We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
One person is missing.
“Hey, hey. The fire spirits are bullying me.”
“Bullying is bad. You should reflect on your actions.”
“That’s not it! I want to play with the water spirit.”
“Then, let’s play together nicely.”
Grandma Yuuri taught me.
I picked up a flat stone and spoke to it gently. Then, the spirits reacted to my voice and communicated their intentions through the flat stone I held.
I listened to the spirits’ complaints and trivial stories. Sometimes, I accepted requests and fulfilled demands.
It seems that spirits who cannot speak human language can still communicate their intentions through stones.
Well, we can hear the voices of all things, even without stones.
When a certain number of spirits were satisfied, their feelings infused the flat stone I was holding, and it began to emit a faint light.
Then, I placed the glowing stone down and picked up a new, slightly smaller stone.
I repeated this process many times, stacking the stones in order from largest to smallest, creating a stone tower, which then became the spirits’ village.
“I’m hungry!”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have any spirit power.”
“I’m not giving you any!”
“Ares-chan, cooperate.”
“Are you bringing Priscilla?”
“No, no, that would be a dangerous decision.”
If I brought Priscilla-chan to this spirit village, overflowing with the presence of all sorts of spirits, it would be a disaster.
Grandma Yuuri probably anticipated this from the start.
Priscilla-chan’s ability to get along with anyone is immense, but bringing her here would not only fail to quell the disturbance but would clearly lead to a catastrophe.
That’s why we absolutely cannot summon Priscilla-chan.
For some reason, Mistral and Ruiseine scolded me, and as punishment, I was made to speak to the flat stones, as if to assist Grandma Yuuri.
Is this really a punishment?
Putting the question aside.
Requests for food or impossible demands to form contracts were beyond my abilities, so I asked Grandma Yuuri for help. However, I listened earnestly to other matters, such as chatting and small requests.
Next to me, Grandma Yuuri was also speaking to a flat stone in the same way.
There were only a few stones left.
There were still some unruly spirits, but the spirits summoned by Grandma Yuuri were still attending to them as usual.
The Spirit King was still manifested but no longer interfered with us. He was relaxing behind us, drinking some mysterious tea he’d produced from somewhere.
And as for the Dragon Princess and the Miko who had scolded me…
“W-wait a moment!”
“Hey!”
They were being targeted by mischievous spirits again, who were after their clothes.
It can’t be helped.
Spirits often play pranks.
The spirits from earlier were satisfied after stripping the two naked, but there were many other such spirits.
Spirits who were constantly trying to rip off the clothes of the two, which they had just put back on.
It might have become a small trend among the spirits.
And the spirits, as if they knew their weaknesses, didn’t attack when they were in their adult or male forms. Spirits in the form of cute animals or little girls were pulling at Mistral and Ruiseine’s clothes, giggling and chattering.
“You mustn’t. You can’t pull there.”
“That’s enough. I’m really going to get angry… Elnea, why are you watching us with such amusement?”
“It’s just your imagination?”
“Elnea-kun, please help!”
“Ugh, I want to help, but I have to assist Grandma Yuuri.”
“You’re lying. You’re practically drooling!”
“I-it’s just my imagination!”
It was Mistral and Ruiseine who ordered me to converse with the spirits?
I have to fulfill my mission.
I want to help…
Sigh, it’s a shame. I’m sorry.
Mistral and Ruiseine, whose clothes were once again being taken, looked rather… alluring.
Ruiseine, who normally never exposed her skin, revealed her slender shoulders. Mistral’s lustrous thighs. The unfortunately deficient chests of both of them.
It was a feast for my eyes.
“Fufufu, you’ll have quite the aftermath to deal with.”
“Hah. Grandma, please help us, okay?”
“I suppose I have no choice.”
Grandma Yuuri returned my pleading gaze with a gentle smile.
I had gained a reliable ally!
“P-please stop…”
“Hey, you stop that!”
Amidst the objective of satisfying the spirits, they couldn’t get angry or strike them, lest they dissatisfy the spirits even further. Consequently, Mistral and Ruiseine had no choice but to be attacked by the spirits unilaterally.
“You know, we want to participate too.”
“Hey, hey, why didn’t you invite us?”
“What’s a wedding ceremony like?”
“We’re so curious!”
While snatching Mistral and Ruiseine’s clothes, the spirits began to proposition them with various things.
Mumumu.
This is a dangerous development, you two!
“I want to participate~?”
“I’d love to go~?”
“I hate being left out!”
“If we can participate in a fun banquet, we can endure our current dissatisfaction!”
A bird-shaped spirit, having stolen Ruiseine’s underwear, flew off somewhere into the forest.
Ruiseine, her face bright red, tried to chase after the flying spirit, but then collapsed, looking at me.
“F-fine. Fine, I understand. Please give them back. I’m begging you…”
Ruiseine’s eyes were already teary.
Please, be merciful.
“Let’s participate!”
“Hooray!”
“Let’s all go!”
“Ruiseine…”
“I-I’m sorry. But…”
Mistral, whose clothes had been taken just like Ruiseine’s, sighed with a slightly weary look, watching the mischievous spirits and Ruiseine, who had silently accepted their one-sided demands out of sheer embarrassment, with a wry smile.
Incidentally, Mistral too, was already naked.
“Smooth and flat.”
“H-hey! Ares-chan!”
Ares-chan’s unnecessary remark caused Mistral and Ruiseine to glare at me.
And then, I understood the spirits’ true intentions.
This was the spirits’ goal from the very beginning.
Not for me to be glared at by the two.
Yes. To be invited to our wedding ceremony. This was the true scheme of the spirits who had caused this uproar.
The issue of overpopulation of spirits was merely a ploy to conceal their main objective.
Even though there were still discontent spirits lingering around the spirits’ village.
Once they got their promise from Ruiseine, they dispersed with satisfied smiles.
Even the Spirit Kings, who had been drinking tea, vanished with satisfied smiles.
“Oh my. This has become quite the predicament.”
Grandma Yuuri, who didn’t seem the least bit troubled, gently saw off the now-calm spirits.
“I’m sorry to both of you…”
“No, it’s not Ruiseine’s fault.”
“That’s right. It’s Elnea’s fault.”
“Wha—It’s my fault?”
“Yes. Elnea-kun just stood there with a drooling expression and didn’t help.”
“That’s not true! It’s a misunderstanding!”
“Boys will be boys.”
Ruiseine, while glancing at me, put back on the clothes that had been returned.
Yes, of course, my gaze was glued to her.
Mistral, also getting dressed, watched the perverted me and the embarrassed Ruiseine with a wry smile.
“Great Elder!”
The spirits’ village had returned to its calm state.
The pillar of light, shining more beautifully than ever in seven colors, stretched up into the sky, forming a gentle arc into a rainbow.
The stacked stone towers were enveloped in soft light, bringing a sense of peace just by looking at them.
If I focused, I could sense the cheerful spirits flitting about joyfully all around.
The commotion, caused by the spirits, had subsided.
We breathed a sigh of relief, now that the disturbance was over.
Just then, the Mimicho race people, who had left on the way to the spirits’ village, started arriving one after another.
All of them had tired expressions, and some had stained clothes, but not a single person had sustained any serious injuries.
I see.
Looking at the Mimicho people, I understood.
The Mimicho race and the spirits have a relationship of coexistence and co-prosperity, and they never quarrel.
This time, their village was destroyed, and the spirits went on a rampage. Although they encountered resistance from the spirits on their way to the spirits’ village, it was not a matter of life and death.
The spirits vented their frustrations on the Mimicho race. The Mimicho people, like me, Grandma Yuuri, Mistral, and Ruiseine, did their best to satisfy the spirits.
However, instead of fighting, they played with them or went along with their pranks.
The reason why no one wore winter gear when we departed from the village, which had been in a mid-winter state despite being summer.
It was to face the spirits in their natural state.
It wasn’t just the snow spirits who were rampaging. All spirits—fire, water, wind, and earth—were in turmoil, so preparing for one phenomenon would be meaningless on its own.
And the Mimicho race already knew this from the start.
There was no danger to life, but dealing with spirits was exhausting. In some cases, it could take days.
Honestly.
When we left the village, I mistook their solemn farewells as a sign that they were leaving with the resolve to face impending death.
That was simply their farewell greeting, indicating that they might not return for days until the spirits were satisfied.
For the Mimicho race, who have no other villages nearby, that village is their only place to return.
Therefore, leaving the village, even for a few days, might be a painful separation.
All the Mimicho people who gathered at the spirits’ village were exhausted, but everyone had a satisfied look, as if they had fulfilled their mission.
And they were relieved to see the spirits’ village restored and the spirits returned to their calm.
“That’s a relief. For a while, I didn’t know what would happen…”
“So, why were the spirits rampaging more than usual?”
“And who destroyed the spirits’ village, and why?”
I explained the events here to the Mimicho people.
Then, for some reason, I was met with accusatory looks!
“So, it was Elnea’s fault.”
“The spirits are quite selfish, aren’t they?”
“In other words, we, the Mimicho race, were also victims, weren’t we?”
“Hmm. If that’s the case, we’d like an apology.”
“…Yes, yes. We’ll invite you all as well.”
At this point, Mistral and Ruiseine looked resigned.
With the increasing number of beastkin and magic beasts, adding more spirits and Mimicho people now seemed to be within acceptable limits.
They were weary of the ever-expanding guest list for the wedding ceremony.
“But, wait a moment. Wasn’t it the Mimicho people’s fault that this situation arose without noticing that the spirits were dissatisfied with their overpopulation?”
In response to my question, the Mimicho people all averted their gazes.
Grandma Yuuri also averted her gaze with amusement.
“No… Well, that is…”
The Mimicho people hesitated.
“It can’t be helped. I’ll overlook it this time, so please lend us a hand.”
“W-what do you want us to do?”
“We won’t engage in destructive acts!”
“Please, just invite us to the wedding ceremony, okay?”
“Yes. We’re inviting everyone anyway.”
The spirits’ commotion seemed to have reached a peaceful conclusion.
But we mustn’t forget.
“Well, you see. In the early morning, when the spirits’ rampage began, some of the students and adventurers who were acting as guards went missing. I’m sure it was the spirits’ doing.”
“Ah, ah. They must have gotten lost in the forest.”
“Yes. So, we need your help finding the students and leading them out of the forest.”
“I see. We have no choice but to help with that.”
“It can’t be helped, let’s do one more job.”
Thus, we set about our final task.
We split up to search for the students who had been caught in the Bewildering Technique of the Dragon Forest.
Not only the Mimicho race but also the spirits, who were the cause of the problem, and the idle magic beasts offered their assistance.
And so, by the time the sun began to set, we had managed to rescue almost everyone.
Some students had been wandering endlessly through the forest. Some adventurers, knowing not to move recklessly in such situations, had waited in safe-looking spots.
One father was being relentlessly chased by magic beasts.
After rescuing everyone and leading them out of the forest, we witnessed an extraordinary sight.
“What’s going on, everyone?”
Led by the King of the Armēdo Kingdom, with the Queen, soldiers, Miko, and Shinkan, as well as ordinary people, all with solemn expressions, headed towards the Dragon Forest to offer prayers.
“Oh, Elnea!”
The King, upon seeing me, hurried over.
“A natural disaster has occurred in the Dragon Forest. It’s likely that the Guardian Dragon of the Dragon Forest is angered. Please cooperate with us to appease the Guardian Dragon’s wrath, or we will perish.”
“Aaaah…”
There was one more problem remaining.
Of course, when the Dragon Forest was enveloped in a deep fog, followed by snow, and then swirling clouds of fire and smoke, and the people on the training excursion suddenly vanished, those who didn’t know the circumstances would perceive it as a world-ending anomaly.
The Mimicho race and we, feeling awkward, all exchanged glances and managed a wry smile.
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