Chapter 229 (1/2)

811'>

Chapter 229 – The Spirits' Decreasing Number

「There are fewer Spirits?」Katy, who had listened to what Hikaru had to say, had her fist on her chin, pondering over the matter.「Hmm… Powerful Mages can apparently sense the density of Spirits around, but no one has quantified it before.」

「You can measure the amount of Spirits around us?」

「Well you can confirm their existence. You just have to use Spirit magic. But density is a different matter. I know nothing about that. Let's say you fill a tank with water. You then take a cup to scoop some. But then the next instant, water will move towards that spot and you won't even know where you got the water from.」

「So there's that many Spirits?」

「Based on my understanding, at least. Who told you that there's less Spirits now?」

I haven't told her about Drake yet, Hikaru thought. This might be a good time to do so.

「Uh, you know about drakons, right? Like drakons, not dragons.」Hikaru asked.

「Of course. Didn't we confirm that in the ruins in Zubura? Holy mana and drakons are closely related.」

Oota Masaki, a j.a.panese man who got transported to this world, left behind a notebook which mentioned that drakons produced holy mana. Katy had browsed the contents of the notes.

「I wish I could observe holy mana myself. If only there was a drakon around, it could produce some for me.」

「There's one right here.」

Hikaru grabbed the creature around his neck and held it out.

「What?」

「It's a drakon.」

「Hmm?」

「I said, this here is a drakon.」

『h.e.l.lo. I'm Drake, a young white drakon.』

「Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!」

Katy glanced at Hikaru and then at Drake and then at Hikaru. This repeated for about twenty times before she stopped.

「A drakon?! Like a real drakon?!」

『Yup, that's me. The fake ones are the creatures you call dragons. Please keep that in mind.』

「It talks!」

Hikaru told the confused Katy how he met the Drake. As her mind was still in chaos, Hikaru prepared some tea which Katy downed in one gulp, calming herself down.

「I shee…」

It was clear though that she hadn't calmed down as she just burned the inside of her mouth. She took some potion that were prepared in case of accidents during experiments, healing the burn, and then spoke.

「So you're saying that drakon… Drake…? He's the one who sensed that there were less Spirits around.」

「Yes. Do you have any idea how that could happen? I kinda have a bad feeling about this.」

「Hmm, let's see… Wait, why are you still here in the academy? Didn't you say you were headed to Jarazack?」

「Well, thing's happened, and I returned with Professor Mikhail, League, Claude, Ivan, and some others. There's a high chance that Ludancia will attack in two days, so we're planning to hole up in the academy.」

「I think you could've shared something that important earlier.」

「Well, the Spirits' decline and drakons are kinda important too.」

「Yes, they are! Drakons are the most important thing right now!」

「Told you.」

Sighing, Katy stood up.「I'll go see Professor Mikhail. I could probably prepare some magic items for the upcoming battle. 」she said.

As they walked towards the cla.s.sroom Mikhail was in, Katy offered a few theories about the Spirits' current situation.

「First, like what Drake said, there might be a creature out there absorbing the Spirits. Never heard of it before, but monsters evolve in ways that humans can't imagine.」

「So there's a monster sucking too many Spirits that the overall density in Forestia decreased. I don't want to imagine what kind of creature that is.」

「Second, it could be the work of Spirit magic… or no, sorcery. One powerful enough to use up a lot of Spirits.」

「Why sorcery and not magic?」

「Well, you need a pract.i.tioner for magic. Even the best Mage in Forestia can't cast spells that'll use up that many Spirits.」

「What if a hundred Mages gathered together?」

「That might affect their overall number, but they would have to keep using Spirit magic nonstop. Plus Spirit magic's effects manifest immediately and cause some supernatural phenomenon. But I haven't heard of any abnormal weather or cataclysms.」

「Hmm… In that case, what kind of sorcery could use so much Spirits?」

Katy stopped in the middle of the hallway, her expression grim.