Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 7 - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: The Misty Lodge

“Okay then,” the Misty Lodge said, standing up now that we’d reached a good stopping point. “Time certainly flies when you’re having fun. We’ve talked quite a lot.”

She casually swept her arm, and in an instant, everything atop the table vanished. It was...well, not all that surprising. This was her world, after all.

“I suppose I should start preparing to go with you.”

After she’d cleaned up everything between us with a single sweep of her arm, the Misty Lodge walked up to me. I wasn’t wary of her anymore, but I did find this strange.

“Prepare? By doing what?” I asked.

She stopped right in front of me and said, “I am the magic called the Misty Lodge. Aside from times like now when I’ve constructed my world, I am but an empty existence that drifts around. To go with you, my existence needs to be anchored to your body.” She looked down at me with a smile as I remained seated. “So, let’s form a contract.”

“A contract?” I knit my brows. That was awfully familiar vocabulary. “Is it the same contract that elves form with spirits?”

“Yes. Fundamentally, you can consider it the same.”

“So a monster like you can perform the same contract as a spirit?”

Perhaps I’d sounded a bit suspicious. Still, the Misty Lodge nodded as if it was no big deal.

“Of course. Spirits aren’t all that different from me.”

I stiffened at her casual remark. Seeing my reaction, her eyes widened curiously.

“Oh dear. Is it that surprising? Spirits are also mana with no substantial form. Doesn’t that make them the same as me?”

“That certainly might be the case, but...” When she put it like that, it made perfect sense, but I couldn’t get the bad taste out of my mouth. “Does that mean, umm, that spirits are monsters?”

“Well, that’s how it is.”

As I expected, the Misty Lodge nonchalantly confirmed my suspicions. It was inconsequential to her as a monster. However, to humans, it was a different matter. Elves had once been discriminated against precisely because spirits had been considered monsters. Now I learned that they absolutely were monsters.

“Conversely, you could also say I’m a spirit, I suppose,” the Misty Lodge added. “It depends on how you interpret it. Is there something wrong with that?” She cocked her head.

I was shaken by the unexpected truth, but even if spirits were monsters, it didn’t mean that elves were traitors who worked with monsters. It didn’t change the injustice they’d suffered in the past. And it didn’t matter to me either whether spirits were monsters. This, of course, couldn’t be made public, but if I took care, it wouldn’t be much of a problem if it slipped either.

“Sorry for steering things off track. Please continue,” I said.

The Misty Lodge nodded. “Very well. I think you’ll be better off asking Shiran to teach you how to employ the contract after it’s formed. The sensation shouldn’t be all that different from materializing and employing a spirit.”

“You really are the same as a spirit.”

One difference of note was that the Misty Lodge had a firm ego and that I wasn’t an elf.

“Sadly, I’m horribly inefficient, so I won’t be able to do much for you. You should refrain from having me constantly materialized the way Shiran does with her spirit.”

“‘inefficient’... You mean the rate at which you consume mana?”

“Yes. Using my own mana, I can maintain a solid form for a certain amount of time, but...”

“Got it. That mana’s usually reserved for the magic to create this misty world, right? If you’re fine with it, I don’t mind if you come out only when you want to.”

It wasn’t like I was going to acquire the power of a high monster, but this was definitely a power-up for me. I needed to figure out what exactly I could do with the contract by learning the basics from Shiran and trying things. It was sure to be a lot of work, but my heart danced a little at the prospect. I was looking forward to the future.

“Wait, hang on a second. Before that, we have to form a contract, right? I have no idea what to do. Should we wake Shiran up?”

“There’s no need for that, my dear,” the Misty Lodge said, giggling and shaking her head. “How much do you happen to know about contracting with spirits?”

“Only that it exists. I don’t know any of the details.”

“So we need to start from the beginning. A contract is, in short, magic to anchor a wandering spirit to your own body. The hardest part is forming a connection with the spirit. Those who take on the challenge need to meld their soul into the world through meditation, entering the same place the spirits inhabit.”

“I think you needed...a noble soul, and a pure prayer?” I asked, remembering what Shiran had told me.

The Misty Lodge nodded. “Yes. Spirits favor pure souls. Without one, it’s impossible to contact them. And without a strong will, you can’t bring your soul back after melding it with the world. That is why a spirit contract is considered a trial.”

Contracts with spirits didn’t really have anything to do with me, so I’d never asked about them in detail before. I found it rather interesting.

“I’m already here in front of you, though, so those steps are unnecessary.”

“Okay. I understand now,” I said with a nod, then frowned. “Still... What do I do?”

“Nothing in particular,” she replied frankly. “All you have to do is accept me.”

“I mean, even if you put it like that...”

In a sense, this request was harder to fulfill than some specific ritual. Did that mean I could do it without really putting much thought into it? If so...

I gazed at the Misty Lodge, focusing like I would on the mental path.

“Oh...”

As I did, I felt the mental path form a connection between us. This was the first time since Shiran that I had to focus to form a connection. Shiran and the Misty Lodge... The commonality between them was that they were self-conscious before meeting me. Maybe it was just difficult for me to form a connection to such beings.

“Wow. You really did it by accepting me,” the Misty Lodge said.

“Didn’t you believe I could?”

“Knowing of it and experiencing it are different things, my dear.”

She had a point there.

“Could you hold still a moment?” she said, stretching a hand toward me.

She touched my body here and there, much like the process of palpation. It tickled a little, but I held it in and waited quietly. After a while, the Misty Lodge’s face suddenly tightened.

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?” I asked.

She looked up at me, her expression somewhat stern. “Upon closer inspection...it looks like you’re cracked.”

“Cracked?” I repeated, cocking my head at the alien term.

“There’s a crack in your soul. Well, any human will have a flaw or two, and when forming a contract with a spirit, they’re also used as a connection point...”

“Then isn’t it fine?”

I had no sense for what she was saying. It didn’t sound like a major problem, but the Misty Lodge shook her head.

“Your flaw is a little unnatural.”

“I don’t really get what you’re saying.”

“Does anything come to mind? Anything at all.”

Now that she asked, several examples came to mind. In that mysterious space I’d dived in to save Shiran, my projection had cracked. Also, during the fight against the Mad Beast, I’d heard something in me break.

“So something does come to mind,” she said with a sigh, either guessing by my expression or through the mental path. “You shouldn’t worry those cute girls by pushing yourself too far.”

“It hasn’t really proven to be an inconvenience, though. Aah, but...Shiran told me something similar before and got really angry.”

“Shiran did? Well, I can see her doing that.”

“So, about this contract, is there a possibility it will affect my body somehow?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. A contract with me isn’t all that different from simply connecting your mental path. Just as I said before, it doesn’t pose a threat to your life like the contracts elves make with spirits.”

“I see.”

That conformed with my instinctual understanding of my own ability. It told me I could form a contract without any problems—so long as I wasn’t unreasonable, at least. I didn’t intend on hesitating if push came to shove, but I didn’t have any reason to harm myself right now.

“Okay then, now that our preparations are complete, shall we form a contract?” the Misty Lodge asked.

“Yeah, go ahead,” I answered with a nod.

She put her hand over my right eye. “We’ll be roommates from now on. I’m looking forward to it, Asarina.”

“Ssster!”

Mist gushed out of her hand as Asarina watched over us. The mist constructed a glyph, rotating and contracting as it drew nearer to my right eye. I resisted the urge to shut my eye on reflex and accepted the glyph.

“Ugh...”

I felt a throbbing deep in my skull and groaned, putting my hand over my right eye unintentionally.

“Contract established,” the Misty Lodge said with satisfaction.

That declaration was the trigger. The smiling Misty Lodge began fading away. At the same time, the building we were staying in started blurring out. The world of mist was dissolving.

“M-Master?!”

Having noticed this, the girls came flying out of their rooms. By that time, the Misty Lodge’s body was practically gone.

“Wh-What...?”

The girls stood there in bewilderment. All of them were back to how they normally were—this time, for real. Reality, which this most unique of grand magics had rewritten, was returning to normal.

“Did you enjoy this time of dreams?” the Misty Lodge asked them all with a smile. “Oh, there’s no need to worry. You can hear the details from our dear master after this. As for your desires that became a reality in this world, each of you will fully remember everything pertaining to your own desire, but nothing regarding the others’.”

She gave me a wink. I guessed she was asking me to keep quiet about my remembering everything. Well, it was better that way. Some of them would want to know what had happened, but it would be more natural for them to ask about it.

“Oh, one more thing, my dear,” she added, suddenly remembering something. She clapped her now-transparent hands together. “Could I perhaps have a name too?”

“Right...” Faced with her hopeful gaze, I gave it some thought. I had several options at the ready in case I gained more servants. “How about...Salvia?”

“Salvia... Mm, a good name.”

The Misty Lodge—Salvia—smiled sweetly at me, and her figure melted away into the air.

“I’ll be in your care, Master.”

All that was left of her was her voice brushing against my ear. At the same time, the entire building began turning into mist. It all cleared up in the blink of an eye, and we found ourselves under the morning sun.

Thus, we awoke from our three-day dream in the mist, and I became the contractor for my new servant, the Misty Lodge Salvia.