Chapter 548 – The Four Great Spirit Kings

“Well now. So this is the boy…”

“The descendant of the Seven Sages…”

“Indeed… Looking at this well-trained magical power, I can understand why Mahr would say what she did.”

The Spirit Kings came close and peered at me intently.

Wait, I wish they wouldn’t stare at me like I’m some rare beast or newly discovered species. Perhaps because the Spirit Kings were watching me, even the other spirits gathered around began focusing their attention on me, making me slightly uncomfortable. At least I didn’t sense any hostility or malice, so it wasn’t particularly unpleasant.

How should I put it… all three of them actually seemed happy too.

“Everyone, please calm down. We should start with introductions first.”

When Mahr said this, the three looked at each other, nodded, and took a step back.

“Hmm. I am Prophion. They call me the Earth Spirit King.”

“I’m Luscinia. I’m the Wind Spirit King, I suppose. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Rakerd. They call me the Fire Spirit King. Pleased to meet you.”

Let’s see. Earth Spirit King Prophion, Wind Spirit King Luscinia, and Fire Spirit King Rakerd.

Along with Water Spirit King Mahr, that would make all four Great Spirit Kings gathered here.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Theodore Gartner.”

They’d probably heard some things from Mahr, but first I should introduce our group. If they’re talking about descendants of the Seven Sages, that would include Old Sigmund and the others who came with King Melvin.

So… we moved to the VIP room within the lodging facilities created in the ritual area and finished introducing everyone’s titles and names.

As expected, when the Silvatoria members were introduced, the Spirit Kings reacted similarly to how they did with me… though not exactly the same.

Like Tephra and Mahr, they probably don’t pay much attention to social status. That said, while their appearances and speech patterns differ, their cheerful personalities might be something they share.

Rakerd, the Fire Spirit King, apparently had more contact with Ignatius, the king when the seal was created, and Lazaro, the knight serving him, compared to the other Spirit Kings. Well, that makes sense since the two are essentially lodging in the Fire Spirit Hall.

That being said, the Spirit Kings were originally spirits employed by the Seven Sages, and Ignatius and the others have been sleeping to avoid mental wear and deterioration except when the seal is about to be released, so they didn’t actually interact that much.

“There are various things we’d like to discuss, but perhaps we should start with the promised matter first?”

When Mahr said this, Dominique hesitantly stood up from her chair.

“U-um…”

With all the Spirit Kings gathered, Dominique seemed nervous. It was Wind Spirit King Luscinia who flew over to Dominique, took her hand, and smiled without reservation.

Luscinia appears as a rather petite girl, but since she floats in the air as if dancing on the wind, she’s at about the same eye level as Dominique.

Dominique apparently hadn’t expected a Spirit King to approach her first, and her eyes widened slightly.

“Mm-hmm. I heard from Mahr-chan. Me and the wind spirits have already started searching, you know.”

“Th-thank you very much…!”

“Of course, we’re doing the same. Our respective domains of influence differ. We should be able to search a wider area.”

“The main reports will likely come from Luscinia and the wind spirits. Harpy settlements tend to be in highlands, after all.”

As Dominique bowed her head, Prophion and Rakerd showed gentle and wild smiles respectively.

Hmm. Personality-wise, Prophion seems calm, Luscinia is vivacious, and Rakerd is bold and hearty, I suppose.

Mahr gives off a gentle impression, so their personalities do differ after all.

“However, searching blindly would be inefficient. We’re thinking of first locating the Harpy settlements and mapping out their positions.”

“If there are residents who can hear spirits’ voices, that would be good… Otherwise, we’ll need to manifest there ourselves.”

“If our voices can reach them, we’ll confirm on the spot, and for settlements where they can’t, we’ll go there directly. I won’t make light promises like saying we’ll definitely find it, but we intend to do what we can.”

The Spirit Kings explained the specific methods and procedures for finding Dominique’s settlement.

Indeed, as the ones being searched for, having this information shared with us does provide some reassurance.

“Thank you…”

Hearing these words, Dominique… placed a hand over her chest, closed her eyes, and thanked the Spirit Kings again. Then she turned toward me and thanked me as well.

“Theodore-kun, thank you too. Not just for Justia, but… just having everyone by my side like this makes me really happy and gives me strength.”

“Hmm… That might be true.”

I nodded at Dominique’s words. She was probably leaving out the part about “no matter how the settlement search turns out.” I sensed she meant that regardless of the outcome, she’s happy and doesn’t feel lonely just having people take action for her.

Dominique was smiling as Irmhild and Justia held her shoulders, showing their close friendship. Sheila was nodding with her arms crossed as she watched the scene.

Hmm. Regarding Dominique’s search for her homeland this time, I haven’t really done anything. I wish I could help in some way.

“Um. When you’ve located the various settlements, would it be possible to share that information with us?”

“I think so. It takes some time to find residents who can hear spirits’ voices or prepare to manifest in those places.”

I nodded at Luscinia’s words. I see. Then…

“If we can determine the settlement locations, we might be able to identify the place by comparing them with the mountain ridge shapes, sunrise and sunset positions from Dominique’s memories.”

“…Ah, I see. That’s right.”

Luscinia thought for a moment, then smiled brightly as if understanding what I meant.

By comparing settlement locations and terrain with Dominique’s memories, we might be able to identify the location without needing to communicate with spirits or manifest at each settlement individually.

I borrowed a Lantern from Marlene and projected an illusion of scenery into the air.

“For example, this is the scenery around the western port town Wisneaire… But by creating something like this from approximate terrain and testimony for Dominique to see…”

To evoke Dominique’s memories, we’d need a certain level of accuracy, so we can’t just search blindly… But if we can determine the settlement coordinates, we should be able to create detailed reproductions of the visible scenery—like ridge lines—from each location.

“I see. Then we’ll need topographic maps covering the mountainous regions, including neighboring countries. Such documents are stored in the Royal Castle. I’ll have them brought later.”

King Melvin said quietly.

“Thank you.”

Normally these would be militarily valuable. Since Verdgar has enjoyed prolonged peace, even if they were conducting intelligence activities, it would be more of a precautionary measure, and currently they’re probably useless… but they could indeed be useful for the search.

“Hmm. It seems this might be found sooner than expected.”

Rakerd grinned and nodded.

Well. Regarding Dominique’s search for her homeland, we’ve established various approaches including methods.

“And… we wanted to meet Theodore.”

“Ah, you mentioned that.”

When I responded to Luscinia, Prophion said:

“It’s not mere curiosity, you know. Those you call the Seven Sages were also our friends.”

“Having heard Mahr’s story about someone worthy of entrusting with the future of our friends’ seal… that’s precisely why we wanted to meet you once.”

“We’ve… grown too powerful compared to those days. It’s difficult for us to stand at the forefront now. We sincerely hope… you’ll carry on their will.”

Then Mahr handed me something resembling an Amulet embedded with five colored gems. Red, blue, green, yellow. And a transparent gem set in the center of the base. I could feel it contained tremendous magical power but…

“This is…?”

“It doesn’t compare to the Labyrinth’s Orb, but please think of it as solidified spirit power. We’ve been searching for someone worthy of entrusting this to.”

“If you gather the power of the four great spirits, it becomes protection that can preserve life in any place… that’s what it means.”

“This is borrowed from the Seven Sages, but they said it could even cross the Sea of Void.”

The Sea of Void… probably means outer space? So it could reach the moon, perhaps? Whether that’s necessary or not is unclear at this point.

“The effects also apply to those Theodore wants to protect.”

“Fufu. I think Tephra and Floria’s powers are also added to it.”

Luscinia and Mahr said this, and Tephra smiled and nodded at their words.

“Thank you. I’ll take good care of it.”

In any case… it’s undoubtedly reassuring. I’ll make sure to use it carefully.