“Alright. You just need to produce what we demand as instructed. No need for any other words. We don’t care about your difficult circumstances.”

Rigolus was originally just a wandering slave trader.

“I even turned a blind eye to your occasional mischief. As long as you met the quota, I didn’t care if you filled your pockets with the remaining slaves or not.”

The slave market made a lot of money, but what Lilith wanted wasn’t just money.

Sometimes Lilith wanted healthy slaves. At times, she wanted unusual beastkin slaves, and other times she wanted spirit users or mages.

Rigolus didn’t know what Lilith did with all those slaves she took.

Shudder. Rigolus’s body trembled.

Just thinking about those words made him not want to know what they were used for, even if he was told.

Rigolus was happy just pretending to be the real slave market representative, living with his head held high.

“Do you want to stop living?”

“No!”

He had not the slightest desire to become one of the slaves Lilith took away.

“I, I spoke foolishly. Of course, it’s my job to resolve this somehow. I will successfully complete the transaction this time as well.”

Lilith lifted Rigolus’s chin.

“No. It seems you want to stop living.”

I’m going to die. I could really die. Rigolus’s entire body trembled.

“I will offer more money than usual and rare slaves that can’t be seen anywhere else! My loyalty has not changed!”

Rigolus’s wailing appearance was ugly. Lilith cackled as she watched his saliva and mucus flow onto the floor.

“Alright, I look forward to it. I wonder how rare an offering you’ll bring to satisfy my heart.”

* * *

The meeting discussing the Inkhart Autumn Festival continued, changing the topic to the abolition of slave legalization due to Rigolus’s appearance.

“When approving the legalization of the slave market, the previous Grand Duke also said so. This is just the first step, and we must never be satisfied and stop at this first step.”

While talking about the slave market, Inkhart’s darkness, Darius’s expression was particularly unpleasant.

“In fact, Father hesitated until the end to recognize the slave market.”

His sharp nerves finally eased as he made a long-delayed decision.

“We should get rid of it. Because you’re here.”

“You should consider businesses that can replace the slave market boom you’ve enjoyed so far, Your Grace.”

“You know what? These days, when people here see me, they claim to be the loyal retainer who told me to marry Anette right away.”

“It was good that you got married, wasn’t it?”

Haha. Laughter finally spread inside the conference room at Darius’s joke made at the end of the meeting.

“You seemed down for a while.”

Darius had observed me.

“I’m glad to see you look healthy like before today. It’s somewhat awkward when you’re not cheerful.”

“Was I like that?”

The day I met the strangers and felt uneasy was just one day. He remembers even unnecessary things.

“I’ll get up now. I’ve been busy with spirit training lately, so if the meeting is over, I should go.”

I naturally changed the subject and stood up.

* * *

My steps away from Darius were quick.

My heart is pounding.

Don’t think about it.

Focus on the reality I’m stepping on right now.

I decline stories that shake my identity.

“…I really hate people who seem to see right through the feelings I’m hiding.”

Just let it go, will you?

I’m living that way myself, you know?

“Phew, I guess I should visit the temple again and ask what happened to what I inquired about last time.”

Since I can’t send Barbarossa to the capital right away, I have no choice but to reuse the route I originally opened.

The temple is a tight-knit organization, so if I ask a priest, I should be able to find Evangeline’s name on the list. The problem is where she is now.

“Anette.”

“Waaaaaah!”

When I opened my eyes, the Spirit King’s head was floating in front of me.

“Wh-wh-what are you doing! A-appear normally!”

“This is normal for me.”

“You’ve hung around humans more than once or twice! You know this isn’t a normal appearance!”

“Originally, great beings make impressive entrances.”

I’d rather die than suffer. My mental strength, shocked by consecutive blows, could no longer endure and collapsed.

“What a praiseworthy thing to say.”

I don’t even have the energy to ask what brings him here.

“Didn’t you come back earlier than originally planned because you said you had to train?”

This is what he was going to say anyway.

“Come, let’s train. Dripping water eventually pierces rock. With your turtle-like progress, diligent training is the only answer.”

When you were luring me in, you said I was a genius of the century and just needed a little effort…

With a resigned heart, I summoned a sylph. I summoned two. Summoning two naturally doubles the spirit power consumption.

“Why summon them and not give any orders?”

If my meager spirit power bottoms out like this, won’t I be able to avoid seeing Sylphid’s face anymore today?

“Ah, maybe I’m already so tired that Sylphid’s face is blurry. Hmm, I can’t see. I guess Anette is just an ordinary person now.”

Sob, I really wanted to become an excellent spirit user.

“Anette.”

“The life story of Anette, the ill-fated genius spirit user, ends here… Ow ow ow!”

My ear was sharply pulled. How unfair for a spirit with no physical form to pull a person’s ear!

“Weren’t you planning to participate in this slave market auction? Even with an escort, it’s a dangerous place, so safety can’t be guaranteed. You must always have the power to protect yourself in any situation.”

Sylphid said.

“By the time you realize you need power, it’s too late. It’s better to be overprepared than underprepared.”

“But Darius didn’t tell me to come to the slave market.”

“But you’ll go. Either by my will or yours.”

“Ah, you’re making me dig my own grave again. You know that meddling is really annoying, right?”

“I see it as necessary.”

Hoo, I let out a short sigh.

“Let’s do it, train.”

* * *

“Don’t imagine the wind before it comes. Accept it as it comes.”

I listened to Sylphid’s teachings while walking around the castle grounds, leaving the room.

“You told me to imagine how the wind blows in the morning.”

“Since you don’t seem to be able to implement the image, I’m telling you to face it directly this time. Don’t think about other things with the real thing in front of you.”

I placed my hand on the tree in front of me.

“The bumpy surface of the tree bark, the sparkle of sunlight filtering through the leaves, where the tree might be sucking up water. See, feel, and then go further to imagine.”

No matter how much I try to feel it, all I can sense is that the tree bark is very hard.

“What is the lady doing now?”

“I don’t know, she’s been talking to every tree for a while.”

“…Is the lady very tired today?”

‘I can hear everything, you know? Even I would see it as a very strange person. A grown adult suddenly going ‘Hello tree? The sunshine is so warm today, hohoho.’ like this!’

“Anette?”

I flinched. Someone called me cautiously.

“Is the meeting over?”

“It’s over, but… what are you doing now?”

Darius was looking at me with a peculiar expression.

“This, they say it helps increase nature affinity… so…”

“By talking to trees?”

“It’s supposed to be incredibly helpful… some damned Spirit King said so.”

My face was burning hot.

“I mean, Sylphid said that I have talent in spirit arts but I keep failing to find it. He said I need to recognize what kind of energy is flowing inside my body… so he told me to get close to nature.”

I want to cry. The more I talk, the more I sound like a really strange person.

“Anette, come here.”

Darius pulled my hand that was tightly hugging the large tree.

You’re embarrassed by a wife who talks to trees too, right? That’s it, right?

“Is the problem that you can’t find the energy flowing in your body?”

Darius, who sat under the large tree, sat me between his legs. My breath, panting from embarrassment, reached his chest.

Now there were two people doing strange things in front of the tree.

“I told the lady to go and check on you, and now even the lord…”

Hot hot. As the situation became more and more embarrassing, I wanted to leave now.

“I want to go to the room. I won’t do this anymore.”

“Wait a moment, Anette. It’s difficult to find the energy from the beginning, so I’ll infuse you with my energy.”

“What?”

“A spirit user’s spirit power, a priest’s holy power, a swordsman’s aura. They’re all different types of energy, but they’re the same in that they’re energy flowing inside the body.”

The ability to imbue one’s own mana into a sword is called Sword Aura. Darius is publicly known as a sword master with Sword Aura, but I knew.

Now he could overlay energy not just on the sword but about a span beyond it. He had surpassed Sword Aura and entered the Sword Expert stage.

Considering that an ordinary human can’t even reach the first stage of Sword Aura even if they train swordsmanship for a lifetime, it was all hail the protagonist.

“I’ll help you.”

He embraced me from behind and started infusing his mana.

Our joined hands were warm. I felt a tickling sensation at my fingertips.

“Can you feel it?”

Like a ray of light felt in darkness, Darius’s energy entered my body.

“Ugh.”

“Shh. I won’t hurt you, so try to accept it.”

Although warm and clear, it was still energy that wasn’t mine. My head spun momentarily from the inevitable sense of unfamiliarity.