Chapter 42

The text has become a bit long.

Actually, I felt like I was going to update last night.

It must have been my imagination...

《"Sigh..."})

Peering into the large plate piled high with cookies, Will and the young spirits let out excited voices.

Will’s eyes sparkled at his favorite treat, while the spirits’ eyes gleamed at what seemed to be a human delicacy they had never seen before.

When the cookies were done, they decided to take a break.

The group moved to the living room, where they were captivated by the sweets being brought in.

The maids served fragrant tea to complement the treats.

"Hmph... Usually, the seat next to Will is reserved for Lady Serena and me..."

"Come now, come now..."

Serena calmed Nina, who groaned in frustration.

While Serena also considered the seat next to Will as the best, she wasn’t as insistent as Nina.

Nina was likely to clench her handkerchief and let out a "Kii!" soon.

Serena looked at the spirits who had seated themselves around Will.

The girl with green hair was the wind spirit who had descended to Will’s side yesterday.

On the opposite side sat the girl with brown hair, the earth spirit that Will had found earlier.

《...Delicious.》

The earth spirit murmured after taking a bite of the cookie.

A blush crept onto her usually expressionless cheeks.

The wind spirit, after taking a bite and widening her eyes, quickly finished the cookie and reached for another.

"There are plenty, so please take your time."

Stella and Rosa appeared, pushing a cart laden with plates of cookies.

The adults also found seats and savored the cookies.

"By the way, earth spirit..."

《...?》

The earth spirit looked up at the wind spirit who had called her.

"Why did you appear here?"

Normally, spirits prefer areas with high concentrations of magical essence.

While it made sense for a wind spirit to enjoy the essence in the air, it was unbelievable for an earth spirit, who prefers the essence of the ground, to appear in a human settlement.

When mythical beasts or spirits run out of power, they solidify the surrounding magical essence into spirit stones or beast stones.

There are even villains among humans who force captured spirits and mythical beasts to petrify and sell them.

"You must know it’s dangerous..."

"Is it dangerous?"

The earth spirit was momentarily speechless at Will’s question.

《...I felt a powerful earth magic.》

According to her, the existence of the wind spirit Will had summoned yesterday had been noticed by other spirits of different elements.

However, it was something that only spirits of the same element should be concerned about.

But the earth spirits had sensed something else.

The creation of golems by Morgan, Will, and Caldi’s private army.

《It was an amount of magic that shouldn’t be felt in a human settlement...》

Still, the other earth spirits didn’t pay it much mind.

Except for the one in front of them.

《Spirits have their specialties... For me, it was creation magic...》

She was drawn to the magic that had occurred in the city. To the earth creation magic.

Will tilted his head in confusion, while Morgan scratched his cheek.

"Are you blushing?"

"Shut up."

Embarrassed by his subordinate’s teasing, Morgan turned away.

《When I followed the magic into the city, I found a place with a high concentration of wind essence, and...》

When she came to check it out, she was found by Will.

《I knew it was dangerous, but I had to see it with my own eyes...》

The earth spirit looked back at Will.

Will, looking up at her, had a serious expression.

The earth spirit tilted her head in confusion.

《What’s wrong...?》

"It’s dangerous!"

Will stood up and faced the spirits.

"I’ll protect Serena!"

It was a very endearing declaration.

Will probably didn’t know what he was protecting her from.

The adults smiled at Will’s attitude, and the spirits looked at each other in surprise before smiling and patting Will’s head.

《Thank you, Will...》

《I’m looking forward to it!》

"Leave it to me!"

Will puffed out his chest proudly.

"I’m going to be a spirit king, so I’ll protect Serena a lot!"

《《Huh...?》》

The spirits froze.

《S-Spirit king...》

《H-Huh...》

Everyone tilted their heads at the spirits’ sudden coldness.

Will, also confused, tilted his head but then sat back down among the spirits.

《Um...》

《Ah...》

The earth spirit’s gaze wandered, and the wind spirit fidgeted.

The earth spirit’s and Nina’s gazes met.

《Ah, sorry. You wanted to sit next to Will...》

《I-I’ll switch too!》

The spirits hurriedly made room for Nina and Serena to sit next to Will.

"Hehe, next to Will♪"

Nina, now in a good mood, reached for a cookie.

Serena also reached for a cookie and leaned in to look at Will, who looked dejected.

"Will, did you not want to sit next to me?"

Concerned, Serena asked, and Will shook his head.

"No, I don’t mind, Lady Serena..."

"Then what’s wrong?"

Nina, also worried, leaned in to look at Will.

Will, hesitating, finally murmured.

"Did Serena dislike me...?"

He seemed to have noticed the spirits’ coldness and thought they were avoiding him.

Serena and Nina looked at the spirits, who quickly shook their heads.

"It doesn’t seem like that."

Serena patted Will’s head.

However, Will still looked sad.

"It’s okay, Will-sama."

"That’s right! Will-sama is very charming! Have confidence!"

Unable to bear it, Aika and Mina encouraged Will, but he still seemed down.

"But... they ran away and wouldn’t tell me their names..."

Will sniffled, tears welling in his eyes.

《N-No, Will! It’s not that...!》

The wind spirit hurriedly moved in front of Will.

"I want to know your name..."

《U-Um...》

The wind spirit flinched at Will’s request.

The adults, who had been watching curiously, now noticed the spirits’ strange behavior.

The young spirit’s mouth opened and closed, and her ears turned red.

The adults speculated that it must be a very embarrassing name.

The wind fragment, who had been watching silently, came to the rescue.

"Will."

"What is it, Hito-hira-san?"

"Stop pressing them."

"Sniff... Why?"

"To a spirit, giving one’s name has a special meaning."

"......?"

Will looked at the wind fragment with a question mark over his head.

"Beasts are named and thus bound by a contract, like Levi. On the other hand, spirits have true names, which they give to those they contract with."

"True name...?"

The wind fragment nodded as Will wiped his tears with the back of his hand.

"Yes. For a spirit, giving one’s true name to a human is a declaration of a lifelong bond."

The adults understood.

If giving one’s true name meant agreeing to a contract, it made sense why the spirits were hesitant.

"But..."

Rin, who had been watching the situation, placed a hand on his chin.

The spirits seemed very embarrassed, even though they could just refuse.

"Is there a reason for their embarrassment?"

"Hmm? Ah, it’s Will’s fault."

The wind fragment turned to Rin’s question.

"What did Will do wrong...?"

Rin narrowed his eyes, a cold gaze.

He became defensive whenever it came to Will.

The wind fragment sighed and looked at Will, then at the restless spirits.

"Will said he would become a spirit king..."

"So what?"

A bedtime story from childhood.

It was nothing unusual for a child to be fascinated.

But the wind fragment said calmly.

"Among humans, it’s a misunderstanding... The spirit king is not the king of spirits."

"「「「Huh...?」」」"

"The spirit king is human..."

A hero among heroes who could fly through the sky, move the earth, part the sea, and quell the fire, solving impossible tasks beyond human capability.

The spirit king, who left legends around the world with his overwhelming power, was actually a single human.

The adults, stunned by the sudden revelation of historical truth, listened as the wind fragment continued.

"More accurately, he was a human who married many spirits."

Many spirits followed this human.

That’s why he was called the king of spirits.

People misunderstood.

Or perhaps it was correctly understood at first, but the story changed over time.

The spirits, however, knew the truth.

They knew about the human who married many spirits and was revered as the spirit king.

Recalling Will’s words:

Will said he would become a spirit king.

He wanted the spirits to tell him their names to be friends.

In other words, Will was saying:

Will would ‘marry the spirits.’

He wanted the spirits to ‘spend their lives with him.’

To the spirits, this wasn’t just a request for a contract.

It was a proposal from a human to a spirit.

To humans, it was just a cute statement from a child.

But to the spirits, who lived much longer than humans, Will’s age wasn’t an issue.

"If the spirits were to accept and give their true names, the next step would be the wedding night."

"「「「Choke...!!」」」

The adults burst out laughing.

They laughed so hard they blushed when they thought about what the wind fragment had said.

The spirits also blushed, their ears turning red.

Only the children, who didn’t understand, looked puzzled.

"What...?"

Will thought about the unfamiliar word.

It seemed to be a necessary step to become friends with the spirits.

"I understand. I’ll do it, Will."

Will raised his hand enthusiastically.

"No, Will, listen..."

Shiro tried to calm Will, but Will looked back at him with determination.

"Father, what is a wedding night?"

"Ugh...!"

Shiro groaned and looked away.

Will was determined to become friends with the spirits.

"Father?"

Shiro, with his eyes tightly shut and looking away, was approached by Will.

Reluctantly, Will turned to someone else, but the other adults also quickly looked away.

The adults understood.

If they made eye contact with Will now, they would have to explain the wedding night to a three-year-old.

In front of everyone.

Too difficult.

Frustrated by the adults’ behavior, Will grumbled.

"Ugh! Someone, tell me! Wedding night!"

For a while, Will’s repeated cries of "wedding night" echoed through the Turquis mansion.

Someone, please explain to Will...