Chapter 60

— Watch your mouth.  

“It has nothing to do with you. Why didn’t you just come out politely and take your power when I asked nicely?”  

— If only it were that easy… 

“What?”  

— ……

‘What kind of spirit has no fight in them?’ 

They’d made it snow in the desert and tormented me for ten years, so I’d expected something terrifying.  

But this—this was just a kid whining over unfinished homework.

The spirit sat down with a long sigh, wisps of vapor rising from the mouth formed in the fire.  

“Is this… real life? Or a dream? Or maybe—”  

— Of course it’s real. Don’t be dense.  

“If I’m that dense, what kind of spirit gets taken down by someone like me? Are you secretly a water spirit?”  

— You wicked girl. How dare you talk that way to the sovereign of flame?  

“If this is reality, I could’ve seriously died. And a ‘sovereign’ shouldn’t be so careless, right?”

The spirit mirrored my pose, arms crossed, turning its head sharply away.  

— If you’d died, I was going to take over your body.  

“Whose body? You don’t get to decide that.”  

— It’s not really yours, is it? Just a shell. 

‘Unbelievable.’

I nearly lost it, but I held back.

“This is my body. I’ve lived in it for ten years.”  

There was no way I’d let anyone take it from me.  

Not when I had people I wanted to protect.

“And cut the crap, would you? Earlier—and even now—this can’t be real. There’s no way the same building burns down twice.”  

Plus, the way things I imagined just poofed into existence? That kind of magic was too convenient.  

It was only because I’d believed it to be a dream that I even dared to try.

“Sigh. Whatever. Just take your flame power back already.”  

— That’s… a problem.  

“Why? Aren’t spirits supposed to be all-powerful? Take it and go beat up the damn Fire Cult already.”  

Stop being lazy.  

— I can’t use my full power unless I have a contractor. 

“……”

I stared at the little crouched spirit and replied flatly: “I’m not doing it.”  

— What!? Why not? Do you know how rare and incredible it is to form a contract with a spirit?

“Yeah, and I don’t care. You’re incredibly annoying.”  

A contract should be mutual—negotiated, with terms and agreement.  

But what did I get?  

Ten years of suffering, an attempted body snatch, and a spirit with the worst attitude imaginable.

— If you don’t form a contract, that Cult’s gonna run wild again!  

“Aren’t you ashamed? They’re using your name and now your power, and all you do is sit there sulking?”  

The spirit turned its entire body away from me.  

— Tch. I was told threats would work.  

Whoever gave it that advice—utter failure.  

I let out a snort and pressed harder.

“Oh, please. Whether you can use your power or not is your problem. Just take back what you left in me already.”  

— W-well…  

“Don’t mumble. Say it straight. Even for spirits, there is a limit to how much humans will put up with.”

So far, my instincts were right.  

Even this supposedly mighty spirit, instead of devouring me whole, had been completely subdued—  

curled up and muttering nonsense in front of me.

— Truth is… it was stolen.  

“What?”  

— I never got all my power back after it was stolen 10 years ago… 

“Come again?”

Just like that, the spirit launched into a full-blown pity party.

Ten years ago, their power had been split into three pieces: one taken by the thieves who stole the spirit stone, one absorbed by my body when I touched the stone, and the last bit remaining with the spirit.

They were counting on that stolen piece slowly returning over time. For a while, it was.  

But lately, whoever had that missing piece had grown much stronger—to the point that even the fragment still with the spirit might be stolen soon.

— That’s why I tried to take over your body, where I planted a seed… waaah! 

Tiny embers formed under its eyes, dropping to the ground like glowing tears.

I instinctively backed away in horror.

— Help me, human…

“Why should I? This is a spirit’s problem—so go deal with it as a spirit.”  

— I need to reclaim my power for the piece I left in you to naturally return to me! 

“Yeah? Then maybe try earning the right to fix my body first.”  

— If you stay like this, you won’t survive another three years!  

My hand froze mid-twirl in my hair.  

‘Great, now it’s a terminal diagnosis.’

Even when I’d asked them to change it to “a noblewoman hiding her power,” they still go this route.

I let out a long, slow sigh.  

I didn’t know whether to believe the “three years left” part, or the “can’t retrieve the power right now” claim.  

“Fine. Take whatever you left in me. Our territory’s tied to all this anyway, so I’m going to have to help you either way.”  

— …  

“I mean it.”  

— That’s why I can’t…

Again, the tears came—tiny embers spilling over in waves.

‘Well, at least the part about not being able to do it seems true.’  

I made a mental note to contact Brassidas later—see if he could put some kind of binding magic on this thing.  

In the end, I gave in.

“…Guess I’ve got no choice. Let’s do this ‘contract’ or whatever.”  

— Really?  

“Before I change my mind.”  

— Yay—no, wait! Wait right there!

Suddenly, a massive boulder erupted from the water below.

“That’s the spirit stone?”  

— Yep.

The spirit’s grin widened.

— Swallow it. That’s all you have to do.

The enormous rock began to shrink, slowly condensing into a capsule-sized gem that sparkled with alluring light right before my eyes.

I reached for it almost instinctively—then stopped.

‘Wait… Didn’t Minuelle die just from touching that thing once?’  

Now it looked more like an expired supplement than some magical relic.

Raising one skeptical eyebrow, I asked, “You’re not trying to con me, are you?”  

— ‘Wha—of course not!’  

“Swear it. On your existence as a spirit.”

The fire flared violently, and a voice thundered inside my skull.

— Do you even know what it means for a spirit to swear on their existence?!

‘Bingo.’

That reaction? Classic “you just hit a nerve and they’re scrambling to cover it up.”  

I ignored the outburst and pressed forward with calm insistence.

“If you’re not going to swear on your existence, then what do you have to put on the line?”  

— I… uh…

The flames shrank back down, fizzling out until the spirit was small again.

It was becoming clear this spirit tended to focus only on what was right in front of them.  

While it hesitated, I barely suppressed a scoff and put on my best deadly-serious expression.

“Fine. I’ll go first. I’ll stake every coin I own—plus my hand.”  

Can’t believe I actually said it. Kind of proud, honestly.

The spirit blinked.  

— Why your hand?

“That’s… just how it works, okay?! Are you gonna stake something or not?”

— Uuuugh…

‘This spirit really is tapped out, huh. What a joke. I’ve spent ten years being haunted by this?’

Rather than sigh, I shifted my weight and planted a hand on my hip.

“So you are trying to scam me.”  

— I’m not!!  

“Sure you’re not. What kind of cheap trick is this? Do I look like some clueless pushover?”  

— What the heck is a pushover…?  

“Oh, never mind!”

I glared at them with all the ferocity of a lion mid-roar.  

The spirit visibly flinched and shrank even further.

— Y-you don’t have to yell… I’ve been stuck in here so long I don’t know what’s trendy in the human world anymore…

Its voice turned pitifully small. One more minute like that and it’d probably start digging into the floor.

‘Tch. Stop acting like a kicked puppy. It’s making me feel bad.’

“Do I have to swallow the spirit stone?”  

— Yes! That’s the only way I can stay close to you!  

“But if it’s about staying close, couldn’t we just have it fashioned into jewelry or something? I could keep it on me.”

— You unbelievably dense human!

The spirit jumped to its feet and stomped the ground with little puffs of fire.

Okay, yes, I am a human, and I did just ask a dumb question—but somehow, that still felt like an insult.

— We have to be fused! That’s what the spirit stone is for! It’s my home! It lets me blend with you and share my power whenever you need it!

At those words, a chill ran straight down my spine.

If I ran this through the worst-case scenario lens—then yeah, it basically meant that if luck turned on me, the spirit might end up taking over my body.  

Sure, things were fine now. But what if I lost consciousness and let go of control?  

‘That guy would no doubt go “Whee!” and wreak havoc in the driver’s seat.’

Of course, it might not happen.  

But honestly, I’ve never read a novel where a character had another entity in their body and everything turned out fine.

Besides, I was determined to protect my family. The spirit? Not so much.  

He’d use whatever means necessary to regain his power—and just thinking about my loved ones getting trampled in the process sent a jolt of heat through my chilled body.

“You little bastard!”

I lunged, grabbing the spirit by the collar and giving him a good, hard shake.  

Caught off guard, he yelped as if the sky had fallen.

— Aack! What the hell?! You were all quiet—why are you flipping out now?! Spirit abuse!!

Tiny embers flicked from his eyes again, popping out like sparks.

“Eek.”

I meant to dodge. I knew I should dodge.  

But my sluggish body didn’t cooperate, and half of them hit my arm.

Instinctively, I braced for searing pain—only to open my eyes and see the flames gently sink into my skin, not burning it at all.

‘Ah…’

Right. As long as their magic doesn’t mix with mine, I can absorb it. I knew that.  

Still, fear always jumped out before reason.

— Let me go, human.

Come to think of it, this guy’s whole body was made of fire, but grabbing him hadn’t hurt one bit.  

Realizing that made me pause and blink blankly.

The spirit, apparently resigning himself to his fate, slumped dramatically.

— Why don’t you fall for anything?!

“……”

— I’m not a con artist here, okay?! That’s the other spirits! They all said you’d fall for this, but none of them show their faces when it goes wrong!

“I am human, but I’m blessed by Plendena, remember?”

You picked the wrong girl to mess with.

From the way he talked, this spirit must still be on the young side.  

No wonder he kept getting pushed around and lost his home to humans.

— Plendena… Right.

The spirit gave me a long look, then clicked his tongue.

“Could you not stare at me like I’m some prized cow you’re itching to steal?”

— …Fine. I won’t try to steal your body anymore. Let’s just get this contract over with.

As soon as he finished speaking, glowing red letters began to etch themselves into the air.

At the very top, it read: [Contract]

‘Of course.’ 

So there is a proper method for making official pacts with spirits.  

Now I was wondering why none of the books I read ever mentioned this.

— Just sign at the bottom.

“Wait.”

Even in the modern world, people who sign contracts without reading get totally screwed.

So I ignored the spirit’s whining, pleading, and sighing and carefully began reading every single word, one by one.