“Excuse me….”
Since the time was given vaguely anyway, there shouldn’t be much of a problem, but still, because we were in front of the Spirit Kings, I slowly and cautiously entered. Ideally, it would be nice if they don’t notice our entrance and continue their conversation amongst themselves, but the gigantic auras of the three Spirit Kings instantly turned toward Lindy and me.
“Ah! E, Alicia….”
Even Clarice, who was just arguing on behalf of releasing Lindy’s seal, stopped mid-sentence and looked back at us.
I fidgeted nervously and slightly moved behind Clarice. Normally, I should sit in the center of the conference room as I did yesterday, but there’s a clear difference from yesterday. And that difference lies in Clarice’s attitude.
While yesterday she tried her best to maintain a neutral stance amidst her developing fondness for us, after last night’s drinking session, she has now become completely one of us. I trust that she will shield us from the uncomfortable glares of the other two Spirit Kings directed at Lindy and me.
Because Clarice quickly glanced back at us, I clenched my fists and slightly raised my arms in a fighting stance. We’re putting in so much effort for us, I couldn’t possibly fail to support her with at least this much enthusiasm.
They say compliments make even whales dance, and encouragement energizes Clarice. She noticed my support, smiled broadly, and gave a firm nod as if to say, “Trust me.” I couldn’t help but feel reassured.
“Let’s get back to the discussion then. No matter how much I think about it, allowing her freedom still doesn’t seem right. If we forgive her now, there’s a chance someone may appear who will disrespect Spirits again later. Permitting even lower-level spirits now already counts as an act of generosity, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Are you really so blinded by clinging to the title of Spirit King for so long that you’ve forgotten we are not beings superior to the beings in the material world?”
“That’s not what I mean!”
“Then what do you mean?”
“You’ve been nitpicking ever since the start! Understand the essence of the issue, will you?”
“Who’s nitpicking?! And as for the essence of the problem? So what? I’ve said it’s fine, I’ll take the responsibility!”
Is this the dignity of a Spirit King…? It’s more like throwing a tantrum. But who cares, really? The tantrum-thrower is our ally, Clarice, and she may be a Spirit King, but on the surface, she looks like a beautiful young girl. Were it not for Clarice but an old man sitting opposite, I might have already thrown a punch, but because Clarice is charming and beautiful, it’s perfectly fine.
“Heh… Seems that we will never reach a conclusion like this among ourselves. Why don’t you stop just watching and join in?”
The elderly man, who had been watching silently as a heated argument between two of them ensued, finally spoke. However, instead of presenting his opinion, he called out not into the room, but towards the high window on the opposite side from the door we entered through.
Naturally, everyone turned their eyes towards him. When we looked up, a giant bird was perched on the window. It looked somewhat like an eagle, but the magnificent patterns on its feathers resembled a peacock. In fact, considering the height and size of the window, the bird must be about the size of an average human.
As everyone’s gaze shifted to it, the bird that was perched on the window stretched its wings majestically and flew gracefully downward before landing…
…on my head.
Given its size, it seemed bizarre to have such a huge creature sitting on my head, but fortunately, unlike its large appearance, it didn’t feel too heavy.
While debating whether I should wave a hand to get it down, the eagle-like bird bowed its head and pecked Clarice’s head twice who was sitting in front of me, leapt off my head, turned around, and pecked Lindy’s head twice as well.
…?
“Ouch! Why? What’s wrong? What’s your problem? Also, didn’t you say you would go around the Spirit Realm?”
But knowing her well, Clarice held her wounded scalp and shouted, while Lindy remained quietly seated without even attempting to get angry.
“I planned to do it myself and left the decision rights with you, but it seemed you couldn’t manage it properly. Anyway, Lindy, this is your punishment for needlessly telling Silfi to call me back.”
Having lifted her hand halfway, she slyly placed it back down again. Judging by the situation, this magnificent bird sitting atop my head is, indeed, the Wind Spirit King, Flora. Phew, it’s fortunate I acted so slowly. Otherwise, I might have unintentionally offended the Wind Spirit King.
Still, asking Silfi to call the Wind Spirit King? It seems Lindy likely requested Flora’s help via Silfi. If Flora didn’t resent Lindy’s plea but has instead returned, it’s probably because she wants to advocate for us.
Indeed, Lindy. While I was persuading Clarice, Lindy asked Silfi to convince Flora. Our efforts were definitely well divided.
“So, you’ll keep this form?”
“I’ll return after the meeting is over. Besides, I somehow got a feeling I shouldn’t return to my original form.”
“Alright then. Now that all four of us are here, since it seems you, Flora, also wish to expedite this discussion, let’s begin the official meeting.”
Indeed, preparing to start the official meeting, the Earth Spirit King, Truwell, who had been standing till now, went over and sat at the round table placed in the center. Next, the Fire Spirit King, Ignis, also approached and sat beside Truwell, and Clarice went to sit opposite them.
Judging by the spacing of their seats, there’s only one seat available. Flora’s spot, who is sitting on my head.
“Uh… Flora-dono…”
But for some reason, instead of heading to the chair, Flora didn’t move from my head. Calling out her name, I noticed Flora, whether male or female, remained on my head and only expanded one of her wings, pointing at the vacant chair.
…Surely not, right?
I decided to pretend I didn’t notice and remained in place, but Flora then lifted one of her legs that had been perched on my head and lightly tapped my head with her talons.
I shook my head slightly from side to side, implying this wasn’t right, but unlike other birds who might easily fly away with such movements, Flora remained steadfast, only pointing at the empty chair.
Reluctantly, I moved my heavy legs and took the empty seat. Our quartet was arranged around the round table, each at the 12 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock, and 9 o’clock directions. Or, counting me and the Flora sitting on my head within the chair, we were five.
I was seated face-to-face with Truwell, and Clarice was seated face-to-face with Ignis.
“Well then, let’s continue the discussion.”
“So! First things first, why did Lindy even come here? Isn’t it because she needs help to defeat the Demon King? What do you plan to do if we leave the seal on Lindy as it is, and she fails to defeat the Demon King? Or worse, if she gets defeated instead? Can you maintain your high and mighty attitude then? Would the Demon King who has conquered the material realm leave the Spirit Realm untouched?”
“That is too extreme of an assumption. Even if we’re talking about the Demon King, he could not possibly match our power within the Spirit Realm.”
“It might. But what if it does happen? In a year? In ten years? In a hundred years? Can you guarantee nothing will happen? The Spirit Realm isn’t an isolated world; the more polluted the material realm becomes, the weaker our power gets. Isn’t that quite plausible?”
And the discussion reignites. I don’t even have a chance to step into the conversation. I’m just here, holding my breath and watching carefully.
“Both of you have valid points, so this new invitee’s opinion is important. What do you think, Flora?”
“It’s fine, isn’t it?”
“About what exactly? Please elaborate clearly. It’s hard to understand with such shorthand.”
“It’s simple—I’m questioning whether it was right in the first place to place the seal on Lindy.”
“She disrespected the spirits! And there’s no telling when she might do it again!”
With a loud thud on the table, Ignis abruptly stood up from his seat. Despite Flora just beginning to give her opinion, his inability to contain himself shows why he is the King of Fire—his temperament is indeed fiery.
“To be precise, Lindy has only interacted with my children and Clarice’s. Her aptitude is only aligned with wind and water elements. As for the land spirits, even a high-level one can only take the form of an adult human’s in the material realm, and that’s the best she can do. Fortunately, Lindy doesn’t mess with young children.”
Phew, it’s a relief that Lindy isn’t the kind to bother with little ones. If Lindy had crossed that line into messing with young children, Flora’s stance towards her would have been markedly different.
“But I don’t care. Silfi, my child who has a contract with Lindy, also doesn’t care. That means from my perspective, her sins have been wiped out, and there’s no problem with releasing her.”
“Hmph, indeed. So you’re back, but the situation remains evenly split as always.”
“Yeah, didn’t I say I’d take responsibility? I’m responsible, so there.”
Like Ignis before, Clarice slammed the table and abruptly stood up, defending her friend as if it was her own affair. Even though they’ve only been drinking buddies for a day, her readiness to jump into the fray is incredibly touching.
“Well, since the topic has arisen, and you’ve been saying you will take responsibility all this time, may I ask exactly how you intend to take responsibility?”
“I’ll go down to the material realm to ensure Lindy doesn’t make any mistakes. Isn’t that simple?”
“But Clarice! As you know, Lindy’s power isn’t enough for you to incarnate—how do you plan to replace another spirit and go down yourself?”
“I’ll limit my own power. To the level of a highest-level spirit.”
“Preserve your dignity!”
“Dignity, my foot.”
Indeed, water and fire, aren’t they? The two seemed to be growling at each other from across the table.
“Clarice, I don’t quite understand why you are supporting these two so strongly, but this has gone too far. How about this alternative?”
Truwell, who had been merely listening to the other party till now, was now putting forth his own opinion for the first time.
“There seems no indication that anyone is willing to change their stance, and neither of Clarice’s nor Ignis’ opinions are entirely wrong, nor Flora’s. Thus, the only way is to propose a condition that satisfies all opinions. We’ll lift the seal currently on Lindy, but with a new seal placed on her.”
“That’s meaningless!”
“Heh… Hear me out till the end. This is not about prohibiting the summoning of highest-level spirits. It’s only to prevent a similar mistake from happening again. Thus, we will place a restriction that Lindy cannot summon spirits in a masculine form. How does that sound? This way, you wouldn’t need to unnecessarily limit your power just to incarnate in the material realm. If you agree to this condition, I will also give my approval.”
“Uh, no… I’ll take the responsibility…”
“You old man!”
“Ignis, you know this is the best option. Just accept it.”
Of course, Lindy making the same mistake again as she has previously is practically impossible, so this condition is essentially useless. Despite his appearance like a rigid old man, he found a rather decent compromise after all.
“Ugh… I have no choice.”
Ignis, too, had no grounds to argue against Truwell’s words, so all he could do was accept. If this continues, there would be no narrowing of the opinion gap, and we’d keep having the same argument every day.
“Flora, do you consent?”
“Yeah. That’s fine.”
“Seeing that Clarice’s consent isn’t necessary to ask for… In that case, let’s conclude by lifting Lindy’s current seal and placing new restrictions in unison.”
Thus, with a solution reasonable enough to satisfy everyone, the meetings of the past two days were brought to an end.
“Ah, no!”
