Chapter 47: Change (2)

Spirit.

It was the name of the book Cecilia had written in my previous life.

In that book, it was written that the very first thing one had to prepare in order to make a contract with a spirit was none other than the favorite snack of the person who wished to form the contract.

Was it not said that the most important condition for making a contract with a spirit was precisely ‘the contractor’s mind being calm and stable’?

That calm and stable state of mind meant ‘eliminating all tension, stress, and unnecessary thoughts,’ and the most effective way to achieve it was to eat the snack that person liked…… I remembered clearly that this was what had been written.

And though she had probably written it as nothing more than a side note, in “Spirit,” it had also been clearly written what her own favorite snack was.

If I recalled correctly, it was a raspberry tart filled generously with custard cream.

I had been unsure, but it seemed what I remembered was indeed correct.

“Does it suit your taste?”

“…Yes.”

Cecilia, who answered my question a beat late, covered her mouth and nodded.

Fortunately, her words were not just empty courtesy, as she was busily munching on the tart without pause.

By the time I handed her the drink I had bought along with it, I heard a voice of delight from the side.

“Oh? Is that eggplant juice? I really love that stuff!”

“It’s grape, Professor Windy May.”

Juice made from eggplant?

The mere thought was utterly dreadful.

However, judging by her expression, Professor Windy May was not joking but genuinely shocked.

“Come on…… seriously? You really don’t know anything. Juice is either eggplant or pickled cucumber.”

And if you added mint to that, it was the best.

Grumbling as if disappointed, Professor Windy May naturally reached out and picked up a tart as she sat down beside us.

After swallowing several tarts in the blink of an eye, she twitched her ears and looked at me.

“So, what is it you’re planning to do today, and how will you go about it?”

“Wasn’t it you who were supposed to guide us, Professor?”

“Huh? Why would I?”

At my surprised question, she tilted her head as if she didn’t understand.

“Well, right now, Cecilia’s teacher is Gwendil, isn’t he?”

Professor Windy May shrugged her shoulders.

“And, to add a side note, you still haven’t accepted my proposal either.”

The way she puffed her cheeks and blew out a puff of air……

It really was like watching a little child throwing a tantrum.

Knowing that her age had easily exceeded two hundred years, I could only feel a mix of complicated emotions.

“I only lent you a space where you could practice in peace, that’s all. And, as I said earlier, since Cecilia said she wanted to learn from Gwendil, I only plan to watch from the side without interfering.”

Her words sounded, in a way, like complaints aimed at someone who hadn’t granted her request.

But I had no difficulty discerning the meaning hidden between her words.

“First of all……”

Thanks to that, I was able to give her the answer she was hoping for right away.

“Even setting everything else aside, I intend to help Cecilia properly control her power. There’s no longer any need to confirm that her potential is outstanding.”

The fact that her potential was outstanding also meant the danger her power contained was immense.

I had already witnessed and realized that fully with my own eyes during the Dungeon Field Class.

Professor Windy May surely understood the situation in her own way as well.

And so……

“My first step will be to add consecration and miracles on top of the barrier you’ve deployed, Professor.”

“Mhm, and then?”

“By stabilizing the surrounding mana in that way, gentler and calmer spirits should appear. With that, I’ll have her first become accustomed to resonating with spirits and controlling them.”

“Mmm.”

At my explanation, Windy May nodded and murmured softly.

“You’ve prepared quite diligently.”

Fortunately, it seemed I had passed, at least for now.

“Well then……”

Having confirmed that, there was no reason to waste any more time.

I immediately pulled out the holy water, oil, and a few coins I had prepared beforehand from my robe.

“Cecilia, over here.”

“Yes.”

Following my instructions, Cecilia rose from her seat and walked up to me.

I placed the coins around her and began sprinkling oil and holy water in turn, preparing for consecration.

“Lian.”

As she watched me, Cecilia spoke quietly.

“May I ask you something?”

“Yes, anything.”

“I heard that what you’re doing now is consecration. And that through it, you’re helping me train.”

She looked at me intently as she asked.

“Then what is it I should do now?”

“Nothing at all, Cecilia.”

Even while making preparations, I blessed her lightly as I answered.

It was a blessing that brought peace to body and mind.

“At least for today, you don’t need to do anything. Today, all you have to do is accept the flow of nature and nurture your sensitivity to spirits through it. Of course, among the spirits that sense your aura and approach, there may be some that gain form, but thanks to the Professor’s barrier, they’ll mostly be gentle ones.”

Even if one that wasn’t gentle were to appear, it didn’t matter.

That was precisely why Professor Windy May had deliberately stayed here in the first place.

“So what you mean is I should get used to controlling my power while engaging with spirits.”

“Exactly.”

She fell silent for a moment.

“……Would it be too much of a distraction if I spoke to you right now?”

“No, it’s fine. This isn’t particularly difficult work.”

“Then, may I ask not just for conversation but for a favor?”

“Yes, I don’t mind.”

But instead of speaking, Cecilia hesitated for a while.

“Then……”

After glancing at me cautiously for a moment, she nodded lightly as if having made up her mind and spoke.

“Shall we stop using honorifics with each other?”

“Uh……”

Her completely unexpected words left me flustered.

Seeing my reaction, Cecilia looked at me as though wondering why I was like that.

“Why not?”

“Well, that’s…….”

I moved my hand slowly, trying to give the softest answer I could.

“I’ll be honest. Even if it’s fine for you, Cecilia, it feels a little improper for me to speak casually.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re the daughter of a noble house far higher in rank than mine.”

Seeing Cecilia suddenly lose her words, I shrugged.

“Above all, my family is in a vassal relationship with the Everglenn family. In that situation, if I spoke casually to you without restraint……”

Even the fact that we called each other’s names so freely was something that should never have been allowed.

But Cecilia seemed rather dissatisfied with that.

“Still, Lian and I are friends……”

“……”

I glanced at her briefly, then lowered my gaze again to the faint boundary line at her feet.

Just moments ago it had been calm, but now it was faintly trembling.

It meant her mind was wavering little by little.

‘This isn’t good.’

It seemed I had become someone far more meaningful to her than I had thought.

After a brief hesitation, I soon spoke as if struck by a good idea.

“Then how about this?”

At my words, Cecilia looked at me cautiously.

“When it’s just us—only the two of us—we’ll speak comfortably.”

……To be honest, there was no loss in becoming closer with her.

What I had said earlier had really been nothing but excuses.

I had simply avoided it even knowing the truth.

And I knew very well why.

“Like friends.”

At those words, Cecilia stared blankly at me before breaking into a radiant smile.

The trembling boundary line immediately stilled as if nothing had happened.

“Ah.”

Then, with a startled expression, she let out a small exclamation.

I hadn’t made a sound, but I was surely just as surprised as she was.

“Beautiful.”

“……”

She was right.

My first impression on seeing it was also that it was beautiful.

A multitude of brilliant lights gathering around her.

As if a rainbow had been shattered into fragments and scattered all around.

“It’s truly a spectacle.”

Professor Windy May, watching quietly from a step behind, murmured.

She was right.

Before we knew it, we were standing in the midst of a tide of spirits.

Just what kind of human was he?

Glancing sideways at Lian Gwendil, Windy May thought.

‘At such a young age, to have cultivated that level of divine power…… there’s no way he could also have such deep knowledge of magic…….’

It was something that went beyond effort or perseverance—it was physically impossible.

Because there was simply not enough time.

For him to possess that level of divine power at his age was already unbelievable.

And yet, he had managed his power so well that she almost overlooked it, but while observing with interest, she realized that he was hiding far more power than what he let seep out subtly.

“……”

A student hiding his power.

Feeling an odd pounding in her chest, Windy May sipped the drink he had brought.

The faint herbal scent drifting midway through gently loosened her tension.

‘If he prepared something like this, then it means he didn’t just read books and accumulate knowledge.’

Surely he had prepared it to stabilize Cecilia’s condition.

Since she knew how effective such methods were, she too had made various preparations……

But thanks to him doing far better than she had imagined, she ended up saving her secret stash of sweets and tea leaves.

‘Hmm, just what is he?’

The way he skillfully prepared in advance.

The words he spoke and the actions he took while watching the situation unfold.

The way he guided and instructed Cecilia.

Most of all, in the field of magic…… at least in spirit arts, it was certain that he had a broad knowledge.

But was that even possible?

How could he polish both magic and divine power to such an extent?

At such a young age, no less?

“Mmm.”

And of all things, why spirit arts?

Even among elves blessed by nature, more than half failed to properly handle that power.

All the more so for humans, who were infamous for having few Spirit Masters—spirit arts for them was even more of a mysterious study.

‘Could his maternal lineage be related to some renowned mage?’

That would explain it somewhat.

For magical aptitude and talent were largely influenced by bloodline, family, and race as innate factors.

The Gwendil family had no mages.

But if his mother had been a mage, it would not have been strange for him to inherit her knowledge and power.

But even with that thought, there was one thing that couldn’t be explained.

It was his mana.

“……”

Windy May Maddown had never, in all her life, seen divine power and mana harmoniously mixed together like his.

The two forces that should have gnawed at each other in competition were instead in exquisite balance.

‘And he’s doing that unconsciously.’

……Yes, how shocked she had been when she first saw it.

In her long years, she had seen a few people wield multiple, completely different powers such as mana and divine power at the same time.

But among them, those who had reached a certain level of mastery could be counted on one hand even across all that time.

That was only natural—if the balance was off, one would not only become weaker than when handling each power separately, but in severe cases, one’s body and circuits could be destroyed, leaving one crippled.

It was an ironic case.

To adjust the balance of two powers, one had to reach a high level of mastery.

But by the time one reached that level, one power would have already taken firm root throughout the body, making it impossible to even attempt balancing.

That was why even her teacher, Archmage Edas, had never attempted it.

Of course, she had once shown Lian that she could also use it……

But in her case, strictly speaking, it was through a kind of shortcut and trickery, and thus not even worth comparing to him.

‘……What was it that Master said again?’

There were only two cases where balance could be achieved.

Either one knew how to handle power skillfully from infancy and had trained from an early age.

Or one was simply born with the instinctive ability to balance them.

‘I thought I’d never encounter such a case in my lifetime.’

And then she met Lian Gwendil.

A miracle that might only be possible even in theory was now living and breathing before her eyes.

“Hoo.”

Windy May decided to be honest.

‘I want him.’

She coveted him.

She coveted that unknown power.

She coveted Lian Gwendil, the one who possessed it.

That raw, unknown talent—she wanted to nurture it and watch over it by his side.

That alone was reason enough to want to take him as her disciple.

Furthermore, when he grew into a great mage, she was unbearably eager and curious to see what kind of magic he would unleash and what kind of world he would reveal.

That was why she had decided to raise him.

― If the vessel is sufficient, it doesn’t matter even if it’s empty inside. I can fill it myself. And you are one of the very few I’ve seen whose vessel is sufficient.

That was the answer she had given when Lian asked why she wanted to take him as her disciple.

And it had been the pure truth, without a single lie.

……Though Lian’s reaction upon hearing that truth had been rather awkward.

‘If I’d known, I should’ve read a few novels and learned how to speak more charmingly.’

The world believed she had no interest in taking disciples.

But rumors and reality always differed somewhat.

It wasn’t that she had no interest in disciples, but rather that she had never met anyone worthy of becoming one.

Someone with a vessel strong enough to accept all of her and still endure.

To find such a vessel, she had dragged her weary body to become a professor at the Academy.

And as if to reward her effort, someone with such a vessel had appeared right before her eyes.

And not just one—three of them.

“Ugh……”

But to think all three would reject her outright.

Even for someone called an Archmage and Dragonslayer, it was something that could leave her feeling a little dejected.

Dropping her head with a thud onto the table, Windy May rubbed her cheek back and forth against the surface.

At the end of her gaze, countless spirits of nature drawn to Cecilia swelled and surged, surrounding them.

‘I didn’t even need to stay.’

She had waited in case something unexpected happened, but it seemed her worries had been needless.

Still, just confirming that Lian Gwendil had deep knowledge of spirit arts.

And that Cecilia’s talent was at an absurd level.

That alone made the time well spent.

‘Well, there’s still plenty of time.’

One way or another, she would find a way to persuade those three and make them her disciples.

So she resolved, reaching out for the remaining raspberry tart.

“But it really is strange.”

She murmured while nibbling at the tart with a crunch.

“At first, I thought there was nothing at all……”

Her gaze was fixed on Lian Gwendil.

More precisely, within him—on the faint but undeniable presence of a power.

That power’s name was none other than affinity.

Yes, Lian now possessed talent as a Spirit Sorcerer.

Affinity, so it was called.

Compared to Cecilia, it was indeed weak, but it was still large and strong enough to be considered a genuine talent.

But how on earth had she overlooked this?

Even she could hardly believe it.

‘……Could it really be, like that kid said, that I’ve gone senile?’

Annoyed by the unpleasant thought that rose unbidden, she chewed the tart roughly as if to vent.

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