The day of the meeting finally arrived. Following my father’s lead, I entered our castle’s teleportation room for the first time and stood on top of the magic circle.
The school grounds were generally closed outside of winter and, usually, those younger than ten were forbidden entry, so this was also my brothers’ first time visiting the campus.
“Teleporting now,” announced one of the staff.
Unlike the time when Ruri had teleported us, there was no enveloping light when using the teleportation array, just an immediate change in scenery that happened faster than I could blink. When we exited the teleportation room, we were suddenly in a large hall with an atrium open to the second floor and several sofa sets dotted about. It was like the lobby of some huge corporation’s offices.
Since Chris would be attending school this winter, father gave a brief introduction of the dorms; there was a cafeteria farther inside the first floor, while the second floor and up contained the dorm rooms. That meant there was a cafeteria in both the main school building and here. Apparently, meals were free so that those less well-off could still eat.
The guards opened a large door decorated with stained glass, and several people walked through it ahead of us. Each of us had our own valets, and my father also had brought one of his aides—this, I could understand. But why did we have so many guards as well for just us four? They were surrounding us so completely that I couldn’t even see my surroundings properly. I was so small that if I didn’t look up, all I could see was people’s backs.
“You’re a little overprotective, father, aren’t you?” I couldn’t help but remark.
“What if some insolent bug decided to attach itself to you? What if you got kidnapped?”
“Wouldn’t the Royal Spirits deal with them?” I pointed out.
“They already have a record of entering your room and taking you away without permission!”
Ruri, you’re seriously gonna have to apologize. I don’t want to upset father, so if you don’t say something, I’ll never get to see you all again.
One of the main reasons we wanted to hold the meeting at the school was because it was a good opportunity to check on the state of the nearby forest. When we stepped through the door, we were greeted by a large park surrounded by a whole circle of buildings—other dormitories, one for each domain of the empire.
An elderly gentleman wearing a valet’s uniform bowed his head deeply as he introduced himself. “Welcome to the academy. I am Rudolph, a custodian of the school. Allow me to guide you.”
We cut through the park to a little path flanked by beautifully maintained flower beds. Father had requested that we hold the meeting in the forest, so they’d prepared tables and chairs for us there. The forest was quiet. From what I could remember, this was what it had been like back in Japan when I’d visited a forest in my neighborhood or on trips with friends.
Honestly, I’d never quite realized until now just how lively the forest around the lake back in Belisario always was. Even if you couldn’t see any spirits, there were many of them present, shaking the leaves or sparkling away or creating waves upon the water. There were so many strange phenomena that if you weren’t used to it, you’d think you were on the set of a horror movie. It had become so natural to those of us living there that it never surprised us anymore. When something happened, we’d write it off as another of the spirits’ little tricks.
There wasn’t a single sign of anything like that here. I couldn’t even hear the sound of birds chirping.
“This is...” I heard someone murmur.
“Ruri said that the spirits here wouldn’t approach humans, but he never said that there were no spirits at all, right?” I said.
“There really aren’t any here, though.” Chris shook his head as he looked around.
The leaves swayed with the wind, rustling in the breeze. The gentle warm rays of the sun filtered through the branches, the sunlight seeming to sparkle as they swayed. Yet this forest was the one that felt like a horror movie scene. I’d never imagined an absence of spirits would feel so unnatural.
In the center of the clearing was a large wooden table covered by a beautiful, embroidered tablecloth, with tea and snacks set out in preparation. Two middle-aged men had already been seated when we arrived, but upon noticing us, they stood up and even walked over to greet us.
“Oh, you’re already here,” called one.
“It has been quite some time, Margrave Belisario,” called the other.
The broad-shouldered, slightly balding man in his mid-forties was the margrave of Kolkett, the highland area where the Wind Queen resided. Upon learning that increasing the spirit population would lead to bountiful harvests and improve the taste of their livestock’s milk and meat, he’d become very enthusiastic about assisting with the efforts. The earth spirit floating by his shoulder had gotten quite big, so he must have been doing his best to feed it mana.
The other man was the margrave of Noland, the land where the Fire King resided. Noland was known for its sprawling wilderness and monster-infested plains, which was exactly why it was impossible to visit Suoh without a spirit beast. The margrave was a well-built man who could even fend off monsters himself. I’d heard he was in his fifties, but he looked much younger than that. He had both a wind magic spirit and an earth sword spirit. It looked like he was making sure to feed them well too.