Chapter 12: The Sylph’s Song and a Master’s Past

Chapter 12

While leisurely catching his breath and gathering mana, the thought struck him to attempt a contract with a wind spirit while he was at it.

He recalled Hellheim’s words.

‘Wind spirits are mischievous and haughty. They love to be praised. But no matter how much you extol them, they won’t appear unless they are truly pleased.’

In other words, he needed to please the spirits.

Hay pondered. He wasn’t good at compliments; he couldn’t even offer empty flattery.

How, then, could he make them happy?

Hay recalled his past attempts.

Ever since contracting with Kelpie and Thea, he had often tried to form contracts with spirits of other elements, but each attempt had ended in failure.

Fire spirits were notoriously difficult to befriend, even among spirit users. Wind spirits, on the other hand, were fickle.

Hay could, at least, communicate with wind spirits, but forming a contract always seemed an impossible feat.

No matter how much he praised them, they never deigned to appear, playing hard to get.

‘The easiest way is to prick their pride. They’re simple-minded, so a little provocation will make them show themselves quickly. Of course, you must never truly anger them. If these spirits get genuinely mad, they’re terrifying. They might even kill you.’

Fearing for his life, he had never dared to provoke them before, but now he wondered if he should at least try.

Besides, their constant, hearty laughter, as if they were watching a comedy film every time he hummed, was starting to grate on his nerves.

“They’ve been pushing it too far. These creatures, who can’t sing better than me, keep laughing at me.”

To be honest, he was genuinely getting a little annoyed.

“You’re just as bad at singing as I am, aren’t you? Why don’t you cut back on the laughter?”

Renki flinched.

Of course, Hay had his back turned and didn’t see it.

As if responding to Hay’s indignation, the wind grew fierce. The rustling of branches and leaves became chaotic.

It seemed as though they were protesting en masse. Hay, however, remained defiant.

“What? So what? Why? Got a problem? If you’re so bothered, come out and fight me!”

The wind intensified further.

It was almost a full-blown storm. Branches swayed violently to one side, and his long, unbound hair whipped wildly, lashing against his cheeks.

‘Oh, this is a bit intimidating, isn’t it?’

He hadn’t even said anything particularly harsh, yet they were falling for his provocation far too easily.

“What are you doing? Just blowing wind from hiding isn’t scary at all, you know?”

“Master, what are you doing?”

Unable to bear it any longer, Renki asked, his voice trembling.

“Shh, just stay put.”

Renki clamped his mouth shut and hugged his knees tightly.

“If you’re bothered, let’s fight. Let’s duke it out. If you don’t show up, I’ll just assume you’re scared. Is that okay? Syl—”

Just then, a small tornado formed right before his eyes, and before he could finish the name, a wind spirit materialized.

“Bwaaak!”

The Sylph flapped their wings fiercely.

They appeared as a small griffin with white and silver-gray feathers, looking utterly disgruntled.

“…ph.”

Their eyes were also silver-gray.

“Bwaak! Bwaak!”

The Sylph was furious.

They were squawking angrily.

It was as if they were protesting, ‘How dare a tone-deaf wretch like you compare your singing to mine?’

Finding their squawking too loud, Hay casually picked at his ear.

“If you’re so confident, why don’t you sing something then?”

At that, the Sylph squawked again, as if to say, ‘You think I can’t?’, then darted past Hay and gently landed somewhere.

That ‘somewhere’ turned out to be atop Renki’s turban, which was disheveled by the wind.

“Huh? Whoa?”

A bewildered Renki froze, his eyes rolling upward.

“Bwak! Bwak!”

The Sylph spread both of their wings wide, crying out as if to declare, ‘Watch closely!’

And then, they began to sing.

“Gya gya gya gya gak, gya gya gak! Kiiiieeek~! Gak gak gak!”

…

…

Hay and Renki were speechless.

Given all the squawking, he had expected something like a canary’s song.

‘What was that? Death metal?’

****

The Sylph’s song continued for thirty minutes.

Renki looked exhausted. Hay was no different.

The Sylph was utterly engrossed in their own performance, stretching their wings, flapping them, and even headbanging while fluffing up the crest on their head.

It was as if they were watching the rock ‘n’ roll version of ‘Seagull on the Sidewalk, Come Along Seagull’ from an old commercial.

Hay was certain: that spirit must have been a rocker in a past life. He half-expected subtitles to appear, declaring, ‘I will worship the devil! I will stand with Satan!!’

He imagined them, at the very end, raising a hand—or rather, a wing—high above their head, with their middle and ring fingers folded, then proclaiming with satisfaction:

‘ROCK’N’ROLL!’

Finally, the song ended.

Instead of raising a hand above their head, the Sylph puffed out their chest, spread both wings wide, and fluffed up their crest. They seemed incredibly proud of themselves.

Renki gave a seal clap.

“Woooow~”

It was accompanied by a half-hearted cheer.

The Sylph, as if showing off, puffed out their chest feathers even further.

They seemed immensely pleased with themselves.

While it had been truly terrible, this was a moment for carrots, not sticks.

He wasn’t good at compliments.

“Wow~! You really sing well. I concede.”

Hay recited the words stiffly, as if reading from a textbook.

That was the extent of his ability to flatter. But perhaps because they were bird-brained, the spirit seemed to take his words at face value.

Immediately, they closed their eyes, held their head stiffly, and even let out a snort of disdain.

‘Such a show-off,’ Hay thought, forcing a smile while his mouth twitched in an effort to suppress it.

“I want to sing like you. Could you teach me a thing or two?”

The bird-brained spirit, this time, tilted their head haughtily.

Their half-lidded, scrutinizing gaze seemed to say, ‘Well, I don’t know~?’

Hay felt his eye twitching now. ‘Do I need more magnesium?’ he wondered.

“Sylph, I absolutely must learn to sing from you. Let’s form a contract.”

‘I don’t want to,’ came the unspoken reply.

“What?”

The mischievous spirit vanished abruptly, like the wind itself.

“Huh? Did the Sylph just leave?”

‘That damned bird-brain,’ he muttered.

“They’re gone.”

“What about the contract? Was it a failure?”

Hay clicked his tongue in disappointment, a faint taste of regret lingering.

“Still, I succeeded in summoning them, so the chances of success will be higher next time.”

Considering he hadn’t even been able to summon them until now, it was somewhat hopeful.

“Summoning spirits isn’t easy, you know. I’ve consistently failed to call forth other spirits until now.”

“It’s that difficult? But today, you seemed to summon them so easily.”

“I suppose my increased spirit power from yesterday helped.”

Though the provocation was the biggest help.

“Well, if the Sylph truly doesn’t want to contract with me, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll just have to give up and try with a fire spirit. Fire spirits are cooler and stronger, after all. And they probably sing better, don’t you think?”

Hay said this loudly, intentionally, as if for the Sylphs to hear. Of course, he was just saying it for show.

Yet, as if this provocation had also worked, the wind began to blow roughly once more.

Hay let out a faint chuckle.

Renki seemed fascinated by what he had just witnessed and experienced. His eyes wide, he gazed up at the swaying branches.

“Master, you know…”

Renki very carefully tugged at Hay’s sleeve.

“Hmm?”

“Could I learn spirit magic too?”

Hay’s eyes widened momentarily before he chuckled softly and ruffled Renki’s hair.

“Why? Did the Sylph catch your eye?”

“Oh, not exactly. Though the Sylph is cute, of course.”

“Then?”

“I was just wondering if I could be of help to you if I became a spirit user…”

He lowered his head, stammering.

His earlobes were red, suggesting he was embarrassed.

Hay tilted his head. He had a rough idea of why Renki was saying such a thing.

“If you have an affinity for them, then it’s possible.”

“Affinity?”

“I mean, affinity with spirits. That unique talent to befriend them. Without it, you can’t become a spirit user.”

“How can I tell if I have an affinity?”

Expectation gleamed in Renki’s eyes.

Hay felt a little awkward.

“Uh, only elves can tell that. As a human, I can’t discern if another person has spirit affinity. For human spirit users, you’d have to become a top-tier spirit user or an Emperor to know, I suppose?”

“An Emperor?”

“Yes.”

“What’s that? Do you become a real king?”

“No. A spirit user who has contracted with a Spirit King is called an Emperor. It’s like how those who reach the pinnacle of warrior power through aura abilities are called ‘Masters,’ and mages with skills comparable to dragons are called ‘Sages.’”

“I think an Emperor sounds cooler than a Master or a Sage!”

Suddenly, the Fortune-teller’s words from the Grand Plaza came to mind.

‘You possess the countenance of a king…’

Though this wasn’t quite the king she had been referring to.

“So if Master becomes an Emperor, you’ll be able to tell if I have affinity too?”

Hay put on the socks and shoes lying beside him. Renki rose to his feet and handed him his cloak.

“Rather than waiting for me to become an Emperor, it would be faster to just grab a passing elf and ask them.”

“I’ve never seen an elf before. Have you, Master?”

“Of course… Every human spirit user’s teacher is an elf, you know.”

“Wow! Really?”

Renki’s eyes widened with excitement. The boy seemed particularly bright today.

When Hay had first brought him along, Renki’s eyes had been filled with wariness and despair.

Indeed, spirit magic was something children found wondrous and interesting.

Moreover, Hay’s spirits took the form of adorable baby animals.

“Yes, truly. He was a damned old geezer!”

Hay said brightly.

“What?”

Renki froze in bewilderment. A bit of dirt clung to his cheek.

It seemed to be from the dust stirred up by the Sylph’s wind. Hay brushed the dirt away with his hand.

“Shall we head back now?”

“Is that the end of training for today?”

“Yeah. It doesn’t seem like more will do any good. I’m just going to go to sleep.”

It was only his second day in Noodan.

He was still recovering from his journey, and having walked around for so long, he felt tired.

While Hay was accustomed to this kind of life and felt relatively fine, Renki was not. Moreover, Renki had come out dressed in thin clothes.

The sun had set, and the twilight deepened, making the night air chilly. He didn’t want the boy to be exposed to the night dew any longer.

“You wear the cloak.”

“Me?”

Hay draped the cloak over Renki’s shoulders and fastened it securely. Being short, it dragged slightly on the ground.

“I’m really fine. I’m not cold.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

He patted Renki’s back.

“Let’s go back.”

And he led the way.

“Renki.”

“Yes, Master.”

“If you want to become a spirit user, I can help you.”

“Huh?”

“If it’s just about checking for affinity, you can go find my teacher. It might take a while since I don’t know where he is, and we might not even find him. But if we do, under no circumstances are you to learn from that old geezer.”

“Why not?”

“Because he has a rotten personality.”

Hay scowled fiercely. The mere thought made his teeth clench.

“Is he a bad elf? I thought elves were supposed to be kind and beautiful.”

“Oh, he’s beautiful, alright. In my entire life, he was the first and last person I’d seen who was that beautiful.”

He couldn’t deny that.

“But his personality isn’t beautiful. His looks are deceiving.”

“Deceiving?”

“He’s the kind of guy who’d dunk a kid who can’t swim into a stream, or bury them in the ground up to their neck, all in the name of helping them commune with spirits. Oh, and he even made me eat dirt.”

…

“When I failed to contract with a Sylph, he once conjured a massive storm, like something out of 《Into the Storm》, and trapped me in its eye. One time, I got caught in a storm and shot so high into the sky, I almost kissed the clouds!”

…

“And then, to help me get close to a fire spirit, he…”

“Did he trap you in fire?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“He burned down the lord’s mansion.”