Damn Reincarnation

th El-Hayah was wearing a big pair of sunglasses and a fur hat.
The sunglasses were covering half her face, and the fur hat made Eugene question her fashion sense.
Was that a fox tail sticking out of the fur coat? The fluffy fur around her neck seemed to symbolize her stubbornness.[1]

“What are you doing here?”

The White Tower Master twisted her curly hair underneath the hat. “I was waiting for you.”

Melkith’s eyes were on the Cloak of Darkness that Eugene wore.
The cloak was originally her artifact.
She had treasured it so much that she had rarely worn it… Melkith took a big breath and strode toward Eugene.

“Didn’t it get worn out a bit?”

“That’s not possible.
As you may know as the former owner, an appearance restoration spell is cast on the cloak, Lady Melkith,” Eugene answered.

“…Former owner? That cloak is mine!”

“Oh, right.
I have been using it for over three years, so I forgot.”

“…You have six years left.”

“Did you come all the way here to tell me that?”

“No way!” Lowering her sunglasses, Melkith glared at Eugene.
The hearing had ended the day before, so she thought this was the perfect moment to speak with Eugene.
However, she couldn’t because Lovellian had left with Eugene right after the hearing ended.
She thought it was better that he had left like that, since she didn’t have to resist the temptation.

It had already been a few days since Eugene came to Aroth, and Melkith knew about his arrival on the first day.
She had been patient in her own way, doing her best to suppress her desire to visit him.

‘…I can’t let him think I am the one who needs to meet him.’

Since she had been patient for a few days, she thought it would be okay to visit now.

“Is Wynnyd doing alright?”

“What’s there for it to not be alright?”

“You little… You have a nasty tongue.”

“Let me tell you something first.
I won’t be lending Wynnyd to you, Lady Melkith.
Isn’t it tiring and bothersome for both of us? And it’s not just us.
I have to report to the Black Lion Castle to lend it to you, and they also need to send an observer.”

“…Hey, kid.
Although it is good to do things by the book, a wizard should sometimes challenge and flout the rules.
You are a Lionheart, but you are also a wizard, aren’t you?”

After quietly listening to Melkith, Mer burst into laughter.
Melkith tilted her head in confusion, failing to understand why Mer laughed.

“…What? Why is she laughing?”

“She just heard the same thing from somebody else a moment ago.”

“…I assume it was you, wasn’t it? Great, you see through the true nature of wizards.” Melkith bragged as she patted Eugene’s shoulder. “Yes, kiddo. A wizard should be shrewd.
Without violating the rules, a wizard should go around them and pursue their own profit.
If you lend me Wynnyd only for a few days and we all stay quiet about this, then no one will know.”

“No matter what you say, I’m not lending you Wynnyd.
As you said, Lady Melkith, I’m a wizard but I’m also a Lionheart.”

“…I’m guessing I can’t persuade you.” Melkith knitted her eyebrows. “Well, fine.
I just suggested it.
Let me be clear.
I don’t have any lingering feelings, okay?”

“That’s good to know.”

She was lying.
She had a metric ton of lingering feelings.
However, these kinds of matters couldn’t be solved just because she insisted.
Ultimately, Melkith didn’t have anything that could change Eugen’s mind.

She was an Archwizard and a Tower Master, so she had many valuable artifacts.
However, she didn’t have many artifacts that were better than the Cloak of Darkness.
That was Melkith’s magic armor and the artifact indefinitely belonged to her soul, so she could never give it to him.

‘Anything less than the Cloak of Darkness is worth nothing.
Since I lent him the Cloak of Darkness, he will only be interested in an artifact on the same level. ’

She still had lingering feelings…but she didn’t insist any further. This wasn’t her primary goal anyway.

“Then how about this?” Melkith grabbed Eugene’s shoulders with her two hands.

“As you already know, I am the best spirit summoner in this century…no, in history.
I am certain there won’t be a better spirit summoner than me for at least 200 years after I die.”

“Why 200 years? That’s oddly specific.”

“Are…you seriously asking that? The Great Vermouth was born 300 years ago, right? I was born 200 years later than him.”

‘Come to think of it, Melkith idolized Vermouth for contracting with the Wind Spirit King,’ thought Eugene

“…Oh, yeah.
So?”

‘Cheeky little kid,’ Melkith thought. She was so annoyed by Eugene that she almost crushed his shoulders.
She smiled as she calmed down with difficulty.

“And I will teach you spirit summoning magic.
You may already know this, but this is once in a lifetime opportunity.
Your teacher, Lovellian, is a brilliant wizard.
Still, his magic and spirit summoning magic are entirely different.”

There was a reason for her confidence.
Melkith was an Eighth Circle Archwizard who contracted with two spirit kings.

“…Aren't people born with the ability for spirit summoning magic?” Eugene lukewarmly asked. “People may be born with spirit affinity.
If they have magic talent on top of that, they can instantly contract with a spirit when they begin to feel mana.”

“Geniuses are monsters with talent,” Melkith answered as she snorted. “As you said, innate talent is everything in spirit summoning magic.
The reason I could make a contract with two spirit kings was that the lightning and earth spirits loved me ever since I was born.
But so what? You are also called a genius. ”

“That’s why I’m saying this.
A genius can never understand a man of no genius.
You could naturally use the spirit summoning magic ever since you were born, Lady Melkith, but I can’t.
How would it be possible for you to teach me spirit summoning magic?”

After letting Eugene’s shoulder go, Melkith stepped back. “…If we just consider the talent as a wizard…then, yes.
Your teacher, Lovellian, is a better wizard than me.
Yeah, I admit to that.
I only reached the Eighth Circle by harmonizing the magic and the spirit summoning magic.
But that’s why I’m unique, kiddo.
I may not be a better wizard than your teacher, but I have something that your teacher can never have.”

“You sure do,” Eugene answered half-heartedly.

“It also applies to you.
You are a genius of the Lionheart family, the most prestigious warrior family.
Besides all that, you are also born with the magic talent so high that you have already reached the Fifth Circle at twenty.
Thanks to Wynnyd, you can also control wind spirits.”

Melkith’s index finger dramatically swung from side to side.

“Innate talent is pretty much everything.
With effort, an ordinary person can improve, but they cannot become a genius.
You must understand this too, kid.
Unlike martial power and magic talent, you aren’t born with spirit affinity, but it doesn’t matter anymore since you can talk to the Wind Spirit King.
You are able to use magic and control spirits right now, that’s enough for you to learn.”

Eugene didn't answer and just stared at Melkith.
She grinned and crossed her arms as she continued.

“Spirit summoning magic is about dealing with spirits, not magic.
Just because someone is using a sword to cast magic, that doesn’t make them a swordsman, don’t you get it? That’s why I’m going to teach you.
There is no better teacher than me in this world,” Melkith said.

Of course, she had an ulterior motive.
Melkith was planning on summoning the Wind Spirit King using Wynnyd as a catalyst while she taught spirit summoning magic to Eugene.

He could read her mind so clearly.

[…Hamel.]

Tempest’s voice sounded in Eugene’s head.

[I hate her.]

‘Why?’

[You may not know this, but she is not in her right mind.
Do you know what she did with Wynnyd when you lent it to her without my permission?]

‘I don’t know.’

[She rubbed her naked body against the sword! I can’t believe there is still a person who believes that barbaric and primal superstition…!]

Tempest let out a yell.

‘…Er…superstition?’

[The superstition about how the mix of a catalyst and a naked body triggers a spiritual response! How could a grand spirit summoner believe such superstition?!]

Well, Tempest had kind of brought that upon himself.
Melkith had called him dozens, hundreds of times, but he hadn’t answered.
Therefore, Melkith had ended up using a barbaric method.

[That’s not it.
She swung Wynnyd against the wind on top of the tower, all naked, to summon me! She even made some weird, inhuman sounds!]

‘…’ Eugene kept listening to Tempest silently.

[I hate her.
If you let her touch Wynnyd again, I will never answer your call.]

‘Are you blackmailing me right now? So what? Do you think I will be sorry if you don’t answer me?’ 

[…
I will answer…but I hate her.]

Tempest desperately resisted.

“What’s your answer?” Melkith confidently asked.

“He says nope,” Eugene answered right away.

Melkith’s face contorted instantly.

“Why not? Wait… he says? Who is ‘he’?”

“Tempest.”

“…What?”

“I haven’t told you this yet, but I signed a contract with the Wind Spirit King.”

Eugene politely bowed and passed by Melkith.
Mer also chuckled as she followed Eugene.

Melkith stayed frozen for a while.
Then, she turned back, her neck stiff.
She could see the shapes of Eugene and Mer in the distance.

“Where are you going!!”

Melkith let out a yelp and chased after Eugene.

1.
Some might wonder what fluffy fur has to do with stubbornness.
Right now, Melkith is wearing a fur hat and a fur coat with a fur collar(there is even a fur tail on her back as decoration!).
It’s an uncommon choice, but Melkith is sticking with it.
Right now, it just implies Melkith’s stubbornness for fashion, but in a larger sense, it implies Melkith’s overall stubbornness. ☜