Chapter 68

I ended up playing the role of the adopted daughter a bit too well 068. Jermi tilted her head.

"Garhanjun?"

The pronunciation was unfamiliar to him.

Someone walked out of the darkness.

It was a young boy with blue hair and blue eyes.

Jermi looked at the boy in amazement and asked.

"Boy, are you human?"

"Of course not."

Jermi felt a sense of wonder.

Though she could see him, she couldn't sense his presence.

He felt almost like a ghost.

"I am a spirit."

"Oh!"

Jermi's eyes widened.

They were filled with curiosity.

"I've never seen a spirit before."

"I've never seen a human before."

The boy's gaze turned to Viola.

Viola, who had just regained her composure, felt her heart racing.

'Korea. And Hanjun. This spirit knows about me.'

Did he pass through the spirit door?

If it's known that I came from another world and possessed Viola's body, I might be hunted as a witch.

'At least Xenon doesn't seem to be here.'

If he's not here, there's a high chance he deliberately fell into a hallucination to verify Viola Bellatu's qualifications.

In any case, he was likely wandering somewhere.

'Then the situation is a bit better.

This spirit doesn't know everything about me.'

She asked what Korea was and if Jermi was Hanjun.

If he knew everything, he wouldn't have asked.

Thinking this, Viola felt much lighter.

"Well, I'm not sure either."

"There's no way."

"There is a way."

Viola drew a dagger and approached the spirit.

"Why, why are you doing this?"

"You're a spirit who passed through the spirit door without contracting with a human, right?"

Viola walked over and grabbed the back of the boy's head.

She pressed the dagger to his neck.

The boy struggled, but couldn't break free from Viola's grip.

"Let go, let go! I'll get angry!"

"What a dilemma. Spirits who pass through the spirit door without a contract lose most of their power."

"What, what do you mean?"

"From the looks of it, you're a young spirit who was born not long ago and passed through the spirit door out of curiosity."

The boy's struggles were pathetically weak.

"And from what I can tell, this dagger is a magical weapon made by the special workshop of the Bellatus."

She pressed the dagger closer to the boy's neck.

The spirit's body trembled.

The cold aura of the magical weapon was palpable.

"Y-Yeah. Big sister, you just had a dream."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. I think I read your dream."

"Alright."

Viola put away the dagger.

"When are you going to let go of the back of my head?"

"I don't plan to."

"Why not?"

"You'll run away if I let you go."

"I won't run."

"Alright."

Viola said she understood but didn't let go of the back of his head.

She just said she understood.

"Why didn't you let go if you said you understood?"

"You said you wouldn't run, but you didn't ask me to let you go."

"I don't, but... then let me go."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because the back of your head is cute."

The more the spirit talked, the deeper he felt he was sinking.

Viola asked.

"Where are we? Why are spirits staying here?"

***

Jermi stroked her chin as she walked.

By this point, it seemed safe to let go of the spirit's head, but Viola refused to do so.

Jermi found this quite shocking.

'What a dilemma. Spirits who pass through the spirit door without a contract lose most of their power.'

'From the looks of it, you're a young spirit who was born not long ago and passed through the spirit door out of curiosity.'

Jermi knew very little about spirits.

She only knew that they existed in this world.

However, Viola seemed to know a lot about spirits and had even figured out that he was a young spirit through a few words.

Furthermore, she used his characteristics to threaten him.

'Is she a walking encyclopedia?'

Indeed, she was a white Bellatu.

"So, spirit. Where are we going?"

"This ruin is the laboratory of Gabgol, who was both a mage and a spirit summoner."

"Can you learn both magic and spirit summoning?"

"Yes, but I don't know much about it."

They walked down a dark corridor.

There was no sense of any threatening creatures around Viola and Jermi.

How long had they walked?

"Ta-da."

Suddenly, the lights came on.

The surroundings became visible.

'A room? No, a laboratory?'

Various potions and books, and a large desk were visible.

A hexagram-shaped magic circle was also visible on the floor ahead.

'Does this smell like potions?'

The damp smell of an old basement mixed with the scents of various potions and chemicals.

Jermi discovered something interesting.

"Wow. The centipede is huge."

A centipede, about the size of an arm, was seen hurriedly seeking the shade upon encountering the light.

Viola almost screamed.

'Crazy!'

The centipede was too big.

She had never seen such a large bug before.

Honestly, she wanted to cry.

But Jermi was even more curious.

"Should we catch it? I've never seen such a big centipede."

"Stop it."

"Huh? Why?"

'Because... I'm scared of centipedes.'

'Anything with more than four legs is scary.'

"This is a ruin. It's best not to act rashly. Even small elements can be traps."

"......Really?"

Jermi smacked her lips in disappointment.

She seemed regretful for not catching the giant centipede.

If left alone, Jermi would likely give in to her curiosity and chase after the centipede, so Viola quickly said.

"This is Gabgol's laboratory, right?"

"Y-Yeah. My head hurts. When are you going to let go?"

She had no intention of letting go.

In the original story, Nadia, Jermi's companion, who entered this place with her, never let go of the spirit's hair.

Viola decided to follow the original.

"What kind of research was conducted here?"

"I don't know much. I was just born."

"Right, that makes sense."

Viola looked around.

"The conditions here don't seem suitable for opening a spirit door."

"Ooh? Viola, are there conditions for opening a spirit door?"

"Yes."

Spirit doors typically open in places where the natural energy is abundant.

Deep in the forest, near a lake, where the sunlight is warm, the soil is alive, and there are abundant mana stones and mana crystals, and the wind blows well.

At the same time, the terrain must be such that the flow of mana can converge in one place.

"This place doesn't meet any of those conditions. So, that must be a magic circle designed to open a spirit door artificially."

"Oh, I see."

"Wow, that's... Ow, my head! Be gentle."

Both Jermi and the spirit nodded.

Of course, the spirit felt like his hair was being pulled out as he nodded.

"Spirit, did you know about this?"

"I didn't know. I told you, I'm a young spirit."

But how did Viola know?

"I don't know either!"

"Fair enough."

Jermi found it amusing.

She thought it was a good idea to come with Viola.

"Indeed, it's more fun to travel with someone smart."

Viola was taken aback by this.

These words were very similar to what Jermi had said to her companion Nadia in this place.

"Indeed. It's more fun to travel with someone smart."

There was only a slight difference of a couple of characters.

Viola had said "travel with" while Nadia had said "go with."

The story had subtly changed from the original.

"So, I think this magic circle opens a spirit door and forcibly increases spirit affinity. This place was a laboratory where such research was conducted."

"Then, if this magic circle exists, even someone with low spirit affinity can contract with a spirit?"

"That's what I think. If the research was successful."

"Wouldn't it be widely known if it was successful?"

If there was a way for people with low spirit affinity to contract with spirits, the world would welcome it.

Jermi thought so.

"No, think the opposite. The magic tower exists in the world."

"What do you mean?"

"Would the magic tower welcome an increase in spirit summoners?"

Magic is a study that artificially processes natural energy to seek convenience.

Spirit summoning is a technique that borrows the power of spirits, which possess natural energy, to seek convenience.

They were conflicting studies.

"Mages don't want more spirit summoners."

And mages have been in power for a long time.

"So, they would secretly conduct research in a damp and dark place like this."

"...Is that how the story goes?"

"Yes."

All of this reasoning was done by Nadia.

Viola was just reciting the content of the novel.

However, Jermi didn't know this.

"Why are you so cool?"

"What?"

"Never mind, nothing."

Jermi giggled.

Being with Viola was fun and interesting.

But that wasn't all. Viola was cool.

What kind of world is unfolding in that mind?

How many new and amazing things must she see through those eyes?

"You can deduce all of this from the clues here."

Viola felt a breeze.

This was a room with all sides blocked.

There was no space for the wind to blow.

'Spirit of the wind.'

Perhaps the spirit door was slightly open.

It was just like the novel.

When Jermi and Nadia arrived here, the spirit door was slightly open.

It was expressed that way.

"There's no time. The spirit door doesn't stay open for long. We need to hurry."

Viola's heart also became urgent.

Now was the right time.

The opportunity to open the spirit door and properly contract with a spirit.

"That's probably a magic circle that can open a spirit door and significantly increase spirit affinity."

Viola walked confidently toward the magic circle.

She stood in front of it, but nothing changed.

However, the spirit became arrogant as soon as she stood in front of the magic circle.

"Hmph!"

The spirit, now stronger, pushed Viola's hand away.

The power from the spirit door seemed to have partially restored his strength.

Viola, undaunted, said.

"Jermi, subdue him."

Fortunately, the story progressed exactly as in the novel.

Jermi moved quickly.

Her sword was also a famous magical weapon from the magical workshop, and subduing the spirit wasn't difficult.

"Bro, please spare me."

"I won't kill you."

Jermi had no intention of killing such an interesting spirit.

She only subdued him because Viola told her to.

Giggling, she said.

"This is more interesting than a centipede. I can't kill it! Yeah, that's right."

But, could she dissect it?

The thought crossed her mind, but she decided to behave, fearing Viola's reaction.

Viola said.

"Pentagram."

A five-pointed star-shaped magic circle.

Each point had a hollow space.

"I think I know what to do."

Viola quickly gathered items scattered around.

When she touched the magical torch on the wall, a red bead-like aura gathered in her hand.

When she touched the underground water pooled on the floor, a blue bead-like aura gathered in her hand.

'What is she doing?'

When she touched the iron magic staff hanging on the wall, a gold bead appeared, and when she touched the wooden bookshelf, a brown bead appeared.

Finally, when she touched the soil on the floor, a brown bead appeared.

'Five attribute beads?'

Viola placed each bead at the points of the pentagram.

The hollow spaces sucked in the beads like black holes, and at the same time, something amazing began to happen.