~CHAPTER 22~
With my resolve firm, I looked down at Latia.
Latia had wiped the cheerful smile she always wore from her face and was staring at me.
Her expression seemed genuinely curious about me.
“Serena, are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“…Are you going to be okay? I don’t really sense any affinity for spirits in you. Even if you try to form a contract, your lifespan will just shorten and you won’t be able to use much power. Your body will also suffer a lot.”
Zahar asked me with an unusually concerned expression.
It was the look of someone who wanted to stop me if he could.
“But if it’s a higher-grade spirit’s contractor, then it would meet the conditions you mentioned.”
“I don’t even understand why you want to know so much about them in the first place.”
He probably thought that if he gave a vague answer, I would accept it and drop the matter.
But since I was trying to find out this much about them, he must have been confused.
“If you want more spirit eggs, it’s useless. Once you form a contract with a spirit, you can’t contract with another.”
“I know that too.”
“If you wanted to sell it, I’d try to stop you even more. It would have been barely obtained there as well…”
“Because my family could die.”
Zahar, who had been listing all sorts of ominous reasons to stop me, immediately fell silent.
“Family… family, huh.”
Zahar muttered quietly. It seemed he was reflecting on my words.
Yes, there was only one reason I wanted to know the source of the egg.
To prevent the demon realm from being falsely accused.
I knew how cruel the gods could be to demons.
Even demons who didn’t value family would probably laugh if they knew I had said such a thing.
But as cycles repeated, inevitable attachments formed.
There were some who eyed my position covetously and acted like trash, but more often there were those who didn’t.
Especially…
‘Illay.’
He naturally came to mind, the one who had worried about me until the moment he was killed by a god in a previous cycle.
Though it was quiet now, the Spirit World would soon realize that the Phoenix egg had disappeared.
They would quickly notice where the egg had gone.
They would become desperate to find the culprit, but if they failed… the Demon Realm would naturally be blamed.
Illay was a responsible demon. Even in such a situation, he would never abandon the Demon Realm.
Having experienced him firsthand, I knew him well.
‘…I can’t leave this as it is.’
Whether I knew or not, now that I did, I had to uncover it somehow.
I heard the clear voice of a child in my ear as I squeezed my eyes shut.
“Serena, do you really want to form a contract with me?”
It was Latia.
I met her gaze without fear.
Forming a contract with a spirit wasn’t something I could do just because I wanted to.
One needed spirit affinity, as well as strong mental and physical strength to summon a spirit.
But more important than those two things was the spirit’s own will.
No matter how high one’s spirit affinity or strong the body and mind were, if the spirit did not wish it, the contract could not be formed.
Conversely, if the spirit wished it, a contract could form even if the person had low affinity or insufficient conditions.
I was more nervous than ever.
Because I thought she might not want a contract with me.
Latia was showing a friendly attitude toward me, but for spirits, contracts weren’t usually trivial matters.
Once a contract was formed, the contractor couldn’t form another until the contract ended, usually by death.
That would be different for a Spirit King, but that was how spirits worked.
‘And… since Latia is a higher-grade spirit, she has probably already seen through my identity.’
She would know I was a demon, even if I didn’t show it.
Spirits were perceptive.
Not long after, Latia spoke.
“Alright, let’s do it!”
Her answer was plain and straightforward.
She was smiling again.
“W-wait, wait! Are you both serious? Really going to form a spirit contract?”
“Yes.”
“Yes!”
Zahar, on the other hand, was left speechless by the straightforward answer.
After a few seconds, Zahar sighed deeply and wiped his face.
“You’re willing to take such a risk just because your family might die?”
“Just because?” Such words were hard to come by from a human, let alone a demon.
“Humans die eventually. That’s fate. Pouring your life into trying to escape that fate is foolish.”
What kind of family history must he have to say something like that?
Zahar bit his lips, as if recalling something from the past.
“But I have to.”
“You don’t have to. No need to feel guilty. If that’s fate, why go to such lengths?”
I lowered my eyes. The answer had already been decided.
Silence followed my concise response. I waited quietly for Zahar’s next words.
“…Alright, alright! I give up.”
Good.
Internally cheering, I listened as he continued in a voice mixed with a sigh.
“What are you curious about? I’ll tell you what I can.”
“Didn’t you say you couldn’t tell me because I was underqualified by their standards?”
I tilted my head in confusion. Zahar’s face almost looked like he was about to cry.
It was astonishing how far a person’s eyebrows could fall.
“…Why are you doing this knowing that? Are you teasing me…”
I thought he would get angry.
Having done all this and having his hidden matters discovered, I expected him, like others, to reveal his true nature.
But Zahar was Zahar.
Simple, trusting, innocent.
My threat to use the contract with Latia wasn’t to coerce, but because I truly intended to form a contract with her.
‘I thought Zahar might be hiding a cold heart, and to make him speak, I had to meet the conditions he mentioned.’
But it had turned out well in the end.
“Serena, won’t you form a contract with me?”
Latia tugged gently at the hem of my clothes, asking since I hadn’t prepared for the contract.
I patted her round head gently.
“Shall we postpone it a bit?”
Even with the situation as it was, proceeding wasn’t a bad choice.
After all, an opportunity to form a contract with a higher-grade spirit didn’t come to just anyone, and Latia’s power was immense even without a contractor.
Of course, it wasn’t bad for Latia either.
‘Only my body will be in chaos…’
Except for that problem, there was no issue. I suggested postponing purely for Zahar’s sake.
‘Even after all that, if the contract happened right in front of him, he’d foam at the mouth.’
I decided to protect the weak-hearted mage’s mentality.
That way, high-quality information would come out.
“Alright, I don’t mind!”
Fortunately, Latia didn’t seem disappointed either.
Since she had decided impulsively, she didn’t mind if it was postponed.
I looked at her with relief, then turned my gaze to Zahar, who still wore a nervous expression.
“So, roughly the situation is clear. I’ll ask a few things.”
“…Alright. What do you want to know?”
***
I grilled Zahar thoroughly. Literally.
Zahar explained that he had been hired as a mage to enforce confidentiality contracts for those dealing with “them.”
In return, they provided him with rare research materials, and the Phoenix egg, called the Minotaur egg, was one of them.
He even found out the main locations they used when meeting clients.
The restaurant we had dined at recently, Zahar’s regular spot, was the place they used.
The restaurant was merely a disguise to avoid public attention; in reality, it was the headquarters of the information guild.
Only then did I understand why Zahar, the future Grand Mage, was holed up in such a remote area.
There’s nothing wrong with the old saying: it’s darkest under the lamp.
