"Spirits and Od?"
Puck raised a paw and scratched his furry head.
He had met plenty of people who wanted to form contracts with spirits.
But people who genuinely wanted to study spirits themselves were much rarer.
Shiro's earnest attitude toward learning reminded Puck of someone he had not seen in a very long time.
His current appearance was also thanks to that person.
Still—
Compared to her, Shiro was considerably more normal.
"Although I'm not really interested in anything besides Lia, just to be safe, can I ask why?"
"Because I made a promise to someone."
Shiro answered seriously.
"So I want to know whether a human who still has an intact Od but only has their soul remaining can create a body for themselves out of mana, just like a spirit."
"You can."
Puck answered with absolute certainty the instant Shiro finished speaking.
There was not even a moment of hesitation.
"You can."
As though afraid Shiro had not heard clearly, Puck repeated himself.
Then he casually dropped another bombshell.
"After all, I'm an artificially created spirit myself."
"..."
Puck's words successfully plunged Shiro into a long silence.
Right now, he felt like a researcher who had suddenly come up with an incredible idea after countless hours of study—Only to discover, just as he was about to begin experimenting, that someone else had already turned that exact idea into a finished product.
Fortunately, Shiro was not interested in the satisfaction of inventing something new.
What he cared about was the result that invention could achieve.
Otherwise, all he could do was pound the table like a sore loser and shout—
'Damn it! Why did someone already make something this good?!'
Still, he quickly composed himself.
Having someone else's experience to learn from was far better than blindly researching everything alone.
So the fact that Puck was an artificial spirit was actually good news.
Unfortunately—Before Shiro could get excited, Puck immediately poured cold water over him.
"Though I have no idea how she actually did it."
"Could you please lead with that next time?"
"Getting someone excited and then leaving them hanging feels absolutely awful..."
Shiro grabbed Puck off his shoulder and dropped him onto his lap.
Then, as though venting his frustration, he furiously rubbed the cat's head.
"Didn't you only ask whether something like an artificial spirit could be created?"
"My answer is yes."
"Isn't knowing that already enough?"
"Humans really are greedy—wait! I'm sorry! Stop scratching there, it tickles... Hahaha...!"
Puck tried to sound like a wise old man.
But he quickly surrendered beneath Shiro's cat-petting technique, collapsing across his lap while laughing and purring.
"If it's something in that fieeeld, I may be able to help."
Roswaal, who had been watching the interaction between Shiro and Puck from the side, suddenly spoke.
"Lord Roswaal!"
"It's fiiine, my adorable servant."
"If Lady Emilia had been killed back then, I would have been in quite a bit of trouble as her sponsor as weeell."
Something in Roswaal's words seemed to calm Ram.
She lowered her head, pressed her lips together, and fell silent.
Satisfied, Roswaal nodded before continuing.
"Besides, if word spread that Lady Emilia lost her insignia, it would deal a significant blow to her reputaaation."
"So how about treating this as hush money?"
"I may not look it, but I am still a Court Mage."
"I've conducted a fair amount of private research into both spirits and Od."
As though to make his offer more credible, Roswaal deliberately brought up his position as a Court Mage.
Then he turned toward Subaru.
"The guest over there may ask for something as weeell."
"You may not have been much help, but since you witnessed Lady Emilia losing her insignia, we can hardly leave matters as they aaare."
"Eh?"
"Is this one of those plots where I accidentally discover an important secret, and unless I leave behind some kind of leverage, I won't be allowed to return alive?"
Subaru looked completely out of the loop.
He clearly had not realized how damaging it would be to Emilia's faction if people learned that someone carrying the fate of the kingdom could not even protect a small token proving her candidacy.
Only after Ram finally grew tired of watching him misunderstand everything and explained it did Subaru smack his fist into his palm in realization.
"Then there's only one possible answer!"
"The thing every isekai story absolutely has!"
"The cheat ability the protagonist relies on to survive!"
"My brand-new hope!"
Subaru raised one finger into the air and began muttering words Emilia and the others could not understand.
The aura radiating from him became so intense that even Court Mage Roswaal glanced over with interest.
Ram tightened her fist.
If anything seemed wrong, she was clearly prepared to intervene immediately.
Just as everyone expected Subaru to say something earth-shattering—
Shiro, perhaps the only person who could guess what was coming, quietly looked away.
"Magic! Magic!"
"It has to be magic!"
"The wave of magic is finally coming!"
"My glorious future is riding upon that wave!"
"..."
Silence spread through the dining room.
After a moment—
"That's it?"
"Ram must have been infected by Barusu's stupidity to think he was about to say something impressive."
Ram's sharp voice cut especially clearly through the silence.
So clearly that Subaru immediately slapped the table and shouted back—
"You don't understand how important magic is to me!"
"Ever since I came to this world, my confidence has been getting crushed nonstop!"
"Everyone around me is ridiculously strong!"
"If the protagonist doesn't get some kind of cheat soon, I'm going to become a miserable background character!"
"In other words, without magic, Barusu is a useless man incapable of doing anything?"
"That's the part you focused on?!"
Roswaal stepped in to smooth things over.
"So, in other words, our guest wants to learn maaagic, correct?"
"Exactly!"
"This is the opportunity I've always dreamed of!"
"Becoming a magic user is the kind of thing that only happens in dreams!"
"No probleeem."
"After breakfast, I'll help test your magical aptitude."
At that moment—
"Excuse me. The meal and tea service have arrived."
The dining room door opened.
Rem entered alone, pushing a serving cart.
Then she removed the stacks of plates piled even higher than herself and placed them one by one in front of Shiro and the others.
Afterward, she somehow produced a teapot and swiftly poured everyone a cup of steaming tea.
Tap, tap—
Roswaal lightly tapped the tabletop with his index finger, drawing Shiro's attention back to him.
"Then it's settleeed."
"We'll discuss spirits and Od, along with Subaru's magical aptitude, after breakfast."
"For now, honored guests—"
"Please enjoy the breakfast of Roswaal Mansion."
…