Astoria felt a little envious of Vaan. She hoped that one day, she could also make a contract with a cute spirit like his little fairy.
However, she wasn’t sure if she had the same luck. After all, finding the spirits was one thing, but entering a contract with them was another.
They had to be willing.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t just about having a contracted spirit; she also envied the relationship between Vaan and his Earth Spirit.
Vaan was like the sun; get too close, and his hot flames would only hurt her. After all, he wielded a vast amount of information and knowledge—something she couldn’t begin to understand.
However, she had enough self-awareness to understand that a normal human could only store so much information and knowledge in their brain.
It was impossible to have no side effects at Vaan’s level; he must have lost something in return for his knowledge. And that something was his humanity.
He seemed emotionless and only capable of rational choices for self-growth and self-preservation.
If Astoria had lived in Vaan’s old world, most people would call someone like him a robot—or at the very least, close to being one.
However, it was only during these rare interactions with his Earth Spirit that she could feel his warm and gentle light.
His human emotions weren’t lost but hidden or repressed.
“What do you think of Tia, Teacher Raphna?” Astoria suddenly asked.
“Hm? Where’s that coming from?” Vaan casually glanced at her with a smile before seeing her patient but firm look.
Evidently, she was expecting him to answer her question.
“Well, Tia is family,” Vaan stated.
At the same time, he continued to feed Topaz beef stew with his wooden spoon and watched her rejoice with each mouthful of goodness.
Her precious smile made him smile.
“Family?” Hester glanced over from her seat on the adjacent side to the campfire in the middle and said, “Their source of power aside, having a contracted spirit is not much different from owning a pet.”
“Of course, I heard there are some Spirit Contractors that outright treat their contracted spirits as tools,” Hester added.
Although she sounded like a villain, the topic piqued her curiosity. Thus, she also wanted to hear Vaan’s thoughts on the matter.
“A pet, huh? That’s one way of looking at it,” Vaan calmly faced Hester’s question before saying, “However, let me ask you a question, Lady Hester.”
“If you were to adopt a dog, would you consider it your pet? Or would consider yourself its mother?” Vaan asked.
“Isn’t it the same thing?” Hester furrowed her brows and said, “It would be my pet, and I would be its mother. There’s no need to separate the two.”
“Actually, there is,” Astoria corrected.
“It’s the difference between seeing a ‘pet’ as a ‘pet’ and seeing a ‘pet’ as ‘family.’ There’s a huge difference between a pet and a family. It tells us how much you care for it and how you would treat it.”
“That said, I didn’t think Teacher Raphna could be so compassionate. I thought you only knew how to use people,” Astoria redirected the topic back to Vaan.
She was aware that Vaan was using her influence and power for his own benefit. However, that’s also because she was willing to be used by him.
After all, humanity needed his wisdom.
That said, there was still a limit to how much she was willing to let him use her; she wouldn’t give everything to him.
At the very least, she wasn’t willing to give her body to him unless he opened his heart to her.
Nevertheless, Vaan’s subtly flickered when he heard Astoria’s words.
He was starting to understand why Astoria wasn’t willing to give herself to him despite having feelings for him.
After Vaan responded with a slight smile, he quizzed them, “What do you think happens to a spirit if its Spirit Contractor dies?”
“I would say the spirit becomes free, but I don’t think you would ask such a simple question… Don’t tell me the spirit dies with the Spirit Contractor?” Astoria suddenly asked with surprise at the realization.
“That’s right,” Vaan confirmed with a nod.
Thanks to the spiritual connection with Topaz, he could also vaguely sense the consequence of breaking the spiritual connection.
“If a contracted spirit dies, the Spirit Contractor only loses spirit power. But if the Spirit Contractor dies, the spirit dies with them. That’s why spirit contracts are sacred to spirits. They are entrusting their lives to their Spirit Contractors.”
“Now, under such conditions, where my mistake could result in both our deaths, why wouldn’t I treat Tia as my family? I’m not that inhumane. At the very least, I wouldn’t treat someone who has entrusted their life to me coldly,” Vaan stated.
Sensing Vaan’s gaze, Topaz gave him a foolish and innocent giggling smile while some remnants of the beef stew stuck to her cheeks.
He took how a white cloth and wiped her face clean.
But at the same time, Topaz thought the white cloth was food and tried biting into it—only to ‘un-bite’ it with a disappointed look.
“Kyuu…” she uttered.
The white cloth wasn’t tasty.
Everyone softly chuckled at her adorable but dissatisfied face. Even Aeliana couldn’t help but smile slightly.
Nevertheless, Astoria thought about Vaan’s words before she asked, “What about Wise Scholar Eniwse, Teacher Raphna? Is Wise Scholar Eniwse to you? Do you love her?”
“Love…” Vaan wryly smiled before calmly saying, “Love is a luxury that I cannot afford to have. I try not to think about it.”
“Why not?” Astoria asked.
“What’s the use of love if you cannot defend it? What’s the use of love if you or your partner cannot live to savor its sweetness?” Vaan responded.
“This world has given humanity longer lifespans, yet more people die every day before reaching a ripe age, and much less get to live fulfilling lives. Even now, humanity is threatened by more powerful beings of another dimension—beings we know little to nothing about. The Seven Great Devils? They are certainly a source of concern, but they aren’t the only threats in this world.”
“Who knows how many other beings are on their level, or even above them? Our lives are insignificant to them and can easily be snuffed out with a flick of their hands. Anyone can love, but not me.”
“There are too many unanswered questions in this world. Why is the world the way it is? What is Gehenna? Why did it appear? There is so much knowledge in this world that I have yet to learn. I cannot fall until I comprehend everything.”
“That is the only way I can do my ability justice,” Vaan coolly stated.
Since he was born with such a powerful growth-type innate learning ability, it would be a waste if he did not make full use of it.
Procrastination was the death of progress.
While his words seemed like a bucket of cold splashing on the grim fate of humanity, they also revealed his grand aspiration and ambition.
Hester and Astoria couldn’t help but feel drawn to Vaan; he was a driven man. And a driven man was deadly attractive.
At the same time, Aeliana also smiled.
She felt proud to have such a person as her Lord. She looked forward to seeing the future he could bring her.
Although Astoria was happy to learn that Vaan was someone who would make full use of his gift, which would ultimately benefit humanity, she also felt a little sad for him.
He would have to lead a rather lonely life to shoulder the burden of knowledge.
Who could share it with him?
“I feel sad for you and everyone who would fall for your charms, Teacher Raphna. You will not love, and they will not be loved. It’s a rather lonely life despite having women by your side,” Astoria commented with a self-deprecating smile.
She felt like she was pitying herself since she also seemed to be one of the women who had fallen for his charms.
Nevertheless, Vaan raised an eyebrow after listening to her.
“What are you talking about, Headmaster Astoria?” Vaan wryly smiled before he said, “I don’t remember saying I will never love in this life. It’s only something I would consider once I establish a firm foothold in this world.”
“Huh? Is that so?” Astoria uttered with surprise, feeling relieved in her heart before she furrowed her brows. “But what is a firm foothold according to you?”
“To be strong enough to stand up against anyone threatening my interests and not be a moth that perishes in the flame,” Vaan calmly stated.
He had seen men snatched away from their women by other, more powerful women simply because they were handsome or because their public display of affection aroused others’ envy.
Of course, some more ruthless witches also destroyed lives simply because lovey-dovey relationships were eyesores to them.
Simply said, doing anything could potential displease someone, and that someone could ruin his life just because they can.
Thus, he had to be stronger than anyone even to consider love.
When Astoria heard Vaan’s answer, she couldn’t help but lament in her heart. It was the same as saying he wouldn’t love until he becomes stronger than Transcendent Witches.
Perhaps, Teacher Raphna could become the next Rank 5 Aura King, but how long would it take him?
Actually, it might not take that long at all.
After all, his strength had grown at an exponential rate, far, far quicker than any other man she knew.
Given his depth of knowledge, anything seemed possible for him.