The Elf Sisters and the Older Sister (5)
Lirota, the rock spirit, made no effort to hide his bewilderment.
What kind of mad human is this?
An ancient spirit who had lived through eons—spans of time so vast that even the lifespans of long-lived races like elves, let alone humans, looked like nothing—had seen every kind of ordeal imaginable.
Gods who tried to work spirits as minions. Contractors who attempted fraudulent pacts and got struck down for it. Dwarves who summoned him for a contract only to seize him by force and lock him inside an item.
This human was not trying to exploit him the way those others had—and that only made him harder to understand.
He'd said daughter, hadn't he.
Isn't it a good thing if your daughter contracts with a high-ranking spirit?
From the looks of it, she was a minion.
If you were a life form that had chosen to lean on a god because you lacked the confidence to grow strong on your own power, shouldn't you be willing to use any means necessary?
"Come at me!"
Maybe this was a ploy to secure more favorable contract terms. Lirota tried to put the prospective contractor's father at ease.
"You don't have to take that tone. The conditions—"
Thud.
The mad human's fist smashed into Lirota's jaw. For the first time in ages, the high-ranking spirit felt as if he had been knocked all the way back down to the level of a low-ranking spirit.
"You… little bastard…"
You summon me for a contract and throw the first punch out of nowhere? Rage surged to the crown of his head, but he swallowed it once.
The prospective contractor was that attractive.
Not only the overwhelming affinity strong enough to summon him, but a mana reserve so vast that maintaining the summon didn't even faze her—and attractive looks on top of that.
Factor in her young age, and there was simply no contractor with conditions this good. He could sense the potential to climb high in the game the gods played for their amusement.
Contracting and experiencing the game secondhand wouldn't be bad either.
In a span of time short compared to the years he had already lived, Lirota would become a spirit god. If his contractor was still alive then, he would recruit her as a minion.
"Look at this bastard's eyes."
"Calm—"
Thud.
One hit he could take. Two he could not.
"I'll calm you down myself."
Lirota drew up the power of rock. Force enough to pave a garden that had held only ordinary soil and plants with stone, and to make boulders surge from the earth!
"This can't be!"
"A spirit this powerful?!"
Ebria and Evrande, who knew spirits well, went pale with shock.
Spirits that bore names were broadly called high-ranking spirits, but the gulf between individuals was night and day.
The rock spirit Evni had summoned had pierced through the divinity of a god who ruled the area and carved out a portion of his own domain.
He seems even stronger than the lightning spirit Evril summoned.
He was a high-ranking spirit so fiercely proud that even the great elder of the elves begging on his knees would not make him accept a contract.
Securing a contract somehow would have been best—but things had already gone wrong. Evrande quietly offered a prayer for the soon-to-be-departed.
May this opportunity cure Yohan of his madness.
Evrande quietly gathered Evni into her arms and withdrew. Cheonsol, who had evacuated in advance, let out a sigh.
"To pick a fight with a being that powerful. I hope this opportunity cures the Mad Demon's madness."
"!!!"
In that instant, Evrande completely understood the wicked Vampir who had stolen an elf's husband. She felt she could get along with her even better than with her own sister.
"You dodge well, like a little rat! Try dodging this too!"
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Boulders that had surged up like inverted icicles shot toward Yohan. Yohan, who had bounced into the air, hopped and skipped from rock to rock, stepping on them as he went.
"Mad Demon is amazing! Mad Demon is cool! Mad Demon is the best!"
"Dad really fights well."
"Ahem…"
Lan-lan-i and Evril clapped and cheered. Evni puffed herself up proudly in her mother's arms.
"An arrogant human with no wings! Rock Seal!"
"Old-fogey spirit can only pull off stale attacks!"
"Kyaaaah!"
The rocks Lirota summoned sealed Yohan in and crushed him like a millstone.
"Dad…"
"Dad!"
The moment his terrified daughters screamed, Yohan appeared on the ground missing one arm.
Self-Healing
"See? The Mad Demon doesn't die!"
Lan-lan-i clenched her fist and shook it.
"Mad Demon!! Beat up the bad uncle!!"
"Of course."
Buffed by his daughter, Yohan struck Lirota's body. It only knocked loose a few stone chips, but Yohan's fighting spirit did not break.
Lirota, on the other hand, took a shock so great his very existence wavered.
To allow an attack from a mere Level 1 minion.
It was unbearably humiliating. If Mayril—his lifelong rival, born at the same time as him—had seen this, she would have mocked him for tens of thousands of years.
"I'll kill you!!"
"Mm…"
The spirit's murderous intent reached Evni.
"I… don't like spirits that bully Dad… I won't contract…"
She spoke slowly but clearly, and Lirota came to his senses. To sincerely try to kill his contractor's father—
A mistake even a young spirit wouldn't make.
He wanted to fix things, but it was already too late. The goddess who had been holding back her anger for the sake of her minion's future finally exploded.
"Enough!!"
Sophia's divinity bound Lirota and Yohan. Lirota, who had instinctively tried to resist, was startled all over again.
How does a young god who's only built up a tiny fraction of a divine realm have this much divinity?
This was on the level of a chief god who ruled several planets. He had started trouble thinking she was insignificant. Even as a spirit, cold sweat ran down him.
"My garden…"
Sophia surveyed the garden with teary eyes.
She had carefully read community posts like How to Decorate Your Divine Realm to Your Taste and Pretty Garden Making: Step-by-Step, browsed dozens of fountain listings, bought the one she liked best, and painstakingly decorated the place—and now it was completely wrecked.
The half-destroyed fountain especially broke her heart.
Yohan was going to make a statue for that spot.
She had been looking forward to how beautiful and dreamlike a statue wrapped in mist would look.
It would not have happened if Yohan had not picked the fight, but she had no desire to scold him.
He was a mad kid to begin with, so she had not expected anything. And from Sophia's perspective, that spirit seemed a bit of a pervert too.
She had not known he would be crazy enough to use power inside a god's domain. But the world was wide—there were mad spirits like Yohan out there as well.
"Um…"
"Shut up."
Sensing Sophia's rage, Lirota shrank back. Being a rock giant, it did not even show.
"You know your crimes well enough, don't you?"
"We could hand this over to trial, you know? A high-ranking spirit causing a rampage in a divine realm. Got insurance?"
"No…"
Sophia looked dejected. If she had known this would happen, she should have gotten some in advance.
Yohan, who had been staying quiet for fear of catching stray fire, was surprised.
There's insurance in the divine realm too?
Looking at the garden ruined with boulders and rock fragments, Yohan gave a small nod.
Yeah, you'd need it.
"Not to brag, but our family is a spirit-god family. A high-ranking spirit is nothing—"
"I'm truly sorry!"
Lirota cried out more desperately than before. He had only been thinking of the contractor's relatives and master. The woman who had been hiding with her presence reduced was a spirit god?
The greatest crisis of his spirit life. It was hard to even gauge how thoroughly screwed he was.
"You know your position. How are you going to compensate?"
"Some of the divinity I've gathered…"
He had divinity he had collected over thousands of years to obtain a divine seat and become a spirit god. It pained him enough to squeeze out tears, but if it meant avoiding a furious god's retribution, he could offer any amount.
"That's a given. Anything else?"
Cheap goddess bitch.
"I'll also contract with the minion who summoned me."
It was a proposal that even accepted an unfair contract—but both Yohan and the goddess shook their heads.
"I don't want to connect a spirit who destroyed my garden with my pretty Evni."
"I agree. A spirit stupid enough to fly into a rage without knowing things would turn out like this? I don't think it would be good for Evni's education."
"I… don't like him either…"
Lirota forced a smile and regulated his rage. If he did not want to get beaten by the goddess, he had to become good at anger management.
No matter how disgusting the mad human's words are, I have to endure.
"How about we make him a communal slave of our divine realm and work him instead?"
"Huh?"
"What?"
Sophia and Lirota were shocked at the same time. Dohoyo snapped her fingers.
"That's it exactly! He damaged the divine realm, so he should be put to work restoring it. Since it's compensation for a mistake, he has to help until it can develop beyond what it was."
"Um… I have a domain I'm responsible for, and I have to raise spirits I care for dearly…"
"Then take it to trial."
"I'll do it."
Tears welling, Lirota accepted the proposal.
How did I end up in this situation…
"This lady finds the present situation difficult to understand. Being able to work a being that powerful is naturally a good thing. But what other benefits does it have?"
"Spirits fill nature with life force. Our divine realm has a high-ranking wind spirit as well, and thanks to that, our realm is rich in wind-attribute mana, related elements are generated, affinity builds up little by little… anyway, it's all good."
"My thanks. Evrande explains things very well."
"If you have more questions later, ask anytime. Contact me here. We can share how the kids are growing—and let's stay in touch often."
"Heh heh. I shall do so."
Lirota watched the women cheerfully exchanging community IDs with sad eyes.
"Why are you spacing out? Not going to contract?"
"I will…"
"The duration is… you know?"
"Please consider it until the minion who summoned me dies."
"Well, that's not bad. Sophia?"
"Yeah! Thanks!"
Lirota was ultimately bound to the divine realm. The first thing he did as a slave was restore the garden and the fountain.
Wait. If I'd just restored it and left in the first place, would I not have needed the slave contract?
Lirota shed tears at the belated realization.
After playing a bit with the kids who were squealing with excitement, feeling pleased as I watched the mothers who had grown closer, and preparing for a second summon at Ebria's request, I spotted Lirota wiping the corners of his eyes.
"Ebria?"
"Call me sister-in-law."
This elf likes me way too much. It'd be a problem if she fell for me.
"Sister-in-law. Do spirits normally cry a lot?"
"What are you talking about. Why would a high-ranking spirit cry."
Lirota looked like he was crying despite his size. Ebria the spirit expert would know better than me. I must have seen wrong.
"Evni. This time, try summoning while thinking of a rational and wise spirit?"
"Okay!"
Evni summoned a spirit. This time a giant woman with horns appeared.
Looks: pass. Figure: pass.
"Pass!"
"You are the one who… huh? What's this human talking about?"
The giantess who looked at me spotted Lirota standing far off and burst into laughter.
"Kyahahahahaha!!! Oh my belly button. Oh, my belly button. Ah, I'm laughing so hard my stomach hurts."
"…"
No matter how you looked at it, Lirota was crying. Good thing Evni didn't contract with a mean crybaby spirit.