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Volume 5 Chapter 16

Volume 5 Chapter 16: A Renewed Action
Following Parum’s lead, we arrived at a building in the central part of the Spirit City. This building had a predominantly white design, and on its walls were several engraved emblems, clearly protected with magic.
There, right in front of a large entrance that appeared to be the building’s main door, stood I.
On either side of the door, a lightly armored female spirit was standing, likely guards.
「Greetings Parum-sama.」
「You must be the heroes party? Please come inside.」
Without hesitation, they allowed Parum, Daisy, and me to pass through.
「I doubted that outsiders like us could just walk in and immediately get an audience with the Spirit Princess, but Parum’s credibility must be something else.」
「No, no. It’s not that great. True, they trust me as the guild master, but… more than that, the Spirit Princess is a very down-to-earth person. She often says she’d like to speak openly whenever circumstances allow.」
「A down-to-earth princess, huh?」
The princesses I’ve met before, usually had a more commanding and strong-willed nature. I guess every princess has her own unique personality.
As I walked through the palace, thinking about such things.
「Right this way.」
We were led to a room deep inside the palace.
Upon entering, I saw that the room was adorned with shades of blue and jade-colored crystals. At the other end of the room stood a throne-like chair, also decorated with crystals.
And sitting there was…
「Here is the Spirit Princess who governs the Spirit City – Spirit Princess Lorie.」
A young female spirit, draped in a gorgeous dress that shimmered with dazzling colors.
She gazed at me with strong, determined eyes as I walked up to the throne.
「Nice to meet you. Parum has informed me about you. You’re Axel the Carrier, and you must be Daisy, the Alchemist Hero?」
Her voice was clear and firm.
「Yeah, nice to meet you too, Princess Lorie. I’m Axel. And here on my shoulder is Daisy.」
What a strong-willed princess, thought I, as I gave a reply.
She, however, shook her head.
「Just call me Lorie. Stiff formalities are not to my liking.」
「…Sure? Then I’ll call you Lorie.」
「That suits me better. Now, you’ve come because of the Spirit’s Spring, right?」
「Yes. But it’s been tainted by magical beasts. So our objective can’t be completed.」
Lorie nodded in agreement.
「Exactly. Unbelievable, isn’t it? Even though I properly manage this Spirit City, ensuring the circulation of magical energy and keeping the Spirit Road open. No idea who is behind this, but devouring the magic from both the Spirit Road and the spring? I wish I could just deal with them with my own two hands.」
Lorie spoke with such fiery passion, her voice filled with emotion.
…How do I put this?
She might indeed be a different type of princess. She’s quite bold, maybe even a bit of a troublemaker.
At least she is easy to talk to, and that’s definitely a blessing.
「So, Lorie, while I do think we need to deal with these magical beasts, Parum also mentioned that there’s a problem with opening the Spirit Road itself. Can you tell me more about that?」
The reason I came here was because Parum mentioned someone would be able to explain things better.
I looked to Lorie, who gave a thoughtful nod.
「Well, there are a few issues with the Spirit Road. It’s unstable, and opening it draws more and more power from me and the Spirit City’s magical energy, just to name a few? But starting with the basic premise, it is understood that The Spirit Road absolutely must be opened at least a few times a day.」
「Must be, you say, is there some sort of a norma for that?」

「Simply put, the Spirit Road has to be opened several times a day to maintain the mana circulation between the Spirit Realm and the human world. Otherwise, both the human world’s Spirit City’s and the Spirit Realm’s mana will become tainted, as if the magic has rotted, drawing us closer to ruination.」

I can’t recall hearing about mana「rotting」before, but I can tell it’s not desirable from the expression itself. Daisy, however, seemed to understand it immediately.

「Rotting magic… If that happens, it’ll slowly start to damage the nature, and as that happens the mana that gets generated will decrease.」

「Exactly. Like Daisy said. Plus, this will affect other products of the mana circulation, like the hot springs outside the Spirit City, they won’t even heat up anymore.」

The real-world example Lorie provided was incredibly straightforward.

「That sounds bad.」

「Exactly. It is bad, which is why we have to keep opening it. But every time we do, I get this sensation that my magic is being drained. And the Spirit Road isn’t something that can endlessly be created, it’s made using the magic contributed by the people of Inborg and my own power. It’s finite. So having it devoured is a total loss for us.. That’s why we’ve been shortening the time we keep it open, to prevent too much mana from being devoured.」

Lorie’s words brought back something Cattleya once mentioned to me.

「Oh… So, the Spirit Road usually lasts for longer after all?」

I remembered Cattleya saying they used to pass through it more easily.

「Of course not. Otherwise, most people wouldn’t be able to pass through, right? …But now, it’s dangerous, so we’ve had to shorten the time to prevent people from wandering in as well… To think magical beasts would be gathering in the human world.」

From what I told Parum, it seems Lorie has a basic grasp of what’s happening in the human world. But she wasn’t up to date with the events there.

「The stability that the Spirit Road previously had is no longer there.」

「It’s the negative effect from mana being devoured. We tried to mitigate it by opening different locations at random, but even then, it is still being devoured.」

No matter where it opens, it gets consumed, huh. Lorie sighs.

「Fumu… Do you know anything about the ones attacking it?」

「Well, actually, every time we open the Spirit Road, it feels like something is gnawing on it. But we couldn’t figure out what it was. It’s really rough— *cough*!」

Midway through speaking, Lorie suddenly started coughing.

It wasn’t a choking kind of cough, but a more strained, painful one.

「…Are you alright?」

For a brief moment, Lorie looked pained.

But then, she quickly regained her lively demeanor.

「It’s nothing, Axel! It’s just the bad magic coming from the beasts—I’m fine! Just a bit of discomfort in my stomach and chest.」

「So damages aren’t from from magic drain alone.」

「Well, yeah. Being in charge of the Spirit City means I get feedback from attacks, and if bad magic gets into the city, it flows straight to me.」

Lorie patted her chest as she took a deep breath, and her expression returned to normal.

「This is nothing… Being the Spirit Princess means managing the city is my duty. Although it does come with some undesirable parts as well.」

「It sounds like you’re in a much tougher situation than I thought.」

「Yeah, but it’s not all bad. Controlling the Spirit City gives me the power to shape it. If I think of this as a trade off for that power it’s not that big of a deal.」

Lorie bent her slender arm and tapped on her supposed biceps.

「Power? Some special skill or something?」

「Yes. I already mentioned that I get a magic of magic power from the people of the Spirit City Inborg. I’m able to harness that magic and control it. For instance, I can move buildings in the Spirit City or create new land, shape paths in the air… lots of things. The Spirit Road is built that way too—created by combining magic from the people and mine. For example, I can do thing like this【Creation (Construct – Little Stage)】」

Lorie gripped a staff attached to the armrest of her chair and chanted.

Before our eyes, a thin circular platform made of white light formed.

The light solidified into a hard surface, floating in midair like a single, sturdy panel.

「Even this thin it can still support the weight of several people.」

「Ooh, impressive!」

「Although it is in part because spirits are naturally gifted at materializing magic into materia.」

「To think you can materialize platforms or paths like this with such ease. Even for me it’s pretty tough without using quite a few skills. Aren’t you something, Princess..」

Daisy marveled at this.

Considering Daisy is an alchemist, if she’s saying this is impressive, then it’s clearly on a whole different level.

… I also did have some mana materialization skills during my dragon knight days, but nothing this convenient.

While I was thinking that, Lorie lowered her staff, and the platform of light slowly began to fade.

「Phew, that’s the end of the demonstration. So… what are you two planning to do next? You came here, but you couldn’t access the Spirit Spring, right?」

True, it didn’t seem like we’d be able to fix the weapon as initially planned.

「Good question… I guess for now, since we’ve got some information, we’ll head back to the human world and share it with the others.」

Cattleya and Botan had asked me to bring back information, so one of the objectives was cleared.

So I told Lorie I’d be heading back for now.

「That’s great. I didn’t have a way to get word of the situation here. If you can carry the message, that’s perfect.」

「Yeah… but how do we get back?」

「Hmm… Soon, Parum will likely open the Spirit Road again. Isn’t that right, Parum?」

Parum, who had been quietly listening, pulled out a pocket watch and made a surprised face.

「Oh, yes. It’s about time. It should be opening in less than an hour.」

「Okay. Axel, just return at that time.」

「Got it. But… if you’re in charge of managing the Spirit Road, why is Parum opening it?」

That crossed my mind, so I asked. Lorie chuckled softly.

「It’s a bit complicated. I don’t go outside much, so Parum usually scouts out a good location for the Spirit Road, and then I create it there. Sometimes, she channels the magic for me, so I can open it remotely.」

「Ah, I see. So that’s how it works.」

「Yep. If you stick with me, there won’t be any issues with the Spirit Road.」

「Understood. Then I’ll leave when it opens next.」

With that, we settled on our next steps.

Afterwards, Lorie spoke again.

「Alright, so we’ve got our plan for now… but there’s still some time left. We’ve talked enough about me. Now I’d like to hear about you two. Tell me your story.」

「Our story?」

「Yes, I want to know. I’m stuck in this Spirit City, and the outside information I get is limited, mostly just what Parum brings from the human world. But I want to hear more about what’s happening, beyond just accidents and events. I want to know about current trends, popular things… everything. It’s suffocating always dealing with problems, you know?」

「Haha, I got it, Lorie.」

And so, in the grand palace of the Spirit City, we spent some rare moments having a pleasant conversation with the spirit princess.