Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle - Chapter 212-2

212 – Reward Time (Part 2)

「Well, that was a mouthful…」

『Even though you failed once, you managed to recover and pull through. I’ll give you a reward for that. So, what do you want?』

「In that case, I wish…to give Lem my wish.」

Even while people expressed their surprise at this, the two of them continued their conversation.

『Really? Are you sure? Won’t you need some kind of handy item to fulfill your dream?』

「I already have what I need. I’m fine so long as I have my allies and my Holy Sword.」

Ex said while looking at the Spirit with a refreshing smile on his face.

『…My my, looks like you’ve been purified. It seems like these are your true feelings, alright. But y’know~, Mr. Interesting over here doesn’t really like little ol’ me~.』

The Spirit floats around me, sulking.

『If you forgive me, then I could give you my divine blessing or something~.』

「I’m not the person you should seek forgiveness from, it’s the villagers that you troubled. I simply don’t like you. If you still want to grant my wish after saying that…」

It would be rude of me to not use the wish that Ex handed over to me.

…Part of me begged him to show me his full strength because I knew he would do this, but it looks like he saw through that.

On top of that, if he wants to give me his wish as a form of thanks, then I should receive it gratefully.

Even so, I don’t think this Spirit can help me on my road to becoming a hero.

『…And?』

I looked at Milla for a moment.

She shook her head vigorously. Looks like she knows what I’m going to say.

I say my wish, which I am sure is the same wish that she made.

「May all of the cherished people in my life live in good health.」

『gasp Ufufu. Ahaha. You really are a delightful little man.』

「Is that beyond the scope of what a Spirit can grant?」

『Perish the thought…! I just need to make a few adjustments. I can give the subjects a weak divine blessing. The list of important people in your life is too wide, so…let’s pare it down to loved ones, hm? I’m a Spirit after all, so I know exactly who those people are. …OK, I think this number of people should be fine.』

The Spirit gave a little chuckle and continued.

『Your loved ones will be less prone to illness, less likely to suffer bad luck, and less likely to fall into despair. But this isn’t some absurdly powerful repellent blessing that guarantees happiness. For example, it’ll be difficult to catch a cold from people, but if you were to overexert yourself resulting in a weakened body, you can still catch a cold.』

There are various types of divine blessings.

In the modern age, it mainly refers to the blessing given to a Hero’s Holy Swords or the Spirit Magic, but originally, it meant the various powers given to mankind from beings from on high.

This is why Arthur gaining a blessing from a Spirit without forming a contract isn’t a contradiction.

People who are known to be fortunate all the time could have also received a divine blessing from something.

「That won’t be a problem.」　

『…Looks like you’re serious about that. I granted your wish. Ah, since I received a complaint from a certain someone, there’s no light show this time. Aw, what a shame.』

Said the Spirit as she flew circles around a fidgeting Milla.

「Kh….」

『Ahaha. If that person hadn’t complained, they’d probably be shining brightly right about now~.』

「Grnnnn…」

Milla glared at the Spirit with a frustrated look on her face.

『And with that, we’re done…! By the way, I’m still accepting contestants, but the same person can’t take on the challenge twice.』

After saying that, the ball of light disappears.

「In the end, she never showed us her true form, huh… Oh well, shall we?」

Said Merlin, uninterested.

I looked at everyone, all holding what they were given by the Spirit, and prepared to head back.

『Yup, no one else but you can see me.』

…I knew it.

When the ball of light disappeared, a black…chick appeared at the same time.

The way it jumped and flew, flapping its tiny wings, is adorable, but knowing that it’s actually the Spirit gives me complicated feelings.

『You like baby chicks, right? From your first impression of me…no, you seemed to think fine of me before the trial so…I guess it would be the second impression then? Since your second impression of me was bad, I thought that I should first change my appearance to match your tastes.』

I don’t really get why this Spirit is worried about my impression of her in the first place.

Also, why does she think that I like baby chicks…?

『Do you really not get it…?』

……

I said this earlier, but I-

『-can’t become a hero with a Spirit that messes with people? Yeah, yeah, I remember. But that’s bull and you know it. Even the Four Great Spirits weren’t always the allies of mankind. Even your best friend’s Spirit, she caused trouble for people in the past, y’know? Does she get a free pass just ’cause you don’t know? Or will you think your best friend is a failed Hero the moment you know?』

Even so, the Fire Spirit has proven to be an ally to mankind over a long period of time. How about you?

『I’ll spend time with you for your lifetime. Whether or not you make me end my days of messing with people as a Spirit or I become a Spirit ally of the hero Black Sorcerer is up to you.』

Why me?

『I’ve always liked taking a peek into the world of Dungeon Clears, but I’m interested in seeing what happens to people like you. All us Spirits are like that. We are beings who live our lives constantly curious. Even forming contracts with Heroes is decided by whether or not that Spirit wants to see how that person will live their life.』

She seems more well-versed than I am on what contracts with Spirits are based on. If she says so, she’s probably right.

It’s common sense that people who aren’t Heroes can’t endure forming a contract with them, though…

『That’s about right. Even if I want to form a contract with you, I can’t. It’s a problem that can’t be solved by sheer effort.』

Heroes are abnormal.

If you aren’t a Demon King or at least someone who can win single-handedly, you are incompatible with the Spirit.

Originally, a person’s body cannot handle the use of Spirit Magic.

The only special subset of humanity that can are Heroes.

『Your physical strength is lower than average and multiple methods were used to make the horn take hold within you, so if we were to force your body to undergo a contract, not only will your body not be able to withstand it, it might interfere with the methods used to keep the horn inside you and…ufufu, your body might pop like a balloon.』

Why does she sound amused by that…

Anyway, I can’t form a contract with a Spirit.

But still, why is she acting as if she still wants to…?

Could it be that, just like Arthur, you want to… Please, could you wait a moment?

『Hu~h? The quality of the sword you got from ol’ pops is a little meh, right? If it gets a divine blessing of a Spirit, it’ll instantly become a Holy Sword.』

Holy Swords are weapons that harbor the divine blessing of a Spirit. It doesn’t matter if it was a rusty weapon. It changes to a weapon worthy of being called a Holy Sword with the blessing.

Its quality doesn’t matter. It’s a good sword.

『Performance is key, right? Even if you’re trying to be a hero, you can’t tell me that you don’t care if the weapon is good or bad, can you?』

……

This time, there wasn’t any occasion to use this sword. I was the rear guard, and my allies were superb, so it isn’t strange that there wasn’t an opportunity, but even if I did actually use it, it probably wouldn’t have been able to deal with the Monsters in this Dungeon.

If you slashed at a giant, it would probably break in one swing no matter how skilled a swordsman wielded it.

It’s very important to me, symbolic even, but I can’t say that it has any worth as a weapon.

『The boy who inherited the Demon King’s horn and mastered Black Sorcery. You worked so hard to get this far because of your lack of talent. You worked so hard, yet you’ve experienced nothing but pain. You were kicked out of the party and now, ufufu, you’re under suspicion of being a dangerous individual. I’m sure you wouldn’t like that, right? However, you didn’t wish for all that to be resolved.』

…If I made a wish to the Spirit, could she have done something about this situation…? I don’t know.

But from the way she’s talking, it would appear that the answer is yes.

The Spirit could arrange things in a way that paved the way for me to be able to work as Lemegeton without worrying about anyone’s prying eyes and clear all suspicion towards me.

I never thought about all that.

『That’s another thing I like about you. But above all else…your Clear and Defenses are interesting.』

「…」

It annoys me that hearing even this Spirit saying that makes me…happy.

『I mean, I can give you my divine blessing on my own and you can’t tie me down since we can’t form a contract, right? So I’ll just follow you, loitering about until I’m bored! Looking forward to seeing you work, pal…!』

In the end, this is how it turned out, huh…

Spirits are unfettered beings. When they decide they wanna do something, they just do it.

While walking to the Teleportation Recording Stone with everyone, I let out a sigh.

So long as you don’t cause any trouble for anyone.

『As long as you’re able to entertain me, at least.』

With a shimmering noise, I could sense something inhabit the sword.

Perhaps in consideration of my feelings, the shape of the sword that my dad gave me stayed the same. A Holy Sword often changes its shape to match its name.

But this is just fine.

『You should use it when you want to. By the way, this Dungeon will probably disappear in a few days. Since there’re no more Imitations appearing.』

I guess she’s stopped using Magical Energy to maintain the Dungeon.

She did say that she would still accept further contestants for the trial, but I suppose it’s only limited to the few days until the Dungeon disappears.

「sigh… Hmm.」

「Lem, is something the matter?」

Milla, who was walking beside me, looked at me curiously.

「Ah, yeah, I’ll tell you about it later.」

「I…see. I understand. Please do. Who were you conversing with earlier?」

「Huh?」

『She can’t see me. It’s just that she’s constantly watching you.』

「Fufu.」

Milla smiles and I give her one in return.

The black chick is riding on top of my head.

I hear that even Spirit contractors have difficult relationships with their Spirit…and this one isn’t even tied to me in any way.

Thus, I, a Black Sorcerer, inheritor of the Demon King’s horn, instilled with the knowledge of Black Sorcery, attained a Holy Sword…and am haunted by a Spirit.