Greyworth knew some things, but the more she knew, the more easily she fell into confusion.
Although Greyworth was not completely lost, she was troubled by these matters.
The view outside the window was beautiful, with clouds stretching across the horizon, forming a white ocean. Greyworth adjusted her glasses, feeling an inexplicable sense of restlessness.
"Really, I hope everything goes smoothly."
The morning was delayed due to academy matters, and when Roa found Claire, she was looking at him with an annoyed expression.
Claire said to Roa, "You're too slow, you know."
Seeing her completely clueless demeanor, Roa couldn't help but say, "You've really become lazier lately."
Claire retorted loudly, "What? Me lazy? Where am I lazy?"
Roa didn't want to get entangled in this matter. He explained the events of that morning to Claire, and shock appeared on her face.
"What? There was actually a beast attack on the academy?" Claire exclaimed in surprise.
The incident had occurred in the morning. Although it was quite significant and had already spread among the academy students, Claire had likely been sleeping all morning, so it was expected that she wouldn't know. That's why Roa had said Claire was being too negligent.
Roa sighed helplessly, walking off into the distance, saying to the girl behind him, "Come on, let's continue your training."
Upon hearing this, Claire's eyes lit up, and she quickened her pace to catch up with Roa.
Being able to witness such a Blade Dance was enough to stir her heart.
Days passed as usual, with nothing particularly special.
However, what caught Roa's attention was that while teaching Claire, Est had directly transformed and was watching from the side.
Generally speaking, spirits would not walk in their physical forms to conserve energy; instead, they existed in a form similar to consciousness, attached to their Elemental Mages. When the mage needed to summon them, they would connect to the door of the Astral Zero, and the spirit would manifest in the world using divine energy.
But as a high-level sword spirit, Est had her own will. She stored some divine energy within herself, and since Est had signed a spirit contract with Roa, their bond was very strong. With Roa's consent, she could easily draw upon some divine energy to maintain her physical form in the human world.
Roa didn't feel particularly concerned about Est secretly drawing divine energy.
To put it simply, the elements of magic and divine energy could almost fill an ocean.
Although the divine energy Est siphoned might seem like a lot to an ordinary person, to Roa, it was like opening a small stream and letting the ocean's water flow into it.
It was nothing significant, to the point that if Roa didn't pay close attention, he might not even notice the loss of his divine energy.
One was casually allowing her contracted spirit to use energy, while the other was aware of her Master's power and freely siphoning divine energy; one was daring, and the other was indifferent.
Noticing this, Est simply stopped being elemental and began to accompany Roa in her physical form.
However, Est's expression had turned very cold.
Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and her previously indifferent loli face showed a hint of change, becoming even colder than before.
At this moment, Roa was wholeheartedly teaching Claire how to wield a sword.
When it was time for the break, Est stepped forward, tugging at Roa's sleeve, and said to him, "Master, I want to learn too!"
Roa: "???"
Roa was taken aback, glancing at the little girl form of Est, his expression turning quite strange. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but the words were stuck in his throat.
At this moment, Claire, who was sitting nearby, drenched in sweat and adjusting her stamina, couldn't help but ask curiously, "Aren't you Roa's contract spirit? What can a spirit do by learning Blade Dance?"
Est turned her gaze to Claire, her cold expression tinged with a hint of impatience. She replied directly, "I won't let you monopolize the Master."
"Monopolize???"
In an instant, Claire's cheeks flushed bright red, her already rosy face from exercise becoming even more flushed.
Claire shouted loudly, glaring at Est, and said, "What do you mean monopolize? Roa is just teaching me Blade Dance! I have no other intentions, right?"
After saying that, Claire turned her gaze to Roa, who twitched his mouth. He wanted to tell Claire that she seemed to have let something slip.
Est hadn't even asked you, so your last sentence was completely self-exposing.
Est keenly caught the loophole in Claire's words, and her gaze gradually turned unfriendly.
A cold glint flashed in Est's eyes as she said to Claire, "Other thoughts? Do you really have feelings for the Master?"
Realizing she had let something slip, Claire froze, her panicked expression intensifying. She tried to defend herself, saying, "Who would have feelings for that pervert? Ahem, I do have some feelings, but that's only because Roa is teaching me sword skills. Don't think too much about it."
Roa's mouth twitched; this kind of clumsy denial really made him want to laugh.
However, seeing the other person's expression, he felt that if he laughed out loud, he would definitely provoke her and become a target for her frustration.
Roa suppressed his laughter, wearing a comical expression of wanting to laugh but not daring to.
Finally, Est said to Claire, "I don't care about your thoughts; in any case, the Master is mine."
Like declaring sovereignty, the girl reached out and hugged Roa's arm, and Est's actions undoubtedly provoked Claire.
Claire, somewhat annoyed, said, "What belongs to you? Roa should belong to everyone."
Roa secretly complained in his heart: I belong to myself.
Est took a step forward, releasing Roa's arm, and walked in front of Claire. Looking at the girl with dazzling red hair, she raised her eyes and stared at her, coldly snorting, "I am Roa's contract spirit; what are you? A little dog?"
Est's sharp words left Claire momentarily at a loss for how to respond.
Claire opened her mouth, her face turning red, but she couldn't say anything.
Seeing that the atmosphere between the two was off, Roa quickly stepped in to mediate, grabbing Est's delicate little hand and saying to her, "Alright, alright, Est, stop messing around."
Est shifted her gaze to Roa.
Roa was not a fool; it seemed that Est was acting up this time, but in reality, she was expressing other emotions.
This emotion, in Roa's view, resembled a child throwing a tantrum, even though Est was no longer a child.
Roa pulled Est aside, trying to negotiate with other conditions as a trade-off to prevent her from causing trouble this time.
"Well, Est, how about I take you shopping?"
Roa put his chips on the table.
Est's cold eyes flickered, but she coldly refused, "No, I can't allow the Master to associate with dubious women."
"???"
What to do about his contract spirit having too many thoughts?
Roa tapped Est's head lightly and said irritably, "You girl, why didn't I know you had so many issues before?"
Est covered her head, making a pained expression.
Setting aside why the highest-ranked sword spirit could withstand the violent output of a demon king but couldn't handle Roa's light tap, Est's expression was indeed cute.
Est looked up again, staring at Roa. Although her tone remained cold, one could sense the frustration in her voice.
"Master, do you not like me anymore?"
Roa sighed and began to coax her gently.
"There are many delicious foods at the academy."
Roa added to his bargaining chips, trying to let Est know that his promise was very precious.
Est hesitated for a moment, falling into deep thought.
Roa rolled his eyes; the weight of "Master" in Est's mind seemed to be roughly equivalent to food.
"There are many beautiful clothes at the academy?"
Est remained silent, not speaking.
Est's silence was due to food; she wasn't interested in clothing and similar items.
Roa understood this and began to think about what foods were available at the academy.
So, he directly listed a bunch of foods he thought were quite good.
"Like ice cream, chocolate, cake, etc. Ice cream and cake are both delicious; Est can have as much as she wants."
Roa began to entice Est with specific foods.
Est's gaze became somewhat hesitant, her expression stiffening.
She wanted to refuse firmly, but recalling their appearance, Est felt it would be too regrettable to decline.
Finally, Roa whispered to Est, "Of course, I will always be with you; this is exclusively yours."
After saying that, Roa winked at Est.
Roa's tone carried a hint of indulgence, and the boy's words, like the spring breeze in April, brushed against Est's face. Est's mental defenses were completely shattered by Roa, who then made a shushing gesture towards her.
It turned out that only something unique would seem particularly precious.
The treatment that others did not have, but she did, could show how much Roa valued her.
Est no longer hesitated, nodded, and agreed, then turned to stand beside Roa, her expression returning to the calmness it had at the beginning.
Although Est's expression changed little, Roa could clearly feel her joyful mood.
In fact, if one were to compare Claire and Est, Roa's feelings for Est were still greater than for Claire.
If nothing unexpected happened, Est would likely accompany him for many years to come.
Although saying this was somewhat sad, the distinction between the two was self-evident.
Roa was never stingy with his own people; the reason for doing this was to take care of that sensitive and easily hurt wildcat.
Roa and Est's conversation didn't last long; they only murmured to each other for a while before reaching this deal.
Returning to their original positions, Est's gaze intentionally or unintentionally lingered on Claire, making Claire feel somewhat strange.
After finishing the remaining part of the story, Roa prepared to take Est and leave directly.
This was an opportunity to deepen his bond with Est and also a chance to understand each other, so Roa naturally wouldn't let it slip away.
By the afternoon, Roa took Est around to try the local delicacies as promised.
He didn't know if it was because she had stayed in the shrine too long or if the era of the saintess simply didn't have that much food, but under Roa's astonished gaze, Est almost ate her way from one end of the street to the other, trying everything.
Looking at Est's puffy cheeks, she appeared very cute.
Roa curiously reached out and poked Est's cheeks. Est looked up at Roa, and he met her gaze without feeling awkward.
At this moment, Est's left hand was holding Roa's right hand. Est didn't realize this was the boy's mischievousness. She glanced at the sweet treat in her right hand, hesitated for a moment, then picked up the cone and said to Roa, "Master, lean down a bit."
Roa was puzzled but still complied with Est's request and bent down.
Est brought the cone to Roa's mouth and said, "Master, I'll feed you, ah."
Est's exquisitely doll-like face, combined with her cold tone, made it hard for Roa to suppress a laugh.
Watching Est blink with the half-eaten cone, Roa felt no disgust and took a bite directly from the other half that Est hadn't bitten yet.
Roa had thick skin, and in a way, he felt that Est at this moment resembled a daughter.
So, it was quite appropriate for an old father to take his daughter shopping, right?
Roa felt it was only natural. As a spirit, Est wouldn't find anything particularly special about it.
However, the interaction between Roa and Est made the nearby academy students blush.
Most of the academy's spirit users were between fourteen and seventeen or eighteen years old. At this age, girls often love to fantasize, and what they fantasize about is mostly related to love.
Moreover, since the academy usually didn't restrict students, some spirit users liked to read various romantic novels and other miscellaneous items.
By the way, this world also has similar romantic novels, although they can't compare to those from the previous life.
At this moment, the girls clearly belonged to the type that was being tormented by the novels in front of them.
The girls' cheeks flushed as they watched the couple doing such things in broad daylight, pulling their companions beside them and saying, "How can they do such things?"
The girl beside her nodded in agreement.
The two girls were not unattractive; at this age, as long as they didn't have freckles or similar blemishes, they could be described as delicate.