Immediately after dropping Aldo and the others off in Blue Ring, I headed into the depths of the Mana Stream to seek an audience with the Spirit King.
I desperately pressed onward through the raging torrent of mana, which threatened to sweep me away the moment I let down my guard.
Even for an upper spirit like me, the depths of the Mana Stream were dangerous. If I relaxed for even a moment, I could merge with the mana around me and be absorbed.
For the next two days, I pushed through the torrent of mana without resting. At last, I reached the deepest part of the Mana Stream, where the Spirit King dwelled.
“Spirit King!”
I called out at once, but there was no reply. From there, I continued calling to the Spirit King for an entire day and night.
Just when I was utterly exhausted and felt as though my voice would give out, I heard a voice.
“————“
It echoed directly inside my heart, making me keenly aware that I was an offshoot of the Spirit King.
“Spirit King. I formed a contract with the Apostle of this generation and was given the name ‘Ao.'”
“———-“
“There is something I wish to ask. The Apostle of this generation is far too different from every Apostle I’ve ever heard of.”
“———–“
I could understand perhaps one-tenth of the Spirit King’s words… No, I could barely understand them at all.
According to the other upper spirits, my very nature had grown too close to that of humans.
It was certainly true that, among the upper spirits, there was no one more sensitive to the subtleties of human emotion than I was.
That this left me unable to understand the Spirit King’s words was terribly sad.
Still… even if I couldn’t understand the Spirit King’s words, I at least had to give my report on everything that had happened.
I described exactly what I had witnessed since forming my contract with Aldo.
“First, there are two Apostles.”
“—-“
“They also wield spatial magic and walk through the sky…”
“——“
“Should I continue supporting the Apostles as I have been?”
“——————————————[–watch—over–them—]——————————————-“
The Spirit King must have been trying to speak in a way that even a dullard like me could understand. I could feel the Spirit King’s kindness, yet I still couldn’t grasp the meaning of the words.
Even so, I understood one thing: [watch over them].
That must have been thanks to the Spirit King’s greatness.
“I understand. I will watch over the Apostles.”
The atmosphere surrounding the Spirit King softened. I took that to mean my answer had not been wrong.
As that gentle atmosphere lingered, the Spirit King’s outline began to blur.
Before long, the Spirit King’s presence disappeared. The Spirit King had returned to the duty of riding the Mana Stream and watching over the world.
The audience had lasted only a short while, but meeting a being as great as the Spirit King this deep within the Mana Stream…
I felt as though my lifespan had shortened by a hundred years.
“Phew. Time to head back…”
As if responding to my mutter, a half-human, half-tree girl, a red flame, a silver wolf, and a jet-black butterfly emerged from empty space.
“Are things going well?”
The half-human, half-tree girl, Dryad, asked without the slightest warning.
She was the spirit of the elves, the first race to split away from humanity.
“Of course. I was even given the name Ao.”
“Ao… That’s exactly what you are! Ahahaha!”
She was as irritating as ever. She simply said whatever came to mind and lived entirely as she pleased.
How had someone with this personality ever guided the elves…? I was privately convinced that the elves had become so sober and subdued by using her as a cautionary example.
The red flame was Agni, the spirit of the second race, the dwarves.
Neither Agni nor Fenrir, the spirit of the third race—the beastfolk—could speak.
They could send thoughts instead, so we were capable of the bare minimum of communication, but Agni had no intention whatsoever of listening to anyone else’s opinion. It couldn’t really be called a conversation.
Agni was always pouring thoughts about smithing into the minds of everyone nearby, so I had no idea what was going on inside that one’s head.
Surprisingly, Fenrir was the most sensible one among us and always sent courteous thoughts.
However, Fenrir had a habit of suffering for everyone else’s actions, and Dryad was forever dragging the poor wolf into trouble and leaving Fenrir with the short end of the stick.
Despite how long we had known each other, I had never once seen Fenrir’s tail stand proudly upright.
“Ao, is it? That is a fine name. It seems you have been working hard. I am relieved.”
The last one was the jet-black butterfly, Grim, the spirit of the final race—the demons…
In a sense, Grim was the most incomprehensible of them all.
Ordinarily, Grim was a gloomy black butterfly, yet whenever anger or sorrow struck, those wings became outrageously colorful and shone in all seven colors.
Even that carefully cultivated manner of speaking vanished, replaced by speech rough enough to make Grim sound like a drunk in some seedy tavern.
All of them except Fenrir had overwhelming personalities, but I was honestly grateful that they had gone out of their way to see me.
“Thank you, Grim. Did all of you gather here just for me?”
“Of course! If you mess up, the world could be destroyed. But honestly, why did the Spirit King entrust this to someone like you…? You’re a defective spirit who can’t even hear the Spirit King’s words.”
“Dryad, that was a little too harsh. Even if every word is true, saying it directly to the person himself shows a certain lack of consideration, does it not?”
“…”
“But it is true! Grim is always making a fuss over every tiny thing! So annoying!”
“Good grief. Ao, do not let it trouble you. Even if you are defective, diligent effort may allow you to produce perhaps one-tenth of the results I would.”
That’s right… These creatures insulted me as naturally as breathing…
The fact that they had no idea they were saying anything cruel made it even more infuriating.
How had they ever managed to guide their Apostles? I wondered that from the bottom of my heart.
While the rest of us spoke, Agni was thinking about something wholly unrelated—the proper ratio of orichalcum to mithril in an alloy… Having those thoughts constantly poured into my mind was extraordinarily annoying.
Fenrir, meanwhile, had been desperately sending comforting thoughts my way for some time.
“I feel as though the Apostles this time are somehow different…”
I hadn’t really wanted to involve them, but since these four were my seniors as spirits who had guided Apostles, I told them about Aldo and Elphas.
“The Apostle used spatial magic? Weren’t there only a handful of spirits who could use that?”
“Ao, lying simply because you want attention is unacceptable…”
Dryad’s eyes gleamed with interest, while Grim’s wings were on the verge of becoming gaudy.
“It’s true. That’s why I came to report it to the Spirit King.”
Dryad’s eyes shone with curiosity. Grim, on the other hand, seemed unwilling to accept that Aldo and the others might be more capable than Grim’s former Apostle.
“That sounds wonderful! Maybe I’ll go to the surface too.”
“Dryad. Coming to the surface for no reason would disrupt the flow of mana. The Spirit King has forbidden it as well.”
“Oh? What the Spirit King forbade was disorderly interference. Simply going to meet them wouldn’t count.”
“Our power touches mana directly. Please, just don’t.”
I spoke to Dryad with every intention of resorting to force if necessary. At last, she appeared willing to concede—if only a little.
“Fine! Grim and Ao are both so mean! What is this? What is this? I’d do a better job than either of you!”
Dryad vanished after saying that.
Agni disappeared as well, without so much as a farewell and still broadcasting thoughts about the ratio of mithril to orichalcum, utterly uninterested in everything else.
“The demon race is the supreme race! Therefore, my Apostle is supreme as well! Tiris! Naturally, you are the greatest Apostle of all!”
Grim was having the usual fit…
Apparently, Grim held feelings bordering on worship toward that former Apostle and ordinarily drifted through the Mana Stream in search of fragments of the Apostle’s soul.
There couldn’t possibly be any fragments of a soul left from hundreds of years ago…
Then, as always, only Fenrir and I remained.
When I looked at Fenrir, the wolf’s eyebrows drooped, forming an upside-down V, while an apology came in place of the others.
With a wry smile, I answered as I always did.
The reunion had made me keenly aware once more of the responsibility borne by an Apostle’s spirit. At the same time, it had also made me feel just how powerless I was.
As if reading my thoughts, Fenrir looked worried beside me.
Perhaps Dryad was right, and I truly was defective. Unlike the other spirits who had guided Apostles, I had no power with which to fight.
Honestly, was I of any use at all…?
Blue Ring’s domain had expanded by about five medes over the past several months.
I adjusted the domain so that crops would grow well within it, and I worked hard to make it spread even farther.
I thought I was doing my best in my own way… but none of it was very impressive.
Seeing everyone again and finding them unchanged had filled me with nostalgia, but remaining here any longer would serve no purpose. It was time to return to Aldo and Elphas.
Once I was back, I would watch over Aldo and Elphas and help them, just as the Spirit King had told me.
“Well then, I’m going. I’m glad I got to see you again after so long.”
I spoke to Fenrir, who remained behind.
The words came from the heart. For the first time in ages, I had truly felt that I was a spirit.
Then again, after comparing these spirits to Aldo, Elphas, Ashera, and Naga, I was reminded that the latter group was still better, if only because I could actually hold a conversation with them.
Maybe I ought to be a little kinder to Aldo…
With that thought, I set my sights on the surface—the mana spot at Blue Ring.
It would be difficult, but I had no choice except to spend as much time on the return journey as I had on the way here…
Keeping my wits firmly about me, I traveled straight onward through the raging torrent of mana.
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