"Why are you trying to lower your own value? There's nothing good for you in being with such an inferior creature."
Rosaria frowned at Orneptos' words.
She didn't like the fact that her favorite thing was being belittled.
Rosaria boldly confronted him.
"Our Meowmeow will become great!"
"No matter how much a lower spirit struggles, it's still a lower spirit."
A spirit's rank is predetermined.
Spiritists can match higher-ranked spirits through growth and training, but there is no change in their essential rank.
There is no promotion or evolution.
Rosaria didn't know that fact.
So, she denied Orneptos' words.
"No! Our Meowmeow will spout fire, water, wind, and lightning! It will become a versatile spirit that can produce everything!"
"A spirit that can handle all elements? That doesn't exist in the world."
It was logically impossible.
Rosaria was a child.
Children believe they can do anything through ignorance and curiosity.
"Our Meowmeow can do it!"
One different point was that Rosaria also had the ability to break such common sense.
Pa-a-at!
As Rosaria shouted, light sprouted from her back.
Her surroundings were instantly filled with dense mana.
All the mana stored in the "Eternal Hole" was released.
Despite being so dense, it didn't disperse at all.
Shortly after, it began to be absorbed by the Salamander.
As the blue mana continuously entered, the Salamander's body began to glow brighter.
'The "Sense of Curiosity"!'
A variable for wizards who can add functions beyond existing magic and common sense.
Her trait was reacting and entering the Salamander's body.
Everyone focused on the Salamander, which had absorbed all her mana.
-Meow.
It was still the same big-headed and gentle-looking Salamander.
Rosaria held the Salamander up and said,
"Look at this! Earth Meowmeow!"
As Rosaria shouted, the flames that wrapped around its body disappeared, and it turned brown, with a hard armor forming.
"Good heavens!"
"What is this!"
The elf elders each exclaimed in admiration.
Reed wanted to do the same.
However, it wasn't over yet.
"Light Meowmeow, and Water Meowmeow!"
The Salamander that emitted bright light, and the Salamander that turned into a transparent liquid, revealing its insides.
"Fire Meowmeow!"
It returned to its original Salamander form.
Rosaria's spirit became a versatile one that could change between four attributes: fire, light, earth, and water.
'I've seen spirits change depending on the caster, but...'
The change was usually in appearance or attack style.
It was the first time for Rosaria to twist the predetermined attribute to its opposite.
Yustina and the elders couldn't help but be astonished.
"By Yggdrasil!"
"What kind of miracle is this...?!"
They unanimously exclaimed in admiration at Rosaria's ability.
Lastly, they looked up at Orneptos, who had watched it all.
Orneptos had an excited face.
"With that ability... With that ability, not only can you drive away fire, but you can also open the age of water!"
Orneptos shouted excitedly.
A power beyond imagination.
He imagined using that power to shake the spirit King's position.
It was the situation Reed was most worried about.
"Fine, girl. Let's make a contract with me. You'll make a contract with me after that lower-ranked lump."
Orneptos excitedly extended his hand again.
The fact that he allowed a double contract even after contracting with fire meant he had really given up on everything.
In response to the spirit King's words, Rosaria said,
"I don't want to!"
She refused with a sharp voice.
Orneptos was taken aback by her appearance.
"Didn't I agree to the conditions you wanted?"
"You said bad things about Meowmeow. People who say bad things are bad people."
"I'm not a person, I'm a spirit."
"... spirits shouldn't gossip either! You're a bad spirit!"
"What, what? A bad spirit?"
Orneptos was hit twice in a row.
He not only rejected the proposal he had made with his pride put aside but also humiliated himself.
The atmosphere was unusual.
Reed, anticipating a possible retaliation, grabbed Rosaria's body and retreated.
Seeing that, Orneptos raised his head and looked at Reed.
"Human over there, are you that girl's father?"
"Yes, I am."
At Orneptos' words, Reed looked down at Rosaria and said,
"Rosaria, no matter how angry you are, you shouldn't call others 'bad' And you shouldn't call spirits 'bad spirits.'"
"Is Daddy on that bad person’s side?"
Reed smiled and stroked her head.
"Daddy is always on your side."
That's why he stood up again and looked up at the Water spirit King, Orneptos.
"I apologize for my daughter's bad behavior. However, we will not make a contract."
"...What?"
"If I ignore the fact that my child heard someone else's bad words and pointed them out, I don't think I'll be a good father."
Orneptos looked puzzled.
"Aren't you a magician? If you're a magician, you should pursue power. Don't you want my power?"
Power.
He wants it.
If he's powerful, there would be more he could do.
That's why the children of magicians often receive treatment as tools.
He answered that question like this:
"I am a father."
He respects Rosaria's choice.
That was Reed the magician.
Confusion could be seen on Orneptos' porcelain-like face.
The spirit King is an existence that all spiritists, and even magicians, admire and revere.
So, when he offered to lend his power, he had never seen a human reject it.
Not once, but twice.
Her body was boiling.
"Is that... what you're saying?"
He reached his limit, and finally, the noble spirit King let his emotions explode.
"Fine! If you don't need my help, that's great! Play with that lower spirit for the rest of your life!"
Orneptos' body disappeared from the summoning circle.
Seeing the swirling water completely disappear, Reed breathed a sigh of relief.
'It may not have had much power since it was summoned with a small amount of mana, but it disappeared quite obediently.'
The summoning circle is for summoning only.
It provides the spirit with just enough mana to deal with whatever it does before it causes trouble.
Whether he knew that or not, he disappeared as if he had been cut off like a young child.
An awkward silence lingered.
Reed felt embarrassed and apologized to Yustina first.
"I'm sorry. I brought the spirit King with the help of the elf elders, but it turned out to be such a disgrace..."
"No, it's not. Even if the spirit King is angry, he won't be able to act rashly."
"Why?"
"Because the Fire Spirit King has already made a contract and become stronger."
"You mean that the Water spirit King, who has been dormant until now, knows that he cannot oppose the Fire spirit King without a contractor... I see."
"If he's not careful, he could even face annihilation, so he won't be able to act rashly."
In other words, Orneptos was not a fool either.
He was worried about the balance of the world being destroyed.
'The balance of the world...'
Thinking about it that way, he understood why the Earth spirit King did not fight the final boss, Cosmo.
"Even so, it seems that I won't be able to make a contract with a water spirit now."
"...Yes."
The rune interpretation seemed to have gone across the water for the time being.
Reed looked down at Rosaria.
Rosaria looked up at him apologetically.
"I'm sorry."
Rosaria spoke cautiously.
Reed smiled broadly and matched her eye level.
"Do you regret not making a contract?"
Rosaria shook her head.
"Then there's nothing to be sorry about."
Taking a detour is fine.
Reed had always thought that way.
