[V9C14] Spear of the Stars, Sparkling Night

That evening, Rynzbelfied visited the spring again, finding a tent set up in the same spot as earlier in the day. Once again, Carla was sitting by the campfire.

After confirming that there were no other humans nearby, Rynzbelfied made a graceful descent to Carla’s side.

“Did you make those senile fools fluster over their mistake?” Rynzbelfied asked, repeating the words of the young man from earlier.

This caused Carla to burst into laughter. She took a sip straight from a wine bottle, then let out a satisfied exhale.

“Well, as you can probably imagine, the temple priests flew into a panic once I returned with my robe and staff. They even prepared a splendid guest room for me, but…”

Carla took another sip of wine, casting a sidelong glance at Rynzbelfied.

“It was too fancy for me to relax in, so I gave it to my junior disciple Louis and snuck out. Should be fine as long as I nail the ceremony tomorrow, right?”

Carla casually tossed a piece of jerky into her mouth.

While silently observing her, Rynzbelfied pondered his reason for visiting Carla.

If he was interested in the song, he could simply go into town and listen to as many songs as he wanted. So why? Why did he reveal himself in front of this human and initiate a conversation?

“Starspear Witch Carla Maxwell.”

Carla showed no sign of surprise at the spirit knowing her identity, even though she had not introduced herself.

Rynzbelfied went on to voice the reason that had come to mind.

“I desire a conversation with you. What should I do?”

Carla burst into laughter again. That said, it was clearly a laughter of enjoyment rather than mocking. Once the laughter subsided, she patted the space on the ground next to herself.

“Then first, you should take a seat.”

“Understood. I will sit.”

Rynzbelfied sat down beside Carla and hugged his knees. The sight of the priestly young man hugging his knees while maintaining a perfectly straight spine triggered another wave of chuckling in Carla.

Her current expression somewhat resembled that of a cat napping in the sun. She was warm, lax, and whimsical enough to allow the presence of company.

“Starspear Witch Carla Maxwell.”

“It’ll be a hassle if you use my full name and title every time. Just call me Carla.”

Carla rested her head on her clasped knees and waited for Rynzbelfied’s response. Meanwhile, the spirit mouthed Carla’s name a few times before saying it out loud.

“Carla.”

“Yeah?”

“I feel an interest in you.”

“Oh? I’m honored.”

It had been a long time since Rynzbelfied last conversed with a human, so he had trouble articulating his feelings.

Only then did the spirit realize that he had been going with the flow for a while now, forgetting to actually think for himself. When was the last time he had put real thought into anything?

“I believe I am interested in you, but I don’t know specifically what kind of interest it is. That makes me feel very… moshomeso.”

“Moshomeso?”

“I tried putting a word to my current state of mind.”

Carla nodded thoughtfully and shook her wine bottle.

“I see. So I guess in human terms, you feel anxious.”

“Anxious, I see. Well then, I feel very anxious when I look at you. However, I am uncertain as to the reason and that only makes me more anxious.”

“That might be tough to solve for a wind spirit, since you can’t just drink and sleep away your problems.”

“Is that the method humans use to resolve anxiety?”

“Well, I guess it’s the best way to postpone problems.”

Despite the joking tone, Carla’s tone of voice had no venom. She continued in a casual tone.

“If watching me makes you feel anxious, then try to pinpoint what about me piques your interest. Go ahead and ask me any questions you have. It might give us a clue to go on.”

Rynzbelfied nodded, promptly voicing one of the doubts that he had developed about the human in front of him.

“What does ‘Starspear’ mean?”

“Whoa, so we’re starting all the way over there, huh?”

“I perceive titles to be the symbols representing that individual. How does this ‘Starspear’ represent you?”

Carla pressed a finger against her temple, contemplating the best way to explain.

“Hmm, rather than explaining in words, it might be quicker to just show you.”

Carla crossed her legs, placing her left hand on the ground and raising her right hand into the air. Then, she closed her eyes and began a long, drawn-out incantation.

This created a magic circle right above the surface of the spring, followed by five other magic circles surrounding it.

Rynzbelfied recognized what this meant. Each of the six magic circles was a different spell, so Carla was casting six spells simultaneously.

(But humans should only be able to maintain two spells at the same time.)

As a spirit, Rynzbelfied lacked the means to comprehend these magic circles. However, he understood that this was an incredibly advanced technique.

Carla raised her right index finger, creating a seventh magic circle that overlapped all of the others.

A vast amount of mana began gathering at the center of the circles, eventually taking the form of a white spear, which was several times longer than the lances used by human cavalry. The tip of the spear was pointed straight up at the night sky.

Despite controlling an enormous magical formula and an immense amount of mana, Carla still had the face of a cat dozing in the sunlight.

“——Pierce through, Starspear.”

She triggered her spell in an unadorned voice, as if engaging in a casual conversation.

The pure white spear shot up with the force of a shooting star, leaving a trail of sparkles in its wake. After tearing through the cloud cover, it eventually disappeared from view.

Rynzbelfied was left speechless.

If this spell had been launched at a target on the ground, it contained enough power to obliterate half of the forest, not to mention how easily it would break through the scales of a greater dragon.

“And that’s why I’m called the Starspear Witch. The ‘Starspear’ is a light-aspected spell, and there are hardly any users of light and dark magic, so everyone makes me out to be special.”

All humans were born with an elemental affinity, the common ones being the four major elements: earth, water, fire, and wind. The elements of lightning and ice were a bit rarer.

On the other hand, light and dark were special elements. It was often said that only humans born from a special lineage had the power to wield them.

“So you descend from a special bloodline?” Rynzbelfied asked.

“Nah, not at all. My family has hardly any mages. Most of them are scholars.”

In that case, how could Carla invoke a light-aspected spell like the Starspear? Carla answered this doubt with a cheeky smile.

“My actual affinity is wind, but I have a little talent that allows me to maintain seven spells at once.”

“A little talent, you say.”

Rynzbelfied was dumbfounded. This wasn’t something that could be brushed off as a ‘little talent’, as it was clearly a superhuman feat. At the very least, he had never seen a human capable of doing anything similar.

“I’ve always been good at thinking about multiple things at once. Like reading a paper, singing a song, and planning dinner all at the same time, you know?”

Rynzbelfied found this difficult to comprehend, as he had largely forgotten how to think for himself. In the time that the spirit struggled to put his thoughts into words, Carla could probably think several lines of thoughts through to completion.

“Your mind seems quite busy, Carla.”

“It’s not a big deal once you get used to it. Anyway, my ability to cast Starspear is an application of that. Aside from the main spell for making the spear, I deploy three elemental conversion spells, as well as separate spells for fixation, maintenance, and amplification. The combination of those seven spells allows me to recreate light magic through brute force.”

Rynzbelfied did not know much about human magecraft, but he understood that this required incredible skill. The ability to maintain seven spells at once and recreate light magic exceeded the limits of what humans should be able to achieve.

And the prodigy who accomplished this was this young woman with such a carefree smile.

Meanwhile, Carla threw a piece of firewood into the campfire, twisting her face into a wry smile for the first time.

“But you know, this spell is pretty useless in practice. A traveler like me would rather spend mana on starting a fire or making water.”

Indeed, the Starspear undoubtedly consumed a tremendous amount of mana. Even if Carla needed to slay a dragon, there were far more efficient spells she could use.

“So basically, my Starspear is like a slightly unusual firework. That’s why I pretty much only use it for magic dedications. The temple even asked me to show it at the festival tomorrow.”

Carla lapped up the last few drops in her wine battle and yawned. Perhaps using such a powerful spell had made her a bit drowsy.

“I now understand why you are one of the Seven Sages. Are the other Sages like you?” Rynzbelfied asked.

“No way. I’m pretty much the only Sage who travels out of the capital so much. I just get the urge to travel whenever I’m cooped up somewhere. My parents and my big brother were the same.”

“I see, then you must be like the wind.”

Carla widened her sleepy eyelids and looked straight at Rynzbelfied. It was an expressionless gaze, similar to how a scholar might view an experimental subject.

The silence continued for a few seconds, and Rynzbelfied wondered what Carla was thinking about with her ability to process seven lines of thought simultaneously.

Eventually, Carla averted her eyes and let out a big yawn.

“Using a big spell made me a bit sleepy, so I’m going to bed soon. Good night.”

“I see. Good night, Carla,” Rynzbelfied said before turning to leave. After a short pause, he added a “See you tomorrow.”

Carla opened one eye and smiled with the same cat-like expression as always.

“Travelers don’t make promises for tomorrow.”

She had allowed others to sit next to her, yet refused to make a promise for tomorrow. That made her seem even more cat-like.

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