Bad Things Are Learned Quickly (2)

We arrived at the spirit forest where the master resides and were assigned a place to stay for a month without much trouble.

…At least, that’s how it would be nice to put it, but it wasn’t.

Spirit ranks go: low, mid, high, top, king.

However, among the top-tier spirits, some train solely for contracts with humans or for themselves, while others receive rank from a spirit king and are dispatched.

They are further subdivided into spirit knights and spirit lords.

Their strength doesn’t differ much, but their authority does.

Like feudal lords, they can mobilize local spirits in emergencies and sometimes use manpower—or rather spirit-energy—for public affairs.

Naturally, the spirit forest also has lord-class spirit lords and spirit knights in charge of force, and these caused trouble.

The trouble began with the spirit knight who started a quarrel.

At the gathering to meet the spirit lord, he boldly told us to show respect. The spirit lord, whom I assumed would stop him, just chuckled and watched.

The party was all taken aback, but the transcendent and I were deeply displeased.

Just as Biosis was about to step forward, I halted him and asked if he was being serious; the spirit knight shrugged and sneered that I was making him repeat an obvious matter.

“Are you all crazy, or bitches? Isn’t your king the one who has you acting like this?”

It wasn’t the spirit knight who bristled at my words, but the spirit lord.

“You wretch! How dare those who clean after gods so insolently speak our names!

“Pfft. This, this is completely human now? If you dress him up right he’d be a human lord. Does he collect taxes too?”

A flinch.

“W-what are you saying!”

“Idiot, if you wanted to deny it you shouldn’t have flinched. And do you even know which god is in charge here? What if there’s a god more powerful than your spirit king? They’re watching everything right now, from above.”

When I pointed at the ceiling, the spirit lord and knight flinched again.

“How dare you spread such lies!”

“Shall I summon your king for you so you’ll believe?”

“…You dare!”

“Huh… Humans or spirits, once they put on a hat and sit a little higher than others, they all become like this? Wait, you idiot. I’ll summon this so-called god for you, and if it’s still like this I’ll turn you into low-tier spirits and make you artifacts that squirt water from toilets.”

A flinch.

To be honest, I was mentally exhausted from fights and travel.

I wanted some proper rest after leading rookie representatives around, but these unexpected petty antics really annoyed me.

Spirit kings are powerful beings with near-godlike strength—fitting for the creator line, they’re immensely strong.

But, unlike other gods, they’re pitiable in that they can’t choose representatives and rarely have beings who can summon them, so they end up stuck in the spirit realm like long-serving soldiers.

Maybe because of that, on the Battlefield of the Gods the only god-tier beings who can directly summon a representative—if the representative’s ability suffices—are the spirit kings.

It seemed they wanted to posture at us, but as I said, I had no patience for petty posturing.

I opened my inventory, took out the multicolored glowing ‘Myryans King’s Crown’, and put it in my mouth.

It tasted like a candy of mixed flavors, then melted in my mouth and a warm energy slid down my throat.

As it passed my heart, the four elemental auras around the spirit lord’s castle became distinctly stronger, and the true form of the castle—previously looking human-made—became visible.

Walls and ceilings fashioned with spirit-energy to look human.

Momentum radiated from me in concentric circles with gusts as if a spell had been cast.

The summoned top-tier spirits’ startled voices echoed in my head. Then,

A message appeared before my eyes.

The talent Talis had lamented most while teaching magic, ‘mana affinity’, had bloomed.

But it didn’t stop there.

For the first time in a while I opened the skill list instead of powers.

‘Use sixteen skill points each on Spirit Affinity and Elemental Affinity.’

‘Yes.’

The air in the spirit forest felt even more vivid. It was as if the four elements were dancing.

There was almost no spirit energy used for summoning or attacking, but the elements of Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire danced—no, they filled the place.

The swaying grass outside, the trees, even the spirit lord’s castle were formed of elemental power.

“…You! No, a-all, you!”

Now he calls me ‘you’. I could only snort.

“Phew… So this is what this place was like? Now you’re starting to get it? But it’s already too late.”

―Tsk tsk. How did that bastard become a spirit lord?

―What top-tier spirit is that stupid? Even our ally would beat him. What’s with the nerve?

―Anyway, this nepotism crap needs to go.

―More importantly, he might actually be able to summon a king. The spirit scent flowing from him is thick, almost like the spirit realm.

While the spirit lord and knight were stunned, I drew a magic circle for a spirit contract.

“Friends, watch for a bit. I think we’ll need to use full power.”

―Indeed.

―Not all of them are like that, friend.

―Yeah, that’s an idiot.

―Among idiots, he’s top-tier dumb. As our friend says, hopeless? Nonsense?

I smiled at the top-tier spirits voluntarily returning to the spirit realm and stepped into the summoning circle.

“Well then, spirit kings. Let’s see your proud faces.”

Divine power and spirit affinity pulsed with the circle.

Divine power drained at an incredible rate. The 150 divine power I had was about to hit zero.

I shoved down a mana potion as I endured, and just as I was about to collapse for the first time since becoming a representative, four forms appeared.

“Huh?”

“Oh?”

“Well?”

“All four of us?”

These spirit kings didn’t speak with soul-shaking voices like top-tier spirits, but conversed aloud like humans.

“Ah… Did it work? He sure ate a lot.” (grumbling)

They grumbled as they watched me keep drinking mana potions like water.

If it weren’t for this summoning circle Hazel told me about—the high-elf vision—I would’ve needed 200 divine power to summon them.

“Oh? You? Aren’t you that representative?”

“Huh? Seems so?”

“They call it the Three-God Manifestation, right?”

“Oh ho, quite the celebrity then.”

They chattered noisily like chatterboxes possessed by silent ghosts.

The spirit lord and knight were speechless the moment the spirit kings were summoned. Leaving the surprised party behind, I approached the four middle-aged women.

“Hey, whose divine power are you wasting time sipping? Want to die?”

“Huh?”

“Me?”

“Us?”

“…?”

My blunt words surprised not only the spirit kings; the party flinched, while only the transcendent snickered.

“Contracts are pointless—being summoned to the Battlefield of the Gods is harder than fighting physically—so forget that. Anyone know why I called you? Any spirit know?”

The spirit kings, with faces like ‘you’re the first to do this to me!’, each brusquely answered that they didn’t know.

“No.”

“No.”

“To see the great spirit king?”

“….”

All except for the sensual blue-bodied woman.

“Oh. You’re blue, so you’re probably the same element as that spirit lord. Water? So you’re Elrhyme?”

Elrhyme said nothing, but her gaze already looked ready to tear the spirit lord apart.

Sensing Elrhyme’s intent, the other spirit kings glanced between her and the spirit lord with intrigued expressions.

“Then the others aren’t needed—dismiss them…”

“W-wait!”

“Oh ho! You’re impatient, aren’t you.”

“Such an interesting spectacle! Who’s cutting the magic field? Cutting magic fields means raid—don’t you know that?”

How are gods and godlike beings always so self-centered? Can’t they see me guzzling potions to replenish the divine power that’s draining away?

“Buzz off. Even the Creator asks me favors, but these petty non-gods act all entitled. My divine power is draining to death and they’re demanding rights like it’s natural. If you want to see, use your true power and come find me.”

With that, I unilaterally cut off the divine power flowing to the three beings.

The elemental affinity might drop, but would it? They’re the only ones who can summon me to the intriguing Battlefield of the Gods.

“Phew… That’s better. Elrhyme?”

“Roratio, Roratio Elrhyme. That’s my true name, Representative of Ludicer.”

“Hmm. From your mental transmission it seems you know that idiot did idiot things?”

“Sigh… Yes.”

“But do you know? They should never have put that idiot in that position or stopped him from acting like an idiot. My patron god and the patron gods of the representatives here have already seen the whole spectacle. It’s over, you know?”

“Um… really, whew…”

A murderous aura rose from Elrhyme for a moment, making the party flinch, then it subsided.

Elrhyme’s temperament wasn’t pleasant to begin with; the spirit lord and knight were already shaking.

“What are we going to do? Because of that idiot. Since when do spirits have more lust for power than humans?”

“First, we’ll do what Kim Han suggested. We’ll make those two low-tier spirits now.”

At Elrhyme’s gesture, the spirit lord and knight’s energies rapidly dwindled.

In what felt like an instant, the once solemn lord and knight transformed into tiny droplets—the low-tier water spirits.

“Talis, deal with those.”

“Hoho, fine. What an amusing game, my disciple.”

“It’s rude to stop at that, so I’ll specially grant a contract.”

“…What?”

I was genuinely surprised.

“Oh my, if you’re that pleased I’ll be embarrassed…”

“She’s a crazy bitch.”

Elrhyme’s behavior was like something a Heavenly God would do.

As mentioned before, beings who can summon spirit kings are rare.

So sometimes a spirit king secretly protects someone who can summon them.

In other words, she should be begging me to summon her, not offering favors.

And as I said in front of the other spirit kings, summoning these lot to do something would be less efficient than me just rampaging or casting spells.

Elrhyme cocked her head in surprise as if she’d misheard and asked again.

“Yes?”

“I couldn’t understand why spirits would be so power-hungry and political, but now I see it’s because they take after you. Where are you selling your tricks, girl? Don’t you get it yet? My patron god is watching and hearing your conversations with that bitch of yours right now. Still don’t feel it?”

“So, what are you saying…”

“Your coy act is top-tier. Hey, you should be begging me to contract you. Who knows when I’ll meet another monster with spirit affinity like me, and yet you put conditions like you’re doing me a favor? When I meet the Creator next time I’ll make sure to tell them about you. By the way, my patron god, are you watching? Please record this, so I can show the Creator later.”

A one-sided tirade.

No one in the party understood; they looked confused, while the transcendent nodded and clicked their tongues.

Elrhyme was left speechless and aghast.

“And before that, even if I summon other spirit kings, I’ll never summon that bitch.”

Just as Elrhyme was about to speak, the gardener stood beside me and opened his mouth.

“I am a humble being serving the Creator. I am in charge of the Garden of Gods.”

Maybe because the other wasn’t a full god, or maybe because his attempt to con me annoyed me.

Unusually, the gardener spoke in a rough honorific instead of the highest form; his face was stiff.

“Gardener?”

“Indeed, water spirit king. Do you still not grasp the situation, or do you ignore the aura emanating from Messenger Kim Han? Answer me, arrogant water spirit king.”

As the gardener spoke with Elrhyme, his presence grew increasingly powerful.

By the end, such tremendous force emanated from him that the spirit lord’s castle floor trembled.

“What… Huh? You, you, how is a human…”

“Tsk tsk, that stupid bitch. Enough, disappear. By the way, with them like that, who becomes the next spirit lord?”

“You need not worry, Kim Han. By the consent of your spirit kings, the next spirit lord will be dispatched immediately. Isn’t that right, other spirit kings?”

At the gardener’s words, three spirit kings revealed their presence in the room.

Truly god-tier, I suppose? I hadn’t sensed them at all…

So this gardener has the ability to perceive them?

“But even so, it’s a spirit forest—spirit kings are god-tier—can they so easily show themselves like this?”

“This place is virtually a midpoint between the spirit realm and the material realm. They descend here for a week to ten days a year to maintain the energy. Of course, they can’t leave this barrier.”

A seductive woman in a red dress that seemed to burn in her whole body clicked her tongue and answered.

The other spirit kings nodded with serious expressions.

With three spirit kings present, I ruthlessly cut off the divine power flowing to Elrhyme.

“Then stay for only a month. The spirit forest is open only to spiritists of a certain rank anyway. No complaints?”

“Do as you like. More importantly, how do you possess that aura of his?”

A tiny blonde beauty in a yellow dress, like a spirit-version of Naruan, asked.

“What use is it to know? I’m utterly disappointed in the spirit kings this time. Aetas and her lot would be far better. Tsk tsk. Spirits playing politics—it’s not like they’re infants learning insults. Useless.”

Leaving the inquisitive spirit king behind, I summoned a top-tier spirit to guide the party to a comfortable place to stay.

Lee Hyo-ju and Hazel were managing food and condiments, so there was nothing I needed to pull from the inventory.

I left the party with the three transcendent (excluding the gardener) and left the spirit forest with the gardener.

If we stayed another day, one of those loathsome spirit kings might come by.

The gardener, seemingly pleased to have been chosen—or satisfied we’d leave before the spirit kings arrived—beamed and guided me out of the barrier.