The Spirit's Jealousy
[To be perfectly honest, this is a little disappointing for me.]
“What is?”
Whoops. I forgot we could talk through thoughts.
[I’m talking about how you turned your eyes to another spirit the moment you contracted with me. It’s quite a blow to my noble pride, you know.]
[I see.]
[……Are you even listening properly? I said I’m upset!]
[That’s your problem, not mine, isn’t it?]
[No! How can you say that to me! You don’t need any other spirits when you have me!]
[That’s just your opinion.]
Did spirits not understand the concept of “the more the merrier”? I dug around in my ear, but the fatal flaw of thought-speech was that I couldn’t pretend not to hear it.
[Honestly, all you could do was act like an intercom, right? And possess metal.]
[I don’t know what an intercom is, but it sounds insulting?]
[There’s such a thing. Anyway, I’m saying I don’t really see the point of you.]
[That’s unfair, Master! It’s only because your power is still too weak. If you grow a little more and lay the foundation for me to fully display my abilities—]
[Why would I bother with something so annoying?]
What would I even do with dominion over the human world? I could barely take care of myself.
I had never once in my life felt envious watching presidents or kings. More often than not, I just wondered how they managed to deal with all that hassle.
I had always lived by the principle that I just needed to quietly live well on my own.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Miss Jeanie. It took longer than expected to get permission.”
Just as Rai was wailing for me to recognize his worth and I was seriously considering how to mute the noise, Iel returned.
He shook a large bundle of keys, and I immediately jumped to my feet, flashing the smile of a good child.
“This is your first time here, isn’t it?”
“Yes! The Room of Contracts!”
“It was only completed recently, so we only have lower spirit formations for now. Still, I’ve been thinking about bringing you here, Miss Jeanie. Getting a feel for the atmosphere in advance will help.”
According to Iel, the dean had extremely high expectations for the Spirit Studies department.
He had gone directly to the king to secure a separate budget and poured his heart into building the Room of Contracts, all under the justification that it was essential for nurturing talent.
But for the third year now, the only student in the entire Spirit Studies department was me.
It wasn’t my problem, but it was still tragic. Apparently being a Spirit Master required far stricter qualifications than becoming a mage, making it difficult to find suitable candidates.
If a child had exceptional physical ability, you’d test them for swordsmanship. If they seemed intelligent, you’d guide them toward magic.
But with Spirit Masters, talent wasn’t something you could see on the surface, so discovering promising individuals was incredibly difficult.
Whether for that reason alone or not, the number of Spirit Masters was rapidly declining.
For example, commoners often went their entire lives without ever seeing a mage, while nobles frequently never encountered a single Spirit Master.
Even considering that most mages came from noble families, those numbers were quite dire.
Spirit Masters were extremely precious, incredibly rare, and therefore tended to fade away without drawing much attention.
Unlike mages whose work was flashy or swordsmen who held solid positions in society, they usually kept to the shadows. Most Spirit Masters I had seen were elderly, and it was rare to find young ones.
Iel was among the youngest. Even though those with exceptional mana sensitivity could walk the path of a Spirit Master, most chose to become mages instead.
After all, that path offered far brighter prospects.
“Ah! Standing in front of this door reminds me of the first time I attempted a contract. I was so nervous I can’t even tell you. It still feels like it was just yesterday……”
“I get it, so can we hurry up?”
“……Miss Jeanie, for someone who was pestering me so much, you don’t look happy at all?”
To me, contracting with a spirit wasn’t something exciting or full of anticipation. It was more like a hurdle I needed to clear as quickly as possible.
I wanted to finish the contract, be officially recognized as a proper Spirit Master, and gain the freedom that came with the excuse of independent study.
I scratched my chin and looked around the circular Room of Contracts that wrapped around the central hall.
It was modest but solidly built, and above each door were large engravings of spirit words representing fire, water, wind, and earth.
I carefully read each character before slowly nodding.
“I’ll be happy…… once I succeed in the contract.”
“Miss Jeanie. Have you already forgotten what I told you?”
“Hmm. You said not to expect too much today because failure is the mother of success, right?”
“You remembered well.”
“Then do you remember what I usually say about myself?”
At my cryptic question, Iel seemed to search his memory for a moment. But he recalled it quickly.
“If you’re going to do it…… then do it?”
“You know me well.”
“And if you don’t like something, you’d rather die than do it.”
“Sigh, you really do know me too well.”
Though the latter was what I said most often. Anyway, I was an extremely stubborn child.
“More importantly, aren’t we using a scroll? I was curious about that.”
Something occurred to me while looking around the room, so I asked.
There were many ways to summon spirits these days, but scrolls were used most often.
A scroll was a piece of paper engraved with a magic circle. When you tore it and recited the incantation, the magic would activate.
You could inscribe all kinds of magic circles on them, and they were wonderful tools that allowed even non-mages to use magic.
Instead of digging up the floor, pouring mana solution, and sprinkling fairy dust—all that tedious work—you could accomplish it with a single rip of paper. How amazing was that?
It was so convenient that it had definitely caught my interest, but I had never actually used one.
“Miss Jeanie? For the price of three spirit summoning scrolls, we could build an entire Room of Contracts. Scrolls are one-time use, whereas this room is permanent……”
“Come on, you said you had high expectations. Shouldn’t you invest at least that much? The spirit room feels so outdated.”
“They built a place like this for a department that has exactly one student. What more could you possibly want?”
Iel usually responded to most complaints with gentle words, but there were times when he put his foot down like this. In those moments, I quickly put on my good-child act.
“I’m just curious. What would a scroll be like?”
Ten years old was a very convenient age to use when it worked in your favor.
“……When you’re a little older. Not for practice here, but when you’re making a real, fully prepared summoning. Let’s use one then, alright? Scrolls are meant for external use.”
“Do fire Spirit Masters really go to lava fields to perform summoning rituals?”
“Of course.”
“And wind Spirit Masters go to cliffs?”
“Earth Spirit Masters head into forests. Performing the ritual in an environment filled with the energy spirits favor increases the chance of a successful contract.”
The most common external activity for Spirit Masters was traveling to high-purity regions ideal for summoning spirits, and scrolls were mainly used for those occasions.
You couldn’t exactly dig a contract formation in a lava field where you’d be roasted alive. Nor could you draw one on a sandy beach just because it was overflowing with water energy…… In those situations, scrolls were truly essential items.
The guy stuck in a candlestick hadn’t cared about any of that, though.
“Now then, Miss Jeanie. Have you decided which spirit you’d like to attempt a contract with?”
“Hmm.”
“I’ve told you many times. You must find your own attribute.”
“You always told me…… I need to know what I truly want.”
“In my case, I failed several times. At first I tried desperately to summon an earth spirit but it didn’t work. Then one day I naturally realized it. I was just standing there feeling the wind, and I understood that it was my friend.”
Fire, water, wind, earth.
These were the four major attributes that served as the fundamental sources supporting the world, the great forces that moved nature, and the merciful streams that gave life to all things.
Spirits were largely categorized into these four attributes, which were then further divided by rank into five stages from lower to Spirit King.
Lower, intermediate, upper, supreme, and Spirit King.
Since they were the core elemental spirits, there were many of them and the system was well-organized.
Most Spirit Masters contracted with spirits of a single attribute. Occasionally there were those who handled two, but that was generally considered shallow.
“You need to decide now. Look for what draws you.”
“What draws me.”
Iel had always told me to think in advance about the type of spirit I wanted to contract with, but I could never make the decision easily.
That was probably why.
I had been so drawn to the ancient contract formation that supposedly made the right spirit appear on its own. Even though it was said to be unusable now, I had been certain something would come, felt pulled toward it, and had actually succeeded.
Spirit Masters generally tended to have excellent intuition.
After all, handling spirits meant becoming a being closely connected with nature.
“Close your eyes…… and listen to the voice of your heart.”
[Only look at me!]
I hadn’t expected this to happen. I closed my eyes and snapped in irritation.
[Shut up.]
[This is too much! I’m right here!]
[Our contract never said I could only look at you!]
[My one and only Master is such a flirt.]
Where did this crazy spirit get off showing possessiveness!
If he weren’t a candlestick, I would have picked him up and smacked him.