We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
A bad feeling!?
“Um, you are already surrounded. Come out quietly without resisting!”
“Um, if you resist, you’ll be punished?”
“Punishment, punishment.”
Alicia-chan shouts towards the Spirits who have taken refuge in a giant plant cocoon. Beside her, Priscilla-chan and Ares-chan are making a commotion.
But you’re the ones who should be quiet, you know?
However, it is difficult to resolve the disturbance of the Spirits without the cooperation of the Mimicho Race. Therefore, I agonize between practical benefit and anxiety.
Ignoring me, who was suffering, the situation began to move mercilessly.
“A beautiful shining Dragon-sama.”
“We caught it together, didn’t we?”
“It was fun.”
“It was interesting.”
“Dragon-sama is big and wonderful.”
“So gentle, it heals us.”
“Shining Dragon-sama is everyone’s treasure.”
The Spirits, who show resistance to Alicia-chan’s warnings, say such things one after another from the depths of the cocoon.
Apparently, because Lord Yugra, who shone with a golden color, was beautiful, the Spirits wanted to capture him and make him their treasure.
Humans are captivated by beautiful jewelry, exquisite paintings, and expensive valuables, but perhaps Spirits also like sparkling existences?
Still, even so, capturing Lord Yugra and trapping him in a cocoon seems a bit much.
“Next, let’s capture that boy and make him dance.”
“And let’s tempt the little girl and become friends.”
“That’s right, let’s make the Spirit Tree our ally?”
The Spirits began to go wild.
It seems that the successful example of capturing the splendid Winged Dragon, Lord Yugra, has pushed them in a bad direction.
Even though we have a Sage and the Spirit Tree Spirit here, the Spirits began to behave as if the world were theirs to command.
“E-Elnea-kun!”
Friel screams.
Shrillness, branches and vines extend from the surrounding trees and begin to approach our feet.
“Um, bad children will be punished!”
However, the extended branches and vines are repelled without us having to do anything.
It was Alicia-chan, of course, who stopped the Spirits’ wicked schemes.
“Fine. I, Alicia, will make the over-mischievous Spirits understand properly.”
“Wah, Older Sister!”
Priscilla-chan, looking up at the motivated Alicia-chan, her eyes sparkle.
And Alicia-chan, who was greatly expected by her younger sister, began to refine her Spirit Power with a snort.
“Respond to my summon.”
Then, suddenly, a charming gentleman appeared before us.
The gentleman, who bowed elegantly to Alicia-chan, held a large fan shaped like a Hachinohe leaf in his hand.
Gulp.
My bad feeling intensified.
“You know, this child is my Older Sister’s Spirit.”
Priscilla-chan boasts as if it were her own, to Friel and the others who are surprised by the sudden appearance of the gentleman.
Ignoring Priscilla-chan and Friel, the gentleman’s Spirit moved.
“Hee, go!”
He swings the large Hachinohe leaf widely to the left and right.
Then, a mysterious wind swept through the Paradise forest.
“Kyaa!”
“Waaah!”
Rustle, rustle, the trees and flowers sway.
However, it wasn’t a strong wind. Rather, it was a pleasant wind, like one blowing through a spring meadow.
But for the Spirits who had fled into the plant cocoon, it seemed to have an unexpected power.
The gentleman’s Spirit swings the Hachinohe leaf to the right and left. Then, the wind that blows through the plant cocoon carries the Spirits, who should have been hiding deep inside, and blows them away.
Real existences like branches and vines have no effect on the immaterial Spirits. That is why the wind is forcibly blowing the Spirits out of the cocoon.
“Haa, haa.”
The gentleman’s Spirit continues to fan the Hachinohe leaf vigorously. Each time, the Spirits are blown away.
“Waoooh!”
“Flying, flying!”
“Nyaa!”
Huh!
Priscilla-chan, Ares-chan, and Nimia were blown away too!
The three, floating weightlessly on the gentle wind, soared high above our heads.
And they began to circle around the plant cocoon.
Before we knew it, the wind whipped up by the gentleman’s Spirit had begun to form a large vortex that enveloped the entire forest, centered on the plant cocoon.
“Alicia-chan, Priscilla-chan and the others are being blown away too!”
“E-Elneaahhh!”
“Nuoooh!?”
“Kyaaa!”
“Gyaaaah!”
What!
Friel and the three attendants are about to be blown away too!
Friel and his group desperately clung to the branches and vines that had tried to attack us until just moments ago, resisting being blown away.
“Um, are there any bad children around!”
You are the bad child!
As expected of Priscilla-chan’s older sister.
The actions taken with good intentions have, before I knew it, become the cause of the disturbance.
Priscilla-chan and the others, dancing in the wind, seem to be enjoying themselves, but everyone else is greatly inconvenienced.
…Huh?
Everyone else?
Friel and the three attendants of the Dragon Race are clinging to branches and vines to avoid being blown away by the wind.
However, I am not affected by the wind at all, and Sefina-san is standing calmly, watching the surrounding situation with great interest.
“Sefina-san, aren’t you going to be blown away by the wind?”
“Oh, Elnea-kun, you don’t seem to be affected either though?”
“Um, I am…”
“Gonna get blown away? Wanna get blown away together?”
On my right hip, Spirit Tree-chan sways the leaves at the tip of her sword with a hum.
It’s thanks to Spirit Tree-chan that I’m not affected by the gentleman’s Spirit.
Even with the Spirit Magic used by Alicia-chan, it seems that Spirit Tree-chan cannot be affected.
Well, since Spirit Tree-chan herself wants to fly around like Priscilla-chan and the others, it’s uncertain how long I’ll be safe.
When I explain, Sefina-san nods, “I see.”
“Then, Sefina-san?”
While I, who am armed with the Spirit Tree Wooden Sword, am understandable, the reason Sefina-san is not blown away is mysterious. Then, Sefina-san looks around and says something terrifying.
“Well, they are manipulating the flow of the surrounding magic and neutralizing it, or rather, rewriting it so that it doesn’t affect me.”
“…Huh?”
Could it be that Sefina-san is no ordinary person!?
Though she just brushed it off. The flow of surrounding magic, does that mean Spirit Arts?
And it’s Spirit Arts used by the Spirit of the southern sage.
Of course, the gentleman’s Spirit might not be using its full power.
But to be able to deflect the Arts used by other races at first glance…
“Fufufu. Because, isn’t it the same as the magic of the Demon Race? If you don’t see through magic the moment you receive it, it will become a big problem, won’t it?”
“Well, that’s true.”
Sefina-san, who even deflected the magic of the High-ranking Demon Ryzen. Perhaps it’s possible for her to deal with Spirit Arts skillfully as well.
“Um, amazing! Are you perhaps a genius?”
Alicia-chan, though surprised that her Spirit Arts were being deflected, praised me honestly.
Praise from the Sage made Sefina-san smile happily.
However, while the heartwarming situation was limited to a few people, the others were in a dire situation.
“Fufufu!”
“Waaah!”
“Yahoo!”
Is it my imagination?
The Spirits, who were crying out in screams just moments ago, are now starting to cheer for some reason?
I search for their presence again. And then, something unexpected was happening.
The Spirits who had escaped into the cocoon were still being blown away by the wind whipped up by the Hachinohe leaf. However, what happens after that is the problem.
Once blown away and sent to the front of the forest by the swirling wind currents, the Spirits return to the cocoon from the sky and the ground. And then they are blown away again by the wind.
The wind whipped up by the gentleman’s Spirit only has the effect of blowing away the Spirits. As a result, the wind that simply blows them away has become a perfect game for the Spirits.
“Next, let’s go further.”
“Let’s fly with a ‘whoosh’.”
“Uhuhu!”
“Alicia-chan, your magic isn’t having any effect!”
“Go, go, everyone fly away!”
“Alicia-chan is enjoying herself too!”
This is exactly what you call a case of the cart before the horse.
We are trying to suppress the Spirits who are resisting, but before we know it, we are playing with them.
Priscilla-chan and the others are also happily flying around the cocoon.
“Fufufu. Did Elnea-kun’s bad feeling come true?”
Sefina-san, who cannot sense the presence of the Spirits, saw my troubled look and the rampant behavior of the Mimicho sisters and seemed to think it was not a good situation.
As Sefina-san said, it has indeed turned into a big commotion, and I want to sigh.
But, I wonder…
“Uuuh, I want to float in the air too! No, wait!”
Before I knew it, I was smiling, watching Priscilla-chan and the others flying in the air, buffeted by the wind.
And Sefina-san, instead of a troubled expression, was smiling happily.
“To be honest, it might actually be fun. It’s not very effective on the Spirits, and the commotion is getting bigger, but around us, the feeling of happiness is growing stronger.”
“A feeling of happiness?”
I can read the presence of the Spirits and the forest better than Sefina-san.
When I probe their presence, I can clearly see the Spirits being blown away by the wind and returning to the commotion. And then they are blown away again cheerfully.
The wind that blew away the Spirits spreads throughout the forest, gently caressing the trees and flowers.
The plants sway comfortably, receiving the wind imbued with Alicia-chan’s Spirit Power.
It’s easy to see this situation, where we are not resolving the matter by only looking at the immediate problem, as a “successful bad premonition.” But perhaps that is a shallow judgment.
Because no one is sad, and no one is hurt.
Well, some people are in a dire situation, and Lord Yugra has still not been rescued.
But this is certainly not a bad thing, is it?
“Hey, hey, Alicia-chan. That plant cocoon is formed by the Spirits’ magic, isn’t it?”
I ask Alicia-chan for confirmation. Then, Alicia-chan smiles sweetly and nods, “Yes.”
“I see. Then…”
I urge Sefina-san and take action to approach the cocoon.
“Yaho!”
“Wahahaha!”
“Fun!”
However, there was no interference from the Spirits towards me and Sefina-san who were approaching.
It seems the Spirits find playing in the wind more fun than approaching the cocoon.
Without any resistance, Sefina-san and I reached the giant cocoon created by the plants.
“Sefina-san, please help me?”
“Before that, Elnea-kun. Could you explain the current situation a little more?”
To Sefina-san, who looks a little troubled, I explain the surrounding situation and the opportunity that arose from it.
“To begin with. Spirits originally have no desire or hobby to collect things, do they?”
The Spirits captured golden Lord Yugra because he was beautiful in the cocoon. But thinking about it carefully, perhaps the Spirits found the process of capturing him more enjoyable than the desire to own him.
If that’s the case, once they actually capture him, their desire for possession will wane. And then, Alicia-chan proposed a new fun activity.
“In other words, the Spirits are already losing interest in Lord Yugra and are absorbed in the new game in front of them?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
I decide to test this by asking the surrounding Spirits, who are returning and being blown away.
“Hey, hey, Spirits. Please return Lord Yugra, okay? See. Isn’t playing and experiencing things together more fun than just owning and looking at beautiful things?”
“Yes, it’s fun.”
“Yeah, it’s interesting.”
“I like sparkling things, but I prefer lively things.”
As expected, the Spirits had found their next game and were engrossed in it.
Therefore, they are no longer fixated on Lord Yugra.
So, using the opportunity created by Alicia-chan, Sefina-san and I move to rescue Lord Yugra.
I reach out to the plants that form the cocoon.
When I touch it, apart from the natural life force, I can feel the flow of Spirit Power.
“Sefina-san, you should be able to feel it. If you remove the influence of the Spirits’ power flowing into the cocoon and untangle the branches and vines, we should be able to rescue Lord Yugra.”
“It looks like it will be quite a strenuous task, but is that our role?”
The Spirits have found a new game and are engrossed in it.
Moreover, the reckless behavior of Alicia-chan and Priscilla-chan has effectively spurred on the Spirits’ cheerful mood.
Sefina-san and I carefully untangle the branches and vines one by one.
The giant plant cocoon is made of hundreds of vines, branches, and flowers. The task of patiently untangling them seems to be difficult.
However, this is the best solution where no one gets hurt.
We can forcibly eliminate the Spirits.
We can forcibly destroy the cocoon with a white sword or Dragon Arts.
But with such brute force, someone would certainly be saddened or hurt.
At first, as Sefina-san said, I felt like my bad premonition had come true.
However, thanks to being able to observe the Spirits’ fun aura and the innocent figures of Priscilla-chan and the others without prejudice, I was able to avoid making the wrong choice.
Perhaps this is thanks to Madrine-sama.
I just learned from Madrine-sama’s time.
That I must not be bound by arbitrary prejudices and must see the other party clearly.
As I manipulate the flow of Spirit Power and peel off the vines, they come apart with ease.
As I dismantle the cocoon, I vow to thank Alicia-chan properly once Lord Yugra is rescued.
