Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 70

Chapter 70

Since being born as a Spirit King, many things in my life have changed. The biggest change is that it’s become harder to find a quiet place. Everywhere I go in this world, I can easily spot spirits, big and small. They’re the foundation of everything in the world, no different from the background.

But here, no matter where I look, I can’t see any natural spirits. Not even a water spirit.

Why haven’t I realized this until now? How can there not be a single Naiad [a type of water nymph] in such a huge lake? This is not a phenomenon that can occur naturally. In addition to the barrier of light that directly binds me, there was clearly some unknown force dominating the area.

With a sinking feeling, I quickly withdrew some of the mana projecting my hand. Then, the vibrant skin disappeared, and my hand turned transparent, typical of a natural spirit.

A spirit’s true body is almost entirely composed of spiritual energy. Usually, in this state, anything should pass right through it. But when I cautiously reached out, my hand was still blocked by a solid wall. I gasped in dismay.

‘…What is this? Is it even affecting my true spirit form?’

My thoughts must have shown on my face. Lapis Lazuli smiled cheerfully and said,

“Don’t be so surprised. It’s only natural. My draconic words are perfect, after all.”

“That’s impossible…”

“No. It’s certainly a tricky task, but with my superior intellect and talent, it’s not entirely impossible. I’m not trying to trap an invisible spirit, and I know your exact location. Plus, you’re bound by mana in the place I chose, by the summoning circle I created. Isn’t that explanation enough?”

Only then did I realize his scheme. He had been planning and preparing for this from the start. He had set a trap in advance and summoned me to that spot. The fact that there were no spirits around was clearly for the same reason.

Was he hiding and creating this? Is that why his whereabouts were unknown until now? I bit my lip, feeling overwhelmed. Then, he said in a softer voice, as if to comfort me,

“This is a problem that can be easily solved if you just make a contract with me.”

“Like hell I will. Now that it’s come to this, I have no intention of doing it out of spite.”

“You’re really stubborn. Well, it doesn’t matter. I have plenty of time. As you know, our race has a long lifespan.”

“…Are you serious?”

“Of course, I’m serious. Ah, don’t frown like that. You’ll still be able to go to the Spirit Realm, though.”

“The Spirit Realm?”

“Yes. Even I can’t stop you from doing that. Of course, if you come down to the surface, you’ll be trapped in this place, without exception.”

You understand, El? If you get separated from the others, don’t panic and return to the Spirit Realm immediately.

At that moment, Trowel’s words suddenly came to my mind. I had clearly understood them, but I had been too distracted to think about them until now.

After that, you’ll probably know what to do on your own.

It felt like a ray of light shining into the dark. I clenched my fist and looked at Lapis Lazuli.

“I’m going to the Spirit Realm.”

“Go ahead. But this summoning circle will continue to be maintained. And you’ll be drawn back to this place. Keep that in mind.”

His grinning face was truly annoying. I glared at him silently and then immediately opened a door to the Spirit Realm. There was no other choice. We’ll just have to see who wins!

As soon as I returned to the Spirit Realm, the calm and cozy feeling unique to the Water Territory greeted me. But from the moment I returned, I couldn’t help but grind my teeth. It was because of the summoning circle that rushed at me as if it had been waiting. I tried to ignore it, but it was not easy because of the voice that kept calling me incessantly, as if determined to do so.

『Come back, Elquines.』

『I know you can hear me.』

『Why don’t you just give up and come back?』

“Damn it, anyone would think I’ve been here for years. I just got back!”

『I’m curious as to why you’re choosing this method when you know there’s nothing to gain. Do you perhaps enjoy being tormented?』

“Am I crazy?!”

『You’re not going to respond, is that it? Fine, let’s see how long you can last.』

“You relentless bastard!”

What are the gods of this continent doing! That crazy dragon should be locked up in a mental hospital or something!

After that, Lapis Lazuli kept muttering incessantly. At that rate, he was about to start singing. I shuddered and immediately ran into Ebas Eden. The jewel-studded flowerbeds and the magnificent scenery greeted me, but none of it caught my eye now. As Trowel had already said, I knew exactly what I had to do. There was only one thing I had to do here now.

“Nom! Where’s Nom! Clay! Mulden! Anyone, come out!”

At the scream-like shout, something suddenly poked its face out of the ground. It was the face of a small, neatly featured gnome. Nom, a low-level earth spirit. Nom was the most timid of the low-level spirits. Perhaps that was why he couldn’t look me straight in the eye and was trembling.

―Y-you called, Your Noble Water Spirit King.

“Yes, you’ve come at the right time. Sorry for calling you out of the blue. Can you perhaps deliver a message to Trowel for me?”

―O-of course. Please give me your command.

“Haa, that’s great. Then, could you please go and ask for some help right away?”

―E-excuse me? A-ask for help, you say?

“Actually, I’ve gotten caught up in a troublesome situation and I don’t think I can get out of it alone. I don’t know the exact location, but it’s in a pretty deep forest and there’s a very large lake inside. If you retrace your memories, there should be places like that where spirits used to live until recently, but now they can’t approach. Tell Trowel to come that way.”

―Yes. O-okay, I understand. I will convey it exactly as you said.

“Yes, thank you so much. I’m counting on you.”

I was deeply relieved by the positive response. It was meager information, but Trowel would probably find me soon. But when I thought about him coming, I was worried about other things.

A Spirit King captured by a dragon. How dumbfounded would he be to see me trapped in a glass cup? He even kindly warned me in advance that there would be dangerous things.

If I was going to get hit anyway, it was better to get it over with sooner rather than later, but I couldn’t help but sigh when I thought about what was going to happen in the future. I quickly added an excuse.

“…Please also tell him that I did my best.”

* * *

The risen moonlight disappeared, and dawn began to break. The sky, which had become brighter, was tinged with a dim color in conjunction with the thickly laid clouds. It was time for people to wake up and prepare for the day.

But even then, there was no news from Trowel. Since I had entrusted the task directly to Nom, he must have been contacted. I was frustrated because there was no way to confirm whether he was having trouble finding the place or whether there was another problem.

I sighed deeply and looked ahead. There, a red-haired man was sitting leisurely with his arms crossed, smiling. He kept his eyes on me with a constant smile. Well, it would be fun to see the guy who ran away to the Spirit Realm come back on his own.

To tell you how I feel right now, it was like an escaped prisoner surrendering himself because he had nowhere to go. In a word, I felt very dirty.

But it was better than being tormented by noise in the Spirit Realm all the time. I could just not look at the unsightly face, and I could just think of it as killing time until Trowel came. Fortunately, the talkative guy had just been watching quietly since I came back. I had no intention of talking to him either, so the surroundings were filled with a very deep silence.

But as this state continued, I was the one who got tired first. Even if we weren’t paying attention to each other, it was still more burdensome because I could feel the gaze staring at me as if it would pierce through me. If this was one of the ways to torment me, I would say it was very successful. In the end, I couldn’t stand it any longer and opened my mouth.

“…How long are you going to keep doing this?”

“Until you say you’ll make a contract. I think I already said that?”

He answered in his usual hateful tone, as if singing. I frowned and stared at the floor. I could see the rippling surface of the lake and the magic circle shining in gold. It was a beautiful pattern, but it was just a shackle that kept me trapped here. But now, I was more concerned about other things. That was….

“This summoning circle, it’s being maintained by your power, isn’t it? Is it okay for you to keep pouring mana into it like this? You might die.”

It was obvious, but the summoning of a Spirit King consumes an enormous amount of mana. Just looking at the case of Isana, who summoned me earlier, she was exhausted and lost consciousness in the stage of forming the summoning circle. Moreover, in order to maintain this summoning circle, the same amount of mana must be continuously supplied. In other words, at this very moment, Lapis Lazuli was using a tremendous amount of mana. But he just snorted lightly.

“You underestimate the mana of a Holy Dragon. This is nothing to me. Rather, you’re the one who’s in a hurry. Because there’s someone waiting for you.”

“Ugh…”

“You’re getting more and more impatient as time goes by, aren’t you? You must be in pain because you can’t go back. It looks like you’ve started a pretty fun game.”

“How do you know that?”

I asked in embarrassment. I didn’t think he would know about my trip this time, since he didn’t even know about the change of generations of the Spirit King. He shrugged his shoulders and replied.

“How could I not? It would be ridiculous to expect me not to know when you’ve done something so noticeable.”

“What…”

“The Miracle of Three Days.”

“…!”

“As far as I know, there’s only one being on this land who can do such a thing.”

I shut my mouth tightly at his meaningfully smiling face. If he knew that I was the subject of the rumor, it would be even easier to guess who my contractor was. I wanted to think, ‘So what?’, but I couldn’t help but feel uneasy because of what I had already heard from him. I lowered my voice even more and asked.

“…You’re not really going to kill my contractor, are you?”

“Well, what should I do?”

“Just try it. I’ll never forgive you.”

“No matter what you say, you’re not threatening at all in your current state, are you? You just look like a canary singing in a cage. No, your hair is blue, so maybe you’re a bluebird?”

“W-what? Are you done talking?”

“If you’re upset, come out of there. With your own power. If you can do that, I promise not to touch your contractor. In addition, I will no longer ask you to make a contract.”

But unlike his words, his expression was full of blatant ridicule. Unless he was a fool, he couldn’t have known that he was presenting something that was impossible from the start.

“Okay, so that’s how you’re going to play it.”

I gritted my teeth and jumped to my feet. If pure physical force doesn’t work, there’s no other way. Above all, the Spirit King has a power close to God, namely the Word of Power.

Of course, the power of that Word of Power is also greatly reduced in the Middle Realm [the mortal plane]. I’m not confident, to be honest, but it would be better than not trying at all. If I could make that hateful face frown even a little bit by doing that.

I took a deep breath and focused my consciousness. The Word of Power is an expression through will, and the stronger the desire in the heart, the greater the effect when it is expressed. In that state, I stared straight at the barrier of light surrounding me.

“Disappear.”

It wasn’t difficult to use the Word of Power itself because I had already done it once. But perhaps it was because it was the Middle Realm. The barrier didn’t budge as if nothing had happened. Then, I felt Lapis Lazuli, who had been watching me with a slightly nervous face, snicker. My face was burning, but I didn’t give in and tried again.

“Shatter.”

This time, the barrier didn’t seem to change either. But this time it was a little different. The moment the Word of Power fell, the light particles trembled slightly. That was definitely proof that it was being affected by my power.