Soon after, Darius entered and severely scolded Rose.

“Your childish behavior caused trouble for many people and even endangered Anette.”

He scolded her so harshly that I thought Rose would give me her usual resentful look, but unexpectedly, Rose accepted the reprimand without a single excuse.

“I’m sorry.”

“Do you even know what you did wrong? Copying etiquette books doesn’t work, forbidding you from entering the castle doesn’t make you come to your senses. What punishment should I…”

“From now on, I want to follow Lady Anette’s example.”

“What?”

“What?”

Why am I being brought up here?

“Living in the North, I’ve never met a high-ranking lady. Lady Anette is the epitome of a lady. If I stay with her from now on, my behavior will improve! My parents will be pleased too!”

“Rose Temery, I’m talking about giving you punishment, not a reward.”

Darius doubted his ears, but Rose was a formidable opponent.

“It’s punishment for educational purposes! Mother and Father always tell me to observe well-mannered ladies and improve my behavior.”

“No, no. Miss Rose is already sufficiently…”

To call her a lady would be a lie.
A lie that would never leave my lips.

“From now on, I’ll be your companion, my lady! So your life in the North will be less lonely!”

The blonde girl with twin braids tightly hugs my arm. Is it because she’s young? She’s quick to both love and hate.

‘No, this isn’t what I wanted. I saved you from a death flag, so you should live your life freely from now on, Rose!’

“Just trust me. After Lady Egritte, I know this castle inside out better than anyone!”

“Rose…”

Darius presses his forehead firmly.

“Who gave you permission to say such things?”

“My lady, when should I come visit the castle next? Oh, I can stay with you today, right? Since I’m already here at the castle!”

Rose grinned, completely ignoring Darius’s words. It was a healthy smile without a trace of pain.

* * *

“I truly don’t know how to thank you, my lady, and also how to apologize…”

Lord Lucian kept bowing his head, unable to meet my eyes.

He had almost killed his younger sister with his judgment. Under the mistaken belief that bloodletting was the best method.

“That’s enough. I’m relieved that Rose has recovered. More importantly, about what happened in the ash forest. I’m curious about what happened after Rose and I collapsed.”

The limitations of medical techniques are unavoidable, aren’t they?

More than that, the gold coins! The gold coins of Duke Inkhart that Rose and I risked our lives to save!

Now that we’ve saved a life, is it okay to talk about something more materialistic?

“Ah. About that night… My lady, I couldn’t bring myself to ask before, but what exactly happened that night?”

Lord Lucian asked, as if he had been curious all along.

I told Lord Lucian the same story I had told Darius.

That I was trying to improve the poor conditions in the North by searching for legendary treasures. That the gold pot I found last time was actually an accidental discovery while investigating legends.

That I was narrowing down the search range by investigating vast amounts of data, and Rose visited my room, saw my materials, had a realization, and ran off to the ash forest alone.

“When I chased after Rose, all the legendary conditions had been met. As we entered the barrier, we were able to enter the treasure vault of the Inkhart ancestor as if by magic. The wind spirit king called Sylphid was guarding the treasure according to the contract.”

I paused for a moment.

“It’s hard to believe, suddenly hearing about a spirit king, isn’t it?”

“Not at all. You are the kind of person who can achieve such great things, my lady.”

How else could one explain the countless gold coins and rare treasures that suddenly appeared in an empty forest?

“The spirit king also gave me a lower wind spirit, a sylph, saying it would be helpful to me. He wanted to give me a greater spirit, but said my power wasn’t enough for that.”

There was a small seal engraved on the inside of my wrist. It seemed to be a proof of contract with the wind spirit. I pressed the seal firmly.

“Wang!”

“This is the wind spirit sylph.”

Then, as I had seen before, the sylph, playful like a puppy, appeared, somersaulting in the air joyfully, happy to be summoned.

Finding it cute, I stroked the sylph’s body. Its transparent body slipped through my fingers.

“Hehe, how cute.”

“…My lady?”

But Lord Lucian’s face looked strange. As if he had seen something unbelievable.

“Yes?”

“Um, so you say you summoned the wind spirit sylph?”

“Yes. Here. Can’t Lord Lucian see it?”

The sylph nuzzles its head against my hand, acting coy.

“No, I can’t see anything.”

If the sylph isn’t visible, how does my action of stroking the air look?

A moment of silence passed.

Lord Lucian awkwardly groped the air. Like a stiff wooden puppet.

“Um, I believe you, my lady. You’re not just anyone. So, the sylph is around here, you say…”

He was completely off.

“The, the spirit seal is here too…!”

“To my eyes, your arm looks clean, my lady…”

The sylph was just peacefully chewing and sucking on my finger, as if this had nothing to do with it.

My face burned hot. I slapped both my cheeks in embarrassment.

“My lady, there’s no need to harm yourself! I believe you! Just refrain from saying such things in front of others!”

You don’t really believe me deep down, do you!

“This is all because my training is lacking.”

According to my fantasy knowledge, it also takes the summoner’s power to materialize spirits.

‘In my current state as a spirit user, I can sense the presence of spirits, but I don’t have the power to materialize them so that others can see and feel them.’

At this rate, I can’t argue if others say I’m just doing nonsense.

Why do I keep remembering Sylphid’s words when he gave me the sylph, teasing that ‘You won’t be able to handle even a sylph properly yet’?

‘I won’t neglect my efforts from now on. I’ll read books and find other spirit users to study.’

This is my special ability that I’ve found after so long.

“So, about the gold coins we found in the forest?”

* * *

Tom, a resident of the North, was a wastrel far from living diligently. He liked betting and gambling, and took pride in money earned without work.

‘Duke Inkhart’s gold coins? That’s just a story I heard on my grandmother’s knee as a child.’

For the past few days, a strange rumor had been circulating in the North. It was a rumor that the legendary gold coins of Duke Inkhart had finally been discovered.

Tom scoffed at the story while drinking at the tavern, but his ears perked up. Since he had two legs, going to see was free, wasn’t it?

“Hey, you there. This forest is off-limits now. If you don’t have any specific business, turn back.”

A soldier wearing a shining helmet stopped Tom with his spear.

‘There really are soldiers all over the place?’

It seems there is something going on. This forest is a secluded place where no one comes unless to pick mushrooms.

“Excuse me, what’s going on here? Why are you all here?”

“It’s the Duke’s business. Stop asking unnecessary questions and go back.”

‘Hmph, acting all high and mighty as if you’re a knight when you’re just a commoner like me!’

Tom grumbled inwardly at the soldier’s stern words. Despite the soldier’s warning, Tom had no intention of backing down.

Gold tends to attract people’s attention. Someone had spread a rumor among the residents that the legendary treasure vault of Duke Inkhart had been discovered and was being moved.

There was so much that it couldn’t be moved in a day or two, and rumors said that’s why the security was so tight.

‘If there’s so much that you can’t move it all, how about sharing some with us poor residents, Lord Duke?’

Tom snickered as he plotted to find a gap in the strict surveillance.

After watching for a while, he noticed signs that the guards were either going to eat lunch or changing shifts.

‘Now’s my chance!’

Tom quickly hid himself in the forest, evading surveillance.

“Oh my!”

Clink clink clink.

Tom’s mouth fell open. After getting past one or two soldiers, he saw gold coins scattered all over the forest floor. The surveillance was strict on the outside, but the soldiers had left the enormous treasure just lying there.

Gold coins were rolling around like pebbles.

‘How much would this be if I just took a little? Oh my, my precious. Don’t stay in the cold, come into my warm pocket.’

Tom reached out for the gold coins in delight, trying to be stealthy.

Pa pa pa pang!

“Aaaaagh!”

“Sigh, looks like another fool has laid hands on Duke Inkhart’s gold coins.”

“So many people have already been terribly tricked, yet someone still does such a foolish thing. Haah.”

Pang! Papang! Along with the sound of the magical gold coins multiplying, the soldier guarding the ash forest heaved a big sigh.

This was already the umpteenth time.

When the soldier in charge was first told that they would be carrying out a top-secret mission for the Duke’s family, his heart pounded. He felt the weight of responsibility on his shoulders, thinking it was a grave duty.

When they arrived at the forest and saw the shining gold coins scattered here and there, even he, being human, had his eyes sparkle.

However, it didn’t take long to realize that those gold coins were just a pie in the sky. They tried to carry the gold coins found in the forest to the Duke’s mansion, but no one could take them.

The beautiful, glittering gold coins became impossibly heavy when held in hand, making it impossible to lift them, or they suddenly grew in size and crushed people. They were truly magical coins.

“Help me, save me, blub blub!”

“Well, that’s why I told you to go back. Why didn’t you listen and harbor bad intentions?”

“It’s not every day you get to dream about being crushed to death by money. Have your fill of dreaming. Hahaha.”

A massive amount of gold coins had been discovered, but no one could actually touch them.

Lady Anette, who discovered these coins, couldn’t return to the scene right away due to her accumulated fatigue and nursing Rose. For now, the best they could do was to post guards in the forest.

And somehow word got out that gold coins had been discovered, so three fools a day were coming to the forest and falling into the trap on their own.