023
For the past few days, Cedric Hingerford had been away from the mansion.
Everyone assumed he was on a business trip due to his busy schedule, but that wasn’t the case.
He had actually… for the first time in a very long while, taken a vacation.
Surprisingly, Cedric had over 730 unused vacation days.
People around him often urged him to take some time off, but he always declined, saying he didn’t have the energy to travel.
After all, the work would pile up threefold by the time he returned, so he figured it was better not to go.
Staying in the mansion didn’t count as resting either; if something urgent came up, he’d be called back immediately.
So, in the end, Cedric’s argument was always the same: ‘Just let me quit.’
However, the head of the family would always reject his resignation with a kind smile, and Cedric had no choice but to continue working like a slave.
Then something extraordinary happened to him.
The kind, noble, and incredibly generous Miss Shupetty! She had graciously bestowed upon him…
…a cookie, made with her benevolent grace!
Upon eating the cookie, Cedric suddenly felt revitalized!
At first, he thought he was dreaming, but by the second and third day, he was sure.
He was no longer tired!
Getting out of bed in the morning was easy.
He didn’t have gloomy thoughts, and his joints didn’t creak anymore.
He was filled with energy, seemingly out of nowhere, and he even felt like he could run. No more flopping around like a squid stuck on deck!
So Cedric immediately took a vacation.
He escaped to a quiet beach far from Pellun, the city where the Pashayen mansion was located.
Floating on the sea, sipping piña coladas… it was heavenly. The thought of returning felt like death itself.
But one morning, Cedric realized something.
The effects had worn off.
His energy plummeted, and he returned to his usual, sluggish self, dragging his feet back home.
With the look of a rotting fish in his eyes, Cedric lamented:
‘Health! I want to feel healthy again!’
His savior.
His goddess.
The great Miss Shupetty!
Drunk on the sweetness of his vacation, Cedric wasn’t in his right mind anymore.
He was just a lowly office worker, an unremarkable human being, and not particularly respectable in character.
So Cedric decided to shamelessly favor Miss Shupetty.
Surely, one day, she would graciously bestow upon him another one of those cookies.
Cedric wasn’t the least bit ashamed of his groveling self.
This was only natural for an overworked employee.
“I want to be friends with everyone.”
“Wonderful! Such a noble mindset!”
Cedric clapped enthusiastically every time Miss Shupetty said a word during her speech at the podium.
The bewildered expressions of the other awakened children didn’t bother him at all.
This was because Cedric was a man devoid of any conscience.
“If you make me the vice-class representative, I’ll give you lots of tasty bread and… um… we’ll all get along and not fight. I’ll do a good job.”
“Brilliant! Excellent! Gorgeous!”
“So… if you write Chuu’s name on that paper, I’d like it. Will you do that? Then… then I’ll smile brightly!”
Even as Cedric cheered enthusiastically, he coldly assessed the situation.
‘Miss Shupetty has a 0% chance of becoming vice-class representative.’
The next generation’s most promising resonator candidate.
That one phrase carried an overwhelming amount of weight.
Currently, it was almost certain that the next deputy family head would be Leviwood, the class leader.
The only one who could possibly compete with Leviwood was Mikard, but Mikard aspired to become an admiral, like his father.
Other strong candidates were already aligning themselves under Mikard, hoping to join the navy.
This left only one position for the remaining children to aim for: ‘resonator.’
As a commoner, Shupetty was a significant obstacle.
Frankly, it was a miracle that no assassination attempts had been made yet.
‘Or maybe there have been, and the admiral dealt with them without Miss Shupetty knowing.’
Regardless, Miss Shupetty could never become vice-class representative.
‘Should I discreetly swap the votes?’
He wasn’t serious, of course, but it was a thought he entertained.
That’s how much Cedric genuinely cared about Miss Shupetty.
‘Wait a minute.’
But then something unexpected happened.
As Cedric nonchalantly tallied the votes one by one, his eyes lit up.
Shupetty.
Shupetty.
Shupetty…
Five consecutive votes for Shupetty.
All of them had initially written other children’s names but had crossed them out to write ‘Shupetty’ instead.
‘What did she do?’
This completely defied his calculations.
It was impossible unless she had somehow manipulated their minds.
‘Was there something in that bread?’
He hadn’t imagined the cookie he casually ate would have such miraculous effects.
Others who had eaten it mentioned feeling similarly invigorated.
However, it seemed Cedric experienced the effects the most.
Probably because his energy levels had been the lowest to begin with.
‘What exactly was in that bread?’
It didn’t seem to be a power that scrambled minds or controlled bodies to act on her behalf.
Nor did it appear to be the work of the Spirit King.
He was intensely curious, but Cedric didn’t let it show as he marked the tally on the chalkboard.
“Well then… Miss Shupetty has been unanimously elected as the vice-class representative. Congratulations. Please come forward to receive your badge.”
“………!”
The child who had been nervously staring at the chalkboard beamed brightly.
Her smile was so adorable that it brought a grin to Cedric’s face as well.
***
“I’m the vice-class representative! Chuu is the vice-class representative!”
That evening.
I was so excited about becoming vice-class representative that I wandered around singing.
‘I can’t believe it actually worked!’
The power of the Cheer Butter is amazing!
“Wow, our Young Miss is incredible.”
“Yup!”
Mister Carmen gave me a thumbs-up, and I smiled bashfully.
I couldn’t stop smiling throughout dinner.
“As expected of my daughter.”
Even the admiral praised me, which made me even prouder.
I had already earned another ‘Well Done’ stamp.
‘Now the friends in the carrot group will probably get some snacks as a gift. The clever older siblings might even get to attend the academy!’
I was feeling so proud of myself when Yupyrhos’s glittering text popped up before my eyes.
[The Spirit Kings have given you another task. Are you ready to accept it?]
‘Yes!’
Quest!
Guess the Spirit King’s Domain!
Two Spirit Kings have given you a task!
✔ Guess the domain of one of the two Spirit Kings.
You only have one chance per Spirit King!
Reward: ★Well Done★ stamp × 1
Penalty: Stumble every five steps for three days.
Deadline: Midnight tonight.
What?
I was holding my spoon, ready to enjoy some peanut-flavored ice cream, when my eyes widened.
Suddenly there’s a deadline!
[Aah, oh dear. One of the Spirit Kings decided it seemed too easy and set a time limit. Looks like you’d better hurry, right? ( •́ ̯•̀ )]
Ugh, so mean.
I took a spoonful and popped it into my mouth, trying to think as hard as I could.
‘So the remaining domains are…’
Chaos, Fortune, Air, and Fate.
That makes four.
One of the Spirit Kings almost never appears, so I have no hints at all. What do I do?
As I mulled it over, I quietly asked for a hint in my heart.
But the Spirit Kings remained silent.
‘Ugh…’
I guess I’ll have to figure out which Spirit King ‘◇◇’ is.
After dinner, weighed down by worry, I returned to my bedroom and opened the ‘The Ultimate Spirit Encyclopedia!’ I had borrowed from the library.
“Oh my, miss. Are you studying?”
“Yup…”
“How admirable. Shall we save brushing your teeth for later?”
“Yup.”
I’m serious right now.
After sending Lina away, I began reading the section titled ‘Spirits of Chaos.’
Spirits of Chaos
Affinity with Humans: ★
Contract Difficulty: ★
Average Attack Power: ★★★★
…(excerpt)… Spirits of Chaos are easy to form contracts with but just as easy to break them.
Spirits of Chaos are the only domain known to unilaterally terminate contracts if dissatisfied with their spirit master.
They are generally gloomy or destructive and highly capricious, making them difficult to handle.
However, their attack power is exceptional. It is said that contracting with a high-ranking Spirit of Chaos can even allow one to create zombies from corpses.
‘Hmm, scary.’
It doesn’t seem like a Spirit King like that would have helped me.
The Spirit King ‘◇◇’ has often helped me and is quite shy, too.
Reasoning it out logically, I moved on to another entry.
Time was running out, and I was getting nervous.
‘I do have someone in mind… Maybe it’s them?’
