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Chapter 347: A Familiar Face

「If you’re gonna call it then go ahead, just don’t sloppily summon it here, alright? 」
「Eh? 」
I was puzzled at Retze’s remarks.

「… 」
「… 」
Retze wordlessly stared at me, and I stared back at him.

「Isn’t it… too late at this point? 」
「…. In that case, which is safer, sticking to you or running for my life? 」
Retze pinched his brows when Butler said that.

「Is something dangerous coming here? Who — are the deities coming here!? 」
「What the heck are you talking about, the deities only bestow their protection, don’t they? 」
Dinosso started to panic, but Hauron calmly smoked his hookah.

「Whoa!? The ground is shaking… 」
Dinosso was suddenly flustered.

「There’s no way this world will be shaken just like that… No, it’s really shaking!? 」
Hauron paled as he went down from his flying carpet.

「No way… 」
Retze placed both his hands the ground.

「You’re right, I can feel the shaking? 」
It should be a level 2 earthquake — the kind that you still feel you’re shaking after it stops? Aren’t they being too exaggerated? Oh, but there’s a bit of subterranean tremor?

「Jean, why are you so calm about this? The Great Land just betrayed us, you know!? 」
Chris was trembling slightly.

Oh, right, I haven’t experienced any earthquakes since coming here. Well, there’s no volcanoes in Canum, after all. But then, the mountain range separating the Central Plains from Tarya and Cavil Peninsula seemed like it rose because of plates colliding. The salt mountains located a bit north of the fortress city should be the bottom of the sea ages ago. That means earthquakes should’ve occurred too, I’m positive about it.

「Sorry. I lived in a place where earthquakes this intense frequently occur, so I’m not scared at all. 」
If it’s beyond level 3 then…

I continued munching on my fries while everyone stared at me as if they found it unbelievable. How should’ve I reacted, then? Wait, was the earthquake an omen signaling something that had been sealed was finally awoken?

I pretended not to notice their blood-drained faces as I made the tea. The quaking stopped after a while.

「…Sigh. It finally ended. 」
Dinosso moved his stiff body.

「Won’t the ground shake again? It felt as if I was on board a ship! 」
Chris looked around.

「It appears that Jean-sama truly is used to such occurrences. 」
「It doesn’t even seem like he was just being nonchalant about it. Like, he’s just being normal? It’s amazing that you can even drink tea at a time like this… 」
Hauron sighed.

「That was intense. 」
Retze fanned himself by grabbing his shirt and shaking it.

When I gave everyone a cup of lukewarm tea, they either drank it all in one gulp, or held their cups while sighing.

「Oh? — Riche!! 」
Riche appeared before me, and he dashed as he crossed the short distance between us/

「The most adorable, cutest, sweetest Riche!! 」
I grabbed his face and ruffled it, then kissed his head. Ahh, so cute.

「Eh? N-No way, no, wait a sec, alright? That is, no way, don’t tell me.. 」
「Stop it, don’t pry. That is just a puppy, alright! 」
「No way it is!! What’s this aura!? And why are you all being so calm!? 」
「If I say it’s a puppy then it’s a puppy!! 」
Dinosso and Hauron were arguing for some reason.

「— Please pardon the disturbance, Master. 」
「Hm? 」
Oh, Butler was standing behind me!

「Why…? 」
Butler was also diagonally in front of me!

「What’s up? 」
I check the manastone on his tie clip — it’s black. Ahh, so this must be the forest Note, huh. I can totally see myself being sued for using somebody else’s image, what a tough spot to be in.

「The aftereffects of an overpowered contest that just occurred in the Spirit Realm has slightly affected the『House』. Please allow me to close the notebooks in order to facilitate the repairs. 」
「Eh, was something broken? Will it get repaired if you close the notebooks? 」
Isn’t that a big deal!? Ah, but it seems he can fix it. The notebook he wanted to close must be the one I’m using for the spirits’ ‘signatures’.

If I left it open, the spirit that looks like Butler’s twin would manage the spirit signature notebook on my behalf.

Since I didn’t have to organize everything on my own, I prepared several notebooks categorizing them according to attributes and categories— fire spirits, water spirits and the like. The color of the note spirit’s tie pin corresponds to his assigned attribute.

The words and letters might get corrupted if the notebooks are loose, so I bind them and turn them into proper books. At first, the notebook spirit was just a miniature of Butler, but as the books increased, so did his size. His growth only stopped when he was about the size of the real life Butler.

The Note in front of me right now was no other than the spirit in charge of the notebooks listing the forest spirits. Those notebooks had also been bound into books. This particular Note seemed stronger and more ‘managerial’ than the others, perhaps because I grabbed the black spirits and also named the ordinary spirits directly while at it.

The individual strength of the Notes shouldn’t matter that much, since they could communicate and even merge with the All-Attribute Note. I guess this spirit is the type that increases and becomes stronger the more it does that.

「Normally, the Spirit Realm doesn’t directly affect the Physical World. However, the 『House』’s existence is unique, and apart from that, it was also the center of the explosion. I have come now to ask permission to close the notebooks and use the mana that Master has bestowed for naming the spirits into repairs. 」
Forest Butler did a perfect bow.

「If you can fix it then of course that’d be great. I’m counting on you then. 」
「Understood. 」
Note disappeared.

「…Can I say something now? 」
I started petting Riche, when Retze suddenly said that. He sounded a bit exasperated.
He already knew about Riche, so it must be Forest Note! Retze could also see him? Oh, right, I guess it’s creepy if you’re using a spirit that looks like someone close to you, huh… But, wait please, let me explain!