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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Encounter with Spirits
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— Hey, look at this one. How did she get in here?
— She must have gotten lost. Should we send her back?
— She looks so exotic. She's cute; can't we just let her stay and live with us?
The unfamiliar voices swirling in her ears gradually brought her fading consciousness back.
Just as she snapped her eyes open, the surroundings fell eerily silent, as if the clamor had never been.
'Where am I?'
She had clearly been with Archid just moments ago, yet now she found herself in a strange place.
Staring blankly around in a daze, she suddenly flinched at the floral scent tickling her nose. It was a familiar fragrance—one that filled her with dread.
And as she suspected, she realized the thing wrapped around her hand was a Delrus flower—
"Aaah!"
She yelped in shock and scrambled backward on her butt. But there was nowhere to flee. She was surrounded on all sides by Delrus flowers.
She quickly pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and clamped it over her nose and mouth. Her heart pounded wildly.
Terrified that her senses might go numb again like before, she waited in fear, but after a long while, nothing happened.
Just as she was starting to feel puzzled—
— Are you okay over there? You must have been startled getting lost like that.
"Gasp! W-Who are you?!"
The sudden voice made her eyes fly wide as she whipped her head around.
But she couldn't see the source. The only things moving were the white butterflies fluttering around the Delrus flowers.
— Gasp! She can hear us!
— Eek, look at those big round eyes. So cute. Red hair and blue eyes.
— What do we do? She seems scared because of us. She better not start crying.
— Hey, are you super startled? Not that way—this way.
Voices began pouring into her ears from all directions.
It was just like the babbling chatter that had filled her head right before she passed out at the seed farm last time—voices burrowing straight into her mind.
The familiar sensation made her uneasy at first, but then she glanced at the swarm of white butterflies hovering before her and muttered on a hunch.
"No way... are the butterflies the ones talking?"
The butterflies fluttered in response, as if cheering.
— Aha! So we look like butterflies to you.
— Amazing. The last human we met said we looked like bears.
— A butterfly swarm might be better than a bear pack. That kid fainted the moment she saw us.
— Yeah. We ended up sending her back without even making a contract.
'What in the world is going on?'
She gaped, dumbfounded, as the butterflies bantered back and forth.
It was bizarre how they'd chimed in agreement to her offhand guess.
No, forget that—butterflies talking?! What was this?!
"Butterflies can really talk?"
— To be precise, we're not butterflies.
— We're spirits!
"Spirits?"
— Yeah. That's what humans call us.
— It's been ages since a human could see us. Most can't even hear our voices.
— So stick around here awhile. Don't just leave. Play with us!
The butterflies swirled around her, coquettishly batting their antennae.
No sooner had she spoken than the spirits chattered noisily from every direction, driving her mad.
As she tried to take stock of the situation with her mouth still covered by the handkerchief, one butterfly landed on it.
— Why are you covering your face? Are you hurt? Show us that pretty face. You're so cute, you know.
"I can't. Delrus flower allergy."
She gently swatted the butterfly away and glanced sideways at the Delrus flowers. The butterflies erupted in chaos.
— What? Delrus flower allergy? No way!
— These flowers are our food source. They can't possibly harm you, since you can see us.
— Right! We live off the Delphina they produce. That's why we planted so many around here.
"Delphina? What's that?"
— Delphina is the energy source in nature. What mages call mana? It's actually derived from Delphina.
— Yeah. Delphina is purer power than mana. Strictly speaking, mana is Delphina's byproduct. Magic stones form from the remnants after we consume Delphina. Delrus flowers, richest in Delphina, are our staple food.
— We can purify land tainted by corrupted Delphina and bless barren soil. Cool, right?!
The spirits fluttered their antennae excitedly, as if demanding praise.
She was left dumbfounded by this new information. Delphina was an unfamiliar term, and now it was a component of magic stones?
According to them, Delphina emerged from Delrus flowers, and its remnants formed magic stones.
'That's why there were so many magic stones in the wormhole. These guys must eat a ton.'
Then the sudden wormholes appearing everywhere must be the spirits' doing too.
No wonder. She'd always thought magic stones were unusually abundant in the Hadelrus region, and it turned out to be thanks to the Delrus flowers. She cut off the butterflies' chatter and replied.
"Anyway, I passed out from these flowers before. My senses went numb, and I nearly died. So don't touch the handkerchief."
— Aha! So that's why we became visible to you. It's been forever since we met a human who reacts to Delphina!
— Must be an ultra-sensitive soul. You entered Delphina's influence without even contracting with us.
— Yeah. Normal humans can't sense Delphina at all. You're incredible!
— The pure Delphina probably got absorbed straight into your body and hurt. But it's not harmful. That's the truth!
Hey, kids. Can you please take turns speaking one at a time?
Give me a chance to respond?
Her head spun from the voices flooding in from all sides.
But she couldn't tell who was speaking, making it hard to interrupt. And their words weren't entirely useless.
"So you're saying I got sick because of this Delphina power or whatever?"
— Yep! You're so smart!
— Smart, cute, adorable!
Wait... Why did their reaction to her feel exactly like hers to Archid?
No, that wasn't important right now. A chill ran down her spine, and she waved them off, shooing the spirits away.
"Then isn't this even more dangerous than an allergy? If I'm affected just by being near, I could get sick again."
Her body was absorbing this power that ordinary people couldn't even perceive, indiscriminately.
Was it because she was a soul possessor? The thought unnerved her deeply.
'Did possessing Loena's body give me a constitution different from this world's humans?'
If she couldn't repel Delphina because it was a dead body she'd possessed?
As she shuddered, imagining the worst, the butterflies burst into giggles.
— Oh my, so cute. Look how scared she is.
"I don't like pain."
— So, are you hurting right now?
"Hmm."
Come to think of it, she was right in the middle of a Delrus flower field, yet she felt no pain. This should've triggered a reaction by now, but nothing hurt.
On the contrary, she even felt invigorated. As she made a bewildered face, a spirit spoke up.
— Don't worry. You won't hurt anymore.
"How can you be so sure?"
— A body that's fully awakened to Delphina's influence no longer rejects it.
"Awakened?"
— Yeah. We all go through that pain to be born as spirits. You're human, but what a unique constitution!
So she didn't have to avoid Delrus flowers anymore?
Apparently, she'd awakened after that severe episode at the seed farm.
"But what exactly is awakening?"
— Humans who can perceive Delphina can contract with us. You've even entered its influence, so contracting would be even easier for you.
"Contract?"
— I want her. Can't you just contract with us? Then you could use spirit magic too!
Was this like, 'Hey, you can do it too!' ?
She was dumbfounded by the spirits' sudden push for a contract. That's when they started fluttering insistently around her.
— Can't you just contract with us?
— Now I see—your body's full of Delphina. I've never seen it this abundant. Contracting with you would probably fill me up.
It sounded like a warning they'd devour her, sending shivers down her spine. She tensed up and asked.
"What do I get out of contracting with you?"
— Contract with us, and you can borrow our power. Plus, you could use your inner Delphina to purify polluted land.
"Hold on. Purify polluted land?"
That meant she had the talent to become a spirit mage. In this era, spirit mages were a lost art, but history books said they were once plentiful.
Thanks to them, polluted lands were cleansed, barren soil revived, allowing prosperity from the empire's founding.
But at some point, spirits stopped appearing, spirit mages vanished, and the age of abundance ended.
Now, polluted land relied on holy power. If that failed, the land was abandoned.
Pollution was rare now, but according to the original story she knew, it would soon begin.
That's how the heroine and hero would meet.
'Right. In the original, Mabel and Zeronis met because pollution started spreading.'
A sudden epidemic and tainted land put the empire on high alert. That's when Saintess Mabel headed to the capital, kicking off the novel.
En route, she chanced upon and rescued the trapped hero Zeronis from polluted land—their fated encounter.
Recalling the plot, she spotted a key point and shouted Eureka.
'Wait—if I become a spirit mage, doesn't that mean I can change my future too?'
