The crimson lion tackled Wren and Rose, then pushed the fur around its neck into their faces.
That looked like a lot of fun. Tia fidgeted, wondering if she would be allowed to join in as well.
She wanted to bury her face in that crimson lion’s fluffy fur — No, she wanted it to press its fur into her. It was an expression of familial affection… and it also just looked plain fun.

“Wow, this actually feels really nice!”

Rose seemed to be having loads of fun as he was pinned down by the crimson lion’s fur.
On the other hand, the diminutive Wren, who was almost entirely buried by the fur, gasped for air as he screamed in pain.

“Wait! Y- you’re too strong! Too much, too much! …Geh! I got fur in my mouth! …Hey Julius! She’s your spirit, right? Do something about it!!”

“Kuku… Agniol, return.”

“Sure thing!”

The crimson lion swung its thick legs, and knocked down desks and chairs as it plodded back to sit behind Julius.
Getting a better look at it now, it was a truly impressive lion. It looked big enough for two or three people to ride on its back.
Staring intently at Agniol, Tia secretly thought to herself.

(That’s a really strong spirit.)

While all spirits that could take human form were referred to as Greater Spirits, there were both unremarkably weak spirits and ludicrously strong spirits in that category.
Agniol was one of the latter. She was probably strong enough to take on a Greater Monster.
Julius, made emotionless by Agniol’s indiscretion, regained his usual confident laughter, and cackled as he spoke.

“Agniol is a strong Spirit… She doesn’t know how to hold back.”

“Hold back my fire! I can do that! I can, I can! I can do rare or well done, whichever you prefer!”

“… Kuku, If you wish for your allies to be burnt to a crisp as well, then you may consider her a combat asset.”

This was not a matter of Julius lacking talent. No human had the capability to control the power of a spirit in that way.
Ella nodded with an understanding face, then readjusted her glasses.

“I understand, Julius. You don’t want think the power of a Greater Spirit is to be used lightly.”

Ella muttered as she looked at Agniol with eyes filled with curiosity. You don’t see Greater Spirits very often these days, so this was probably a new experience for her.
Beside her, Roswitha had a conflicted expression.

(Oh right, Roswitha doesn’t like it when people control spirits…)

However, for the time being, Roswitha swallowed her complaints and maintained her silence. Maybe she was trying not to ruin Ella’s mood as Ella overflowed with curiosity about spirits.
And just by looking at Agniol, no one really got the feeling that she was being ‘controlled’ by anyone. Just like Harpies and Wind Spirits, it looked like they’d built a good, co-dependent relationship.

“You’re amazing, Julius.”

Ella mumbled quietly.
She inadvertently let those words slip from her mouth, and Roswitha made a sour face. She was not pleased to hear Ella complimenting Julius at all.
Julius chuckled lightly.

“…Kuku, I only inherited this Spirit from my father, though.”

“Indeed! Samuel told me ‘Take care of my son’ and everything! Young Master Julius worked so hard so he could form a contract with me! I saw it all! I did, I did!”

“… Agniol.”

Julius muttered in a low voice and touched his ring.
As he did, the crimson lion kneeled behind Julius disappeared as if it had melted. It looked like Julius had managed to forcibly seal her.
Sophie’s voice shook as she spoke up.

“Is that okay to do? … Wouldn’t it hurt the spirit’s trust if you forcibly sealed a contracted spirit…?”

“Kuku, if I didn’t, the conversation wouldn’t go anywhere.”

Tia noticed. Julius was clearly exhausted after performing the sealing just now.
Forcibly trying to squeeze such a powerful spirit back into its contract stone was a rather draining endeavor. It appeared that having a contracted spirit came with its fair share of downsides as well.
Once everyone had managed to straighten out all the tables and chairs that Agniol knocked over, they once again sat in a circle.

“Umm… Then, let’s try to get back on track. Although…”

Now that the atmosphere has gotten all weird, it was Wren who tried to get everyone back in order.
Wren returned to the topic of discussion that had been set aside earlier.

“I’d like to know what options we have for fighting in the magic battle, so… there’s one more person I want to ask about, and it’s Sophie.”

“Eh?” When her name came up, Sophie’s face tensed up.
Sophie Schwarzenberg was one of only a few Shamans in the entire Empire.
Her abilities were an unknown variable. There were few who even knew what curses were capable of in the first place. Tia didn’t know either.
She knew the word ‘curse’ at least. It came up often in song lyrics.
To curse was to make someone suffer through negative emotions. However, what did that actually mean she could do?
Sophie was unsure what to do, so Wren elaborated.

“Look, you said earlier that you can use five curses embedded in your body, right Sophie?”

“Ah……. Err…..”

“I just want to know what sort of things they can do.”

“Erm….. That’s…..”

Sophie visibly averted her eyes and clammed up.
Thinking back, Tia and the others haven’t ever seen Sophie using magecraft or curses at all.
Sophie’s grades weren’t bad, and she excelled at their mana control exercises.
However, they’ve never seen her cast something that could be called a spell.
While Sophie fretted, Gerald, who usually stayed quiet, uncharacteristically opened his mouth.

“… I heard curses are the power to make your enemy suffer. Whatever the exact effects are, depending on how you use it, it should be able to make our enemy stop, so if there’s anything you have to share, I think it could help.”

With Gerald’s words of support, Wren’s face started to glow.

“Well said, Gerald! Yeah, something like a curse to make their stomach hurt a little would be great! As long as we use it right, it could be tons of help!”

“M- My curses are nothing like that…”

“Then what kind of curses are they?”

“The Schwarzenberg curses are…”

“The Schwarzenberg curses are?”

Wren repeated her words as a question, and Sophie held her head in her hands as she mumbled weakly.

“A- A curse that makes your enemy all squishy and kills them…. A curse that makes them all slimy and kills them…..”

No idea what ‘all squishy’ and ‘all slimy’ meant, but either way it sounded like these things would kill.
Everyone in the room remained silent, so Sophie continued.

“A curse that kills them in a real scary way, a curse that makes them all funky and kills them…..”

(Squishy, slimy, scary, and funky…)

Tia didn’t understand a thing.
Looking at everyone else’s reactions, probably none of them understood.

“And finally…. A curse that does… y’know, that… and kills them.”

“So they’re all fatal.”

Sevil voiced her blunt and violent thoughts.
In short, all five of the curses Sophie could use were designed to kill people.
I get it now! Tia proudly worked it out in her head. Meanwhile, Sophie pounded on her own thighs and shouted.

“I told you, the Schwarzenberg curses are all ‘curses to make you die painfully’! That’s all I can do!”

Sophie’s pink eyes darted from side to side.
That was the behavior of a creature in terror. Sophie was scared. Of the gazes around her.

“Y- You think we’re a family of murders, don’t you? It’s not like I wanted to be born to this family, okay! I didn’t want to be a Shaman in the first place!”

Taken aback by Sophie’s attitude, Wren tried to say something. However, Sophie covered both of her ears, not wanting to hear anything he said, and squeezed her eyes shut.
Then, in a fetal position on her chair, she sobbed as she screamed.

“I just wanted to be a normal girl too! I don’t want to curse someone to death! That’s why I came to the Wedge Tower….what….. don’t look at me like that……!”

Sophie’s eyes were sealed shut, and yet she said ‘don’t look at me like that.’
That was probably because Sophie had always, always been looked at with those sorts of eyes.
Because she would never forget the way that everyone stared at her.

Once Sophie collapsed into a sobbing mess, it was impossible to continue the conversation any further.
In the end, that day’s meeting couldn’t make any more progress, and came to a close.

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