The Two Spirit Stones
Oh?
So this was written by one of the ancient seniors. And from at least four thousand years ago, at that?
The preservation magic on it is pretty impressive. A book left behind by an ancient Spirit Master.
Teacher Iel would be absolutely fascinated if he saw this.
There was no reason to close the book. My interest had been piqued, so I read more carefully. It seemed to be a diary of sorts.
The owner of the book, judging by the tone, appeared to be an elderly man. The pages were densely packed with rambling research notes that went on and on.
I quickly flipped through the pages and examined the very last one.
The Spirit Society is collapsing. Our lineage will soon come to an end. The future looks unmistakably bleak.
I am terrified of the pitch-black world approaching us.
After the gods, even the spirits have abandoned humanity.
If the number of humans capable of summoning spirits continues to dwindle, what else could that mean but our destruction?
Hmm. But the world hasn’t actually ended, has it? Things seem to be going pretty decently. I glanced up at the clear blue sky before looking back down at the book.
I tried everything to keep the spirits in this world, but it wasn’t enough. After years of research, I created twenty-five contract circles, but only sixteen of them were complete.
The only ones that properly respond to summoning are the systematized spirits of the four major attributes. The natural spirits without ranks are all incomplete.
Our research to leave behind a path to the Spirit Realm has borne fruit, yet it was never acknowledged. What a tragedy.
People do not fully understand the value of spirits.
Sometimes I wonder if it was we humans who turned our backs on the spirits first.
I see. So this person was one of the ancient Spirit Masters who created the systematized contract circles used today. That seemed highly likely.
Divisions within the society have deepened as well. There were too many conflicting opinions, and we reached a point where we could no longer stay together. I have decided to resign from the Spirit Society.
In the end, we discussed what to do with the nine incomplete contract circles.
The opinions to destroy them and the opinions to preserve them at all costs clashed violently.
To me, these spirit circles are like my own children. Destroying them would be more painful than stabbing my own body.
Those of us who shared the same view decided to divide the contract circles we had each researched among ourselves.
Whether to hide them, destroy them, or somehow complete them—we would each follow our own conscience and go our separate ways.
Some people mock me for being foolish.
Incomplete contract circles, huh. I looked back at the spirit stone. So there was a chance the spirit wouldn’t come out after all.
They may be right that these have no meaning even if they exist. Perhaps destroying them would be the correct choice. But I still dream of the day these spirits will once again appear in the world.
That day may come after a very long time… or it may never come at all…
Is what I hold onto hope? Or misfortune? Or perhaps foolish madness?
After much agonizing, I cannot bring myself to abandon the imperfect creations I made.
Hoping that someday they will reach the hands of a future generation, I will bury them here.
Humans may call the spirits, but it is the spirits who choose the humans.
Waiting for someone who will answer the call, I bury these at the place where my mother, and my mother’s mother, were born.
Wait… these? So there wasn’t just one? I practically shoved my face into the book as I read the remaining lines.
I do not know how much time will pass, so I have turned them into spirit stones and left them behind. But even this is not permanent. If too much time passes, the spirit stones will lose their function and return to the earth.
With what remains of my life, I pray that someone will discover them and that the two spirits will once again walk the world…
But if they turn to dust and disappear, then that too must be their fate.
To be forever buried in human memory—that too is fate.
No matter how many times I read it, this definitely sounded like he had buried two spirit stones! And rare items at that! I stared at the boy with my eyes still wide open.
And somehow, I ended up yelling a little.
“Hey! You! This wasn’t just one? There were two of them?”
Startled by my sudden loud voice, the boy jumped in surprise.
Two spirit stones! I was the one who was more shocked! Especially since they contained summoning circles for natural spirits that could no longer be obtained anywhere in the world.
“Y-yes… there were two. My father took the other one to a jewelry shop to sell…”
“He sold it? For money?! Do you even know what that was?!”
Good grief! Even though I had been trying to buy it myself, I was furious that the boy had sold the other one somewhere else.
“No! They accused him of trying to sell something stolen… and he got beaten up before being chased out. And then… sob, then Father collapsed…”
“Wait! That’s not the important part. What about my spirit stone? What happened to it?”
I couldn’t hear anything else. The only thing that mattered was the whereabouts of my spirit stone.
“It was taken by the jeweler.”
“What kind of thugs do that?! Trying to steal someone else’s property in broad daylight! That’s a crime! A crime!”
I couldn’t help but fly into a rage. How dare they snatch away something that was practically mine?!
“But… technically, we weren’t the owners either, so…”
“Hey! No, listen carefully. If it hadn’t been taken, you would’ve come out here and sold it, right?”
“W-well… yes?”
“Then I would’ve bought it, right?”
“…I suppose so?”
“Exactly! So if I bought it, it would be my property.”
“Huh…?”
This kid really doesn’t get it. How frustrating!
I was clutching my chest in exasperation when I saw Philo running toward us in a panic. But Philo looked terrible.
In the short time since I’d last seen him, his face was covered in bruises, and he seemed to be limping.
“Philo!”
Despite Hansen’s dramatic cry of concern, Philo carried out his duty first. He pushed away Hansen, who had tried to support him, and held out the bag to me. It was stained with blood.
“I’m sorry. It got a bit dirty.”
“More importantly, Philo, what happened to your face?”
Did he get into a fight in the meantime?
“It was my own mistake. I received disciplinary action.”
Disciplinary action for what, exactly?
“It was entirely my fault. I was in such a hurry to come up that I failed to greet the captain in the dining hall.”
How surprising. Was this how knights normally got beaten by their superiors over such trivial things? Or was Philo being especially targeted because he was a commoner?
I didn’t need to think about it for long. It was definitely the latter.
“By the way. When they pick a knight captain…”
“Yes?”
“Don’t they consider character at all?”
“…Well. As far as I know, they only look at skill and status.”
It was right when I was clicking my tongue that the boy, who had been standing with his back to us, suddenly screamed.
“S-s-snake! A snake!”
“Hm?”
“There’s a snake on the young lady’s back!”
Ah, so it was visible after all. I calmly pulled Rai out from where he had been wrapped around my waist like a belt. Both Hansen and Philo looked like their eyes were about to pop out at the sight of Rai smoothly slithering across the back of my hand.
Rai flicked his tongue cheerfully in greeting, but the humans fell into complete panic.
“Why is that thing on you?!”
“Why is it coming out?!”
“Have you people never seen a snake before?”
Hansen’s face had gone completely pale as he immediately drew his sword.
Since Rai’s voice could only be heard in my head, to everyone else he was just a repulsive creature.
“Hand it over! We have to kill it right now!”
“Why do you keep doing such dangerous things?! That’s clearly a venomous snake!”
Eh? We’ve been traveling together this whole time and you’re only noticing now?
“This is my pet snake. He’s been in my arms the whole time. You really didn’t notice?”
“Hiiik!”
“Uwaaak!”
“He’s not dangerous at all. He’s not venomous, and if you look closely, he’s actually pretty cute. See?”
When I stepped closer and held Rai out, the two men jumped back in terror. Why were two fully grown men acting like this?
“Go on, touch him! My baby doesn’t bite!”
“N-no, I’m fine.”
“Me too…”
To think two armed adult men were desperately avoiding my gaze.
I let out a small sigh. Since he’d already been discovered, I lifted Rai—who must have been uncomfortable stuck inside my clothes—and placed him on my shoulder.
Rai smoothly wrapped himself around both of my shoulders and settled in.
At a glance, he looked like a snake-shaped shoulder decoration. Pretending to be an ornament was one of Rai’s special skills.
“Right. I’ll buy this book too.”
I turned to the still-dazed boy and spoke with a very satisfied expression.
“And where is that arrogant jeweler?”