“Ugh…”
The drowsiness of the moment upon waking. In the midst of confusion, my head ached as if it were splitting, and my body felt sore as if I had slept wrong.
“Mm…”
As I clumsily tried to rise and shifted my body, a groan reached my ears. I thought I had unconsciously groaned due to my sluggish state, but clearly, the sound hadn’t come from my mouth—it had come from beneath me.
Holding the bedsheet with one hand and clutching my throbbing head with the other, I got up and noticed someone lying on the bed. The first person to come to mind was Lindy, as she often slipped under the covers when I was asleep and rested next to me.
However, upon closer inspection, the person lying there wasn’t Lindy but Clarice, the Spirit King of Water. I briefly wondered why Clarice was here, why she had slept in the same bed as me, but then I remembered that the night before, Clarice and I had drunk alcohol together.
Ah, this headache must be from a hangover.
As I slowly grasped my surroundings, Clarice also began to rise from the bed. She wiped her eyes a few times and lifted her upper body, and our eyes met. Still half-asleep, her gaze was blurry and unfocused. Even after making eye contact with me, Clarice blinked her eyes repeatedly several times.
With each blink, her focus gradually returned. Finally, as if realizing my presence, she jumped slightly, her eyes widening.
“Good morning, Lady Clarice.”
I didn’t ask why she was sleeping here. After all, we had shared drinks the night before, and it wasn’t particularly strange for two women to share a room and bed.
In order to make Lindy’s faults seem like minor incidents, it was necessary to act like this kind of situation was no big deal.
“Umm… Yes. Good morning…”
Even though she’s the Spirit King, did she feel a hangover too? The delayed response carried a hint of hesitation.
I tried to recall the events from last night, but nothing came to mind. I must have drunk a lot to have lost all memory, but I couldn’t afford to show any weakness. How could I, as a Hero, appear vulnerable in front of someone I need to cooperate with?
“Last night was quite fun, right?”
So, I exaggerated a little. Acting as if drinking last night was no trouble at all—even though the truth is I could handle much more.
Of course, since I couldn’t remember anything, the enjoyment or otherwise of the drinking session last night was also unclear. I just said it anyway. If the evening had gone smoothly, this morning’s casual greeting would suffice. But if something unfortunate happened, this pretense would reduce it to a trivial accident caused by drinking.
There’s no need to ruin a light-hearted situation by asking Clarice, “Did I do something improper last night?”
Fortunately, contrary to my worries, it seemed nothing happened. Clarice simply nodded in agreement with my statement. If I had done something offensive, she would have jumped up and yelled at me.
“Then, I hope today’s discussion with the other Spirit Kings goes as smoothly as last night.”
Today, we’d likely meet with the other Spirit Kings to discuss Lindy’s seal. The more Clarice convinces the others, the more it will help lift Lindy’s seal. Although her best efforts might still lead to inconclusive results, even that much is sufficient. Hoping for more would be greedy, and during this time, Lindy and I should search for other possible solutions.
“Umm… Alright…”
But for some reason, her reply seemed lukewarm. While it seemed unlikely that Clarice would suddenly oppose us, it was still worrying.
“If everything goes well, we’ll have another drink together, like last night. This time, since all our work will be done, we’ll enjoy ourselves even more.”
There’s not much we can offer the Spirit King by way of gratitude. Since we can’t present her with material things, we should show our thanks through our attitude. Considering how she approached us first last night for a drink, and how much we drank that left me with no memory, she seems to enjoy alcohol. So, scheduling another drinking session would be a good way to express our gratitude.
“Another session… more than last night….”
Look, she immediately gave me an expectant look. Clearly, my judgment was right.
Thirsty, I filled a cup with water and drank it. On the table, only one half-finished bottle of alcohol was left; it seems all the others had been cleaned away. Surely one bottle couldn’t have made me this drunk.
I went to the bathroom to freshen up, trying to clear my head. After washing my face, brushing my teeth, and washing my hair, I stepped out, and Clarice was already gone. Still, recalling her appearance before I went in, I was confident she’d defend us well today.
While drying my wet hair with a towel, a knock came from the door.
“Ah, it’s Lindy.”
I had wondered if Clarice had returned for something she forgot, but it was Lindy, who had come visiting early this morning. Of course, in the Spirit Realm, there’s no one else I know except for Clarice and Lindy.
“Yesterday, after talking with Silfi, I came back and saw you were already asleep. Looks like you drank a lot?”
“Mm… Apparently, I drank quite a lot. With how my head is pounding and my memory is gone, it seems like I drank more than I usually do.”
I held my head and nodded lightly. In front of Clarice, I had acted tough, but there was no need to be boastful in front of Lindy.
“You should have been more moderate. How much did you drink?”
“Hmm… If only a bottle was left, I’d know, but everything’s been cleaned up, so I only see one. Anyway, Lindy, did you talk with Silfi yesterday?”
“Yeah. Well… I did apologize, but Silfi didn’t seem too concerned. We just exchanged some light small talk about what we’ve been up to recently and then parted.”
“By the way, are there any other Spirits besides Silfi with active contracts?”
“There are other Spirits apart from Silfi, but among the highest-level Spirits, Silfi is the only one. We can apologize to the others when this situation gets resolved.”
As we were talking beside the door, a man approached us from down the corridor. Turning around, I saw the man who had guided us yesterday.
“In a little while, when the sun is fully up, there will be another meeting. Both of you are requested to attend. Don’t forget.”
Before I could reply, he turned around and walked back the way he came.
“Don’t worry too much. Earth Spirits aren’t always this way, but he’s especially grumpy.”
“What’s there to worry about?”
I responded with a shrug as if it was nothing. It wasn’t just pretending—it really didn’t bother me.
His unfriendly demeanor wasn’t pleasant, but I didn’t care much for the kind of Spirit that looked like a sweaty human male. The only Spirits I was interested in were the cute, cool, and beautiful ones. For instance, there was the adorable bird-like Spirit that followed me yesterday, the majestic lion-like Spirit perched on a rock, and the beautiful Clarice. Oh, right, since Clarice is a Spirit King and not a regular Spirit, she’s a bit in a different category.
“You’d think he’d at least bring us breakfast. What an unwelcoming host.”
“Let’s go outside. I saw a lot of fruit yesterday. We don’t have to worry about poison, so we can just pick and eat.”
*
We spent the morning picking tree fruits from the forest and eating them. Soon, the Spirits gathered around us, playing tricks with us. For some reason, it seemed a rumor had spread that I liked women, and now the place was filled with little “young ladies” and “misses.” Although the rumor was true, it made me somewhat embarrassed as if I had become a pervert who liked women exclusively.
Fortunately, they were all good-natured. Accepting their various antics passed the time until the meeting we had been talking about, so we headed back to the palace.
Since no one was around to guide us, we followed the path we remembered from yesterday and headed toward the center of the palace. Once we entered, it seemed the palace allowed entry only to permitted Spirits, because the ones that had been following us just stopped and gazed at us from afar as we went inside.
When we reached the door, we could already hear the voices of the Spirit Kings. Afraid we might be late, Lindy and I exchanged glances and gently pushed the door open. We heard Clarice’s voice loudly ringing out.
“Hey, I’ve taken responsibility! Just stop, I’ll handle it!”
There it is—Clarice hard at work, surely thanks to the bond we established from last night.
