Chapter 27
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#27.
In that instant, Elena's expression turned glacial.
Demian realized his mistake too late. Elena reacted sharply, her words cutting like a blade.
"Why? You're allowed to, but I'm not?"
Elena shot up from her seat and approached him like an enraged bull. Demian faltered, scrambling to explain.
"That's not what I meant. We can meet comfortably whenever you wish."
But his words only provoked her further. Elena's eyes widened as though she'd heard something utterly offensive.
"What did you just say?"
"I have no intention of interfering in your personal affairs, madam. If you wish to meet, you're free to do so anytime. However, I...."
"Be quiet."
Elena cut him off coldly, as if she had no desire to hear another word. Demian's mouth snapped shut.
For a moment, her twisted expression seemed wounded.
But as quickly as it had appeared, Elena's face became blank, and she dragged Demian toward the door.
He couldn't utter a word, helpless against her force. His mind had already abandoned him at the sight of her expression.
"I'm not some lecher like you. If you want to pursue romance, go ahead and indulge yourself. I have no interest."
With those words, the door slammed shut with a bang. A click followed—she had locked it.
This was the first time she had locked the door from inside.
Demian had understood that her leaving it unlocked all this time was tacit permission for him to enter.
But he had pretended not to notice. He was aware that an open door meant nothing if her heart remained sealed.
Demian was a man of integrity. It was his own choice to pursue one path rather than grasp at both.
Still, he had found comfort in the fact that the door remained unlocked.
Coming here in person to deliver news that an attendant could have conveyed was as much an act of checking whether the door was open as anything else.
Of course, Elena seemed entirely unaware of his feelings and merely annoyed, but that didn't matter.
Demian lingered before the closed door for a long time, his expression crumpling as he felt pathetic and worthless.
"Damn fool."
He berated himself, then collapsed to the floor before the door.
But the miracle of the door opening from within never came.
* * *
Inside the Hotel near Ebis Mine. At last, the long-awaited reply from Elena had arrived.
I tore open the letter with trembling anticipation and read it eagerly.
[If what you say is true, I am willing to accept the conditions you proposed.
I plan to depart for the Castle tomorrow, so I should arrive within a week at the latest.
Bring me the evidence you mentioned before returning to the Castle.
Then I will trust your words and proceed with the matter.]
I knew it would come to this.
I fell into deep thought at Elena's demand for evidence, my expression grave.
In my previous letter, I had made her a proposal.
The Evis Mine would soon receive the blessing of the Spirits, so if she purchased the mine before that happened, I would give her ten percent of the profits as compensation for the information.
It was an audacious request by any measure, but Rhoena was not the type to concern herself with propriety or false modesty, so she likely felt no discomfort with it.
I was adapting to life as Rhoena far more quickly than expected. As though I had become her.
"It seems she's at least willing to make a deal with me."
The fact that Elena hadn't outright rejected my proposal suggested my persuasion had been rather effective.
After all, I'd casually mentioned details from the novel, so there was no reason for Elena to disbelieve me.
I already knew from the novel how the Spirit Enthusiast could identify lands blessed by spirits.
I felt somewhat guilty toward him, but such was the nature of human affairs—those who seized the opportunity first held the advantage.
Of course, having learned only from written words posed challenges ahead, but fortunately, I had a real spirit by my side.
I stared intently at the white butterflies fluttering about me.
Since they didn't materialize without my permission, no one else could perceive their existence.
I recalled the conversation from when I'd made the contract with them.
― In truth, purifying corrupted land is proportional to a spirit mage's capabilities. In ancient times, groups of spirit mages would combine their strength to cleanse the land.
'That's different from what you said before. You made it sound like you could do anything... This is a fraudulent contract.'
― Fraud? I was merely describing the general case. You're different.
― That's right. With proper training, you alone would be more than capable.
I'd thought they were changing their tune right after the contract, but fortunately, the spirits didn't seem to be so unreliable after all.
According to them, spirit mages originally manifested their abilities by receiving the essence of the land.
Thus, the more spirit mages there were, the more their power dispersed—and I was currently the only spirit mage in this world.
In other words, I was monopolizing all the essence of this land by myself.
'This truly felt like striking gold.'
I never would have guessed Rhoena harbored such latent power.
Though she'd apparently never ventured near the Delus flowers, so she must have missed her awakening window and died young in her original timeline.
As for me, I'd stumbled upon this ability while trying various things to impress Arkid.
'So I'm actually an incredibly remarkable person?'
― Yes. That's why you must never let others know you're a spirit mage.
'Why not?'
― Because you'd be in danger.
'Danger?'
― Humans are frightening and cruel. Many have grown accustomed to pursuing their own interests behind benevolent facades.
― Once you learn why spirit mages vanished, you'll absolutely wish you'd never heard it.
― I don't want to lose another contractor.
The spirits never specified exactly what had happened in the past.
They only trembled and earnestly implored me not to reveal my status as a spirit mage to anyone.
It seemed their reaction was connected to how few records about spirits remained.
They were so insistent that I'd agreed to keep it secret, but the problem was that obtaining evidence to present to Elena required the Spirit Enthusiast's assistance.
I needed to find the Spirit Enthusiast and strike a deal as soon as possible. And I knew an effective way to persuade him.
By making him a successful enthusiast!
While enthusiasts supposedly can't be chosen by fate, I had the ability to make him a true devotee.
Since I had a spirit by my side, if I offered to let him meet the real thing, he'd abandon all persuasion and come crawling on his knees, begging me to allow it.
But the spirits were adamantly against that method, so what could I do?
I knew from the novel that the Spirit Enthusiast wasn't a bad person, but the spirits didn't.
Besides, I had no particular desire to reveal my status as a spirit mage right now.
The continent hadn't yet begun to suffer contamination, so there was no immediate need for a Spirit Summoner anyway.
Besides, I'd heard there had been dangerous incidents in the past, so I had to be cautious.
I couldn't know when the shadow of death looming before me might shift from plague to some other catastrophe.
"Well, there are plenty of ways to persuade someone."
The fortunate part was that I was an Arkid enthusiast just as much as I was a Spirit Enthusiast.
Only an enthusiast truly understands another enthusiast.
We know exactly what they love, what makes them react and grow excited.
So I had no shortage of bait to lure him without revealing myself as a Spirit Summoner.
He would pass through here soon enough. I cast out different bait for the Spirit Enthusiast and waited quietly for him to bite.
And not long after, he took the bait exactly as I'd anticipated.
* * *
Inside the Tavern near Ebis Mine, a shabby-dressed man entered, paid his coin, and waited for his meal.
His name was Henry Corner. The eldest son of Baron Corner's House, he'd been smitten with Spirits and afflicted with wanderlust for over ten years, traveling the entire continent.
His wish was to see a Spirit just once before he died, but unfortunately, even as he approached thirty, he'd never laid eyes on so much as a Spirit's footprint.
Yet he still believed Spirits existed.
His family disapproved of Henry's quest to find Spirits that existed only in mythology.
His mother's letters begging him to come home had long since stopped arriving. Though he wandered the world, he was resourceful enough to scrape by.
Today, as always, he was convinced of the Spirits' existence as he took his first spoonful of freshly served stew.
That's when a loud conversation from the next table caught his ear.
"I hear the Grand Duke's son and his wife are staying here. The mine's been closed, but that's alright, isn't it?"
"How would I know about the higher-ups' business? I'm just enjoying the vacation that came out of nowhere. Still, since it's a Grand Ducal House mine, the vacation pay is quite generous."
"I'm jealous, truly jealous. I should have applied to Ebis Mine too."
As one Miner nudged his shoulder enviously, another stroked his nose and continued.
"Jealous? When I think about how the Grand Duchess nearly lost her head when she went missing from the mine, I still get chills."
"But they found her, so that's fortunate, isn't it? Anyway, where was she and what was she doing?"
"Don't even ask. While we were desperately searching for the Grand Duchess, she was digging up relics."
"Relics?"
"At first we thought it was just a stone, but the appraisal came back quite favorably."
"What on earth was this relic?"
"Who knows. A fossil with a Spirit's footprint on it, or something like that."
Clang!
The moment the man finished speaking, Henry shot up from his seat. His spoon clattered to the floor from the impact, but he paid it no mind.
He strode over to the next table and asked in an excited voice.
"Did you just say a Spirit's footprint?"
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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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