Chapter 228 (2/2)

「What's up?」

But the drakon's answer was not what he expected.

『It feels like there's not a lot of Spirits around.』

「Spirits? You mean the ones that are summoned when casting magic?」

『Yup.』

Hikaru knew Spirits were beings that filled the world, although invisible to the naked eye. The only time humans could sense their presence was when causing supernatural phenomena through Spirit magic. Both mana and Spirits were things that didn't exist back on Earth.

「Can Spirits even fluctuate in numbers?」

『Of course. They decrease in number the more humans use Spirit magic.』

「Are you serious?! What happens if there's not a lot of them?!」

『Things go back to normal after some time.』

「O-Oh, I see. Don't scare me like that. Wait, if they return to normal, why is there only few of them here?」

『Like I said, it's strange.』

According to Drake, he felt like the number of Spirits was lower than usual ever since they entered Forestia. While fewer Spirits didn't really pose any problems,  if the number dropped very low, people wouldn't be able to use Spirit magic for a while.

「Do you know why?」

Hikaru had a terrible sense of foreboding, slowly spreading in his mind like a drop of ink diffusing in a cup of water.

『Maybe someone's using a little too much Spirit magic?』

「That can't be right. Forestia's not known for using much Spirit magic.」

『Hmm… Maybe someone or something is absorbing Spirits?』

「Absorb?」

『You can convert them to mana that way.』

「Oh, like Spirit magic gems.」

The Spirit magic gems that sorcery utilized were formed by Spirits attaching themselves to minerals. It might sound like Spirits had actual forms, but in reality, they did not.

Sorcery basically used these Spirits like mana. An example of that was the ring that emitted fireb.a.l.l.s which used Spirit magic gems.

「Okay, so people can't use Spirit magic when there's not enough Spirits around. But other than that, is there some sort of a serious problem?」

『I don't know. But I just feel uncomfortable.』

「I see.」

『Huh? I thought you'd get mad at me for basing all of this on a gut feeling.』

「What kind of person do you think I am? Intuition is important.」

Yes, they're important. Especially Instinct. Mine is telling me that it's strange too.

「Let's go see Professor Katy. Maybe she knows something.」

Hikaru hurried to the lecture building C and checked inside. Except for some dust, it looked exactly like before, so he then went straight to Katy's laboratory. His Mana Detection indicated she was alone as usual.

「Excuse me—」

As he opened the door, he saw a woman with a flame tattoo on her face wearing a creepy smile while rubbing her cheeks on a large magic rock. Piled up on the table were the magic rocks that Hikaru gave Katy.

Hikaru closed the door, pretending he didn't see anything.

『What was that, Hikaru?! That person's bad news!』

「Don't say a word.」

『Maybe that woman's the one absorbing all the Spirits?!』

「Ssh. That might actually be possible, but just don't mention it for now.」

Hikaru knocked first before entering this time.

「Oh, h.e.l.lo there, Hikaru. What brings you here?」

The table had been tidied up and Katy stood there with arms folded. Her face was flushed, her eyes teary, but Hikaru decided to ignore it. He felt relieved that Katy had shame like the average person. It's important to knock, I suppose.

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