The Problematic Child of the Magic Tower-Chapter 317

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Chapter 317: Companion (6)

Fran stared at the spirit with wide eyes.

He hadn’t expected the seemingly emotionless spirit to speak first.

‘But… what did it just say?’

—Abnormal residual values removed. State normalization confirmed.

As he processed the meaning of those words, Fran’s eyes widened even further.

He hastily drew up his mana.

‘It’s gone.’

He had learned to manipulate mana in quite a few different ways, but the strange, intrusive sensation he’d been feeling strongly as of late was no longer there.

It felt as free and comfortable as the wind had before he ever experienced Ignious’s power.

Fran looked back at the spirit and asked carefully.

“Did you… heal me, by any chance?”

—Incorrect. I do not possess the capability to heal others.

At that, Fran tried stirring the wind once more, just in case.

Again, the sensation was astonishingly comfortable.

“But I really do feel better.”

—That is not healing.

“Then what is it?”

—A higher entity had externally intervened and left behind calculated result values within your mana circuits.

“……Huh?”

—I determined that allowing those values to persist long—term would cause permanent damage to your sensory organs, so I removed them.

‘This thing’s surprisingly articulate.’

Just as he had suspected—those sensations awakened through Ignious’s power had been interfering with him.

‘And if I’d left them alone, they could’ve caused permanent damage…’

Of course, that state wouldn’t have lasted forever.

If he had simply answered Ignious’s proposal, something would’ve been done about it.

And if not, Silaphrion certainly wouldn’t have stood by and allowed it.

“But how did you even remove it?”

Wasn’t that strange?

Those sensory result values weren’t something visible, yet it claimed to have removed them.

—…….

The spirit offered no answer.

Sensing something oddly familiar in that silence, Fran hurriedly asked,

“Your name! At least tell me your name!”

—…….

After a brief pause, the spirit faded like a ghost and vanished.

Fran stared blankly at the spot where it had been, clicking his tongue in regret.

“It left.”

He hadn’t even had the chance to thank it.

Scratching the back of his head, Fran stood up.

‘If it’s Silaphrion, maybe she knows what that spirit really was.’

* * *

—Fight it, endure it…….

Tap. Tap tap.

Silaphrion muttered as she plucked leaves one by one from a vine.

What Ignious had done this time was deeply unpleasant to her.

‘His intentions are far too transparent. Showing that kind of power just to lure him into a contract.’

What stung most was that she couldn’t do anything about it right now.

Because the moment Ignious appeared, he had demanded a contract.

‘……Unless an existing contract with another spirit is fully terminated, proposing a new one is forbidden.’

It was an unspoken law of the Spirit Realm.

Which meant she had no choice but to sit back and wait until Fran completely rejected Ignious’s offer.

‘If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve proposed a contract earlier—and set the duration much longer.’

Swallowing her regret, she continued plucking leaves.

—Fight it, endure it, fight it…….

Tap.

The final leaf fell from the vine.

—You want me to endure this……? No. Again.

Just as she began looking around for another vine—

A now—familiar presence reached her senses.

—Fran!

Even though he wouldn’t be able to see her, she waved cheerfully as she flew toward him.

—Is your walk over? Do you feel any better?

“Yes. I feel completely fine.”

—That’s a relief.

Silaphrion smiled faintly.

Though he answered so brightly, she knew it couldn’t possibly be true.

‘Ignious’s engraved sensations should still be constricting him like a curse.’

Every time he moved his mana, everything should feel wrong.

Knowing that feeling all too well, Silaphrion thought Fran truly remarkable.

‘To even hide his own discomfort for my sake…’

Just as she was about to feel touched—

—Hm?

As she habitually scanned Fran’s body, Silaphrion sensed something strange.

—…Huh?

There was not a trace of Ignious’s influence left on him.

Her thoughts spiraled into confusion as she asked,

—Fran, did you… meet Ignious? Did you reject his contract? Did he trespass into my domain again? No, if that were the case, there’s no way I wouldn’t have noticed—

“Let’s calm down first.”

After soothing the increasingly frantic Silaphrion, Fran spoke slowly.

“I met a strange spirit.”

—A strange spirit? Ignious?

“……No.”

—Then what element was it? Its rank? Did it give you a name?

“I don’t know any of that.”

Fran explained everything about the spirit he had met.

As she listened, Silaphrion gasped.

—Ah! You met Mu, didn’t you?

“Mu?”

—Yes. That’s what we call that being.

Like telling an old story, she began explaining.

—Fran, when you hear the word ‘spirit,’ what comes to mind?

“For me… the four great elements. Wind, fire, water, lightning…”

—That’s how most people think. Attributes come first. Then do you know how spirits are born?

“Uh……”

Fran fell silent.

All living beings have parents—but did spirits?

‘If they do…’

His gaze drifted to Silaphrion.

—…Hm?

After a brief moment of realization, she exclaimed,

—I—I’m not the mother of wind spirits!

“Ah—sorry.”

Fran scratched the back of his head apologetically.

After all, Spirit Kings were often described as parental figures.

—Spirits simply come into existence.

“Out of nothing?”

—Yes. In this Spirit Realm, they appear suddenly, without warning. I was the first wind spirit to gain self—awareness, and the other Spirit Kings emerged the same way.

“Wait, then your age—”

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—Let’s skip that part, okay?

Her tone was subtly forceful as she continued.

—Mu existed in the Spirit Realm even before we did.

“Before the four great elements?”

—Yes. Strange, isn’t it? Generally, the order in which spirits appear is heavily influenced by the Middle Realm. Our theory is that it depends on whether most life forms recognize that element or not.

After thinking for a moment, Fran asked,

“Then is the Water Spirit King the oldest?”

—Correct. More precisely, earth and water first, then myself and lightning, and fire last.

Fire, after all, was one of the last forces nature learned to use.

“But if Mu existed even before the four elements… then what attribute does it have?”

—That is…

After a deliberate pause, Silaphrion answered brightly.

—We don’t know either.

“…What?”

—It’s true. We still don’t know. That’s why we call it ‘Mu’—because we don’t know its attribute.

“You don’t even know the attribute?”

—Based on its abilities, we suspect it’s non—elemental.

The Spirit Kings—whose history must span tens of thousands of years—

and yet they didn’t even know the attribute of a being that predated them?

‘Truly deserving of the name Mu—attribute—less, colorless.’

Now he understood why that name fit so perfectly.

—There’s one thing we do know. Whenever something goes wrong in the Spirit Realm, it appears and fixes it.

“Like how it removed the error from me?”

—Exactly. That’s why we call it the Spirit Realm’s error corrector.

“The Spirit Realm’s error corrector…”

Fran quietly repeated the phrase before asking,

“Has Mu ever formed a contract with anyone?”

—Not that I know of. You can’t summon a spirit when you don’t even know its name.

“…….”

He didn’t know why.

Perhaps because he imagined Mu spending tens of thousands of years correcting errors alone.

Loneliness brushed past his mind like a breeze.

* * *

The next morning, Fran headed straight to the floating island after waking up.

‘Tomorrow I’ll have to give Ignious my answer.’

Even with that weighing on him, the reason he came here was simple.

He felt that Mu somehow knew the answer.

‘It’s always been here. Maybe it’ll be here again.’

Perhaps they even shared similar tastes.

The moment he landed on the floating island, he saw Mu.

Careful not to startle it, Fran greeted him softly.

“Uh… good morning?”

—…….

Thankfully, it didn’t vanish this time.

It simply stood at the edge of the island, gazing across the vast Spirit Realm.

Just like the first time, it looked inexplicably sad.

Fran sat beside it and watched the scenery together for a long while.

—No residual information remains within your mana circuits.

Mu suddenly spoke.

“Huh?”

—That means you don’t need to worry about that.

“Oh. Did you think that’s why I came looking for you?”

—Is that not the case?

“No.”

‘Kind of airheaded, for someone like this.’

For some reason, everything about Mu felt strangely familiar to Fran, and after thinking for a while—

“Ah.”

He realized why he didn’t dislike this cold spirit at all.

‘It reminds me of Oscar… from back then.’

Especially the speech and personality.

Well, to be honest, Oscar’s mouth had been a thousand times worse.

Just listening to him long enough could bring tears from sheer verbal abuse.

‘But the vibe is similar.’

They were just awkward—bad at dealing with people.

Looking down at the Spirit Realm, Fran began to vent.

“The Fire Spirit King offered me a contract. Just one word—‘let’s do it’—and I’d become someone completely different.”

—…….

“I don’t know what to do. Rationally, I should accept. But I’m not sure. It feels wrong somehow. Maybe I’m just stubborn—unwilling to succeed using someone else’s power instead of my own.”

—…….

After a long silence, Mu finally spoke.

—Incomprehensible. I do not understand why this troubles you.

“Figured you’d say that.”

—There is only one thing to consider. If you reject the contract, do you think you will regret it someday?

“…….”

Fran’s eyes widened.

Regret?

Of course, it was possible.

Every time he lost helplessly, every time he fainted without being much help to his companions—

the thought that things would’ve been different if I’d contracted Ignious would surely cross his mind.

“…….”

But somehow, it felt like that would stop at mere disappointment.

Not something deep enough to be called regret.

‘Why is that?’

After questioning himself, the answer came much later.

“……I don’t think I’ve ever really regretted anything in my life.”

Because he had always lived earnestly.

No matter how terrible the outcome, he acknowledged his shortcomings and tried harder.

That was why, in any situation, there might be lingering disappointment—but never regret.

—I see.

The colorless spirit turned its head toward him.

—You’ve lived a rather admirable life.

“……Thank you.”

It felt like an enormous comfort.

Wrapped in emotions he couldn’t quite put into words, Fran finished sorting out the answer he would give tomorrow.

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