The petite girl was wearing the Areishia Spirit Academy uniform. Her face was very cute and she looked about fourteen or fifteen years old. However, she had strikingly long red hair tied into two ponytails.
Beside her, a black-haired young man was wearing tattered traveler's clothes, but a calm and sharp aura emanated from him.
Charlie recognized both of them.
Kazehaya Kamito and Claire Rouge.
"Why? You're a man. How can you contract a spirit!?"
Claire's eyes were fixed on the silver and blue sword with a golden guard in Charlie's hand. Through her perception as an Elementalist, she sensed that it wasn't an ordinary sword but a Spirit!
This was extremely shocking to her. History records that only one man had ever contracted a spirit—the Demon King Solomon, a man who brought destruction to the world.
"I have no obligation to answer your questions." Charlie replied indifferently.
Among the various personalities of women, he disliked tsunderes the most, finding them extremely annoying.
In his personal opinion, only masochistic men would enjoy the constant physical and verbal abuse from tsundere women.
Unfortunately, Charlie was not a masochist. He preferred yandere women; although their love was somewhat extreme, in everyday life, yandere girls treated the men they liked with their whole hearts. Unlike tsundere women, who used harsh words and violence on the men they liked to cover up their embarrassment.
"As you should know, I've been eyeing that Sealed Spirit. You stole it, admit your mistake! I should have been the one to get that spirit. So, I say you should take responsibility for stealing it."
Claire glared angrily at the shameless thief in front of her. She felt today was very unlucky; not only was she peeped on by a man while bathing in the river, but now another man had taken the Sealed Spirit she had been after.
"So, you think I should hand over this spirit just because you want it?"
Charlie looked at Claire with a flat expression, slightly raising an eyebrow at the accusation.
"Claire, don't provoke him. He's dangerous."
Kamito tried to calm the angry Claire.
His intuition was sounding alarms in his mind. Even at his peak, with Restia in the form of the Vorpal Sword, Kamito had no confidence in winning against the other party.
Unfortunately, Kamito's warning was ignored by Claire.
"You have to take responsibility!"
"Oh, let's hear it."
Placing the sword on his shoulder, Charlie looked at Claire with amusement. His goal had been achieved; he didn't mind teaching the tsundere girl a lesson about how harsh the outside world was compared to school.
"You have to become my contracted spirit!"
Claire pointed her index finger at Charlie.
"..."
The atmosphere fell into silence.
"Sigh... A fight is unavoidable." Kamito muttered softly.
"Little girl, you want to make another Elementalist your contracted spirit? That's the same as slavery." Charlie said coldly.
"Who are you calling a little girl? I'm 16 years old!"
"Really? A 16-year-old teenager with such a pitiful breast. Tch Tch Tch..."
Of course, Charlie knew Claire was indeed 16 years old. He deliberately mocked her because of her arrogant attitude.
"Unforgivable..." Claire said in a low with cold voice.
Earlier, she had felt a little guilty for her somewhat harsh words, but that guilt was replaced by burning anger as the man brought up a sensitive topic.
"Whether it's you or Kamito, all men are the same! I'll defeat you and make you submit to me!"
Glaring angrily at Charlie, Claire chanted an incantation in the spirit language.
"Guardian of the crimson blaze, keeper of the undying hearth!"
"Now is the time to abide by our blood contract; come forth and do my bidding!"
Red flames ignited, and she was enveloped in intense heat.
"The hunt begins, Scarlet!"
Along with the blazing flames, a Hellcat appeared. Instead of fur, its body was covered in dark red flames.
*PAH!*
Claire swung her whip, and the Hellcat let out a terrifying roar before charging at Charlie. Sparks of fire danced around, and the atmosphere trembled from the beast's roar.
"..."
The heat of the flames didn't affect him; Charlie remained standing calmly. As the Hellcat pounced, his right hand holding Terminus Est swung forward.
*SWOOSH!*
The speed of the thrust was too fast; even the Hellcat, a High-Rank Spirit, couldn't dodge it.
*PU-CHI!*
The Hellcat's body was pierced through by the sword, and it vanished into nothingness along with its flames.
"Scarlet!" Claire cried out in pain.
'Damn! Isn't this guy in a completely different league? With just one attack, Scarlett lost the power to manifest in this world.' Kamito cursed inwardly, then glanced at Claire, who was stunned, staring at the spot where the Hellcat had disappeared.
"Claire! Calm down, this isn't the time to grieve! Scarlet isn't really dead; she just returned to Astral Zero."
"No, you're wrong. That cat experienced true death."
Charlie interrupted Kamito, who was comforting Claire.
"Impossible! Even if a Spirit is killed by an Elementalist, they'll only be injured and return to Astral Zero; they'll recover after some time."
"Little girl, check your Spirit Seal."
Claire, like Kamito, didn't believe Scarlet was dead. However, the Spirit Seal that should have been engraved on the back of her hand had now disappeared.
"Impossible?! Scarlet! Answer me!"
Claire tried to contact Scarlet, but there was no response. Instantly, her body lost strength, and she weakly crouched on the ground.
Seeing her in such a pitiful state, Kamito felt sorry for her, then turned to the mysterious man who could contract Spirits like himself.
"What did you do to Scarlet?"
"Well, I have a unique magic called Aithra Athanatos. Its ability leaves a cursed wound that cannot be healed. So, even if that cat returns to Astral Zero, its wound won't heal. As I said earlier, the Spirit experienced true death."
"I've never heard of such an ability?!"
"Who dares to claim they know all the knowledge in this world? Just because you don't know, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Aishia, let's go."
Too lazy to argue with Kamito, Charlie dismissed Terminus Est; the sword in his hand disappeared, and he headed towards Aishia, who had only been watching.
"A humanoid Spirit?"
Kamito's pupils shrank as he looked at Aishia. He didn't sense her presence. This was the first time he had seen a humanoid Spirit other than Restia.
There were many questions in his mind, but he knew the young man wouldn't answer his doubts.
Kamito held a dagger behind his back, protecting Claire in case the other party wanted to take action.
"Little girl, not everyone will tolerate your useless arrogance. Arrogance is only a privilege of the strong because they have the power to back it up. However, if the weak are arrogant, their fate won't be good. After losing your contracted Spirit, you're no longer an Elementalist. This is the price you pay for your arrogance despite being weak."
Claire's body trembled as Charlie's words pierced her heart. Her goal was to obtain the Sealed Spirit here to become stronger because she knew she was weak.
She was the daughter of a noble; she was used to behaving arrogantly every day.
Which noble isn't arrogant?
In fact, a humble noble is considered an anomaly among nobles.
"Forgive me, Scarlett... My foolish actions caused your death..."
Claire couldn't hold back her tears; she regretted her impulsive decision.
She was blinded by her desire for instant strength and provoked a terrifying figure.
If she had thought more clearly, she should have realized that no male Elementalist could be taken lightly.
The Demon King Solomon recorded in history was the best example.
Unfortunately, there's no cure for regret.
"Sigh..."
Kamito breathed a sigh of relief as Charlie and Aishia walked down the corridor until they were out of sight.
'I need to tell Greyworth about this. There's actually another male Elementalist besides me. Moreover, he has the power to kill Spirits in the sense of true death. This is a power that even the Demon King Solomon didn't possess.'
Thinking of this, Kamito felt that calamity was about to descend upon the world.