Chapter 216
"Let's leave the costumes and props for later—I've come up with a few candidate ideas, so can I run them by you?"
Honestly, I didn’t expect to feel this nervous about showing examples to Nel and Amina.
"There are several options." "You know a lot of songs I don’t, so it’s not strange, right?"
When I started thinking about the event, the first thing I focused on was seating tickets.
Right now, seats are filled on a first-come, first-served basis, but unsurprisingly, the front-row seats directly facing the stage—the so-called "S seats"—are extremely popular.
If the most powerful spirits kept claiming those spots every time, the other spirits would start complaining.
So, I wondered if I could create something that would allow them to compete on a more level playing field.
At first, I thought about making myself the target in a game of tag, but constantly running from opponents stronger than me is impossible, and more importantly, there are just too many participants.
"Since we need something where lots of spirits can compete, I thought of a sports festival." "A sports festival?" "What’s that?" "Lady Claudia, do you know about it?" "No, I’ve never heard of it. What about you, Ingrid?" "No, I’m afraid I’m not familiar with it either."
In that case, I figured it’d be better to make it a team-based event to narrow down the numbers.
"What kind of event is it?" "It’s like a physical competition—running, tug-of-war, ball-tossing, that sort of thing."
We wouldn’t need overly complicated equipment, either. As for stat differences, we could divide participants into classes to ensure fairness.
"Will it be fun?" "Surprisingly, the participants get really into it. If we ban skills, set clear rules, and adjust things properly, it should work."
Ingrid, who couldn’t quite picture it, tilted her head at the idea of an event she wasn’t sure would be exciting. I think what the spirits need is something new. And simple group competitions would be easier to understand and help stir up excitement.
From my interactions with spirits so far, I’ve noticed they generally enjoy physical activity.
So, I think a sports festival would go over well. Making it a team-based event would allow lots of spirits to participate, and competition is an easy way to hype things up.
"And if we make the prize front-row tickets to the live show, they’ll be extra motivated." "...Won’t it turn into a bloodbath?" "I pray we don’t see spirits with bloodshot eyes." "We’ll need strict rule enforcement, penalties for violations, and safeguards to prevent infighting."
But when I suggested using S-seat tickets as the prize, Claudia, Esmeralda, and Ingrid all looked like they could see the future—and it wasn’t pretty—as they pointed out the potential issues.
"Maybe we should lower the prize value..."
Given how passionate they are about the live shows, they’d probably follow the rules to some extent, but if the competition gets too intense, things could spiral out of control. Considering that, S-seat tickets might be too high-value as a reward.
But finding an alternative prize won’t be easy, either.
Even if I made something myself, I couldn’t produce enough. If I had connections with spirit craftsmen, I could commission them, but...
I don’t have those kinds of connections in the spirit world.
"Do we even need to prepare a prize? Early on, we used sweets to gather people, but now, just the fact that Liberta is involved would be enough, don’t you think?" "I didn’t realize I was that famous." "I think you are. Right, Fuu-chan?" *"Huh? Amina?"*
That’s why I thought of using Amina’s concert tickets to gather spirits and ride that momentum into the sports festival, but Nel says it’s unnecessary.
Amina agrees, calling over a wind spirit who hadn’t been sent back yet.
"Liberta’s pretty famous among the spirits, right?" *"Liberta?"*
That’s a surprisingly direct question.
I wondered if it was okay to ask, but now that it’s out there, we might as well hear the answer. The spirit tilts its head, looks at me with pure eyes, and then—
*"Everyone says he’s the guy who teaches us fun things. They’re always excited to see what he’ll do next."*
Turns out, I’ve somehow become known as the event coordinator type.
*"The Light Highness was angry, but the other Highnesses said it was his fault and asked what we’d do if Liberta stopped doing things for us."*
"Highness" probably refers to the high-ranking spirits. I guess the Light Highness complained about me being disrespectful or something?
That’s just unfair, I think with a wry smile, but apparently, I’m more famous than I realized. I figured Amina would be the memorable one, with me just working behind the scenes.
"See?" "Hmm, alright. Then for the sports festival, we’ll think of a different prize."
But as Amina’s cheerful explanation showed, my name has spread among the spirits.
For a sports festival prize, maybe something like what you’d give to first-place winners? Something like Olympic medals?
No, that’d require too many.
At the very least, if only we could mass-produce them...
"Hmm, if only we had an alchemy bench..." *"Alchemy bench?"*
If we had one, we could mass-produce simple items and streamline the process. Handcrafting just wouldn’t cut it for the numbers we need.
*"Amina, what’s an alchemy bench?"* "It’s a table for making potions and stuff." *"Bubble-bubble?"* *"Shiny-shiny?"* *"Sometimes goes boom?"* "Hmm, I’m not sure about the boom part, but Fuu-chan and Pii-chan are right about the rest." *"We have one!"* *"Haven’t used it in a while, but we used to!"* *"Got bored and stopped!"*
Just then, the little spirits mentioned they had an unused alchemy bench lying around.
"Wait, what?"
An alchemy bench abandoned by spirits. That phrase triggered a memory.
"Y-You don’t mean... the kind that glows, morphs items, and explodes for fun? The ones brought over from the other world?"
If this is what I think it is, we might have stumbled upon something incredibly valuable. As you can see, the little spirits are quite childlike.
They don’t have much knowledge about tools and don’t fully grasp their worth.
The higher-ranked spirits, however, understand the value of human-made tools and even try to develop their own techniques.
But sometimes, they lose interest and abandon things.
*"Yeah!"* *"Got bored with the explosions!"* *"Thinking was too much trouble!"*
I never expected to come to the spirit world so soon, so I’d completely forgotten about this. I also didn’t think it’d appear earlier than in the original story.
Spirits have a fuzzy sense of time due to the spirit world’s fluctuating timeline. They might call ten years ago "a little while back" or refer to centuries past as "the old days."
That’s why, even in the original story, it was unclear when this item was abandoned or when it would appear.
There’s an alchemy bench that a certain spirit used for centuries in an attempt to master alchemy before eventually losing interest.
Centuries. Yes, centuries.
The more you use an alchemy bench, the more its performance improves—and yet, this spirit just got bored and left it behind.
It’s not as good as player-made benches, but for an NPC-crafted one, its specs are absurdly high.
Performance-wise, it’s around Class 6 or just below 7. But in the royal capital of Rendel, no one owns anything close to this level.
"C-Could I possibly have it?"
You couldn’t buy something this high-end even with piles of gold.
*"Can we?"* *"Dunno."*
The little spirits don’t seem to understand the details, so I’d need to negotiate directly with the spirit who owns it.
*"But they said they got bored of the big booms because of Amina’s live shows!"* *"They did! They did!!"*
But this gives me an unexpected angle for negotiation. In fact, maybe the reason they abandoned the bench earlier than expected was because they got hooked on Amina’s concerts?
"Hypothetically, just hypothetically..."
If that’s the case, maybe we can use it to our advantage. Hesitantly, I pose a question to the little spirits.
"If I offered front-row, center-stage tickets to the live show in exchange for that alchemy bench, do you think they’d agree?" *"Can we?"* *"Dunno."* *"Then I’ll go ask!!"*
Normally, an item this valuable could probably buy you a mansion—no, a castle. Trading it for concert tickets seems impossible.
My question was just a faint hope, a "what if."
But Fuu-chan, ever earnest, dashed out of the house.
At first, I wondered if the spirit lived nearby, but seeing Fuu-chan open a spirit corridor to leave made it clear they weren’t.
"Is this okay?" "Probably." "By the way, which spirit is it? I assume it’s a high-ranking one, since they can use alchemy."
Amina watches Fuu-chan’s retreating back with concern, but if it’s the spirit I’m thinking of, there’s nothing to worry about.
With a new spirit about to arrive, Esmeralda asks for details.
"It’s a Dark Highness." "Dark?!" "Yeah, Dark."
Not one of the elemental high spirits (earth, water, fire, wind), but one of the even higher-ranking ones—a Dark Highness. Dark might sound ominous, but I know this particular high spirit is actually fun and friendly.
"Dark Highnesses aren’t evil god minions or anything, so don’t worry. They’re good people." "So you do know them." "Yeah. That’s why I wanted their alchemy bench."
I wouldn’t call them harmless, but they’re not the type to attack out of nowhere, nor are they as arrogant as that Light Highness.
Claudia gives me a look like she can’t believe I know this much about spirits, but hey, just take it as part of my charm.
*"I’m back!"* *"I sense Dark Uncle!"* *"Welcome back!"*
While we’re talking, Fuu-chan returns through the spirit corridor.
*"I brought Dark Uncle!!"*
A small figure hops out of the corridor, followed by a black presence emerging behind Fuu-chan.
*"So you are Liberta."*
The spirit takes the form of a black-clad soldier. Though unarmed, their attire resembles a military uniform, distinct from other spirits.
"Yes, I’m Liberta. Nice to meet you." *"I am a Dark Highness."*
Their movements are soldier-like, too. A crisp salute and formal introduction—clearly, years of discipline are ingrained in them.
*"Let’s cut to the chase."* "Right."
Their demeanor, voice, and piercing gaze all radiate a military aura. I brace myself for what the Dark Highness will say next.
*"Is it true you can secure the best seats for Amina-chan’s live show?"*
And with that, a question filled with unexpected excitement comes from a spirit whose appearance suggests anything but.