Chapter 33

<Hmph hmph.>

Salamander let out a pleased snort. Meanwhile, the water spirit Undine looked like a small child. She had blue hair and wore a white dress with a faint blue tint.

“Pretty. Like a doll.”

<Huh? What’s a doll?>

“Ah, nothing.”

Jaeha smiled at Undine’s words. Then he looked at the other spirits. Sylph looked just like Tinker Bell.

She even had butterfly-like wings on her back. Her light green hair and dress gave her an airy, refreshing vibe.

Lastly, Gnome gave off a solid feel. He had brown hair and looked like a pretty boy. Gnome, sensing Jaeha’s gaze, tilted his head and looked back at him.

“Haha. Nothing.”

As Jaeha said that with a smile, Gnome nodded without much of a response. Then Jaeha spoke, looking at the spirits.

“First, I need to know what you all can do before I can figure out how to use you.”

Then Jaeha got up from his seat. As soon as he stood, the spirits clung to him. Smiling, Jaeha decided to visit a suitable dungeon with the spirits the next day and headed home for now.

* * *

Seungho raised his hand toward Jaeha as he came through the door.

“You’re back.”

“Yeah.”

“Huh? But what are those?”

“Huh?”

Jaeha asked back at Seungho’s question.

“What?”

“Those little dolls on your shoulder and on top of your head. What are they?”

“You can see them?”

Seungho nodded at Jaeha’s words. Then he got up and walked over to Jaeha.

“Whoa, but they’re really well made. They look like real people.”

Saying that, Seungho poked Sylph, who was on top of Jaeha’s head, with his finger.

<Eek!>

“Huh?”

When Sylph smiled, Seungho was startled.

“Wh—what the heck?!”

“Ah, they’re not dolls. They’re spirits.”

“Spirits?”

“Yeah.”

“The spirits that elves use?”

“Right. Somehow I ended up contracting with them. But I didn’t expect you’d be able to see them.”

“Ah, well, you wouldn’t walk around with dolls on your body. Whoa, but spirits though, that’s insane.”

As Seungho stared openly at them, the spirits, feeling burdened by his gaze, hid behind Jaeha’s body.

“Haha, I’m heading up to my room. If there’s any problem, come up.”

With that, Jaeha went straight up to his room.

* * *

“So you were born back then?”

<Yeah yeah!>

Jaeha smiled as the spirits answered brightly.

“I see. So there were no spirits in the world originally.”

<That’s not it. They existed originally, it’s just that they couldn’t think or have will like we do now. All they did was, occasionally, when someone close to nature called them, go and lend them power. That’s all.>

“Hm?”

<Who was it. I feel like there was a name.>

<Elves.>

Sylph had been answering Jaeha diligently, and when she fell into thought, Gnome spoke up in her place.

“So before, they lived without anything you’d call will, but occasionally when elves called, they’d go and help?”

<Yeah.>

<That’s right.>

The spirits nodded at Jaeha’s words.

“Ooh. Fascinating. So what the elves used really was spirits.”

<But we back then weren’t us.>

“Huh?”

Fwoosh. As Salamander opened his mouth, the sound of fire crackling was heard.

<We back then had no free will. So we couldn’t protect them. All we could do was do what they asked of us.>

“Ah, I see. So spirits existed before too, but their state was very different from what you are now.”

<Yeah. And compared to the distant past, our power has diminished a lot too. As nature has been destroyed.>

Jaeha found his words fascinating.

‘So most of those hypotheses were true.’

There were many hypotheses in the world. Among them was one that said spirits truly existed and were purifying the world. But that hypothesis had never been accepted.

The reason was that if spirits existed, why had their existence never once been revealed to the outside? But now, that hypothesis had been proven as reality.

“Anyway, that’s fascinating. So what can you guys do?”

<Us?>

“Yeah.”

<There’s a lot we can do.>

<But we can’t really explain it to you.>

<Because for us, it’s the same as just moving our hands.>

“Hmm, I see.”

Jaeha nodded as he took in all sorts of information like that.

‘I’ll have to go to the dungeon later to see what the spirits can actually do.’

Thinking that, Jaeha got up from the bed and looked outside, where dawn was beginning to break.

‘I ended up talking with them until the sun came up.’

<Hehehe.>

“Hm? What?”

<Uh-huh. Just happy.>

<Hehe. I’m happy because Jaeha said he stayed up all night talking with us.>

At that, Jaeha looked at the spirits and spoke.

“Can you read my thoughts?”

<Yeah!>

“Ah, I see.”

It was a bit unsettling, but they were so cute that Jaeha just let it slide. Smiling, he got up from his seat.

“Alright, let’s get going.”

Chapter 6

He was about to wash up before heading outside, but figured he might as well try asking Undine. The moment he did, water formed around Jaeha’s body and washed him clean.

Feeling far more refreshed than if he’d used soap and shampoo, Jaeha was thoroughly satisfied. Undine, perhaps sensing his emotional state to some degree, blushed shyly.

“So cute. Come here.”

After placing Undine on his shoulder, Jaeha spoke to the other spirits.

“Can you make yourselves invisible to other people?”

<Hmm……>

<Not sure.>

“Really……? Well, can’t be helped.”

Saying that, Jaeha came down to the living room. As soon as Jaeha came down, Seungho approached the spirits clinging to Jaeha.

“Hi. I’m Seungho.”

The spirits hid behind Jaeha the moment Seungho appeared. Only Salamander, who had a relatively combative personality, acknowledged Seungho’s greeting.

<Yeah. Hi.>

“Whoa. A lizard. What’s your name?”

<Me? Salamander!>

Watching Seungho and Salamander play and chat like that, Jaeha looked at Seungho and spoke.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m gonna go to a dungeon with these guys. You wanna come?”

“Me too?”

“Yeah. I gave you that bow a while back, right? And plenty of Enchanted Arrows too. I’m going somewhere you can hold your own. What do you say?”

“Hmm.”

Seungho thought about it for a moment, then looked at the spirits and nodded.

“Alright.”

And so Jaeha rode in Seungho’s car and headed to the dungeon. Then they went straight inside. The dungeon they came to this time was the D-Rank Orc Forest.

“Hey, aren’t you turning on the broadcast?”

“Nah. Later, for now.”

“Hmph, suit yourself.”

Saying that, Seungho already started playing around with Salamander, who he’d gotten somewhat close to.

“Salamander.”

<Yeah!>

Salamander, who had been playing with Seungho, immediately flew over to Jaeha the moment he called, abandoning Seungho entirely.

“……”

Seungho didn’t say anything, but his hands were clenched tight and trembling.

“We’re here to test their abilities, so go sit in the corner.”

Having said that, Jaeha looked at the spirits.

“Can you attack those guys up ahead? Salamander, you first.”

<Okay!>

At that, Salamander instantly blasted out a burst of fire. The flame shot toward the orcs at incredible speed, turning one into a ball of fire in the blink of an eye.

“……”

It took less than ten seconds to take down twenty orcs, and Jaeha was a little taken aback.

“Hey, they seem way stronger than I thought.”

“Yeah, no kidding.”

Seungho, who had been watching, said the same, and Jaeha nodded. Then Jaeha moved to find another group of orcs. A new pack was spotted quickly, and as the orcs began approaching, Jaeha looked at Undine and spoke.

“Undine, want to give it a try?”

<Okay.>

Undine answered gracefully and raised her hand. Then she stood still for a moment before clinging to Jaeha with a whimper.

<H—how do I do it?>

“Huh?”

<It’s just, I don’t know how I’m supposed to do it.>

“Ah.”

Jaeha pondered for a moment before speaking.

“Then how about shooting water at those orcs over there at high speed?”

<How fast?>

“As fast as you can.”

<Okay.>

Undine immediately shot the water. A stream as thin as a needle flew at a speed Jaeha couldn’t even react to.

“…….”

It seemed the spirits’ power was far greater than Jaeha had imagined.

“What the— something did fly by just now, right?”

“Uh……. I only caught it when the orc got hit at the end.”

“That’s insane.”

“Undine.”

<Yeah!>

“What else can you do besides that?”

<Hmm, I’m not sure yet.>

“Not yet?”

<Yeah. I think I’ll be able to explain once a bit more time passes. It’s still hard to put into words.>

Hearing Undine’s words, Jaeha could understand.

“I see. You were born not too long ago, so you’re still clumsy at expressing yourselves.”

At his words, the spirits nodded.

“Alright. Then…… Seungho.”

“Yeah. What’s up?”

“When I’m working or doing stuff, you should play with them.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah. They don’t seem to be able to converse perfectly yet. The most effective way to improve conversational skills is through conversation, after all.”

“That’s true, I guess.”

“And their abilities don’t seem to need any doubting.”

“Yeah, it does look that way.”

At Jaeha’s words, Seungho nodded too. Then, having cleared the dungeon using the spirits, Jaeha immediately stepped out. Climbing into Seungho’s car, Jaeha fell into thought. Seungho, who had been quietly driving beside him, spoke up.

“But Salamander and Sylph deal with them pretty efficiently, while Undine and Gnome use annoying methods like burying or drowning?”

“I think it’s a difference in personality.”

“Personality?”

“Yeah. Their personalities differ depending on the element they embody. Salamander has an aggressive, hot-tempered personality. Undine, on the other hand, is quiet and understanding.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Sylph is free-spirited and lively. And Gnome has a steadfast, solid personality. They all mirror the natures of fire, water, wind, and earth.”

“Hmm, now that I think about it, that’s true. But aside from that, Salamander and Sylph just seem to kill monsters a bit more easily.”

“That’s probably because the abilities Salamander and Sylph have—fire and wind, things like that—are just really good at killing people and animals in the first place.”

“Right. Typhoons and fires do kill a lot of people and animals.”

“Water and earth don’t have much of that. Of course, there are people who drown and animals that fall from high places and die, but still.”

“Hmm, now that you mention it, that’s true. So the element they possess creates the difference in lethality.”

“No, I don’t think there’s a difference in lethality. From what I can tell, if I asked or ordered them to, they could wipe out a dungeon or two in an instant.”

“That does seem likely.”

“I think it’s more a difference in perception than lethality.”

“A difference in perception.”

At that, Seungho nodded as well.

“It’s just a guess, though.”

“Either way, if you give the order, they’d do it for you anyway.”

At Seungho’s words, Jaeha smiled as he looked at the spirits sleeping soundly.