John Ericsson Point of View

  Before lunch, Anna mentioned that she had an appointment to attend, so she apologized to me and proceeded to leave after pulling a basket from her Mana Storage and handing it to me. After she left, I began to eat the contents of the basket. It was filled with different sandwiches. They were obviously great. After finishing the meal, I decided to visit Paula to thank her for her help yesterday. So, I got into my Meditation Position and began to relax. I used our Connection as a key to enter her living space.

  After traveling through the pathway, I was able to enter Paula's dwellings. It appears she wasn't there, so I decided to contact her through our Connection.

  " Paula, are you around? I think I'm in your house?"

  There was silence for a few moments, then I heard Paula.

  " ZZZ... ah juice....ZZZ"

  "Well seems she's asleep. Maybe I should try leaving?"

  As I thought of this, I heard a rustling behind me. I looked and found Paula sleeping. I decided not to bother her and head back. As I returned, I opened my eyes to see Anna coming towards me. She seemed like she had something to say, so I simply waited for her to arrive. Within no time at all, she was in front of me. Anna bowed with a look of regret on her face. I started to speak to her.

  " Anna, what's wrong? You look sad?"

  " Master... I must apologize to you. I have told a few people about your new Contract."

  " Who did you tell, Anna?"

  To my question, Anna answered. I wasn't too upset in all honesty.

  " It's fine, Anna, I probably would've ended up telling a few of them anyways. However, from now on, please run these things by me first, so I can prepare properly."

  " Thank you, Master! I Promise I will!"

  " Good!"

  After taking a few moments, Anna began to speak again.

  " Also, as a consequence of my telling of your new Friend... Well Duchess Clearfield wishes to meet her. Will you be willing to, Master?"

  " Well, I'd need to ask Lily first, so give me a second."

  After speaking to Anna, I start to concentrate on Lily's Connection with me. Hmm? I see, so each Contract feels somewhat different. Paula's feels like a quiet spring that is serene. Lily's feels like staring into a deep forest with hints of a sunset. I focused and tried calling for Lily.

  " Lily, are you there? I hate to interrupt but I have a favor to ask of you."

  " Yes, I am here, John. What is your favor?"

  I explained it to Lily, and she agreed to being Summoned. I turned to Anna and began to speak.

  " Ok, Lily said its fine! Let's go to them, Anna."

  " Thank you Master!"

  And like that we left. We entered a terrace that oversaw a vast garden. Seems to be a great spot to enjoy lunch with people. Maybe I should try this spot with Sarah for lunch one day? Regardless, after entering the terrace, I noticed that I was receiving strange looks from a few people. A different look from each face. Mrs. Ashblade had a kind look in her eyes towards me... Maybe she still was thankful for what I asked of everyone last night? Mrs. Clearfield looked excited, seems she's the main reason we're doing this. Sharon, similar to last night, was glancing at me and looking away. Asha was doing something similar, only she was looking at me for longer periods of time before looking away. I looked at Sarah and she just gave me a warm smile. I decided to speak to break the ice.

  " So, I hear you guys found out about my new Friend?"

  Everyone looked at me. This is fine, I guess? I started to speak again.

  " I'll just jump right into it, if you don't mind."

  Nobody said anything so I started the process to Summon Lily. I spoke to Lily through my mind to confirm she was ready. After a few moments, she gave me the go ahead. It was slightly different than Summoning Paula. Besides the obvious increase in mana it would take to Summon something as Powerful as Lily, I felt a sensation of power start to fluctuate through me. With that feeling nesting in my body, a tear appeared in front of me, and a burst of light came through it. Vines with roses blooming came out of the tear and they begin to contort and join together, eventually they created a figure like Lily's. Then, a pale pink light illuminated from the vines and Lily emerged from the vines like a cocoon. She turned to me and started to speak.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  " We meet again, John! How have you been?"

  " It's only been about 2 hours, Lily. I'm still hanging in there."

  " Fair enough! Now then, who is it that wanted to meet me? John, introductions are needed!"

  " Alright."

  I walk over to Mrs. Clearfield, who at this point, looks like she is meeting a Superhero. Once we were in front of her, I began to go through the motions.

  " This is Mrs. Penelope Clearfield, wife of Duke Clearfield. Mrs. Clearfield, this is Lily, The Rose Queen of the Spirit Forest."

  After introducing them, Penelope started to talk to Lily about some historical battle.

  " Once Mommy gets like that, she won't stop for a while."

  " Wah!"

  " Fufufu."

  " ?"

  While watching Lily and Penelope talk, Asha snuck up to my side and scared me from talking. After calming myself, I couldn't help but notice Asha was giggling at me. I was surprised by her laugh. It was the first time I heard her laugh from this close. I started to speak.

  " You know, this suits you better than hiding your emotions with a neutral face."

  " Oh? Would you prefer if I showed you what I'm really like?"

  " Sure? Why not?"

  " !"

  Asha looked shocked at my words. Then a though came through my mind and I decided to speak.

  " I mean, haven't you already been doing that? I mean you've been stubborn as a mul..."

  " Uh?"

  * Pressure!*

  " ?"

  For some reason Asha was exerting a weird pressure through a smile at me. I was puzzled by her reaction.

  " Are you really going to pretend we haven't been butting heads with each other for a while now?"

  " Someone needs to butt heads with you. Gods know Sarah won't, she spoils you rotten!"

  " Well, she is my Fiancé. But yeah, I suppose you're not wrong. We do tend to go along with whatever, without many arguments between us."

  For some reason, Asha looked a little upset from what I said. Before I could apologize for whatever it was, she was called by her mother. She more or less ran to her, like she was escaping me. After she left, Cynthia came up to my side. I opened the conversation.

  " Hi, Cynthia, how are you today?"

  " I'm okay, John. I'm glad to see that you have more options during fights now. Looks like you won't be needing to do anything that risky again for a while."

  " Yeah well, I hope that's the case. I figure Lily will really increase the variety of strategies I can use."

  While speaking to Cynthia, I remembered how Anna told me how she watched over me while I was asleep. I decided now was a good time to thank her. I began to speak.

  " Cynthia, Anna told me how you watched over me while I slept from Mana Exhaustion. Thank you for that, it means a lot to me."

  " Well, I did what made sense at the time. The worry you gave me is something I'll need you to make up to me."

  " How so?"

  " I'm not sure yet. So just look forward to it for now!"

  " Just go easy on me when you figure out what you want."

  " Hmm... Maybe?"

  After she spoke, she left to join the group speaking to Lily. The next to approach me was Sharon. Unlike the shy Cynthia, Sharon spoke to me first.

  " John, have you ever felt unsure about how you felt before?"

  " Yes, I have, why do you ask?"

  Sharon looked at me with seriousness in her eyes. She began to speak.

  " Did you ever find a way to straighten those feelings out?"

  " Yes, I have. Sarah, Warrick and Anna said I should be more selfish. Its helped. Maybe you should try the same thing?"

  " Hmm is that so? Well, I hope you don't regret what you've told me in the future."

  " I'm sure it will be fine. You're a good person at your core, Sharon. Honestly, I think you might be the kindest Noble I've met since arriving here. So, if you really want something, I doubt it will be something bad."

  " Is that so? Thank you, John. I think that did help."

  Sharon left to the Lily group as well. In no time at all, Anna and Sarah appeared on either side of me and Sarah began to speak to me.

  " So, John, how do you feel after gaining a new Friend?"

  " I feel pretty good about it! Lily seems like a good person who will make a Great Ally. The entire reason she appeared in front of me is because she was concerned about who would Contract with Paula. She didn't want her to be taken advantage of."

  " I see. Well just remember, you can rely on us as well."

  " Of course, I won't forget. You guys are important to me after all."

  I smiled at both of them. And all this talk of importance made me remember Paula. I decided to see if she had woken up again. She answered this time. I asked if it was ok to Summon her and Paula agreed. So, I began to Summon her. Anna began to speak after she saw me bring Paula out.

  " Master, wait!"

  Paula appeared from a black mist, and I turned to Anna and spoke.

  " What's the matter, Anna?"

  Anna looked at me. She was surprised and so was Sarah. Due to Anna yelling, everyone looked at me and Paula, who was sitting on my shoulder at this point. Lily rushed towards me and began to speak.

  " John, how did you do that?"

  Puzzled by her question, I responded with my own question.

  " What do you mean? If you mean Paula, I Summoned her like I Summoned you."

  " Yes that, Summoners usually can't summon 2 Sprits at once!"

  I looked at Lily and Paula with a smile. Then I spoke.

  " Seems I'm a Special Summoner then!"

  " That's great, John! Good for you!"

  Paula congratulated me. Lily was a bit frightened. She began to speak.

  " John, you need to hide this Ability. The last Summoner that could do Multiple Summoning's was over 500 years ago. I wasn't even a Queen yet."

  " Ok, I'll keep it as a trump card."

  Everyone seemed to agree about keeping my secret, well, a secret. After that, I began to speak to Paula after she greeted Anna and Sarah. Though I did notice that I was really tired later that night... I guess my day was really busy?

  " Paula, I wanted to summon and meet you so I could thank you in person for helping me save Sarah yesterday. I couldn't have done it without you. So, one more time. Thank you very much Paula!"

  Paula looked at me in disbelief and she started to cry. When I asked what was wrong, she said this was the first time a Summoner had thanked a Dark Pixie in the past 800 years. I simply pat her head with my index finger until she calmed down. After she calmed down, Sarah and Anna began to speak to Paula about something. I was on my own for a while, but eventually the talks had ended. And like that it was time for Duke Clearfield and Baron Ashblade to leave. With their parents leaving, Asha and Sharon were quite emotional for the rest of the day. I went to bed hoping they would be ok in the morning. I dreamed about my own parents, as well as Victoria and Dan. It was a good dream if a bit sad, when I thought I could never see them again.