Chapter 18
THE SESSION TO TAKE A…commemorative photo lasted around half an hour. Taking a quick break over some black tea that the shopkeeper had prepared, Mira stayed seated on the couch while sensing the spirit that dwelled inside.
The shopkeeper was busying himself tidying things up nearby. As if handling some precious family heirloom, he put the photo-taking device into a box and locked it shut.
Judging from the beatific smile on his face, the shopkeeper must’ve really glimpsed hope for those unloved antiques. Seeing his expression, Mira felt the treatment of spirits residing in antiques would finally improve from that point forward.
That was when she realized they still had one thing left to do.
“While we’re at it, I might as well give you some information that might help those spirits that kept getting mistaken for supernatural phenomena,” Mira said, after waiting for the shopkeeper to put away all the photography equipment.
“Information?” the shopkeeper returned. He had an enigmatic look on his face that seemed to say he was intrigued. He wondered to himself if a perfect photo wouldn’t be enough. What else could they possibly need? Could it be that they’d need to do more than just take photos?
His imagination was leading him in the wrong direction—the information Mira had to share wasn’t sexual at all.
“It has to do with the reason why I’m looking for furniture with spirits inside,” Mira explained, standing up and turning to look back at the sofa. Then, in full view of the shopkeeper, she activated [Contract Forging].
“What’s this…?!”
The moment Mira lifted her hand, the small beads of light that came pouring out of the couch became like twinkling stars that were then sucked into Mira’s hand.
Having seen the whole thing from beginning to end, the shopkeeper was taken aback and wondered what exactly had happened. After racking his brain for a moment, he realized that Mira had done something.
“So…you really are a summoner. And that spirit…did you forge a contract with it just now?”
The existence of rumored furniture spirits had never been confirmed. And obviously, the shopkeeper had never heard about anyone forging a contract with a furniture spirit.
…But summoning weapons spirits, which were also manmade spirits, was considered the foundation of summoning. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the same was the case for furniture spirits.
Having reasoned as much, the shopkeeper looked toward Mira expectantly.
“Hrmm, bingo! Summoners can forge contracts with furniture spirits as well. And then we can summon them like this,” Mira replied, her chest swelling with confidence over just how much unexplored potential summoners had.
Riding this wave of emotion, she quickly performed her first summoning of the spirit.
[Evocation: Trusty Sofa]
As she cast the spell, a small magic circle formed, from which a sofa gently appeared. It was a small, single-seat navy blue sofa that looked like it could comfortably fit one adult.
“That’s incredible…!”
The brand-new sofa had appeared in a spot where nothing else had been. While shocked at this development, he hungrily stared at the couch.
“It looks as if it’s from the Fueslot Era, and yet, it has a design that I’ve not often seen. I don’t recognize the materials either. Ah, but…I really am glad.”
Despite being labeled as a lost cause, the shopkeeper had kept the sofa and taken good care of it. Now he was able to see the manifestation of the spirit that dwelled within. The shopkeeper gave a heartfelt smile, pleased to see the fine-looking sofa.
“But it’s rather strange, isn’t it? It looks a lot different from the original,” the shopkeeper asked, after standing pleased for a time.
Mira smiled as if she’d expected the question. He didn’t really seem to know anything when it came to summoning. In order for him to understand and spread awareness in a way that’d be sure to reach the most ears, she began explaining thoroughly.
The way manmade spirits appeared changed depending on how the summoner visualized them—and the deeper a connection they had, the more this was the case.
“I only just acquired non-combat evocations. And so, while I can’t explain the specifics, judging from what I’ve felt until now, these types of evocations have a lot of unexplored potential. That much is a fact.” As Mira explained all this, she thought about the future of evocation. A truly crazed grin came onto her face.
Previously, while she was in the bathroom of her spirit mansion, she’d been thinking about how nice it would be to have a window. And, as if responding to this very thought, a large window appeared. So she’d already seen how versatile spirits could be so long as one was within their area of effect. The question now was, just how versatile were they? Endlessly fascinated by such things, Mira had very high hopes for her newly acquired spirit sofa.
If word got out about all of this, it’d not only raise awareness about the existence of spirits that resided in antiques but also spread new information pertaining to evocation. If she looked, she’d surely find tables, chairs, beds, and other furniture summons. The quality of rest one could get while out adventuring depended on whether or not one had access to such things. With a sturdy table and some chairs, an adventurer could enjoy proper meals. With a soft bed, they could get some good sleep. And with all those accoutrements that reminded them of daily life, an adventurer could feel relaxed and at home.
Comfort items were quite bulky and difficult to lug around, but with summoning, they could be set up like new at any time. This would mean that with the space they’d save, adventurers would have more room to carry other equipment and medicine. This would make the entire occupation more stable.
The status of summoners would be elevated enough that others would consider adding a summoner to their party, despite them not being strictly necessary. But the wonders of evocation didn’t end there…
“By the way, did you know that spirits even dwell in houses?”
Having been asked this, the shopkeeper answered honestly, “Is that so? I had no idea.” But after a moment, he picked up on what Mira had hinted, and an incredulous expression washed over his face. “Does that mean…you’d be able to forge a contract with a house…?”
The shopkeeper saw a great many possibilities flash through his mind. Perceiving the way in which adventurers lived and that the current standing of summoners would be undergoing a monumental change, the shopkeeper glanced at Mira with an excited and hopeful look in his eye. Once more recalling his days as an adventurer…
“It does. Just the other day, I happened to meet a mansion spirit and forged a contract with it.” Mira jumped on the opportunity to begin talking about the mansion spirit.
“That’s truly incredible. With that, you could sleep soundly without ever needing to worry about anyone breaking into your home. And because you have walls, you’d be fully prepared in the event of a surprise attack. But the best part is that you wouldn’t have to worry about the elements. If you were to hire a summoner who could summon a home, then it’d also make stocking up on supplies that much easier. That’s especially true for those who make a living peddling items. For someone like that, a summoner with access to such things would completely change their way of life.”
Having finished listening to Mira, the shopkeeper grew more and more excited as he listed the unique advantages of a spirit mansion. It seemed as if he had a much higher opinion of summoners than he’d had before. He seemed to realize that he ought to have a personal summoner, as they might very well be able to help with a great many things. The shopkeeper was beginning to consider hiring one.
As he said this, he glanced expectantly toward Mira, but only for a moment. It’d be difficult to raise enough funds to employ an A-rank adventurer, not to mention one as famous as the Spirit Queen. Fighting back tears, he appeared to give up on the idea.
“Oh ho, are you really…?”
She had been fairly confident to begin with, but Mira was quite surprised. The shopkeeper’s reaction had exceeded her expectations.
She began going into further detail with the shopkeeper about the benefits of being able to summon a home. Chief among these was the issue of lodging. Without needing to consider where one would stay when making an itinerary, many more options opened up.
A lot of people didn’t have a home-like place where they could relax. The shopkeeper proclaimed that this was revolutionary to professional adventurers, merchants who usually lived on the road, and anyone else who stayed outside while traveling from city to city.
“Yeah… Yeah, you’re right! Soon enough, summoners will start getting pretty popular, huh? You’d better try to hurry and hire one while you still can,” Mira said haughtily, not caring how that made the shopkeeper feel.
Mira firmly believed the day would come when summoners would skyrocket in popularity. But hearing what the shopkeeper had said, she was now convinced of it. What’s more, there was other evidence to support her conviction.
There was the case with the uproar over the water spirit in Haxthausen and Cleos’s hard work at the academy.
But yeah…he has a point. The utility of evocation isn’t limited to just its use by adventurers, is it?
Mira, realizing this after hearing what the shopkeeper said, pondered the future of evocation. Having a mind for combat and a love of adventuring, she had only thought of the future of evocation from the perspective of an adventurer. She’d thought that the best way to revive the art of evocation would be for summoners to gain prominence as skilled adventurers.
In the world she was in, top-class adventurers were treated like heroes. If she could popularize the image of summoners as powerful, then they’d naturally become popular. At least that’s what she’d thought…
But now she knew that there were other alternatives when it came to gaining popularity.
She’d even witnessed quite a few of these very alternatives. People were using necromantic golems as taxis, and dedicated exorcists were employed by antique dealers… Things had changed since the days when this was a game. Mages were no longer only useful for combat.
It made her think that summoners, who could have a wide range of abilities depending on how many contracts they’d forged, could thrive even more in daily life than they could putting their life on the line in combat.
Cat Sith could investigate, Garuda could be used for air transport, the Korpokkur sisters could be used to safely traverse forests, and the Sea God Turtle could be used to easily travel across the ocean. And if one made a contract with a home spirit, they could open up an inn wherever they wanted. The possibilities were endless.
Summoning might become more popular if it were put to use for everyday tasks such as those.
Then another thought struck her. That would be using summoning as a tool to make money. Up until then, she’d made quite a bit of money selling vast quantities of water and loot, but would she want to completely turn it into a business?
Having thought this much, it struck Mira that her summons ought to get paid for the work she did.
Hrmm… I’ll need to thank all of them.
About half of her contracts were something akin to servants, and yet, they were friends first. Thinking this way about all her evocations, Mira resolved to ask her evocations if there was anything they wanted the next time she had a chance.
Mira explained that the easiest way to find a home spirit was to ask other spirits before explaining in detail how it was that one went about forging a contract.
“Good heavens, thank you for all that valuable information,” the shopkeeper said cheerfully. His pen had been racing across a piece of paper as he diligently jotted down all the information he heard.
Odd fetishes aside, the deep love he had for antiques was genuine. And now he’d found an ideal solution to one of the issues that’d been plaguing him over the years. He was quite happy.
“It’s nothing! It’s not like I could doom those furniture spirits to such unjust treatment. I’ll have to leave the rest to you.”
When it came to how spirit-containing antiques were handled, it would most likely be fastest to leave it in the hands of a professional. So Mira left the matter in the shopkeeper’s care—including rescuing those antiques that’d been locked up by the church and spreading the truth about them.
If someone rather famous like Mira helped, then it’d probably be quite effective. However, she’d wouldn’t be able to spread as much information as a professional with connections in the industry.
In addition to all the helpful information he had, he also had a great many pictures to back up his claims. And knowing this particular shopkeeper, she was sure he’d use said pictures to great effect.
Thinking about the fiery passion she’d felt from him, Mira looked straight at the shopkeeper.
“I will most certainly do my best to accomplish the task you’ve entrusted me with, Spirit Queen!” the shopkeeper said, meeting Mira’s gaze and speaking as if he might just get down on one knee. He looked almost like a knight, swearing an oath of fealty to an actual queen.
“Hrmm. See that you do.”
Having extolled just how convenient summoning was, Mira began getting ready to leave, wholly convinced that one day summoning would reign supreme.
The first order of business was the spirit-housing sofa which she’d just purchased.
There was no longer a spirit inside. Unlike primordial spirits—such as wind or water—once a contract had been forged with a manmade spirit, they moved to make their new home within whoever they’d forged the contract with.
Mira had no intention of selling the sofa or of simply leaving it there. She used the Ethereal Art [Itemify] and then stored it in her item box.
Originally, furniture wasn’t considered an item and, thus, couldn’t be targeted, but after mastering [Analyze] and [Augment] From the Encyclopedia of Skills and adjusting them a bit, it became possible to do so.
“Hrmm, it worked.”
She’d successfully stored the antique sofa in her item box without issue. Having checked to make sure this was the case, Mira chuckled to herself that she could now search for furniture spirits to her heart’s content.
The vessels that spirits dwelled in were like parents to them, meaning that such things were to be cherished. For that reason, she planned to continue using the vessels that the spirits had cherished.
“Wow, you put the sofa in your item box… I should’ve expected as much of the Spirit Queen,” the shopkeeper said, sounding both surprised and impressed.
A glance around the store confirmed that most of the antiques he sold were furniture and other decor. And furniture was heavy and rather bulky.
The shopkeeper wanted to find a mage who could use the altered [Itemify] skill to store furniture in item boxes. He’d been thinking that if he were able to contract a dedicated mage to do this, then he could go right on purchasing things.
However, the kind of mages who could alter skills were usually quite experienced. Were he to hire one, he’d be kissing his profits goodbye.
Mira really was the ideal mage. With the mansion spirit, she could summon lodging, and with armor spirits, she could summon guards. And she was able to use [Itemify] to store furniture in item boxes. And then there was the icing on the cake: how she looked. From the shopkeeper’s point of view, Mira was the woman of his dreams.
But from Mira’s point of view, she was anything but.
Her work at the furniture store finished, Mira smiled broadly and said, “Thank you, Master Shopkeep. I was able to get my hands on something really nice.”
“I should be thanking you. To me, this has been the best day of my life…”
…If only he’d managed to contract Mira as his dedicated mage. Returning to reality after fantasizing about this, the shopkeeper thanked Mira as his face lit up. His fantasy wouldn’t become reality, but even so, he’d gotten a great deal.
Looking reluctant to leave, Mira followed the shopkeeper as he showed her out of the store.
“Thank you very much for coming,” the shopkeeper said, with the utmost sincerity. Mira waved back at him, as she left Café Kraftbell Antiques behind.
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