Chapter 152

About ten minutes had passed since Sally asked me to contract with the nameless sylphid…

The wind spirit that had been wandering around Professor Erin’s garden without a contractor until just now had suddenly become my formally contracted spirit.

‘I didn’t think it would actually work.’

To be honest, I was planning to make an attempt and then give up with a suitable excuse if it didn’t work.

While opportunities to contract with mid-level spirits don’t come easily, it wasn’t a decision to make impulsively just because it was a mid-level spirit.

Although spirits can provide spontaneous advantages in battle and assist with judgment in complex situations, naturally, spirit contracts don’t only have such advantages.

In a sense, it was like permanently adding an ally that I couldn’t control at will, so there were often cases where spirits would act contrary to my intentions.

In Luminor Academy, there were occasional instances where a spirit’s attack would accidentally kill an enemy I intended to capture alive with binding magic or where water would be poured on a burned enemy, extinguishing the flames.

To prevent such cases from happening, I usually had to be cautious about spirit contracts themselves, so I was planning to break it off immediately if the other party’s reaction was ambiguous this time, too.

[O-ooh~! Ooh~!]

Seeing the sylphid clinging to me, wanting to contract as soon as I fed her a bit of mana I’d released from my fingertips, it seemed our compatibility wasn’t too bad.

I think I understood what Sally meant by me having “mana delicious enough to attract anyone.”

When I played Luminor Academy, I mostly contracted with high-level spirits, so I didn’t notice. However, with Lilith’s current Charm stat, it seemed possible to easily attract mid-level spirits.

…It’s also possible that this sylphid and I just had particularly good compatibility. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

“Um… would you like to contract?”

[Ooh~! Ooh~!]

Although she’s a mid-level spirit and can’t speak yet, seeing her nod enthusiastically and cling to me, she seemed quite full of willingness to contract.

It would be a bit awkward to send her away when she wanted it this much… I guess I should just accept it as fate at this point.

With such thoughts, I had just finished the contract using almost all of my remaining mana a moment ago.

As soon as I finished the contract, Sally, who had briefly left her position, rushed back to my side.

{Lilith! You just contracted with her, right?! You did contract, right?!}

“Yes, yes. I contracted, so please don’t make such a fuss, Sally.”

{Kyaaa! She’s so cute! Do you have a name? If not yet, should Big Sister Sally give you one?!}

[U-uh~?! N-no~!!]

Sally rushed towards the sylphid with an expression that anyone would find somewhat dangerous, and the wind spirit fled in panic at her reaction.

Although I had contracted with the sylphid at Sally’s request, I certainly didn’t want this child to become Sally’s plaything.

To avoid leaving a bad impression on each other from their first meeting, I separated Sally and the sylphid, holding them back with both hands.

“Wait a moment, Sally. Didn’t you promise not to do anything weird?”

{…I didn’t do anything particularly weird, though…}

“What did you say?”

{Ah, no… I was just greeting her a little… What’s wrong with greeting someone you’re meeting for the first time…}

“Does a child you’ve just met tremble like this from a simple greeting? Shouldn’t a high-level fire spirit approach a mid-level wind spirit much more carefully in the first place?”@@novelbin@@

{O-okay… S-sorry….}

…Somehow, considering her usual image, it feels like she’s just pretending to reflect now but will become shameless again later. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

For the sake of the sylphid who had kindly contracted with me, I needed to mediate between the two spirits for now.

After all, it was the sylphid, not Sally, who had formally contracted with me, so as a contractor, I had a duty to protect her from Sally’s shady desires.

“I’m sorry. That pedophile salamander was being annoying.”

[Uh, f-fire… scary…. Fire, scary….]

{D-don’t be scared! I’m not scary! I-I really just want to be friends! You don’t have to be so wary just because I’m a fire spirit….}

“I told you not to approach, Sally.”

{O-okay, I get it….}

Sally stepped back slightly with a somewhat dejected expression as I deliberately protected the sylphid.

I almost weakened at her gloomy appearance, so different from her usual overly cheerful demeanor, but I had to deal with this more firmly and clearly.

If I showed weakness here, I would continue to be swayed even after formally contracting with Sally later, which would be unfair to the sylphid who had contracted with me.

“You don’t need to worry. For now, I’ll make sure that thing doesn’t approach you while I’m watching.”

{Calling me ‘that thing’ is too harsh! We’ve been together for months!}

[Eek! F-fire is still scary….]

{N-no! I-I wasn’t trying to get angry at you…}

Surprisingly, it seemed Sally’s claim of falling for this sylphid at first sight wasn’t a lie. She became flustered as soon as the wind spirit showed signs of fear.

Seeing that attitude, I could be certain that I had the initiative in this relationship.

Since I had the justification of being contracted with the sylphid, I first created an environment where Sally couldn’t act recklessly.

“Sally, are you going to keep scaring the sylphid? If you keep acting so insensitively, I have ways to deal with you, you know?”

{Huh, huh?!}

“From what you said earlier, it seems you want to use me to get close to this sylphid, but if you keep being annoying, I just won’t contract with you.”

{W-what are you saying?! Why! We’ve been getting along well until now!}

“Getting along well is just from your perspective.”

At least, it wasn’t for me. How many times had Sally forcibly woken me up and disturbed my sleep when I was exhausted?

Moreover, since Ethan couldn’t hear her voice because she’s a spirit, I was the only one who had to wake up every time she made a fuss.

Until now, I had been enduring it because of the buff coming from her blessing, but with the sylphid here, I didn’t necessarily need Sally’s blessing anymore. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Although she’s a mid-level spirit, I could still get a spirit blessing through the sylphid, and even if the effect was slightly weaker, it was something I could sufficiently bear.

After all, the sylphid was the first to formally contract with me, so naturally, prioritizing her was the attitude I should show as a spirit contractor.

“You know we haven’t even made a temporary contract, let alone a formal one, right? But the sylphid has already formally contracted with me. If you do anything suspicious to ‘my spirit,’ I won’t stand by idly, even if it’s you, Sally.”

{O-okay! I won’t be scary, so please, give me one more chance, Lilith!}

“For now, maintain at least a one-meter distance until the sylphid opens up to you. Of course, suddenly rushing in and hugging her like before is forbidden.”

{Uh, uhhh….}

Sally carefully distanced herself from me with a somewhat unconvinced expression.

It seems I’ve managed to separate that lolicon salamander from the sylphid for now.

I started with a light introduction with the sylphid, who had become able to communicate a little after the formal contract.

“I’m sorry, there was a bit of a disturbance. Now that fire spirit won’t be able to approach you for a while…”

[You, cool.]

“Pardon?”

[You, strong. Magic, tasty too. Yes.]

“Oh… thank you?”

[I, look forward? Um… master?]

“I’m Lilith Blackwood Rosewood. You can just call me Lilith comfortably.”

[Yes, Lilith. I am… Uh, I, I am….]

“Yes?”

[I, don’t have name…. What to do…?]

From this, it seems she’s not a spirit who has contracted before.

Unlike Sally, who seems to have experienced a lot of human society, this sylphid seemed to have an untainted purity about her.

For some reason, I felt a strange affection towards her appearance that oddly aroused a protective instinct.

“If you don’t have a name yet, may I give you one?”

[Yes, yes.]

“Since you’re a wind spirit, how about Sei? I think it sounds nice, like the sound of wind.”

[Yes, like it. I am Sei.]

“I look forward to working with you, Sei.”

[Yes, Lilith.]

With those words, Sei carefully flew onto my shoulder and quietly leaned against me.

It seemed the fatigue from the spirit contract was hitting her belatedly.

Well, since spirit contracts use vast amounts of mana, both the contractor and the contracted spirit need time to adapt. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

I don’t know whether contracting with her will be beneficial or detrimental to me in the future, but she was still the first spirit I had contracted with, so it was inevitable that I felt a bit more affection for her.

As I was thinking this and feeling tired from my mana being almost depleted, I felt a hand gently grabbing the hem of my clothes from behind.

“Excuse me.”

“…Yes?”

“I’m sorry for just running away earlier.”

Feeling the hand pulling from below, I momentarily thought of the short girl in my mind, but as I expected, it was the fire mage who had just run off and disappeared behind me.

Not expecting her to suddenly return, I carefully called her name.

“Miss Blaze?”

“H-how do I get close to spirits? And how can I quickly contract with even a low-level spirit?”

…Judging by her expression, it seems she’s made up her mind to some extent.

It seems she needed time alone to think about her limitations. I should have told her earlier.

Well, if she’s decided to do it properly, I guess I have no choice but to properly support and help her.

“Have you made up your mind? You’ve decided to start with contracting a low-level spirit first?”

“Yes. Like you said, I think it was hasty to try and contract with a mid-level spirit first. So for now, I’ll start from the bottom as you said… Huh?” [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Agnes, who seemed to have changed her mind, slowly raised her head and met my eyes.

For some reason, her gaze shifted from my face to one of my shoulders carefully.

Soon, with a slightly surprised voice, she asked about the mid-level spirit sleeping on my shoulder.

“W-what’s that?”

“Pardon?”

“The spirit sleeping on your shoulder…”

“Oh, you mean Sei? She’s the wind spirit I just contracted with while you were away, Miss Blaze.”

“Y-you just contracted? With a mid-level spirit?”

“Well, I already have Sally. Wind and fire have good compatibility in many ways, right? Of course, it’ll take time for them to become close since Sei is still scared of Sally for now…”

“Uh, uhhh….”

“…Miss Blaze?”

“WAAAAAAAAH!! That’s unfair!! That’s cheating!!!”

“W-wait a moment, Miss Blaze! Weren’t you asking how to contract with spirits?!”

Even though she wasn’t a character I paid much attention to in the game, this Agnes was truly an unpredictable person.

I wonder if I’ll be able to get through this semester safely….