[CHAPTER 71]
“What’s wrong?”
I stood frozen, unable to blink even once where I was standing.
That was, until someone approached and lightly tapped my shoulder.
“Ah, Noah……”
“What are you spacing out for here?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Just… a bit.”
I barely managed to compose my expression.
Noah did not press further when I brushed it off vaguely.
He looked over the people who would be traveling together and spoke to me.
“Everyone’s here, right?”
“Yeah.”
“We’ve really grown in numbers.”
“We have……”
At Noah’s words, I slowly scanned the group as well.
Sian, Noah, Ifrit, Ratia, Jahar Knox, Seria, and myself.
And even a priest who had joined us, saying he needed to return to the capital.
When had our party grown this large.
When I first came to the human realm, it had been just Sian and me.
How long has it been since I lived buried among so many people like this.
Aside from my early days as a possessed novice, this did not happen often.
The feeling was strangely fresh.
Maybe it felt even more nostalgic because Seria was among us.
That round with Seria had truly been fun.
I wondered if I had ever lived a life as earnestly as I did back then.
Buying a title unrelated to demons, running a business under a fake identity, and even making it succeed.
It was a busy and enjoyable life befitting a romance fantasy transmigrator.
…Of course, the ending was disastrous.
I stopped my thoughts before bitterness could set in.
Now was not the time for such indulgent reflection.
“The group’s gotten bigger.”
“Will it be okay?”
“Can we move all at once?”
“Hmm.”
“I think it’ll be fine.”
Noah nodded, looking at each person as if counting heads.
It was then that the priest, who had been talking with Seria, approached us.
“Excuse me.”
“Are we all departing together from here?”
“I don’t see any horses or carriages around……”
He asked in a puzzled voice.
That way of speaking is odd.
He looked like a young priest barely in his thirties, yet his speech sounded like that of an eighty-year-old man.
If he had the divine power to purify demonic poison, he must hold a fairly high rank.
Ah, maybe that’s why.
His ability pushed him into high office quickly, so his manner of speech ended up like that.
However he spoke was none of my concern.
His question, at least, was reasonable.
There were no horses or carriages anywhere around us.
Noah answered flatly.
“We don’t need them.”
“We’ll go the same way we brought you here.”
“You mean… traveling by spirits again?”
That was right.
We decided to entrust our return once more to the wind spirit that had brought the priest here from the capital.
At the mention of traveling by spirits all the way back, the priest’s face turned pale.
Having already ridden a wind spirit once, he seemed to recall that memory vividly.
“……Fine.”
“I understand.”
He did not protest much.
He merely muttered that since he had come out in haste, he needed to return quickly to attend to his duties.
After the priest walked away, I spoke to Noah again.
“This’ll be everyone’s first time traveling by a wind spirit, I guess.”
“Really?”
“Doesn’t everyone try it at least once?”
“Who do you think I am?”
“…Ah, right.”
Noah quickly nodded in agreement.
I was looking at him with an expression that said,
How often do you think a Demon King rides a wind spirit.
Spirits are fundamentally friendly toward humans and elves.
That makes it hard for them to get along with demons, who are on poor terms with both races.
To be fair, demons don’t really have any race they can call friendly.
Anyway, that was why I had never once traveled using spirits.
Even though lesser wind spirit mages were common enough among humans that nobles and commoners alike could experience it if they had the money.
Wind, huh.
Riding the wind to travel…
“They won’t drop us halfway, right?”
I would rather not have our schedule delayed by an unexpected accident.
“Absolutely not.”
“Even with more people than planned?”
“What if it’s too heavy and we fall?”
I eyed him skeptically.
“…I can trust this, right?”
“Hey, of course.”
“I said it’s fine.”
Noah nodded with confidence.
With the Spirit King himself that confident, pressing further would just be inefficient.
I don’t really trust it, though.
I nodded along anyway.
Noah glanced around and spoke as if to lift the mood.
“Guess it’s about time to call him.”
“You’ll do it yourself?”
“Can Spirit Kings normally summon and use other spirits like that?”
“If that worked, life would be so much easier.”
His answer clearly meant no.
Then what was he planning to do.
Catching the meaning in my look, Noah smiled faintly.
“I’m close with someone I can use instead.”
Fweeet.
Instead of explaining further, Noah put his fingers to his mouth and whistled.
It was the sort of thing people did when calling a horse or a carrier pigeon.
And right after that,
Whooosh—
A powerful wind brushed past my hair.
It was strong and refreshing enough to send Sian’s neatly arranged hair flying.
At the same time—
“Hey, who told you to call me like that?”
A flippant voice rang out.
“You came?”
“Sylphid.”
Judging by Noah’s cheerful greeting, he had summoned the right one.
“Say hello, Jerena.”
“This is Sylphid, the Wind Spirit King.”
Yeah, figures.
The moment I heard the name Sylphid, I knew the identity of the one who appeared in midair.
There was no need to think deeply about it.
A Wind Spirit King who was close with Noah, could command wind spirits freely, and was powerful enough to transport this many people using spirit power.
There was only one possible answer.
Until this round, I had never once been entangled with Spirit Kings.
Yet now, how many was I meeting this time.
Right.
A Demon King, two Spirit Kings, one high-ranking spirit, and a group of humans on top of that.
This is basically every romance fantasy protagonist setup thrown into one party.
Adding one more Spirit King isn’t even surprising anymore.
I gave up thinking about it.
I decided to accept that this round was just one where I would meet all kinds of Spirit Kings.
“Hello.”
I greeted him with empty eyes and a soulless voice.
Noah turned his body, apparently about to introduce me to Sylphid this time.
“Sylphid, you say hello too.”
“This one is the De—”
Thud.
Before Noah could finish, I jabbed his arm sharply with my elbow.
He was definitely about to say Demon King.
How many people are here right now.
I shot him a pointed look.
Only then did Noah nod as if he understood.
“…Right.”
“This one is…”
“What’s this?”
But Sylphid did not wait for Noah to finish introducing me.
He cut him off, raising one eyebrow as he leaned his face close to mine.
Ah, this feels bad.
Sylphid stared straight into my face.
Before the ominous premonition could fully sink in, his mouth opened.
“You’re a demon.”
Of course.
The moment he saw through my identity, Sylphid’s gaze turned fierce.
Yeah, of course you would.
Water, fire, wind, and earth.
Among the four elemental spirit mages, wind spirit mages were the most common, naturally reflecting the temperament of their Spirit King.
Sylphid, the Wind Spirit King, was as free-spirited as the wind that roamed the skies, and more friendly to humans than any other Spirit King.
Even more so than Ifrit or Noah.
Friendly to humans.
In other words—
“Noah, I’m not one to interfere with your friendships.”
“But isn’t this a bit much?”
“You hanging around with something like this these days?”
It also meant hostile toward demons.
I swallowed a sigh as I met Sylphid’s antagonistic gaze.
I had a bad feeling that the journey back to the capital would not be smooth at all.
