3-3: You’re Not A Familiar?

TL: Krrizis

Editor: Momielxai

First published on Ainushi

 

 

 

That very night, although I would be writing in my diary at this time after putting Jill to bed like usual, I was summoned by Leonard-sama. More precisely, Leonard-sama came knocking at my door.  

 

As I was dressed in my nightgown with a large warm shawl wrapped around my top, I hesitated to follow Leonard-sama dressed in that. But it would be poor of me to wake Jill up from her sleep because of the commotion from changing my clothes. So inevitably, I left without doing so.

 

The place he led me to was his workspace.

 

「Here」

 

As soon as I set down on the sofa, he presented to me several documents. When I took it and glance at a sheet, the very first thing that caught my eye was the name「Giselle Croze」.

 

「What’s this?」

「It’s a summary of Jill’s personal history」

「Jill’s real name is Giselle?」

 

Leonard-sama nodded his head at my question. ‘Jill’ was just a pet name. All things considered, why was he showing this to me now? When I expressed my discomfort, Leonard-sama opened his mouth.

 

「I thought it’ll be fine even if I told you. I’m sure once you’ve learned the truth, you’ll continue to be Jill’s mother」

 

For now, as he told me to read everything, I looked over them.

 

Born to a viscount family, she was a noble. That’s why she has mastered etiquette. However, because she had a sickly twin older brother who was the heir to the family, her parents had never paid any attention to her since she was born. Alas! Even in this world, twins were thought of as ominous. I don’t really know many that think that way though. So, they preferred their son, the heir. Yup, how I’ll like to slap them.  

 

「They are a failure as parents」

「So you agree?」

 

Leonard-sama looked relieved as I grumbled. Huh? Wouldn’t you usually consider this immoral? Why should there be a distinction amongst the children?

 

When I continued reading, I found out that Jill started to show signs of her powerful mana around the age of three and ended up being shut deeper inside the mansion.  

 

In those three years, her mana went out of control several times hurting people but her father would sweep it under the rug every time. But eventually, it became impossible to keep these incidents hidden and the court magicians learned of Jill’s existence, and came to take custody of her. However, her parents continued to feign ignorance for a while.

 

Eventually, it was too expansive to keep Jill’s magic under control as normal magicians had to work around the clock to prevent it from running wild. Hence, they entrusted her to the foremost magician, Leonard-sama.   

 

The rest is what I learned along the way. Well then, there’s just one more thing.

 

「Was she not even fed properly by her previous family? She’s too thin」

 

Furthermore, she looked very starved. When I looked at Leonard-sama, he shook his head.

 

「It seems they only gave her the bare minimum. On top of barely getting any food, she also didn’t get enough sunlight which slowed her growth」

 

Even though Leonard-sama’s reply angered me further, I scanned the rest of the information.  

 

By the time I finished reading the documents till the end, I smelled a nice aroma in the air.

 

「Tea」

「Oh…Thank you」

 

When I raised my head, Leonard-sama handed me a steaming cup of tea. Eh? Ah! Leonard-sama made it!? Aaargh, that’s supposed to be my job!

 

Feeling guilty, I received it and I smelled an aroma that was new to me.  

 

「What’s this?」

「Have you never had elderberry tea before?」

「No, this is my first time having it」

 

Timidly, I tried it. Not only did it tasted great, I felt a wondrous acidity spread in my mouth. Even so, it was delicious.

 

I felt my stiff body relaxing.

 

「It’s delicious」

「I’m glad to hear that」

 

Leonard-sama sat in the opposite chair, smiling while drinking the same tea. And then, all of a sudden his expression changed.

 

「What do you think of Jill?」

「Huh? I love her」

 

When I promptly answered, Leonard-sama stared at me wide-eyed.

 

I don’t understand what he might have been thinking but it was impossible for me to hate her after reading that. Instead, it makes me want to cling to her and spoil her more than anything. As long as it’s good for her.  

 

But I just want to hold her tight and keep telling her how much I love her. When I said that, Leonard-sama smiled again.

 

「That’s a relief」

「Just what were you worried about?」

 

If that was all it took to get me flustered, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place. There was always a chance of some incident caused by mana after all.

 

「Mm. Sorry. But, I’m glad」

「Honestly!」

 

People like me with no mana often feel nauseous and collapse from a headache around people with strong mana. Previously when I worked with some magicians, they had to temporarily erect a barrier around me lest I come into contact with mana. Though now, I’m being protected from mana by the magic divested into the bracelet that Leonard-sama gave me the other day. As I pondered over it, Leonard-sama spoke to me.  

 

「Also, I’ll be on leave tomorrow」

「Is that so?」

 

I’m fine with it but will it be alright with work?

 

「There’s a few things I need to do at home and Milis is coming home」

「Oh, I see. May I ask, who is Milis-san?」

 

Well, I vaguely anticipated it to be Leonard-sama’s contracted spirit.

 

But judging from Sid-san’s previous behavior and the way Leonard-sama spoke, that was very likely.

 

「Milis is a water spirit. Very strong-willed and strict on the same gender」

「So spirits have genders too?」

「Normally, spirits are born from places where mana gathers so they have no gender. However, the stronger ones amongst the spirits gain a gender. If spirits of different gender get together, an even stronger spirit will be born from their union. When spirits join together on the night of a full moon and offer a prayer, a new spirit will be born. No one has actually seen it, so we don’t know if it’s true but Milis was apparently born that way」

「I see」

「Mm. Milis can control not just water but ice too. Spirits born from nature cannot control two elements」

 

  It’s really complicated. Even if we label them as spirits, they’re vastly different…  

 

「So, I’m guessing that Milis-san is a girl?」

「You figured it out?」

 

No, that’s just cause Amdo-san had wondered whether Milis-san knew if Jill and I were living here now. If she’s strict on the same gender, then I can only conclude she’s a female.  

 

「She might come at you or Jill」

「I’m sorry for troubling you. Does that mean that Milis-san doesn’t know that we’re staying here?」

「Mm」

 

So he hasn’t informed her. I could only let out a sigh when Leonard-sama nodded his head. I’ll be fine but I feel more reassured if Leonard-sama was by Jill’s side.

 

Oh, that reminds me. There’s just one more question I have right now.

 

「Are there any more spirits contracted to you, Leonard-sama?」

「No, just three. The wind spirit Amdo, the water spirit Milis and the dark spirit Sid」

 

I think I just heard something I shouldn’t have …

 

「Sid is … a dark spirit?」

「Mm. You didn’t know?」

「Sid-san, himself, didn’t really want to talk about it…」

「… Hmm」

 

Among the many attributes, there are six great spirits that are very popular and highly powerful – fire, water, wind, earth, light and dark spirits. Light and dark are the rarest, and rarely make an appearance in front of humans. By the way, there are other elements besides the six like snow, ice and lightning.  

 

Humans can only use the elements of the six great spirits. However, there are rarely many who possess the same light and dark attribute. There are many stories in this world where the dark attribute is tied to the villain, which is why people don’t have a good impression of it. I wondered if Sid-san thought if he told me he was a dark spirit, I would be afraid of him.   

 

Oh, as to why I know about this, I read several books on spirits when I was dispatched to a mansion previously.

 

「As he’s dark, does that mean he’s really strong and highly-ranked among the spirits?」

「Mm」

「Then, I can only recognize Sid-san as nothing more than an impressive spirit. If there was no darkness, we would never be able to sleep peacefully at night. That’s how it is」

 

Really, Sid-san. There was no need for you to be so worried about this.

 

「Oh, but please keep the fact that I learned this a secret」

「Mm」

 

Leonard-sama nodded his head in approval. I’ll just pretend not to know anything until the day Sid decides to tell me about it himself.

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