A Subtle Transformation

While Donovan stood frozen in indecision, Emma appeared holding a lantern, having heard the commotion.

She looked at the young master’s friends standing awkwardly in the hall, then at the young master looking down from the second floor, and finally at the ruined windows and chandelier before letting out a helpless smile.

“Oh dear, Young Master. Did you have a fight with your friends?”

“No. It happened because they were startled. It is late, so clean the hall tomorrow, Emma.”

“I shall do so, Young Master. I will place a warning sign so no one gets hurt.”

Donovan was even more flustered by how calmly Emma accepted the situation.

Should she not be surprised? Why is she so composed?

Caught in fresh confusion, Donovan remained rooted to the spot. Emma, perhaps more concerned for her master than for Donovan, raised her lantern and peered at Ensi, who was partially hidden by the shadows.

“I trust you are not injured?”

“Of course.”

“I shall believe you. Do you require any other assistance?”

“No. You must be tired, Emma, so go back to rest.”

“Thank you for your consideration, Young Master. I wish you a good night.”

Emma’s eyes narrowed slightly at his steady response, but she eventually withdrew with a smile. Luke watched her dignified departure and only spoke after she had vanished from sight.

“By the way, Ensi, what about the guards?”

“There are none for the time being. Sometimes artifacts are more reliable than people.”

So that was why the mansion remained quiet despite such a disturbance. Since Noah and Emma were the only servants living in the main building, it made sense that she had come out personally to check the situation.

Luke briefly wondered if he should criticize Ensi’s lack of security, but he kept his mouth shut, trusting that his friend had his reasons.

“Ensiii—.”

“Yes, Donovan. Agniele’s mana attribute is Fire, right?”

“Why are you so obsessed with that?”

I really cannot understand him. Donovan let out a deep sigh and finally finished climbing the stairs. The spirits, sensing the threat was gone, were once again draped over Donovan’s body.

“It should be. Considering the reactions of the spirits, Fire felt particularly friendly toward him. Water showed some interest too…… but hated getting near him.”

“So it was not a misunderstanding.”

Earth and Wind had shown no particular reaction. Ensi felt relieved to know his intuition was correct after Donovan’s confirmation. He was also glad that he would not have to go through the trouble of giving Hesperon new instructions.

“Anyway, I am sorry. About the mansion and the wound.”

“You do not need to apologize for such a thing. More importantly, was your hearing not supposed to be sensitive?”

Ensi asked while tapping his ear. He had overheard their conversation about being able to hear sounds from different floors.

“Being able to hear many sounds also means my discernment drops. It is difficult to distinguish where a sound is coming from or who is making it. That is why I usually try to consciously close my ears.”

Furthermore, he was exhausted after everything that happened at the research institute. It was only natural for senses to dull when the body was not in peak condition.

“I see you can control that as well.”

“Otherwise, life would be far too tiring.”

Luke’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. As he watched Donovan approach Ensi to inspect the wound, Luke shrugged when the spirits expressed their disapproval of his gaze.

It was not as if he were a beast. No matter how much curiosity drove him, he would never lay a hand on his friend, yet the spirits already regarded Luke as a scoundrel.

“Ensi, is there another reason you called us?”

Feeling like he might suffocate under the spirits’ sharp glares, Luke shifted the topic.

“I have a favor to ask. Above all, you were at the research institute for too long.”

“Mmm. It did feel like they were uncomfortable with us there.”

“Since your positions are ambiguous, they probably did not know how to treat you.”

Feeling it was awkward to keep talking while standing, Ensi gestured for them to follow and headed up the stairs. The hall was a mess and there was no suitable place on the second floor, so he intended to go to the floor where the bedrooms were located.

“What is the favor?”

“As I mentioned earlier, I do not intend to have guards for the time being.”

“You are not asking us to make an artifact to replace them, are you?”

“That is exactly it.”

When his suspicious question met a positive answer, Luke frowned and shook his head in frustration.

“I cannot do that. Gaps will inevitably occur.”

“Even if you cooperate with Donovan?”

“Spirits are fickle beings. There is a limit to binding them with promises.”

“Just for a little while. About…… two weeks. I will reinstate the guards after that.”

Two weeks might be doable. Luke instinctively crunched the numbers in his head and began to envision a concrete method.

It would depend on how much the spirits allowed, but it seemed possible to maintain security using artifacts and spirits for a limited time.

If spirits, rather than humans, filled the gaps in the artifacts—since spirits have sharper senses than humans—the security would be perfect, provided their consent could be gained.

“Luke, Luke!”

Donovan, seeing Luke falling into his own world, called out in a panic to force him back to reality. If Luke agreed to Ensi’s request now, things would get complicated.

“Ah, right. Even so, it will take time to complete. What do you plan to do until then?”

Luke shook his head to clear away the remnants of his thoughts.

“Were there not hired guards? I remember there were some quite capable ones during the last break.”

“Many have changed while I was away from the capital. It became problematic. It will take time to reorganize, and there is no one trustworthy.”

Ensi explained that the previous guards were no longer reliable enough to be kept. He also added a reproach that there was no time to finish the reorganization because they had acted without discretion.

Luke and Donovan, having nothing to say to that, exchanged glances. After pushing the responsibility onto each other with their eyes, they gasped at Ensi’s sigh.

“Tiresome things have increased lately. Because of that, finding guards has become even harder.”

It was a light lament, but it felt heavy to those listening because of their guilt. After a long silence, it was Donovan who spoke first, unable to bear the pressure.

“……I will try.”

“Really?”

“I, sigh—. I will give it a try for now. But I think I will have to improve the existing artifacts.”

Making them from scratch would take too long. They needed something to replace the guards for two weeks; if they started a new project, they would not even finish by the time the new guards arrived.

“That does not matter. I will have Noah send the artifacts tomorrow.”

“I also need some things to persuade the spirits.”

“Tell Noah what you need, and he will get them for you.”

Ensi smiled and thanked them as they quickly backed down. It was a sincere gratitude, but it did not seem to reach the two very well.

“If I had known this would happen, I would not have come back today.”

“I know, right. I should not have stayed in the capital; I should have left immediately to explore the ruins.”

The two did not hide their sighs at having taken on a troublesome task. Ensi chuckled softly and looked out the window to check the position of the moon.

The bright full moon had already tilted far. This meant the night was deepening into dawn and approaching morning, so Ensi decided to let them go. They had also arrived near their rooms.

“Do not overdo it. I will head into my room now, so you two should rest as well. Call a servant if you need anything.”

“Forget it. I can handle changing my clothes on my own.”

“Washing up is no problem in an emergency either. I have magic and spirits.”

It was late, and more importantly, there was probably a reason why Ensi did not keep servants in the main building late at night. Not knowing the exact circumstances, the two did not want to break the rules set by the master of the house and dismissed Ensi’s offer, saying he did not need to worry.

“By the way, Ensi.”

Ensi knew he had made them worry for nothing, but he did not refuse their consideration. Just as he waved goodbye and grabbed the doorknob, Donovan called him.

“Yes?”

“Are you taking good care of your health?”

“Well, it is about the same as usual.”

Though puzzled by Donovan’s sudden question, Ensi answered simply.

“Mmm, I see.”

“Why, is there something bothering you?”

“It is not that something is bothering me…… no, it is nothing. It is just that Cyrill has not been able to check on your body lately. Thinking about that made me worry for no reason.”

Ensi tilted his head at the somewhat flat answer. Donovan did not look away from Ensi’s clear eyes and gave a faint smile.

“Right, thanks for worrying.”

Was it really just simple worry? Ensi withdrew his gaze and entered his room with a short goodnight.

Click. The moment the lock engaged, all presence within the room was completely blocked. It meant the magic circle was working properly.

“Well, I should head off as well.”

“Yes, good night to you too, Luke.”

“You have a good night as well.”

After a brief exchange with Luke, Donovan scanned the area where the mana felt unusually dense and headed toward his assigned room.

Once Donovan was alone, the spirits that had been hanging quietly from his body poked their heads up and whispered.

[His disposition really seems to have changed—.]

[Is it okay not to tell him?]

“Because I do not know exactly what has changed. I cannot speak recklessly when I am not certain.”

Ensi’s shoulders were already heavy. He could not bear to add an unnecessary burden himself. It did not look like a bad change, so it would be fine to watch the situation and tell him when something became certain.

Donovan stroked the heads of the spirits with his index finger as they sensed his emotions and showed faint concern.