Melkith was staring at Wynnyd with sparkling eyes. It looked as if she was just about to run over and try to tear it from him.
“I’ve been trying really hard, you know?” Melkith whined. “I’ve even begged the Lightning Spirit King and the Earth Spirit King, but they’ve told me that the Wind Spirit King won’t sign a contract with anyone. That’s why I sent such an earnest letter to the Lionheart’s main family, begging to borrow Wynnyd, but do you know what they sent back in their reply?”
Ignoring her question, Eugene asked, “Is it alright for me to head upstairs?”
“They said that the treasures of the main family can never be lent to outsiders. Petty bastards, it’s like they think I might take Wynnyd and go into hiding with it. I just want to use it as a catalyst of a contract, so why do they have to be so stubborn about obstructing me,” Melkith complained.
Eugene sighed, “Hey, no matter what you tell me, I have no intention of loaning Wynnyd to you, Head Wizard. Strictly speaking, it’s not like I own Wynnyd. I’m borrowing it with the Patriarch’s permission.”
“It’s fine. I won’t tell anyone,” Melkith promised. “You can just lend it to me for a few moments. It probably won’t take that long? Just a day at the most. If you want, you can even watch as I use it.”
In fact, this proposition was quite appealing to Eugene. Vermouth had died, and although Sienna appeared to be alive, she wasn’t in a state where she could speak to him as she seemed to be sealed away somewhere in this vast world. As for Anise? Having become a pilgrim, her tracks had been cut off two hundred years ago, and the whereabouts of Molon, that bastard, were similarly unknown.
In this current era, only the Wind Spirit King, Tempest, knew the full story of what had happened three hundred years ago in the castle of the Demon King of Incarceration. Of course, Tempest had played innocent, claiming that he didn’t know anything, but Eugene definitely couldn’t believe those words.
Eugene cursed internally, ‘That son of a bitch, his fat ass must have gotten pretty damn heavy over the years since he won’t come out no matter how many times I call him.’
During these past four years, Eugene had attempted to summon Tempest several times. Every time he had reached the next star in the White Flame Formula and every time his mana capacity had increased. Although he’d even attempted to use his contracted sylphs to reach out to the Wind Spirit King, Tempest had never once responded to any of his summons.
‘With the amount of mana I currently have, I still can’t summon Tempest,’ Eugene calculated.
However, Melkith might be able to summon him. Wouldn’t she also have the necessary qualifications as well? Amongst the Spirit Summoners who had made a name for themselves on this continent, Melkith was the only one who had made a contract with two Spirit Kings at the same time. Although he hadn’t appeared whenever she had tried to summon him up until now, if Wynnyd was used as the catalyst, who knew how Tempest might react.
Melkith tried to keep Eugene from leaving, “Kid, where are you going? I haven’t finished talking to you yet.”
Eugene just asked, “It seems that there’s no point in listening any longer, so why should I stick around?”
Although he had his hopes up for it, Eugene wasn’t going to show a positive reaction to Melkith’s proposal just yet. Rather than allowing her to simply grab onto the bait, it was better to tease the line a bit to see if he was able to draw in a bigger catch.
“I asked, where are you going?” Melkith insisted.
“I’m heading up,” Eugene replied. “Didn’t you say that I’d been given permission to enter? Or do I still need something like an entry pass?”
“If you go over there and ask for one, they’ll give it to you,” Melkith surprisingly answered his question immediately.
Eugene headed over to the door that she had pointed out.
Even a place like Akron had a Library Director. Although he was called the Director, he was actually just a public servant who wasn’t allowed to enter the upper floors and merely managed the familiars[1] responsible for the maintenance. The elderly wizard currently filling the position immediately opened the door at the sound of Eugene’s knock.
“I’ve already heard the news,” the Head Librarian stated before Eugene could say anything.
It didn’t take long for his entry pass to be issued. Akron’s seal was stamped on the back of Eugene’s identity card, and that was all there was to it.
“If I had tried to go up without this entry pass, what would have happened to me?” Eugene asked out of curiosity.
“You would die,” the Director casually replied, as if it was only natural. “First of all, Akron’s interception magic would pierce through your entire body, and if that wasn’t enough to kill you, all of Akron’s familiars would be put into attack mode. Although before that happened, the wizards with entry passes into Akron would have been dispatched to stop you.”
“Did you know? The familiars who work here were all left behind by the Archwizards whose names have been written on Akron’s wall,” this fact came from Melkith, who had yet to leave Eugene’s side. As she gazed at Wynnyd with greedy eyes, she continued speaking, “This, of course, includes those belonging to the Magic King who founded Aroth, a few from the Battlemage who was called the Father of Battle Magic, and familiars which belonged to the Wise Sienna as well.”
“…,” Eugene stayed silent.
“Kid, your reactions really are bland. Don’t you have a tremendous amount of interest in Lady Sienna?” Melkith asked with a half-smile. “I saw everything earlier. You were reading the records belonging to Lady Sienna over and over again. On your first day in Aroth, you headed straight to Lady Sienna’s mansion for a tour, and last time, you even met with your friend from a different collateral branch at Merdein Square.”
“Why do you know so much about my activities?” Eugene asked, disturbed.
Melkith teased him, “It seems that you’re not too aware of it, kid, but you’re actually really famous.”
“Of course, I know I’m famous,” Eugene replied with a snort.
“Your personality is a little… unlike your appearance. It’s lacking in charm.”
“What do you mean by saying it’s unlike my appearance?”
“You have a handsome face, don’t you?”
“So please just think of my rudeness as the cost of enjoying my good looks.”
“It’s not just a little lacking. You really aren’t charming at all.”
“But why do you keep calling me a kid?”
“I’m calling you a kid because you are one. Aren’t you just seventeen years old? Phew, you still smell like breast milk.”
“There are some words running through my head right now, but I’m not sure if I should spit them out.”
“What kind of words?”
“I’ll just keep quiet. Since they feel a bit too rude to express during our first meeting.”
There was no way that he was trying to say that she smelled like a granny, right? After gazing at Eugene speechlessly, Melkith sniffed her own body.
“I don’t smell of anything,” she insisted.
Eugene returned the favor, “And I also don’t give off the smell of milk.”
“Anyways, when are you going to lend me Wynnyd?”
“I’m not going to lend it to you.”
Ignoring Melkith, who was continuing to follow him, Eugene turned to look at his surroundings. He was just wondering if he needed to find some stairs in order to go to the upper floors, but then he spotted the elevator in the corner.
Melkith helpfully explained, “Do you see the hole beside the door? If you put your ID card in there, the door will open. You’re going up to the twelfth floor, right?”
“Yep,” Eugene admitted.
“See, it seems like you really do like Lady Sienna a whole lot.”
“I don’t like her.”
“Could it be because you’re just a young kid that you seem embarrassed by the strangest things? It’s fine, it’s fine. This big sister understands everything. Children are usually like that, aren’t they? Especially boys. They’re never honest about saying that they like what they like, and that’s exactly why they’re so cute.”
“Isn’t it going a bit too far to call yourself ‘big sister’?”
“You, just now, were you asking that because of my age?”
“As far as I’m aware, you are already over sixty years old.”
Even if he added the years from his previous life to his current age, Melkith still had more years than him. Of course, going by Melkith’s outer appearance, she looked like she was in her mid-twenties at most, but just because she kept her looks young didn’t mean her true age got any younger.
Melkith defended herself, “When you’re young at heart, why should age even matter? So don’t be shy, and feel free to call me big sis.”
Eugene didn’t reply to these words. Instead, he placed his ID in the elevator’s slot and lost himself in some irrelevant thoughts.
If Sienna truly was alive and had lived all this time, that meant that her age had to be over three hundred years old.
Eugene made a note to himself, ‘When we meet, I might have to call her a grandma.’
Or it might be better to call her an undead rather than a grandma. Of course, if he really did say that in front of her, Sienna was sure to try to kill Eugene while oozing bloodlust. .
He would actually be very happy if that were to happen.
With a wry smile, Eugene entered the elevator. Melkith didn’t get onto the elevator with him. She stood outside the elevator and waved her hand at him with a grin.
“Come back soon,” she said.
Eugene asked, “You’re not going to be waiting here for me, are you?”
“Even I’m not such a free-willed person,” Melkith pouted. “Although I actually want to go and take a look with you, ummm…. But if I’m with you, I don’t think you’ll be able to focus.”
“That would definitely be the case,” Eugene admitted.
“Mhm, since that’s the case, I’m not going with you. Although I won’t get to see your shock when you face a glimpse of the truth…. Fufu, your first time is definitely the most intense.” As Melkith hid a laugh, she pointed at Eugene’s lower body and said, “It might be better for you if you wear a diaper?”
“Why?”
“You might just wet your pants a little.”
It had been pointless to ask. With a deep frown, Eugene pressed the button for the twelfth, then he immediately pounded the button to close the door.
The elevator climbed up. It didn’t take that long for it to reach the twelfth floor. It would only be a slight exaggeration to say that he had arrived on the twelfth floor in the blink of an eye.
Eugene was greeted by a voice saying, “Welcome to Sienna’s hall.”
As soon as the elevator doors opened, he was welcomed by a little girl looking up at Eugene with a broad smile.
“…,” Eugene’s lips parted silently as he looked down at the girl.
The girl, who appeared to be about ten years old, looked exactly like the Sienna that Eugene remembered.
1. These are the servants summoned or created by wizards to handle their chores. ?
𝘪𝘳.𝒸𝑜𝑚