that melodic voice, words could shatter a person's peace depending on their meaning.
"...What do you mean by that?"
I looked around in shock at the other spirits. Gnome nodded along with her. The other two were nowhere to be seen. Before I could even process the situation, Sylph continued.
"That's right~"
Her voice rang out clear and pure, like heavenly fruit rolling across the earth. Because of that, the words slipped into a corner of my heart without resistance, bouncing around inside and inflicting an indescribable pain.
"What's with the sudden change? We even took down the Demon King."
Gnome replied, "Well, if you didn't like that, you should've gone for a lifetime contract."
"No. I suggested a lifetime contract at the beginning, but you all refused back then, remember?"
"Can't be helped~ Even though you passed the trials we gave you, you were basically a nobody at the time~"
Whether it was mockery mixed with fact or fact mixed with mockery, delivered in Sylph's clear voice, it was truly hard to endure.
"Anyway. The four of us are ending our contract with you now."
Gnome spoke. Their manifested bodies began to grow faint, melting into the elemental particles floating in the air.
"W... wait a second! Like this...!!"
"Well then~ take care~"
Gradually, their bodies faded until nothing remained, as if they had never been there. At the same time, I felt the various powers bound to my body through the spirits' contracts draining away.
I was left alone in the room. The trials the spirits had once given me, the hardships I had overcome, and the lofty, immense powers—all of it surfaced as fragments of old memories, revealing the hollow void left in one corner of my body. I stood there blankly for a long time.
Around then, the four stages of being expelled flashed through my mind. The first stage, bargaining, was already over. Shortly after, the second stage, anger, began to rise. The word I used for the guardians of the four elements changed from "spirits" to something far more vulgar. Before long, my psyche moved to the third stage: depression.
There's a joke among mages about depression. The melancholy that comes from a mage's diminished magical functionality is similar to the depression a man feels when his sexual function declines. I'd never experienced the latter, so I couldn't fully grasp the analogy, but it was an excellent metaphor for conveying the tragedy of depression.
The future no longer shone. Uncertainty no longer sparkled; it was merely a murky gray, like helplessness. But when too many emotions well up, you tire of them just as quickly. Cursing those stubborn old spirits who guarded the four elements, sinking into depression—eventually, it all exhausted my mind and body, and I grew sick of it.
Thus, I moved on to the fourth stage: acceptance. I decided to accept the situation and come up with a more realistic plan. To do that, I first laid out everything I still possessed. After that, forming a plan wasn't particularly difficult. I immediately ran to the market, bought some writing paper, and began the first step of my plan.
Dear Jian, my friend!
I write this letter to congratulate you on receiving your knighthood. I cannot deny that the title suits you. It is a fitting position for the owner of the holy sword and the hero who defeated the wicked Demon King. Fighting against insurmountable foes, enduring unbearable pain, and finally reaching for the stars—every praise that the knights of this world have heaped upon their own rank seems as though it was crafted solely to describe you. I swear, you will become a great knight.
However, Jian, leader of the now-disbanded party and future great knight, there is still one thing you lack. Every great knight in this world has had an aide, like the great sage Merlin from the legend of King Arthur. If possible, I would like to become your aide as well. But Jian, I have now been abandoned by all four great spirits. My ability to handle mana is laughable compared to the sage Merlin. Yet I also believe that not every aide needs to be great. In fact, if an aide were too great, it might even become a burden to the knight. Imagine if Don Quixote de la Mancha's squire had been the strongest of the Round Table knights, Sir Galahad—would anyone have praised Don Quixote's achievements? I swear, no one suited Don Quixote better than Sancho Panza, and the same was true for Sancho. Yes, what matters in an aide is compatibility, not greatness or ability!
Well, I've gone on too long with the preamble. I should get to what I really want to say.
'...Do you happen to have an open spot?'
I crammed the words onto a single sheet of paper and sent the letter to Jian. After about a day or two, a reply came from him.
O great mage, Henry!
It is truly unfortunate that you were abandoned by the spirits. It feels even more so when I recall how happy you were during our travels whenever you contracted with them. Moreover, since you had been planning your future as a mage, this must be all the more confusing for you. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to offer you comfort either.
Henry, do you remember the time Kubietin escaped from Tirendal Forest? I recently had an experience very similar to that, yet slightly different. My fine holy sword disappeared overnight. Letters normally take a week to receive a reply, so I cannot know your reaction immediately and write accordingly. Still, I shall venture to predict it and include it in this letter.
You are probably thinking, upon reading the above, 'You idiot. You can just summon the holy sword again by opening your hand.'
However, Henry, it is not as though I did not try. When I could not find the holy sword, I immediately opened my hand and called for it. But it did not come. It did not come, I tell you. That is why I am no longer recognized as the holy sword's wielder. In other words, I am not a knight now, and I have not received any title either.
At this point, I should answer the final line of your letter.
'I'm screwed too lol'
The envelope contained one more letter. It was an invitation asking me to come because he wanted to talk after so long, with the location and time written down. Since I also wanted to speak with Jian, I went to the meeting place on the specified date.