Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 496

496.

The special unit, created due to one dragon’s personal interest, had ironically become a truly necessary existence. Cracks started appearing more frequently, as if they had been waiting for it. In just fifteen days since its formation, they had already occurred twelve times, almost daily, and the appearing magical beasts were all high-ranking. Normally, this would have been a disaster that could have half-destroyed the city, but thanks to the special unit’s constant response, the damage was minimal.

Thanks to this, Duke Sepion’s already high reputation was now soaring. With urgent moments happening so frequently, hunters (including me) couldn’t even complain about being forced to work. The timing was so perfect that I even suspected he was deliberately creating the cracks.

Honestly, several things bothered me. The most suspicious was that those cracks mainly occurred during our team’s duty hours. Out of the last twelve cracks, eight occurred while I was on duty. The area was different, but it didn’t really matter because once a magical beast appeared, we had to support, so the entire team was inevitably deployed. As we worked together each time, I couldn’t keep my distance from Ain Idris anymore.

“El, could you take a look at this? It feels uncomfortable, but I don’t know what’s wrong.”

“Um, lower your arm a little more.”

“Like this?”

“Yes, about that much. And bend your knees a little more. Yes, that’s the position.”

Because of this, I’ve gone beyond just getting along and have even reached the point of helping Ain Idris with his swordsmanship practice during breaks. At this point, I should just give up. Whether it’s because of me or not, the influence has already happened, and Blaster will be created [Blaster is likely a powerful sword]. If I’m going to receive a precious sword anyway, it would be better to help him become qualified for it. You could call it escapism, but thinking like this made me feel much more comfortable. It was a relief that Ain Idris was diligent in his training.

‘He’s a bit slow to learn, though.’

Well, that was inevitable since he started late and had never trained his body before. Comparing him to my case, where I was born with excellent physical conditions, was meaningless. Anyway, a personal instructor would take care of the actual guidance, so it wasn’t something I needed to worry about.

I heard that his swordsmanship teacher, whom he had carefully selected and hired with difficulty, was the commander of the 3rd Knights Order, a knight with a reputation for using the most refined swordsmanship in the empire. He was famous for not accepting just anyone as a disciple, and even if he did, the tuition was astronomical. But in return, he would definitely train them into knights, so he would push Ain Idris hard to make him useful.

“But wouldn’t it be okay to learn from Minerva?”

“Excuse me? Minerva?”

Ain Idris, who was sweating profusely from repeating the same movements, turned around in embarrassment.

“Minerva wouldn’t know swordsmanship.”

“Have you confirmed that with her?”

“Ah, not really… I’ve never seen her use a sword.”

“Still, she might be able to teach you? The Spirit King has innate knowledge and has lived a long life. She must have learned a lot of things.”

“Um, that’s true. I haven’t thought that far. But even if it were possible, I don’t think I would have considered it.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to show her my embarrassing side…”

Ain Idris scratched his cheek with an awkward expression. Is it similar to the psychology of not wanting to learn to drive from family or lovers? Well, you’re bound to get annoyed when your body is tired, so you might be concerned about those things. Honestly, Minerva is not the type to go easy on you, so if you start, she’ll probably push you mercilessly, and you’ll probably end up fighting.

‘Oh, what if that ruins their relationship? I might end up encouraging it. I need to watch my words.’

I was so glad that he refused so firmly without hesitation. I liked Ain Idris very much this time. I hope he continues to reject everything I recommend in the future, just like now.

“Come to think of it, who did El learn swordsmanship from?”

“Ah, I learned from my brother.”

“From your brother? If El was taught by him, does that mean your brother’s swordsmanship skills are even greater?”

“Of course. I’ve never won against him. It’s enough to say that he’d treat it as a win if I even grazed him.”

“That’s amazing. El’s swordsmanship is also great in my eyes, but for El to have difficulty even grazing him… Your brothers are both talented.”

I don’t know what kind of contradiction it is that I feel good about the word ‘brothers’ even though I was the one who called him ‘hyung’ [Korean honorific term for older brother] first. Someone I haven’t seen in a long time came to mind, but I forcibly shook my head to shake it off.

‘Let’s only think about good things. Thoughts that make me feel good. Like what to eat for lunch today.’

It was almost lunchtime. If there’s one place I like in this special unit, it’s the kitchen. They provide meals every day, and the menu changes every day, and they’re all as delicious as a high-end restaurant. Just imagining what will come out today made all the miscellaneous thoughts disappear far away. But the peaceful time didn’t last long.

“Support request! A magical beast has appeared in District 5! A Class 1 large species!”

One of the team members rushed over and dropped a bombshell. My face and Ain Idris’s, who was continuing his swordsmanship practice, immediately hardened.

That was the situation until just before.

“It happened during our duty hours again…”

How could I be so unlucky? Or is someone really intentionally doing this? I sighed deeply and looked around. The scene where we had just dealt with the magical beast was still chaotic with soldiers who came out to clean up. The cracked floor, where the traces of the battle remained, and the fishy, foul smell from the corpse stung my nose. The hunters who had been in the battle until just now were resting wherever they could find a spot. There seemed to be no injuries other than minor scratches. I was worried because it was quite a distance, but fortunately, I seemed to have arrived in time.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

My direct team members greeted me from a short distance away. Since we always move together, we’re closer to each other than others, but overall, we still have a somewhat awkward relationship. After returning a light greeting, they each scattered to find a place to rest. On one side, the team leaders of each team were gathering for a meeting. I could see Ain Idris among them.

“Um, thank you for earlier.”

At that time, a group hesitated and approached, and one of them bowed to me. I was puzzled for a moment, but soon I recognized who he was. It was the hunter who had fallen in front of the magical beast and almost died a little while ago.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Yes, I’m fine thanks to you.”

“That’s a relief.”

I was grateful that he remembered and came to greet me even though he himself must have been in a chaotic situation. When I responded with a smile, his face flushed and he began to shower me with compliments.

“To be a high-ranking spiritist and also skilled in swordsmanship, you’re really amazing. I was terrified when I saw you pierce through the magical beast’s hide in one go. I had to strike it several times before the blade barely got stuck.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“No, I’m just telling the truth. Honestly, I think El is more amazing than Ain Idris.”

Then the people who came with him got excited and joined in.

“Ah, I actually thought so too. Swordsmanship is a given, and I heard that the shorter the spell, the more skilled you are in spiritism. But El’s was much shorter than Idris’s, right? They were both high-ranking spirits.”

“That’s right, Idris kept chanting long spells every time he instructed his spirit, but El hardly said anything separately. But they moved together like one body, it was really amazing.”

Oh, come on, not that much. They were all trying to praise me in any way they could because they were grateful for saving their comrade. It would have been nice if it had stopped there, but my face frowned at the words that followed.

“In my opinion, Ain Idris is a bit overrated. I heard that in urgent moments, he just summons the Spirit King to solve the problem.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“You can just call Minerva for anything. He’s relying on others, so you can’t say it’s his own skill.”

“Um? Originally, spiritism is the ability to rely on the summoned spirit. Ain is the contractor of the King, so Minerva’s power is Ain’s power. Is it a problem to easily solve the situation with the strongest power? You wouldn’t cut meat with a wooden stick when you have a knife.”

“Ah, now that you say that, it seems like that’s the case…”

The embarrassed people stammered and hurriedly closed their mouths. When I turned around at the sound, I saw Ain Idris standing there in an awkward posture. Judging from his troubled face, he must have heard all of the conversation a little while ago. He hesitated for a moment and opened his mouth.

“The crack has completely disappeared. They say we can return now.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Th-then, we’ll be going now…”

The people smiled awkwardly and quickly ran away. No, I mean, other people are the ones who cause the trouble, but why does the suffering always fall on me? I sighed lightly as I looked at their quickly disappearing backs.

“Don’t worry about what they said earlier. They were grateful for my help, so they were trying to praise you, but they crossed the line a bit.”

“No, it’s not wrong. I also think El is better than me.”

Why is this guy doing this again?

I stared at him in disbelief, and Ain Idris made an embarrassed face.

“It’s embarrassing to say this, but actually, it’s closer to a bestowed contract [A contract given as a gift, not earned].”

“Is that so?”

“Originally, I didn’t have enough mana to summon the Spirit King, but Minerva gave me a special liquor. I was able to make a contract after drinking it.”

This was a story I didn’t know. If it’s a special liquor, could it be the special brew made by Troel? There was nothing else that came to mind that could increase human abilities. Minerva can’t just take it as she pleases, so in the end, Troel also helped with this contract… Wow, so that’s why he was even more angry. A human who made a contract with his help betrayed Minerva; just imagining his feelings made my head spin. It was amazing that he had been holding back and not killing him.

“Um, I understand. So?”

“Ah, so… it means that contracting with the Spirit King is not entirely my ability. If Minerva hadn’t chosen me, I wouldn’t have been able to reach the undeserved position of the Spirit King’s contractor.”

“But you were chosen, so it’s okay.”

“Yes, of course, that’s true. But it’s because anyone could have been like that instead of me.”

I don’t know what kind of absurd sound this is again. I wanted to respond calmly, but I couldn’t help but frown this time as well. When I stared at him with a firm gaze, Ain Idris looked back at me with a flustered face.

“Ain Idris. I think you’re misunderstanding something.”

“…?”

“Originally, all spiritists are chosen by the spirits. Not humans.”

A gasp escaped from his flinching form. His rigid eyes were full of agitation. Anyone could see that he was surprised, which made me even more frustrated. I couldn’t understand why I had to explain this.

“The summoning ritual itself is a process of trying to get into the spirit’s eyes. A bestowed contract is just a more superficial manifestation of that. Does just anyone receive the Spirit King’s choice? And even if anyone does, what’s wrong with that? If you were chosen even though you weren’t qualified, that’s even more of a grateful thing.”

“Ah, I…”

Ain Idris, who had lowered his gaze, clutched at his clothes anxiously. His darkened face was turning pale and red repeatedly. I couldn’t even guess what he was thinking, so a deep sigh flowed out on its own. I hope this moment isn’t influencing things again. But even if I regret it later, I think I have to say this.

“In a spirit contract, the sovereignty belongs to the spirit. Don’t forget that.”

* * *

To be honest, I regretted it afterward. There were still more hours left in my shift, and Ain Idris, who was so pitifully discouraged, didn’t recover easily. I felt like I had been too harsh when I could have just said something nice.

Because he was the team leader, the gloomy atmosphere affected the entire team. The innocent team members were just busy watching, and I felt like I was sitting on thorns wherever I went. I felt even more guilty because I ended up leaving work without the atmosphere recovering.

“I guess you shouldn’t live impulsively…”

I muttered blankly, looking at the setting sun, when I heard a light laugh from somewhere.

“You spoke so confidently, but you’re already regretting it?”

“…!”

I was startled and widened my eyes. I quickly looked around, but the face I was looking for was nowhere to be seen. “Over here.” Then I heard the voice again. The sight that came into view when I raised my head made me unconsciously gasp. A familiar person was sitting on a tree.

“Hello.”

He tilted his head slightly as our eyes met. For some reason, his playful action made me feel choked up. The appearance of a boy as beautiful as a sculpture. Tan skin and hair as black as ebony. Golden eyes that seemed to look into the abyss. There was no doubt that it was him.

“…Troel.”

He jumped down from the tree. Even though I was seeing him right in front of me, it felt unreal, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Only after seeing his straight gaze did I come to my senses and barely smiled.

“Oh, long time no see.”

A crooked answer came back from my awkward greeting. So he was watching me even after leaving like that. I thought he had completely cut off his interest because he was really angry this time. Anyway, the fact that he showed up again was a good sign. No, wait a minute. But didn’t he ask if I was already regretting it earlier? What does that mean? The elated feeling suddenly cooled down at the belated crazy thought.

“D-did you, by any chance, hear the conversation?”

When I asked hesitantly, Troel sent me a silent gaze. It was a face that clearly said he had heard it, and it felt like the ground was collapsing under my feet. But there was even greater suffering to come.

“I heard it, I heard it. The sovereignty of the spirit contract belongs to the spirit! Wow, our young master is so good at saying the right things, he’s really cool, you know?”

Suddenly, Ifrit appeared with a cheerful laughing face. What is this again? As I was gaping, I saw another person appearing next to him. It was Eluien, who I couldn’t believe had agreed to this situation.

‘Crazy! They were all watching!’

If I had known this would happen, I should have looked around more before speaking! I had been careless because they had hardly been following me around lately. I showed off as much as I could, and they were watching! I felt like I knew too well why Munch’s Scream was expressed in that form. I desperately needed a rat hole.