Chapter Interlude: A Day in the Life of the Great Spirit
Morning of August 7th: A strange scene was unfolding at the headquarters of the Royal Capital's Knight Order.
"That's right, so when dealing with this kind of mabeast, Betty feels the best method is…"
A blonde girl, looking about nine years old, was speaking to a room full of the kingdom's most renowned Royal Guard knights. The knights listened with the utmost seriousness, carefully recording every point she made.
Indeed, this was Beatrice's new work. Because of Subaru, and after much hesitation due to her shyness, she had chosen to become a special lecturer for the Royal Guard over the Court Magicians. Now, every week she spent two mornings teaching countermeasures for special situations. In just over a month, the countless little techniques she'd taught had already saved many Royal Guards.
So, when Ram, waiting outside, saw Beatrice, several knights' expressions of gratitude were still drifting behind her. Beatrice greeted Ram, floated into the dragon carriage, and placed the gifts she received on the empty seat across from her.
!!!!
When Beatrice opened the door to her own room, she froze at the sight of a cardboard box in the middle. She immediately realized it was one of Subaru's parcels.
That's right—her current residence was no longer the "Forbidden Library" otherworldly space, but a real room in the physical world.
Beatrice first put away the thank-you gifts she had received today, then carefully walked over to the box and opened it.
"Fruit? …A faint mana reaction! Holy Dragon Fruit!"
Recognizing the fruit in her hands, Beatrice exclaimed in surprise, then hurriedly opened the letter inside and began reading it carefully.
'As expected from the Dragon-worship Church's headquarters, the place is overflowing with a strong religious atmosphere… Based on my many years of light novel experience, we might get caught up in the struggles of their upper echelons… Today we infiltrated the temple. The Dragon-worship Church has some very strong fighters. I was discovered, but thankfully Reinhild knocked the guy out before he could make a sound… It's been oddly peaceful—well, after all, dozens of people were knocked out in one night, so I suppose it'd be too embarrassing for them to make a fuss…'
Beatrice turned the page.
'All the evidence was conclusive, and they thought victory was in their grasp… It's over now. We received Holy Dragon Fruit from the Dragon-worship Church as thanks. I heard it's good for
spirits, so I sent it back to you. By the way, how do you like the clothes I sent from the gambling city? You have to be generous with friends, you know… Keep working hard and make 100 friends. That's your contractor's order, okay?'
"What a busybody."
Beatrice smiled, then used the "Door of Chance" spell on her drawer. Carefully, she took out an iron box, placed the letter on top, and then put the box back into the secure dimensional safe she had created.
"Generous, huh? …Fine, I'll give him one."
Beatrice took out two Holy Dragon Fruits, then used magic to move the box into a special storage cabinet.
"You really are as carefree as ever."
On the balcony, Beatrice spoke toward Roswaal, who was lazily sunbathing on a chair.
"Well, Emilia-sama has already returned to the Elior Forest to continue trying to free her frozen people. And I myself, because of my contract, can no longer scheme around Subaru. Besides, my Tome of Wisdom has been burned. So I suppose all I can do now is laze about."
Roswaal lowered the book shading his face, then sat up and took a sip of his chilled drink.
"So, what brings you here?"
"Roswaal, you're my friend, right?"
Even with Roswaal's wisdom, he hadn't expected such a strange question. But he quickly smiled in understanding.
"Looks like that person gave you another strange task. This time it's making friends, isn't it? Well, given our relationship, what do you think?"
Beatrice looked at Roswaal before her. Though she had been furious upon learning that the soul in his body was actually her friend from 400 years ago—whom she had believed long dead—she had decided to forgive him. She also couldn't deny that he had unconditionally helped her quite a lot recently.
"By the way, how many are required?"
"One hundred."
"That really does match his carefree personality."
"Hey, what kind of look is that?"
Beatrice glared slightly at Roswaal, who had lain back on the chair.
"Beatrice, I have my limits too. Over 400 years, how many true friends have you had?"
"…Seven?"
"Then that's that. Put simply, Subaru just wants you to have a normal person's life. In that case, you're already pretty much there."
"Forget it. I'll take it slow. Here, this is for you."
"Holy Dragon Fruit! Well, this is unexpected. So they're at the Dragon-worship Church's headquarters now, and even helped quite a bit, huh? After all, these fruits are usually given only to the most devout Dragon followers." l
Roswaal took a bite of the rare fruit that even he couldn't easily obtain, and a look of bliss spread across his face.
"That's right—they've already been to twelve cities, now it should be thirteen. Honestly, what kind of contractor abandons his spirit right after making a contract, just to go traveling everywhere!"
Beatrice bit fiercely into her fruit.
"And he's always getting wrapped up in dangerous incidents too. Betty can't take it anymore! Roswaal, didn't you say you'd do anything to help Betty as atonement?"
"You should know Reinhild is like poison to Betty."
"Indeed. Reinhild is the anomaly at the pinnacle of this world. Just by being present, mana around her blindly follows her. Within the wide area centered around her, both magic-users and spirits cannot keep their composure. Even I, with the massive mana stored in me, am affected. For someone like you, who has a defect in mana recovery and must rely heavily on ambient mana to fight, it must be far worse."
"It's worse than you think. Beside her, Betty is just a cute little girl—just dead weight. But Betty can't keep running away from Reinhild forever. I don't want to only learn of Subaru's dangers through letters and just worry. And I don't want to be a spirit who's just a burden. I want to help Subaru. So, Roswaal, use your talents to help Betty."
Beatrice looked at Roswaal—the genius from 400 years ago, the monster who had achieved eternal life even without magic, something the Witch of Greed Echidna herself had failed at. Beatrice believed in his abilities.
"This won't be easy. Looks like we'll need to go back and retrieve some materials."
Roswaal stood and stretched lazily.
"Thank you."
"No need to thank me. Like you said—it's atonement."
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