Chapter 178. Still, You Do Love Them… a Lot, Right?
Let’s calmly sort out the situation.
First.
“I have to rescue the spirits trapped inside the barrier together with Senior Mycelln.”
It’s the wyvern’s scheme, yes, but it’s also a path I chose with my own will.
Senior Mycelln’s sincerity moved my heart, and the pitiable plight of the spirits trapped within the barrier stirred my good nature.
Of course, it was also an itinerary with nothing firmly set in stone.
“I don’t even know where the spirits are trapped, what exactly I’m supposed to do there, or what I can even do.”
Senior Mycelln asked me for help not because he recognized my level, but simply because it was the spirits’ will.
In the end, it meant we’d only get an answer by crashing into it ourselves, and that part wasn’t much worth agonizing over.
The only real issue was the location.
“But that got solved a moment ago.”
If so, what we had to do next was clear.
Go with Senior Mycelln, save the spirits trapped inside the barrier, and secure faithful slaves to build the tower later.
That was all.
That was all… and yet.
Now, second.
“Demian… noticed.”
What did he notice?
He realized that Senior Mycelln and I had gathered and were planning something.
Of course, I did try to use quick thinking and smooth it over somehow.
- Cut!
- …?
- Senior, your diction isn’t very good. With that, how can you ever stand on a stage? You know full well that theater isn’t something you can take lightly, don’t you?
- Hm, hm. Th-that’s true, isn’t it? I’m sorry.
- Go back in and come out again. It might be good to add a bit more mysterious flair, too.
- Ahem. O-okay.
The rough outline went like this.
Senior Mycelln, who lived as the “Spiritist of the Cutting Wind.” But his true dream was not to be a spiritist, but a stage actor…
The clumsy, chaotic actor-challenge tale of a Spiritist of the Cutting Wind standing at the edge of twilight!
…Something like that vibe?
I can proudly say the storyline was perfect.
The script had emotion, too.
Mycelln, a famed hero of the old war. But even with wealth piled up like mountains and fame that shook the continent, his heart was nothing but hollow.
The Spiritist of the Cutting Wind opens the second act of his life!
Was there a more shocking, moving human story on the continent than this? In my opinion, there wasn’t.
But it didn’t work at all.
And what did he say?
- Friend, there’s a lot I don’t know.
- That’s something everyone knows—
- And if I don’t know, I ask Ransi.
- ……
- If Ransi doesn’t know, Ransi asks Mom. And if Mom doesn’t know, she asks Dad. But I don’t have a mom or a dad. Then what should I do?
- You… both of them are alive and well—
- Is that important right now?
- ……
If you’re going to say it, just say it already.
Only innocent Senior Mycelln ended up going in and out of the water three or four times.
Anyway, this was Demian’s so-called trump card.
If we didn’t speak plainly, he’d tattle to the family.
But what was the problem with that?
“…It’s not really a problem.”
The problem was that it would very likely become annoying.
I’m just a kind, weak vagrant from the Black and White Zone.
But then the Spiritist of the Cutting Wind comes to that Black and White Zone vagrant and says, let’s rescue spirits together?
Ah. Even Senior Mycelln, the person involved, can’t explain that.
Anyway, that was the problem.
If I say, “It’s because the spirits did,” then the question starts: “Why would the spirits do that?”
And the moment I answer, “I know, right?” irritating eyes will start following me around.
“…There are too many parts I can’t explain.”
It was truly a situation where I couldn’t go forward or back.
There was nothing shady, so there was no real reason to hide it, but at the same time, blurting it out felt… awkward, in a vague kind of way.
And what should I say.
Demian was seasoned.
- Friend, I’ll give you time to think.
- ……
- Adventure always comes with waiting. I’ll be expecting good news.
That relaxed air as he casually loosened the noose.
As he turned away, the glance he threw back at me was even laced with confidence.
Was this the leisure of a victor? He even called Chenbi and went off to enjoy the festival on his way back!
That was the whole story of everything that happened up to just a moment ago.
“So…”
I shot a sidelong look at Senior Mycelln, who was sitting there like a drenched rat, and asked,
“You found it?”
“…I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. It couldn’t be helped. That guy’s gotten noticeably craftier lately, and he’s good at hiding his presence. If you don’t pay attention, you might not notice.”
“Still, I don’t feel good about it. It feels like I made things complicated.”
Well, it was true that things got complicated.
Originally, it was something we could slip out quietly, solve quietly, and come back quietly. Then Demian appeared as an unexpected obstacle.
But I didn’t particularly mind.
“It’s not like…”
It would be nice if it stayed hidden, but even if it became known, it wasn’t like I had anything to be ashamed of.
If I were someone living off Brando’s pay, I’d have plenty to worry about regarding where I stood, but I wasn’t, was I?
If I decided I was going, then I’d just go.
Anyway.
“What matters right now isn’t that. First, tell me about the place you found.”
“Hm-hm. Honestly, it feels like I only ever lose face in front of you. All right, shall I start?”
Senior Mycelln cleared his throat a few times with an embarrassed face, then continued.
While I listened, I kept my eyes on the fishing rod laid over the water’s surface, and with the swaying sound of ripples as the backdrop, Senior Mycelln’s voice settled gently over it.
In summary, it was this.
“First… it’s just as we expected?”
“If I skip various steps and explain it simply, the crossing point of the waterways was a massive hollow. And that hollow had waterways extending out toward each lake.”
So he properly explored that massive hollow.
And as a result—
“I found an underwater cave.”
“What was there?”
“I tried to approach, and a huge iron door appeared. It seemed like ancient ruins…”
“Did you try going in?”
“No. Strangely, it wouldn’t open. It seems like a barrier… I don’t know magic well, but it definitely wasn’t an ordinary barrier.”
“Hm.”
After hearing that far, I calmly organized my thoughts.
“A barrier even Senior Mycelln can’t open.”
It surely wasn’t a normal barrier.
“If that’s the case, we won’t know until we see it ourselves.”
But there was something odd.
“By the way, are we sure those ruins are actually the place we’re looking for?”
“Why do you think that?”
“You said the Fairy Dance is accompanied by an enormous amount of mana (Mana), and that powerful mental impressions are transmitted to you. But you haven’t mentioned anything about that.”
In other words, if that place was the center, shouldn’t there be mana and mental impressions we could feel?
But the answer to that doubt was elsewhere.
“Hm. That isn’t so strange. Take a look.”
With that, Senior Mycelln made the water spirit Eiki visible.
Eiki looked like a proud cat, sitting in a loaf posture as it stared quietly at the lake.
“Eiki.”
Eiki didn’t react. It only reacted around the time Senior Mycelln took out a moonlight stone from his clothes.
“Eiki, I’m asking you. Focus your ki-sense on the exact center of the lake.”
As he said, I focused my ki-sense on the center of the lake.
And right after that, mana rippled at the lake’s center.
“How is it? Do you feel a connection between Eiki and that flow of mana?”
“…No. I don’t feel it at all.”
“Spirit arts and magic are different. Spirits are a part of nature itself. In truth, even if the distance is far, it isn’t truly ‘far.’ Right now, you could say this entire lake is a part of Eiki.”
I see. So that was it.
“If there had been a direct flow connecting the ruins and the Fairy Dance, the mages would have found the location long ago.”
The reason the mages had made no progress for so many years was because they were trapped in the fixed idea that the Fairy Dance was a “magical phenomenon.”
“And mental impressions are the same. They aren’t like a human voice carried by the vibration of air.”
Anyway, that minor curiosity ended there.
So now, what remained was truly to go to the ancient ruins and rescue the spirits.
When my thoughts reached that point—
“What do you think we should do?”
“What do you mean?”
“Didn’t Brando’s Young Lord notice? There’s nothing particularly to feel guilty about, but… truthfully, I would prefer that the renowned houses (名家) not learn about the spirits.”
“Because there’s a risk they’ll be exploited?”
“…Yes.”
He must have told me so readily only because “the spirits wished it,” too.
“Hm. What should we do.”
And here Demian became a problem again.
Originally, we planned to leave secretly at night and come back secretly, but now that Demian knew, that was no longer possible.
So then—what did Demian want?
- Is this what they call the smell of adventure?
Right. He wanted adventure.
And one more thing.
“Demian doesn’t want the family to find out.”
Thinking about it carefully, that was true.
If Demian had no qualms about informing the family, he would have been shouting about adventure and pressing us to get ready immediately.
So then why didn’t Demian want the family to know?
Here, as someone with a bachelor’s degree in Introduction to Demian Studies, my inference was…
“Brando won’t allow it.”
In other words, what did that mean?
Demian’s talk about telling Ransi, telling Madam Gamo—those words were nothing but bluster.
But even so, could we just ignore Demian entirely? No, we couldn’t.
As I continued to think—
I realized the solution was, surprisingly, in a simple place.
But before I could say it, I needed to hear Senior Mycelln’s resolve first.
“Senior, you still… love the spirits a lot, right?”
“Why do you ask? It’s obvious.”
“Then for the spirits, how much are you willing to give up?”
When I said that—
Kyae-e-eek!
Eiki suddenly hissed at me.
Of course, since it was a spirit, I couldn’t actually hear the sound, but if it were a real cat, a high, sharp screech would have followed.
Had that unease infected Senior Mycelln, too?
“…What is it?”
Senior Mycelln asked with an anxious look.
I was genuinely puzzled.
Why is it that whenever I try to say something, everyone gets anxious like this? I’m a humanitarian. Also, I’m righteous.
So why, exactly…?
“Tsk.”
I gathered my thoughts there.
Because what mattered right now wasn’t that.
“Do you have the confidence to spend your entire life being pursued by Brando for the spirits? That’s what I want to ask.”
“…Tell me the conclusion first.”
My conclusion was this.
In fact, it wasn’t anything special.
“In the worst-case scenario, I’m asking whether you’re prepared to take on the stigma of being the kidnapper of the Young Lord.”
My thought was this.
“Demian wants adventure?”
Then give him adventure.
…But the burden of responsibility would be something Senior Mycelln would have to bear.
After saying that, I brushed myself off and stood up.
“Senior, I’ll give you time to think.”
“…”
“Everything has a price. I’ll be expecting a wise choice.”
With two days left until the Fairy Dance appears at Giksen Lake.
Senior Mycelln stood at a crossroads of fate.
