The Reincarnated Count’s Daughter Is the Strongest as She Is Loved by the Spirits, Though She Is Only Wishing for Regular Romance! - Chapter 14.1
Chapter 14 : Forest Without Spirits Part 1
When I returned to the mansion after the meeting with the spirit kings, the sun had already set and the stars were out. There’s already a big commotion in the mansion. Father and mother were crying as they hugged me and my brothers. They already know there’s going to be a meeting with The Spirit Kings, but no one wouldn’t expect them to take us away all of a sudden, right ?
A letter was hurriedly delivered to the palace, a reply was received with exceptional speed, and it seems that many exchanges have taken place since then. As expected, they did not tell me the contents of the letter, so I do not know the details.
However, I heard that there was resistance from our side when it was suggested that The Empress, The General, The Aides, and The Prime Minister were going to attend a meeting with the Margrave who holds the territory where the Spirit Kings reside. They insisted that we come to the imperial palace, but we objected, resulting in an agreement to meet at the academy.
I’m relieved. I don’t want to go to the imperial palace. It feels like there are all sorts of supernatural beings lurking there. I’m sure even a single vase on display must be expensive, and if you were to accidentally break it, your head would roll.
I bet a common family could sustain themselves for several days with just one teacup, right ? When I mentioned that to Big Brother Chris, he said with a smile that the same goes for the cup that I use.
“Please make all the tableware I use made from wood !”
“I’m just kidding. It’s not that expensive.”
“Oh, I’ll just go buy some for myself at the store. I’m going out for a bit.”
“My bad. Don’t try to leave suddenly. Brad !!”
I’m just heading to the pottery shop, and there’s so much fuss. I’ve never been outside the castle, so I think I’m old enough to go out. I want to know what kind of place the city I live in is. You can’t tell just by looking down from the castle.
“Father, Dia has started to show an interest in the outside world.”
“What ! Make sure to inform the gate guards.”
“No, that kid might try to climb over the walls.”
Hold on ! How on earth would you climb a wall that’s about three stories high !
Big Brother Chris, what kind of person do you think I am ?
Sneaking out in secret would inconvenience everyone. Despite my appearance, I’m a legitimate adult, so I won’t engage in activities that would cost the butlers or maids their jobs.
And so, on the day of the meeting, my father took me into the teleportation circle for the first time and stood on the magic array. The area around the academy is closed off except in winter, and originally, those under the age of ten are prohibited from entering. So, it’s the first visit for my brothers as well.
“Teleportation will begin.”
Unlike when I was taken by the Spirit Kings and enveloped in light, the teleportation happened in an instant. In the blink of an eye, the scenery had changed. The place where we arrived after the teleportation room was a wide, open hall with a double-height ceiling, and the setting, with several sofa sets arranged, resembled the lobby in front of the reception of a large corporate building.
Father explained to Big Brother Chris, who will be coming here this winter, that there is a dining room at the back of the first floor and living rooms from the second floor up. They have a cafeteria in the building where the classrooms are located, but they also have one here. He said that each cafeteria is free of charge so that children from families without much money can have a meal.
The guards opened the large door adorned with colored glass, and a few people went outside first. There’s one butler for each person and one aide for Father, which is understandable, but why does our family of four have so many bodyguards ?
We’re completely surrounded, to the point where I can’t see the scenery around. I’m so small that I have to look up, otherwise, all I can see is everyone’s waists.
“Father is quite overprotective, isn’t he ?”
“What if Dia gets some strange bug on her ? What if she gets abducted ? What would we do ?”
“Don’t the Spirit Kings eliminate such threats ?”
“He has a record of entering Dia’s room without permission and taking her away !!”
Ruri, it would be bad if you didn’t apologize properly. I don’t want to make my father sad, and if you don’t apologize, you might not be allowed to visit again.
The reason we chose the school as the meeting place was partly because we wanted to check out the current state of the forest. Outside the door is a large park with a number of buildings surrounding it. The buildings are all student dormitories, apparently divided by each territory.
“Welcome. I’m Rudolf, The Caretaker. Let me show you around.”
The person who bowed deeply was an elderly man wearing a butler’s uniform. We crossed the park and walked along a path flanked by beautifully landscaped flowerbeds. The father had asked that today’s meeting be held in the woods, and tables and chairs had been prepared for us.
The forest was quiet. I feel like the woods here resemble the ones I visited with friends or the nearby forests back when I was in Japan.
I see. I hadn’t noticed that before. The forest around the lake inside the castle is much livelier. Even though you can’t see the spirits, there are a lot of them there, shaking the leaves, twinkling, making ripples on the water, and so on. There were so many bizarre phenomena going on that it could have been the setting for a horror movie if I wasn’t so used to it.
No one is surprised, maybe it’s normal for them. At first, I thought it was just another prank. But there’s really nothing of that bizarre phenomena here. You can’t even hear the chirping of birds.
“This is…”
“Ruri-sama said that the spirit can’t get close to humans, but he didn’t say that there are no spirits, right ?”
“But, it seems there’s no one here.”
When the wind blows, the branches and leaves sway and make a rustling sound. The sunlight filtering through the trees sways and sparkles, and the gentle sunlight is warm. But this forest looks like a movie set. I didn’t think it would feel so strange just because the spirits weren’t there.
“Oh, You are already here.”
“It’s been a while, Margrave Velisario.”
Tea and light snacks were prepared on a large wooden table in a openspace of the forest, covered with a beautiful embroidered tablecloth. Two middle-aged men who were already seated stood up and came over to greet us.
A well-built man in his mid-forties with slightly thinning hair is Margrave Colquet, whose territory is the northern region where the Wind Spirit King lives. He is very enthusiastic about it, having heard that increasing the number of spirits will not only lead to a richer harvest, but also make livestock healthier and make milk and meat taste better. The earth spirit on his shoulder has grown quite large, so he must be working hard to feed it with magical power.
The other person is the Margrave who governs Noland, where the Fire Spirit King resides. Just as Suou said that no one wouldn’t be able to come to his place without spirit beasts, Noland is a region famous for its magnificent nature, savanna, and magical beasts.
Margrave Noland is a handsome man who has even fought against magical beasts himself, and although I heard that he is over fifty, he looks much younger than his age. He has a wind spirit and an earth sword spirit. It looks like he’s feeding it with magical power as well. After exchanging some quick greetings, the two of them took a few steps towards us with meaningful looks on their faces.
“Can you feel it ?”
“This forest feels strange, doesn’t it ?”
Even though there was no one else around, I said it quietly.
“We were just talking about that too.”
“Ohhh.”
“I knew it, It wasn’t just my imagination, right ?”
They first looked at the four-colored spirits floating above Big Brother Chris’s head, then at the spirit on my shoulder, and finally at Big Brother Alan.
“You really have all attributes. Also, everyone’s spirits are quite large.”
“You have a sword spirit, don’t you ? I also have an Earth Sword Spirit. If you don’t mind, I would like to talk to you about it later.”
“Understood.”
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Translated by : Cutae30