Chapter 8
“WELL, WE’VE COME all this way. Why not spend the night here?”
It was ten at night now. Mira was getting hungry, but she first looked around the mansion in order to pick a room to stay the night in. Monsters might appear in the surrounding area, but she could summon as many powerful bodyguards as she wanted, so there was no real danger. Furthermore, the mansion was relatively clean, thanks to the spirit having maintained the place. No doubt she’d be able to rest easier here than in the Great Temple.
Suddenly, all of the windows shattered with a spectacular noise.
“Wha?! What was that?!” Mira asked, startled.
It was like a poltergeist from a horror movie. Strange things continued to happen. Cracks ran through the mansion with a dull noise. Mira and Pegasus were on high alert. Part of the mansion turned to rubble before their very eyes and fell with a thud. This signaled the start of the entire mansion’s collapse.
“This won’t do!”
Sensing danger, Mira jumped out of a broken window like an action film hero. Pegasus followed suit just before the well-kept mansion turned into ruins, just like its neighbors, with a loud rumble.
“That was close…”
Mira turned to the debris, whipping up a cloud of dust as she did so, and breathed a sigh of relief. Pegasus brushed the dust off of her with its wings, visibly relieved.
When asked about this, the Spirit King explained that the mansion had only maintained its shape thanks to the power of the spirit. When it had moved to Mira, the inevitable had happened in a flash. He should have said so in advance, Mira thought.
***
Mira had originally planned on settling down in the mansion for the night, but she now sighed.
“Well. I suppose we’re back where we started.”
Perhaps she should go to the Great Temple, after all. It would take under an hour to get there, thanks to Pegasus, so it wasn’t a long journey. But an hour felt so much longer at this time of night. Deciding not to cry over spilled milk, Mira got on Pegasus’s back. Then, she realized that the place she was in was bigger than she’d first thought.
They were currently in the mansion’s courtyard. Though decayed, it was big enough to build a whole second mansion in. Mira jumped down from Pegasus’s back with a child’s excited smile. After telling it she’d count on it again tomorrow, she dismissed the holy beast.
“I was thinking of trying this out once things had settled down, but there’s no time like the present. Why not take a crack at it?”
She had made a successful contract with the spirit of this mansion. That meant she could summon it.
During the contracting process, Mira had learned that summoning the mansion spirit would summon, well, a mansion. She’d wanted to try it out right away, but she was already standing inside a perfectly acceptable mansion. What was the point? It was something to try another time. But the mansion was now a mountain of rubble.
The only real problem regarding summoning a new mansion would be the lack of land to put it on. But here she was, on a suitable vacant lot. She hadn’t even needed to go looking. The conditions were perfect; how could she not try? Mira promptly began preparing to summon the mansion spirit.
It seems to be an intermediate summon, but the mana cost is exorbitant! It rivals even my dear son, Eizenfald. Doesn’t that get the heart racing?!
Since this would be her first time summoning it, Mira organized all of the information appearing in her brain and carefully constructed the spell. This felt different from summoning her weapon spirits, the dark and holy knights.
The summoning process required designating a summoning point, choosing a summon, consuming mana, and then giving orders to the summon. However, a mansion spirit did not really require orders; instead, there was a scale parameter before the mana-consumption step. Mira could not adjust the scale parameter yet, so she fixed a summoning point in the middle of the courtyard, left the scale at its fixed value, and continued the spell construction as usual. Satisfied, she finally activated the summoning spell.
[Evocation: Home Sweet Mansion]
A magic circle appeared in the middle of the courtyard, and the enormous amount of mana she’d spent condensed. Amid the glow, a new mansion took form.
“Ooh… This is the power of the mansion spirit. My new evocation!” Mira cried excitedly as she gazed at the building.
Its exterior was just as nice as any noble villa. Then, she excitedly ran over—but her expression turned downcast in no time. Once the dazzling light had subsided, the full form of the mansion spirit was laid bare.
“This is just a hut!” Mira screamed.
In the giant courtyard stood a “mansion” the size of a shed. Despite its disappointing size, the exterior was magnificent. If she put enough of them together, it might become a mansion that truly rivaled those of nobles. For now, though, it only looked like a child’s playhouse.
Hrmm… I see. So this is what the “scale parameter” must adjust.
It was far from luxurious at first glance, but it was still big enough to rest in.
A freshly contracted spirit was essentially in a level-1 state. As they grew together, it was sure to become a glorious mansion. Holding out hope, Mira opened the door, which was far too gaudy for the building’s size.
“Oho… I see. So, this is how it looks,” she mused. It was a well-built, one-room building with a calming, elegant interior. “It may not be big, but it’s certainly enough for a comfortable night’s sleep!”
Lustrous wooden pillars and hardwood floors complemented white-painted walls and ceilings. A large window allowed a view of the outside, as well as a way for light to flow in.
Mira lay down in the center and savored the comfort. This mansion spirit is just fine; it’s even more comfortable than the tent I found at Dinoire Trading! Mira smiled, having won the war despite her past defeats. This wasn’t an issue in an underground dungeon, but when she’d eventually have to camp outside, being able to summon the mansion spirit meant being safe from the wind and rain, while being even more comfortable than sleeping in the wagon.
“What a fortuitous encounter. Though we will have to do something about the…minimalism.”
Mira sat up and looked around the room.
Because it was the mansion spirit she’d summoned, it had only created the mansion. In other words, there was no furniture. The space was barely seven-and-a-half square meters and as empty as a new home on moving day. If there was anything, it was the poor excuse for a kitchen. It looked like something meant for servants to cook for themselves. Had the level-1 mansion spirit recreated servants’ quarters for Mira?
No matter. It didn’t change the fact that it was a room in a lovely mansion. Being able to summon it anywhere was going to be ridiculous.
“I’m sure I’ll have fun buying things for it at Dinoire Trading.” Mira had no more complaints. In fact, she was already excited to see how much it would grow in the future.
She placed the special-made sleeping bag in the corner of the room. Suddenly, she realized that it looked like she’d just moved in, bringing a satisfied smile to her face.
“Hrmm… Doors?”
Just as she’d decided to get up and make a meal, Mira noticed that there were doors other than the one leading outside—two of them, lined up together, at that. They were painted the same white as the walls, making them much less conspicuous.
Drawn by curiosity, Mira first opened the left door. Behind it was an old-fashioned toilet.
“Could it be…?”
If there was already indoor plumbing, then that could only mean one thing. With hope in her heart, Mira opened the other door. When she saw the room, though, she cocked her head. It was just a compact room of white stone, with naught but a drain in the corner of the floor. She’d expected this room to have a bathtub, so it took a moment to understand what she was seeing. But when she looked up at the ceiling, she realized that it was a shower.
Hrmm. Maybe it’s still too early to expect a bath.
This wasn’t a bath but a shower. Depending on one’s perspective, this was still a luxury. If the level-1 spirit had this much available now, she could only imagine the mansion’s accommodations once it had grown.
Even more expectant now, Mira took this opportunity to take off the clothes she was wearing.
“Now, how do I get hot water?”
After so excitedly rushing into the shower room, Mira realized that she had no idea how it worked. There was a lever that seemed to be the key, but no matter how much she moved it, nothing happened.
Just then, the Spirit King spoke to her. The mansion spirit only served as a vessel, of sorts; the facilities it provided were unusable by default.
“Nrgh… I can’t use the shower, then,” Mira muttered dejectedly as she toyed with the lever.
The Spirit King’s voice echoed in her head again. Apparently, there was a way to make them work. When asked how, he answered that she should use the power of his blessing. “My power is the power to connect. I am able to temporarily join the powers of my kin. If you wish to use that shower, then use my blessing to join a water spirit with the mansion spirit. Join a fire spirit as well, and you may use hot water. This will be useful training for my kin. Use them as you please.”
The true power of the Spirit King’s blessing was Spirit Linking. Mira had acclimated to his blessing, allowing her to use it. By focusing on his blessing while summoning a spirit, she could have the spirits and blessings take care of the fine adjustments.
However, it would take a lot of mana to use the facilities. She couldn’t create hot water indefinitely; still, using the power of spirits would be much more efficient than using Ethereal Arts.
“How magnificent!” After listening to his rough explanation, Mira’s first reaction was delight. As someone so specialized in magic, mana consumption wasn’t a major burden to her. Far from it—being able to use the facilities with mana alone was convenient.
Mira got down to trying it. She summoned and linked water and fire spirits to the mansion spirit. She proceeded as instructed and successfully linked them without any problems.
The Spirit King, who’d watched the process from start to finish, spoke up immediately. “I am surprised that you got it in one try. Even Forsetia, who could use my power freely, struggled at first.”
The Hero-King Forsetia had the Spirit’s King Blessing, just as Mira did now. It seemed Mira had easily overcome a step that she’d stumbled on. Was it because she was a summoner, a class with a high affinity for spirits? Either way, she’d taken to the blessing well. The Spirit Linking technique could not succeed without strong bonds, yet Mira had succeeded on her first try, regardless. That was proof that spirits loved her. The Spirit King knew he’d selected the right champion, and he smiled happily at Mira as she struggled with the shower controls.
***
Hot water eventually rained down. Mira felt the blissful warmth of the water, savoring her shower. She was using soap and shampoo she’d swiped from the inns she’d stayed at up to this point. There was enough left to keep her clean for half a month.
“Having hot water to bathe with is so nice, even if it is just a shower…”
After enjoying it to her heart’s content, Mira left the shower room and took out her big suitcase. From there, she retrieved a bath towel and a change of underwear.
She gently touched a nearby wall and murmured, “I’ll be counting on you from now on, friend.”
The air in the room seemed to become just slightly fresher. Was that the mansion spirit responding to her feelings?
“It’s a pleasure to work with you,” Mira said, grateful, and opened the door to the bathroom.
The power to link spirits, hmm? I’m sure I can find a myriad of applications for that.
For some reason, she found the bathroom calming. After doing her business, she thought idly about her new power and grinned at the ideas that came to mind.
***
After freshening up in the shower and bathroom, Mira treated the place like her own home and started making dinner, wearing only her underwear. Since it was now usable, she decided to cook in the kitchen.
“What should I make tonight?”
She laid out many ingredients and thought about what she wanted to eat. Veggies, meat, seafood—after staring at them in turn and thinking for a while, she decided on a meal and got right to cooking.
Thanks to the Spirit Link, water came out when she turned on the faucet. By adjusting the link, she could even boil water. Water coming from a faucet—such a normal, everyday thing was somehow still complicated.
Despite the inhospitality of a dungeon, Mira had found herself in an environment much like everyday life. She was aware of how blessed she was, now more than ever. Even through abundant use of Dinoire Trading’s products, one could not create such a comfortable space.
Places suitable for rest needed walls and a roof—in other words, they needed to be secure. The closer they were to one’s normal living space, the better. The natural representation of such a place was, of course, a house. However, one couldn’t bring a house into a dungeon. Even adventurers with the fattest of purses could only reproduce the notion of a home with a tent. Yet, that was nothing compared to a real house.
Mira had managed it through this contract, though. It may not have been big…yet…but the inside of the spirit mansion truly had the sense of security of a real home. It was as if she were in her own room in the Linked Silver Towers. Why, I could almost forget that I’m inside a dungeon.
After preparing the ingredients, Mira looked around the room. The emotions welling up in her heart drew a smile out of her that soon turned into a smirk.
The ultimate environment was here, far beyond anything that even modern, high-class tents could replicate. She was in a place that no other adventurer could hope to reach.
Camping isn’t so bad once in a while, but this…this is something else. I can be comfortable in even the harshest environments!
Feeling a sense of superiority, Mira tossed ingredients into the heated pot. Her meal today was amberjack hot pot. She’d bought the amberjack pre-cut, so it was easy for even this poor cook to make bite-sized portions. After that, she added seasoning and let it simmer. The dish was ready in a grand total of thirty minutes.
Mira took a few bites of her food. “Mm. Why, this is so good that I could sell it!” She was moved nearly to tears by the result of her efforts.
It did not occur to her that her appraisal of the meal had been artificially inflated by her hunger and environment. To her, it was a harmonious combination of all the ingredients. To anyone else, it was a hot mess. However, she enjoyed it, and that was all that mattered. After downing her meal with a smile, Mira lay back and savored the afterglow.
The cool floor was pleasant on her bare skin. She gazed out the window at the fourth floor of the Ancient Underground City before abruptly standing up.
“Hrmm. Neighbors seem to be coming for a visit.”
Skeletons could be seen here and there in the ruined city. They began to gather in the area, either attracted by Mira’s presence or the conspicuousness of the spirit mansion. However, she would not be shaken. After going outside and checking her surroundings, she summoned a holy knight to protect the mansion spirit and two dark knights to crush any approaching monsters.
The holy knight stood guard, while the dark knights immediately got to ripping skeletons apart.
“My First Pupil will have his hands quite full in the morning.” Any skeletons that approached were cut down and turned to dust, dropping magic stones in the process. At this rate, there would be an enormous pile of them by the time she woke up. Mira smiled at the five magic stones already on the ground. “Ah, AFK farming. The dream is now reality.”
Depending on how many she got, she might even sell some to get funds for high-end adventuring supplies and replenishing her foodstuffs too.
Maybe I could even collect equipment again.
She had given her previous set of stat-boosting accessories to Cleos for the sake of training new summoners since she was already plenty strong without them. As such, she’d put off fabricating replacements.
That said, Mira believed that one could never be too strong. Now that she could afford it, she wanted to use her refining techniques to make more of these accessories. Even the weakest bonus effects could be turned into first-class boons with enough refining.
“Oh, the possibilities!”
Elated over her new goal, Mira went back into the mini-mansion and fantasized about market prices for magic stones as she prepared for bed.
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