The Spirits Have Fallen for the Hero's Touch
"This place is huge." The words slipped out the moment I laid eyes on Hesed's farm.
"The farm is even bigger than the entire village of Elver put together."
"Right? It's precisely because this is the countryside that we can use such a vast stretch of land however we please."
I wondered if a village with a farm this large could really be called countryside. Countless livestock were grazing freely across the wide fields. Cows, pigs, chickens, geese, sheep... Just the visible types of livestock numbered five kinds. And even from a rough glance, their numbers easily exceeded several hundred.
"Plus, just like Hesed said, magic is spread across the entire farm."
It was similar to the magic set up in the fields, yet somehow different. The effect of filling the body with energy was the same, but something about it... made me feel strangely good.
"That's odd. Ilena, what kind of magic is this?"
"Happiness magic."
"What the..." Isn't that just another name for drugs? Of course the effect would be somewhat different.
"So what exactly do you do here?"
"Actually, it's not much. You could call it close to an honorary position. At most, I occasionally recharge the mana, that sort of thing?"
"That's not 'not much.' To replenish magic covering a plot of land this size..."
"But I'm not working alone. Come over here."
The place Ilena led me to was a small toy-like house standing in the middle of the farm. When I carefully peeked inside, I saw adorable little figures huddled together, fast asleep. Each one was only about half the size of my palm, with even smaller, cuter wings sprouting from their backs.
"Spirits?"
"That's right. The real workers on this farm are these children."
They must have heard us talking, because one of the spirits rubbed its eyes and woke up.
"Uung, who is it... Ah?"
Then it spotted me and Ilena, and its eyes widened into perfect circles.
"It's the Demon King! It's the Demon King! And a human we've never seen before! Everyone, wake up!"
It buzzed around the house making a fuss, which caused the other spirits to begin waking up one by one. And just like the first, they all looked at me and Ilena with the same wide-eyed shock.
"It's really the Demon King!"
"There's a human we've never seen!"
"The Demon King brought a human!"
The awakened spirits poured out through the windows and chimney in a rush. Then they began circling around me.
The spirits were cute, but every single one of them was so rowdy that it left me dizzy.
"Who is it? Who!"
"Demon King, who is this human!"
They were causing such a commotion that I decided to answer them myself.
"Hello."
"Eek!"
The moment I gave a light greeting, the spirits jumped in surprise and rushed back into the house. Yet even after fleeing, they clung thickly to the windows, eyes sparkling as they observed me.
"This human can see us!"
"He greeted us! He doesn't seem like a bad human!"
Spirits are mysterious beings the more you observe them, but I must have been just as fascinating to these children. After all, ordinary humans cannot see spirits.
Because a spirit's very existence is magic, you could not see them unless you possessed a keen sensitivity to mana. Even mages who had trained their entire lives often never encountered one.
"They're cute."
"Right? Aren't they? But they're not just cute—they work hard too. Children, won't you show him what you can do?"
"But it's our break time right now!"
"We were in the middle of a nap!"
"Hiiing..."
When the spirits firmly refused, Ilena made a dejected face. Oh dear. They clearly distinguished between work and personal matters even when facing the Demon King. As expected, children were often sharper about these things.
Still, they should remember that the only reason they were alive was because Ilena was merciful...
In the end, I decided to step forward and ask myself. I met the spirits' eyes gently and inquired.
"I heard you children are really good at your work. Is that true?"
"Yes! We're good at it!"
"Super good!"
"I came to see you after hearing that. How long does your nap time last?"
"Until we feel like waking up!"
What an ideal work environment, being allowed to sleep until you felt like getting up. But put another way, if I could convince the spirits, it meant they could show me their work right away.
I decided to dangle the carrot.
"Do you children happen to know this name?"
"What name? Whose?"
"Aquarius. She's my friend."
"You're friends with Lady Aquarius??"
Hearing the name from my lips, the spirits began to murmur excitedly.
"That friend likes it when I touch her. She says it feels incredibly good when I stroke her."
"Lady Aquarius likes being touched by a human?"
"No way! Don't lie!"
Even as they called it a lie, their eyes were already sparkling. They had gone far beyond wavering—they were completely hooked.
"Really? Then how about one of you comes out, even if you think I'm tricking you? I'll give you a little stroke."
I stopped there and waited. Coming on too strongly would only make the spirits panic and grow wary of me.
After a moment, one spirit bravely stepped forward. But out of fear, it simply circled around me and couldn't bring itself to come any closer.
"Uuu..."
"It's okay. Come here."
When I spoke warmly, the spirit finally nodded as though making a huge decision and approached me.
I didn't try to touch it right away. I simply held out my hand and waited for the spirit to entrust its body to me first.
"Sniff sniff..."
The spirit smelled my hand, judged that nothing was wrong, and fluttered right up in front of my face.
"Can I stroke you now?"
"Yes!"
I began to slowly and carefully stroke the spirit's body. Sensing the mana that formed its being, I caressed it gently, pressing slightly harder on the knotted areas.
"Aah, haa..."
The spirit's expression melted instantly. Before long it was moaning, going completely limp, and surrendering its entire body to my hand.
The other spirits watching this exploded into chaos.
"That one's acting weird! Why is it doing that?"
"It must feel so good that's why!"
"Me too, me too!"
Having seen with their own eyes that my touch felt good, the spirits came swarming again.
"Touch me too!"
"I'm first! You stay back!"
They even began fighting over my hand, each demanding to be touched first.
But the next moment, the spirits suddenly stopped their squabbling. All at once, they turned their gazes in one direction.
"I knew it would turn out like this."
The voice that came from that direction was a familiar one. In the middle of the farm, a girl wearing a soft blue dress was glaring at me.
"Who said you could come in here, Roen?"
"Tiphereth, have you been well?"
"I don't need your greetings!"
The most powerful spirit in the world, the king of all souls and spirits. The Soul Corps Commander, Tiphereth.
Tiphereth harshly rejected my greeting, then turned her glare on Ilena.
"Lady Ilena, how could you bring that guy here without even telling me!"
"Sorry. But I wanted to show him the farm."
Although she was a corps commander, Tiphereth was someone even the Demon King Ilena had to treat with care. The souls and spirits she watched over played a vital role in maintaining the world, after all.
"Everyone, get away from that guy right now!"
At Tiphereth's command, the spirits left my side and fluttered over to her. All except one.
"Uhehe..."
The child whose body had already gone completely limp and melted from my stroking and massaging. That child looked up at me with eyes full of affection, as if Tiphereth's order meant nothing.
"G-give that one back too!"
"As you can see, I'm not forcing it to stay."
I carefully asked the spirit who showed no intention of leaving my hand.
"Do you want to go back to Tiphereth?"
"Nooo. Touch me moreee..."
With its tongue completely loose, the spirit even rubbed its body against my hand.
Seeing that, Tiphereth gritted her teeth tightly.
"Ugh...! This is exactly why I can't help but hate you!"
The reason Tiphereth hated me was precisely this. She was the king whom all souls and spirits followed, yet once they tasted my touch, they ended up liking me more than her.
What should I call this? The body doesn't lie?
Originally, spirits were free beings. They followed Tiphereth, who possessed strong mana, but that was not out of duty but free will.
"What's your name?"
"Dipe. Call me Dipe..."
"Dipe! What have you done!"
Tiphereth wailed in despair.
For a spirit to reveal its name—which was magic itself—meant that simply by calling it, one could summon the spirit at any time and use it freely.
I looked at Tiphereth with a sly expression and provoked her.
"Tiphereth, this child is mine now. It means I can do whatever I want with her."
"You wicked bastard, what are you planning to do to Dipe!"
"Exactly this."
I whispered to Dipe so that Tiphereth could clearly see.
"Dipe, bring all your friends too. I'll make every one of them feel good."
"Okay!"
Hearing my words, Dipe fluttered upward and shouted to her friends.
"Everyone come here! He says he'll make you all feel good too!"
"Waaah!"
At Dipe's call, the other spirits all left Tiphereth's side at once and flew straight to me.
"Y-you all? Where are you going? Didn't you hear me tell you to stay away from that guy?"
"But he doesn't seem like a bad human!"
"Dipe said it's okay!"
The spirits now flew over without hesitation and began playing by clinging all over my body as if I were a toy.
My hands grew busy trying to stroke one child after another.
"Wait, wait a second. One at a time...!"
"Kyahaha! He's a nice human!"
I had no attention to spare for Tiphereth, who was staring at me in utter dismay. Ilena patted her back in my place.
"Cheer up, Tiphereth."
"Don't console me, Lady Ilena."
"If it comes to it, how about you entrust your body to Roen too? It feels really good."
"Ugh... There's absolutely no way that will ever happen!"
Tiphereth shouted decisively, as if making a firm resolution.
How had it come to this? I had only come to look around the farm while enjoying some leisurely time.
No matter how much I stroked them, the spirits kept pressing their bodies closer, begging for more. There was no sign of this ending anytime soon.
In the end, I had no choice but to keep giving the spirits massages without pause. By the time the exasperated Ilena finally stopped them, it was already too late. I had become completely exhausted from handling the spirits' infinite stamina.