A Dragon’s Whisper, a Spirit’s Call

“Rumors?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of rumors?”

Lord Renold didn’t immediately understand Kay’s words.

Kay momentarily looked at him with disdain, but without showing it, he continued.

“The rumors of the evil dragon living in that mountain.”

“Evil dragon……?”

Still seemingly unable to grasp the idea, Lord Renold tilted his head and raised his hand to stroke his chin.

Even with the Mountain of Death right in front of him, Lord Renold had never paid any attention to the dragon.

“Wasn’t that evil dragon killed?”

“Surely not.
Dragons can’t just die.”

“Hmm…… but it seems to have been too quiet all this time?”

It had already been 200 years since the Orta Empire fought the evil dragon.

So much time had passed that information about the evil dragon could only be found in history books or fairy tales for children.
Lord Renold’s face immediately became indifferent.

“That’s not true.

Soldiers have often gone missing in that mountain, haven’t they?
Even very recently.”

“That’s true, but…….”

“Whether the rumors are true or not isn’t really a big problem.
The important thing is that we can use them.”

“Use them……?”

Intrigued, Lord Renold widened his eyes and looked at Kay, asking impatiently.

“What do you mean by that?”

“It means using the rumors of the evil dragon as they are.
After all, people don’t really care about the truth of rumors.”

“Hmm, continue.”

“So, we spread rumors that the evil dragon has been kidnapping villagers and soldiers.
Then what will happen?”

“Hmm, then…….”

Lord Renold wasn’t very bright, but he could still think as much as others.

He spoke simple words in a plain tone.

“The evil dragon’s reputation will get worse.”

“Yes, and then we exaggerate the rumors even more.
Then adventurers will become interested.”

“Adventurers……?”

“If adventurers and mercenaries hear the rumors of the evil dragon and come to the territory, it will be quite profitable.

The city will also become more lively.”

“That’s true, but…….”

He was slightly tempted, but Lord Renold wasn’t a completely foolish lord.

Even though he had been obsessed with money since becoming a lord, he had never tried to touch the Mountain of Death.

That was the unwritten rule of all the lords in history.

“What if the evil dragon really wakes up?”

It had been a long time since the war ended, but even so, the existence of a dragon couldn’t be ignored.

Even a slight mistake could become irreversible.

“Haha, that’s unlikely.”

Kay laughed at Lord Renold’s concerns.

As one of the people who had been immersed in a long period of peace, he spoke easily with a carefree expression.

“Hasn’t it been as quiet as a mouse until now?

It’s probably a period of hibernation.

It must be quiet because it’s sleeping due to using a lot of power in the aftermath of the war.”

“Hoh, that could be true.”

About 100 years ago, some fool spread rumors everywhere that he had met a dragon and even wrote a book, but only ignorant commoners who didn’t know anything believed it.

Most nobles treated it as just a story made up by a dirty wanderer.

He must have just found some mana stone somewhere by luck and exaggerated the story.

Now that he thought about it, even a dirty wanderer had made a fortune by using rumors, so why couldn’t he?

Lord Renold’s face brightened.

“Yes, that’s it.

Why haven’t I thought of that until now?
Hahaha!”

Lord Renold, who had burst into laughter, jumped up from his seat.

He approached Kay and patted his shoulder with his large, pot-lid-like hand.

“I will entrust this matter to you from now on!”

“I understand, Lord.”

“Hahaha!”

Lord Renold, who was in a good mood, laughed for a while.

Strictly speaking, he should be called a ‘lord proxy’ rather than a lord, but at least in this mansion, no one called him a lord proxy.

Calling him ‘Lord’ made him feel better.

“Goodness, everyone can’t even do as well as the newcomer.
Try harder! Huh?”

“We, we will keep that in mind.”

The other aides sweated profusely and bowed their heads.
Only Kay stood tall among them, full of confidence.

A dark aura rippled behind him as he smirked.

Some time passed, and when the mountain was hit by the summer heat.

Sian definitely felt that the surroundings were more stable than before.

In particular, Theodore’s education was going well, and the instances of the original story’s force taking effect were becoming increasingly rare.

Everything was going smoothly.

Moreover, even Leon’s training, which Sian had been worried about, was progressing more smoothly than expected.

Leon had been afraid of Ryuisa at first, but now he was getting along with him quite amicably.

Ryuisa definitely seemed to know how to handle beastkins well.

“Kkyaaaaak!”

“Hmm…….”

But sometimes terrible screams could be heard from outside the mansion.

Sian made an effort to ignore Leon’s screams and turned her head away.
To be honest, she didn’t want to know too much.

“Master?”

“Hmm?”

Sian gave an awkward smile and looked down.
Theodore was looking up at her with innocent eyes.

Theodore’s hair had been dyed repeatedly to a deep brown color.

Sian wasn’t very skilled, but after doing it a few times, she had become a little more accustomed to it.

Now the dyeing was even and the hair was quite smooth.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Sian smiled and reached down to stroke Theodore’s hair.

A soft sensation could be felt on her hand.

Theodore smiled brightly as he received Sian’s touch, like a well-behaved puppy.

Today, Sian had come out to do some special training with Theodore.

Sian looked down at the cliff below.

Water was flowing below the cliff.

The water falling from the waterfall could be seen stretching far down to the land below the mountain.

This was the closest valley to the mansion.

The water, which had been polluted and murky when the mountain was full of mana, was now quite clean.

The Dark Elves used to purify the water before drinking it, but these days they just drank it as it was.

“Shall we go down then?”

“Yes.”

Sian carefully held Theodore and went down the cliff.

Today’s training required a lot of water.

That’s why they had come all the way to the valley with the waterfall.

Even after going down the cliff, they continued to walk until they reached the lower reaches of the valley.

Then a fairly wide stream of water unfolded before their eyes.

“Wow.”

Theodore looked around, constantly admiring the scenery.

He had never come down to the valley even when they went out for a stroll, so he seemed fascinated.

‘I should have brought him here sooner, even if it wasn’t for training.’

Sian felt sorry because she had practically confined Theodore to the mansion, worrying about the original story’s force.

“This place is suitable.”

“Are we going to call the spirits here?”

“Yes.”

Sian nodded at Theodore’s question.

Theodore was skilled in magic and swordsmanship, but he was also a munchkin who contracted with spirits.

Although contracting with spirits was something he did later in the original story, unlike magic or swordsmanship, Sian planned to give him early education since she was taking Theodore as her disciple.

“But why the water spirits in particular?”

“Well, that’s because…….”

Naturally, it was because water spirits were the most compatible with Theodore.

Theodore would later contract with Serendis, the water spirit king.

Of course, he contracted with other spirits as well, but Serendis was the only water spirit king he summoned.

The original author must have thought that summoning other spirit kings would be too unbalanced.

Anyway, since Theodore was still young, Sian intended to summon the most compatible water spirits first.

But since she couldn’t say this directly, Sian lied appropriately.

“It’s because water spirits are the purest, so they can be summoned easily.”

“Ah, I see.”

“…….”

Theodore accepted Sian’s words without questioning them.

Sian smiled for a moment and then turned her head.

“Master has already taught you the theory in class, right?

First, feel the energy of water, and then recite the spell to summon the spirit.”

“Um…… yes.”

However, Theodore tilted his head, unable to grasp the feeling easily.

That was only natural.

Even if he was a genius, being brought to the waterside and suddenly told to feel the spirit’s energy was difficult, even for a protagonist loved by God.

In the original story, Theodore was only able to feel the spirit’s energy and barely contract with it when his life was in danger inside a dungeon.

So it would be difficult to summon a spirit right away.

Sian had only brought Theodore here for educational purposes, knowing that.

“Today is the first day, so don’t push yourself too hard.
Let’s get closer to the water first.”

“Get closer to the water?”

“Yes.”

Sian nodded and snapped her fingers.

Then the clothes Theodore was wearing changed in an instant.

Short shorts and a top clung tightly to his body.

It was an outfit made of material suitable for playing in the water.

“Let’s play in the water with Master.”

“Wow.”

Theodore looked down at his body with wonder.

He had never played in the water before, so he had never had the chance to wear such clothes.

After admiring it for a moment, Theodore raised his head and had a surprised expression.

“M, Master……!”

“Hmm?”

Sian tied her hair up high and looked at Theodore.

She couldn’t swim in her usual flowing robe, so Sian had also just changed her clothes.

Sian looked at Theodore’s reddened face with a puzzled expression and asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

“……?”

Theodore turned his head away and answered in a voice as small as an ant.

Sian tilted her head and finished tying her hair.

“Okay, let’s do some stretches before we get in the water.”

“Yes, yes.”

For some reason, Theodore was more flustered than usual as he followed Sian in stretching.

Sian felt puzzled, but unable to understand the reason, she just stared at Theodore’s back, who was creaking like a broken doll.

Just as the stretching was over and Theodore had rushed over and put his foot slightly in the water.

Whoosh!

“Huh?”

As soon as Theodore entered the water, something soared out of the water.

Startled, Theodore looked at what had come out of the water.

Sian also widened her eyes in surprise.

‘Could it be…… a spirit?’