“Is it her? That ridiculous candidate?”
“Yeah. Because of her, the spirit world completely flipped.”
“Was her name Kinis?”
Blue hair and transparent skin.
The ones gathered here and there and having barbed chats were water spirits who had rather large factions even within the spirit world.
Their gazes were all directed at one place.
An unusually blue hair and skin slightly tinted red.
A water spirit with a faint smile but an expression that somehow looked sad.
Her name was Kinis.
‘Say whatever you want. Since it’s not related to me.’
Kinis cared not for the gazes that poured down nor even the barbed chatters.
She purposefully walked even more confidently.
‘I didn’t become the Spirit King candidate because I wanted to like you.’
The candidates for the next Spirit King were chosen by the current Spirit King’s choices.
And traditionally, it was custom for the Spirit King candidates to be chosen from the bloodline that was called royalty even in the spirit world.
But.
‘I’m the lowest of the lower cla.s.s.’
She didn’t even have parents who had given her power of the spirits and was born in the human world instead of the spirit world.
Perhaps because of that, she had a red tinted skin instead of a clear skin unlike other spirits.
‘Because of that, I was always alone.’
The other water spirits didn’t talked to Kinis, whose birth was of lower-cla.s.s and even her looks were different.
Kinis too, besides when she first entered the spirit world, didn’t try to start a conversation first.
She couldn’t handle the other spirits’ cold looks and apathy.
The meaningless and lonely life that no one bothered with started like that.
But.
‘After the spirit king chose me for the next spirit king candidate, everything changed.’
The other spirits, who treated her as a nonexistent spirit, began to pour out all sort of envy and jealousy.
The biting words and pointings were at least on the nicer side.
The occurrences of stealing and hara.s.sing became frequent.
‘I don’t care. I don’t care.’
Kinis clenched her teeth.
‘I was alone anyway, and I’ll always be alone.’
Spirit King?
She had no interest in such a thing.
No, in her honest feelings, she wanted to boastfully become the Spirit King.
But.
‘In the first place, it’s ridiculous that I, who is from a lowly cla.s.s, would become the Spirit King.’
There were plenty of spirits of royal background amongst the candidates.
Probably, one of them would become the next Spirit King.
‘I was selected just to make up the numbers.’
A short sigh leaked out.
Kinis hurried her steps and headed towards the Spirit King Ellaim’s residence.
“I received King Ellaim’s call and came.”
When she lowered her head in front of a grand door, the door soon opened.
When she stepped on the fluffy cloud floor and walked inside, there was a chair made out of water.
On the chair, a beautiful woman with a long blue hair sat.
She was Ellaim, the very Water Spirit King who traveled the human world with the Queen of Water Biate and who had saved Roan’s life.
‘Beautiful.’
The moment Kinis saw Ellaim, she became half dazed.
Because she was of a low cla.s.s and hadn’t grown yet, she was merely about the size of a palm.
It was a look more like a small fairy than a woman.
Compared to that, Ellaim’s look was literally that of a perfect woman.
A beautiful face and smooth figure and, most of all, an aloof grace that exuded from her entire body.
It was a beautiful look that even Kinis, who was of the same gender, would fall for.
‘Yeah. The beings exactly like that become the Spirit King. It’s a place that a lowly birth like me……’
Looking at her own skin tinted with a red light, Kinis dropped her head.
‘Can’t even dream of.’
When her thoughts had reached that point.
“Kinis. You’re slightly late.”
She heard a beautiful voice.
Kinis raised her head and looked at Ellaim.
“Ah……”
A quiet exclamation flowed out.
With a faint smile, Ellaim was staring at Kinis.
“I, I”m sorry. I received the notice late.”
It was the truth.
The spirit who should had pa.s.sed the news had dawdled.
This also was something that happened because of the envy and the jealousy.
“The other candidates have all went down to the human world and are taking the test.”
The candidate selection test.
The test to select the next Spirit King was simple.
Contracting with a human who realized the essence of water or absorbed the essence of water, and staying together with that human.
That was all.
What they had to do, what they shouldn’t do, how long was the duration…… there was nothing that was revealed.
Ellaim spun her finger in a circle.
Instantly, a clear drop of water rose in front of Kinis.
“He is the human you will contract with.”
On the drop of water, a man’s face appeared.
A young but manly face.
It was Roan.
“I hope that it will become a good result, no a good relationship.”
Ellaim cheerfully smiled.
Kinis quietly lowered her head and then closed her eyes.
Paat!
Water erupted around her, and soon, she disappeared.
When she opened her eyes again, the scenery had changed.
At that moment.
“I will make a completely new troop for you.”
She heard a dignified and low voice.
Kinis quickly turned her head and looked for the owner of the voice.
A fine looking elderly old man.
He was Count Io Lancephil.
Io was staring with a burning light in his eyes at the young man in front of him.
Kinis’ gaze naturally moved following that light.
“Ah……”
The young man, he was the human that she had to contract with.
“Troop commander Roan. Will you use Rose as the name of the troop?”
The young man, Roan looked to be momentarily in thought.
‘Is his name Roan?’
Kinis flew up into the air and stood up on top of Roan’s shoulder.
‘He should be a human who has either realized the essence of water or absorbed it, but……’
Strangely, she couldn’t feel the aura of water very well.
At that moment, Roan, who had been in thought, shook his head.
“I want to use another name.”
“Did you think of something?”
At Io’s words, Roan stared at the eyes of the soldiers around him.
“Amaranth, we will be the Amaranth troop.”
He spoke in a low but powerful voice.
Kinis, at the burning heat that flew out from Roan’s body, flew up into the air in shock.
For a one who realized or absorbed the essence of water, the heat was too strong.
But strangely, it wasn’t uncomfortable or painful.
Kinis quietly stared at Roan’s face, no, more exactly at his eyes.
Deep eyes as if one may fall in.
At her appearance reflected on the eyes, she exhaled up a long sigh.
‘In the first place, I’m not interested at all in something like Spirit King.’
No, in the first place, it was a dream she couldn’t even dream of.
Now that it had became like this, she planned to just follow the contractor and go sightseeing the world.
‘To do that, I have to make a contract first……’
Kinis flew up to Roan’s ear.
She planned to talk to him.
But Roan couldn’t hear Kinis’ voice.
And like that, the time flew by as if it had no regret.
[You couldn’t even see me or hear my voice. Thanks to that, I couldn’t even form the contract until now.]
The sharp voice tore through Roan’s ears.
Roan listened to Kinis’ story that went on for a long time, then fell into thought.
‘As expected, that water drop I absorbed at Biate’s cave was the essence of water.’
A disparate strength that was different than the heat within his body.
It was a moment when its ident.i.ty became clear.
“Then were you always next to me since then to now?”
Roan stared at an empty s.p.a.ce.
He still couldn’t see Kinis’ appearance.
For now, hearing her voice and talking with her was the best he could do.
[Of course. Since that’s my mission.]
“Wasn’t it lonely?”
Roan’s voice quieted down.
With a gruff voice, Kinis replied.
[Not at all! I wasn’t lonely!]
Her red-tinted skin became even redder.
‘Since I was always alone.’
She tightly swallowed back those last words.
She forcefully changed the subject.
[Anyhow, for a guy who even absorbed the essence of water, how could the aura of water be so faint like this?]
Because of that, it had been impossible for the two to converse.
At least because Roan had been more or less living in the water recently, it felt as if the essence of water inside his body became strengthened.
Thanks to that, at least having a conversation became possible.
‘Is the reason the aura of water is faint probably because of that……’
Roan inwardly had a guess.
“It’s probably because of the Flamdor Mana Technique.”
[Flamor Mana Technique?]
Kinis’ voice was full of questions.
For a while, Roan explained about the Flamdor Mana Technique.
[Hhm. So that amazing heat I felt from time to time was because of the Flamdor Mana Technique.]
Her voice sounded as if the questions were resolved.
At that moment, Roan slightly creased his forehead.
“But are you okay?”
[With what?]
Kinis gruffly asked back.
“You are a water spirit. Shouldn’t you be avoiding strong heat like the Flamdor Mana Technique?”
[Hm?]
Come to think of it, that was true.
Fire and water were opposites.
At least in the case of other water spirits, they would feel greatly pained and run away if there was even a bonfire level of heat.
But.
[I’m fine?]
Hot.
She simply felt only that much of a heat.
“Is it? Then that’s good.”
Roan nodded his head with an expression that seemingly found it trivial.
Because he didn’t knew the physiology of spirits very well, he hadn’t noticed just how strange that was.
“Then what do we need to do now?”
[The contract first. The contract.]
Kinis spoke with strength in each word.
Roan awkwardly smiled and nodded his head.
“Alright. Let’s make a contract.”
[Wait a bit.]
The contract was made instantly.
Although she originally needed to lay out all sorts of flowery and embarra.s.sing words and then danced with a fluttery movements, Kinis completely skipped all those useless works.
‘He can’t see in the first place anyway.’
She pulled up the aura of water, then flew in front of Roan’s face.
Kinis extended her right hand and touched Roan’s forehead.
With her eyes closed, she murmured unintelligible words, then spoke in a sharp voice.
[You want to contract with me?]
Abruptly, she threw out those words.
“Un? What kind of contract is like this?”
Roan creased his brows.
From books and rumors, he roughly knew how a contract with a spirit was made.
He had thought that it was quite graceful and beautiful process, but.
‘This is shabbier than a slave contract.’
As if she had read Roan’s such thoughts, Kinis spoke in a blunt voice.
[You going to do it, or no?]
At the words that snap at him, Roan nodded his head.
“I’ll do it.”
Since there was the fault of making her wait for so long, he couldn’t be any more obstinate.
The instant he spoke those words, blue light wrapped around Roan and Kinis’ body.
However, Roan himself couldn’t see that light.
[It’s done.]
“It’s done?”
[Yeah. It’s done.]
“It’s really done?”
[Yeah! It’s really done!]
Kinis shouted aloud.
Somehow, her head ached.
It was the first time she talked with someone for so long.
The emotional stress was worse than she had thought.
Of course, her mood didn’t feel bad.
“Okay. Then I look forward to working with you.”
Roan extended his hand towards Kinis, who wasn’t even visible.
Kinis gently flew and stood on the tip of his finger.
[Looking forward or whatnot, increase your aura of water first. I’ll be seen only if you do, you know.]
“Okay. I got it. I’ll work hard.”
Roan cheerfully smiled as he nodded his head.
He moved his feet and walked out of the lake.
“Then what will you do from now on?”
[What do you mean do what. I’ll just have to sightsee the world and wait for the next Spirit King’s heir to be chosen.]
Roan, who was cleaning up his things while listening to Kinis’ story, shook his head towards her who he couldn’t even see.
“No. That’s not good.”
[What do you mean that’s not good?]
“You’re a full-fledged Spirit King candidate. Then you should confidently aim for the Spirit King’s position.”
Kinis snorted at Roan’s words.
[You didn’t listen to me, did you? I’m not a royalty but a lower cla.s.s. And a lowly one at that. Me becoming the Spirit King is……]
“Impossible?”
Roan cut off her words and asked.
His face was rather serious.
Kinis wordlessly nodded her head.
But soon realizing that Roan couldn’t see her, she spoke in a quiet voice.
[Yeah.]
The moment she spoke those words, Roan faintly smiled.
He laid down on the ground and looked up at the blue sky.
“I’m from a commoner background. And a poor countryside village on the grain mountains at that. We were so poor that when it became early spring, we would have to dig up tree roots because there was nothing else left to eat. But the truly horrible things were the monsters who attacked regardless of day and night. We sent people to the fief lord several times, but they pretended not to know. Instead, they said all kinds of excuses and ripped off an unbelievable amount of tax. It was so difficult that I volunteered for the army as soon as I turned eighteen.”
The weight of his life could be felt in his voice.
“I wanted to become a great general. I wanted to be a great general, subjugate the monsters, and save the village.”
That was the truth.
But in the last life, he couldn’t quite reach the dream and died.
“Huu. But……”
A short sigh flowed out.
“As I roamed the battlefields and experienced the world, there was a countless number of villages like mine. It wasn’t that only my village was especially poor and dangerous. So I thought at that time. That this isn’t something that a great general could solve.”
This was something he felt as he lived the second life.
There was a world that he couldn’t see when he was barely living as a mere spearman.
At a level of a great general, it ended at a level of saving few villages.
To change the world, he had to look at a place higher than that.
‘At first, I had thought that if I aimed for a monarch, I would at least ended as a great general.’
The reason he wished to become a monarch when he returned to the past.
It truly was a childish and immature reason.
But as he went from a mere spearman to leading soldiers as a squad commander, adjutant, and vice-commander, his view of the world changed.
The life was too hard.
There were too many people who died without even follow their dreams.
He wished to save them all, to save the entire world.
To do that, he needed to become a true monarch.
Not a monarch of the royalty and the n.o.bles, but the monarch of everyone.
That was the true monarch that Roan thought of.
It was because of that reason that despite becoming a n.o.ble, he looked after the people regardless of their status.
The dream that started for an immature reason had slowly shaped up like that.
“Kinis.”
Roan called out Kinis in a quiet voice.
He momentarily steadied his breath, then carefully spoke each and every word.
“I will become a monarch.”
This was the first time that Roan had told anyone, no, even spoke his dream out of his mouth.
Instantly, Kinis’ eyes became wide.
Her expression was shocked.
Even her, who was a spirit, knew a bit of how the human world’s lives worked.
‘It’s a ridiculous dream.’
Kinis shook her head.
Even in that while, Roan continued to speak.
“I’ll become a monarch and change the world.”
Roan’s eyes moved, chasing Kinis who couldn’t even be seen.
“Kinis. You said you also lived a hard life in the spirit world. Those days that you were ignored and discriminated because you were of a lower cla.s.s…… don’t you want to try and change such an unreasonable world? If a candidate from the royalty becomes the next Spirit King as you said, the spirit world will be the same as before. The lower cla.s.s will receive all kinds of slight and discrimination and live out difficult days. But……”
His voice once again carried strength.
“If you become the Spirit King, you can change the world.”
His voice was full of certainty.
Kinis’ heart began to rapidly race.
[I could change the world……]
If she could do that.
‘I’ll get rid all of these disgusting cla.s.ses.’
But.
[Could I do it? Could I become the Spirit King? Me?]
Kinis asked in a trembling voice.
Raising up only his chest, Roan brightly smiled.
“Of course.”
It was an answer without a hint of doubt nor hesitation.
Once again, he extended his hand towards Kinis, who couldn’t even be seen.
“Kinis. I will become the monarch of this world. You become the king of the spirit world.”
[You and I will become kings……]
Be born at the lowest and rise to the highest place.
It definitely wasn’t an easy path.
But somehow.
‘I feel like I can do it.’
Until just a moment ago, she thought it was something absolutely impossible.
But the moment she conversed with Roan, an unknown confidence blossomed.
Kinis flew down on the back of Roan’s hand and slightly bent her knee.
Her small and cute lips touched the back of his hand.
Of course, Roan couldn’t feel nor see that sight.
[Alright. Let’s try it.]
It was still a sharp and buzzing voice, but it was full of life unlike before.
Roan cheerfully smiled and nodded his head.
To him, a friend and a companion who walked the same dream as him had appeared today.
Roan stood up from his seat and picked up his bag.
Then, as if he had thought of something, he spoke in a careful voice.
“Ah! But were you really not lonely?”
Countless months of time that she had to talk alone, and watch alone.
Roan found it pitiable and sorry that Kinis had to spend and endure that time alone.
Smiling brightly, Kinis replied.
[Yeah. I’m not lonely anymore.]
< Tale Barony (4) > End.