The legend of the Crimson Demon clan started from Suqing

#262 - Innate Elf Warlock Holy Body

As a result, they departed before reaching a final conclusion. Although they wanted to continue discussing tactics, missing the operation time would be putting the cart before the horse and a waste of effort.

Zunzun said with some relief, "Honestly, I thought the meeting would last much longer."

"Who would hold such a long meeting?"

"You don't understand, Subaru. Some anime can have meetings that last for twelve episodes, which is a real headache."

"…It's a pity this is reality; time waits for no one."

To avoid such a situation, Natsuki Subaru suggested to Julius, "The spirits you brought can use magic to connect the consciousness of people within a certain range, right? Can that be used for conversations while moving?"

Faced with his suggestion, Julius was slightly surprised and then looked at Ferris.

"It's not Ferris."

"What do you mean it's not Ferris?"

Seeing the cat-eared man casually wave his hand, Natsuki Subaru curiously looked at Julius, who shook his head.

"…It's nothing. I thought you didn't know I was a Spirit Knight, so I was curious who told you."

"Oh, I see. This is the first time I've heard the term 'Spirit Knight' here."

Julius' self-proclaimed title of Spirit Knight was information Natsuki Subaru only learned in the final stages of the previous loop. However, opportunities to surprise him were rare, so he smugly acted mysterious, saying, "I'm more famous than you think."

"Oh?"

"However, realizing that you had a quasi-spirit secretly attach itself to me has nothing to do with your fame."

"—You saw through even that?"

Julius' face showed clear agitation. He probably couldn't imagine how the man before him, who was currently smirking—unable to hide his smug expression—had discovered his little trick.

He took a deep breath.

"Indeed, as you say, I had one of my buds follow you. Iya, come here."

With a wave of his hand, a red light flew out of Natsuki Subaru's hair. Weaker than firelight, warmer than light, she was one of the six quasi-spirits Julius had brought.

"The fire quasi-spirit, Iya. I asked her to attach herself to you."

"It's okay to do that, but at least say something. If something were to happen and she suddenly appeared, wouldn't that scare people?"

"There's no need to worry; my buds are excellent. And there shouldn't be such an opportunity."

"Spare me the show of affection."

Natsuki Subaru clicked his tongue.

Being given insurance without his permission, although it was well-intentioned, inevitably made him suspect it was for surveillance purposes.

Seeing this, Zunzun suddenly thought of something.

"Julius, do I have the aptitude to become a Spirit Mage? I left in a hurry last time and forgot to ask Emilia, so I wanted to ask… Wait, what's with that expression? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Don't you have any self-awareness?"

"…What?"

Noticing Julius' extremely strange gaze.

How rare, he was actually being told he lacked self-awareness. Although he often heard this phrase, it was almost never directed at him.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"How should I explain it… Never mind, I'll just demonstrate a little."

At Natsuki Subaru's urging, Julius had all six of his contracted quasi-spirits come out. Then, he noticed that they were all gathering in front of Zunzun, looking like they wanted to get close and be friendly but were too afraid.

"It's like this. That's also why I didn't let any of the quasi-spirits attach themselves to Lord Zunzun."

Julius sighed softly.

That's right.

Thinking about it carefully, he was nominally sent by Anastasia to protect Zunzun. In any case, the first priority was to protect Zunzun. If there were no hidden reasons, how could he only add insurance to Natsuki Subaru and ignore Zunzun?

"So, what does that mean?"

Zunzun actively reached out to touch the quasi-spirits. Seemingly because of his initiative, the little guys no longer hesitated and clung to him.

He could feel their joyful mood.

"Simply put, Lord Zunzun, you are particularly popular with spirits. If I didn't forcibly suppress them, they would gather around you like this. You could say… you are a natural Spirit Mage."

Julius couldn't help but sigh.

He had the blessing of enticing spirits, making it easy for spirits to like or be close to him, and he could even share their vision and talk with them.

Even so, he was still no match for Zunzun.

—It's the effect of the Divine Body.

Zunzun instantly sorted out all the causes and effects.

First of all, there was no doubt that he was liked by spirits because of the Divine Body. In that case, the reason why he was targeted by the Sloth Archbishop made sense. After all, that guy was an evil spirit who had lived for hundreds of years.

"But why are the spirits afraid of me?"

"That's because you rejected them, Lord Zunzun."

"What?"

Zunzun was dumbfounded. When had he ever shown any sign of rejection? He had only ignored their existence… Ah, that's it!

Natsuki Subaru clapped his hands.

"Zunzun is a flower on a high peak, liked by everyone, but because he's too aloof, no one dares to approach. But in reality, Zunzun is just not good at expressing his thoughts. Underneath the aloof facade is gentleness and shyness… That kind of feeling?"

"…That analogy is annoying. Also, are you treating me like the heroine in a romance story?"

He couldn't help but roll his eyes at the otaku who was lost in his two-dimensional fantasies. Although he was exaggerating, it was actually quite accurate. Zunzun scratched his head in distress.

At this moment, Natsuki Subaru seemed to think of something.

"Julius, under what circumstances would Iya be forcibly expelled from my body?"

"…I don't understand what you mean by that question."

"This is important. Depending on the situation, it may be directly related to capturing the Sin Archbishops."

Natsuki Subaru's straightforward words made Julius instantly abandon his confusion and answer directly.

"Having Iya attached to you can be said to be forming a temporary contract between you as a Spirit Knight and her. To forcibly dissolve it, unless you, the temporary contractor, reject her, or…"

"Or?"

"Or a formal contract is made that can override the temporary contract."

That was exactly the answer Natsuki Subaru wanted to hear at that moment.

He probably realized it while saying it. Julius' eyes also lit up with understanding, but he immediately shook his head in denial.

"How is that possible…"

"Eliminate all impossibilities, and what remains, however improbable, must be the truth!… That's what a famous detective once said."

Zunzun, who was playing with the spirits, suddenly said this.

There were already two cases.

Zunzun and Natsuki Subaru.

The only thing the two had in common was that they were both very popular with spirits; their spirit affinity was very high. In that case, the spare bodies—all the fingers—had the aptitude of a Spirit Mage.

Natsuki Subaru and Julius keenly realized the key to the matter.

"I say, in this situation, how can we resist being contracted?"

"Unless we sign a contract first."

"Which means."

"You and Lord Zunzun must both become Spirit Mages."

————

According to Julius, whether the contract is signed with a Great Spirit, a Spirit, a Quasi-Spirit, or a Micro-Spirit, as long as a contract is signed, they are a Spirit Mage. And a Spirit Mage who has signed a contract, regardless of whether the other party is a Spirit, a Great Spirit, or even one of the Four Great Spirits, cannot forcibly override the contract.

This is the rule of the spirit world.

Natsuki Subaru didn't care about what kind of spirit it was; as long as he signed a contract, it would be a success.

On the other hand, Zunzun had many choices.

"Whether it's a Quasi-Spirit or a Spirit, Lord Zunzun, you can choose freely, but I still strongly recommend you choose a Micro-Spirit."

"What's the reason?"

Looking at Julius' serious expression, Zunzun thoughtfully asked, but he asked in return:

"Lord Zunzun, do you know why Quasi-Spirits are called buds?"

"Hmm… Literally speaking, it's meant to express the meaning of a flower bud waiting to bloom, right?… I see, I understand."

He couldn't help but clap his hands.

Using flowers as a metaphor, Micro-Spirits are flower buds waiting to bloom, while Spirits are flowers that have already bloomed.

Micro-Spirits (buds) are weak, but they have strong plasticity, which means they can be pruned into the shape you like before they bloom.

And Spirits (flowers) that have already bloomed are completely fixed and have no possibility of pruning; they can only continue to grow along a predetermined path.

"In other words, rather than choosing a flower that has already bloomed and may not be to your liking, it's better to choose a bud that can still be pruned, so that they can be more in tune with you?"

"…Mikhail's right; you are indeed wise."

"Why did that old geezer's name come up?"

Zunzun clicked his tongue.

It was as if his credit had been stolen by someone who wasn't even there.

At the same time, he understood why Julius didn't contract with spirits. These quasi-spirits he was constantly nurturing would definitely become terrifyingly strong and undergo a transformation when the flowers (spirits) bloomed.

"Of course, this is just a suggestion. If you attract one of the Four Great Spirits, it doesn't matter if they're compatible or not."

Julius said jokingly.

After all, the Four Great Spirits were already standing at the pinnacle of strength, so there was no point in talking about compatibility.

Zunzun, however, had a different opinion.

Admittedly, the Four Great Spirits were strong, but there were also pitfalls—a typical example being Puck, a synonym for an internal war god but a soft shrimp in external battles. If it were a Great Spirit like Puck, he would rather not contract.

"It's decided; I want a Quasi-Spirit."

"Is that alright?"

"Of course."

If he wanted, he would probably be very popular with spirits—Zunzun was aware of this, but as Julius said, the flowers that had already bloomed had completely lost their plasticity.

Moreover, the Sloth Archbishop—the evil spirit—would not be able to occupy Zunzun's body due to the spirit contract, so there was no problem at all.

"Most importantly, Julius is doing it for my own good, isn't he?"

"…Hehe, you are absolutely right."

The purple-haired knight bowed gracefully.

Zunzun also noticed that this guy could clearly express his goodwill when facing other people, but he immediately changed when facing Natsuki Subaru… Maybe he was the flower on a high peak?