[V9C17] A Traveler's Conviction

“I was rejected by Carla.”

Those words prompted Monica to start doubting if this was really the ‘love story’ Ryn initially described it as.

Meanwhile, Rubelmeria furrowed his brow and groaned, “Ugogogogoh…” with an otherwise expressionless face.

Monica timidly inquired, “Um, so… what exactly happened after the festival?”

“I began contemplating the feelings which had sprouted in my chest.”

The wind spirit, currently in the form of a beautiful blonde woman, placed a hand on her chest and closed her eyes. She seemed to be reflecting on the events of ten years ago.

“A warmth overflowing from my chest. A desire to touch and be close. A stirring of complex emotions, as powerful as the gales of spring.”

Ryn opened her eyes and looked straight at Monica as she continued.

“And so, I thought this to be love.”

“Rynzbelfied-niisama, please pardon my intrusion! I believe it may be a bit premature to assert that it was love based solely on that!”

Rubelmeria eagerly raised a counterargument, to which Ryn offered a calm response.

“The bodies of us spirits do not work in the same way as humans, so typical symptoms of love, such as an increase in body temperature and heart rate, as well as the blushing associated with them, do not occur.”

Hearing this reminded Monica of something. She had heard something about these ‘typical symptoms of love’ before, but she couldn’t remember where.

These symptoms were also similar to that of the common cold, and she had done research on cold symptoms recently.

(A cold…? Or something like a cold…? Who was it that caught a cold recently? Um, it was in winter, right… winter…)

“Nevertheless, if I had to express those feelings in a single word, it would be ‘excitement’. That single word sums it all up.”

(Excitement…?)

The door in Monica’s memory began to crack open, but Rubelmeria’s loud proclamation of “Objection!” disrupted Monica’s thoughts, slamming the door shut.

“Rynzbelfied-niisama, there are many possible causes of increased heart rate! Be it fear, anxiety, or admiration, living creatures can experience wildly different forms of excitement!”

Rubelmeria clenched both fists and confronted Ryn.

“I believe you mistook the admiration you felt towards the Starspear Witch’s magic as love!”

Admiration towards someone’s magic being mistaken for love? For some reason, Monica felt uneasy when she heard this argument.

In contrast to the flustered Monica, Ryn countered in a calm tone.

“No, I did not fall in love because of seeing Carla’s magic. Her summoning of the Spirit King was merely the catalyst.”

Although Ryn maintained her usual lack of tone and expression, Monica could sense something warm in her words.

“It was the sight of her exerting herself to the fullest for my sake… That was the moment my heart was stolen.”

Ryn declared this with a strange sense of pride. The sight of a woman confidently expressing her feelings of love seemed so dazzling to Monica.

Rubelmeria had opened his mouth to retort again, but ended up closing it shut without saying a word. He had finally came to understand that Ryn was firm in her beliefs.

“And once I realized my feelings of love, I attempted to confess to Carla…”

Ryn paused, before continuing in a slightly lower tone.

“But it turned into quite a predicament.”

＊　＊　＊

Upon finishing the magical dedication, Carla collapsed to her knees, almost simultaneously with the end of the Songstress’s song.

Louis, who had been waiting near the temple, rushed over to help her up.

“Man, I’m completely pooped… Urgh, here comes the mana depletion symptoms. The world is spinning…”

The nauseous-looking Carla groaned as she gave Louis a weak smile.

“Sorry, but could you take me deeper into the forest…? The high mana concentration should help me recover faster…”

“Good grief… And you’re the one who keeps telling me not to overdo it,” Louis complained while lending Carla his shoulder.

The two headed into the forest after explaining the situation to a priest. Meanwhile, Rynzbelfied was secretly following them from above.

Eventually, they reached the spring, and Carla asked Louis to lay her on the ground, looking up at the sky.

Louis sat down beside Carla and voiced his doubts.

“Why didn’t you just use the Starspear? That spell consumes a tremendous amount of mana too, but it should be much better than Spirit King Summoning four times in a row.”

Carla continued staring at the sky, apparently already aware of Rynzbelfied’s presence. She put on a smile that could only be described as triumphant.

“Because I wanted to show them something amazing.”

The moment he saw that smile, his body moved on its own. Rynzbelfied followed his impulses, descending to the earth and covering Carla with his body.

“What the…!?”

Louis shouted in surprise, but Rynzbelfied paid him no attention, placing his hands on Carla’s cheeks and kissing her on the lips. The mana supplied through this point of contact caused a bit of warmth to return to Carla’s pale cheeks.

…However, in the next moment, Rynzbelfied was knocked away by a powerful impact, rolling several meters across the ground. Louis had kicked the spirit with enough force to break the bones of any human.

“Such violence,” Rynzbelfied commented as he slowly got off the ground and brushed the grass off his robes, causing Louis to growl in a low tone.

“You damn spirit…! What the hell do you think you’re doing to my senior disciple?!”

His unrestrained bloodlust made him look like the villain, though he was technically not in the wrong.

Carla sat herself up, then reprimanded Louis in a casual tone.

“Calm down, Louis. This is just like getting licked by a dog or cat, right?”

“No, I’m a spirit, not a dog or a cat,” Rynzbelfied interjected.

Louis frowned, concealing his rage with a fake smile that was anything but friendly, and began cracking his knuckles.

“But Carla, misbehaving pets require discipline, no?”

“I’m a spirit,” Rynzbelfied repeated.

Louis clicked his tongue and stared daggers at the spirit. The sight of her junior disciple radiating pure unadulterated hostility caused Carla to hold her head and sigh.

“Come on, Louis. Don’t go picking a fight with a greater spirit. You’re the one who’s gonna lose.”

While still seated on the ground, Carla forcibly lowered Louis’s clenched fists and turned to face Rynzbelfied.

“Wind Spirit Rynzbelfied, have you remembered now?”

“Yes, I have remembered my way of being. I am truly grateful to you from the bottom of my heart.”

“Good to hear.”

Carla put on a satisfied grin, which only reminded Rynzbelfied of his reason for liking her.

“In that regard, I have something to report,” Rynzbelfied continued.

“Hmm? Are you still feeling uncomfortable somewhere?”

“I have become aware that I harbor romantic feelings for you, Carla.”

The extremely straightforward confession caused Louis to grimace, as Carla let out a surprised gasp.

“Whoa? So that kiss from earlier… It wasn’t for supplying mana?”

“I performed the kiss as a courtship ritual. You also seemed to be weakened, so I took the liberty of supplying mana as well.”

Carla put on a wry smile and said, “I see,” without showing any sign of embarrassment. Rynzbelfied felt somewhat frustrated that his attempts at courtship had been brushed off with a smile.

“If it was a courtship ritual, you should ask for consent first. You can’t complain about getting slapped if you kiss someone out of the blue… Well, I guess you could argue that Louis used excessive force though.”

“Understood. In that case, may I kiss you?”

“No way.”

“…”

Courtship turned out to be more challenging than it seemed.

Since Rynzbelfied had never been one to beat around the bush, he decided to voice his desire directly.

“Starspear Witch Carla Maxwell, please contract with me. I want to accompany you on your journey.”

The emotion vanished from Carla’s face. She peered straight into Rynzbelfied’s heart with eyes filled with nothing but rationality.

“Wind spirits love freedom. Wouldn’t getting bound to a human be humiliating for you?” Carla asked.

“I would gladly be bound by you.”

The wind spirit replied without a hint of hesitation, prompting Carla to nonchalantly shake her head.

“Sorry, but I’m a traveler, so I can’t afford to add more luggage. If you want a contractor, you’ll have to try elsewhere.”

“What I want is you, Carla.”

Carla put on a troubled smile, like the one a parent might use to soothe a child.

“I’m afraid I can’t give you that.”

That single sentence said it all.

Carla stood up, brushed off the grass from her robe, and turned to Louis.

“Louis, about time for us to head back.”

And with that, Carla turned her back to Rynzbelfied. Louis gave one final scoff to the spirit before following after Carla.

That said, Rynzbelfied had keen ears. Without so much as taking a step, he could hear the subsequent conversation between Carla and Louis.

“Are you sure about this?” Louis asked.

“About what?” Carla replied.

“That spirit rubs me the wrong way…” Louis said in a reluctant tone. “But the opportunity to contract a greater spirit is incredibly rare. Besides, your journey will become significantly easier with the support of a wind spirit.”

“Louis, I’m a traveler. When I die, it will likely be in the middle of nowhere without anyone at my side.”

Carla let out a long sigh before continuing. Her voice somehow sounded both cheerful and lonely at the same time.

“In that case, what would happen to the spirit contracted to me? There are only two options: either it remains trapped in the spirit stone, or it loses its mana and fades away. Most mages can simply send the spirit stone to Minerva or whatnot and find a new contractor. But travelers never know when or where they’ll die. That’s why I can’t contract a spirit.”

“…I understand,” Louis replied.

To tell the truth, Rynzbelfied thought it was fine for them to vanish together at the end of their journey. But apparently, Carla would not allow that. This made the spirit feel frustrated, lonely, and sad.

“By the way, Carla, will you be returning to the capital after this?” Louis asked.

“I guess. The Seven Sages’ meeting is coming up, and there’s that report I need to submit… Oh… How does my house look right now?”

“…Do you really want to know?”

“Ugh…! No, I don’t want to deal with that dusty, cobweb-infested building anymore…!”

Carla ruffled her hair and groaned.

“If only I could marry a cute maid who will clean the house for me…”

＊　＊　＊

“Ryn-san… D-Don’t tell me…” Monica stuttered in her words.

“Yes, it was like an epiphany,” Ryn nodded emphatically.

She had really gone and done it. Monica went completely speechless.

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