For a Hunter, the ability to assess a situation is one of the most critical skills—one demanded not only of Thieves who handle scouting and navigation, but of every member of the Party.
On the battlefield, conditions shift in the blink of an eye. Especially in otherworldly Treasure Halls, a single delayed judgment can lead to total annihilation without that being unusual at all.
Well, what I'm trying to say is that there's no way someone like me—reputed to have zero aptitude as a Hunter—could possibly possess the kind of ability an excellent Hunter should have.
Back when I was still participating in adventures as the leader of the Mourning Specter, the only reason a useless person like me could serve as a Hunter Party's leader was because every single member happened to be outstanding.
I was surprised when Lucia suddenly launched her attack, but even so—if my sister, who devotes herself day and night to magic research at the Imperial Capital's premier magic academy, had made that judgment, it was undoubtedly the right call.
If I give broad instructions, everyone moves appropriately. The problem with that approach was simply that I couldn't understand the situation at all.
And now, swept up by events and acting on instinct, I found myself in a staring match with a mysterious spirit at point-blank range.
A spherical body, swollen and inflated. Two round, pupilless eyes on its head were fixed squarely on me.
I couldn't sense any hostility from those eyes, but it was possible my senses had simply gone numb.
My companions were severely drained. The members of Star's Holy Thunder in particular, perhaps suffering the backlash from their earlier barrage, could barely stand—much like the state Lucia used to fall into when she was a newly minted Hunter.
Lucia and Anthem could still move, but they held their breath, positioned themselves to intervene at any moment, and watched me and the strange creature staring each other down.
I had no idea how I'd ended up in this situation.
All I'd done was get hit by a stray spirit attack and then issue an attack command at the spirit when it left itself open.
Both Star's Holy Thunder and the Mourning Specter—two well-known Parties in the Imperial Capital—had unleashed a devastating barrage on the spirit, and there was no visible change whatsoever. The body Rietz had torn open to free the captive Spiritfolk had already regenerated completely.
I knew spirits wielded power among the greatest in this world, but that our attacks couldn't even scratch it, let alone drive it back—that was hard to believe. Even staring at each other like this, there was no sign it would attack, so maybe it was only outwardly unscathed while actually being affected; but I had no way to judge.
Well, for now, if the spirit in front of me would just go away somewhere, that would solve everything… but what was I supposed to do?
The ever-composed Citry and Elisa, who seemed knowledgeable about spirits, apparently weren't going to help me this time either. I glanced at the members of Star's Holy Thunder, who might seem reliable in moments like this, but every one of them stood frozen, staring at me. One person's lips were moving faintly, but I had no idea what she was trying to say. Well, she had said something about what to do, so even if I could hear her, I shouldn't expect much.
If the other party were human, I'd try negotiation—but wait. Klye Andrich, don't give up.
The being before me looked like nothing less than a monster, and talking to it seemed futile. Even Lapis had said it had lost its will.
But then again, given that it hadn't fallen or fled even after that onslaught from Rietz and the others, my options were limited. If I truly possessed the strength befitting a Level 8, I might have been able to drive it away, but without power, there was nothing to be done.
Man, I really have been getting involved with dangerous ones lately.
"…Guess there's no other way."
Lucia had once told me that negotiations with spirits are conducted from heart to heart.
I didn't fully understand, but the spirit's attacks had stopped. If I engaged it sincerely from now on, surely we could work something out. Words probably wouldn't work, so I'd supplement with gestures and body language— I took a deep breath to steel myself, spread both arms wide, and was about to open my mouth when the spirit began to flash brilliantly.
My eyes went wide. A strange sound, like the ringing of a bell, came from nowhere, and the spirit's form shifted from a sphere into a human shape.
For an instant I thought it was a new attack, but there was no sign of that. As I stood frozen with arms still spread, the spirit slowly raised its arm in what seemed like a wave.
What was happening…? And what was this sound—?
Then, in the midst of my utter confusion, Lapis—who had been on one knee, watching us with an intense, unblinking gaze—spoke up in a strained voice.
"F-for a spirit of this caliber to… attempt dialogue with a human on its own initiative… You never cease to amaze me."
"!! ……W-well, these things happen every now and then."
Of course. So this was the spirit's voice! Now that it was pointed out, it did seem to be coming from the spirit before me. Good grief, how misleading.
But now that I understood it was attempting communication through sound, the situation was in my favor. This was precisely the moment for the Treasure Weapon staff with translation capabilities—*Round World*.
I'd used it to confirm Ruke's will before, and despite its high price tag it hadn't been particularly useful, so I was glad to have more opportunities to use it this time.
I nodded along as the spirit chimed at me insistently with bell-like sounds, then beckoned Mimik-kun, who had been waiting off to the side. But the one who always came running the instant I called now seemed reluctant to approach.
Wasn't one of its functions to come when called…? Now really wasn't the time to be playing around?
After beckoning several times, Tino noticed the exchange between me and Mimik-kun and hurried over, patting Mimik-kun firmly on the head. Only then did Mimik-kun finally move.
…I swear, could Tino actually be better at handling Treasure Weapons than I am—no, no. If I lost in that department, the only thing I'd have over Tino would be Level. I wanted to redeem my reputation here.
I opened the lid on Mimik-kun as it approached and took out *Round World*. This was where I came in.
I turned to face the spirit with a confident stride and activated the Treasure Weapon. The strange sound now carried meaning as it reached me.
*"—Then, I leave it to you, child of man."* "…Ah, yes."
…Huh? W-wait a second?
The spirit paid no attention to my inner bewilderment and gave a satisfied nod, then turned toward Mimik-kun, whose lid was still open.
*"—Before my consciousness is swallowed by my power once more, I shall sleep within that vessel. This world lately… the Mana Material is too strong."* The spirit vanished into Mimik-kun. There was no time to stop it.
And then, silence fell over the scene. On the surface it looked no different from before the spirit had appeared, but… um, had I just been asked to do something?
Apparently the spirit hadn't realized I couldn't speak the spirit language. My nodding along had backfired. What now?
Lucia, who had been watching our exchange as if holding her breath, rushed over.
"Br-Brother, are you alright!? Negotiating with a spirit—"
…Well, it wasn't exactly that I'd been trying to negotiate. In any case, the goal of driving the spirit away had been accomplished. I was just glad everyone was safe.
Lapis had recovered slightly and, despite swaying, managed to stand upright.
"Hmph… swallowed by its own power. The attack command must have been to chip away at that swelling force and restore its sanity… I had noticed the high ambient mana concentration, but for even a spirit of that class to go berserk from accumulated power—Yggdrasil appears to be in a rather complicated state."
"!! Yeah, yeah, exactly!"
*Round World*'s effect only applied to the user. It seemed Lapis had understood the spirit's words just fine.
A stroke of luck within misfortune—they probably also heard what the spirit asked of me. I'd confirm later. We had very nearly proceeded without knowing anything about the situation (as usual).
As I was sighing with relief, Lapis looked down at the others who were still slumped on the ground and spoke in a serious tone.
"And the bet from earlier—you appear to have lost. If the spirit's words just now were the truth, this incident has nothing to do with this man. Furthermore, he accepted the spirit's request without hesitation. Needless to say, as Spiritfolk, we owe an enormous debt. You understand?"
"That's why I told you it wasn't the Weak Human's fault!"
Under Lapis's stern gaze and Kluth's exasperated words, the members of Star's Holy Thunder hung their heads meekly.
They were usually so assertive—seeing them change their attitude like this actually made me more uncomfortable.
Besides, rather than accepting the request, I'd barely understood what was even said to me… and was there really a debt here?
Suffering reputational damage was troublesome enough, but being overestimated due to a misunderstanding was its own kind of problem. I hurriedly said to Lapis.
"It's fine, Lapis. I don't consider this a debt. I just did what I wanted to do. You don't need to worry about the bet either—that wasn't fair."
I knew I hadn't been in the wrong, and on top of that, the terms had been vague when I lost—that bet was far too favorable to my side. It was possible they would have come to me with proper demands if I'd actually lost, but even then Citry would have found a way to smooth things over.
As for the spirit's request, I hadn't decided whether to accept it yet. I'd accidentally said "Ah… yes," but there was still time to back out.
The problem was when to have Lapis confirm the contents with me… I just needed a good opportunity.
As I furrowed my brow thinking about this, one of Star's Holy Thunder's members stood up forcefully. She glared at me, then walked over on slightly unsteady legs and planted herself in front of me.
Sharp, clean features; calm, gemstone-like eyes. As I involuntarily tensed under the indescribable pressure she radiated, the female mage spoke in a low voice.
"I—I—we were in the wrong. Thousand Transformations. For our previous rudeness, for casting unfounded suspicion on you—I offer my sincere apology. Please forgive us… truly."
A full surrender—completely beyond my expectations.
The female mage bowed deeply, and the other members followed suit.
How would they react if they knew I couldn't even remember their names? I mean, they rarely came to the Clan House, so I never had the chance to interact with them…
Kluth, for some reason looking sympathetic toward those bowed heads, spoke to me.
"Forgive them, Weak Human, please. Astol was also using proper polite language to apologize. They just… don't really understand you very well, that's all."
"No, there's no problem at all… I think it's fair to have been suspicious given those circumstances—I would've been too."
I didn't need any apology in the first place… and come to think of it, that polite speech pattern wasn't unique to Kluth after all. That was the bigger surprise for me.
The female mage—Astol, as Kluth had called her—raised her head to look at me.
At the same time, the other members of Star's Holy Thunder who had been hanging back crowded toward me.
"You're a good guy, truly. Looks like we had the wrong impression. Level 8—thought it was just a meaningless scale humans made up, but apparently there was some truth to it after all."
"Restoring a spirit with power approaching divinity to sanity, and on top of that rescuing our captured companions… You're too good to be left as a mere human. No wonder Lucia held you in such high regard."
"And to accept a request from a spirit like that without a moment's hesitation! I'll make you my friend!"
The members of Star's Holy Thunder spoke excitedly. Not a trace of the contempt from moments ago remained on their faces.
Lucia's cheek twitched at the sheer whiplash, and Kluth looked irritated.
Wait—were Spiritfolk really this clingy?
More importantly, what had that spirit actually asked of me? I was planning to refuse, but now it was going to be awkward…
"That's right, human. It's not quite payment, but as an apology for my rudeness, I'll give you one of my treasures! Take good care of it!"
"N-no, I don't need it—"
Astol even tried to hand me the green gemstone ring she was wearing.
I'd heard that Spiritfolk, while cold to outsiders, were lenient with their own—but that was a dramatic attitude shift.
I couldn't accept a treasure. That would make it even harder to refuse. Besides, my hands were already full.
When I firmly refused, Astol's face flickered with hurt for a moment, but then, as if struck by an idea, she drew a knife from her belt without hesitation and ran it through her long hair.
A bundle of golden, silken hair fell away. To my wide-eyed bewilderment at the inexplicable act, Astol flashed a confident smile and held the hair out to me.
"If you don't want a treasure, then I'll share some of my hair! Consider it thanks for heeding the spirit's request. Spiritfolk hair is a rare catalyst in magic. It's not something a human can normally obtain—you should be grateful!"
The sheer absurdity of the act left everyone stunned. Citry in particular held a hand to her mouth, her expression a mix of shock and elation.
That look on Citry's face—the one she only wore when unbelievable fortune dropped into her lap. I was genuinely envious of that unshakeable composure of hers in a situation like this.
"…Ah… alright…"
At this point, I couldn't exactly refuse. It had already been cut off, after all.
Once things had gone this far, how could I turn down the spirit's request… I was going to be sick.
The bundle of hair gleamed like real gold, lustrous and beautiful, with a faint coolness to it that felt almost mystical. The claim that it served as a rare magic catalyst was probably true.
But what was I supposed to do with it? And seriously—what had the spirit said to me!?
Kluth scurried over and asked tentatively.
"Weak Human… um… shall I give you some of my hair too?"
"…First of all, can you make Astol and the others stop with that weird polite speech? It's confusing."
"!?"
What were they competing for…? I don't want it! And offering your own hair was seriously heavy!
Well, I'd already accepted this bundle, so… Citry looked like she wanted it badly. I'd give it to Citry.
But that eager gaze of hers was making me really uneasy. The spirit returning to its senses, me accepting its request—none of that was what I'd intended.
The burning stares of Star's Holy Thunder's members pierced through my entire body. The simple fact that I'd done something to make them change their attitude this drastically was terrifying. What kind of request could make a spirit seek out someone when all of Star's Holy Thunder together with nearly the entire Mourning Specter (minus Ruke) had failed to take it down?
Then, from outside the cluster of Star's Holy Thunder members, a somewhat irritable voice called out. It was Rietz.
"Klye-kun! I've been taking care of you properly like you asked, so at least look over here, will you!? Looks like they're about to regain consciousness!"