Chapter 27: Spirits and Flame Knights

[Mei's Side]

“Mai, what’s wrong?”

We were defeating the monsters we encountered while heading to the Steel Forest's western end, but Mai was behaving strangely for a while now.

“Hmm..yes..”

Mai started to look around.

What might it be?

“Mei, don’t you sense anything?”

“Sense? Like demons’ presence?”

“No…. Something like Ifrit-sama’s presence…”

I wonder what she’s talking about.

It’s impossible for Ifrit-sama to be in this place.

“But what I’m sensing is far stronger than Ifrit-sama. Not only that, but there are also plenty of them.”

“Eh!?”

My sister might have finally gone crazy.

Stronger than Ifrit, who is the Great King of the Four Spirits? Moreover, there are many of them? That’s unimaginable.

“Ah! They’re coming this way!”

When Mai said that, I finally noticed a huge chunk of magical power bolting towards us.

The gloomy forest gradually turned brighter. Clumps of fire emerged between the tree gaps. The flames had the appearance of a knight.

“S, such wondrously pure flames…”

Mai was enthralled. I think I can understand her feelings.

I'm a water spirit, so I'm not really that interested in fire magic, but there was something that attracted me to the fire knight, which was made up of a high-purity mass of magical power.

“Ah.”

The fire knight looked at us for a moment, then turned back and left into the forest's depths.

“Wha, what was that…”

“Maybe a demon? Or someone else’s magic? Either way, it was so amazing.”

“Yes. If it was magic, then it’s definitely Halt-sama’s!”

Since the wall crashing incident at the training center the other day, Mai started to call Halt as "Halt-sama." Of course, she never did it to the actual person, and we’re not really chummy with the other classmates, so I don’t think anyone noticed, yet.

At that time, Mai seemed to have fallen in love with the magic used by Halt.

"The knight was splendid, but after all, that spear of Halt-sama was exceptional."

As a spirit of water, I could only see his power as colossal, but for Mai, the spirit of fire, it was a magic that can destroy her sense of values.

“I want to be Halt-sama’s subordinate.”

“Like Youko?”

Youko, who was in our class, was a demon. Not just any demon- the grown individual is a nine-tailed fox, which is said to be at the level of a calamity. Youko said that she entered into a master-slave contract with Halt.

“See, he can produce such a pure flame. So if I enter into a contract with him, I’ll surely become a high-ranking spirit!”

Normally, spirits like us stay in a place called the Realm of the Spirits. If we form contracts with humans and receive some power from them, we will be able to manifest ourselves in the human world. In return, we will also lend them our power.

The greater and more special the magic is, the stronger we can release our own power.

Due to some circumstances, we are able to manifest ourselves even without a contract. However, the power we can use is also limited.

“Didn’t you initially say that you wanted to be a subordinate of Luke?”

“Yes, but now I choose Halt-sama! Ah, of course, I won’t force you, Mei. If you want Luke, then I support you.”

Luke, the Sage's grandson and has the ability to use the [Ultimate Magic] at such a young age, was the prime candidate for the contract. However, after seeing Halt's magic, Mai was completely captivated by him.

“Either way, since there are no demons around here, I think it’s time to go back.”

“Okay. When we return, do you want to ask Halt about those fire knights?”

“Yup, if he is really the one behind those knights, I would definitely request him to make a contract with me!”

She’s really excited.

Mai’s a siscon, so she has been sticking with me ever since.

When we left the Realm, she told me she wanted to form a contract with the same person as mine… Did she forget it already?

I’m a little lonely, but I’m happy my older sister can finally stand on her own without her younger sister.

Ah, but if Halt can handle water magic as well as fire magic, then that will be a different story.

If so, I would like for both of us to be under his care.

Well, I don't think it's possible to use two different types of magic with ease at that level, but...we’ll see.