Chapter 75: Chapter 64- Contest

[Nia POV]

I was making my way to my brother’s office after the party.  Pneuma left earlier and sent someone to inform me that he was waiting.  When I made it to his office and opened the door, Drome and Pneuma were there.

 

“Good evening, brother.” (Nia)

 

“Just skip the pleasantries, Nia.  Tell me the reason for why you needed to meet with me tonight.” (Drome)

 

I was about to speak when Pneuma said something first.

 

“It’s due to Zeke’s actions tonight.” (Pneuma)

 

“I thought I asked you to keep him out of trouble, Pneuma.” (Drome)

 

“I did, or at least I tried to.  There’s nothing I can do about words he says except try to decrease any fallout from them.” (Pneuma)

 

“So, what did he say and how bad was the aftermath?” He said while looking at both me and Pneuma.

 

“Starting from the second part of your question, from their words, the next time he slips up is the finisher.  I highly doubt they will kill him, but Luna was already preparing to trap him in an illusion before Pneuma stepped in.” (Nia)

 

“As for his actions; I could tell he fell pretty hard for Lady Luna the second she entered the room, but I pointed out that she had a ring on her finger which stopped him from doing anything too drastic at first.  After Aunt Nia and Lady Luna greeted us and went off to finish the rounds, he was about to ask if I thought he could challenge whoever she is engaged to for her hand, though he stopped asking that for some reason.  He was his usual self the rest of the time until we went over to speak with Lady Luna due to her not having anyone to talk with, when we arrived next to her, he got all flustered again.  The conversation between me and Lady Luna was going well when I tried to get him to speak a little, which now that I think about it was a bad idea on my part.  Anyway, the first words out of his mouth was a question of he could pet her tail.” (Pneuma)

 

Upon hearing that last part, both me and Drome facepalmed.

 

“Just where did I go wrong in raising him?” (Drome)

 

“If you want my opinion, Drome, you should have made him interact with more people instead of letting him lock himself in the castle library all the time.” (Nia)

 

“Yes, he is a very smart person, but he is severely lacking in the social aspect.” (Pneuma)

 

“If that’s what both of you think, then I need to reconsider if he’s able enough to run the country.” (Drome)

 

The room fell silent after Drome said that and we all fell into deep thought.  We all sat there for a while when Pneuma broke the silences.

 

“Aunt Nia, earlier when you were speaking, instead of saying Lady Luna’s name, you were talking like there was more than one person involved in judging Zeke.  Is there more to this than I know?” (Pneuma)

 

“There is, but it’s something that is on the level of a national secret.  If you want to know, Pneuma, you’ll need to get Lady Luna’s permission and agree to become the ruler of the country after me.” (Drome)

 

“While I understand why you would choose me, father, am I really capable enough?” (Pneuma)

 

“You are, and your brother could become your advisor in things you’re not good with.” (Drome)

 

“Then I’ll accept, father.  As for getting Lady Luna’s permission, can I ask for you help with this Aunt Nia?” (Pneuma)

 

“I’ll see what I can do, but ultimately the decision comes down to Luna.  She’ll probably agree to tell you since, from what I saw, the two of you get along well, but if she doesn’t, you’ll have to wait until you ascend the throne.” (Nia)

 

“Do you know how long she’ll be staying here in the Celestia Kingdom?” (Pneuma)

 

“As long as it takes to clear the dungeon closest to the capital.  She told you she’s an adventurer, right?” (Nia)

 

“Yes, though she asked me not to pry any deeper than that.” (Pneuma)

 

“This is the first I’m hearing of this as well, Nia.  I knew you decided to take leave from the knights to for a while, does helping out Lady Luna have anything to do with that?” (Drome)

 

“Yes, though she doesn’t want many others to know, she has a bit of a history with the dungeon that she’s going to.  As for what that history is, I’m not going to say since I’m already toeing the line of what I can say.” (Nia)

 

While Pneuma was confused about my words, I could tell Drome was slowly piecing things together.

 

“Nia, does this history also have something to do with the nuisances that were recently taken care of?” (Drome)

 

“I can’t say brother.  You’ll need to ask the person herself to see if she’s willing to tell you or not.” (Nia)

 

“Hmm.” (Drome)

 

“It’s gotten late and there are things I need to do tomorrow, so I’ll be taking my leave.  Good night, both of you.” (Nia)

 

[Luna POV]

Today I woke up early and went to the garden behind Nia’s villa.  I was going to get in some last minutes archery practice before General Lia got here.  I also decided to get some practice in my discount Gate of Babylon.

 

I prepared several targets made from logs and the portraits of the idiots and stored them in the space magic inventory instead of my skill, manipulated some mana, and shot one of the log targets out at a relatively high speed.  I prepared my bow and an arrow and shot.  Instead of hitting dead center, I hit close to the edge of the target.

 

I continued for about an hour when dad come out and started watching my practice.  When I stopped so I could collect my arrows, he came over to help me and started talking.

 

“You’ve gotten even better since the last time I watched your archery practice, but tell me, what was that thing you were doing with the targets.”

 

“Developing a new space magic spell.”

 

“And how were you doing both at the same time?”

 

“With a skill I got when I was last at home.”

 

“Is this spell just for training?”

 

“No, if I can get it good enough, it’ll be the first offensive space magic spell.  Right now I’m using it to shoot targets, but what is supposed to be shot is weapons.”

 

“Weapons?”

 

“Swords, spears, axes, arrows, any other weapon you can think of.  The problem I’m having that keeps me from making practical use of the spell is using the appropriate amount of mana needed to shoot out the projectile.  What you saw earlier was about half of what I actually had, the rest was destroyed due to too much power put into launching them.”

 

“I’m no good with magic so I can only say keep trying.”

 

We finished picking up the arrows and I started to prepare again when someone else called out to us.

 

“Good morning Deacon, Miss Luna.” (Lia)

 

“Hello Lia.” (Deacon)

 

“Good morning, General Lia.” (Luna)

 

“You can call me Lia like your father does.” (Lia)

 

“Then please drop the Miss as well.” (Luna)

 

“Got it.  Now, do you want to have that little contest first before we move onto the other matter you told me about?” (Lia)

 

“That sounds good since the other matter will be kind of important.” (Luna)

 

“Do the two of you want me to be referee?” (Deacon)

 

“Sure.  How do you want to do this, Luna?” (Lia)

 

“I have a lot of targets that we can use, and while I would offer to use a spell to move them around, it wouldn’t be fair for you since I could just make the targets move to where I want to, so I asked Uncle Rex if he could use some wind magic to help us out.  He should be here in a minute, so if you need warm up or something, you can.” (Luna)

 

“I’ll do that then, got any stationary targets?” (Lia)

 

“Will portraits do?  I have four good ones left.” (Luna)

 

“Portraits?” (Lia)

 

“They’ll look familiar to you.” I said as I pulled out a portrait of Sara and put it on a log I had.

 

{Luna, just how many logs do you have in there and when did you even get them?}

 

‘I’ve been amassing my collection over the years.  Sometimes I got them from woodworkers back home and I also collected some while we were in forests in Savanna and on the way here.’

 

{I see.}

 

I finished setting everything up for Lia and walked back over to her.

 

“Everything is set up, you’re good to start whenever.” (Luna)

 

“Luna, where did you get that?” (Deacon)

 

“Same place I got the orichalcum for the mirrors.” (Luna)

 

Lia didn’t say anything and just started shooting.  Every arrow she fired hit what would be a vital point if the portrait was the actual person.  The rhythmic sound of the bowstring and the hitting of arrows was nice, it was almost musical in a sense.

 

This continued on for about five minutes when Uncle Rex showed up.

 

“Sorry for keeping you all waiting.”

 

“It’s alright, Uncle Rex.  I have the targets that you need to make float around over here.” (Luna)

 

“Good morning Court Mage Rex.” (Lia)

 

“Good morning, General Lia.” (Rex)

 

“I didn’t say this before, but thank you for doing this for Luna, Lia.” (Deacon)

 

“You don’t need to thank me, I’ll get something out of this as well.” (Lia)

 

“Now for the rules of our contest; there are 50 targets in total and we have 25 arrows each.  The first person to hit 25 targets wins.  If you’re really feeling competitive, we can even try to hit more than 25.” (Luna)

 

“Then let’s get started.  Deacon, on your signal.” (Lia)

 

Uncle Rex lifted all of the targets into the air with wind magic and made them move around with wind currents he made.  It was an impressive show of skill that made the reason he was a court mage evident.

 

“And…Begin!”

 

Once dad gave the signal, both Lia and I pulled out an arrow and fired.  The arrow Lia fired sailed past several targets and then struck one that was farther away from the rest, while mind hit two closer targets at the same time.  When she saw that, Lia’s eyes got sharper and she started to shoot faster which resulted in arrows flying everywhere.  Several of them hit another arrow midflight, but instead of knocking them out of the way, they changed trajectories and hit several different targets in several different areas at the same time.

 

Seeing that made me want to show off as well, so I pulled four arrows out of my quiver and shot them at the same time.  All of my arrows skewered multiple targets before stopping.

 

We continued to try and one-up each other when I noticed that there was only one target left.  I still had several arrows left, but Lia had only one.  We both pulled out our arrow and readied our bows and shot at the same time.  Since my bow was different than Lia’s, my arrow was faster, but before it hit the target it was blown off it’s path by a gust of wind.  The same happened to Lia’s arrow, but it wasn’t enough for it to miss the target.  I was about to pull out another arrow when I heard the sound of the target getting hit.

 

“That’s it!” (Deacon)

 

Dad signaled the end of the shooting and he and Uncle Rex went to count how many targets we individually hit.

 

“That was very well done, Luna.  You managed to give me a challenge that I haven’t had for a long time.  If you don’t mind me asking, what is your archery level?”

 

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“It actually hit level 10 just before we shot for the last target.”

 

“Impressive.  I always welcome another master archer in the world.”

 

“Yours is level 10 as well?”

 

“Yup.  That’s the reason I was promoted to General.”

 

It was then that dad and Uncle Rex came back over to us.

 

“That was a good performance you two.” (Rex)

 

“It was.” (Deacon)

 

““So, who won?”” (Lia, Luna)

 

“Lia won by two targets.” (Deacon)

 

{That’s too bad, but I enjoyed watching you Luna.  Your figure holding the bow is stunning.}

 

‘Thanks, Tamamo.  I’m surprised that I don’t feel more disappointed, though.’

 

“Closer than I thought.  Luna, if you ever find yourself in the country of elves, feel free to challenge me again.” (Lia)

 

“Ok.  Now, on to the other matter you’re here for.  I’ll introduce you to that great spirit I told you about.” (Luna)

 

All four of us went inside and into the room that I met King Drome in.  Both Nia and Velvet were already in there and waiting for us.

 

“How’d it go Luna?” (Velvet)

 

“I lost by two targets.” (Luna)

 

“That’s too bad.” (Nia)

 

“It’s fine, I had fun and that’s all that matters.” (Luna)

 

We all sat down and I turned my attention to Lia.

 

“Before you meet the spirit, I’m going to need you to keep what you hear about me from it a secret.” (Luna)

 

When she heard my words, she turned serious.

 

“What do you mean by that?” (Lia)

 

“Do you know what the main job of spirits is?” (Luna)

 

“Yes, they help the gods maintain the world as well as various other things.” (Lia)

 

“Yes, that means they serve the god or goddess that hold Authority over whatever makes up that certain spirit.  Great spirits are spirits that rule over the lesser spirits and have the ability to communicate with spirit mages.” (Luna)

 

“With everything you’ve said so far, does this mean you are closely connected to a god or goddess, Luna?” (Lia)

 

“If by connected you mean engaged to one and on my way to becoming one, then yes.” (Luna)

 

My words caused Lia to stiffen up a bit.

 

“Lia, remember the curses on the false hero and saint?” (Deacon)

 

“Which one?” (Lia)

 

“Hatred of the Moon Goddess.” (Deacon)

 

“Then that means Luna is the Moon Goddess’s partner?” (Lia)

 

“Yup.” (Deacon)

 

“That explains why you’re so adamant about denying Damon’s request then.” (Lia)

 

“Part of the reason, yes.  The bigger reason is that I’m afraid of what Luna and the Goddess would do to me if I went through with that.” (Deacon)

 

“You don’t need to worry that much dad, I know you would never have tried to marry me off like that even if I didn’t have Tamamo.” (Luna)

 

I must have accidentally used my intimidation skill because everyone backed away from me a little.

 

“A-anyway, is the spirit here right now, Luna?” (Deacon)

 

“It’s been in the room the whole time.  Is there anything specific you need to do to contract with it, Lia?” (Luna)

 

“I just need it to appear in the magic circle that will appear when I use the spirit contract skill.” (Lia)

 

“I’ll tell it to do that then, just start using the skill.”  I activated my spirit vision skill and found the great fluff spirit sitting on Velvet’s head.  “Hey great spirit, I brought you the person who can contract with you, when the magic circle appears, go into it.”

 

[Understood, oh goddess mine.]

 

I looked over to Lia and nodded my head.  She nodded back and then a green magic circle appeared on the table in the middle of the room.  After a few seconds, the circle turned blue, and the form of a Pomeranian appeared.

 

[Are you the one who seeks to contract with me, mortal?]

 

All the people in the room who had never heard the spirit’s voice were taken aback at how such a small thing had such a deep voice.

 

{“*Sigh*”}

 

‘Why is it trying to act all dignified?’

 

{I don’t know.}

 

“Yes, great spirit, I Lia Cent, wish to form a contract with you.” (Lia)

 

[Then I will accept.  Give me a name and the first great spirit of fluff will follow you.]

 

“From now on you will be named.  The name I bestow upon you is Cres.” (Lia)

 

[Then from now on, my name is Cres.  Contractor Lia Cent, let us go and let the world know what true fluff is.  As I am the first of the great fluff spirits it is my goal to become the Spirit King of Fluff and to spread the name of my goddess so that her abyss envelopes the world.]

 

“As your contractor, I will help you in your goal.  My goal is to contract with all types of great spirits to become a spirit apostle.” (Lia)

 

[A grand goal indeed.  I will assist you to the best of my abilities, contractor.]

 

Once they finished their little ritual, the magic circle disappeared and Cres jumped onto Lia’s lap.

 

[Thank you for introducing me to my contractor, oh goddess mine, I will endeavor to uphold your good name once you fully ascend.]

 

“Good, I have high expectations of you, Cres.” I said in the most dignified tone I could. ‘Was that fine, Tamamo?’

 

{Yes, you did perfect.  Now it won’t get complacent while you are mortal.}

 

[Are you alright, contractor?]

 

I looked up when I heard Cres’s words and saw that Lia had an unfocused gaze.

 

“I’m fine Cres, I just wasn’t prepared for how fluffy you were.” (Lia)

 

[I see, then I will need to get you used to this.  We have a long way to go contractor.]

 

“We do?” (Lia)

 

[Of course!  If you believe that I am fluffy then you still have much to learn.  As my power grows on my journey to become Spirit King of Fluff, so will my fluffiness.]

 

“You mean you will get fluffier!?” (Lia)

 

[Indeed.  Though I will still fall short of the Goddess.]

 

Lia immediately looked up at me.

 

“Luna ma-“ (Lia)

 

“No.” (Luna)

 

[I agree with the Goddess, contractor.  While I do respect your drive, you are not ready to truly feel the Abyss.  Even I almost drowned when I tried to delve into it.]

 

“And when did you do that, Cres?” (Luna)

 

[When I was the amalgamation of spirits that floated around you.  When my body was formed, I awoke on top of your tail.]

 

{He’s telling you the truth.}

 

“Fine.” (Luna)

 

We continued to talk and explain things to Lia and, by the time she, dad, and Nia left, she promised to not expose my secrets.  Uncle Rex also left to do his job, leaving me and Velvet alone in the room.

 

“So, do you have anything else planned for today, Luna?”

 

“I have one more thing I need to do.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“I need to buy me some more light armor.”

 

“Why?”

 

“The chest area on my current set is starting to get too tight.”

 

{Oh.}

 

“Let’s go then, Luna.”

 

We stood up and left the room to find an armor shop as well as prepare for our upcoming dungeon dive.

 

Author's Note:
Tamamo is a lucky moon goddess.  Thanks for reading.

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