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Chapter 348: In the Midst of Repairs

「Noth, you don’t have a twin, right? 」
「…But of course. 」
Retze confirmed with Butler.

「That thing totally had the aura of a spirit, not a Changeling, right? Changelings are spirits that obtained a body of flesh, and it was totally different. 」
「No, rather than that, what’s up with those dangerous vibes, huh!? 」
Dinosso and Hauron.

「What a surprise!! As far as I know, spirits that huge should be on the level of the deities! 」
Chris, please stop being so exaggerated, alright.

「Listen, okay, I’m gonna say this clearly, right here right now. It’s good that you wanna confirm what’s going on with Jean, but stop actually practicing it or testing it, alright? 」
「Sorry, I can’t help but want to see for myself…. 」
Hauron got scolded by Retze, and the ends of his eyebrows drooped.

Does the ability to move your brows come with age? I don’t want to wiggle it to that extent. Even Ash is better at me in knitting brows.

「Jean, you don’t have to be so sincere and really show them to others, alright? Well, I know you don’t really get along well with the other Guild members and you act cold towards the receptionist because that’s your way of protecting yourself, so I won’t be too harsh on you. 」
Retze sighed.

Ah, no, it’s not really self-defense. I just find it troublesome when the Guild members invite me to do subjugations with them or join fixed parties. The receptionists are also a pain-in-the-neck; it feels as if they’re gonna treat me as if I am their boyfriend or even a potential son-in-law if I so much as let down my guard.

「— It’d be great if he listens, right? Hey, Jean, the guy who’s petting that wolf of destruction! What on earth was that Noth doppelganger? 」
Hauron had been quietly contemplating something, but he suddenly looked up and asked me that.

「Hauron, it’s a puppy, a puppy, you hear!? 」
「Lying isn’t good, you know! 」
Hauron snapped at the flustered Dinosso.

「Ahh, the notebook I wrote the names of spirits on had somehow turned into a spirit. His appearance was probably because I thought of Noth whenever I’m looking at the note, they sound pretty similar, after all. 」

「Note… Spirit names… 」
「Actually, it was originally just a notebook, but then several notebooks had been filled so I bookbinded them. 」

They were fine books if I say so myself, with leather cover and matching foil stamped on the cover. They were all lined up on my bookshelf, and I added a manastone on each attribute notebook so that it’s easier to tell them apart, and that’s what Note’s tie pin was for.

「Why did he gave off such dangerous vibes then? 」
「Maybe because it’s the notebook where the black spirit names are written on? 」
I’m not really sure if he seemed dangerous, but it’s true that his ‘black-bellied-guy’ vibes were around 30 % more than the others.

Hauron shut up and clutched his head after I answered him.

「What the… 」
「Whoah! 」
「What on earth! 」
Hauron, Dinosso and Butler shouted at the same time.

「What? 」
「What happened? 」
Retze and Chris seemed puzzled.

「 — Ugh, he took a lot. 」
My mana had been sucked away almost completely, and my body felt sluggish as I collapsed.

Hmm, maybe that slight earthquake we felt just a while ago was the aftermath of the shockwaves reaching the Physical World? I’m not sure which spirit it was, but I wish they’d stop engaging in high risk, large-scale destructive matches or battles, for goodness sake.

Forest Note did mention that the 『House』had been affected because of what happened in the Spirit World. I’m pretty sure that there’s no way the happenings in the Spirit World would immediately affect the Physical World. If I’m not mistaken, no matter what sort of polarization occurs in the Spirit World, the effect would appear slowly and gradually in the Physical World.

Buft then, the deities created the『House』I received from them out of my lifespan, and it was obviously built by the power of spirits. Well, the land should be safe, but the building itself and the plants that I took out of 【Storage】and planted must’ve been affected badly, huh. Ah, and the barrier too, I guess.

I wonder what areas and parts had been destroyed? What to do if it’s the bathroom? Ah, no, I guess it’d be fixed? In that case, maybe it’s better if Note gets a bit more mana.

「No, no, no, no, that momentary release of mana just before it was sucked away was so intense. 」
「Ditto. Well, he can fire that many fireballs, after all… Hmm, you can usually suppress your mana pretty well. It’s just that you unwittingly release them when sudden fluctuations happen. I’ll teach you how to suppress and conceal your mana just in case, since we don’t know if you can control that release. 」
Thanks Hauron, I appreciate that, but I feel so sluggish right now.

Riche leaned on my feet. He snuggled his tiny body onto me, and his weight brought comfort.

「Are you okay? 」
「I feel sluggish but I’m good. 」
I answered Retze then sipped a mouthful of tea.

「Even so, that Note is one powerful spirit, alright, being able to fly to his Master despite having a real physical form. 」
「Is that usually impossible? 」
Chris asked Hauron.

「Contracted spirits with no physical forms can usually be summoned anywhere as long as the conditions are met, although it costs a lot of mana. However, if the spirit has a physical form, then the spirit must separate from that body first before the summoning can happen. Not only that, the spirits can only fly within their territories; that’s the pattern, at least. 」

Oh, this place is also part of Forest Note’s territory. Although I also left a notebook in the Forest Sanctuary, the filled notebooks and binded books are in the 『House』, so he probably go easily back and forth to his heart’s content between these two places. Alright, I wonder how to handle this? I guess it’s kinda like the fireplace spirits going back and forth in fireplaces?

「Riche-sama, please refrain from gnawing X-Stick-sama in front of me. It would truly be an unexpected delight if you are to do so. 」
Butler wistfully commented when the conversation went into a lull.

When I looked at Riche, he was gnawing X-Stick, which had been lying by my feet.

「Seriously, you’re more bothered about that rather than the fact that there’s a spirit who totally looks like you? 」
「The King’s Bough, tooth marks on the King’s Bough…! 」
「Hey, you too, Hauron!? Hey, I don’t wanna carry you guys, so can you not faint, for goodness sake!! 」
Dinosso seemed to have his hands full between Butler and Hauron.

It’s fine, X-Stick will never get tooth marks. Ahh, I’m glad they didn’t get angry as much as I thought they would this time, so let’s have a nice rest this evening, shall we?