The Guardian Knight of Affection-Starved Young Ladies

50 – Dranus (03)

051.

“It’s okay.”

Flap, flap.

A dark mass flapping its wings, leading the way.

It, with a name I really don’t want to pronounce, spoke in a curt voice.

Like a spirit appearing and Blamia freezing.

Because Kallen asked if that phenomenon, which seemed like time had stopped, was okay.

“It’s because I forced my way over. It’s temporary, so don’t worry.”

“…Alright.”

“Sigh. Really…”

But Kallen felt as if a question mark was floating above his head.

Because the spirit’s tone had changed significantly.

No, it had been like that since something that mimicked human speech started to sound like actual ‘words.’

At Kallen’s request to guide him, the spirit soon led him to the spirit realm.

A strange feeling of only the mind floating while the body remained the same.

While floating in a place that seemed somewhat hazy,

The spirit’s words changed like that.

“Do you know how hard this is?”

What had simply resembled something of the spirit soon took on a clear form, and began to sound similar to the speech of a noble lady.

“I don’t know.”

“Of course you wouldn’t. You’re not the one I made a contract with.”

From the unfamiliar spirit, there was a familiar feeling of a noble lady.

If you closed your eyes and listened, you would believe it was Sinat.

But, a slightly more mature and gentle Sinat.

A spirit with elegance, it was nonsense.

But to deny that, and also because Kallen felt it, the spirit indeed resembled a noble lady.

As Kallen remained silent, the spirit, as if complaining, expressed its dissatisfaction.

“Do you know why I broke the rules and asked for your help? I even did such… things on your back!”

“No,”

“Do you know how much I got scolded by… not my mother, but the queen… because of that!”

It’s definitely different.

When in the relationship between spirit and human, the words that had sounded disjointed,

It was as if it came to life, taking on color.

“What do you see in a man like this that makes you so infatuated…”

“…”

“Anyway, you’re the only one who can get the Sinat, so you need to hurry.”

“Why did you choose me instead of the master?”

“Master?”

“The old man who was with you.”

“Ah.”

The aura of a noble lady emanated from the spirit.

Kallen, shivering at the disparity, asked calmly.

“Do you call it magic? In your words.”

The “you” the spirit referred to must mean humans.

Kallen nodded, understanding the spirit’s words to some extent.

“Maybe it’s because your achievements are outstanding, but it’s of no use to us.”

“Are you talking about spirit magic?”

“Well, if you think of it that way, it’s easier. To be precise, if there’s mana, we can’t do anything here.”

“Spirit magic also uses mana.”

“Pfft.”

A laugh like a fresh spring breeze.

It was such a pure, innocent laugh that Kallen momentarily mistook it for something else.

“To implement spirit magic in the human world, of course, it has to be adapted to the framework of that world. We use mana to manifest ourselves to fit that framework.”

“So, you’re saying you don’t use mana in the spirit world.”

“Yes. That’s why it was you. Do you understand now?”

To be honest, I don’t.

No matter how calm and observant Kallen was.

That was only within the bounds of common sense.

People have difficulty understanding things they haven’t experienced.

The words, far removed from the environment that had surrounded Kallen until now,

were difficult to grasp all at once.

“…That’s not the only reason, though.”

The spirit turned its head sharply, as if it no longer wanted to talk about it.

“Anyway, we must hurry. Once the ritual is over, it cannot be undone.”

Before Kallen could say anything, the spirit continued.

Knowing that Kallen had difficulty understanding, it added more.

“We, whom you call spirits, live much longer than humans.”

“I know a little.”

“Even for us, it was a long time ago, so long that we call it the past. Do you remember when I mentioned the grave of the traitor?”

“I remember.”

The spirit turned its head forward again, as if it was in pain.

“The spirit world is divided into three kingdoms, and each kingdom has beings called traitors.”

Kallen somehow thought that these traitors were related to the monsters seen during the times of Sinat and Selacia, and what the spirit said was not much different.

“It’s a long story about what happened, so just know that there was a terrible event. The three traitors were destroyed by the kings of the kingdoms at that time, and they were imprisoned in the void.”

“Does the void mean the grave?”

“You are perceptive. Yes, that’s right. A spirit trapped in the void can never see the light again. It’s practically a grave.”

Indeed, the grave of the traitor had such a meaning.

In the spirit world, there are three monsters called traitors who caused something terrible.

These monsters were trapped in a place they could never escape by the kings of the kingdoms at that time.

Since it is a place they can never escape, it is called a grave.

The reason they are called traitors is only speculated to be related to that terrible event.

“Does the manifestation mean the form you take in the human world?”

“Yes. Taking the form of an animal is the least burdensome. In the spirit world, we actually take human form.”

“Human form?”

“Because spirits have interacted with humans for a long time, humans are very mysterious and interesting beings to us. They are also a bit cute…”

For example, the feeling of a higher being looking at a small creature.

Humans are such beings to the incomprehensible spirits.

Mysterious and interesting beings.

Since they like the appearance, they resemble them.

According to the spirit, before interacting with humans, they existed in the form of floating lights.

“If the manifestation is destroyed, they cannot escape through the human world. Thus, a very long time has passed.”

To a spirit, a long time cannot be expressed by human standards.

At least when magic first appeared.

Or perhaps even longer.

“And then you appeared.”

As I was thinking that, a voice that seemed both displeased and reproachful echoed in my ears.

Kallen realized that the words were directed at him and opened his mouth slightly.

“Why do you have a world like our family’s?”

“…That world.”

“In your words…”

As Kallen listened to the spirit’s words, something came to mind.

“The world of imagery.”

The spirit declared firmly.

“It’s quite funny. The world was not originally meant to be a decorative art piece like that. You are mysterious, interesting, and a bit cute, but sometimes seriously stupid.”

Imagery should be beautiful.

Imagery, which serves as a means to represent a person, is praised the more beautiful it is.

It’s not for nothing that people are obsessed with beautiful imagery.

That was common sense.

But the spirit completely denied that common sense.

Behind Kallen, who recalled the old saying that imagery was used for combat.

The spirit increased its speed towards the brightening space.

“I thought imagery had long lost its role in the human world, but you appeared with imagery like ours.”

Kallen remembered that time.

The spirit’s words naturally made him recall that time.

When he threw himself for Sinat.

When the monster of the spirit world bared its teeth at them.

“That creature was mistaken. It mistook you, who had imagery similar to ours, for one of us and exploited that gap.”

“Ah.”

Only then did the things that had been unresolved start to make sense.

For some reason, Kallen’s imagery was the same as that of the family to which Sinat’s spirit belonged.

The monster that attacked Kallen and Sinat that day mistook Kallen’s imagery for that of the spirits.

In a word, it was revenge.

The monster took advantage of the gap for the revenge trapped in the grave.

The reason why the monster, whose manifestation was broken and trapped in the grave, appeared in a strange form.

“…Are you royalty?”

Kallen asked, picking up the words that were somehow understandable.

For the spirit’s words to make sense, the spirit’s family must be direct descendants of the king who sealed the monster long ago.

Otherwise, there is no reason for the monster to be mistaken by seeing the same image.

The spirit paused for a moment, then spoke in a quiet voice.

“Yes. It’s a bit embarrassing to say it myself, but I am the heir of the Ekelart family.”

Spirit family, royal family, traitor.

It seems that the spirit world is a much deeper world than humans think.

“Does the Ekelart family have a name?”

Maybe because of that story.

Kallen began to see the spirit in front of her not as a mere spirit, but as a human being.

The word “human” is a misnomer.

She is a spirit, not a human.

But she is a being that holds a world within her, not a literal human.

A being that can unravel the footsteps of the past as a story.

“Felicius von Ekelart.”

Above all, after passing through the bright place.

A world that finds its form when the light that fills the vision calms down.

“You are the first human to come here.”

The spirit, who had transformed into the form of a girl, greeted Kallen with a bright smile.