I Don't Want To Work! - Chapter 59
CHAPTER 59
“Ah, okay.”
I nodded absentmindedly.
Understandably so.
‘He’s been saying that for 300 years.’
At first, I responded seriously, too, but I eventually got used to the sound because I heard it so often during the contract.
The time of spirits doesn’t flow the same as human time.
In other words, when Elam said he would die soon, it could be hundreds or even thousands of years in human time.
In short, Elam won’t die before I do.
And besides…
“Okay, got it.”
“Yeah, Elam always says stuff like that. So, when are you dying exactly?”
“…Sylphid?”
The reactions of the other spirit kings weren’t much different from mine.
Elam’s mouth twisted at our unexpectedly cold responses.
“Why are you all so mean!”
He flopped onto the floor and started thrashing around.
A water spirit king acting like that…
“Be nicer to me!!”
“Elam.”
Sylphid approached the flailing Elam.
Sylphid chuckled softly.
“You’re so noisy.”
“……”
Sylphid is kind of gentle.
Well, kind of…
“Anyway.”
I waved my hand to change the mood.
“I need to leave soon, this is already the nth time we’ve talked about it.”
Elam, still lying on the floor, perked up.
“Stay and watch!”
“Yeah, watch here, and then come to my territory!”
“Gnome is right, contractor. The spirit realm isn’t easy to access. Stay for a while.”
“Yeah, come to my area too. The breeze is nice.”
The other spirit kings chimed in.
“Nah, can’t do it.”
I shook my head.
“You know, you checked my condition earlier.”
My mana and affinity were both at 0.
In this state, being in the spirit realm filled with energy would be too much.
In other words…
“The pressure is no joke.”
My body wouldn’t last long.
The longer I stayed here, the more it would crumble.
“Fine, can’t be helped.”
Elam got up.
“Follow me, contractor. You guys stay there.”
“Please come~”
Gnome waved her hand gently.
I followed Elam deeper and deeper inside.
‘Fascinating.’
The surroundings began to darken.
It felt like descending endlessly into deep water.
How long had we been walking?
It was completely dark around us.
“How much farther?”
“We’re almost there.”
With no light in sight, I followed the faint glow Elam emitted.
“We’ve arrived.”
Elam stopped walking.
We had arrived at a small circular space.
The round space was filled with iridescent spirit flowers.
“Now it’s not dark, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
The faint glow from the spirit flowers made it easy to navigate the surroundings.
But, I need this.
I rolled my eyes.
Spirit flowers were a specialty unique to the spirit realm.
When contracting with Spirit Kings, I could ask for a few as a favor.
But summoning them now is difficult.
“Elam.”
“Yeah, what is it?”
“Could I take a few flowers with me when I leave?”
“Sure.”
Elam nodded lightly.
“But first, look at this.”
Elam tapped on a black sphere in front of him.
Ripples spread out at his touch.
It indicated that the sphere was filled with water.
“What’s this?”
“My successor.”
“Huh?”
I frowned.
I hadn’t experienced the demise of a spirit king yet.
So, I didn’t know how a successor of a spirit king was born.
‘But I know this isn’t right.’
Gurgle, gurgle.
Strange sounds constantly emanated from the sphere.
Elam, who couldn’t stand it anymore, reached out and touched the sphere.
Sizzle!
Where Elam’s hand touched, parts of it started purifying.
But soon, even the purified water was engulfed by the black water again.
Gurgle.
“Ugh.”
Elam sighed and looked at me.
“I call this the cradle of successors.”
I nodded.
“The water inside is created by me. It’s the cleanest and purest water in the world.”
It was the water painstakingly crafted by the spirit king for the next generation, a source of power.
“Our successors grow up in here. When they reach a certain point, they come out.”
Elam continued with a dark expression.
“My successor was growing well too. Then one day, when I briefly left, I came back to this.”
“Like this?”
“Yeah.”
Elam nodded heavily.
“Even Elastra and Endyron, who were attached as guardians, were stained black like this. And they disappeared not long after.”
“……!!”
Elastra was a top-tier water spirit.
Endyron was a high-tier water spirit.
And they disappeared in the spirit realm?
With a grim expression, Elam gritted his teeth.
“My successor kept screaming. They conveyed pain and agony to me.”
“They have consciousness?”
“Yeah. They can’t speak, but they have consciousness. They’re alive.”
Elam’s face as he said this looked pained.
“I kept trying to find the culprit, but couldn’t.”
I furrowed my brows.
With such little evidence, suspects were easily singled out.
Honestly, how many entities in the spirit realm could commit such acts while avoiding the eyes of the spirit king?
“It could be an evil spirit, couldn’t it?”
“I’m suspecting that too, but without evidence…”
Elam gazed at the cradle of the tainted successor.
“I thought about asking Ifrit to purify it with flames of purification, but we are too opposites.”
That’s true.
I nodded.
If it were Gnome, she could withstand flames.
But of all things, it had to be fire and water, the most opposite elements.
“If I leave it like this, my successor will perish. That’s why I called you.”
Elam turned his head to look at me.
“Contractor, please help me.”
I couldn’t reply immediately. I chose silence.
‘I know why I was called.’
Honestly, in this situation, what entity in the spirit realm could the spirit kings call upon?
Not even deities or dragons could help.
They probably called me, who had contracted with the four spirit kings, as a last resort.
‘But is there anything I can do…?’
I narrowed my eyes.
Inside that sphere was a pure spirit.
Unable to speak, summon, or materialize, it was an infant spirit that couldn’t even dream.
In other words, it was a spiritual body.
‘How can I heal something that doesn’t even have a physical form!’
I muttered to myself, but my field was herbalism.
Herbalism that healed physical wounds.
How could I do anything with someone who didn’t have a physical body?
“Contractor.”
Elam, who was tearing his hair out, called me.
“Please, I beg you.”
Elam, known for his pride, was asking me for help.
I sighed heavily after observing him for a moment.
“Fine. But, you know, this isn’t my expertise.”
“I know.”
Nodding, Elam stepped back.
I approached the cradle.
Gurgle.
‘This cradle is made of water.’
I touched it, and a viscous liquid stuck to my palm.
Then my hand started turning black.
“It’s dangerous.”
Elam grabbed my hand, but it dispersed instantly.
“All the spirits that tried to take the successor out of the cradle were tainted.”
Elam’s face hardened.
“This is dangerous.”
I nodded.
It meant that not only spiritual beings but even I, with a physical body, could be tainted.
“Elam, do you have any other abilities besides your own to purify this water?”
“Maybe sacred power could work.”
Sacred power.
I furrowed my brows at the mention of that.
For one, gods couldn’t come into the spirit realm.
Whether it was a different specification or wavelength.
Anyway, forcibly slipping through wouldn’t let us use our powers and would just cause a fuss.
And the same went for the spirits.
‘The place where the wavelengths of the divine realm and the spirit realm become similar is the human realm.’
It felt like a gateway connecting multiple worlds.
So, some call the human realm by another name, the intermediary realm.
‘But it’s not like we can summon priests.’
To enter the spirit realm, you must at least contract with a spirit king.
Adding the condition of a priest to a rare spirit king’s contractor?
That’s just telling them to give up.
‘Then, a way to bring sacred power…’
Ah.
That’s right!
“Elam!”
I whipped my head around.
“Take me to the human realm!”
I have something to bring!
“Uh, okay.”
Elam nodded and transported me to the human realm.
The distance was effortless.
When I returned to the spirit realm, I was holding a branch.
Ah, a branch.
The relic made of Detmé!
And just in case, I gathered a few other items.
“Wow. Really.”
Elam looked at me, shaking his head as if amazed.
“I’ve never seen a human plant relics in their backyard.”
“Haha, well, I’ve made quite an effort to acquire these.”
“Here, water.”
After drinking the water Elam offered my throat cleared.
It was good water. Thirst-quenching.
“Alright, Elam, you’re going to use your purification ability there.”
Elam nodded.
“I’ll place the relic here.”
Sacred power emanated from the relic.
So, using it was the best shot at purification.
“Let’s go!”
As I jammed the relic in, Elam started purifying from the other side.
With a rumble, the cradle trembled, and the water began to clear little by little.
‘It’s working, it’s effective!’
Elam alone might not have been enough, but I had the relic.
And not just any relic, but one of Detmé, a novice god!
‘If it were another god or a second-generation god, they wouldn’t have had this much firepower!’
I exerted force on the relic in my hand, which was growing hotter.
Luckily, the cradle was purified quickly, and soon, only something black remained.
Something black floating in the center.
I looked at Elam with a bewildered expression.
“Could it be… your successor…?”
“…Yeah.”
Elam’s voice dropped to a whisper.
I thought purifying the cradle would be enough.
But the successor had already been completely tainted.
‘How am I supposed to cure this?’
I bit my lip hard.
It seemed impossible to purify the successor along with the cradle.
If it were possible, they would have been purified together already.
I stared at the successor, who was already completely blackened and tore at my hair in frustration.
A way, a way to treat it.
I had to find a way. A way.
I racked my brain, but no method came to mind for purifying a spiritual being in this state.
‘Darn it, if only it had a physical form.’
Wait, a physical form?
I looked at my hands, which were a mess from the burst of sacred power.
When I pressed, it hurt.
I felt warmth.
I found it.
I grinned.
Here it is, a physical form.