Chapter 236.2: Popularity and Demand (Part 2)

Because of the Spirit Queen's demonstration, their obvious priority was to find a water spirit open to form a contract.

Then in the midst of their frenzy, they heard something unbelievable.

「And you know what happened then? Apparently a water spirit entered the city, and according to those who spoke with her, she was there to form a summoning contract.1」

There were times when spirits would wander into a human settlement. That could happen for a variety of reasons, but since spirits were the good neighbors of humans, usually no one said anything and simply let them do what they wanted. Treating them with kindness was normal for everyone.

But after everything that had happened in Haxthausen, the adventurers there had a different reaction. A large number of adventurers began chasing after her, wanting to find a way to form a summoning pact, which was only made worse thanks to the fact that she was a water spirit.

She seemed to get startled by all that though, and soon vanished somewhere.

「Hmm...I see...」

When the adventurer was done explaining, Mira replied while doing her best to conceal the concern taking over her face.

At first she thought nothing of it, having personally seen spirits wandering into cities for various reasons in the past, so she thought it was normal that a water spirit would do the same. But then a moment later she realized the truth. That water spirit was most likely Anlutine, and the fact that she mentioned wanting to form a contract only increased the likelihood of that possibility.

It was very easy to imagine that she had finally woken up and entered the city looking for Mira, only to get chased by the adventurers that Mira herself had riled up with her summoner evangelization earlier.

「By the way, Spirit Queen, I'd also like to ask something... I've heard you have a connection with the Spirit King, would his power allow you to sense nearby spirits? Or maybe Undine could do something similar since she's also a water spirit?」

The man bowed slightly, showing he was asking that in earnest, and the reply would be very valuable to him.

There were already many adventurers using all sorts of sensing and tracking abilities, but they could not find the water spirit anywhere. The adventurer Mira was talking to was no different, and after exhausting all possibilities, he had thought of a new one in Mira. The Spirit Queen was the person with the strongest ties to spirits that he knew of after all.

And his instincts had been dead on.

(Hmm...he's sharper than I thought.)

In fact, the Spirit King's Divine Protection gave her the ability to detect spirits around her. And just like the adventurer had suggested, if she asked Undine, she also would be able to find her kin.

But Mira could not bring herself to reply with honesty.

There was a faint chance that the water spirit who had been spotted was one that randomly visited the city. But Mira was almost convinced that it was Anlutine, even if she was too far away for Mira to detect.

Anlutine had traveled all the way there just so she could join the Spirit King's network, so leading other adventurers to her felt outrageous.

But Mira could not flat out deny it either. It was easy for her to lie about the powers of the Spirit King's Divine Protection, as there was no one else who could verify or deny her claims.

But the man had also mentioned if Undine could do the same for water spirits. That was something that could easily be proven correct, either by other summoners or just by asking any spirit.

So in other words, if she said that it was impossible, he would soon discover she was lying, and when that happened, Mira's credibility and reputation as the Spirit Queen would fall. She had finally gained enough popularity for summoning to be taken seriously, so tarnishing that accomplishment would be a huge stepback for summoners as a whole.

But she could not bring herself to answer honestly either.

She could tell him that the water spirit was Anlutine, someone who had traveled a long distance to form a contract with Mira, so it was best for them to give up.

If she did that, the adventurers would probably stop their search. In theory at least.

(I know I'm just reaping what I sow, but I never expected things to turn like this...)

Mira glanced at the streets again, and shuddered at the sight of frenzied female adventurers that were searching for the water spirit like their lives depended on it.

It was also a well established fact that a summoner could only form one pact with a given type of spirit. That was a limitation that Mira had been able to overcome with the power of the Spirit King though.

But she had to consider how those women would react to her forming two contracts with water spirits.

Some would be amazed and applaud her ability as the Spirit Queen, breaking the conventions of most summoners.

The number of women who would react that way was definitely very low though, as proven by those she could see, running around with bloodshot eyes.

At the very least they would complain about her monopolizing water spirits, they would call it unfair, cruel even, as Mira was the one who had planted those dreams in their heads in the first place. In a way, it would be like watching an attractive man with a beautiful wife going out of his way to get a cute mistress on the side.

Mira was certain that they would all despise her. And so she was thinking as hard as she could for a way out.

She could not lie, but she could not tell the truth either. So she spent a while in silence until she finally replied.

「Yes, I can sense them just as you mentioned.」

She replied with honesty, knowing how disastrous it would be if she lied and they found out. So telling the truth was the only correct choice, and the main struggle would come after.

「Ohh, I knew you could do it! Then please, could you find where the water spirit went? I'll give you anything you want in exchange!」

The man was ecstatic to hear that reply. Though part of that was also out of dread of the wrath from the female adventurers in his party, so he was pushed to desperation as he begged for Mira's help.

But his prayers would remain unanswered.

「I'm sorry, but I can't do that.」

Lowering her gaze, she said no. 「Why...why not?!」 the man moved closer, desperately wanting her to reconsider.

「It's for the good of summoners...」

She replied, speaking as softly as she could, actually being as honest as she could be.

And then she continued. It would be easy for her to tell them the location of the water spirit, but doing so would trivialize the encounter, and make it difficult to form the important bond between summoner and spirit.

「Why... What exactly do you mean?」

Hearing Mira's grave words, he gasped in realization. He had asked the Spirit Queen to find the spirit for that very reason, to make things easier.

「A first meeting is also a special bond. For instance, overcoming hardships to find someone can make that meeting more important, and lead to joy. That experience will eventually grow into a stronger bond uniting both sides. But if I tell you where to go, then I'll be getting in the way of that bond forming, and it'll never truly happen.」

And then, before she ended, she appended, 「Those are my beliefs, at least.」

「...I see, that's what you meant.」

The man seemed to take Mira's words to heart, his face turning pensive as he hung his head in shame, realizing his own shallowness.

「Don't worry, not all shortcuts are bad, and you were doing it for your friends. There's no shame in that. It just so happened that there was some nuance to this situation.」

Saying that, Mira hopped off the rooftop. Then, looking up at the adventurer, she said, 「Take this, a reminder of the bond we formed here,」 and took out a Spirit Crystal from her Item Box and threw it at him.

「Is this..! Thank you so much!」

Spirit Crystals were expensive and very rarely traded, and Mira's demonstration that morning had made them instantly sell out in the entire city. It was very likely that they would also skyrocket in price with the increased demand.

The group the man was part of had been unable to buy any, and considering they would soon become more expensive, they were out of luck.

But that had been turned around thanks to a chance meeting with Mira.

The man bowed with heartfelt gratitude as he watched Mira walk away while waving, and then he ran to reunite with his group, Spirit Crystal in hand.

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