Chapter 7
. The Record-Breaking Rookie
There were things fluttering around beside the white flames that looked like little flying insects(?).
They had plump, round bodies with tiny bead-like eyes, and they flew around on wobbly wings shaped like flames.
‘Ely! What are those?!’
-Oh! Those guys!
‘You know them?’
-They’re at our house too!
They were at our house?
-You remember when I told you there was something interesting in the garden and said we should go see it once you could walk? I was talking about going to see them!
…I said that?
That had been before I could even walk, so it had been not long after I first opened my eyes in this world. My memories were a little hazy.
‘What are they?’
-I don’t know either. But they feel similar to goblins.
Goblins?
Oh.
Of course.
I immediately had a feeling.
‘They must be spirits. Or fairies.’
Goblins and spirits were both beings closely connected to nature.
But could other people not see these things?
Curious, I asked Ely, and her answer was rather unexpected.
-The spiritual eye doesn’t open that easily. There were occasionally people on Earth whose spiritual eyes were open, but there seem to be almost none here.
‘Really?’
-Yeah. I think it’s because they already have this thing called divine power. The divine power seems to suppress other kinds of power, so their spiritual eyes don’t awaken.
So because people already possessed a special power, developing spiritual sight was practically unheard of.
‘Then nobody can see those guys?’
It felt unsettling.
Very unsettling.
For some reason, I had a feeling they were about to cause trouble.
“Ah! Ah! Why won’t it let me catch it?!”
“Huh? Flame! Wait! Don’t run away!”
The relatively helpless children started becoming targets.
The little creatures began darting the flames around to prevent the children from catching them, deliberately teasing them.
They even opened the doors of the cages and let the flames escape.
‘What a mess.’
How were their antics exactly like goblins?
At this point, I could confidently predict what was going to happen.
The baptism ceremony was going to turn into complete chaos before long.
Should I… do something about it?
‘Ely. You said they’re similar to goblins, right? Then can I catch and use them the way I used to catch goblins?’
-Yeah. I think so.
Good.
Let’s catch them.
Back when I used to employ goblins, there were many things I had to prepare, like rituals and talismans.
Of course, I only used them when I was really short-handed.
It wasn’t something I could do often because I was essentially forcing them to work.
‘Still, they were useful in an emergency.’
Goblins came in all sorts of varieties, so there were practically endless ways to make use of them.
Fortunately, giving them candy would usually cheer them up immediately.
If these creatures were spirits or fairies but fundamentally similar to goblins, then I should be able to catch and use them too.
‘First, I’ll catch them and tell them to stop causing trouble.’
Once I had them under control, I was sure I’d eventually find a use for them.
If I wanted to catch demons and Inphilum, it was better to have as many options available to me as possible.
My contract with Lord Elysian through the Holy Flame was still in effect.
However, ever since my parents’ overprotectiveness kicked in after I played Spy X-Man, I hadn’t seen a single demon or Inphilum.
As a result, my divine power and Ely’s divine power were still tiny.
‘And I can’t use the Anti-Evil Baby Bottle anymore.’
I was five now. There was no way I could keep carrying around my beloved baby bottle.
The Anti-Evil Baby Bottle I had worked so hard to make had reached the end of its useful life before I had even gotten to properly use it.
My current weapon was a fountain pen.
‘It’s only a temporary solution.’
After what had happened at the Naming Ceremony, I carried it around for self-defense.
And since I had been studying at home lately, it wasn’t particularly conspicuous.
After the baptism ceremony, my family planned to have a proper weapon made for me, so it wasn’t a problem.
Anyway.
Since my weapon situation was rather inadequate right now, I needed the spirits’ help.
‘Then let’s start by gathering some bait.’
I began snatching Holy Flames and stuffing them into my cage.
Apparently, those pebble-like little creatures really liked Holy Flames.
“Ugh, is this it? Or this one? This has to be it, right?”
“This is definitely a Holy Flame!”
The children were uncertain, but I had no reason to hesitate.
‘It’s easy. I can just put in whatever I can see.’
Since I could see the flow of divine power, this was practically like using a cheat code.
Once the cage became packed with Holy Flames, the little pebble creatures finally noticed.
-Huh? Look at that guy! He’s greedy!
-I’m gonna open his cage!
It seemed my bait had done its job, because they began swarming toward me.
I waited until one of the little creatures stealthily approached and reached for the cage door.
Then I grabbed its tiny hand.
-Whyyy?!
-Gasp! We got caught!
“You guys are little troublemakers, aren’t you?”
I gave them the most benevolent smile I could manage.
In the past, when I used goblins, I had needed all sorts of preparations.
But now?
I had Ely right in front of me.
Which meant—
-Yap-yap!
-Eek!
-Kyaa!
One bonk from Ely was enough to deal with these little demons.
The creatures, stunned from the bonk, clutched their foreheads as a single tear hung from the corners of their eyes.
Just as I’d expected.
They were all cowards.
The technique for controlling goblins had originally involved summoning them, intimidating them, and then making them work for you.
So couldn’t I just scare these guys too, tie them down, and put them to work?
-Waaah… It hurts….
-Why did you hit me?! …Sir?
Just as expected.
Since they had temperaments similar to goblins, they were weak-willed as well.
I glanced sideways to make sure the cameras weren’t showing me and whispered.
“You guys. If you keep bullying the other kids, I’ll give you a hundred bonks, okay?”
-Gasp!
-Eeeek!
Their faces went pale at the mere mention of bonks.
“But if you help me, I won’t bonk you, and I’ll give you something delicious.”
-Something delicious?
-Delicious food!
These tiny creatures immediately latched onto me.
-Then I’ll do it!
-I’ll help!
How could they be this simple?
I couldn’t understand why goblins and these guys were both so obsessed with food.
Shaking my head, I gently pushed Ely forward.
Divine power gathered at the tips of her fingers and began to glow.
Ely then traced letters onto the foreheads of the round creatures that were squirming around.
The character was simple.
束.
It meant to bind or tie, but it could also be used when making a promise.
A perfect character for binding free-spirited creatures.
-From now on, if you don’t listen, you get bonked. If you listen, you get sweet honey.
-Wow! Honey!
-That sounds delicious!
‘Do they not understand the bonking part?’
As the contract was completed, a faint power spread outward.
‘Are they completely bound now?’
-Not permanently. They’re free spirits of nature, so you can’t force them too strongly.
-This contract is only possible because they accepted the condition that they’ll be rewarded with something delicious.
‘Simple.’
These simple-minded creatures had already forgotten that they’d been causing trouble.
Grinning happily, they began collecting the real Holy Flames.
They didn’t even need me to tell them to do it.
The moment they saw the Holy Flames already gathered in my cage, they immediately sprang into action.
-Is there more of this?
They competed with one another to grab Holy Flames and stuff them into the cage.
‘Hey. I have something to ask you.’
-What?
-What is it? What?
They gathered around me in little clusters, each carrying Holy Flames.
They were kind of cute.
‘What are you guys? Spirits? Fairies?’
-Spirits!
-We’re spirits! Fire spirits!
‘Ah.’
So they liked fire because they were fire spirits.
That made sense.
Their wings did look like flames.
The tiny spirits flew around in circles, collecting Holy Flames.
‘They’re ridiculously good at their jobs.’
My cage looked like it was about to burst.
They kept cramming more and more Holy Flames inside.
And before I knew it, Lumiel had come over.
“Hey! You think you can just stuff everything in there like an idiot?!”
“I’m not stuffing them in like an idiot.”
“Hah! Then are you saying all of those are real Holy Flames?”
“Yeah.”
“What?”
“That’s what I said.”
I saw no reason to take the little brat’s provocation seriously, so I answered indifferently.
His face gradually turned red.
“Hey, you look like a tomato.”
“W-What?!”
“An ugly tomato.”
“You—you!! Are you done?!”
“No, not yet. One of your Holy Flames just disappeared because your cage door opened.”
“What?! Ah! Damn it! How did I even collect that?!”
Lumiel glared at me, fuming.
I shrugged.
What did he want me to do?
I hadn’t opened it.
There were culprits right there.
The little creatures were giggling beside Lumiel’s cage.
They must have thought, Now’s our chance, after he started picking a fight with me.
I felt a little satisfied.
“Damn it. Don’t laugh!”
“Pfft. I’m not. I didn’t laugh.”
“You think this is funny, don’t you? Don’t come crying later when your score drops because you mixed in a bunch of fake Holy Flames!”
He then stared intently at my cage.
‘Can you actually tell anything just by looking?’
But his expression gradually became strange.
“Uh… Uh? Huh? Strange… This is strange….”
‘Oh?’
His instincts seemed pretty good.
-Even his divine power is quite pure.
‘He really is a Ludersk.’
The way the little guy talked reminded me of some blond mage from a fantasy novel who had absolutely no manners, but apparently he had the talent to back it up.
Well, his family had produced a cardinal, after all.
There was no way their divine power could be mediocre.
“Ahem! Anyway! Don’t get cocky!”
Lumiel stormed off, still fuming.
‘He’s an interesting kid.’
I wonder if he’d still be like this once we went to the academy.
I gave a small chuckle.
Then I accepted another Holy Flame from a spirit, put it in my cage, and turned around.
Meanwhile.
“Goodness! Young Master Lian is putting Holy Flames into his cage without hesitation!”
Bishop Daniel, who was hosting the ceremony, shouted excitedly.
“How is he moving this quickly?!”
He kept shouting as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
And it was understandable.
In all the baptism ceremonies he’d hosted, he’d never seen a candidate distinguish Holy Flames this quickly.
“Everyone, it looks easy right now, doesn’t it? That’s only because Young Master Lian is doing it!”
At Bishop Daniel’s gesture, another screen showed the other children.
They were all standing in front of two white flames, carefully considering their choices before placing one into their cages.
Their movements were completely different from Lian’s swift, continuous motions.
“It really is true. Lian is the only one putting them in that quickly!”
“Maybe he’s just throwing them in randomly?”
The audience began murmuring.
“Of course! We won’t know whether Young Master Lian can actually distinguish the Holy Flames until the results are revealed. But there is one thing we can already tell!”
“His quick judgment and ability to act! Young Master Lian was born with those talents!”
Indeed.
Watching Lian gave the audience a refreshing sense of satisfaction.
“Isn’t it incredibly satisfying to watch? Hahaha! I’ve been hosting the baptism ceremony since two years ago, and I can honestly say I’ve never seen anyone move this quickly!”
His speed really was praiseworthy.
The baptism ceremony was an event enjoyed by everyone in the empire, but the children were still so young that they often failed to provide much dramatic entertainment.
And when that happened, a national event could become boring.
‘It’s the first time the atmosphere has been this lively from the very beginning.’
And it was all thanks to Lian.
‘That child is incredibly clever. As expected of the Ludersk family.’
This baptism ceremony was essentially a debut.
If someone wanted to survive as a member of the clergy in the future, it was important to make a good impression here.
Naturally, becoming a baptism ceremony rookie required good results.
But even if someone didn’t become a rookie, there were plenty of ways to be remembered by the people of the empire.
One of them was simple:
Get plenty of screen time.
‘He probably came up with a strategy the moment he saw the mission.’
As a general rule, families preparing for the baptism ceremony kept the contents of the ceremony secret.
It was an unspoken rule.
After all, watching the children get surprised was part of the entertainment.
Lian had started moving the moment he received the mission.
That meant he’d devised this strategy entirely through his own judgment.
Naturally, Daniel didn’t believe that every Holy Flame Lian had collected was real.
‘The more he collects, the greater the ratio of real Holy Flames should be.’
If he was lucky, perhaps he wouldn’t end up with a negative score.
Daniel wasn’t particularly concerned about Lian’s final score.
‘Well. If you’re not confident about something, finding another way to break through is a good strategy too.’
Of course, Lian was actually judging everything by what he could see.
There was no way Daniel could know that.
However, there was someone who did know that Lian was collecting nothing but real Holy Flames.
“G-Gasp! Honey! Our Lian! Lian!”
Cardinal Raylaik stared at Lian’s image on the screen, his eyes practically bulging out of his head.
“J-Just be quiet. I can’t concentrate.”
Even Liliard’s voice beside him was trembling.
Having watched Lian grow up, Raylaik and Liliard had naturally assumed that Lian would be capable of distinguishing divine power from ordinary holy power.
During the Naming Ceremony, the Holy Flame had protected him when he came into direct contact with it.
And he’d already proven that he could annihilate demons by throwing a baby bottle infused with holy power at them!
‘Could every single one of those really be a real Holy Flame?’
‘If those are all real Holy Flames, it would be a new record…!’
The screen wasn’t fixed exclusively on Lian, so they couldn’t accurately count the number of Holy Flames in his cage.
But they could instinctively tell.
No candidate had ever filled their cage that completely before!
And then—
Ding!
The midterm rankings appeared on the floating panel.
1st — 45 Holy Flames — Lian Ludersk
2nd — 25 Holy Flames — Lionel Rondo
3rd — 21 Holy Flames — Corin Dallopes
4th — 12 Holy Flames — Viera Trevel
4th — 12 Holy Flames — Hoshana Rinu
.
.
.
10th — 7 Holy Flames — Lumiel Ludersk
.
.
.
The couple’s eyes widened.
‘A-A new record!’
