“Ah, yeah. I’m a little tired, but otherwise fine.”
“Good.”
Lily murmured with relief at my response. Her face was as expressionless as ever, but it seems she was worried about me. With her help, I sat up and looked around.
It looked like I was on top of a large wooden structure resembling a ship. When I looked up, I saw the Salamander holding onto the wood extending from the sides of the ship, like the framework of a roof, and carrying us.
“Good morning, Rourke. Finally awake, huh?”
“Thank goodness! We were really worried about you!”
Gareth and Celia came closer to me as I woke up. Their uniforms were dirtier than I remembered, so there must have been more fighting in the ruins after I lost consciousness.
“How long was I out?”
“At least over an hour, I’d say.”
“No way…”
It seems I was asleep for quite a while. Well, that makes sense. My last memory was inside the ruins, and now I’m outside, so some time must have passed.
“Sorry for the trouble.”
“It’s no problem at all. You’re the one who deserves a rest.”
Gareth brushed off my apology and instead offered words of appreciation.
Behind him, Lily silently nodded in agreement.
“They told me. You fought a high-level evil spirit all by yourself.”
“I’m really sorry we couldn’t come to help right away. We got caught up dealing with the Guardians.”
“You showing up at the end was more than enough. Don’t worry about it.”
Celia apologized, looking genuinely sorry she couldn’t provide support sooner, but given the situation, it couldn’t be helped. Honestly, the fact that they came to pick me up in the end was enough.
“But still, I can’t believe you actually defeated it.”
“It’s because the thing was already weakened from fighting the Guardians before it even got to us. It was pure luck, really.”
Looking back, even with Sigrum’s help, I couldn’t imagine breaking through the evil spirit’s defenses so easily without a full contract.
It was likely that the evil spirit was also drained from continuous battles, with little spirit energy left to fight.
Really, I’m glad I borrowed that spirit from my master beforehand. I would have been in serious trouble otherwise.
“Come on, no need to be so modest.”
“No, I’m not being modest. Seriously, I—”
“Rourke-senpai, you’re awake.”
Just as I was about to clear up Celia’s misunderstanding, Leia, who had apparently been riding on the Salamander’s back, came down and ran over to me.
“… Are you injured?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Then, that’s a relief.”
Leia sighed in relief at my response, but her reaction left me slightly puzzled.
It feels like her attitude toward me has softened quite a bit compared to before I passed out… or is that just my imagination?
“… Um, I’m sorry.”
“Huh?”
Just as I was getting confused by Leia’s change in attitude, she hesitated before apologizing, and I couldn’t help but let out a bewildered sound at the sudden apology.
“This time, I was nothing but a burden to everyone. Because of me, Rourke-senpai ended up in even more danger, and I couldn’t even go help you…”
“No, it’s not like that…”
Well, I can’t say I don’t have any thoughts about it, but this was her first time exploring ancient ruins, so it’s understandable.
Besides, the whole team was out of practice, and looking back, it feels like the problem wasn’t just her but the overall atmosphere. On top of that, regarding the evil spirit, it was my own rash attack that drew its attention and caused it to target me. I don’t think she was particularly at fault.
“As a member of the Valhart family, I should have been leading the charge… but I couldn’t even put up a proper fight against the evil spirit and ended up being saved by you, senpai.”
“…………”
It’s true she didn’t land a decisive blow, but still, Leia managed to get a hit in with the Salamander… However, I refrained from saying anything, sensing it wasn’t the right time, and chose to listen quietly.
“Please allow me to sincerely apologize for my previous rude behavior towards you, Senpai. I am truly… very sorry.”
“………”
Hearing Leia’s words, accompanied by a small bow, I was left speechless.
I couldn’t hide my surprise at the fact that someone from a noble family like hers would bow her head to a commoner like me, even if I am her Senpai.
Especially since she used to be so proud of her noble lineage and had clearly disliked me for not summoning my contracted spirit. Could it be that after this recent incident, she’s begun to see me in a different light…?
“But, setting that aside, I still think it’s not right to keep avoiding summoning your contracted spirit. I’m sure you have your reasons, but I strongly recommend that you summon it properly.”
“Haha… I suppose you’re right.”
Just as I started to feel touched, Leia’s stern look made me laugh awkwardly.
“Leia is right, you know. I’d love to see your contracted spirit too, Roark.”
“I’m curious as well.”
“Haha, well, I’m tired, so let’s talk about that another time, okay?”
As Celia and Lily, now energized, pressed me to reveal my contracted spirit, I found myself backing away while trying to laugh it off. But soon, I bumped into the wall behind me, realizing I had nowhere to escape. A cold sweat broke out.
“Come on, summon your contracted spirit!”
“Do it!”
“Ahh! Stop it! Mercy, please!!”
Under the crimson sky on the ship carried by the Red Dragon, my desperate cries echoed.
＊＊＊＊＊
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
“So, did you accomplish your goal?”
“…Hmm.”
Satisfied with having teased Roark enough, Gareth sat down beside Celia, who was resting against the wall, and asked her that question.
Celia hesitated for a moment, her gaze shifting back to Roark, who was still being held by Lily, though she had already distanced herself. Leia, unable to bear the sight, was trying to help Roark, but the three of them ended up in a tangled mess.
“Unfortunately, I couldn’t accomplish it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Even during the battle with the evil spirit, Roark didn’t summon his contracted spirit.”
Celia narrowed her eyes, watching Roark with a somewhat cold gaze.
One of Celia’s secret goals during the exploration of the ancient ruins was to uncover Roark’s contracted spirit.
But she had failed to achieve that.
“……………”
“When the evil spirit appeared, I honestly thought it was the perfect chance.”
With Gareth’s cooperation, Celia had deliberately increased Roark’s burden, hoping to force him to summon his contracted spirit. But in the end, that plan didn’t work out.
What surprised her the most was when Roark faced the unexpected evil spirit, an intervention that even she hadn’t anticipated. She had tried to help him, secretly attaching spores to his body to observe his fight, but Roark managed to overcome the threat by force, using a high-ranking spirit he had borrowed from his master in a temporary contract.
That had truly shocked her. In such a dire situation, she thought he would finally summon his contracted spirit, but even then, Roark stubbornly refused to do so. Frankly, it was bizarre.
“See? I told you, it’s pointless.”
“…Your tone is really annoying.”
Celia muttered with a slightly irritated expression at Gareth’s remark.
Although she had managed to get Gareth to cooperate, he had acted as if he knew from the beginning that her plan would fail.
She couldn’t accept that.
“Aren’t you interested in Roark’s contracted spirit?”
“Let me ask you instead: why are you so interested in it?”
“Because it’s creepy. A spirit masters who fights without summoning their contracted spirit… Honestly, it’s scarier than facing Misha or Toralus.”
Misha’s prowess as a spirit masters who commanded angels was beyond question. She had fought her several times in their first year, and each time, Celia felt she stood no chance against her. But even then, she could at least gauge how much stronger Misha was.
But Roark- Areas… He was different.
With him, she couldn’t see the bottom. At the start of their first year, he had no notable achievements, but at some point, his strength became the talk of the academy, even without summoning his contracted spirit.
He always claimed he was fighting at full strength, but how could he say that without even summoning his contracted spirit? Clearly, he was holding back.
“This year, it’s not just the academic rankings; we also have the Grand Spirit Martial Festival coming up, so I wanted to learn as much as I could about his abilities beforehand…”
But the result was as one might expect. There were still so many unknowns about him.
“The Grand Spirit Martial Festival… huh.”
“Aren’t you curious too, Gareth? Isn’t that why you helped me out this time?”
At least, Celia had thought so. But seeing Gareth shake his head, she realized her assumption had been wrong.
“The reason I went along with your plan this time was to show you that it was a waste of time.”
Given that Roark doesn’t have a contracted spirit, it was obvious there would be nothing to find out.
Besides—
“Before we start worrying about contracted spirits, don’t you think we should focus on getting strong enough to beat Roark as he is? We’re currently ranked below him, even though he never summons his contracted spirit.”
“…………”
After a moment of silence, Celia exhaled softly and nodded.
“You’re right. Even if I did learn about his contracted spirit, it wouldn’t matter if I couldn’t defeat him in the end. I need to prioritize better… Although—”
“Hey! Let me go! Don’t try to strip me!!”
“Where’s your spirit mark?”
“L-Lily-senpai, stop! That’s off-limits! This is bad!!”
As Celia watched Roark struggle desperately as Lily began tugging at his clothes, a small smile curved her lips.
“I don’t intend to lose to him as he is now, though.”
“…………”
A secret only Gareth knew.
That Roark had no contracted spirit and no hidden power. As he watched Celia’s determined expression, he wondered how she and the other students would react if they ever learned the truth.
“Not on your upper body? Then, is it on your lower body?”
“No! That’s not what I meant!!”
Roark’s frantic protests as Lily reached for his trousers snapped Gareth out of his thoughts. Leaning back against the wall, he closed his eyes, thinking to himself how troublesome it all was.
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