Wind of Change - 3
Came back from the laundry to find a truly hilarious scene waiting for me.
Two pretty girls, each shuffling about, keeping a careful distance from one another, sitting there in the most awkward silence imaginable.
They were clearly interested in each other, but so busy stealing glances that not a word of conversation was happening. It was like watching a student on the first day of a new term sitting next to a classmate they'd never met before.
Summoning a spirit identical to your own — that's talent in its own right, I'll give her that.
But watching Lena desperately beam Master! Help! out of her eyes, I decided I shouldn't just stand by and observe any longer. That awkward air was threatening to be contagious all the way over here.
"So you managed the summoning after all. Well done."
"E-ehehe. Th-thank you... U-um, Master. Um. That is."
Lena, fidgeting, scurried over to my side.
What could she possibly want to say that she was rising up on her tiptoes to whisper into my ear?
"A-are spirits a-all... l-like that?"
"What exactly do you mean by 'like that'?"
"Ah, um. It's... mm. Not. Speaking. You know."
"You mean to ask if it's normally that standoffish? It does vary from individual to individual."
"R-really? D-didn't you, M-Master. C-contract with one?"
"Me?"
I raised a hand and used my magic to call out the spirit bound to me by contract.
— KYAHHAHAHA! You called for me?! Ooh~! And where might this be? Hmm~! A place just dripping with the scent of nature! But hey, aren't you being a bit unfair? We've got a contract and all, and yet you leave me stranded in the spirit realm for this long? Honestly, if this is how it's going to be, we have a PROB-LEM! Pfft! KYAHHAHAHA~! So, how was that? The heroine of that play we saw once did it like this! Huh? Wait, who's this? Oh my goodness~! What astonishing magic?! If I weren't already contracted to you, I'd want to sign with her on the spot — she's just overflowing with it! Hello there, missy? Feeling happy? I'm a water spirit! My name is... want to guess? KYAHAHA! Why that face~! Lee Hyun. Lee Hyun! This kid. She's adorable~. I could just eat her right up! But from now on—
I sent the spirit back. Nearly burst my eardrums.
Lena stood in silence for a moment, then wore an expression of outright horror.
"S-spirits are, the, the extremes of extremes... then?"
"No, nothing like that... there's bound to be variation between individuals."
I hadn't expected a chatterbox like that either, back when I first made my own contract.
She talked so much I'd actually considered contracting with a different spirit instead. But her base stats and growth rates were at least double those of any other spirit, and water spirits were exceedingly rare besides, so I'd settled on her... Looking back now, I figured it had been the right call.
"I-I seeee..."
"Well. If the spirit you have doesn't suit you, there's no harm in summoning a different one."
A chatterbox with golden-retriever levels of friendliness like the one I'd contracted with would be a handful, sure, but a silent one like this would be just as much of an ordeal in its own way.
Given Lena's personality in particular — the kind that struggled even to approach others first — a situation like this was bound to become a problem for her affinity with her spirit down the road.
"I... I guess I should... do that, then."
With a small nod, Lena walked toward her spirit.
Dispelling a spirit's summoning was simply a matter of drawing back the magic you'd poured into the ring. She knew the method now, so there was nothing stopping her from doing it on the spot...
So why wasn't she doing it?
She couldn't bring herself to do it.
Was it truly right to send a spirit away — one that had come all this way for her sake?
Lena stole furtive glances at the wind spirit sitting awkwardly beside her.
The wind spirit was doing exactly the same thing. Looking at her as if half-afraid, as if cowed somehow.
Watching for the other's reaction, just as Lena herself had always done.
"U-um... e-excuse me."
Flinch. The moment the words left her mouth, her shoulders trembled.
The beautiful green-haired girl's body was curling in on itself.
"...Ca. Caan. Ca-can't... th-think. Of. Anything. To... say?"
Having gotten that much out, Lena fell silent.
How long did it take? Long enough that anyone else would have called it unbearably frustrating — and through all of it, Lena waited.
Just as Lee Hyun, her master, had once waited for her.
— .......I. I...
At long last, the green-haired girl opened her mouth.
How much courage must it have taken? How hard must she have squeezed it out of herself?
— ...I d-don't. Re-really know. H-how. To, to talk... I'm, I'm bad at it, talking...
"......"
— I've, I've always. Be-been alone. S-so... I've. Ne-never. Even. Do-done. A. A contract... before... So... so...
"Y-you. Too. Yo-you gathered. U-up. Your. C-cour-courage. Too, then."
Lena was stammering just as badly.
But the green-haired girl didn't point it out.
Because they were the same.
Perhaps it was precisely because they were the same that neither of them felt any discomfort.
— Oh. Um. Uh. I. I know. I know. It's. Fru-frustrating. Talking to me. You. You might. N-not. Want to. Con-contract... with me. That's. Th-that's fine. I. I understand. Mm.
Lena stared at the green-haired girl in silence.
This spirit was her.
A girl who found interacting with others awkward and had always been alone, just as she had.
Lena knew all too well how painful that was, how frightening.
If I hadn't met my master...
She turned her head, just slightly.
Without Lee Hyun — watching over her from over there with his arms crossed — she would have lived her whole life alone, just like this girl.
She would have spent her whole life doing nothing but envying everyone else.
It was Lee Hyun who had reached out his hand to that version of her.
Then shouldn't she, in turn, reach out her hand to someone as well?
But someone like me...
A sense of unworthiness stabbed at her chest.
Was it truly right for her — someone who couldn't yet properly play the part of even a single person's savior — to reach out her hand and claim she would save someone?
Without quite realizing it, Lena turned her head, looking for Lee Hyun.
— What matters is only what you choose to do.
In that instant, his words came back to her. Whether or not to reach out her hand here was a decision she alone had to make.
The girl before her wasn't looking at Lee Hyun.
She was looking at her.
Then it was her decision to make. Lena squeezed her eyes shut.
Just as Lee Hyun had said, she could summon a different spirit — one with a friendlier temperament.
No, maybe that really would be better.
For someone as unconfident as herself, someone who struggled to interact with others, a spirit like that would be the wiser choice.
But then what would become of this girl?
Would she have to live on in the spirit realm, alone, never receiving anyone's salvation for the rest of her days?
Just as Lena herself would have, had she never met Lee Hyun?
Would she have to live her whole life cursing herself for it?
That's... not right.
Lena reached out her hand. The green-haired girl, seeing the pale hand appear before her, slowly lifted her head.
"U-um. Th-that is. A. Uuum. W-won't you... m-make a. A contract... w-with me...?"
— ...W-will. That. Re-really be. Okay?
"Ye-yes."
— ...Th-thank. You! I'm, my name is. Syl, Sylphid. Call. Call for me. A-anytime!
The green spirit, once shrouded in fear — Sylphid — took Lena's hand with a bright, radiant smile.
And in that same instant, the breath of the wind began to swirl through Lena's magic.
Feeling it, Lena closed her eyes.
With this. This was the right thing, wasn't it?
"Lena. You went ahead and made the contract?"
"Ye-yes."
Once Sylphid — who had introduced herself by name — had vanished, Lee Hyun came over.
Lena hesitated, terrified that he might be disappointed in her. She waited with her eyes squeezed shut, then tilted her head at the sensation of a hand settling on top of it.
"Eh?"
"Well, that was your decision to make, too. Get along well with her from now on."
She hadn't been scolded. That alone was enough — Lena broke into a wide, beaming smile.
.
.
One month had passed since she'd made her contract with the wind spirit, Sylphid.
Ever since binding with the spirit, Lena seemed to draw in the magic of nature noticeably faster.
Thanks to that, her skill in magic grew by the day, and she could now fully handle elementary-tier spells.
"Your incantation-less casting and multi-casting seem to have come along nicely, too."
"Ye-yes..."
Chanting a spell in your head and interpreting it through several channels at once to manifest the magic.
It was no easy feat, but somehow, she could manage it.
"Um, that is. Is. Uuuh. Is. Th-this much. E-enough?"
"More than enough. Multi-casting aside — never mind the silent casting — you're actually better at multi-casting than I am."
He meant it.
Lena's multi-calling, the kind that recalled that terrifying dark-magic barrage from the game, was nothing short of a monster's magic.
She chants one spell and out comes several hundred Magic Arrows?
Yes, contracting with a spirit let her draw in the mana of the natural world more readily — but this was something no one could do without exceptional talent.
If she kept pace like this, a single year would be more than enough to meet the goal — that much Lee Hyun could judge for himself.
"Let's call today's lesson here and head into the village, hm?"
"Y-yaay!"
Lee Hyun chuckled at Lena's delight.
"We're going to the bathhouse, too."
"Awww..."
"Soak yourself in the hot water, wash the fatigue away... we'll have dinner in the village. Order whatever you like."
"R-really?!"
"Of course. You've fully mastered multi-casting for the basic spells, so consider it a present — I'll buy you whatever you want to eat."
And so, with a delighted Lena in tow, Lee Hyun set off toward the village. They passed through the always-tranquil streets, and upon reaching the market, something unusual caught his eye.
"Hmm?"
A group of adventurers.
Adventurers, here. Was another ruckus brewing, like last time?
Lee Hyun walked with a hand resting casually on his sword's hilt, and saw one of them striking up a conversation with Luceia.
Clearly... last time, it was adventurers who'd coveted Luceia's pendant.
Were these cut from the same cloth?
If so, he'd have to throw his weight around a little. That was what he was thinking as he approached—
"Lee Hyun! Come over here!"
"What seems to be the matter, ma'am?"
"These people..."
"Good day to you. I am Baltin, a high-ranking adventurer of the Adventurers' Guild. The thing is — the necklace this lady possesses is the key to the ruins we have been searching for, and we hoped to purchase it from her."
Perhaps because of the murderous air Lee Hyun was giving off?
Baltin, who had been trying to speak with Luceia, addressed him with careful courtesy, and Lee Hyun, eyeing him curiously, examined Luceia's necklace.
"Hmm..."
"This was my late husband's keepsake. I couldn't possibly give it away."
"Would you not consider lending it to us, just for a time?"
"And what, exactly, would I be trusting you with it for?"
Luceia looked the very picture of wariness.
Little Lorian, at her side, seemed to have remembered what had happened before, and was beginning to sniffle.
"Hm... Luceia, ma'am. Leave that necklace in my care, then. I'll use it and return it to you without fail."
"Eh? Well, if it's you, Lee Hyun, I suppose I can trust—"
Luceia nodded and handed the necklace over to Lee Hyun.
Taking it, he raised the pendant up and turned to Baltin.
"The ruin expedition. We'd like to join it as well."
Lee Hyun glanced slyly at Lena.
Utterly unaware of Lee Hyun's scheme to put her through her paces in the ruins, Lena simply smiled awkwardly.
Can't pass up such a fine opportunity to train Lena.