Chapter 341 – The Spirit's Wish

“That’s quite a catch.”

Sheila returned from the lake with a fishing rod in hand. Her catch seemed plentiful, with a decent number of fish in her bucket. Sheila looked somewhat proud. Having mushrooms and fish has been making our meals quite satisfying, which I’m grateful for.

“Well then, dinner will be mushroom and fish dishes, I suppose.”

“How about steaming them together?”

Everyone began discussing today’s menu. The atmosphere was warm and cheerful.

…Now then. With things as they are, I don’t have enough information. Even if I were to give Grace more detailed information about my earlier exchange with Auria, it would be better to wait until the investigation has progressed a bit further.

I should probably wait until I have some leads on the noble families that might be connected to Grace, as well as where the Vampires fled to. Without knowing those things, the information would be incomplete, making it difficult to decide how to proceed. Time to shift my thinking.

“Your Highness Stephania and Your Highness Adriana, will you be staying on the Sirius today?”

“For lodging, yes. But I’d like to have dinner with everyone.”

“Understood.”

There’s still time before dinner. Since I’ve mostly finished what needed to be done in Gartner County and what I had planned, I can relax for a while, but I don’t want my magic senses to dull from taking too long a break.

There were also some experiments I wanted to try based on Mother’s notes, so I decided to go out in front of the house to practice magic.

“I’ll be outside practicing magic for a bit.”

“Understood.”

“Hmm. I find myself interested when it comes to your magic practice.”

Grace nodded, and Old Sigmund spoke. Rosemary, Charlotte, Princess Stephania, and Princess Adriana also seemed interested as they looked my way.

“Feel free to watch. I’m researching the magic my mother left behind. I thought it would be a good opportunity to continue that work here.”

I answered with a wry smile.

“That makes it even more intriguing.”

Old Sigmund nodded. In the end, everyone ended up coming outside… but I suppose it’s fine.

I moved to a spot a little distance from the house and took up Ouroboros in my Stance.

What I’m practicing is the magic Mother was researching. It’s a Technique whose ultimate goal is to neutralize the Magical Power present in the natural environment and absorb it into oneself. It draws on our previous discussion about the origins of Spell Formulas with Old Sigmund and the others, but I’ve been gradually building the Spell Formula by gathering usable parts from various other Techniques.

“Well then…”

I gripped Ouroboros, raised my Magical Power, and released it outside my body, wrapping it around Ouroboros. The released Magical Power took on a snake-like Form, emitting a pale blue glow as it spiraled around the surface of Ouroboros and my own body.

Releasing Magical Power outside the body and keeping it under control to handle more Magical Power than the body could normally contain… that’s a method I’ve used before in battles with Demons.

The theory is to treat the Magical Power spiraling around my body as a pseudo-representation of the Magical Power inside a human body, gather the surrounding Magical Power here to assimilate it, and by skipping the neutralization part, enable the handling of large amounts of Magical Power.

The spiral of Magical Power gathered at the tip of Ouroboros, forming a vortex. This part references the Spell Formula I used when assembling the Sirius’s outer hull.

“That Magic… it’s a Spell Formula I haven’t seen before.”

“It’s Magic my mother was researching. It was apparently a Spell Formula meant to overcome her own constitution by gathering and neutralizing Magical Power from the surroundings… but I thought if applied, it might allow me to use more Magical Power in battle.”

“…I see. Yes, Patricia was indeed like that.”

“The glow of the Magical Power… it’s beautiful.”

While answering Old Sigmund, I gave myself plenty of leeway to maintain control, gradually drawing in the surrounding Magical Power as I enlarged the vortex. I gathered minuscule amounts of Magical Power from the surroundings, swallowing them in the vortex. Small particles of light were swallowed by the vortex, eventually forming a glowing orb of Magical Power. When I activated a Spell Formula using that Magical Power refined outside my body, it created a wind that swept up fallen leaves.

Hmm. This might be practical? I scattered the unused Magical Power back into the surroundings, as if reversing the Spell Formula.

“Hmm…?”

It was Tephra who made that sound. Seraphina and Alpha also seemed to sense something as they looked around. Their gazes were directed toward Mother’s house.

Something—a mist-like substance—emerged from the giant tree. It was… gathering the Magical Power I had scattered?

Simultaneously, I sensed a Magical Power presence. Is this… a Spirit? It doesn’t seem to have fully materialized yet.

“Hmm? It doesn’t seem to be anything to worry about. Theodore gathered Magical Power from the surroundings, so it was probably stimulated by that. My presence here likely had some influence too…”

“…I see.”

Just as the Miasma Orb affected Seraphina, perhaps Tephra’s stay has activated the Spirit.

In a combat situation, I would have used up all the gathered Magical Power in Spell Formulas, but this time I had no target. As I directed the Magical Power scattering into the surroundings toward it, the Spirit absorbed it, and its presence grew stronger.

It was probably an entity that originally accumulated power by storing the Magical Power of this area. That’s why it has high affinity with the gathered Magical Power and might find it easy to absorb as a Spirit.

From the Spirit’s perspective, it’s as if high-quality nutrients suddenly appeared nearby.

Like roots absorbing nutrients, the Spirit stored Magical Power… and the indistinct mist gradually took on a more human-like Form.

The light enveloping the Spirit intensified, and a glowing silhouette slowly descended to the ground. The figure of a girl with green hair. Her sweet scent was that of figs.

The ends of her limbs resembling branches and roots made it immediately clear she wasn’t human. Once she fully materialized, something like clothing wrapped around her body.

It’s… a hat and Robe like what a Witch wears. Probably influenced by the fact that Mother’s house was called a Witch’s house? A Witch’s hat with a fig decoration attached.

Hmm… at this point, there’s no doubt. A tree Spirit—a Dryad. Tephra did hint at its existence, but I didn’t expect to trigger its manifestation.

The Dryad opened her eyes slightly and smiled at me.

“That was really delicious just now, Theodore.”

“Well… I’m glad to hear that.”

So she understands human speech from the start and even knows my name.

I understand that Tephra, who has been active as a Spirit for some time, and Seraphina, who as a Brownie has been closely connected to human settlements from the beginning, can speak human language… but for one who just manifested to be like this is probably because Mother’s house serves as its core.

The clothing she wears is likely based on the image held by the local residents. I get the feeling various elements are mixed in.

“To think a magic experiment would lead to witnessing a Spirit’s manifestation. We got to see something quite rare.”

Rosemary laughed cheerfully.

While preparations for dinner progressed, a discussion took place about what to do with the Spirit. This was because we have plans to depart for the Marquisate of Broderick soon, and leaving behind a Spirit that just manifested was somewhat concerning.

The Dryad herself was sitting by a sunny window, with Seraphina on her lap, basking in the sunlight together with Harvesta, looking perfectly content. It seems she’s taken a liking to Seraphina and Harvesta.

“Hmm. For one who just manifested, she seems to be quite a powerful Spirit, so nothing major should happen… but if you’re worried, wouldn’t it be good to do the same as with me?”

“So the process would be to prepare something connected to the Spirit at Termwills and have her form a contract with me?”

“Indeed.”

Tephra nodded at Claudia’s words.

“In that case, it would be a fig from this house… or perhaps a young fig tree growing nearby. I think it would be fine if we planted that at Theodore’s house. Well, if she herself says she wants to stay here, we won’t force her.”

When Claudia broached the subject, the Dryad responded cheerfully.

“Hmm. I don’t really understand… but I’d rather be with everyone than be alone. It’s been a long time since everyone came, and it’s been lively and fun.”

…Ah, I see. That’s probably why she seized the opportunity presented by Tephra’s visit and my Magic. She prefers it lively… Well, the house is her core.

“…That settles it then. If the Dryad can travel between Mother’s house and Termwills, not only the Dryad herself but also Harold and Cynthia would feel more at ease.”

“Then let’s proceed with the contract. Do you have a name?”

The Dryad shook her head and looked at me. So I’m to name her.

“…How about Floria?”

“Mm. It’s a good name.”

The Dryad—Floria—floated a smile and spoke with a cheerful voice.