Mira's progress was constantly stopped by all sorts of hidden contraptions, including stairs hidden on the ground. Before she realized, Mira had already spent an hour inside there before she reached that place.
The last door refused to open no matter how she pushed or pulled. But when she slid the doorknob, it finally opened and gave way to a paradise-like place.
All the flowers there emitted particles of light, and even the grass covering the ground was richly colorful, almost like a gorgeous carpet. There were also many trees towering above the flowers, their trunks shining in silver and golden motes, the ones closest to the center blooming with bright white flowers.
Anyone could tell this was a holy place at first sight. It was filled with a divine aura that surpassed the Forest of Praying Children, which surrounded the sacred tree.
That feeling was a bit overwhelming, but Mira's curiosity was greater, pushing her inside. The moment her foot got inside, she was shocked by how soft the ground felt. She looked down, wondering what that was, but even looking at it she could not really describe it. Not even the Spirit King had seen that before, it was a mysterious material that had surpassed the concept of ground.
『This truly is a vast world.』
The Spirit King, who had lived for ages, had also never seen those flowers and trees. Even he was excited by all the new experiences there. Mira half seriously debated whether this was a dream or fairy tale world. But she did not forget her main objective of finding the spirit there.
As Mira walked amongst that breathtaking scenery she felt she was getting closer to the spirit, so she did not hesitate to delve deeper inside. She made her way through there for around ten minutes.
Mira reached a small clearing amidst the thick greenery, with a large mass standing in the center of it, covered in vines and plants.
It looked extremely out of place, but somehow she felt the spirit inside it.
Mira would have to figure out what that mass was, and why it was placed there, if she wanted to meet the spirit. Very carefully she went closer to it. It remained completely immobile as Mira got closer, so she started carefully circling around it.
It was around ten meters wide and deep, and six meters tall.
Once she had a rough idea of its dimensions, she checked what was beneath the vines. She reached for them and pulled, trying to tear them off, but they were far more resilient than she expected, so in the end she had to slip between them and get into the mass.
「I see, so that's what it is…」
Underneath around a meter of vines, Mira found a bright white wall and a door supported with black wood. Thinking back to the overall size and external shape, Mira understood what she had found.
It was a house, left to the elements for so many years that vines and plants had covered it.
「Hmm… it won't open.」
The plants and vines had grown so thick that no matter how hard she pulled, the door was kept shut by them. Not to mention that she barely had any space to move, so she was quite restrained as well.
The house that had become a nondescript bundle of vines had no available entrance. But the spirit had somehow gotten inside, and she still felt it in there.
After thinking about all sorts of solutions, she knocked on the door without really thinking about it. Somehow that prompted a response though, as a voice asked, 「Who's there?」
「Ahh… err, I'm Mira, a summoner. I felt a spirit's presence so I got curious and came here.」
This was deep inside a dungeon, in an area shut off by divine power. Having such a casual interaction in such a place threw Mira off a bit, but she answered honestly.
「Oh, then you were the one calling to me earlier!」
The voice behind the door exclaimed with joy. That was clearly the same spirit Mira had formed a connection with earlier. Hearing that made Mira feel a bit more at ease. A moment later all the vines and plants around the door receded to the sides, freeing it in an instant.
「It's been a while since I've had a visitor. Please come in.」
The door opened as she spoke, a breeze of floral scents wafting out from inside the house. The scent was even more powerful than that of the flowers around, but had a strangely relaxing effect.
Mira had been invited to enter, so she walked through the door, and was soon impressed by what she saw there.
「This is… incredible…」
The house itself was a pretty regular house, built of stone and wood. But the interior was completely covered with flowers, except for the area around a table in the center. But unlike the greenery outside, the flowers were carefully organized by type and color, giving it a rather aesthetic appearance.
「I'm glad you seem to have taken a liking to my humble abode.」
The spirit's smile as she said that seemed to overshadow the beautiful flowers around the house.
「Ohhh… ah, err, thank you for having me.」
Mira was completely speechless by the beauty of it all, so she stammered a bit before she could return the greeting.
「I'm Martel, an Originator Spirit looking over plants. Nice to meet you.」
The spirit gave a quick bow and introduced herself, smiling kindly.
「Oh, a plant spirit. It's an honor meeting you.」
Mira had met flower spirits or tree spirits before, but Martel had called herself a plant spirit, which covered both of them. Considering the location Mira had expected her to be a rather powerful spirit, but was was still shocked to hear Martel was above everything she knew,
But that was not the only surprising revelation.
「…Hm? Originator Spirit? Is that different from a Primitive Spirit?」
Spirits that were formed in furniture or tools were named Man-Made Spirits, and those who reigned over nature were called Primitive Spirits. But Martel had referred to herself as an Originator Spirit. Maybe the term Primitive Spirits was only used by humans.
Mira continued thinking about that.
『The spirits of nature you know are called Primitive Spirits. I can understand why you feel confused.
A voice rang in Mira's head, and the Spirit King's Divine Protection's mark started glowing all over her body. Barely a moment passed and an image of the Spirit King, scaled down to human size, was projected next to Mira.
「You always come out whenever you feel like it…」
「Well, I hope you can forgive me, I just have a lot to explain.」
The Spirit King always did as he pleased through the Divine Protection. Mira was slightly baffled with his antics, but he just feigned a smile and apologized, though he did not sound very sincere. While his attitude could be better, Mira did not exactly hate that.
Thanks to him she had a conversation partner she could talk casually with, and more importantly, he possessed a wealth of knowledge that was very valuable for her as an adventurer.
「It's been a while, Martel. I had a hunch it was you from the presence Mira felt, I'm glad to see I was right, and that I could meet you again.」
The Spirit King faced Martel and spoke, sounding slightly relieved.
「It truly has been a long time, Lord Sym. I also sensed your presence, though I never expected to see you again, and in this manner no less.」
Martel also smiled, glad that they could meet again. Lord Sym was likely a nickname, being a shorter version of Symbiosanctius. That also showed how close they were to each other.
(Hmm… somehow I feel isn't just a reunion of old friends though.)
The Spirit King mentioned being glad they had managed to meet again, and Martel also sounded like she had not expected such a reunion. Mira remained silent as they spoke, guessing that the reason why they spoke that way was also related to the reason Martel had been sealed there.
「Lord Sym… it's also been a while since someone called me that.」
「Is that so? The others no longer call you that?」
「Many call me King, or King Symbi. Though there's also those who always use my full name.」
「I see, things must have changed a lot since back then.」
「Yes, things have changed…」
Martel and the Spirit King were in a good mood, having tons of things to talk about. Meanwhile Mira listened silently, wondering things like just how many ages ago Martel's back then referred to.