After Leo finished his training, the next day arrived.
‘So Sir Vector came to the training grounds…….’
Sitting on his bed early in the morning, Leo recalled what Hans had told him the previous day.
Baron Vector Leger, the Knight Commander of the Valantes Knights, had secretly watched him train before leaving.
Leo thought it over.
‘Maybe obtaining the Secret Manual will be easier now.’
Because he had never learned his House’s swordsmanship in his previous life, he absolutely needed its Secret Manual.
Of course, as someone who carried the blood of House Valantes, Leo was fully qualified to learn it.
However—
‘When I remember what Father was like in my previous life…….’
It had been difficult even to meet with him long enough to bring up the subject.
If Leo mentioned it during a meal, there was a high chance his father would reject him outright.
But things were different now.
‘This seems like a useful connection.’
Well, Leo could still speak to his father without one, but he had no desire to endure his father’s scathing glare and unpleasant remarks unnecessarily.
‘I should bring it up with Sir Vector soon.’
There were other forms of swordsmanship he could learn.
He could learn the swordsmanship of Baron Vector Leger’s House Leger, or the swordsmanship taught to the Valantes Knights…….
But if he was going to learn one, he wanted to master the swordsmanship of the house praised as the finest in the kingdom.
There was a saying about that.
‘The graves of middling knights are the most numerous in any cemetery.’
In other words, if he did not want to die young, he had to become the best.
KNOCK, KNOCK.
While sitting on the bed and organizing his thoughts, Leo looked toward the door at the sound of knocking.
“Come in.”
“Young Master, I have something to tell you.”
The person who opened the door and entered was Hans.
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Well…… The thing is…….”
Seeing Hans standing there blankly as his words trailed off, Leo gestured toward the table with his eyes.
“Let’s sit down and talk.”
“Hehe. Shall we? My legs were starting to ache anyway.”
“Really? Then I’ll be the only one sitting. You can talk while standing.”
“Whaaat?”
Leo chuckled at Hans’s exaggerated, high-pitched response and gestured for him to sit.
“So, what did you want to tell me?”
“It concerns Young Master Jamie.”
“Something about my brother?”
“Yes. You were the one who told me with the eyes of a vicious beast that mauls people, were you not? You asked me to tell you when Young Master Jamie returned.”
Leo nodded.
He wanted to see him once.
His brother had fallen into despair, lived drowned in drink, and smashed everything that got in his way.
As time passed, his brother would only become more depraved and broken.
Leo wanted to see him now because he needed to determine whether Jamie was still salvageable or had already gone beyond saving.
“I heard there was a major fight at a tavern in town yesterday.”
“My brother must have caused it.”
“Yes…… I only heard it secondhand, so I cannot be certain…… But you seemed curious, so I came to tell you.”
Leo nodded quietly.
‘Is it that incident from around this time?’
Today’s minor fight would become the spark that spread into tomorrow’s incident.
Of course, under the present circumstances, it was not an especially serious problem.
But to Leo, who had experienced the final war, it was a considerable problem.
Moreover, there was an item he needed to obtain while resolving it.
“Hans.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Do not let anyone enter my room this evening.”
“Yes, understood. I will defend it with my life.”
Leo chuckled at Hans’s answer and spoke.
“You’re really going to risk your life?”
“Of course. I will protect it with my life. In exchange, please make me one promise.”
Leo gave Hans a puzzled look.
“A promise?”
“Please take back what you said about teaching May how to read.”
For a moment, Leo wondered what Hans meant. Then he remembered and burst out laughing.
“You still remembered that?”
“Of course.”
“May must be very precious to you.”
Hans’s face reddened at Leo’s question.
“Fine. If you keep your promise not to let anyone into my room today, I will do so.”
“Thank you, Young Master.”
A smile of pure joy blossomed across Hans’s face.
“But Hans.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Would anything really change if I didn’t teach her how to read?”
Hans thought for a moment, then spoke with an aggrieved expression.
“Ah, Young Master. Why do you keep doing this to me?”
***
That evening, Leo secretly headed toward the underground storeroom where he had agreed to meet his mother.
There was not even a tiny insect in sight nearby.
Relying on the torches burning along the walls, he descended the stairs one step at a time until a subterranean storeroom reeking of stale mustiness appeared.
-This way.
Leo flinched and stepped backward when Adite suddenly emerged through the wall.
“Keep popping out of walls like that and you might die before your time.”
He had nearly drawn his sword and cut her down.
-I apologize. I will guide you from here.
Following Adite’s guidance, Leo walked along the corridors of the underground storeroom.
After they had walked for quite some time, the musty odor grew even thicker, and Adite stopped before one of the many doors.
-Come in.
Adite smoothly passed through the door, while Leo followed behind her by opening it and stepping inside.
‘Oh…….’
An exclamation escaped him naturally.
The rectangular chamber was easily large enough for dozens of people to lie down inside.
Torches on every side cast a brilliant light, and an enormous Contract Magic Circle had been drawn in white across nearly the entire floor.
His mother stood at the center of the Contract Magic Circle, sweating profusely.
“You’re here, Leo.”
Aria rose and approached Leo.
“You drew all this in only three days?”
“Adite helped me.”
The Contract Magic Circle was not only enormous. The countless symbols and languages inscribed within it were extraordinarily precise and complex.
Seeing it made his mother seem all the more remarkable for telling him to return after only three days.
“This is incredible. Even so, to finish it in only three days…….”
Aria gave him a benevolent smile.
Apart from mealtimes, she had devoted herself to the work even at the expense of sleep.
Fortunately, Magenta had spent two days visiting another castle, allowing her to work without worrying about his notice.
Even so, it had not been easy.
No matter how much Adite helped her, Aria had still been responsible for drawing the entire array.
Her gaunt face and hair, still drenched in sweat, testified to how hard she had worked.
“Come here, Leo.”
At his mother’s call, Leo slowly walked to the center of the Contract Magic Circle.
“Before you step inside the Contract Magic Circle, leave every blade you carry outside. If the Spirits sense even the slightest impure energy, they will not respond to the contract.”
At his mother’s words, Leo immediately removed the sword at his waist and tossed it outside the Contract Magic Circle.
“Take a deep breath and empty your heart and mind, just as you do when practicing the Mana Cultivation Method.”
Her voice was quiet, yet it carried enough force for every word to lodge clearly in his ears.
She felt entirely different from his usually gentle mother.
“Now, will you sit here and close your eyes?”
“Yes, but Mother.”
Aria nodded at Leo’s call.
“Is there no way to know what kind of Spirit I will contract with?”
Adite answered in her place.
-Every contractor possesses an innate attribute from birth. A Spirit aligned with that attribute will form a contract with you. This is also a highest-grade Contract Magic Circle. You may look forward to the result.
Leo nodded at Adite’s explanation.
He did not particularly desire a Spirit of any specific attribute, but he was still curious.
‘She said my bond with the Spirit would be important.’
He recalled his mother’s final piece of advice.
Build a bond with your Spirit.
One could not contract with a High-Grade Spirit from the very beginning.
When Adite first contracted with his mother, she had also been a tiny little girl—a Low-Grade Spirit.
Leo had heard that she grew alongside his mother as their bond deepened over many years, eventually becoming a High-Grade Spirit.
‘I don’t know who’ll appear, but let’s try to get along.’
Leo sat cross-legged at the center of the Contract Magic Circle and closed his eyes.
“Give me your hand for a moment…….”
He felt his mother’s warm touch on his hand.
A moment later, a burning pain flared at the tip of his thumb, and Leo furrowed his brow slightly.
“This Contract Magic Circle is activated using the contractor’s blood as a medium. You remember what you must do once you enter, do you not?”
Leo nodded at Aria’s question.
“May the Spirit King’s blessing dwell within you.”
With his mother’s final words, white light began to gather within the pitch-black darkness behind Leo’s closed eyes.
A bright, warm light spread around the Contract Magic Circle and enfolded Leo.
***
When Leo slowly opened his eyes, a pure-white space greeted him.
The white expanse stretched so far that he could not tell where it ended.
Leo slowly rose.
‘Wind?’
At that moment, a cool breeze brushed his cheek, and Leo raised a hand to caress it.
-Did you summon me?
The voice of a young child whose gender he could not discern came from behind him.
Leo turned toward the voice.
And then—
“You’re…… a Spirit?”
-Yes. I’m a Spirit. Hehe. Why did you summon me? I was having so much fun playing…….
The child was only tall enough to reach Leo’s knees. Their eyes glowed green, and their tousled hair was the same color. Two horns—one red and one white—protruded from either side of their head.
They wore pure-white priestly robes like those of a priest in a chapel.
“I am Leonard Valantes. I am also the son of Aria Rayner. I came here because I wish to form a contract with you.”
The child smiled gently, slowly floated into the air, and began circling Leo.
-A contract with me? Hmm…… Do you possess the aptitude for that?
Leo’s brow stiffened at the child’s question.
Aptitude, was it.
“Doesn’t entering this place already prove that I possess the power to contract with a Spirit?”
-Yes, that is true. I apologize if I offended you. But before forming a contract, Father told me to make sure I asked whether you could handle me. Hehe.
Once a Spirit and a contractor formed a contract, they shared mana.
Spirits used their contractor’s mana to leave the Spirit Realm, remain in the Human Realm, and use their abilities.
If the contractor possessed far too little mana, the Spirit could not remain in the Human Realm for long.
Nor could the Spirit use the full extent of their power.
However, the stronger their bond became, the less dependent the Spirit grew on the contractor’s mana.
Just like his mother and Adite now.
That was also what the child Spirit was asking.
Did Leo possess enough power to handle them?
“Are you talking about my abilities? From the look of you, you still need to grow more too. Can’t we form a contract and grow together?”
-Grow? I am a little short. I want to grow taller soon…….
The child looked dejected.
Their adorable expression made Leo chuckle despite himself.
-I am still worried about whether you can handle me…….
‘That little one keeps going on about whether I can handle them.’
The energy Leo sensed from the tiny child was effectively that of a Low-Grade Spirit.
‘I need to build a bond with them.’
With that thought, Leo took a deep breath.
-All right. Then let us form a contract. You seem like a fairly interesting person. And the fact that you came here to form a contract with me must mean you are quite capable, right?
Leo nodded, slowly approached the child Spirit, and held out his hand.
“But what’s your name? I need to know a Spirit’s name to form a contract.”
At Leo’s question, the child smiled gently and let their words trail off.
-I am……
When the Spirit revealed their identity, Leo could not close his mouth.