Ch 116
“Verbandes…”
Pien and Rona furrowed their neat brows, lost in thought.
Putting aside the observation that even our Princess and Prince have stylishly furrowed brows—
“Wait. There’s something we need to clarify.”
I spoke to the two with a serious expression.
Pien and Rona, equally serious now, replied.
“As expected… you’ve gone and done something incredible without us knowing, haven’t you.”
“Ha… right. Tell me. I’m mentally prepared.”
“You just mispronounced it.”
“?”
“?”
Unaware of the gravity of the situation, the tension in their expressions eased.
I alone did not relax my tension, carefully continuing.
“Listen carefully. This one’s name is Verbandes…t!ya.”
Right?
As I nodded in agreement, the Crybaby Spirit, drawing a sharp diagonal line with their eyebrows, said,
“No!!!”
“!!!”
“My name is, Verbandes…”
Their small body trembled.
“S…”
A whisper of wind escaped their small mouth.
“No way!? This time for real!?”
Soon, Verbandes…whatchamacallit stretched their body with all their might and shouted powerfully.
“Siuya!!!”
“Verbandes…Siu!!!”
Oh, what a shame.
This time they almost got it right.
Of course, this name is also wonderful.
A name that somehow makes one want to move dynamically.
“Did you hear? This one’s name is Verbandes…Siu!ya. Be careful with the pronunciation. Even this small, their personality is no joke. See? Those fiercely raised eyebrows.”
“!!!”
“Wow, look at that expression. Their aura is overflowing. What will they become when they grow up, already…”
“…”
“…”
The two looked at Verbandes…Siu! and tilted their heads.
“Hmm…”
“Or not…? Right, it can’t be…”
Then, as if understanding something, they nodded, approached Verbandes…Siu!, bent down to match their eye level, and spoke affectionately.
“Nice to meet you, Verbandes-Siu. I’m Pien.”
“I’m Rona. Pleased to meet you?”
It was an introduction as elegant as a Princess and as handsome as a Prince.
A first impression that young children couldn’t help but find dazzling.
“I hate you!!!”
“!!!”
“!!!”
“What!?”
However, Verbandes…Siu!, with fiercely raised eyebrows, pointed at the two.
Two index fingers, since there were two people. A double finger-pointing.
It looked rebellious and challenging, like a rock star’s gesture on stage, incredibly cool, but separately, Rona and Pien felt a large hole opening in their hearts.
“Ugh!”
I immediately scolded Verbandes.
“What kind of language is that to your older sister and older brother!”
“But!!! You’re disturbing Master’s sleep!!! You’re the bad guys!!!”
“Oh, a dislike based on a surprisingly valid reason? It’s hard to unconditionally support this… what should we do, you bad guys.”
“Why are you talking like that…?”
“When talking to a young child, you have to get down to their level.”
“Ha, haha… Lisir seems like he’d take good care of a child if he had one. He’d be a good father.”
Unlike Pien, who was flustered, Rona skillfully maintained her princely smile and spoke to the angry baby spirit.
“I’m sorry, Ber. For disturbing Master’s sleep. Can’t you forgive us this once? We’re Master’s friends, and we’re so happy to see Master after a long time. Master would rather play with us than sleep, right?”
“!!!”
Ber looked at me in a dignified posture, hands on their hips.
As if asking if the defendant’s statement was true.
I gave a thumbs-up and said.
“It’s cool.”
Then, their small head nodded neatly.
“Master thinks it’s cool!? Okay! Then I’ll forgive you!”
“Verbandes…Siu!? Using the term ‘older sisters’ instead of ‘you guys’ there would make it even cooler!”
“Okay! Older sisters! I’ll forgive you!”
“Yay, it’s cool.”
Clap clap clap clap clap.
In that moving scene, applause naturally erupted.
I looked at Pien and Rona to share the emotion.
Pien clapping with a somewhat tired look, and Rona clapping happily with a bright smile.
-What does “cool” mean?
Rona came close and whispered in my ear.
-It means super happy.
-…Cool means?
-That’s how it is.
Then, looking at Ber, she said with a princely smile.
“It’s so cool being together like this, right?”
“!!!”
New cool comrade.
Ber’s small head nodded neatly.
“I like the handsome older sister!”
“I like Ber too~ Cool cool~”
“Cool cool!!!”
To win over the favor of that picky Crybaby Spirit.
What kind of approachability is this.
Truly, they could only be a Prince of high society.
“Coo… coo…”
Next to them, Pien was trying to keep up with the times, but seemed to be struggling.
Seeing their contrasting appearances, I unconsciously blurted out.
“Later, when you have kids, Rona will be better at playing with them.”
“!?”
“!?”
The two looked at me with wide eyes.
What a violent reaction.
Did I perhaps make a slip of the tongue?
I couldn’t understand what part of what I just said was problematic, but that’s not important.
At times like these, headbutting was the wisest way to live in the world.
Just as I was about to swing my head as if there were an invisible wooden board in front of me,
“Really? You really think so?”
Rona asked with a bright smile.
Their sky-blue eyes sparkled like they held a constellation, and their healthy bronze skin was subtly flushed, adding vitality.
Their smile was so bright that my eyes almost hurt, and I almost instinctively turned my head away.
What? Weren’t they angry?
“Really? You really think so?”
At that moment, Pien said the same thing from beside me.
Same content, different tone.
Pien was also smiling faintly, but their red eyes staring straight at me were somehow scary.
This Pien.
Could it be that, unlike their appearance, they actually like children?
And that’s why they got so upset by my words?
‘Can I… break the invisible wooden board?’
As I tried to bow my head, watching Pien’s expression, Rona said with a strangely smug expression.
“Well, in a way, Lisir’s reaction is natural. Pien, you don’t seem like the type who would enjoy taking care of children, do you?”
“…Oh my, Rona. What does that mean?”
A faint blood vessel appeared on Pien’s temple as they responded gracefully with a smile.
“Oh, I absolutely didn’t mean it in a bad way—look. Pien is elegant and classy, isn’t she? Things like playing with children don’t suit her, that’s what I meant. In fact, most noble families use nannies, don’t they?”
Rona spoke with her characteristic friendly and cheerful princely smile. But was it my imagination? That friendly and cheerful princely smile seemed somehow smug.
“That makes sense.”
Hmm.
Pien nodded haughtily, sniffing.
“…?”
The princely smile hardened into caution.
“Then, as Rona said, when we have children later, I’ll leave taking care of them to Rona, and I’ll spend time with the child’s father. Right?”
“…”
“…”
The Prince and Princess stared at each other, maintaining their elegant smiles.
Sparks flew between them, and I felt the air pressure around them rise.
‘Why suddenly, this suffocating nerve war.’
As I watched helplessly, unable to find a clue, Pien spoke to me.
“What do you think?”
“…Ah! Is it because I’m tired…? My head isn’t working well~?”
“Tsk. Incompetent person.”
Rona, who had been watching our conversation, approached Ber again, bent down, and said,
“Ber~ Can older sister ask you something~? If our Ber had a mother, who would you want that mother to be~?”
“Mother!?”
Hmm!
Verbandes…Siu!, looking particularly dignified due to those spirited diagonal eyebrows, fell into thought with their arms crossed.
Soon, those spirited eyes turned to me.
“Master!”
“…”
“…”
Pien and Rona were speechless at the genius’s unconventional, pressure-relieving answer.
I was the same.
“Mother… that’s a difficult expectation to meet… Should I ask Rona how to change her gender…”
“Why are you asking me…”
Rona was flustered for a moment, but immediately regained her composure and spoke to Verbandes…Siu!
“Really? Our Ber wants Master to be their mother? Then who’s the father?”
Prince mode activated. Rona asked with a decidedly more princely attitude than before.
“Master!”
However, despite those efforts, they were only left to despair before Verbandes…Siu!’s godlike dribbling that mocked the world’s logic.
I despaired as well.
“Mother and father at the same time… the expectations are getting higher and higher… so, should I learn sex-change magic and cloning techniques…”
“Stop saying creepy things.”
Anyway, thanks to our Ber’s performance, the subtle tension in the room naturally dissipated.
I took advantage of the momentum and introduced the remaining two residents to Pien and Rona.
“These are the people you’ve only heard about, Master’s comrades!!! Dangaleon, whose peerless beauty is illuminated by a bright light! It is the ultimate honor to meet you both!!! My White Flame pales in comparison to your beauty!!!”
“White Flame? Isn’t it Gray Flame?”
“Master!!! It only looks that way because the room is too bright!!! My White Flame shows its true worth in true darkness!!!”
Summoned by my call, the grayish-white fireball manifested as a spirit and introduced itself before Rona and Pien.
Next, the petite-mode murderer.
“Klana.”
Klana sighed, as if all this was just annoying.
“…”
“…”
As I introduced our spirit（?） friends, Rona and Pien just stared blankly at us.
Then the two looked at each other.
Soon, Pien opened her mouth.
“Lisir, just in case I’m asking━”
“Yeah?”
“Where did those three come from?”
“Where did they come from?”
After a moment’s thought, I pointed to myself.
“Did you, perhaps, obtain a magical item that provides a space for those spirits to live?”
“No?”
“…Then?”
“…?”
I didn’t understand the intention of the question, so I pointed to myself again.
Pien and Rona furrowed their brows.
“It’s hard to understand, so could you explain it in words, if possible?”
“Well, it’s not something grand enough to explain in words. They just live in my inner world.”
“…”
“…”
Pien and Rona’s mouths slowly opened.
“What? That stiffening reaction. Is it unusual to handle three spirits at once? Am I talented in spirit magic?”
As I said this smugly, I felt their blatant gazes.
Everyone except Verbandes…Siu! was staring at me intently.
Their expressions were very similar, as if they were all thinking and feeling the same thing.
Then, Pien spoke on behalf of the group.
Rubbing her forehead as if she was very dizzy.
“No spirit master in the world handles spirits like that…”
“What? Did I perhaps make a big mistake?”
“That’s obvious… You say you let the spirits live in your inner world? I guarantee you, even the best spirit master in the World Tree wouldn’t do such a reckless thing, unless they’re planning to suffer from mental corruption—”
Cold sweat ran down my back at Pien’s words.
“Wh-what should I do? Should I evict the residents now?”
“…How many hours have those spirits been living there?”
“Hours?”
“Or days?”
“Days?”
“…Forget it, just leave them be.”
“???”
Pien and Rona, as well as Klana and Dangaleon, were looking at me with a disgusted expression.
I felt a sudden sense of alienation.
✦✦✦
With the introductions over, only the three of us remained in the room.
I continued the topic before the sleep police arrived.
“So, Pien. Didn’t you say you had a request for me?”
“…”
Pien looked at me with a strange gaze.
Perhaps, that gaze was directed not at me, but at the residents inside me.
“Are those three watching the situation outside right now?”
“It seems that’s possible.”
Haah.
Pien sighed.
“Aren’t you uncomfortable?”
“On the contrary, they’re often helpful. I’m learning swordsmanship and magic.”
“As expected.”
✦✦✦
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