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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Mod7
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“Oh, and he’ll be protecting Hessia from now on.”
I added as an afterthought. Lien looked taken aback, as if he had suddenly become unemployed. It was understandable. His job had been taken over by a giant robot.
“Then… what should I do, my lord?”
Lien asked, his voice almost a whimper.
I chuckled. He was a knight, after all. Protecting others was his purpose in life.
“What do you mean? You’ll protect me, of course.”
“But… my lord, you’re stronger than I am.”
“Do you think I don’t sleep?”
I might be stronger, but I still needed to sleep.
I could sense danger with my Combat Intuition, but having Lien around would be reassuring.
“And I have another task for you.”
I explained what I wanted him to do. Lien nodded.
“That’s… an excellent idea! I will gladly carry out your orders, my lord.”
His voice was filled with enthusiasm. I looked up at the Colossus.
It stood motionless, silent. It was still surreal that I had such a powerful weapon at my disposal.
I couldn’t use it in the city, but it would be a powerful deterrent, hidden in Hessia’s shadow.
I stored the Colossus in my shadow.
Then I turned my attention to Kanion. It was time to deal with him.
I would make sure there were no loose ends.
I summoned Linkea from my shadow. I would leave the dirty work to a professional. I left the barrier.
I had cast a Silence spell on the barrier to prevent anyone from hearing what was happening inside.
I had already confirmed that it was working.
As Linkea stepped out of the barrier, it shimmered and disappeared.
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I asked Tia to help me find a new place to live. My apartment was a mess, so I had stayed at the Erze Hotel last night.
“You need a new place?”
“Yeah… things happened.”
Tia looked at me intently, then nodded. She seemed curious, but she didn’t ask any questions.
“Okay. Any preferences?”
“A place with no neighbors… and a basement…”
A detached house would be ideal. Preferably with a yard.
Tia tilted her head slightly.
“Are you planning to do some magical research?”
She asked casually, but her tone was laced with concern.
“Yeah, something like that.”
“Ethan… my ravens reported a barrier appearing and disappearing in Eastvan yesterday. Was that you?”
I hadn’t expected anyone to notice, even with the Silence spell and the late hour.
But Tia had found out.
It would be strange if her ravens, sensitive to magical fluctuations, hadn’t sensed anything.
“I’m worried… I was wondering if something happened to you…”
There were dark circles under her eyes. She must have been worried all night.
“Can you tell me what happened?”
Tia, with her information network, would soon find out about Kanion’s disappearance.
And she might even connect it to last night’s attack.
But I didn’t want to involve her.
“Don’t worry, Tia.”
I patted her head and smiled.
“If there’s anything I can do to help…”
“Then… help me find a new place…”
I wasn’t asking her to buy me a house, just to find some suitable locations.
My current address had been compromised, so I needed two places: one for Hessia and me, and one for official academy documents.
“Big sister! You haven’t visited in a while! Stay for dinner!”
Hessia tugged on Tia’s hand, a bright smile on her face. I had the others clean up the mess.
“Really? I’d love to, if Hessia wants me to!”
“Yay! I love Tia!”
Lien, wearing an apron, emerged from the kitchen, a frying pan in hand. He seemed eager to show off his culinary skills.
“It’s time to show off my cooking skills! We have a guest!”
He made mushroom soup and steak for dinner. Hessia brought out her sketchbook and showed Tia her drawings.
“This is Tia! This is Sepia! And this is Tesha!”
She giggled, flipping through the pages. They were cute, childish drawings.
The last page was a drawing of a house, a tree, and several people. They were all smiling.
And they were all holding fried chicken legs. There was a pink-haired person, a red-haired person, a blonde person, and a black-haired person.
“I’ll give this to you.”
Hessia gave Tia the drawing of herself. Tia accepted it carefully, as though it were a precious treasure.
“Wow… I love it! I’ll frame it!”
Tia treasured the drawing even as she left.
After Tia left, Hessia went to her room and fell asleep. She was tired after using so much mana yesterday and chatting all day today.
I stretched, looking around the living room. My Combat Intuition told me there was someone behind me.
“Who’s there? Show yourself.”
It wasn’t a hostile presence. If it were, I would have drawn my sword.
A spirit materialized. It was Gartea, Kanion’s high-level Water and Ice spirit.
“What are you doing here?”
Was she here for revenge? If she were, she would have attacked already.
―I have a request.
I blinked, surprised.
“A request…?”
The ice spirit led me to Kanion’s basement. A woman was encased in ice.
She looked like she was sleeping.
“Is that Lunia?”
I had heard about what had happened between Kanion and Lunia. That bastard was even worse than I thought.
“And you want me to save her?”
―Yes.
The spirit’s voice was heavy. I felt a pang of sympathy for Lunia. She had been used.
But that wasn’t a reason to help.
“You’ll form a contract with me if I save her?”
―Yes. I will become your spirit.
It wasn’t easy to form a contract with a high-level spirit.
Even Tia, with her high spirit affinity, had only contracted with intermediate-level spirits.
“Gartea, why do you want to save her?”
The spirit hesitated, then spoke. I had a feeling I knew the answer. Spirits had emotions too.
―I love her.
A spirit’s love was different from a human’s. They had their own personalities, and spirits who spent a long time with their master often adopted their master’s traits.
And vice-versa.
A high-level spirit offering to form a contract with me was a good opportunity. Runtar, who had been a low-level spirit, had become a high-level spirit after forming a contract with me.
If Gartea, a high-level spirit, formed a contract with me, she might even become a Spirit King.
Of course, there was only one Spirit King of each element.
There was only one Fire Spirit King, for example. And the strongest spirit of that element became the Spirit King.
So, there were two ways for a high-level spirit to become a Spirit King.
First, the current Spirit King had to die, and the next strongest spirit would inherit the title.
Second, the high-level spirit had to become stronger than the current Spirit King.
“Okay, I can resurrect her with my Necromancy. But the problem is…”
My Necromancy skill had reached level 5. It had leveled up while I was healing Lien.
I had used it quite a bit in the dungeon, resurrecting the fallen assassins.
I had researched Necromancy.
Information about it was scarce, but I had learned from the academy library that the type of undead you could resurrect depended on your skill level.
At level 4, I could resurrect undead who could speak. And at level 5, I could create even more powerful undead.
Vampires.
But if I resurrected Lunia as a vampire, she wouldn’t be the same.
Vampires burned in sunlight.
And they drank blood. If I resurrected her as a vampire, she might attack humans.
And if I resurrected her as a level 4 undead, she would lose her memories. She wouldn’t even remember who she was.
Would that even be considered saving her?
―There is a way.
“What is it?”
―Use the Necromancer’s Blue Gem.
The Necromancer’s Blue Gem.
It was an artifact that enhanced Necromancy, like Gamigin’s Ruby from Arvis Island.
It had three uses.
The problem was, I didn’t know where it was. It had only been mentioned briefly in the later chapters of the novel.
“Where can I find it?”
Gartea retrieved something from a desk in the corner of the basement. It was an auction catalog.
It seemed like Kanion frequently participated in auctions.
It was a strange sight, watching an ice spirit flipping through a catalog.
―It will be auctioned off soon, at a very low price.
“Wow… you’ve already planned everything.”
I was impressed by the spirit’s preparedness. She had probably asked for my help because she already had a plan. Gartea pointed to a page in the catalog.
There was a picture of a blue gem.
“How do you know that’s the Necromancer’s Blue Gem?”
―My previous master was interested in Necromancy. I learned a few things.
I see. Spirits could have multiple masters.
“The starting bid is one million Elleh?”
One million Elleh for such a valuable item?
I was surprised, then I remembered. Sometimes, unidentified artifacts appeared at auctions for ridiculously low prices.
I had to stay calm. It was an auction.
But still… it seemed too cheap.
I couldn’t stop myself from grinning. I would obtain the gem, enhance Lien and Janet, and maybe even create a few more powerful undead.
“Okay, Gartea. But you have to form a contract with me first.”
Kanion had a Spirit King.
Of course, it was a dark spirit that consumed its user’s life force.
It was my turn to get a Spirit King.
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