The important thing to remember is that while spirits don’t have a concept of death, they lose their rank and power if they’re banished.
Except for contracted spirits.
That’s right—everything I’ve said so far applies only to wild spirits or those bound by simple contracts through spiritual power.
Contracted spirits, on the other hand, are linked to their summoner through a contract sigil. Though they might temporarily be unable to manifest, they can generally recover within a day or two, depending on the summoner’s spiritual power, and return as if nothing happened.
It’s believed that this is because the contracted spirits store their experiences and knowledge through the contract sigil, but this isn’t certain either.
Anyway, after all that, what I’m trying to say is…
“So all those fat knights we worked so hard to defeat will be back in full force by tomorrow?”
“Yeah, that’s the terrifying thing about Guardians.”
Having somehow managed to climb onto Beowulf’s back before losing consciousness, I talked with Gareth about the Guardians.
All those heavy knights we worked so hard to take down would be back again tomorrow. Ah, the world is such a cruel place.
The thing about these Guardians is that they’re like contract spirits bound to ancient ruins, so no matter how many times you knock them down, they come back full of energy the next day, ready to attack again.
This is one of the main reasons why progress on investigating the ruins has been so slow.
If we destroyed the ruins to a certain extent, the Guardian problem would be solved, but then we wouldn’t be able to investigate the ruins at all, which would be pointless.
Seriously, though, even if it’s some ancient technology or whatever, the fact that even inorganic matter can contract with a spirit while I still haven’t been able to contract with any spirit…
“Rourke, we’ve reached the upper floor.”
“Yeah.”
As we reached the end of the spiral staircase, the door to the second floor loomed before us—loomed and then, without stopping, Beowulf charged straight into the door. Hey, wait a second!
“Ugh!”
The moment Beowulf smashed through the door and came to a sudden stop, I was thrown to the floor along with the shattered door, thanks to the law of inertia. As I tumbled across the floor, I felt something soft against my head.
“Ouch…”
That damn wolf… I cursed inwardly as I raised my head and saw a triangular piece of white fabric in the dim light.
Huh? What’s this?
Suspicious, I narrowed my eyes and stared at the white fabric.
Upon closer inspection, the fabric seemed to have some lace woven into it, along with some decorations that gave it a somewhat provocative yet innocent design.
I tilted my head, trying to figure out what it was. Then, as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I noticed the smooth, pale skin on either side of me, and finally, I understood everything.
…Oh, I see. That’s what’s going on here.
Feeling the wild spirit energy emanating from right above me, I let out a quiet sigh.
What’s done is done. There’s nothing I can do to change it now. The important thing is how I manage to survive this. Since it wasn’t my intention to end up in this situation, I should have some leeway, right?
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Having resolved myself, I slowly lifted my face from the darkness—or rather, from under the skirt.
“…”
“…”
The first thing I saw when I poked my head out was a beautiful head of silver hair. Next, I saw Leia’s well-defined face, blushing red like an apple. She was desperately trying to keep her composure, maintaining a blank expression, but her body was trembling, and her eyes were unfocused. To make matters worse, the red dragon Salamander had appeared behind her at some point and was glaring at me with an expression that screamed, “What do you think you’re doing to my master?”
Of all people, I had to stick my head under the skirt of the one person I really shouldn’t have.
—Come to think of it, the princess didn’t get embarrassed at all when I saw her in her underwear.
A memory from the past flashed through my mind.
There was one time when I accidentally got a full view of Misha in her underwear, but she didn’t seem embarrassed at all. Maybe she had no sense of shame, or maybe she was just confident in her figure, but she was completely unfazed, even looking proud.
As I recalled that memory, momentarily escaping from reality, I looked at Salamander, who was now beginning to gather flames in its mouth right in front of me. I smiled in resignation. This is it. I’m done for.
“I’m sorry for seeing your white underwear. But it was a complete accident, and I want you to understand that it wasn’t intentional.”
“Kyaaaahhhhh!!!”
I tried to apologize as a last-ditch effort, but it probably didn’t reach her ears, as she let out an adorable scream. As I prepared to be engulfed by the flames from Salamander’s mouth, I only hoped that it would at least leave me medium rare.
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“Anyway, I’m glad we were able to regroup safely.”
“Didn’t feel so safe just a moment ago, though.”
While Celia looked around at everyone, relieved, I muttered as Lily healed my stinging body with her spirit magic.
Celia smiled wryly, while my junior, the culprit responsible for my condition, averted her gaze, looking both embarrassed and guilty.
To be honest, I had my thoughts on the matter, but after what happened, I couldn’t bring myself to blame her. So I quietly let Lily continue treating me.
“That was your fault. Don’t blame Leia.”
“It was your damn dog that caused it in the first place.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
As I trembled in response to the words of the dog’s owner, Lily, who was treating me, patted my head.
Her kindness hit me right in the feels. Meanwhile, Gareth had somehow managed to land smoothly. Seriously, why am I the only one…
Currently, we had climbed the stairs from the first floor and reached the large hall on the second floor. This place, with its vibrant stained glass, didn’t seem to have any traps or Guardians, so the advance team had used it as a temporary base while waiting for Gareth and me.
“So, how did the battle downstairs go?”
“We managed to send most of them back, but it was impossible to deal with all of them. We had to retreat midway.”
“I see. Any sign of pursuit?”
“They were following us, but I blocked the stairs with spirit magic. Even if they come, it should take some time.”
“So, we don’t have to worry about them chasing us right away.”
Celia nodded as she confirmed the situation downstairs, then touched her chin, deep in thought about our next move.
She was the leader of this party. All decisions were hers to make.
If she deemed it too dangerous and ordered a retreat, we would retreat. If she told us to push forward, we would. Personally, I already wanted to go back, but…we’ll probably end up pushing forward.
“Let’s split into two teams again. Two will stay here to rest and intercept any pursuers. The other three will continue exploring. Any objections?”
“What about the team members?”
“The resting team will be Gareth and Lily, and the exploration team will be me, Rourke, and Leia. Any objections?”
“Objection. Why am I not on the resting team?”
I raised my hand and immediately voiced my opinion after being casually assigned to the exploration team.
Why does Gareth get to rest, but I have to go explore?
“Because you haven’t summoned your contracted spirit, so you should still have plenty of energy, right?”
That’s because I don’t have a contracted spirit!
But I couldn’t just say that outright, so I hesitated for a moment.
“Well, yeah, but…but Gareth should be able to move fine now too, right?”
“I used my magic sword. It only works with my spirit energy, so to be honest, I need a break.”
Oh, right. His magic sword, Gram, only works with the user’s spirit energy, and it’s pretty draining.
“Well then, take Lily with you.”
“She’s a bit…unpredictable.”
With a rather indescribable expression, Celia explained, and Leia awkwardly agreed. Apparently, Lily had caused quite a ruckus while Gareth and I were gone.
“You…”
“I couldn’t suppress my curiosity. I regret it, but I don’t feel sorry.”
“I-It’s okay. Thanks to her, we were able to confirm this room’s safety.”
Lily boldly declared, and Leia, unable to stand by, jumped in to cover for her.
Aren’t you embarrassed that your junior has to cover for you?
“…”
“U-Um…something wrong?”
“…”
Lily silently stared at Leia, who had just defended her.
Leia looked flustered under her senior’s silent gaze until Lily finally gave a small bow. It seemed she wanted to express her thanks for being covered.
“Say it with words.”
“Ugh…”
I lightly tapped Lily on the head, scolding her, but she just groaned and still didn’t say a word of thanks. She really was the pinnacle of social awkwardness.
“Ah, um, I really don’t mind, so it’s okay.”
Seeing Leia trying to ease the situation with an awkward smile, I couldn’t help but feel like she was strangely harsh only towards me. It was probably because of the incident during the freshman welcome battle, but still, isn’t there anything I can do…
“Anyway, to sum it up, are all four of you okay with the team arrangement?”
Celia asked for final confirmation, and the three of us nodded in agreement. Even though I’d used up a lot of spirit energy and really wanted to rest, I couldn’t go against the flow, so I hesitated slightly before nodding in agreement as well.
“Okay, Rourke, we’ll head out after a short rest. Please be ready.”
“Got it.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing your contracted spirit this time, senpai.”
“Haha…”
Leia’s request to see something that didn’t exist left me with nothing but a dry laugh. Feeling a sharp pain in my stomach, I leaned against the wall and took a brief rest.
I didn’t notice the gaze fixed on me during that time…
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