Chapter 173 - Damn Reincarnation

Competition

At the center of the main family's forest lay an artificial lake completed a few weeks earlier. It was near the elven village, and close to the World Tree sapling as well. Leaving the elves' warm welcome behind him, Eugene approached the lake.

“Hey there.”

The greeting came with a broad grin. Melkith El-Hayah, the White Tower Master, sat in the middle of the lake, waving at Eugene. She had been staying in the forest for three days now, using the elves' lessons as an excuse.

Eugene narrowed his eyes at her friendly greeting. After what Carmen had told him earlier, he had braced himself for the worst. Fortunately, Melkith was properly dressed.

“Why the long face? Don't tell me you got your ass kicked in the competition?”

“As if that would happen.”

“Right, of course not. The elves told me. You took part in the competition against the White Dragon Knights, didn't you? The White Lion Knights might have lost, but there's no way you did.”

Chuckling, Melkith rose to her feet on the lake. The water was so clear it seemed transparent, and each of her steps sent tiny ripples across it.

“It sounds like you won the competition too. Nothing but good news for Lionheart... So why does our illustrious young master look so thoroughly dis—”

“Why were you sitting naked on the lake?”

Eugene blurted out the question.

Melkith smoothly closed her mouth, then stared at Eugene's face for a moment. A little turmoil stirred in her head... Shame! She did not let it show. Shame only became embarrassing enough to make you tear your hair out when you showed it and let someone else notice.

“... It was training.”

“What kind of ridiculous training is that?”

“Listen, little boy. You clearly don't know much about spirit arts. To commune more deeply with spirits...”

“I told you that was a superstition that doesn't do anything.”

“... You really don't know anything, do you? A very interesting paper was once submitted to Aroth's magical society.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“Hear me out. This was what the paper said. An alchemist conducted a clinical trial while developing a new magical drug. He explained exactly what his new drug did to the test subjects, then administered it.”

“And?”

“After taking it for a set period, the subjects reported that the magical drug had produced definite results.”

“Well, if they took a drug, of course it would kick in.”

“Exactly! Except the drugs that alchemist gave them were actually just water, with a faint taste and the sort of color you'd expect from a magical drug. They didn't cause any changes at all.”

“...”

“In other words, even if something doesn't actually do anything, psychological factors and belief can combine to produce a definite effect. That's the placebo effect! Isn't it fascinating? Changes happen depending on your mindset, even without hypnotic magic... You've experienced the effects of strong autosuggestion a few times yourself, haven't you?”

“Yes... Well...”

“I can do it. I can do it! ... Even if it doesn't actually do anything, belief is what matters.”

“Right...”

Eugene nodded with an uneasy expression. So Melkith was sticking to that utterly useless superstition... using this placebo business as her justification. But did that whatever-it-was effect still work when you already knew it was a superstition?

“... So, has it done you any good?”

“Before asking that question, I'd like you to remind yourself who I am. My name is Melkith El-Hayah. I am the greatest spirit summoner in history.”

“Yes. The White Tower's Spirit Princess.”

“Aaaagh!”

Melkith clapped her hands over her ears and screamed at Eugene's reply. Whatever else she could endure, the shame of that nickname from her youthful days was too much.

“Anyway, if you're going to meditate naked again... please, um... make sure there's no one around first.”

“I-I always keep watch, you know! Who exactly saw me meditating, anyway?”

“Lady Carmen.”

“Of all people...!”

“Better than a man seeing you.”

“That woman must have laughed at me...! What did she say about me?”

“She didn't say much. She just seemed very... uh... uncomfortable.”

As he spoke, Eugene cast a spell, enclosing himself in a transparent bubble of air. Melkith narrowed her eyes at the sight.

“It really is strange.”

“What is?”

“I've been coming and going from this forest too, training in spirit arts as diligently as I did in my younger days. But the spirits of the World Tree won't dwell in me the way they do in you.”

Eugene chose not to answer her wistful muttering. He couldn't explain exactly why the spirits of the World Tree had come to dwell in his body either.

Was it because the White Flame Formula was special? Or because he had an innate gift for manipulating mana? The unexpected qualities of the Ring Flame Formula, which incorporated the Eternal Circle? Akasha, made using a dragon heart, and the understanding of magic he had gained from it? The affinity for spirits he had acquired through his contract with Tempest, the Wind Spirit King?

All of those seemed plausible. The lightning flame merging with the spirits of the World Tree and dissolving into his mana might have been a special benefit brought about by all those factors working together.

'... Perhaps... it could be a special blessing.'

Eugene considered that another possible factor. He had visited the elves' domain deep within the Great Forest of Samar. He had seen the deserted elven village and the World Tree towering in the middle of the lake. He had seen the elves who would be sleeping inside it—and Senya, sealed away with wounds that should have killed her, her life sustained by her connection to the World Tree.

There, Eugene had experienced a true miracle. Anise, connected to Kristina, had spread eight wings. Thanks to the miracle she performed, Eugene had met Senya in the realm of consciousness.

'... A blessing of the spirits... Did Anise give it to me, or was it the World Tree?'

He didn't know the exact reason, but the lightning flame dissolving into his mana certainly qualified as a special benefit.

“Don't follow me.”

“I'm not going to. Why would I follow you when all it would do is frustrate me?”

Melkith snapped back and stepped away.

“... I've told you plenty of times, but that cloak is mine. You have six years left. If you get it wet, I'll...!”

Leaving Melkith conspicuously shaking both clenched fists behind him, Eugene checked his surroundings and strode out onto the lake. His feet made not even the smallest ripple on the water, and before long he stood at roughly its center.

“Can you swim, Sir Eugene?”

Mer peeked out of the cloak. Seeing her mischievous expression, Eugene knew what she was thinking and chuckled.

-The sea route to Helmuth was very, very treacherous. Dark clouds filled the sky above the sea, hiding the sun, and the fierce waves and storms never stopped.

Hamel, who had only just joined the companions, was known even among mercenaries for his foul temper and ferocity. But even Hamel couldn't run wild as he pleased on those treacherous seas.

Why? Because Hamel couldn't swim. Every day, they fought off attacking demonic beasts! Aaaah! Hamel screamed as he fell into the sea. It couldn't be helped. Back then, Hamel was so weak and incompetent that it was impossible to imagine him as one of the Hero's companions!

Help me, Senya!

Floundering in the sea, Hamel called out to Senya the Wise...

“I'm a good swimmer.”

“I know you're only saying that because you're embarrassed.”

“No, really. Most of what's in that fairy tale... well... is a clever mixture of truth and lies. Senya was the one who fell into the sea, not me.”

“... What?”

Mer's eyes went wide.

“She was flying around over the sea, showing off, when a black mage hiding below attacked her and made her mana backflow. She splashed into the sea... and started screaming like an idiot. 'Hamel, Hamel! Save me!'”

In reality, she hadn't screamed anything of the sort. Senya had already lost consciousness by the time she fell into the sea. If Hamel hadn't been nearby and dived in after her, a whirlpool would have torn her body to shreds.

... That was the truth, but Eugene lied without batting an eye. That damned Senya had been the first to pin her own humiliation on an innocent Hamel. As Hamel's reincarnation, Eugene had every right to take revenge.

“Think about it. Wouldn't it be strange for Senya to know how to swim when she grew up in a forest far from the sea?”

“... L-Lady Senya can do anything.”

“Yeah, no. There were loads of things Senya couldn't do. She couldn't swim or sew, and she wasn't much of a cook either. Did you know? Even Vermouth gave her cooking a disapproving look a few times.”

It hadn't actually been that bad. She was the worst cook among the companions, true, but her food was still reasonably edible. But what did that matter? While Hamel was gone, Senya had written whatever she pleased in that fairy tale and spread it throughout the world. This was all payback she thoroughly deserved.

“Do you know how ridiculous Senya looked when I pulled her out of the sea? She was soaked from head to toe in salty water...”

“D...”

Mer's lips trembled.

“... D-Did... did you give her mouth-to-mouth?”

“What are you talking about...?”

“She fell into the sea... so she must have s-swallowed water, and stopped breathing, right? So... so you must have given her mouth-to-mouth...”

Mer's cheeks flushed red.

“... I didn't give her mouth-to-mouth... I did wipe away the blood pouring out of both her nostrils.”

Eugene cleared his throat as he answered. Mouth-to-mouth...! He couldn't possibly lie about that. ... What would he even gain from telling a lie like that? In that respect, he couldn't understand Senya.

[“Senya. I loved you.”]

Why had she written that complete bullshit at the end of the fairy tale...? No, perhaps Anise had written that line. Eugene was certain that damned fairy tale was a joint effort by Senya and Anise.

While Mer squealed, letting her imagination run wild, the air bubble surrounding Eugene began to sink slowly beneath the surface. And so he descended into the lake.

The lake had been created with Melkith's help, widening and deepening an existing lake. The work had been included in the longstanding plans to develop the main family's forest, but thanks to the assistance of Melkith, who was contracted with the Earth Spirit King, the forest's development had been completed far ahead of schedule.

Eugene continued descending through the artificial lake, passing various fish swimming in the water.

At the bottom of the lake was a small underwater cave leading somewhere beyond. Melkith hadn't made this cave. When she had excavated the lakebed with the Earth Spirit King's help and compacted the earth to finish the lake, the “roots” that had burrowed beneath the forest had met the lakebed.

Eugene reached toward the tangled roots.

CRACKLE!

His mana kindled a spark inside the air bubble. Without any intention on his part, the lightning flame infused into his mana flowed out of the bubble.

... The roots writhed and parted, revealing an entrance large enough for a person to pass through.

Even the people of the main family didn't know this place existed. In the first place, Eugene was the only one who could open the cave's entrance. Melkith had been the first to discover the cave, but even she couldn't open it.

“... We've been here several times already, but it's such a mysterious place.”

Mer peeked out of the cloak and looked up. The passage was full of water, and the ceiling directly overhead consisted of tree roots rather than earth or rock. Continuing along it took them all the way beyond the lake, to a place beneath the forest.

Once he stepped onto dry ground, Eugene popped the air bubble. Earth and roots of various kinds intertwined in an intricate space, a place formed by the World Tree's roots reaching beneath the forest.

... This place also touched Lionheart's spirit vein. Just as Tempest had once said, the World Tree's roots had connected to the artificial spirit vein Vermouth created. As a result, Lionheart's spirit vein now held far more mana than before, and mana so dense that the entire forest felt like a spirit vein drifted throughout it.

This underground cave was filled with mana denser and purer than that of either the forest or Lionheart's spirit vein. Spirits of the World Tree mingled with it as well. Eugene could part the roots and enter the cave because the lightning flame dissolved in his mana—the spirits of the World Tree—resonated with the other spirits.

“Do you think it'll work today?”

“Probably not.”

With that answer, Eugene sat in the center of the cave. He hadn't even begun circulating the White Flame Formula, yet the spirits of the World Tree mingled with the mana began creeping toward him. They were mischievous, ill-tempered spirits, just like the ones roaming the forest. They wouldn't come even when he reached out and called to them, yet they always hovered nearby, as though leaving him some room for hope.

'Even if they're spirits of the World Tree, they're still primal spirits without selves of their own.'

In other words, their movements weren't playful mischief.

Which meant...

'I can't control them as I please.'

Ever since his previous life, he had never encountered any major difficulties manipulating mana.

Spirits were considered another form of mana. The World Tree, however, was so spiritually powerful that the elves worshipped it, and the spirits dwelling within it were independent beings that even other Spirit Kings could not control.

It was impossible from the outset for Eugene to control spirits that even a Spirit King couldn't command. But what if he sought their help rather than control? What if he wanted harmony and unity rather than submission?

A gentle flame flared around Eugene. Closing his eyes, he sensed the spirits of the World Tree and the mana together. The spirit vein Vermouth had created... The mana flowing from it. The spirits dwelling in the World Tree that had taken root in the forest.

Eugene's White Flame Formula was currently at five stars.

*'It won't happen today, but...'

Eugene was certain that before long, he would surpass five stars and reach the sixth.