62. Studying and Romance at Once (1)

“Yes. You just need to provide what we demand as instructed. No additional comments are necessary. We don’t care about your difficult circumstances.”

Rigolus was originally just a wandering slave trader.

“I’ve turned a blind eye to your side activities too. I didn’t care whether you filled your pockets with the remaining slaves as long as you met the quota.”

The slave market earned a lot of money, but what Lilith wanted wasn’t just money.

Lilith occasionally wanted healthy slaves. Sometimes she wanted unusual beast-folk slaves, and other times she wanted spirit users or mages.

Rigolus didn’t know what Lilith did with all those slaves.

〈Sacrificing oneself for their revival. It’s quite an honor.〉

Shudder. Rigolus’s body trembled.

Just thinking about those words made him not want to know what they were used for, even if someone told him.

Rigolus was happy just pretending to be the real representative of the slave market and living with his head held high.

“Do you want to stop living?”

“No!”

He had not the slightest desire to become one of the slaves Lilith took away.

“I, I spoke foolishly. Of course, it’s my job to resolve this somehow. I’ll complete the transaction successfully this time as well.”

Lilith lifted Rigolus’s chin.

“No. It seems like you want to stop living.”

He’s going to die. He really might die. Rigolus’s entire body trembled.

“I’ll offer more money than usual and rare slaves that can’t be found anywhere else! My loyalty has not changed!”

Rigolus’s wailing appearance was ugly. Lilith cackled as she watched his saliva and snot drip onto the floor.

“Good, I’ll look forward to it. Let’s see how you’ll satisfy my heart with something rare.”

* * *

The meeting that had been discussing the Inkheart autumn festival continued with a change of topic to the abolition of slave legalization due to Rigolus’s appearance.

“When approving the legalization of the slave market, the previous Grand Duke said the same thing. This is just the first step, and we must never be satisfied with this first step and stop there.”

While talking about the slave market, Inkheart’s darkness, Darius’s expression was particularly grim.

“In fact, Father hesitated until the end about recognizing the slave market.”

His sharp nerves finally relaxed as he made the decision he had been postponing for a long time.

“We must get rid of it. Because I have you now.”

“Grand Duke, you should quickly consider businesses that can replace the special benefits from the slave market.”

“You know what? These days, everyone here claims to be the loyal subject who told me to marry Anette whenever they see me.”

“It was a good decision to get married, wasn’t it?”

Haha. Laughter finally filled the meeting room at Darius’s joke delivered at the end of the meeting.

“You seemed down for a while.”

Darius observed her.

“I’m glad to see you looking healthy like before today. It’s somehow awkward when you’re not spirited.”

“Was I like that?”

The day she felt anxious after meeting the outsiders was just one day. He remembers even unnecessary things.

“I’ll get up now. I’ve been busy with spirit training lately, so I need to go if the meeting is over.”

She naturally changed the subject and rose from her seat.

* * *

〈You seemed down for a while.〉

Her steps quickened as she moved away from Darius.

Her heart pounded.

〈You’ve come from much farther than us foreigners. From very far away…… Ah, it’s a place more prosperous than I can imagine.〉

Don’t think about it.

Focus on the reality where her feet are now.

She declines anything that shakes her identity.

“……I really hate people who stare right through the thoughts I’m hiding.”

Just let it go already.

That’s how she’s living too, isn’t it?

“Sigh, I should visit the temple again and ask what happened with what I inquired about last time.”

Since she can’t send Barbarossa to the capital right away, she has no choice but to reuse the route she had already opened.

The temple is a tightly organized institution, so if she asks a priest, she should be able to find Evangeline’s name on the list. The problem is where she is now.

「Anette.」

“Waaaaaah!”

When she opened her eyes, the Spirit King’s head was floating right in front of her.

“W-what, what are you! P-please be normal!”

「This is normal for me.」

“You haven’t just hung out with humans once or twice! You know this isn’t a normal entrance!”

「Great beings always make impressive entrances.」

Rather die than suffer. Her mental strength, shocked by consecutive impacts, could no longer endure, and she collapsed.

「What a commendable thing to say.」

She didn’t even have the energy to ask what brought him here.

「Didn’t you come back earlier than scheduled saying you needed to train?」

This is what he would say anyway.

「Now, let’s train. Dripping water eventually penetrates rock. With your turtle-like progress, diligent training is the only answer.」

When he was luring her in, he said she was a once-in-a-generation genius who just needed a little effort…

With a resigned heart, she summoned a sylph. She summoned two. Summoning two naturally doubled the spirit power consumption.

「Why summon them and not give any commands?」

If her meager spirit power hits rock bottom like this, wouldn’t she not have to see Sylphid’s face anymore today?

“Ah, maybe I’m already so exhausted that Sylphid’s face is getting blurry. Hmm, I can’t see. Anette must be an ordinary person now.”

Sob, she really wanted to become an excellent spirit user.

「Anette.」

“The life story of the ill-fated genius spirit user Anette ends here…… Ow ow ow!”

Her ear was sharply pulled. How unfair that a spirit with no physical form could pull a person’s ear!

「Weren’t you planning to participate in this slave market auction? Even with escorts, it’s a dangerous place and safety can’t be guaranteed. You should always have the power to protect yourself in any situation.」

Sylphid said.

「By the time you realize you need power, it’s too late. Being overprepared is better than being underprepared.」

“Darius didn’t ask me to come to the slave market.”

「But you’ll go. Whether by my will or yours.」

“Ah, you’re making me dig my own grave again. Do you know how annoying your meddling is?”

「I think it’s necessary.」

Hoo, she let out a short sigh.

“Let’s train then.”

* * *

「Don’t imagine the wind before it comes. Accept it as it is.」

She left the room and walked around the castle, listening to Sylphid’s teachings.

“But you told me to imagine how the wind blows in the morning.”

「Since you seem unable to implement imagery, this time I’m telling you to confront it directly. Don’t think about other things when the real thing is in front of you.」

She placed her hand on the tree in front of her.

「The bumpy surface of the bark, the sparkle of sunlight filtering through the leaves, where the tree might be drawing water from. See, feel, and then go further to imagine.」

No matter how much she tried to feel it, all she could sense was that the tree bark was very hard.

“What is madam doing?”

“I don’t know, she’s been talking to trees for a while now.”

“……Is madam very tired today?”

‘I can hear everything, you know? Even I would think this person is very strange. A grown adult suddenly going “Hello tree? The sunshine is so warm today, ho ho ho.” like that!’

“Anette?”

Flinch. Someone carefully called her name.

“Is the meeting over?”

“It’s over, but…… what are you doing right now?”

Darius was looking at her with a peculiar expression.

“This, I heard it helps increase nature affinity……”

“By talking to trees?”

“It’s supposedly extremely helpful…… according to a certain damned Spirit King.”

Her face felt hot.

“I mean, Sylphid said that I have talent for spirit arts but I keep failing to find it. He said I need to recognize what kind of energy is flowing inside my body…… so I should stay close to nature.”

She wanted to cry. The more she explained, the more she sounded like a strange person.

“Anette, come here.”

Darius pulled her hand that had been hugging the large tree.

You also find it embarrassing to have a wife who talks to trees, right? That’s it, isn’t it?

“Is the problem that you can’t find the energy flowing in your body?”

Darius sat under the large tree and seated her between his legs. Her breath, panting from embarrassment, touched his chest.

Now there were two people doing strange things in front of the tree.

“I went to tell madam to come and see something, and now even the lord……”

Hot hot hot. As the situation became increasingly embarrassing, she wanted to leave.

“I want to go to my room. I’m not doing this anymore.”

“Wait a moment, Anette. Since it’s difficult to find energy from the beginning, I’ll infuse you with mine.”

“What?”

“A spirit user’s spirit power, a priest’s holy power, a swordsman’s aura. They’re all different types of energy, but they’re the same in that they flow within the body.”

The ability to imbue one’s mana into a sword is called sword aura. Darius is publicly known as a sword master with sword aura, but she knew.

Now he could not only imbue mana into his sword but could coat it with energy about a hand’s width beyond the blade. He had transcended sword aura and entered the sword expert stage.

Considering that ordinary humans can’t even reach the first stage of sword aura despite practicing swordsmanship their whole lives, the protagonist deserved all the praise.

“I’ll help you.”

He embraced her from behind and began to infuse his mana.

Their joined hands were warm. A ticklish sensation was felt at the fingertips.

“Can you feel it?”

Like a ray of light in darkness, Darius’s energy entered her body.

“Ugh.”

“Shh. I won’t hurt you, try to accept it.”

Though warm and clear, it was still energy that wasn’t her own. She momentarily felt dizzy from the inevitable sense of unfamiliarity.