Chapter 23
Machines and Humans
While delicacy may be the domain of humans, efficiency is overwhelmingly the realm of machines.
The magic carriage that runs by itself without a driver also demonstrated astonishing efficiency.
The moment the magic engine ignited,
dozens of magic inscriptions began to glow, and the carriage quickly started to leave the city.
Even without a driver to steer it, the sight of it exiting the city without a single accident was quite impressive.
Is this the power of auto-driving?
Once we left the city and arrived at the main road, the acceleration picked up significantly.
‘It’s really fast.’
As I watched the scenery whizzing by outside the window, it felt faster than any fine steed.
Yet, there was not even a hint of motion sickness; the interior was completely steady.
Truly, luxury goods live up to their price.
While enjoying the sensation of the plush sofa,
I glanced at Leonhardt, who was sitting with his eyes closed, deep in meditation.
He truly was a hardworking guy.
He never neglected his training, whether awake or asleep.
‘Well.’
That’s why, at the young age of twenty-three, he had achieved the high rank of Expert.
My gaze soon turned to Erciel, who was seated across from me.
She had her legs neatly crossed, with her hands resting on them. Her back was straight, and her neck was held rigidly upright.
It was quite uncomfortable just watching her.
What is this, some kind of military training?
“You can sit comfortably.”
“To me, this is comfortable…”
No way.
Is there really a human who finds such a posture comfortable?
“It’s an order. Don’t be shy; sit in a position where you can relax. Are you going to keep sitting like that for a week?”
“…”
At my words, her gaze shifted toward the nearby knight.
It seemed like Leonhardt, who was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, was quite concerning to her.
That position did look uncomfortably stiff.
However, he was meditating and practicing visualization, so that was why he sat like that.
He wouldn’t normally sit in such a position.
No way he’s some kind of hermit.
“If you’re watching him, it’s not necessary.”
At my words, Leonhardt opened his eyes.
“Relax as the Young Master says. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“…Yes.”
Only then did she start to fidget with her hands and relax her legs.
Seriously.
If I hadn’t brought it up, she would have been like that for a week.
The girl is too stubborn for her own good.
“By the way, how are the spirits? Have you summoned many?”
“Yes. Whenever you leave your room, I go and summon them.”
I had previously told her to only summon them in my room, but it seemed she had diligently followed that instruction.
“Really?”
“Yes. However, I want to see more of the outside world…”
“Then you can call them now to play. After all, it’s just the three of us.”
At that, Leonhardt, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, tilted his head.
“…Spirits?”
“I’m talking about the spirit summoner.”
“…Is Erciel the one?”
“Yeah.”
“Since when…?”
“It hasn’t been long. Just a little over a week? But, you didn’t know?”
“…No. This is the first time I’ve heard of it.”
His bewildered expression seemed genuine.
He was the one who had been assigned to guard Erciel when I set out to subjugate in the forest.
‘But if he didn’t know…’
My gaze naturally turned to her.
It seemed my maid had been keeping that fact tightly under wraps.
‘Well, I never told her to disclose anything about the spirits.’
The reason she hid it from my escort knight was probably for that same reason.
In any case,
if he didn’t know, it was time to start informing Leonhardt about her talents. After all, he would naturally find out when we explored the dungeon together.
“It’s true that she’s a spirit summoner.”
At my words, he turned to Erciel.
“Is what the Young Master said true?”
“Yes, it is.”
“It’s unlikely you summoned them on your own, so the Young Master must have helped you.”
That was an obvious expectation.
To summon a spirit with a maid’s salary, it would take at least thirty years of saving.
My maid wasn’t forty years old.
At the knight’s words, she nodded her head.
After chatting with Erciel for a moment, he looked at me.
“Young master, did you perhaps use an activated spirit stone?”
“That’s not it.”
To determine if one has the talent for spirit summoning, it is standard to use a spirit stone.
When an activated spirit stone is brought to the body, reactions are expected depending on whether one has the talent or not.
That being said.
I hadn’t brought the spirit stone to Erciel, so I couldn’t lie in front of the person involved.
At my words, Leonhardt tilted his head.
“…Then how did you know?”
“I just had a feeling. I thought she might have talent in spirit summoning, so I suggested it. In the end, it turned out well.”
Since I couldn’t lie, I had to go with my gut feeling.
“…If that’s true… then perhaps that could be one of your hidden talents, young master.”
“That could be.”
I understood immediately what he meant.
Among NPCs, there were those born with unusual talents.
Abel’s sixth sense was one such talent.
There were also talents passed down through bloodlines.
A representative example was the case of the Holy Empire.
The Holy Empire, the second largest country after the Alton Empire.
It was common for the direct descendants of the Pope, the leader of that land, to inherit several unusual abilities.
Like divine power or foresight.
They didn’t inherit them every time.
Sometimes, talents manifested after several generations had passed. What he was referring to now was likely about such special talents.
“I’d like to keep the fact that she’s a spirit summoner a secret for now. Revealing it at this moment would be a bit difficult. That’s why I’m only letting her communicate with the spirit in my room.”
“I understand.”
It was a concise answer, but above all, it was a trustworthy response. After all, the credibility of words changes depending on who utters them.
In the meantime.
Erciel summoned her spirit.
Flap flap.
Oh my.
No matter how many times I heard it, that flapping sound was quite adorable.
The ancient spirit Asiris.
What to say about its appearance.
It was quite similar to a character from an anime that was popular a while ago.
‘What was its name again?’
Flap.
Ah.
Wasn’t it something like Flapmon? A creature that looked like a hamster?
It was almost identical.
Since it wasn’t summoned while hidden, Leonhardt was also accurately looking in the direction of the spirit.
“The four elemental spirits don’t seem to be present… can you tell me what kind of spirit it is?”
“It’s the ancient spirit of light.”
“…Light?”
“Yes.”
“…I see.”
Leonhardt quietly nodded and stared intently at the spirit. It seemed that this spirit was quite fascinating.
“Is this your first time seeing one?”
“Yes. Since spirit summoners are a rare profession, even when they are seen, nine out of ten times they summon spirits related to the four elemental forces. By the way, if it’s an ancient spirit…”
Leonhardt closed his eyes as if contemplating something.
“I think I’ve read somewhere that an ancient spirit grows continuously while interacting with its master. Do you perhaps know anything about ancient spirits, young master?”
“Not much, just the basics. Generally, elemental spirits do not grow after being summoned, but ancient spirits are summoned at a level that matches their master’s at first, and as their spirit power increases, they gradually find their true form.”
NPCs typically summon lower-ranked spirits to build up their spirit power, and once they reach a certain level, they would summon a higher-ranked spirit through a magic circle and enter into a new contract. This tedious method was the norm.
So, if one wanted to summon a typical spirit, it was best to summon the Spirit King right from the start.
Even though entering into a contract would consume an enormous amount of spirit power to utilize them right away, there was an advantage in that one could summon the spirits beneath the Spirit King.
Perhaps that was one of the benefits of having a direct contract with the headquarters?
Of course, even with contracts for higher or intermediate spirits, one could still summon the spirits beneath them.
But compared to the Spirit King, both the quantity and quality of the spirits available were noticeably inferior.
After all, how could an agency compare to the headquarters?
Thus, compared to regular spirits, the ancient spirits that naturally grew according to their master’s abilities could be evaluated as significantly superior.
In response to my unhesitating answer, a look of curiosity appeared in Leonhardt’s eyes.
“You’ve been visiting the library often lately; it’s clear your knowledge has increased quite a bit.”
“Well, it’s only natural since I only read books.”
While discussing ancient spirits, he looked at Erciel.
“By the way, what abilities does the light spirit have?”
“It seems to specialize in recovery and defense.”
“Recovery and defense. That definitely suits light well.”
Rather than speaking a hundred times, it would be much faster to experience it once.
I looked at Erciel.
“Could you show him that light aura? The one from before?”
“Oh, sure.”
She then turned to my escort knight.
“Are you okay with this?”
Should I help him a bit?
“Just take a hit. You’ll feel really good. Your mind will be very clear.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, it’s really amazing.”
As soon as he nodded in response to my persuasion, a brilliant light emanated from Asiris’ body.
The pure white light headed straight for Leonhardt.
After the light passed,
A look of astonishment began to linger in his eyes.
With his eyes blinking, he gazed at his own body, as if he couldn’t quite accept the change all at once and had to process it for a moment.
“…”
“How does it feel? Pretty good, right?”
“What on earth…?”
He seemed to quickly recognize the astonishing effect, gazing at Erciel with a dazed expression.
“…I see why you’re trying to hide her, young master. With an effect like this…”
“Yeah. It’s a bit inconvenient to reveal it right away. Right now, she’s just a maid. If something goes wrong, it might be hard to protect her.”
What if Adolf received this light directly?
He would likely froth at the mouth and try to do whatever it took to deal with my maid.
The moment he unleashed his power, the warm light’s effect would surely have a cursed-like effect on him.
There’s a reason why I’m trying to keep her spirit hidden.
After all, secret weapons are meant to show their true effect at critical moments.
I figured that when Adolf stirs up a rebellion, this light spirit would be of great help.
Thus, five days passed.
The remaining distance to Enfelum, ruled by the count, was now about two days.
‘It’s about time to stop.’
The dungeon I intended to clear was located nearby.
After displaying the holographic screen of the mana carriage,
I simply adjusted the direction of travel.
The destination was off the main road.
“Young master?”
“Oh, I heard there’s a place with quite a nice view around here, so I thought I’d check it out.”
Though it was more about the decent rewards than the scenery.
“Isn’t it dangerous?”
“With our skills? I think we could handle an ogre if it showed up.”
“…”
“Can’t all three of us protect ourselves? It’s not that far from the main road, so it shouldn’t be too dangerous.”
Perhaps it was due to having previously taken down a twin-headed ogre.
Leonhardt no longer opposed me.
He must have realized from last time that I was proficient not only in theory but also in practice as a magician.
After manipulating the carriage, we slowly moved closer to the dungeon.
Then, I pressed the rest button.
[Stopping operation.]
Swoosh.
The mana carriage began to come to a stop.
The place where I parked the carriage was a plain.
Countless flowers bloomed vividly, and butterflies fluttered around in this peaceful location.
With scenery like this, they would likely be fine with my wanting to take a look.
“Since our bodies must be quite stiff, let’s take a short break outside. We haven’t really stepped out of the carriage in the past five days, except for when we needed to.”
Upon my words, the two nodded in agreement.
Having sat still in the carriage for five days, they probably thought it would be nice to step outside at least once.
A beautiful plain.
The dungeon was right around here.
Hidden among the flowers was a secret passage leading underground.
It was called the Minotaur’s Secret Resting Place.
Now, it was time to explore this dungeon.
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