「Hmm, what should I do about her…」
Back in the wagon, Mira looked at Anlutine who was still immobile in a corner. She seemed to be sound asleep, and still showed no signs of waking up. Her prolonged sleep was starting to worry Mira, but the Spirit King quickly put her worries to rest. According to him, Anlutine had likely spent too much spiritual power to travel all the way there so quickly, and if she slept for a few days she would recover all of it and wake up full of energy.
So Mira decided to just let Anlutine sleep. For now, she took out a large bath towel and covered Anlutine with it, who grasped it and firmly pulled it towards her body.
Now Anlutine did not look too distinct from a regular sleeping person.
Seeing that everything was in order, Mira stepped out of the wagon again. Outside she focused to summon an Armor Spirit to serve as night guard.
After a bit two knights holding holy swords appeared from magic circles. They were the Ashen Knights Mira had built with Compound Skills and the Spirit King’s Divine Protection.
Ashen Knights were the perfect summon for Mira to get more accustomed to using Compound Skills, while also improving her familiarity with the Spirit King’s Divine Protection. That was also why the Ashen Knights had become Mira’s choice whenever she needed a guard at night.
「Mhm, they’re looking pretty good.」
Mira examined the two Ashen Knights, making sure they were complete. Even if Mira was already proficient with it, not much time had passed since she learned how to use Compound Skills, so it still took her some effort to use it, especially when it came to making sure they were built correctly.
She took some time to check for any defects, since Mira knew better than to overestimate herself with new Skills. After the visual inspection, Mira also began various tests to make sure they were not only good, but perfect.
(Hmm, the armor is nice and thick, but that made the parts I borrowed from the Dark Knights swell up. I’ll have to modify those.)
Whenever she found something she did not like, she would amend that next time she summoned the Ashen Knights, slowly iterating on them until they were perfect. It was a tedious method but with good results.
「You’ll be perfect soon enough. Let’s keep striving to get better.」
Mira said that to the Ashen Knights before entering the spirit mansion. As soon as she was inside, the two Ashen Knights sprang into action to fulfill their orders, patrolling around the wagon and spirit mansion. With the exception of Sanctia, Armor Spirits were said to have essentially no consciousness, but strangely enough, the Ashen Knights patrolling around the area seemed to have a leisurely gait to them.
Meanwhile Mira began preparations to take a bath, starting by pouring hot water into the tub. Then she placed a bottle into the chilling box, sat in the toilet, and planned her dinner while she waited for the bathtub to fill.
As soon as the bathtub was full, she stripped all of her clothes away and jumped into the water.
Tonight the bathroom’s window showed the large walls around Haxthausen, and across it was a city filled with people, even if they were hidden by the walls now. There was only moonlight illuminating the walls, but somehow they still looked warm and inviting.
When she got out of the bath, she did not wander around wearing only panties like she usually did, but took the time to get properly dressed. One might think that she had finally started to gain common sense and feminine sensibilities, but that was not quite it. The only reason behind that change was her current location.
She was stationed not too far from Haxthausen’s main entrance, so the spirit mansion would be easy to spot from the city.
And making people wonder why a building had suddenly appeared out there was part of Mira’s plan to proselytize the power of summoners.
It would be a matter of time before someone decided to come investigate what that mysterious mansion was, and once they were close, Mira would step out with a bright smile and announce ‘This is summoning. Go and train, overcome difficulty, and pursue the life destined for you, and eventually you’ll also gain this type of blessing!’ Mira was aware that gaining a spirit mansion as summon was a difficult task for most, so she would make sure to stress it would take many hardships in her speech.
At the very least she wanted to tell them it was a possibility for summoners though. That was Mira’s goal.
Once Mira was clothed and ready for whenever a visitor came, she began eating dinner. Tonight’s menu was a freshly cooked rice bowl with beef and vegetables.
Though anything she kept in her Item Box was freshly cooked. Once again appreciating that fact, Mira began eating her warm meal.
Once she was done, she began avidly reading Soul Howl’s research notes, skimmed through the Encyclopedia of Skills, and continued studying with enthusiasm. Every so often she would also practice using Sense Sync, changing her view into that of the Ashen Knights outside to see if anyone was coming to check on the spirit mansion.
(I guess I shouldn’t expect a big crowd during the night…)
Five hours passed since she summoned the spirit mansion, and she was starting to struggle fighting back her sleepiness.
Usually a building popping up out of nowhere along a big road would stand out, but it had already been dark outside when she arrived, so there were not many people passing by. Maybe there would be more people taking notice during the day. After all, each time Mira used Sense Sync she was unable to see any person walking towards the spirit mansion.
The only people she saw were the gatekeepers of the city, quite some ways away. Eventually the watch shift seemed to end, and around ten guards gathered at the gate, seemingly discussing something.
After a bit, half of them went back into the city, while the other half remained keeping watch. By then it was already midnight.
(They’re still working hard, even though it’s so late.)
Mira watched the new shift of night guards for a bit, commending them in her mind for working hard, and then dispelled Sense Sync.
Then she put away the research notes and Skill Encyclopedia, closed the window shutters, and slipped into her sleeping bag before quickly passing out.
Waking up in the spirit mansion was always a refreshing experience. It was slightly past 7 in the morning when Mira woke up. After going to the toilet, she opened the window shutters to let the morning sun into the living room.
The sudden increase in light blinded Mira for an instant, but that also helped her shake off the remaining drowsiness.
As her mind cleared up, Mira’s ears began to pick up a distant tumult.
At first her reaction was to grumble a little, it was still too early for people to be acting so lively in the streets. But right after she recalled where she was. The spirit mansion was outside the city, and a decent distance away from the walls as well.
Considering that, it was strange to hear so many lively voices out there. That also filled her with satisfaction though, as she assumed it meant her plan had been successful.
Probably someone who woke up early in the morning had spotted the spirit mansion, and then went around bringing more attention to it, making everyone wonder just what that building was.
She was quickly filled with pride, her plan was flawless and it would greatly enhance the public opinion of summoners.
First things first though, she had to properly dress up. Though that was simple enough, as her attire was the one piece dress made by the maids and a coat.
Mira’s experience so far had taught her something, namely the importance of subverting expectations. It appeared that when a seemingly innocent young girl like her wielded powerful spells, it left a much more indelible impression on others compared to when she executed the same feats as Danbulf.
Thinking about it, it all made sense though. Seeing a seasoned old man use powerful spells was nowhere as impressive as a young beautiful girl doing that just as effortlessly.
And since Mira happened to be stuck with that appearance, she decided to exploit it to its fullest.
(There’s a lot of noise, I guess there’s quite a sizable crowd.)
She would use the charms of a beautiful girl, the best summons, and the practicality of the spirit mansion for her benefit. There was no doubt in her mind that all of that combined would greatly improve the public image of summoners.
And so, once she was fully ready for her public appearance, she swung the door open and walked out filled with confidence.
And almost instantly froze in place, her eyes wide in shock.
「What…in the heavens..?」
The scene unfolding in front of Mira was completely different from her expectation. She had thought she would find herself in the center of a curious crowd of people who wanted to know what the spirit mansion was. But what she saw was a large number of armed soldiers and adventurers, all of whom were on high alert and prepared for battle.
