76 – Talent and Jealousy

In the beginning, there were Gods.

Their power was absolute,

their prestige widely known,

and their numbers considerable.

However, that didn’t necessarily mean

they were perfect beings.

They were indolent,

arrogant and overbearing,

and slothful.

Due to their negligence,

the world gradually began to crumble.

The earth was withering in real time,

flowing rivers dried up, leaving only sand behind,

and instead of the warm morning sun, storms raged.

Could she not bear to witness it?

At that time, the Goddess of Life,

the mother of all living things,

watched and grieved.

And then, a scheme is hatched.

To create children who manage the world

that the gods left unattended.

And so they are made.

Children of fire to offer warm solace to the world.

Children of wind to summon a refreshing breeze.

Children of water to quench the thirst of droughts.

Children of earth to make the land bountiful.

These children cultivated the world beautifully.

Much better, and with greater grace, than the other gods.

No one foresaw that this would become a problem.

Many of the gods rose up in anger.

Against the actions of these children.

Saying that they, mere mortals, were meddling

in their affairs while they existed right here.

But the children only felt wronged.

Was it not the same as being scolded for touching

another’s belongings after cleaning up their trash?

They voiced their grievances,

but such a thing could never work on arrogant gods.

They only spouted nonsense about not understanding

their great will and tried to only pursue their faults.

With nearly all the gods rising in revolt,

someone had to take responsibility,

and, as a matter of course,

it became the Goddess of Life.

The children were deeply enraged.

Why their mother had to take responsibility

for your misdeeds.

What did you do while their mother was working so hard?

Was taking care of the world such a great wrong,

they asked the gods with tears of blood,

but the decision did not change.

She was banished.

To the very place where the life

she loved so dearly resided.

And the children followed.

Saying they would not live where their mother was not.

Even after being exiled, she loved the living things.

Regardless of their race.

However, the gods, it seems, found even that distasteful.

The gods began to entice humanity.

With honeyed words, with potent power, with legendary weaponry.

Thus, they made humans revere them

more than they revered her.

As this situation persisted,

a goddess slowly fading from human memory.

This is her tale.

*

“Well, that’s how it happened.”

“….”

“Mother seems to be recovering now,

but I… we aren’t there yet.”

Words caught in my throat.

The way she spoke of such events with an almost casual air,

seemed so familiar, and so achingly pained.

“Have all your curiosities been sated?

Then, let’s begin, shall we?”

“Begin… what?”

“You did come here to forge a contract, didn’t you?”

“….”

“I wouldn’t imagine anyone would come all the way to the Spirit Realm

if they weren’t intending to do so.”

I hadn’t intended to.

I had simply planned to take a Spirit Stone and leave.

“W-wait, are you serious?”

“What’s the problem, Ignil?”

“He’s a human! The same humans who treated us so poorly back then!

They don’t even know who their benefactor was!”

“Is there a problem to be had?

In the first place, this one is not of this world.”

“That is true, and a contractor harboring

hostility toward the gods is not easily found.”

“No, Wolf, why are you too?!

Ignil seemed to harbor some discontent,

but the other Spirit Kings all appeared to acquiesce.

All without so much as asking my opinion, the very person involved.

“I… I did not come to this place to forge a contract.”

“..What?!”

“Eh, really?”

“What in the world does that mean?”

Responses, each as unique as their speakers, washed over me.

One seemed downright delighted, though.

Truthfully, there wasn’t a single disadvantage for me in forming a contract,

but even so, I couldn’t help but feel… conflicted.

The only way to release a spirit from a spirit stone

was to contract with it,

and a contract with a spirit could only be forged once, a singular event.

As I patiently explained my situation,

they seemed willing to concede, somewhat,

though in truth, I doubt they truly understood.

To abandon them, spirit kings no less,

to contract with a lesser spirit.

It could be perceived as a disregard for them,

this action of mine.

As an awkward silence settled,

Plante slowly approached me, offering something.

“..Here, the spirit stone.”

“..Thank you.”

“..Hold it, and wish with all your heart.

A spirit suited to you will… appear.”

“….”

“..This is, my gift.”

She offered me a single, yellow leaf.

A leaf enveloped in a yellow aura.

“It will, protect you once.”

“Thank you.”

I was a little moved by her, offering a gift so casually,

when the remaining three approached me.

“Well, I suppose I’ll give you mine as well.”

“Me too.”

“….”

As soon as their barrage of gifts ended,

my consciousness began to fade once more.

It felt as if countless lights were flashing before my eyes.

I clutched my head and bent at the waist,

hearing the voices of the other spirit kings.

“…A-are you…going to?”

“Doesn’t…m-matter…I’ll just…meet you all…there.”

“…If that’s… what you… want…”

And with those sounds as their last,

all the light was extinguished.

*

A blinding, pristine white light.

Flames erupting, swirling in a frenzy.

A biting wind, tearing as if to flay the skin.

All of this emanated from a single girl.

And the one receiving that assault without a flicker,

though radiating an aura of nauseating dread and

reeking of something rotten,

was a boy who appeared almost too innocent.

The smile never left his face.

He was laughing.

Laughing after committing such atrocities.

Hearing the screams of humans,

tearing through their bodies,

yet that unchanging smile,

Sylvia found it deeply unsettling.

In her hand, a spear of ice formed,

and was launched the very next instant.

Following swiftly, her leap.

A speed that would be impossible for the average person,

but her spirits made it possible.

The boy, who had observed everything,

was plunged into a state of bewilderment.

“Isn’t the contract with a spirit supposed to be one-time only?

Whatever trick you pulled, it’s a foul!”

“Who said so?”

“What are you getting at?”

“That I made a contract with these kids.”

“…?”

The boy couldn’t comprehend.

She was wielding the power of spirits, so wasn’t it obvious she had a contract?

It wasn’t unreasonable to assume that.

Because that was common knowledge in the world.

And, Sylvia was a child who transcended common sense.

“I haven’t made a contract with any spirit.

“These ones are simply lending me their strength.”

“…You mean you didn’t…make a contract?”

“That’s right, unlike you,

I have a lot of friends and family.”

“….”

“The more I have to protect,

the more naturally I seek power.”

“….”

“So there’s no way I’d lose to you—”

Something was wrong.

Silvia, with senses sharper than most,

couldn’t possibly miss it.

The boy’s aura had shifted once again.

“…So, in the end, it’s all about talent?”

“What are you talking abou—”

“This is why I dislike humans.”

Speaking thus, the boy raised his head again,

one of his eyes now completely black.

For a moment, it looked as if a hole had opened.

The sight of the pupil swallowing everything

made Silvia flinch for a second,

and the boy didn’t miss it.

The boy’s voice had moved to her ear before she knew it.

“What…!”

“You lot are so irritating.”

She flew away.

Her ribs were struck.

Despite hitting the ground,

she couldn’t stop herself and rolled three times

before her body finally came to a halt.

She quickly raised her head,

but the boy was already gone.

“Isn’t constantly looking down on others

your everyday life?”

And the boy’s voice came from behind.

Followed by a devastating impact.

Her head was slammed into the ground,

and the hand on the back of her head continued to press down.

“Kh…ugh.”

“But then, every once in a while, you’ll be kind to those below you,

“They’re happy to be your dogs, barking *bow wow* for you.”

The spirits around her tried everything

to help, but it was no use.

The dark aura surrounding the boy

absorbed every attack as it came.

“Isn’t life just grand?

Doesn’t the sight of us twist your eyes shut?

With *joy*?!”

“….”

“You sneer at how, despite your efforts,

you can’t even keep up with *me*?!”

The boy was enraged.

He didn’t know why, but he was furious.

It was a roar like a child’s wail.

And Sylvia’s answer to that roar,

the answer of a princess raised with the utmost grace and etiquette, was:

“What am I supposed to do? I was born this way.”

“..What?”

“If you don’t like it, you should have tried harder.

Instead of tearing down those with talent.

Am I wrong?”

It was the most infuriating answer in the world.