Chapter 24
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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#24.
― Look at this one. How did she get in here?
― She must have lost her way. Should we send her back?
― She looks interesting. She's cute too. Why don't we just ask her to stay here and live with us?
As unfamiliar voices assailed my ears, the consciousness I had lost gradually returned to me.
The moment I opened my eyes wide, the surroundings fell silent as if they had never been loud at all.
'Where am I?'
I had been with Arkid just moments ago, yet I now found myself in an unfamiliar place.
I gazed about in a daze until a floral fragrance drifted to the tip of my nose, causing me to shudder involuntarily. It was a familiar scent—and one that filled me with dread.
And when I realized that what was wrapped around my hand was a Delus Flower―
"Aaahhhhh!"
I was so startled that I scrambled backward on my rear. But there was nowhere to escape. Delus Flowers surrounded me on all sides.
I hastily pulled a handkerchief from my pocket and covered my nose and mouth. My heart pounded violently.
Terrified that my senses might become paralyzed again as they had before, I waited in dread, yet nothing happened even after a long time passed.
It was in that moment of bewilderment―
― Are you alright? You must have been frightened to suddenly lose your way?
"Eek! W-who are you!"
At the sudden voice, I widened my eyes and looked around frantically.
But I could not see the source of the voice. The only movement was white butterflies fluttering around the Delus Flowers.
― Oh! She can hear us!
― Aww, look at her eyes wide open. She's so cute. Her hair is red but her eyes are blue.
― What do we do? She seems frightened because of us. I hope she doesn't cry.
― Over here, were you very startled? It's not over there, it's over here.
Various voices began to penetrate my ears from all around.
It was a sound that burrowed into my mind just like the cacophony that had rung in my ears before I lost consciousness at the Seed Farm last time.
Uneasy at that familiar sensation, I watched the swarm of white butterflies fluttering before my eyes and, on a whim, muttered aloud.
"Could it be... the butterflies are talking?"
The butterflies then fluttered their wings in response.
― Aha! So to your eyes, we appear as butterflies.
― How interesting. The human we met before said we looked like bears to them.
― A swarm of butterflies might be better than a swarm of bears. That one fainted the moment they saw us back then.
― Right. So we couldn't even make a contract and had to send them back.
'What on earth is happening?'
I was dumbfounded as the butterflies conversed with one another, exchanging words back and forth.
The way they responded to my offhand remark seemed bizarre.
No, more than that—butterflies could talk! What was going on?
"Are you really saying the butterflies can talk?"
― To be precise, we are not butterflies.
― We are Spirits!
"Spirits?"
― Yes. Humans call us Spirits.
― It's been such a long time since we've seen a human. Usually, we can barely even hear their voices.
― So stay here for a while. Don't just leave. Play with us.
The butterflies circled around me, fluttering their wings in an attempt to charm me.
The moment I spoke, Spirits chattered noisily from all directions, and my mind became utterly frazzled.
I tried to assess the situation while holding a handkerchief over my mouth, but a butterfly landed on it.
― But why are you covering your face? Does something hurt? Show me your pretty face. You're so cute.
"I can't because of my Delus Flower allergy."
I gently swatted the butterfly away and glanced sideways at the Delus Flowers, which sent the butterflies into a frenzy.
― What? A Delus Flower allergy? That can't be!
― These flowers are our sustenance. They couldn't possibly harm you when we're visible to you.
― That's right! We feed on the Delpina that comes from these flowers. That's why we deliberately cultivated so many of them around here.
"Delpina? What is that?"
― Delpina is an energy source found in nature. The mana that mages commonly speak of is actually a force derived from Delpina.
― Yes. Delpina is a far purer force than mana. Strictly speaking, mana is merely the residue of Delpina. When we consume Delpina, magic stones form in its place. The Delus Flower, which is richest in Delpina, is our staple food.
― We can purify land contaminated by Delpina and bestow blessings upon barren earth. Isn't that amazing?!
The Spirits fluttered their antennae busily, as if urging me to praise them.
I was dumbfounded by this new information. The term Delpina was unfamiliar to me, and the fact that it was a component of magic stones was shocking.
According to their explanation, this thing called Delpina came from Delus Flowers, and the residue of Delpina became magic stones.
'So that's why there were so many magic stones in the Wormhole. These creatures have quite the appetite.'
If that were the case, then the sudden appearance of the Wormhole must have been the Spirits' doing as well.
Now it made sense. I'd always wondered why magic stones were found so abundantly in Hadelus Territory, and it turned out to be thanks to the Delus Flowers. I cut off the butterflies' chatter and responded.
"Anyway, I collapsed because of this flower last time. My senses were completely numbed—I nearly died. So don't touch the handkerchief."
― Aha! Now I see why we became visible to you. It's been ages since we've encountered a human who reacts to Delpina!
― You must have an incredibly sensitive soul. You definitely entered the sphere of Delpina's influence without contracting with us.
― That's true. Most humans can't even sense Delpina. You're really something special!
― It was probably pure Delpina being absorbed directly into your body that caused the pain. But it's not harmful. Really, it isn't!
Listen, all of you. Could you please speak to me one at a time, in order?
Don't I deserve a chance to respond?
My head was spinning from the voices pouring in from all directions.
But I couldn't tell who was speaking, making it difficult to silence them. Besides, their words weren't entirely without substance.
"So I was in pain because of this Delpina force or whatever?"
― Yes! You're so smart!
― Smart, cute, and lovely!
Wait... why does their reaction to me feel no different from how Arkid reacts to me?
No, that's not important right now. For some reason, I felt uneasy and waved my hands to shoo the Spirits away as I spoke.
"Isn't that actually more dangerous than an allergy? If just being near them can affect me, I could get sick again."
My body was accepting a force that ordinary people couldn't even distinguish or perceive, as if it were nothing.
Perhaps because I was a possessor, it felt deeply unsettling to me.
'Could it be that possessing Rhoena's body has changed my constitution to be different from other humans in this world?'
What if the reason I can't repel the power called Delpina is because I'm possessing a dead body?
As I trembled, imagining the worst-case scenario, the butterfly burst into laughter.
― Oh my, how adorable. Look at you being so frightened.
"I don't like pain."
― So, are you in pain right now?
"Hmm."
Now that I thought about it, I was standing in the middle of the Delus Flower Field, yet I felt no pain. By this point, I should be experiencing some reaction, but there was nothing.
In fact, I felt a surge of vitality coursing through me. As I stood there bewildered, the Spirit spoke.
― Don't worry. You won't hurt anymore.
"How can you be so sure?"
― Once a body fully awakens within Delpina's sphere of influence, it no longer rejects Delpina.
"Awakening?"
― Yes. We all experience that pain when we're born as Spirits. You're human, yet you have quite a unique constitution.
So this means I don't have to avoid Delus flowers anymore?
It seemed I had awakened after that terrible pain at the Seed Farm that day.
"But what exactly is awakening?"
― Humans who can perceive Delpina can make contracts with us. Since you've already entered our sphere of influence, a contract would be even easier.
"A contract?"
― Come on. Why don't you just make a contract with us? Then you'll be able to use Spirit magic too!
Was this really one of those "hey, you can do it too!" situations?
I was left dumbfounded by the Spirits' sudden proposal. That's when they began fluttering around me insistently.
― Why won't you just make a contract with us?
― Now that I look at you, you're absolutely brimming with Delpina. I've never seen such abundant Delpina before. I have a feeling I'd be satisfied if I made a contract with you.
Something about that sounded like a warning that they wanted to devour me, and I felt a chill run down my spine. I asked cautiously, on high alert.
"What's the benefit of making a contract with you?"
― If you contract with us, you can use our power too. That's not all—you can also purify corrupted land using the Delpina within you.
"Wait. You're saying I can purify corrupted land?"
That meant I possessed the qualities of a Spirit Mage. In this current era, the lineage of Spirit Mages had been severed, but in the past, there were many of them.
Thanks to them, corrupted lands were purified and barren lands were revitalized, allowing for a prosperous life from the empire's founding.
But at some point, Spirits became invisible and Spirit Mages disappeared, bringing an end to the age of prosperity.
Now, when land became corrupted, people could only rely on holy power. If even that failed, they had no choice but to abandon the land entirely.
Land corruption was extremely rare now, but according to the original story I knew, corruption would soon begin.
That's how the female and male leads would meet.
'That's right. In the original story, Mabel and Zeronis met because of the land corruption, didn't they?'
A sudden plague and corrupted land throw the Empire into emergency. Thus, the Saint Mabel travels to the Imperial Capital, and the novel begins.
During her journey, Mabel happens to rescue the male lead Zeronis, who was trapped in corrupted land, and their fateful meeting comes to pass.
As I traced back through the original story, I discovered a blind spot and cried out in eureka.
'Wait, if I become a Spirit Mage, couldn't my future change too?'
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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