Chapter 390: The Spirits We Encountered
“This whirlpool doesn’t have any cinnamon, right?”
“Shouldn’t have any.”
As we eat lunch, I gaze at the waterfall’s basin, where the sound of water splashes.
The flow of the Es River is gentle and vast; while it sometimes makes splashing sounds against boats or the shore, it’s rare to hear such a grand sound of water here. My house and the surrounding island are always filled with the sound of water, though.
“So, cinnamon refers to cassia, right?”
“It’s a type of cassia, but the ones currently in circulation are slightly different.”
Haulon answers Wanwan’s question.
I’ve looked into cinnamon too…! There are actually about two types of what’s called cinnamon.
One is the sweet-smelling one that I recognize as cinnamon. The other is some kind of leaf used as a spice.
And then there’s the cassia that Wanwan mentioned. It has a bit of spiciness and is used more as a fragrance or preservative, appearing in literature as being worth several times more than gold.
Japanese nikki is also a relative of cinnamon. There are probably various variations from the same family of trees. I don’t have nikki, but maybe I’ll make yatsuhashi with cinnamon.
“Hmm. If it’s cassia, then on the highest peak of the Moon Mountain Range, the Mirror Cliff has giant eagles nesting there. The nesting material is cassia.”
“Is it true that it can be harvested from cliffs…?”
Retze mutters quietly.
“Until the middle of the Era of Fire, it was offered to us and the royal family, but I believe the largest eagle, which was a Sacred Beast, turned into a Demon Beast, and after that, it ceased.”
Wanwan gazes at the sky, perhaps digging into his memories.
“Wanwan, you sure know a lot.”
“Hmph. This Wanwan has existed for an eternity!”
He puffs out his chest proudly.
Is it wrong to puff out like that?
I plan to go to the Moon Mountain Range at night, but do Demon Beast eagles sleep at night? I should keep an eye out while searching for the cinnamon bird’s nests.
“You planning to go?”
“Yeah, I am.”
Haulon and Retze exchange words.
“Haah… So, I get that you’ve been wandering around meeting spirits. Can I ask which one was the most troublesome? Excluding the Pill Bug, of course.”
Dinoss asks with a sigh.
“The one I couldn’t quite grasp was the spirit in the jungle. It felt primitive, in a way. It’s different from the Black Spirit, but it felt distant from humans.”
That place is definitely somewhere humans shouldn’t tread. If I do venture in, I need to be aware of my own otherness and be careful not to disturb the jungle’s laws with human reasoning, or it could lead to terrible consequences.
“And the strongest spirit?”
“Hmm. Maybe the Spirit of Sleep I met at Hypopios’ temple? It felt calm, so it wasn’t frightening.”
The spirit I encountered in the Dogu at the lake in the Northern Lands, the Flame Spirit in the western marshes, the Blue Stone Spirit at the Temple of Muto, and the White Whale in Elichika’s salt mine. Maybe I should head east next.
“The Spirit of Sleep… You’re not saying it’s Hypopios himself, right? You didn’t make a contract with him, did you?”
Haulon asks, half in tears.
“No, I just met him, and I could tell I didn’t have enough magic power to make a contract, so I definitely didn’t.”
The spirit has existed since the time when Luf’s city was around.
It’s a powerful spirit that governs the sleep of animals and humans, but the sleep that visits every night isn’t frightening. It’s not scary, but I feel like if I made a contract, I’d collapse. Plus, it seems like I wouldn’t have enough magic power to even make a contract.
I think my magic power has increased quite a bit, but even so, it’s still not enough.
“You don’t deny that it’s Hypopios, huh…”
Haulon’s strength seems to drain away.
“The first Spirit of Sleep… Just meeting him is already something.”
Karn comments.
“Hypopios…! The one who takes sleep can even influence spirits. He has existed since before the goddess Es, present in most of the world, appearing at night in the inner world.”
Wanwan looks astonished.
“If you sleep at Hypopios’ temple, he’ll come to give you divine revelations.”
“That’s the retainer of Hypopios, the Spirit of Dreams, right…”
Haulon weakly interjects.
“Is that so?”
“Hypopios can appear wherever there is sleep and exists simultaneously in many places. It’s possible that he himself might be the one giving divine revelations.”
Wanwan says in a somewhat teasing tone.
“They say that once my magic power increases enough to make a contract, I’ll be told to call his name.”
Daifuku was a retainer of Hypopios, after all.
“…! Hey!”
Haulon’s downcast face nearly meets the ground, and Dinoss hurriedly supports him.
“Seriously, can you tone it down a bit?”
“Should I keep it a secret?”
“…It’s a matter of degree. Your daily life is clearly anything but normal.”
“It’s normal, totally normal.”
“Admit it.”
As I watch the three of them, who seem to be slightly damaged and tired, I converse with Retze.
“Well, we’d like to know how many spirits you’ve made contracts with, if possible. If you keep quiet about it, I feel like we’ll end up taking a massive hit later.”
Retze waves his hand lightly as he says this.
So, it’s okay to just say what I think, huh?