Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: EP.103 It Won't Be Someone Else's Business - 2
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It looked polite enough on the surface, but to Sasdin's eyes, it was laced with mockery.
No matter that I was the Sage, he believed his skills as a shaman surpassed mine.
He was the only one who could communicate with spirits on their level—mere forces of nature—so his gaze told me to quit wasting time and get lost.
How arrogant.
"Sage, I know you're the one who defeated the Demon King. But spirits are different."
In the lore of the Eight Star Guardians, spirits were just fragments of natural phenomena. They cared only about themselves—that is, whether nature was being harmed or not.
In game terms, that meant spirits were nothing more than annoyances that made life hell for players.
If a river spirit blocked you, you couldn't cross the river.
If a mountain spirit got angry, you couldn't pass over the mountains.
If you needed materials and a spirit was around, you had to pay up to get them.
Even testing out a new skill could summon a spirit furious about its territory being defiled, attacking on sight.
And that was the tame stuff—some spirits threw tantrums if you didn't give them exactly what they wanted.
No wonder so many newbie players ended up game over from spirits' absurd interference.
Of course, veterans like me had no such issues.
We just crushed them and moved on.
"Doesn't matter."
"W-What?!"
"Anyway, I'll handle the spirits myself, so you stay back."
"Don't do that! If the river spirit truly rages, who knows what might happen?"
"You don't know what happens if I rage?"
"Just wait a bit! I've come up with a plan, and I've made preparations!"
When I pushed hard, Sasdin finally flinched and started making his pitch.
A plan, huh. Don't tell me it's what I think it is.
"The surest way to appease a spirit since ancient times is to offer it a mate."
Yup, exactly what I thought.
"...Human sacrifice?"
Lukendi muttered from behind, and Lucille's face hardened.
Human sacrifice was the stuff of cults.
If they tried that for a festival, it'd be a massive scandal for the kingdom.
"N-No, not human sacrifice! Nothing evil like that!"
"Seems evil enough to me? Forcing someone to be a spirit's mate..."
Valtin grumbled uneasily, but Sasdin just shot him a sidelong glance.
Like he was looking at some uncivilized barbarian.
"It's an honor! Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand. And I've already found a virgin the river spirit will be pleased with! Bring her here!"
At Sasdin's shout, his bulky minions dragged someone over from the side.
...Huh?
I recognize that face.
"Ah."
It was the girl from earlier.
Ltiwen Lorit.
The runaway daughter of the Lorit Viscount family.
No longer in the shabby armor I'd seen before, she wore a flowing dress and was barefoot, her expression blank.
Sasdin proudly thrust her forward as she was led along in a daze.
"See? She's already communed with the river spirit! This woman was destined from birth to be its mate!"
"Uh... Priest Sasdin. Did she personally say she'd marry the river spirit?"
"W-Well, something like that... Gasp?! P-Princess?!"
Only then did Sasdin notice Lucille and freak out. He hemmed and hawed before sighing.
"...Something like that."
"She looks perfectly fine to me..."
"Spirits are great beings. No one comes out unscathed after facing one and communing."
"Is that so?"
"Three days. In three days, the communion will be complete, and the river spirit will accept its mate. Then we can hold the festival safely!"
Sasdin spoke calmly, but he couldn't fool my eyes.
A bead of sweat trickled down his neck.
"Master, is this okay?"
"Truth is, doing what this guy says is the most common and peaceful method. Creating a mate—technically a contractor—to bind it in one place calms the spirit. It's done everywhere."
The game worked the same way. Some spirits even demanded a party member as their mate.
Hand one over, and that character left the party forever, but the spirit rewarded you handsomely.
"And we've agreed to call that a 'scapegoat.'"
"'Scapegoat'?! How dare you!"
"Then what is it if not? Did you properly check her consent? Did she say herself she wants to be the river's mate?"
"...Yes."
Liar.
Bet he thinks she can't give a proper answer in her trance.
I signaled Valtin and Lukendi.
Valtin clenched his fist slightly, and Lukendi raised her bow.
As Lucille gripped her staff tensely, I transformed Moonlight into its lute form.
Lark.
I'll borrow your musical talent.
"Uoooooh! Murder! Murder! Murder! I'll overturn everything in this land! I'll shit and piss in the river to shame the spirit! Uoooooh! Murder! Murder!"
"Ugh! What is that? Sounds like a pig getting slaughtered!"
Arrogant priest, but our musical tastes align.
I played and sang the death metal Lark had taught me long ago, and Sasdin and his minions clutched their ears. And then...
Was it the godawful cacophony of ignored pitches and rhythms?
Light returned to Ltiwen's eyes, snapped out of her trance.
"Ah... Ahh... Ah..."
"Hey!"
"...Sage?!"
Regaining her senses, Ltiwen lit up at the sight of me and tried to run over. But one of the nearby brutes grabbed her arm.
"Aaah! Let go! Let go!"
"Where are you going, River Mate?"
"Let go! I never wanted to do anything like that..."
"It's a great honor. And if you become the river's mate, didn't Priest Sasdin promise to destroy the Lorit family's Haunted Mansion?"
"T-That was..."
"Don't worry. I'll keep my promise. Become the river's mate, and this river will be stable forever. I'll report this to Her Majesty the Queen, reviving the viscountcy. The river spirit will bless the land, bringing bumper crops to the kingdom's breadbasket for years. People will praise you. How could this not be joyous? I'd do it myself if I could—such a glorious duty..."
Sasdin deliberately listed the benefits of Ltiwen becoming the river spirit's mate, making sure Lucille heard.
After rambling on, he grinned at me.
"Don't worry, miss. Live on as the river's mate."
With that, Sasdin placed his hand on Ltiwen's head. She stopped resisting and began nodding off.
"There! Sage! Satisfied now?! Even you, who knows everything, must see I'm right!"
...Where exactly do you get off saying it's done?
Are you insane?
"What utter bullshit."
"...Sage. Even you have gone too far."
"Fine, whatever on the rest. But you left something out."
"...What?"
"Don't act like you get nothing out of this."
"What are you talking about?"
Valtin, unfamiliar with shamanism, looked puzzled. Sasdin's face slowly hardened.
"There's a saying: Matchmake well, and you get three drinks. Matchmake poorly, and you get three slaps."
"Shut up!"
"What do you think the three drinks that shaman got as reward for delivering someone the river spirit likes?"
Sasdin's face flushed red.
Shame? Rage? Anxiety at being exposed?
Maybe hostility toward me for causing trouble.
Whatever it was, I didn't care.
What mattered was he was trying to block my achievement.
Destroy the Haunted Mansion?
Can't get the achievement if it's destroyed.
"...Guys. We need to take these people aside. Princess, I say again—this is all for the kingdom."
"I can stabilize the river without that crap. Now then."
I switched Moonlight to its greatsword form and aimed it at Sasdin.
"Get ready for three slaps."
"Tch! Get him! Don't touch the princess!"
Finally showing your true colors.
Sasdin raised his staff. At the same moment, a barrier etched itself around Lucille.
Trying to protect the princess even now?
Pathetic.
"Who's protecting who!"
With my roar, Valtin, Lukendi, and I charged at them.
The event battle began.
Sasdin's minions rushed in boldly, but they were just trash mobs.
Every swing of Valtin's fist broke bones in one or two places, leaving the brutes howling in pain. I turned my eyes to Sasdin.
He gripped his staff tightly, battle-ready.
"The first drink from the river spirit must be a special shamanic power."
If magic deceived the world's laws with mana, shamanism blended mana with nature's forces.
The stronger the natural forces a shaman could wield, the higher their level.
Those who bargained with spirits always got nature-wielding powers first—and Sasdin was no different from the others I'd met.
"Haaap!"
Water gathered on the staff of the man standing with the river at his back.
Unique skill: Water Spike.
A piercing attack firing needle-sharp water.
I activated my barrier as it shot out.
-Shwaaaa!
Three streams of water blasted toward the barrier.
Its piercing power was so strong the barrier seemed ready to shatter.
Cracks spread across it, panicking Valtin and Lukendi.
"S-Sage."
"What do we do?"
"What do you mean? Lucille!"
"Y-Yes? Yes!"
Sasdin must have realized he couldn't keep Lucille pinned while using serious shamanism.
The barrier around her vanished, and she hurried to my side. I gave her orders.
"Lightning magic on the water streams. A strong one."
"O Heavens."
"...Huh?"
Wait.
That's top-tier lightning magic, isn't it?
I expected something like Chain Lightning.
"Smite your foe with golden wrath."
Lucille chanted lowly, aiming her staff at the streams.
"Thunder Dragon."
-Kwarung! Kwarung! Kwarung!
"Arrrgh!"
In an instant, dark clouds formed, and a golden dragon flashed within. It plunged down.
Thunder Dragon—the pinnacle of lightning damage magic—manifested through Lucille.
No way. Thunder Dragon scrolls are rare as hell. Where'd she get it?
"I got it managing the Torett territory. One of two top-tier spellbooks. The other was Shatter..."
Shatter too?
The strongest explosion magic?
Wow. Is she going to be an archmage?
Looking pleased and expectant, Lucille's eyes sparkled. I patted her head.
"Good job."
"Hehe..."
"Grgh... Gaaah!"
"Wow. Survived a Thunder Dragon."
"Tough shaman, huh."
Valtin and Lukendi tensed, trading comments. I calmed them.
"No big deal. Relax. Now, the second drink..."
"Grraaah! I can't forgive you! I won't! Great river spirit! By our contract, erase my foe!"
Just as predictable.
Second drink: Spirit Summon.
Summon a spirit to attack enemies.
Limited to specific spots, but the spirit's power crushed most foes here.
Most.
At his desperate cry, river water surged toward us.
Valtin, Lukendi, and Lucille gaped in awe at the sight.
"Hiiik..."
Ltiwen, now lucid, tried fleeing to us—only to be sucked into the darkness floating in midair.
"N-Nooo!"
Her scream faded as footsteps echoed from the shadows. Splash, splash.
Lucille swallowed hard at the wet footfalls.
She looked tense, so I gripped her shoulder reassuringly. Meanwhile, the one who'd snatched Ltiwen emerged from the dark.
"...That's the river spirit?"
"Yeah."
A beauty with golden hair and tanned, light-brown skin.
Dozens of water tendrils held Ltiwen like tentacles, her face beaming.
No wonder the screams stopped—a thick tendril filled Ltiwen's mouth.
...
Kinda lewd.
-Shwaa! Shwaa! Shwaa!
Showing off? Fountains of water erupted around her.
I glanced at Sasdin while scanning them.
The more the spirit flexed, the greener his face got.
Didn't know summoning drained his own mana?
Pathetic.
"Lucille, when you're queen, hire a proper shaman."
"Can't you do it, Master?! I've never seen a greater shaman than you..."
"Nah, that's nonsense."
"..."
Lucille pouted.
The river spirit's eyes gleamed as she licked her lips.
"Oh my~ You~ You're cute! Noble blood too... Wanna be secret friends with big sis? I'll bless the land..."
"Uh... N-No thanks. I-I don't like girls... Got someone I like..."
"Hehe~ They all say no at first, then beg later. You'll be no different..."
Lick.
The river spirit licked her lips, openly lecherous.
"You'll love it."
"R-Really, no..."
"First times are always hard. You won't know till you try."
Geez.
Be a river spirit and bring river-like peace, not slimy tentacles everywhere.
I swung Moonlight at the spirit extending tendrils toward Lucille.
-Pang!
The sword wind blew her head apart.
But as if it were nothing, her head reformed. Her gaze turned icy cold—not at Lucille, but me—as she growled.
I wasn't mad, though.
Not because of the Wall of the Heart, blocking hostility.
"You."
It was exactly like the reactions of spirits I'd extinguished since coming to this world.
"Why glare like that?"
It was just amusing.
Author's Note
Hello! It's Malmulmalmul!
Ugh~! It's cold! Freezing! Winter's already here.
Everyone bundle up warm when you go out...
See you tomorrow! Bye~!!