Covenant

-----Yui's POV

Yui: "Hey. You okay?"

While mom's been talking with Alice, Natalie and Marcus, I couldn't help but notice Kaede had a face that I felt was a bit concerning.

Kaede: "Uh- Yeah."

We've made some good progress towards Oakvale, picking up the speed whenever we can.

Yui: "Talking with Mai again?"

She nods her head at my question. I can only assume Mai has brought some bad news to her, and the fact that Kaede isn't brining it up is a bit scary.

Iris: "Kaede? What is it?"

Kaede: "I can't confirm who it is, but there's someone strong among the army that's chasing us. I think taking as less breaks as possible would be ideal."

Alice: "Would that be "strong" in the eyes of the average soldier, or "strong" in your eyes?"

Kaede: "...Mine."

Yeah, that doesn't sound too good at all. When I tried to take control of light magic, I was completely hopeless. If Kaede's talking about someone who she deems as strong, then I'm guessing I have no chance against someone like that.

Iris: "Do you at least have an idea who it might be?"

Kaede: "The only name that comes to mind is Lucien; our headmaster."

Everyone reacted in unison, visibly going stiff at the name Kaede just said. I have no idea how to judge someone's strength like Kaede, but even when I'm in the same room as Lucien, like back when he stopped my fight with that teacher, his presence was definitely felt.

Natalie: "Lucien... Isn't he the hero that played a huge roll in repelling the demonic army centuries ago?"

Wait... Centuries?! Kaede and I both had the same looks on our faces, as if we're both asking the same question; "Don't humans live till about 80 or something?!"

Iris: "Yes."

Yui: "Wait, mom! So Lucien... How old is he?"

Iris: "I'm not entirely sure, but he's been around since before my family. So at least 300 years old."

Kaede: "Is it normal for humans to live that long?"

Iris: "Ah, no, hehe. Lucien is barely human. Might be more accurate to think of him like an elf."

Yui: "What?"

I'm so confused. "Like" and elf? So he's not an elf, but similar? Maybe he's someone like me? But in my case, I think I'm still "mostly" human, but for Lucien to be "barely" human? I need to know.

Iris: "Didn't I tell you about the story when you were little?"

Yui: "Huh?"

To be honest, I can see something like that. Mom telling me fun and cool stories when I was little, with me just ignoring it and focusing on training with Alice. That or she just simply didn't tell me, both are quite possible.

Iris: "Fufu~ Well. Yes, Lucien was just a normal human like us, but during the war centuries ago, he sacrificed himself to protect our land, essentially killing himself. At least that's what should've happened, but he rose back up and continued to push back the rest of the enemy with even more power than he had before."

If this story is from centuries ago, then Lucien is most likely the one to confirm this story. It still might be exaggerated but after meeting Mai, I do think that someone coming back to life isn't impossible. And just when I looked at Kaede, it's as if she was in thought, most likely thinking what I'm thinking and discussing this with Mai.

Yui: "So... How did he come back to life?"

Iris: "From what Lucien told the people from back then, he entered a spiritual covenant."

Yeah, I have no idea what that means. All I know is that it has something to do with spirits?

Natalie: "I didn't know that..."

Yui: "What's a spiritual covenant?"

Iris: "It's an agreement with a powerful spirit or in most cases, many spirits. To even enter a covenant with them, they need to deem you worthy to carry out their tasks. In return, they offer you blessings."

Natalie: "And, in Lucien's case. His blessing is immortality?"

Iris: "That's what it looks like, but we can't be sure. Only Lucien himself knows his blessing."

I'm so curious to hear what Mai has to say about this. This could all just be a massive ploy or something.

-----Kaede's POV

Mai: "HAH!"

I've just been relaying all the information I'm getting from Iris, and so far, Mai says that everything is true but she seems to find it amusing.

Mai: "You get why I hate spirits now?"

Kaede: "About the covenant thing?"

Mai: "Mhmm! They just throw all their problems onto other's, making them do their dirty work for some silly reward."

Kaede: "You say it like the person doesn't have a say in the matter."

Mai: "Yeah, exactly. If someone's doesn't follow through with their task, the spirits that formed the covenant with the person will just kill them. They don't really care about the person, creature or whatever. They just want their stupid little chore to be taken care of."

Kaede: "So what would Lucien's "chore" be?"

Mai: "My guess would be to wipe out a certain race, or races. They probably saw him fighting off against all those creatures and thought "Hey! This guy is amazing! Let's have him wipe them all out!" or something like that."

Even though I cannot see Mai, I can just imagine her perturbed expression as she's saying all this. I can even hear how annoyed she is through her voice in my head.

Kaede: "So everything that Iris said is true?"

Mai: "Not entirely. When someone dies, there's no way to bring them back to life... That's unless they become a reanimated corpse."

Kaede: "But you brought me back to life with my soul, didn't you?"

Mai: "That was a close call even for me, okay. If I was just a little bit late, you would've been thrown into the endless void, unable to return."

So when I died in that carriage... Wait. No, I killed myself, right? God, this is so confusing to deal with. I remember stabbing myself back in my past life, but also dying in that carriage.

Mai: "Hehe. You really are one with Selene now, Kaede."

Kaede: "Then you're saying that Lucien never died?"

Mai: "Correct. That "sacrifice" Iris was talking about, most likely was the start of the covenant being formed."

I don't think that's necessarily important. So then everything else Iris said is true...

Kaede: "...Keep an eye on him."

Mai: "Will do~"

-----Yui's POV

Looking back to Kaede next to me, I was about to ask whether she contacted Mai about this, but she beats me and just gives a nod. Was she saying that everything mom said it true?

Natalie: "Kind of sounds scary, making a deal like that. What if your task is something ridiculous?"

Iris: "I hear they do vary quite a lot. Some are life-long, having someone constantly needing to do a job, and other's being temporary."

Natalie: "Do you keep the blessings even if you're task is temporary?"

Iris: "That's up to the spirits."

Yeah, this sounds like a scam. But if Lucien is able to live for as long as this, while also having an easy life managing an academy, then maybe it's not all that hard?

Yui: "Have you formed a spiritual covenant, mom?"

Iris: "Fufu~ No, I haven't. It's incredibly rare in the first place as only few people are selected by the spirits."

Yui: "Would you form one with them if given the chance?"

Iris: "I've, never really thought about that. It's so rare that it never crossed my mind. But I think I'd decline. I like to have control of my life."

Alice: "Mm. Same here."

Natalie: "I agree."

Marcus: "Hmmm~ Maybe if the blessing is good, then I'd probably consider it."

Of course there'd be one person here to form a covenant with the spirits. But it's true, I guess it would depend on the blessing. Let's say you have a strong desire for power, to live, to save your loved ones, or to even be wealthy, I think the spirits could do something like that; making your biggest desire come true. But wait, mom said that Lucien lives for centuries, so then why did she say that when he came back from the dead, he had more power than before? Two blessings? Or could the spirits just be keeping him alive until his task is complete?

Iris: "Well, if Lucien is after us, then this will be harder than I originally planned."

In a perfect world, it'd be amazing if Lucien is just coming our way to give us aid like Marcus, but I doubt that'd be the case. I notice to my side, Natalie quivering a little. I lay my hand on her lap just like what Alice did for mom, hoping to calm her down.

Yui: "Hey. We'll be okay. I'm pretty talented, you know!"

Natalie: "Pfft. Thank you, Ellen."

Marcus: "Are you sure you can fight our headmaster? He's a hero after all."

There's a good chance that his magic is too powerful for me to handle, but maybe it's just light magic I'm unable to control. So maybe if Lucien can't use light magic, even if he can use all 4 elements, just maybe, I could counter him.

Yui: "I can try."