SRS 190

The beams of light slowly turned to face the two students. Judging by their reaction, they must have given the right answer. Soon, a ticklish giggle rang in Yohan’s ears.

-Did you figure it out?

-Did you figure it out?

-Looks like you did!

-Looks like you did!

The spirits, who had been whispering to each other while facing one another, shed their forms of light and revealed their true appearances. One had white wings, and the other had golden wings. Their appearance was exactly like the twin spirits of Sin and Punishment that Yohan had seen in the spirit guidebook he had consulted.

The one with golden wings was the Spirit of Sin, and the one with white wings was the Spirit of Punishment.

Only after closing the distance between himself and the spirits did Yohan stop running and catch his breath. Mikael gently patted his friend’s back as he struggled. He used divine power to help him recover his stamina.

Yohan wiped the sweat from his chin with the back of his hand, took a deep breath, and straightened up.

“…Does revealing themselves mean we can assume they’re friendly toward us?”

At the question, the twin spirits giggled and nodded. The two spirits flew slowly toward Yohan and Mikael and circled around them.

-I can feel pure energy!

-It’s so clean!

-We love this energy!

With a soft plop, the Spirit of Sin landed on Yohan’s cheek and declared it felt cool.

Cool?

Yohan was a little confused at first, but he quickly understood. He had heard from Professor Shinbi that divine power could be transmitted to spirits as either warm or cool energy.

Relieved by the two spirits’ playful yet very friendly demeanor, Yohan exchanged glances with Mikael.

‘I think we can use these spirits, right?’

‘Yes. They’d make good subjects for observation.’

After exchanging a glance, the two quietly pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down the twin spirits of Sin and Punishment as their subjects of observation.

“I’ll focus on observing the Spirit of Sin.”

“Alright. Then I’ll observe the Spirit of Punishment.”

Since the spirits clinging to each of them were different, they were able to peacefully decide on their subjects of observation. Yohan smiled slightly at the spirit rubbing its cheek against his. Undine wasn’t like this. This spirit was a playful little…

Pop, pop.

“…Undine?”

No sooner had he thought it than Undine, who had been floating near Yohan, pushed the Spirit [Read on]of Sin clinging to Yohan’s cheek away. Annoyed, the Spirit of Sin flapped its wings and flew upward, then swatted Undine’s face with its tail.

-……!

Undine scattered water droplets in all directions and huffed and puffed as she chased after the Spirit of Sin. The spirit of sin chuckled at the enraged water spirit and ran off into the distance, starting a game of tag.

Yohan stared blankly at the two bickering spirits, then smiled.

Although it looked like they were fighting, the fact that they weren’t using their full strength suggested it wasn’t a serious quarrel. If anything, they seemed to get along well.

While Yohan watched the two spirits, Mikael reached out toward the Spirit of Punishment.

“We have to go now. Would you leave us a mark so you can find us when we come back next time?”

-I’ll leave one!

At Mikael’s words, the Spirit of Punishment landed on the back of his hand and pressed its forehead against it. A mark immediately appeared on the back of Mikael’s hand.

A spirit mark.

Spirits usually leave these marks to recognize their contractors, but even without a formal contract, they might secretly leave one if they took a liking to a human. Mikael checked the mark and smiled. In response to that smile, the Spirit of Punishment wriggled its body.

-Hehe.

Mikael stroked the delighted spirit. Upon seeing this, Yohan summoned the Spirit of Sin as well. At his gesture, the Spirit of Sin – who had been engaged in a chase with Undine – opened its eyes wide and flew to Yohan’s side in an instant.

“Could you leave a mark on me?”

When asked if it was possible, the Spirit of Sin nodded and pressed its forehead against the back of Yohan’s hand. Just like with Mikael, a mark appeared on the back of his hand.

“Thank you.”

Yohan smiled in gratitude and checked his watch. The second period had ended long ago, and half of the break had already passed.

Although the official schedule for the first day of the end-of-month evaluation was over, Yohan hadn’t yet started his research for the Divine Studies exam.

Even though he was keeping the lilycias safe so they wouldn’t wilt or get damaged, leaving [stolen content]them for too long wouldn’t be good, so he figured he should go back, plant them in a pot, and start his experiment.

“I think we should head back now.”

When he said this to the coquettish Spirit of Sin, it looked shocked, as if it had just heard something unbelievable. The Spirit of Sin wrapped its arms around Yohan’s finger and tugged at it. It was as if it were throwing a tantrum and begging him not to go.

-Don’t go!

Hmm. It wasn’t just a tantrum, it was for real.

Yohan glanced at Mikael. The Spirit of the Punishment, clinging to his friend’s side, seemed disappointed but quietly accepted reality, while only the Spirit of Sin was acting like a spoiled child.

As Yohan hesitated, Undine approached and slapped the Spirit of Sin repeatedly with her watery tail. It must have been revenge for what happened a moment ago.

–Yohan is having a hard time!

–Yohan?

“…Yes. That’s my name.”

–Yohan!

Delighted to have learned his name, the Spirit of Sin spun in the air as it glanced back and forth between Undine and Yohan with sparkling eyes.

–Make a contract with me too!

“…Huh?”

–……!

At the spirit’s proposal, both Yohan and Undine’s eyes widened simultaneously. Immediately, Undine puffed herself up like an angry cat and moved in front of Yohan’s face. Blocking Yohan’s view with her entire body, Undine could be heard scolding the Spirit of Sin.

“Ahaha!”

Mikael, who had been watching from behind, laughed. When he heard that clear, cheerful laughter, Yohan gave him a sidelong glance and scratched his cheek in embarrassment.

“Sorry. I don’t think I can take on another contract right now.”

Yohan already had a divine beast, Undine, and his companion Mandrake. He was already overwhelmed with so much to manage, and honestly, trying to add more contracts during the end-of-month evaluation week was reckless. Upon hearing this, the Spirit of Sin, deflated completely, and flew away. The Spirit of Punishment caught the Spirit of Sin, who was spinning precariously.

-See you again!

Unlike its twin, who were feeling down, the Spirit of Punishment, still cheerful, waved goodbye and flew off into the distance. Yohan watched the two spirits disappear and let out a sigh.

“…I never thought the spirit would actually propose a contract.”

As he muttered in disbelief, Mikael grabbed Yohan’s shoulder.

“I guess it took a liking to you.”

“…I suppose I should be grateful.”

“But I’m against you adding more contracts. Like you said, taking on more now would be too much to handle.”

“Yes. I know.”

“I’m against you adding more contracts.”

“Yes.”

“Adding more contracts right now is reckless, Yohan.”

“……”

Faced with this repeated warning, Yohan looked at Mikael. Mikael met his gaze that seemed to ask, “How much longer are you going to emphasize this?”, and gave an awkward smile.

“…It’s because you tend to make reckless moves right away.”

“I’ve never–”

The sentence he was about to speak remained unfinished. When he realized that there were quite a few examples, Yohan turned his head away. He knew that continuing this conversation would be to his disadvantage, so he decided to hurry back.

“Let’s head back now.”

Mikael reached out his hand. He was about to open another dimensional portal. Since it was best to take the easy way out, Yohan gladly took his hand and traveled through the dimensional portal Mikael had opened to the lecture hall.

“Ah, Yohan, Mikael. Did you make it back safely?”

Although the second period had ended, Professor Shinbi, who had remained in the classroom – perhaps because some students hadn’t left yet – greeted the two students. Slightly surprised by her sense of responsibility, Yohan nodded and bowed.

“Thank you once again for your understanding.”

“Oh, don’t mention it. Judging by your expressions, it looks like you made some good progress, so I’m looking forward to it. See you in the next class, then.”

Professor Shinbi gave a warm smile, closed the portal, and left the classroom. Yohan felt a bit tired from traveling through a dimensional portal twice in a single day and pressed his fingers against his temples.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes.”

“Are you going back to the dorm?”

“…No. I need to prepare for the Divine Studies exam. I have to plant the lilycias I brought.”

“Alright.”

Mikael replied that he understood and started walking first. His direction was the exact opposite of the dorm.

“Are you coming with me?”

“Of course.”

“…Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. My exam is over after tomorrow. I’ll help as much as I can.”

His offert was reassuring. Thinking he was lucky to have such a friend, Yohan smiled and headed toward the Divine Studies classroom. There were flower pots set up in the back of the classroom. Yohan carefully transferred a lilycia into one of them and channeled his divine power into it.

Whoosh!

The lilycia, imbued with white divine power, began to glow.

“Oh…”

Yohan’s eyes sparkled at the sight of that radiant light. He wondered if it had succeeded on the very first try, but his hope was short-lived; the glowing lilycia suddenly wilted not long after. Yohan sighed at the medicinal herb, which had turned ashen.

“I think you infused too much divine power at once.”

Mikael advised.

“That’s what I thought too.”

Yohan took out his notebook, recorded the amount of divine power he had infused, and reached for the second pot. This time, he infused the divine power more carefully and slowly, and a soft glow began to emanate from around the lilycia. Yohan immediately withdrew his hand and nodded upon seeing that the herb hadn’t withered but retained its vitality.

“I think I’ll leave it like this for now. ”

“Right. Are you done now?”

“Yes. I only planned to plant them today.”

Satisfied that both the Divine Studies and Spirit Studies had yielded decent results, Yohan placed a glass cover over the glowing pot of lilycia and left the classroom with Mikael.

Some time had passed since then.

Night had fallen, and the Divine Studies classroom had grown dim. A small golden light appeared in the air.

Then, the small being that had been staggering from exhausting itself from exerting too much force soon regained consciousness and focused.

-I’ll show you! I’ll be of help!

The little spirit shouted as it gazed at the glowing lilycia.