Another side
“Evia-sama, isn’t this a bit much?”
“…Did I push it a little too hard?”
Keiri asked Evia, the mastermind behind this operation, wondering how many people would believe that the scene unfolding before them was a marital spat.
An individual challenging natural disasters.
From the outside, it looked like such a scene was playing out.
Keiri, who considered herself quite capable, was slightly taken aback by how her best friend’s power had gone beyond imagination.
“I didn’t tell her to go this far, you know. Honestly, I thought Jiro would understand Suella’s abilities just by dealing with Tofam and wouldn’t object to her accompanying him.”
“So, this entire development was Suella’s own decision?”
“Hmm, does that mean Suella’s competitive spirit kicked in?”
“Probably, and on top of that, her desire to prove she’s not just a woman to be protected went into overdrive. That girl sometimes does unbelievable things.”
In fact, Keiri sensed that Suella was already starting to go a bit overboard when she summoned her second Great Spirit, Tempme.
Evia, Memoria, Himik, and Keiri had taken refuge within a barrier and were watching the battle.
“She probably had a lot pent up. In terms of holding back, Suella endured the most among us.”
“I can’t deny that.”
“Indeed.”
“That’s right.”
Suella, who should have been described with words like quiet and gentle, was unexpectedly causing a huge ruckus.
How many men could withstand that and openly challenge her to a fight?
“If she has any dissatisfaction, it’s with herself. That’s very Suella, but for her to explode all at once, even with an outlet, is unlike her.”
However, it was fine since the man who made it possible was standing right in front of her.
Still, as her best friend, Keiri felt this clash was a bit excessive.
Even before the battle, Suella’s demeanor had been quite focused on fighting.
“She’s probably testing her own abilities, though.”
“Himik, what do you mean?”
This point stuck with Keiri, but Himik seemed to grasp the reason.
Crossing her arms and nodding in agreement, Himik’s explanation left Memoria puzzled.
“She’s gained considerable skill through training with Evia and me, but Suella hasn’t fully grasped the extent of her abilities. There aren’t many enemies who can deploy such powerful Great Spirits. Evia can’t go all out because she’s pregnant, and I, well… I’m not good at holding back. Considering any unforeseen circumstances, Suella must have thought about it.”
“So, you’re saying Jiro-san is someone she can rely on to go all out?”
“Yes, she probably trusts him to be able to handle her full power. She can show him her abilities and also gauge her limits. It’s killing two birds with one stone.”
Perhaps it was because she was a merchant, not someone who made a living from combat.
However, after hearing Himik’s explanation, Memoria seemed to understand.
“Evia-sama, how many Great Spirits has she contracted? Jiro-kun is clearing them at an incredible pace.”
Suella herself understood her current abilities, but she had never pushed herself to her absolute limit.
This was because there was no one to face her.
During wartime, she couldn’t afford to injure anyone by carelessly using her powers.
In that regard, Jiro was known for his resilience and was on a higher level than Suella.
In a way, he was the perfect opponent.
It was a bold move made possible by trust.
Even from the women’s perspective, there were a few dangerous moments, but they didn’t seem flustered, trusting Jiro’s ability to handle them.
“I don’t know.”
“Eh?”
However, that was until Evia uttered this line.
She had already summoned two Great Spirits, Tofam and Tempme, and being able to contract even one was incredible.
This alone could be considered a great achievement for a Dark Elf.
But, knowing that Evia, a demon, was involved, Keiri prudently asked if there were any more powerful spirits involved.
The result was Evia’s nonchalant reply, “I’m not involved.”
“My involvement was only with Tofam. I was informed about Tempme, but I only know that she managed to contract it. At that point, there was still some time, and Suella said she was going to look for other possibilities. So, there’s a very real chance she’s hiding other cards up her sleeve that I don’t know about.”
“…Could her other leads be Muil-sama? No, given her connections, it could be something else entirely.”
“Speaking of which, several people asked me to make introductions as well.”
“Memoria too?”
“Yes, it was a merchant who seemed unrelated to spirits, but now that I think about it, it might have been for procuring items for negotiations with spirits.”
Even while raising a child, she hadn’t neglected her communication.
This was to build a network to help Jiro.
However, she was now using that network to confront Jiro.
“What kind of merchant was it? I’m having a really nasty image come to mind right now.”
“I believe it was clothing, detergent, and paintings.”
“Ah, that’s…”
Using that network to its full extent, Keiri roughly estimated the number of spirits Suella had contracted, and the items she had acquired seemed to fit the descriptions.
Keiri covered her eyes at this fact.
“You have some leads, don’t you?”
“Yes. I suspect, no, I’m about 80% sure she’s contracted three more Great Spirits.”
Three Great Spirits, plus Tofam and Tempme, makes five.
That’s an excessive number for an individual to contract.
“Recently, I also noticed she’d been using her personal savings to shop in Japan. Sometimes she bought foreign paintings through me, and I thought it was strange she didn’t display them in her room…”
“From what you’re saying, is one of them a spirit related to paintings?”
“Not exactly, Himik-san. More precisely, it’s a spirit of appreciation, a Great Spirit that favors paintings and art. Right, that spirit, who likes paintings and unknown things from other worlds, could certainly be contracted by showing her items from another world.”
“A Great Spirit with a collecting habit? And specializing in appreciation…”
“Yes, a spirit specialized in observation. While it can’t do future sight, it offers immense benefits in terms of dynamic vision and keen observation. …It was strange, now that I think about it. How did she track Jiro-kun’s movements in that dense fog before summoning Tofam? You normally can’t see anything, but with the Great Spirit of Appreciation Ai…”
“It can do that?”
“Yes, and I think the Great Spirit Ai was the first one she summoned.”
One of them was identified: the Great Spirit of Appreciation Ai.
The spirit itself was a collector of art, but its abilities were specialized in observation. It was a Great Spirit that provided immense benefits to sight.
It rendered all visual impairment-type magic ineffective and even countered stealth-type abilities.
Suella now possessed the ultimate aesthetic sense.
“I see, so are the clothing and detergent merchants Memoria mentioned related?”
“…I only have a hunch about that, but what if she contracted two at once, not just one?”
“What would happen?”
“Jiro-kun might lose.”
“What?”
Furthermore, Suella still had the possibility of contracting two more specialized Great Spirits.
“The clothing spirit is definitely the Great Spirit of Sewing, Need. A spirit specialized in needlework. This spirit is troublesome because it travels the continent and is relatively easy to encounter. However, it’s a perfectionist and dislikes being bound to individuals, so few have contracted it, to the point of becoming a legend.”
“I know about that. The military has discussed how to utilize it multiple times, but no one has managed to contract it. We’ve tried various approaches…”
The Great Spirit derived from the information about clothing was the Great Spirit of Sewing, Need. It was famous not only among Dark Elves but also among the common people. Evia herself had heard of this Great Spirit.
“She probably, no, she definitely used Earth’s sewing technology and fashion as leverage for negotiation. A clothing merchant would certainly know the whereabouts of the Great Spirit Need.”
The method of contracting that spirit was similar to that of the Great Spirit Ai. Great Spirits, due to their long lives, crave the stimulation of the unknown. Ordinary unknowns are not enough, but technology from another world is a different story.
“However, is it really that troublesome a spirit? Specializing in making clothes means it’s a spirit of craftsmanship, right? I can hardly imagine it attacking.”
The requirements are strict, but realistically achievable. Memoria thought that perhaps the spirit’s vigilance was low due to its specialization.
“You’re naive, Memoria. Great Spirit-class sewing can stitch objects into space. And in the blink of an eye, as you pass by.”
“…That’s…”
Himik immediately corrected this misconception. Having fought alongside and against Great Spirits when she accompanied a hero in the past, she knew that beings called Great Spirits were all troublesome, to say the least.
Upon hearing the word “sewing,” Himik imagined what it could do, leaving Memoria speechless.
“Furthermore, the Great Spirit Need’s clothes are indestructible and stain-proof, so Suella’s armor might be sturdier than ordinary armor and could even block Jiro-kun’s slashes.”
“So, it’s a top-class restraint type, and also a top-class artisan.”
“That’s right.”
As Himik’s prediction was added, Keiri explained, and Evia nodded, acknowledging its high performance.
Tofam, the Great Spirit of Agriculture, capable of being used like a fortress.
Tempme, the Great Spirit of Resort Management, which takes the form of a large cloud and can attack with weather.
Ai, the Great Spirit of Appreciation, a collector of art, specialized in observation.
And following them, Need, the Great Spirit of Sewing, specialized in creating clothes.
“…They’re all perfectly non-combat Great Spirits.”
“Most of the famous fire or water Great Spirits, especially the ancient classes, are held by the elders. It’s unforgivable for the clan to let them go. Even the Balrog Suella contracted is considered young among Great Spirits.”
Looking at the lineup again, Keiri couldn’t help but wonder if this was how she intended to fight.
Evia couldn’t help but murmur, and Keiri understood.
It was amazing that they were all ancient-class Great Spirits, and that Suella was fighting on par with one of the strongest generals of the Demon Lord’s Army using them.
The fact that contracting Great Spirits itself is difficult is easily forgotten.
“Besides, it’s strange that Suella can contract so many Great Spirits, even if she’s good at it. Normally, the price for a contract would be something immense. But she…”
“With knowledge from another world, that’s all it took to resolve it. Tofam was the same. The condition for contracting him was a place of peace, a land to live safely in another world. A grace period of three hundred years. We have to prepare it within that time. That was the condition. When I bridged the gap, I showed him videos from Earth.”
However, the current Demon Lord’s Army could present conditions that overturned that.
This was probably why the interaction with the world was called a turning point in the era.
Today’s Word: Marital spats look difficult to get involved in from the outside.
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