Orneptos, taking the form of a high-ranking spirit, Orphe, muttered.

She was lying alone in the empty Tower Master’s laboratory, grumbling about Reed.

Reed had dismissed the summoning so he could think alone, but Orneptos had been watching everything.

The moment of realizing the runes.

And the foolish act he did at the same time as that realization.

‘What on earth has become of me, having a contract with such a fool…’

She was worried about her future, but she didn’t just think negatively.

‘Considering the speed of understanding, it’s unusual.’

As the King of Water Spirits, all the experiences felt by the water spirits are shared with Orneptos.

If Reed had been an ordinary mage with no special traits, she could guarantee that he would have never understood the runes until the last moment of his life.

‘There’s something different about him compared to other humans.’

Although it was unpleasant, an interesting person to observe had appeared, so it seemed she would be able to relieve her boredom.

Orneptos got up.

She considered canceling the summon.

There seemed to be no point in being here in this form, as seeing those who look down on her would make her feel bitter.

Then it happened.

“Hmm?”

Orneptos felt something approaching the laboratory.

Although it was not used, a huge amount of mana was walking around.

There was no need to think further.

It was a sensation that she had already experienced once.

Squeak-.

A girl smaller than the door entered.

“Alright, Meowmeow. We’re not supposed to come in here, so we have to be quiet.”

-Meow!

“I said be quiet!”

-Meow.

“Good!”

Rosaria entered with a lively voice.

After turning her head, she discovered Orneptos looking down at them.

“Ah!”

Rosaria looked up at Orneptos with a surprised face.

“Are you a water spirit?”

“Y-Yes…”

Orneptos, who had the appearance of a slender woman, now had a young voice as a girl.

Rosaria looked at Orneptos with sparkling eyes.

“Your way of speaking is unusual. It’s like a king.”

“Ugh.”

Orneptos was worried she might be found out.

‘This girl would still hate me…’

She had to be as careful as possible.

So she decided to change her tone.

“I’m not a king.”

She changed the word “me” used to refer to herself to “I.”

“Really? Then what are you?”

“I’m Orphe.”

“I see!”

Rosaria innocently believed everything she said.

“So why are you here?”

“I’m currently studying magic with Meowmeow. Magic to heal Daddy!”

“So you came to this laboratory?”

“I came to get a pen because I didn’t have one! I’m just going to take the pen! Oh, don’t tell Daddy about this! It’s a secret!”

“Why is it a secret?”

“He said I shouldn’t come here recklessly. It’s dangerous for kids. Got it?”

Rosaria brought her index finger to her lips.

Upon hearing that, Orneptos couldn’t understand Reed.

‘Doesn’t that man intend to take advantage of this girl’s talent?’

As she recalled the memories of other water spirits, talented mages were always exploited by their parents.

She thought Reed would naturally think the same, but his attitude towards Rosaria was different from other mages.

A mage who tells the king of spirits to solve it himself.

It was impossible.

It wasn’t that she hated Reed, though he was despicable.

‘After all, it’s not his fault.’

In the end, it was because of that kid.

She glanced at the fat, innocent-looking lizard Rosaria was holding.

‘Everything fell through because of this guy.’

It could be said that he was the most hated one.

-Meow! Meow!

Meowmeow struggled as it sensed her presence.

Rosaria, who noticed it was because of Orneptos’s gaze, infused mana into Meowmeow’s body.

The fire spirit Salamander instantly transformed into a water spirit.

“Now it’s a water spirit! Don’t hate it anymore.”

It was an amazing ability.

However, she already knew it was a fire spirit Salamander, and it was a lower-ranking spirit, so she couldn’t really praise it.

“I understand.”

Nevertheless, she hid her anger.

The second promise was to try her best to get along with Rosaria.

It was about fulfilling that.

Upon hearing Orneptos’s answer, Rosaria smiled brightly.

“Orphe is a nice spirit.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. The king of water spirits is a completely mean lady! But Orphe is a nice spirit.”

“……”

Should she laugh or get angry?

As she was pondering, Rosaria grabbed Orphe’s hand.

“Orphe, do you want to play with me?”

“Play?”

“Yes. Let’s make a healing spell with Meowmeow, me, and Orphe! Like this!”

“Healing… spell?”

Even to her, a spirit, it looked like scribbles rather than a healing spell.

“It’s going to be super fun.”

It was a proposal that she would have coldly refused under normal circumstances.

Orneptos was not so naive as to join such childish play.

‘But, well… Because of the second promise, do I have to go along?’

Her external image wasn’t spreading anyway, and her body was ‘Orphe’ after all.

‘It doesn’t matter.’

For the sake of the second promise, Orneptos nodded.

“Let’s give it a try.”

“Great! Let’s go together!”

Rosaria took Orneptos and returned to her room.

***

Reed had eight runes.

Half of them were characters to be given to the Tower Master of Wallin, Dolores.

He sorted out the four characters he needed from them.

‘I don’t need many anyway.’

The magic of the runes was mostly low-level magic.

They were spells that required a very short casting time or mental concentration.

The advantage of runes is that they don’t require preparatory actions and are triggered the moment you think of them.

No matter how far away it is, if you only look at the rune and think of it, it can be activated at any time.

The advantage of rune magic was that it could be used as a means of emergency activation during a mage’s battle.

And the magic engraved on the axe was also such runes.

They were useful spells in close combat waged by warriors, not mages.

The four chosen magic were Heal, Mana Shield, Haste, and Explosion.