Chapter 6: Six Orders

Dragon Era 905
「Okay then, here we gooo.」

In her usual drawn-out, tensionless voice, Mel brandished a short wand.

「Come out, Nuck.」

When she spoke its name, a one‑eyed horse with a red coat appeared as if flames had leapt up.
The spirit horse I named Nuckelavee is, I’m told, a spirit made by blending earth, wind, and fire. Its red coat comes from the fire mixed in; when I asked its creator why they did that, the answer was, “Because it seemed like it would run faster with fire in it.”

That may be true, but it’s correspondingly hot‑blooded and prone to running wild. It’s bad at walking slowly or standing still—give it those orders and it bolts.

「Take.」

Mel pointed with her wand at a wood chip that had fallen on the floor.
Nuckelavee walked over, took the chip in its teeth, and handed it to Mel.

「Follow me.」

As Mel walked, Nuckelavee trailed after her like a duckling—faster when she sped up, slower when she eased off.

「Stay here.」

As she gave the order while walking, Nuckelavee stopped following and froze in place.

「Come on.」

The instant Mel called from a short distance away, Nuckelavee burst into a run toward her...

「Stop.」

It froze in midair, one leg raised.

「Go away.」

Then, obeying the final order, Nuckelavee became a whirlwind and vanished as if melting into the air.

「Mm. Perfect.」
「Yaaay—!」

When I nodded, Mel raised both hands and hopped up and down in delight.
It’s been five years since we began full‑on research into spirits; I’ve gotten rather used to mannerisms like this of hers.

At long last, I think we’ve got something with shape to it.

When creating a licensing system for spirits, the biggest problem was, “What do we make the standard?” What I had in mind was automobiles from my previous life. Driver’s licenses had gone out of fashion by the time self‑driving was the norm, but when I was a kid, drivers had to take courses and be certified as having the knowledge and skills to operate a car.

But it’s far too early to be drafting detailed rules and signs for handling spirit horses. Even if we suddenly made such things, the administrators couldn’t keep track, and spirits aren’t just horses—they’re used in all sorts of fields.

So I aimed for the simplest possible standard and came up with the six orders we just used.
Take, Follow, Stay, Come, Stop, and Go away. Six commands that should be universally usable with any spirit. Anyone who can ingrain these into a spirit earns a license.

I made the commands English for the same reason people use it to train dogs—to keep them from being confused with everyday speech.

「I’m impressed you managed to tame that Nuck that far.」

Nuckelavee’s temperament is extremely wild. Even if I summon it, handling it like that is impossible.
Technically, if I call its name each time I give an order, I can make it obey.
But that’s nothing more than forcing it with magic. Give orders that way and Nuckelavee only builds up more frustration and gets even more prone to running amok.

Spirits have emotions, too.

I don’t know whether beings you can slice to bits or swallow and erase and then summon again and again have ‘life,’ and there’s plenty of room to argue whether they’re living creatures at all.

Even so, it seems certain that they do have hearts.

「Ehehe—. Thank youuu.」

At my praise Mel shyly hugged her arms in against her chest.
Maybe it’s this frank, guileless nature—whatever the reason, she seems to be someone loved by spirits.

When it comes to summoning spirits, compatibility with the spirit is everything.
It’s common to get along so well with fire spirits that it’s a nuisance, yet not even be granted a negotiation with water spirits.

But I’ve never seen a spirit dislike Mel. Whatever spirit she calls, she grows more than ordinarily familiar with it and secures its cooperation.

「...No way.」

I found myself staring at a shared trait between Mel and the woman who first created a spirit in this world, then shook off that ridiculous notion. Surely that isn’t the criterion... probably.

「Nuck, come heeere—」

Whether she noticed my gaze or not, Mel summoned Nuckelavee again and hugged it tight, pressing its muzzle to her chest.

「We did it, Nuck—. He said it was perfect!」

At Mel’s delighted voice, Nuck snorted with obvious pleasure.

「As a reward, I’ll give you something nice.」

Saying so, Mel plunged a hand down into her cleavage and pulled out a small medal.

「...Of all places to keep it.」
「It’s so handy—lots of things fit in hereee.」

It seems she’s unaware of that great invention called pockets. Mel looped the medal’s cord around Nuckelavee’s neck.

「Mm‑hmm, it looks perfect on you—」

She nodded happily, and then—

「Well then, play with me again later. Go away.」

Without thinking about it, she gave the dismissal command.

「Wha—!?」

I widened my eyes at what happened before me.

「Sensei, what’s wrong—?」

She probably didn’t know what had startled me; Mel tilted her head.

「The medal—vanished...」

The medal Mel had hung on Nuckelavee. I don’t know what it was made of—iron, maybe—but I recall seeing the same kind in the sundry shop. Even the cord was probably something Mel threaded herself. In other words, both were perfectly ordinary objects, not spirits.

So I’d unconsciously assumed that when Nuckelavee vanished, the medal would just drop to the floor. But what actually happened was—

The medal hanging from its neck disappeared along with Nuckelavee.

「Nuck!」

I hurriedly resummoned the spirit horse. The one‑eyed horse that appeared, however, no longer wore the medal.

「It’s gone... Where did that medal go?」
「Well of course it is—」

Mel replied lazily to my bafflement.

「I gave the medal to my Nuck, after all— See?」

As if it were the most natural thing in the world, she summoned Nuckelavee—the one with the medal around its neck.

Right beside the Nuckelavee I had summoned.

「...What is... going on here...?」

Nuck with the medal, and Nuck without.
Facing the two spirit horses, I clutched my head.
It seemed I still had a long way to go in researching spirits.

「Gonna butt in a sec—. Zip it, okay?」

While I was puzzling over it, a sofa suddenly slid across midair, cutting into my line of sight. It landed in a corner with Inis aboard, then clanked and unfolded; seconds later it had transformed into a large desk, of course swallowing Inis inside so she couldn’t be seen from outside.

「...How does that even work?」
「Right—?」

I could tell she’d combined several magic‑powered devices, transforming the sofa and disguising it as a desk, but I had no idea exactly what means she was using.

...It seems that line of research has advanced quite a bit, too.

If Mel is a child loved by spirits, then Inis is an undeniable genius.
Her ideas and technique in enchantment allow no one to catch up.

「Sensei! Has Inis come this way!?」

If only all that enthusiasm weren’t spent on slacking off and making her life easier.

「Uh... no, haven’t seen her.」

Whether to cover for her or tell the truth—I hesitated a moment and answered as I did.

「N-Nope. Inis-chan hasn’t been here?」

In a squeaky, flipped voice, Mel answered while darting glances at the desk. She was an atrocious liar.

「I see... She’s slipped away from me again today.」

Ara let out a deep sigh and sat down on the spot.
Wait, you’re buying that...?

「Why is it that, with all that talent, Inis won’t put in serious training...?」

Ara’s mutter carried a complicated shade—part sadness, part frustration.

He is by no means a poor student; if anything, among the students he could fairly be called excellent. He can use magic better than most, and the spear he casts from that well‑favored frame is formidable.

Even so, he still hadn’t been able to beat a spirit.

Lacking Mel’s overwhelming mana, Inis’s flexible ideas, or Yuuka’s absolute martial skill, it’s hard to stand against spirits. Precisely because he’s capable, the disparity must cut deep.

You can resign yourself with Yuuka, who has honed her blade for over two centuries, or with the straightforward, earnest Mel—but it seemed only natural to feel resentment toward Inis, so self‑indulgent she’s nicknamed the Witch of Sloth.

「That’s not it—」

But Mel objected to that.

「Inis‑chan is always serious.」
「...She is?」

At Ara’s dubious look, Mel nodded with full confidence.

「She’s always serious—giving it her all—at slacking off.」

Ara’s face lit with realization, then he tilted his head and sank into serious thought...

「—No, that makes it even worse, doesn’t it?」

And that was the conclusion he came to.

「Huh—?」

Only when it was pointed out did Mel tilt her head, as if just realizing it.

「Well, everyone has their own pace. Ara, your effort is never wasted. Don’t worry about Inis.」
「Ah, no...」

Ara shook his head.

「I understand. I could walk on two legs and still never do what Mel does. But Inis’s way of fighting is extremely instructive. So I was looking for her to ask for a spar.」

His answer made me realize I had underestimated him.

「And Inis isn’t at her limit. She can get much, much stronger. Then she can help you, Sensei, and protect everyone in the village.」

His outlook was far broader than I’d thought.

「Inis is right there.」

Moved, I decided to sell Inis out.

「Why are you ratting me out!?」

At once the desk reverted to a sofa and shot out, but Ara was faster.

「So you were here after all! Now, you’re going to cooperate!」
「Mel will help too—」
「Noooo! Sensei, stop them! These two will train five Dragon Hours straight like it’s nothing!?」

Centaurs are, by nature, more enduring than humans or elves. Ara’s stamina in particular is nearly bottomless—over long distances he could even beat Yuuka. All the more so when compared with Inis, whose everyday life is slothful; it’s hardly fair to even compare them.

That was why I’d covered for the hiding Inis, but hearing Ara changed my mind. A little hardship won’t bring down divine punishment on her.

『Senseeei!』

The scale I’d tucked in my pocket gave a shiver at that very moment—just as Inis, sofa and all, was being dragged out of the room. The voice ringing through it was Ruful’s, tight with desperation.

『Help... Tia’s gonna die!』