"A new species has stepped onto Lunerra."


    Despite Lucas’s words, none of the leaders again reacted in any extreme way to them. Yet their gaze changed, their expressions bing more serious.


    They were clearly aware of how big a deal this was.


    "And this is a species... a species that perhaps a few of you already know exists. You’ve seen the news, so I won’t beat around the bush. Yes... the new species that hasnded on Lunerra are spirits."


    Fan Aroniel, king of the elven kingdom of Eshaware, raised his left eyebrow slightly from his throne, where he sat beside his wife.


    "Spirits... we are talking about the same spirits that I think of, I hope."


    Lucas didn’t say anything, didn’t react in any way. He just... sighed slightly, then turned his gaze back to the eight screens.


    "Many of you know the person behind me. He is Aiden Tenebra, the person who ended the Hr War. And... he is here for a reason."


    All eight people on the screen suddenly turned their eyes in my direction. For a brief moment, I felt a psychological pressure, but the Absolute Mind dispelled it quite quickly.


    "He is the first tomunicate with the spirits when theynd on Lunerra. He is also... the first person to interact with one of their rulers."


    For a moment, I saw that each of the leaders, who had so far hid their reactions so professionally, had a different expression toward me. Still, I kept myposure, and Lucas continued with his own words.


    At the same time, Sith, hovering in the air right next to me, slowly revealed himself, just as he had done to Lucas a while ago.


    "And not only that, he is currently under contract with a spirit, chosen by the Spirit Kings to be their representative and guide."


    And this moment... was the first time that everyone on the eight screens in front of me stopped hiding their expressionspletely.


    A few of them looked at me as if I were a threat. As if... I was a catastrophe holding their future in my hands.


    A few were curious. Maybe they were wondering what I was going to do, how I had gotten to this point.


    A few wouldn’t even look at me. Their eyes were all on Sith floating beside me. It was like... they were studying him to make sure he was real.


    Their expressions were quite varied that way.


    "If you don’t mind... I’d like to let him do the talking from here."


    Lucas pulled himself to the side with the chair he was sitting in, putting me in the foreground. And I followed his lead and stepped forward.


    But I didn’t open my mouth, I didn’t need to, because... the moment I stepped forward, six tiny sparkles appeared around me.


    It was the same kind of light that Sith gave off when he appeared. Each one was much brighter and bigger than him, though... but they were still not that big.


    But it wasn’t so much the glow itself, but what it revealed afterward.


    What emerged from the turquoise glow at the very front... was the very person I had spoken to a short while ago.


    Gd.


    And... the other shes brought other spirits with them.


    "Pardon our insolence, residents of Lunerra."


    And it was him again, speaking on behalf of the six sparkles that appeared.


    His eyes were as sharp as when he first appeared, his expression calm and cold.


    "I am Gd, King of the Winds. Behind me are my colleagues, the King of mes, Water, Earth, Ice, and Lightning."


    All six of the spirit kings bowed slightly.


    "We are grateful that you have agreed to this meeting."


    There was actually no need for such formalities.


    But still, the respect of the spirits, their position as spirit kings, and their traditions... their culture... demanded it.


    The six spirit kings slowly raised their heads at these words. Then a brief silence fell over the meeting.


    I used to put a small smile on my face at such moments. But... this time I didn’t. Instead, I continued to wear a serious expression.


    It was finally my turn.


    "I, Aiden Tenebra, as the representative and guide of the spirits... will speak on their behalf from now on and try to help them find a middle ground in reconciliation."


    Honestly... it was kind of funny when I thought about it.


    Apart from Gd, I didn’t know any of the other spirit kings, and they didn’t know me. I’d only met Gd for a few minutes.


    And yet... here I was, standing here as a representative of an entire species, just because I managed to convince Gd’s son to be a prince.


    Life was sometimes really funny and as strange as it was funny.


    "As spirits, there are three things that are wanted."


    I centered my cane, put my hands on it, and straightened my posture a little more, letting them know I was sure of myself.


    "The first is and in their own name, even though they are not exactly beings in the ’physical’ world."


    It was an understandable request, although I wasn’t quite sure what the other person’s thoughts were.


    "The second is a position of their own among the other humanoid species on Lunerra."


    In short, they wanted equal rights among humans, elves, dwarves, hannyas, and faes. They did not want to exist as animals, creatures, or any other category of living beings.


    "And the third is political immunity."


    Everyone on seven of the eight screens had the same reaction to thisst demand. Frowning, making it clear that they were not happy with this request. And... it was understandable.


    What the spirits were saying with this request was simply that they did not want to be involved in politics unless it was a necessity like faes, that they intended to be neutral. But they had one big difference from the faes... and that was fighting power.


    The spirits were powerful, no misunderstanding. In fact, the six spirit kings standing right next to me could probably overpower anyone in this meeting right now.


    But they were just as easy to avoid. Because spirits were creatures that had difficulty physically existing. To do so fully, they needed contracts. And a contract meant binding themselves to a living being.


    And they were well aware that this was a request not so easily granted.


    And on top of that, the faes were still technically stronger than them on average.


    That’s why they hade prepared.


    @@novelbin@@


    "Of course, there are concessions they will make to achieve their demands."


    In short... they had something to offer the inhabitants of Lunerra.


    "First, the political immunity they want only applies to uncontracted spirits. If any spirit makes a contract with anyone, they will lose their political immunity."


    So spirits could break their neutrality and take any side they wanted, as long as they made a contract.


    "Second, the spirit kings will not make a contract with anyone under any circumstances."


    This... was a bit of a reassurance to Lunerra. Because the Spirit Kings were much more powerful beings than they were thought to be. And if even one of them made a contract with anyone, it would change a lot of things on the.


    And not just on this. Directly, things would be very different in their society too.


    But those two were just the simple things.


    The real deals were... the next two things.


    "Third, the mana ratios on the will be regrly bnced by the uncontracted souls themselves."


    This... might have seemed like a bad thing at first. It was like putting the fate of the in their hands. And therefore the lives of the’s inhabitants would be affected too.


    But... that was the point.


    Spirits have always been connected to the universe itself. And not one of them would easily act in such a way as to vite thews of nature and thus harm living beings. There were a few exceptions, of course... but that was the general case.


    And if this situation was controlled by a contract, it actually had many positive effects.


    Longer life spans for the inhabitants of the, for example.


    People getting stronger much faster than normal, for example.


    Controlling dungeons, which are expected to increase in number due to unstable and increasing amounts of mana, for example.


    And many other effects too numerous to mention.


    But the spirits still had more to offer.


    "Fourth... in case of any war against the threat that was the reason why all other species except humans sought refuge on Lunerra in the first ce, the spirits will unconditionally give their full support to protect Lunerra and defeat the threat."


    And... that was it.


    *******


    With the summer wind blowing on my face, I put on a wide smile.


    Because I didn’t expect everything... to go so smoothly.


    I thought I’d run into a few problems... I thought I’d struggle a bit...


    But I was wrong to think like that.


    Because everything worked out perfectly.


    The conditions of the spirits were epted. They were introduced to thew of the and other countries, they received official permission to live on the left side of the Neutral, where they would reside, they would be introduced to the whole in a few days, and many other things...


    And even if I wasn’t in the middle of everything, somehow, I had a hand in everything. Even though I was still a ’student’ not even twenty years old... I was already directly involved in Lunerra politics.


    It was just the beginning. But it was a good start... the future looked bright. If I kept pushing like this, I could get exactly where I wanted to be in two or three years.


    And what was two or three years? If I seeded, at the end of it all, I would probably say how fast the time had passed.


    I took a deep breath. At the top of the main building of the Academy, looking out over the campus, I thought about what my next steps would be.


    And... I already had a few ideas in my head.


    Talking to Sue and Celine, for example.