She Professed Herself The Pupil Of The Wiseman (WN)

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Bruce greeted Mira as soon as she set foot in the lobby. He had been so eager to form a Contract with the Valkyries that he had woken up early and was already waiting for Mira, grinning like a kid before a trip to an amusement park.

「Good morning.」

Mira returned the greeting, and Bruce made no effort to hide his excitement as he quickly said, 「Let's go then!」 and began heading to the second exit of the lobby.

(He's in really high spirits today.)

She followed after him, understanding how he felt.

There was a decently sized open space past that second exit, placed there to provide a landing area for spellcasters with the means to fly. It was one of those details that really showed Casters' Sanctuary dedication to spellcasters.

「It should only take around two hours to get there if we fly. And considering your ability, I guess I don't have to let you ride with me, right?」

Bruce said that while summoning a Hippogriff and then climbing on its back. Then, he turned to look at Mira with curiosity, wanting to know what she would summon after the magnificent Asclepius from the previous day.

Bruce's Hippogriff stood majestic, its muscular body sturdy and powerful. As expected from a summoner who made it into the tower, Bruce had raised his summons well. Nodding with approval, Mira summoned Pegasus.

With white wings spread open, Pegasus stepped out of the summoning circle and happily ran up to Mira, acting all clingy.

「Ohh! That's such a splendid, gallant, divine Pegasus! Almost like Master Danbulf's!」

Even though Pegasus was acting like a spoiled child, Bruce did not seem to mind that at all, his eyes filled with adoration.

But his comments made Mira's shoulders twitch. Bruce was one of the few people who had seen Danbulf's summons from up close, so she began to worry that he would realize her identity if she was too careless.

「Let's get going then!」

Mira hurried to climb on Pegasus' back and took off, almost like she was trying to escape the conversation.

「True, I'm right behind you!」

Bruce did not notice the thoughts haunting Mira, and also took off into the skies full of excitement.

The pair flew through clear skies heading eastwards, toward one of the islands in the archipelago, called Ferz Island.

They were flying under the gentle morning sun and above the calm sea, and regardless of how fast Pegasus and Hippogriff were flying, the trip would still take two hours, so it was only natural that the two would start talking to pass the time.

But their conversation was not a regular chat about favorite foods or fun experiences. Mira and Bruce were two of the few remaining summoners, which dictated the direction their conversation took.

「Really? You've formed a Contract with the spirit of a mansion?! I did think that theoretically something like that should be possible, but I never imagined someone had already accomplished it!」

Bruce's research into Armor Spirits was really interesting for Mira, and in response, she told him about her encounter with the spirit mansion, which was also met with a lot of curiosity from him.

She mentioned how she felt like the spirit had been calling to her, leading to their meeting. Bruce was also familiar with furniture spirits, and he was beginning to wonder if there were far more types of spirits than anyone had previously imagined.

「Everything you tell me sounds so wonderful and new, it almost feels like I've traveled through time and I'm talking to Master Danbulf again.」

Danbulf had been at the forefront of discoveries and all things related to summoners, finding new applications for summons, battle tactics, and training regiments nearly on a daily basis. Now, Bruce felt like Mira was coming up with such ideas just as much, bringing back all of those memories Bruce had of Danbulf.

That made a chill run down Mira's spine again as she realized she had gotten carried away talking about summons, and that she needed to be more careful with what she said to keep her identity hidden.

Talking about summoning was something both of them enjoyed, so time seemed to fly past them, and before they realized, Ferz Island was just in front of them.

The island had an elliptical shape, with its longer side measuring about a hundred kilometers. It was mostly covered in dense forest, with a mountain range running through its center. Tall cliffs surrounded the entire coastline, making it nearly impossible for ships to land. The only sign of human presence was a military outpost from Nirvana, located on the eastern cliffs.

Mira and Bruce arrived from the western side of the island, and continued flying to the foot of the mountains in the middle, which were three thousand meters tall. The mountains were the most striking feature of Ferz Island, with a river flowing out from their slopes.

「There it is. Let's land here, Mira.」

「Alright then.」

They landed at a spot where the incline began turning sharp, and the river was around three meters wide, coming out of a large dark cave on the mountainside. The pair hopped down their rides and headed to the cave.

After sending Pegasus and Hippogriff away, they proceeded deeper into the cave.

It was around six meters in diameter, quite a bit larger than the river flowing through it. The air inside also felt refreshing, and the only sounds audible were their footsteps and the water flowing.

「Ohh, I entered through Grafrock Range when I did this, but this looks much safer. Maybe I should've chosen this path as well.」

「The cave on Grafrock Range? That's quite a challenging path, with all the monster dens and whatnot.」

As they continued moving forward, relying on the light of Concept Magic, they once again started talking about summons, mostly about the hardships they encountered to obtain them. Now, their conversation had turned to the Valkyries—Bruce's objective, and a presence lingering in Mira's memories.

「Oh right, I heard Master Danbulf also went through Grafrock Range, together with Master Luminaria, and they both had to go all out to pass safely. You're quite tough to use that same path.」

Bruce chuckled saying that, while Mira was terribly shaken for the umpteenth time, and struggled to feign calmness.

Somehow, he was keenly aware of Danbulf's history, as every little comment from Mira seemed to tie her directly to the events of Danbulf's life. The smallest details incited that reaction, and Mira had to remind herself to be even more careful.

She was starting to debate not bringing up summoning anymore to avoid that, but as Bruce did not know what she was thinking, and he was obsessed with summoning, that was all he wanted to discuss.

「Speaking of the Valkyries, how many did you manage to form a Contract with?」

As they proceeded deeper into the cave without stopping, Bruce smiled and asked that, full of curiosity.

The norm was forming a Contract with a single Valkyrie, but if someone performed exceptionally well in the trials leading up to the Contract, it was possible for multiple Valkyries to be included. Both power and soul were measured, so anyone who managed to obtain more than two was recognized as being at a higher level than even the most skilled of spellscasters.

「Oh…well… I'll just say that it's not just one.」

Mira had a Contract with seven Valkyries, which was also the same number as Danbulf, so she knew revealing the number would tie her to Danbulf even more. Still, she could not stop herself from acting needlessly haughty, so it was implied that there had to be more than two Valkyries in her Contract.

「Ohh! That sounds impressive. Alright then, let's tell each other the full number once we both have our Contracts done!」

「Wait…no…」

「This is so much fun!」

Bruce picked up speed after saying that, excitedly mumbling, 「I wonder what they thought of me,」 and repeatedly saying, 「I can't wait!」