Chapter 41

Having finished the difficult part, my concentration waned. By the time I completed the finishing touches, Aria and the others had already finished their discussion. Lord Arjitt was pressing his temples, muttering, "Y-You have a thing for young girls... pervert..." in shock, and he must have explained why he isolated me first. The others also looked pale.

"That thing is ten times stronger... Ha ha, I'll dieeeeee..."

"Indeed, to show weakness before the master, we must correct this behavior..."

"Awaawaawa, Head Butler, Lord Wells! My head hurts so much! It's going to crush!"

Mimachi was being held by the head, suspended in mid-air, just like how she is always treated by Stroll. The Head Butler, it seems, was the one doing this. The exchange slightly eased everyone's expressions. Stroll, who always wears a full-face helmet, can't show his expression, and only the Head Butler didn't look bad.

"Well, it's time to sleep," I said, finishing the glove and tying the pink ribbon Aria had taken out from somewhere around the boundary of the curse. It was a beautiful, sakura pink with a golden luster. It must be from Aria's Sakura. It's probably the color of her magic. And it gave off a mysterious aura, similar to that of an item inhabited by a spirit, but different?

As I sensed the aura and looked, Aria explained to me.

"This is a magical item. In this world, the power of the gods sometimes randomly inhabits works. It's similar to the treasures found in the labyrinth, but it only inhabits worthy works, and even masterpieces aren't guaranteed to have it. Of course, we don't know what kind of power it will have."

"Wh-What!?"

I want to try making one.

"This has the power to ward off evil. Since I can die now, I will give this to the child that exists with the country..."

Aria whispered in Japanese, only to me, and smiled. To a creator, a work is like a child. If a spirit's consciousness is born in it, the affection doubles. The national fabric spirit is like a child of Aria and the progenitor... Sakura.

"I will give my treasure to this child... as a keepsake."

Aria and the national fabric spirit seemed to be reluctant to part, and they hugged each other with sad, loving expressions before separating. Seeing their sad, loving expressions, I thought...

...Even if the country falls or becomes corrupt, we should consider measures to ensure it doesn't affect the national fabric spirit.

The Nier family has rotted. Even the royal family, though they may be good now, could change in the distant future. There's no guarantee that external factors, like what happened with Lord Arjitt, won't return.

This day added several more purposes to my life.

"By the way, one of my other bodies has completely turned into a monster. Another one is also becoming corrupt, so it's dangerous if we don't put a slave collar on both of them?"

"Another body... the Nier family's?"

Everyone grimaced, but there was no surprise. They might have expected it.

"Father and daughter..."

King Amnart, who usually has a gentle demeanor, suddenly lost his expression.

Ah, he's really angry about what I did to Lady Hania. My sister is finished...

"How come there are no victims yet, even though they've completely turned into monsters?"

"That family has no normal people, including the servants... We'll have them watched until there are victims, and then we'll take them down. It would be good practice before fighting the cursed Restlana."

Lord Arjitt, smiling... He's scary.

"Well, if you can take care of it properly, do as you please."

Aria, once again enveloped in a cocoon of light, added softly and gently, but with a hint of indifference, just before falling asleep.

As Aria was enveloped in the cocoon, the walls and ceiling of the labyrinth also dissolved into golden light and disappeared. Strangely, it wasn't blinding. Several small creatures, quite a few of the remaining monsters, were swarmed by the light and screamed as they disappeared. It felt like they were moving, even though they weren't, which was unsettling. Feeling this strange phenomenon, the space of light shrank around the cocoon, and by the time the outer wall dissolved into light, everything was contained within the circle drawn on the ground by the person with the staff.

"King Amnart, are you alright!"

The person with the staff knelt and called out. He looked pale, clearly exhausted from using his power.

"Yes, I worried you, Toluamia."

Picking up the stones left by the gathered monsters at his feet, the king sighed.

"To think such monsters could be created in the palace..."

As we joined the people who had remained outside, amidst the noisy commotion, I watched the cocoon, which was getting smaller and smaller, with a racing heart. The cocoon began to shine and became solid, more like an egg. It stopped contracting when it was about two sizes smaller than an ostrich egg but much larger than a regular egg. Clearly, it was bigger than the original spider. If it had stayed the original size, a regular egg would have been sufficient.

Then, it made a cracking sound, and a small white hand shot out.

"!?"

The hand gripped the crack, and a small head emerged, taking a breath.

"Is it a spirit?"

It had a face similar to Aria and me, with a sleepy expression, tilting its head and extending both hands to me, as if asking to be held. I instinctively extended my palms, and she fell into them. As expected, her lower body was a spider. My spider...

Though small, it had the same form as Aria's.