The Spirit Named Rai
Rai?
"Yeah, Rai! How about it?"
It was the name of the dog I raised in my past life. Not that I was going to tell him that.
Sounds good. My name is Rai.
Was naming him in five seconds too much? No, it wasn't even naming—it was recycling—so it did feel a bit half-assed. I had a fleeting regret that maybe I should have given him a cooler name, but I quickly concluded it was too much effort anyway.
What is Master's name?
"My name is Jeanie Crowell."
Jeanie Crowell.
"Jeanie!"
Jeanie.
Now even the spirit was butchering my name.
Until the day your life comes to an end, I shall remain by your side. Glory to my Master...
The fact that both humans and spirits kept getting my name wrong made me wonder if the problem wasn't with their tongues but with their brains.
I could feel the sunlight pouring down on me, but I kept my eyes stubbornly closed.
I didn't want to wake up. But a voice that had no business being here boomed loudly inside my head.
Master! Master!
It wasn't a voice in the normal sense.
The sound transmitted directly into my mind, so even if I covered my ears, it came through crystal clear.
A spirit's voice.
Master.
At first I ignored it and kept flailing around in my dream. I'd been up until dawn raising hell to contract a spirit, so I was short on sleep and my body felt heavy.
Contracting took a massive amount of mental energy.
But it didn't take long for the question Why is this guy still here? to snap my eyes wide open.
"Rai? Where are you?"
Right here. The doorknob.
"...Why aren't you going back to the spirit realm?"
I asked in a sleepy haze, rubbing my eyes.
I am a natural spirit, so I don't need to return to the spirit realm.
"What the hell does that mean? Who said you could do that?"
I did. I will devote my lifelong loyalty to staying by Master's side! Aren't you glad?
"No... it sounds annoying. And you look a lot happier about it than I do."
He hadn't seemed this cheerful yesterday.
Right now Rai's voice sounded like a balloon puffed up to the verge of popping.
Annoying?! I'm hurt that you don't appreciate my sincerity.
Spirits were normally beings that existed solely to be summoned. They lived in the spirit realm and only manifested temporarily in the middle realm—the human world—when their contractor called them.
It was basically a paid service. It cost mana to summon them and more mana to command them. Every single moment they were present required mana.
But this guy...
"Now that you mention it, my mana isn't draining at all. How are you doing that?"
As I told you, I am a natural spirit. I was born from the nature of the middle realm, so technically this is my home.
"Huh?"
Therefore, as long as I have a contractor, I can stay in the middle realm freely.
He was telling me something I'd never heard before. Again.
I might have been a spirit studies major in my past life, but most of what Rai said was completely new to me. A metal spirit. A natural spirit. A spirit that could remain manifested without the summoner's mana...
"Oh, I get it! So... you were born here, which means you don't have to go back to the spirit realm?
Normal spirits need to expend 'power' to stay in the middle realm, right? Because they're in another world. But you..."
Don't need to. This is my world too.
"Got it."
He didn't feel so much summoned as simply not required to return to the spirit realm.
As expected of my Master. You're not dumb after all.
It was clearly a compliment, but it somehow pissed me off. He had a subtly irritating way of talking.
I'd known he was a bit unusual when we made the contract, but he seemed to have far fewer normal qualities than I'd expected.
I should ask Teacher Iel about him later. He might know something.
I gave a vague nod and climbed out of bed. Talking to a doorknob felt incredibly weird.
"So why are you in there?"
To create a physical form, I need to absorb metal and reconstitute it. But I can't use my power without Master's permission.
"Using power requires my mana, huh."
Of course. The reason I can remain in the middle realm is thanks to our contract. Everything comes down to Master's grace.
Ah! Now that you're awake, I can ask. May I absorb this doorknob? I want to move...
"Absolutely not."
What would I do without a doorknob on my door?
Then how about the candlestick?
"No."
The washbasin?
"That won't work either."
Is this how things are going to be between us?
What kind of relationship did we even have... Oh, right. We were contracted.
We had a soul contract that wouldn't end until I died. And it was still fresh and warm from being newly formed.
"You're a metal spirit, aren't you? Fire spirits can create fire... so can't you just make metal?"
It's a good idea, but Master doesn't have enough mana for that.
"...Ahem."
Creating something from nothing requires a great deal of mana. Generating metal is dozens of times more difficult than mere fire.
I could sense his indignation at being compared to "mere" fire.
This guy had quite the personality. I silently scanned the room.
I looked for any metal objects he might be able to absorb.
Most buildings in this world were made of wood and stone, so metal was surprisingly rare.
The world I'd lived in before had been full of the stuff. I felt a small pang of disappointment.
"Doesn't look like there's anything suitable here. But I know a place! The alchemy lab has all kinds of metals just lying around."
Is that place heaven?
"Yep! We should head there. It's not mine, but it belongs to the school. And what's the school's basically belongs to the students, right?"
I don't quite understand, but it sounds like a good plan!
I had a feeling we might actually get along pretty well.
"If you absorb metal, you'll be able to move around?"
Correct. I can form my body from the metal I absorb.
The middle realm is a material world. Maintaining a purely spiritual form requires a huge amount of mana.
"So right now you can only exist inside metal?"
Yes.
"That's kind of creepy. For now, instead of the doorknob, want to try the candlestick?"
Let's do that.
A candlestick would be convenient to carry. He seemed able to move to any metal object, and I had the distinct feeling I was now carrying around a haunted candlestick.
Better than a haunted washbasin, at least.
Master. Someone is standing in front of the door.
"Huh? Who?"
I'd just picked up the candlestick when he spoke.
Light green hair. From the scent, it appears to be a male wind spirit master.
Rai seemed sensitive to detecting presences. His warning was immediately followed by a knock at the door.
The guy was actually pretty useful. An intercom function! That was the first practical thing I'd discovered about him.
"Miss Jeanie?"
I knew who it was before the familiar voice even spoke. The visitor was Teacher Iel. There was only one wind spirit master in this entire school.
He must have come looking for me after I didn't show up to class because I'd overslept. Since I was the only student, my absences were always painfully obvious. It felt unfair.
"Just a second!"
I hurriedly grabbed my uniform and threw it on without even clearing the sleep from my eyes.
There was a loud clatter as I tied the ribbon at my neck, tucked the candlestick under my arm, and flung the door open with force.
"I was just about to leave!"
In truth I'd been planning to skip class and head straight to the alchemy lab.
Bang!
An unexpected sound echoed through the hallway.
Crap. Teacher Iel had been standing right in front of the door. He clutched his forehead, body trembling.
"Ouch! What do you think you're doing?!"
"That must hurt. Why were you standing right in front of the door?"
"Miss Jeanie, in situations like this..."
"Are you trying to make me feel guilty? Ugh, now I'm uncomfortable."
"Miss Jeanie!"
"...Tsk. I'm terribly sorry."
Why was I being forced to apologize first thing in the morning? And all because he came looking for me. I gave a half-hearted apology and dug at my ear.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?"
"Twelve?"
"When does class start?"
"Eleven."
"And what do you have to say for yourself?"
"Kids need lots of sleep. This academy overworks its students. I'm only ten years old—how am I supposed to keep up with all these classes? It's killing me."
Even when his face looked like it was about to burst with anger, the fact that Teacher Iel never actually hit me made him a true saint.
Any other teacher would have exploded by now.
"So you just overslept? I thought you were deliberately throwing a tantrum by not showing up."
"Why would I throw a tantrum?"
"You always do. I assumed you were protesting again, demanding to contract a spirit..."
"Oh! If that's what you're worried about, it's already taken care of!"
"Taken care of?"
"I succeeded in contracting a spirit all by myself!"
I declared it confidently, but Iel looked completely unconvinced.
He probably would've worn the same expression if I'd told him I'd caught a dragon with a cotton ball.
Eyes like rotten fish with zero faith in them.
"Oh. I see."
"It's true! Look!"
I thrust the candlestick forward as proof.