The Spirit Said, 'You're Unworthy as My Master, Cancel the Contract!' So I’ll Give It to My Sister Who Wants It - Episode 2.31

“It looks like something abnormal has happened. It seems urgent—we must hurry to His Majesty at once.”

All around, people were shouting, “Where is the Hero!?” and “This is bad!” Their voices were anything but calm. Skia let out a deep, very deep sigh.

“…I was in the middle of replenishing Mistia. And now, problem after problem keeps coming up…”

“R-replenishing?”

“Yes. Replenishing Mistia is important. If I run out of the nutrients I get from you, I might lose my ability to think properly and go berserk. If I truly go on a rampage, half the world would be reduced to ashes.”

Skia spoke without expression, his eyes gleaming darkly.

“Eek.”

That’s terrifying, Mistia thought, turning pale. Was this another one of his usual unfunny jokes? Skia always spoke seriously, making it hard to tell.

“There’s no time now, but if replenishing me helps keep you stable, then… please, drink from me whenever you need to…!”

Mistia pleaded desperately, looking up at Skia. At her words, his eyes widened, and suddenly, he held his head in his hands. Did she say something wrong? Mistia peered at his face in concern.

“You… No, never mind. Just make sure you never say that to anyone but me.”

For some reason, his emphasis on “never” was unusually strong.

“Y-yes.”

“Good. Now, let’s go.”

As Mistia and Skia ran toward the hall, they met up with Solm along the way. His face was grave, suggesting he already knew what was happening.

“What’s going on?”

“Well… It seems that Terre’s army is marching toward Asteria.”

“—!”

Mistia and Skia gasped at the worst possible news. The air around them grew tense, and Solm looked away uncomfortably. The guilt of his former lord’s actions darkened his voice.

“The one leading the army is Crown Prince Gilbert. He might truly be aiming to destroy both us and this country.”

“No way…! Did His Majesty Doran not stop him!?”

“I don’t know. But Gilbert is calling himself the ‘New King.’ As much as I don’t want to think about it… it’s possible that His Majesty has already—”

—Been eliminated by Gilbert.

Solm didn’t finish his sentence, but both Mistia and Skia understood his meaning. To break the heavy silence, Skia spoke firmly.

“For now, we need to meet with Orland, King of Asteria. We’ll talk after that.”

Mistia and Solm nodded at Skia’s suggestion.

And so, in order to grasp the full situation, they hurried toward the ballroom where Orland was.

＊

The scene shifted to Asteria’s war council chamber.

Massive, solemn pillars stood tall, filling the room with a heavy atmosphere. At the center of the grand hall was a long round table, where Asteria’s high-ranking officials sat with grave expressions.

Not long ago, Mistia and the others had rushed to Orland and received a full briefing from him.

—Terre had assembled an army of ten thousand and was advancing toward Asteria.

Orland had immediately summoned his key advisors for an emergency meeting, bringing them to this moment.

Across from Mistia at the round table, Orland held his head in his hands and let out a long, deep sigh.

“Ughhh… How did things end up like this…?”

His words slipped out naturally, revealing his true feelings.

His chancellor coughed loudly.

Startled, Orland straightened up and put on his usual face—that of a “capable king.”

“I apologize for summoning you all so suddenly. You already know the reason. —The neighboring kingdom of Terre has crossed our borders and begun their invasion. Their army numbers ten thousand. We must deal with this issue immediately.”

His low, commanding voice heightened the tension in the room. One of his aides spoke up.

“Forgive me for speaking without permission in this crisis. Our troops are already prepared to deploy. If Your Majesty gives the order now, we can engage the enemy far from the capital. Please make your decision!”

“We’re ready to fight at any time!”

“We should send out the troops immediately!”

More and more aides raised their voices in agreement, eager for battle. But Orland folded his arms and groaned.

“…I understand your point. However, as you know, I despise war. While I fully recognize the urgency of the situation, I want to find a way to avoid war with Terre.”

“How can you say such a thing!? The envoy we sent to negotiate was shot at and driven away. We cannot tolerate such an outrage. Your Majesty, please give the order to deploy our forces now!”

One aide slammed his hands on the table and stood up, his voice filled with frustration.

Orland snorted.

“Listen. Our available forces number five thousand, while Terre has ten thousand. We’re at a clear disadvantage. The reason you’re all so eager for battle is because you expect the ‘Hero of the Nation’ to wipe out Terre’s troops for us, correct?”

“…!”

The aide who had shouted fell silent, caught off guard.

“I made a promise to Lady Mistia Redfield and the Great Spirit of Light—I would never force them into anything. If, in this war, I ordered them to ‘use magic to annihilate the enemy,’ what do you think would happen?”

“T-that’s… But Lady Mistia is the ‘Hero of the Nation.’ Doesn’t that mean she has a duty to protect our country!?”

Orland slammed his fist on the table.

“Fool! You’re saying, ‘Mistia Redfield, please kill ten thousand people for us,’ aren’t you!? How can you put such a burden on a young girl who has barely lived half our years?”

His fierce reprimand left the aides speechless, their eyes cast downward in shame.

“If we force Lady Mistia to kill in this war and claim victory… what then? What if she turns her back on us and seeks refuge in another country? In no time, our nation would be overrun. That’s why I ask you all this: we must discuss the future of this kingdom.”

The aides, who had been so eager for war, finally fell silent.

Then, in the heavy stillness, a sudden, dry clap echoed through the room.

All eyes turned to Skia, who was applauding.

“…I’m impressed, Orland.”

His voice was gentle. Orland blinked in surprise and scratched his cheek, looking flustered. But—

“I’m truly relieved that you’re not an idiot. If you had tried to force Mistia into killing, I would have immediately beheaded everyone in this room, shattered the Guardian Crystal, and left this place forever. —Ah, I’m so glad it didn’t come to that.”

“Eep.”

A dark, chilling smile.

The temperature in the room plummeted, and Orland let out a noise he had never made in his life.

(S-Skia… Were you seriously thinking about that with such a calm face!?)

Mistia, utterly dumbfounded, watched as Skia continued speaking.

“To be honest, I can’t think of a good way to resolve this without bloodshed. As Orland said, the only way to avoid casualties is to prevent the war from starting in the first place. …But when people seek to take, they don’t stop, do they?”

His words weighed heavily.

Skia had once suffered on the battlefield, and his voice carried the gravity of experience.

—Was war truly unavoidable?

No one spoke. The atmosphere was suffocating. Orland, no longer wearing his mask of a “capable king,” buried his head in his arms on the table.

“Is humanity doomed to take from others no matter what…? Sigh, Lady Mistia. Do you have any good ideas?”

Silence filled the room as everyone around the round table turned to the “Hero of the Nation,” waiting for her answer.

Mistia’s eyes widened, and after a moment, she hesitantly opened her mouth.

“Well… I suppose—”