Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 162

Episode 162

“Those are soldiers from the young lady’s family. It’s almost an annual event for them.”

Blacksmith Fallon said with a smirk, looking at our dazed faces. Isana muttered with a bewildered expression.

“You managed to notice their presence in this street. I could barely feel their presence.”

“Haha, surprising, isn’t it? The young lady has a very good sense. I’m always amazed every time I see it. Looks like you skipped prayer time again today. The soldiers will have a hard time.”

“She seems like a young lady from a noble family. Is it okay to let her wander around alone without a guardian?”

“Ah, well, that won’t be a problem. The young lady is stronger than those soldiers.”

The tone of his reply was peculiar. Isana looked puzzled, but I roughly guessed what he meant. I had felt a strong earth energy from the girl a little while ago. I thought there might be a spirit user nearby, and my guess was right. I just didn’t expect it to be such a young girl.

Blacksmith Fallon stared in the direction the girl had disappeared for a while. For some reason, he had a bitter expression. But when he turned back to Isana, he had returned to his slick, customer-facing demeanor.

“Anyway, it seems the guest is quite high-ranking, considering the young lady showed interest? Did you come here showing interest in the Soulmate Star? Tsk tsk, but you failed because you didn’t recognize her even when she was right in front of you. Our young lady is very strict in that regard.”

“Excuse me? What do you mean?”

“Huh? You don’t know about the Soulmate Star?”

When Isana shook his head, he scratched his cheek with a troubled look.

“What, were you just a simple traveler? That’s quite unusual. Everyone the young lady has recognized so far has come here for a reason.”

“Could you explain exactly what you mean?”

“Well, fine. It doesn’t cost me anything to tell you.”

The blacksmith nodded and then cleared his throat loudly.

“The Soulmate Star, you see, is an old legend passed down in this village.”

“A legend?”

“It’s also called the Legend of the Blue Moon. It says that although this land is a forsaken desert now, it will one day regain its past glory and become a prosperous world. When that time draws near, a blue moon will appear in the sky as a sign, and a girl born on that day will receive the blessing of the earth and be destined to be a soulmate.”

The blacksmith spoke with a dreamy look, like a poet reciting a poem. The Soulmate Star chosen by the blue moon. The girl who received the fate of that star would one day become the soulmate of an emperor. Whether the person who married her would become an emperor, or only someone who had become an emperor could take her as a soulmate, was unknown.

The blacksmith’s face was filled with pride after finishing his explanation. Isana and I stared blankly at each other for a moment.

“So?”

“So! That Alisa is the legendary Soulmate Star!”

“Heeh?”

“It’s true! I saw it! I saw the blue moon when the young lady was born!”

The blacksmith, who shouted in a loud voice, began to chatter with a very excited face.

“I still remember that day clearly. It was long after the sun had set, but not a single star had risen. It was so dark all around that you couldn’t see an inch in front of you. But then, suddenly, a bright blue moon appeared in the sky, clear as day! It was so mysterious and scary. I was so scared that I could only swallow hard, and then I faintly heard a baby crying from somewhere. That child was Alisa. That’s when I knew. That the legend was true!”

There were quite a few other people who witnessed the legend, so the rumor about the girl born under the blue moon quickly spread outside the village. However, it happened in an area far from the capital, and not many people knew the legend itself, so the related stories only circulated in the vicinity for a while before fading away. Still, there seemed to be people who reacted to the rumors and came to visit from time to time. Most of them were astrologers or scholars, but there were also rare people who showed interest in the position of emperor. Most of those were people from so-called powerful families. One interesting thing was that the girl recognized such people first.

“To be exact, she recognizes people with outstanding talent or high status. And the reason such people come to this village is usually because of the legend of the Soulmate Star.”

“But we’re just travelers.”

Isana said defensively, and the blacksmith laughed heartily.

“Haha, I think so too. If you came here showing interest in the legend, you wouldn’t be so clueless. Besides, even if you knew, you wouldn’t be very interested, would you?”

“Yes?”

“Your reaction is very lukewarm. You probably think this legend is just a tall tale, right?”

“…It’s not that, but I don’t really like legends or stories about fate determined by God.”

I smiled bitterly at his calm reply. I knew too well why Isana said that. It was because his father had met a miserable death because of that God-given fate. From his point of view, he was being tolerant enough by not showing outright animosity. The blacksmith, who had no way of knowing that, nodded cheerfully and laughed.

“I thought so. In fact, even in this village, more people think of the legend as a tall tale. But I believe the legend is true. Alisa has been really special since she was a child. She’s especially good at growing plants.”

“Plants?”

“That’s right. The plants she takes care of grow several times healthier than others. Did you happen to see a particularly bountiful farmland on the way here?”

“Yes, I did.”

“That’s the farmland owned by the young lady’s family. Since she was born, that place has never had a bad harvest. Even during the last long drought, crops grew properly only in that farmland. Thanks to that, only the people here were able to survive when everyone else was dying. In short, the young lady is the benefactor of this city.”

“But for someone like that, the atmosphere of the people around her is a bit strange, isn’t it?”

I said, recalling the expressions of the people I had seen a little while ago. No matter how I looked at it, the way they sharply guarded the girl was not the attitude of treating a benefactor. Then, the blacksmith’s face hardened for the first time. He glared at the surrounding merchants with an unpleasant look, then sighed lowly and said.

“Those guys are just afraid of the young lady.”

“Afraid?”

“People usually feel repulsed by things that are different from them. The young lady is so special that they feel scared. I can’t blame them for feeling that way. I’m sometimes afraid of the young lady too. Especially recently, she’s not only good at growing plants, but she’s also developed strange abilities…”

“What kind of abilities?”

“You’d be surprised if you heard. You asked how she knew the soldiers were coming a little while ago, right? That’s actually…”

“Does she have precognition [the ability to see the future]?”

“Gasp! How did you know?”

I smiled lightly at the blacksmith, who was staring with wide eyes in shock. Isana, next to me, nodded with a look that he had guessed something. He seemed to have realized that the girl named Alisa was an earth spirit user through the whole story he had heard so far.

“The Soulmate Star is said to be blessed by the earth, right?”

“Y-yes, that’s right. Why?”

“Precognition is influenced by the power of the earth. If you are born with a strong earth energy, you can develop the ability of prophecy. Of course, it’s not common.”

“Wow! That’s what it was? S-so it’s not strange?”

“It’s not strange, it’s amazing. It means she was born with that much strong power.”

Of course, even if it was precognition, it wouldn’t be at the level of seeing everything like Troel. Usually, it was closer to a strong premonition, and even then, the accuracy wasn’t very high. Still, being able to sense the approaching soldiers one step ahead meant that she was quite talented. Originally, it would have been an ability she had from birth, but seeing as it was said to have appeared recently, it seemed that it had been suppressed by the influence of the 10-year drought and was now awakening.

The blacksmith was staring at me intently. He was smiling with a simple face, but it was closer to a searching gaze.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Ah, no, um… you seem to know a lot. Then, do you happen to know the identity of that strange thing the young lady uses?”

“Strange thing?”

“Hmm, you could say it’s an existence that protects the young lady. In fact, it’s no exaggeration to say that people’s antipathy has become more severe since it appeared. Before that, they weren’t avoiding her so openly.”

“What on earth is it…?”

I asked, puzzled, and he glanced around slightly. He seemed cautious, as if afraid that his voice would leak out. I became nervous as well, and the blacksmith’s quiet explanation continued.

“It’s usually not visible at all, but it reveals itself when the young lady calls it. It looks like a huge tree, but it has eyes, a nose, and a mouth, and it moves like a person.”

“…A tree?”

“Yes, a very big tree. It suddenly rises from the ground when it appears. Every time it does, the whole area vibrates, and it’s really scary…”

The moment of tension didn’t last long. That’s because I knew too well what he was talking about. I couldn’t help but laugh in vain.

“Haha, it’s okay. It’s not dangerous. It’s probably a Mulden.”

“Mulden? Oh, right! The young lady called it that too! Do you know what that is?”

As expected, my guess was correct. I nodded, looking at the blacksmith, who was showing obvious embarrassment.

“Mulden is a spirit. An intermediate earth spirit.”

“S-spirit?”

“Yes, is this your first time seeing an intermediate spirit? Earth spirits have a slightly intimidating appearance. But unlike their appearance, they have gentle personalities, so you don’t have to be so afraid.”

Natural spirits are common everywhere, but Mulden was a spirit that could often be found in the forest (only in my eyes, of course). Compared to other spirits with flashy appearances, he had the form of a tree and was so taciturn that his presence wasn’t very strong. But that was only according to my standards, and from the perspective of ordinary people, the fact that a tree was moving would feel very threatening.

In fact, even for me, Mulden’s existence was unexpected. I thought her energy was unusually strong, but I never imagined that the young girl would be an intermediate spirit user. Well, having precognition meant that she had the highest level of earth power that a human could possess. With her innate talent alone, she seemed to far surpass Peris, who was a high-level spirit user. She was too young now and her body couldn’t handle it, but in just a few years, she would be able to summon Clay, a high-level spirit. Maybe in about 10 years, she would be able to summon Troel?

While I was having pleasant fantasies in my mind, the blacksmith was frozen with a surprised expression. He asked with his eyes wide open as much as they could be.

“T-that’s really a spirit? Then does that mean the young lady is a spirit user?”

“Yes? Didn’t you know? I thought you knew since you said she was strong.”

“I didn’t know! There’s no way I could have known! I just thought it was something scary that was protecting the young lady. I never thought it was a spirit.”

“Ahaha, why didn’t you ask her?”

“I did ask her. But the young lady said she didn’t know what it was either.”

“Huh? The person who contracted it doesn’t know Mulden?”

I frowned at the unexpected answer.

“She was wondering if it was a monster or a mythical creature? Actually, it doesn’t look like a spirit at first glance.”

“A monster… wait a minute. Then maybe she doesn’t even know she’s a spirit user?”

“Yeah, probably.”

…Suddenly, my head started to throb. How could a spirit user who had already made a contract not know that she was a spirit user? No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t understand, so I asked with a sullen face.

“How did she summon a spirit without knowing its identity?”

“Ah, that. I heard she just followed a spell in a book and it suddenly popped out. It demanded a contract as soon as it came out, but she didn’t know what it was, but it didn’t seem particularly dangerous, so she just accepted it. The name Mulden is just what was written in the book.”

“That’s ridiculous…”

“Haha, it’s absurd, right? Our young lady is a bit like that. She’s very brave.”

“…”

Was that something that could be expressed simply as being brave? I couldn’t hide my bewildered feelings and looked at Isana. He was also looking at me with a very embarrassed expression.

To become a spirit user without even knowing it. I never thought there would be another person like Isana in the world. No, in some ways, she was an even more unique young lady. At least Isana knew what he was doing.

“Anyway, that was a spirit. Hahahaha, yes, that’s right. There’s no way that something protecting our kind young lady could be a monster.”

Whether we were frozen or not, the blacksmith was busy muttering, unable to hide his happy expression. Judging by his brightened face, he seemed to have been quite worried about Mulden’s identity. I could easily guess the hardships Mulden had gone through in the meantime.

Except for the moment of the contract, spirits below the intermediate level cannot communicate verbally. To be exact, it’s just that people here can’t understand their language. How frustrated would he have been, unable to properly explain himself while his contractor treated him like a monster? I felt like I should say something comforting if I met him.

“Hey, but how strong is an intermediate spirit? Can it kill a large monster?”

The blacksmith, who had been unable to hide his excitement for a while, asked a question some time after that. He had an unusually anxious expression for someone who was simply curious. I was puzzled inside, but I answered the question.

“It depends on the type of monster, but at the intermediate level, it’s possible to fight at a decent level. However, in the case of that young lady, her stamina must be able to keep up first.”

“Stamina?”

“The stamina needed to maintain the spirit summon. The physical burden on the spirit user’s side is quite large when summoning. This is not something that can be mastered overnight but requires constant adaptation training. But if you don’t know spirit magic, you wouldn’t have done it properly. Without preparation, it will be difficult to demonstrate your full abilities right away.”

“T-then what should I do? What is that adaptation training?”

“It’s not that difficult. You can steadily increase the time you spend together by summoning the spirit from time to time.”

“That’s it?”

“It’s literally about adapting. The basics of spirit magic start with communicating with each other. It’s difficult to handle high-level spirits from the beginning, and usually, you train with low-level spirits. In the young lady’s case, you can call Nome.”

“Nome?”

“It’s the name of a low-level earth spirit. You can call low-level spirits without a contract, so tell her to use them as much as she wants.”