Daybreak Summoner Chapter 17 (Patreon)

Chapter 17 I Always Want to be With You

Fuu-chan has returned to her original small body.

She was back on top of Shifle's head, where she had been before, and she didn't move a muscle.

"Fuu-chan, you were a great summoned beast, weren't you?"

"S-class summoned beast Frezberk..., you made Garuda look so trivial..."

"Fufufu, you can praise me more."

Shifle puffed out her chest with pride as they both exclaimed in surprise.

The blue jewel on the end of her trekking pole was not glowing at the moment.

"I'm sorry, Fuu-chan, I thought I wouldn't be able to rely on you for help."

"Did you really think that, Rei-onee-san?"

Rei apologized while stroking Fuu-chan's entire body.

Shifle seemed to be shocked in her own way as Fuu-chan remained unfazed and let her do as she pleased.

"Shifle, why does this one usually look like this?"

Rinna wondered.

Shifle smiled and looked at Rei and Rinna in turn before answering.

"Because I always want to be with her, that's why."

"Always, together..."

Nodding in agreement, Shifle continued to speak.

"Shifle wants to be with Fuu-chan all the time, and Fuu-chan thinks so too. But they can't be together in its original form."

She gave Fuu-chan a stroke on the top of her head.

Fuu-chan narrows its eyes pleasantly.

A strong bond with her partner of many years.

Rei and Rinna could clearly feel it as well, even if they couldn't see it.

"That's why I usually summon my partner in an imperfect form on purpose."

"So that's the reason..."

"Summon imperfectly?"

While Rinna was convinced, Rei's question was not solved yet.

To her question, Rinna now answers.

"Oh, didn't you know Rei, if the summoner's strength is greatly inferior to the summoned beast's strength, the summoned beast will be summoned in an incomplete form or not listen to orders."

"I see, so a strong summoned beast also has risks..."

"By the way, this form is a Frezberk chick."

Rei finally had all her questions answered, and she looked refreshed.

However, a thought suddenly occurs to her.

"Huh... So I could have been summoned as a baby?"

"That's... not likely, I don't know what level of summoned beast Rei is, but she's human."

Rei shuddered at the horrible thought, but it was unlikely to happen.

It would only happen if the summoner's rank was lower against a powerful being.

A case like that could not happen to Reii, a mere human girl.

However....

Thinking to that point, Rinna came up with a possibility.

"An incomplete SUMMON.... An entity without substance..."

The Sword of Light.

That mysterious power that hides powerful strength.

What if the sword with no substance is the result of an incomplete summon?

What would happen when I gain the ability to match that power?

We don't even know if that was summoned by the summoning technique in the first place.

It's too unreliable to make assumptions.

"Hey, Rin-chan, it's time to go!"

Rinna was jolted back to reality.

Perhaps she had been too deep in thought, but Rei and Shifle had finished their preparations for the descent and were about to start walking.

"Oh, oh. Sorry, I'll be right there."

I interrupted my thoughts and checked the contents of my luggage to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything.

After firmly confirming that there were ten yellow glowing jewels, I made a short run towards them.

With Rei in the lead, the three of them began to walk through the grass towards the trail.

Shifle whispered to Rinna so that Rei wouldn't hear her as she led the way.

"Rinna-onee-san, from the looks of it, you haven't told her about the imprinting of the summoned beast yet?"

"...I haven't told her. I probably won't be able to tell her from now on."

I let out a light sigh and look at Rei's back.

Favors are being instilled into the summoned beast to protect the Master.

Fake feelings, like brainwashing.

The guilt I feel towards her continues to smolder in my heart.

"Shifle thinks. No matter how it started, the time we spent together will turn it into something real."

"Fuu-chan."

Shifle and Fuu-chan.

The girls are bound by a strong bond and never leave each other's side even for a moment.

The strong bond that exists between them is created by the time they have spent together.

It's not something that was created by the summoning technique.

"...I guess so. We can make it from now on, can't we, Rei?"

Rinna mumbled quietly so that she wouldn't hear.

But Rinna firmly put her thoughts into it as she muttered.

"But frankly speaking, it seems that Rei-onee-san's feelings are already real..."

"Huh?"

Shifle also whispered to Fuu-chan so that Rinna wouldn't hear.

"Yay! We're on the trail!"

They stepped over the animal trail and finally found themselves on a human path.

Rei raised her hands and shouted with joy.

The path was as good as unpaved, but it was much easier to walk on than going through a path with no road to follow.

I can feel the blessings of civilization all over my body.

Rinna is working hard to remove a large number of leaves from her black cloak.

"Come on, let's get down the mountain before it gets dark."

The sky was as cloudy as ever.

It could start raining at any moment.

It would take about four hours from there to the bottom of the mountain.

By the time we returned to the town of Simbu, the sun would be almost set.

Shifle began to walk down the mountain path with a familiar gait.

Rei and Rinna followed her and started walking.

"Shifle-chan, you're doing well. Even after all that walking."

Shifle walked ahead of her.

She lightly jumped over a rock ledge and walked down the slope with light steps.

"That's true. My feet are rather sore, though."

Even Rinna, who was used to the mountains and fields, was not this far behind.

When Rei heard what she said, she quickly replied.

"Rin-chan, does your leg hurt? Then I'll carry you like a princess."

"You don't have to."

Rei's shoulders slumped as she was flatly refused.

"Why not? You don't have to be shy."

"It's not that I'm shy. I'm just saying I still can do it."

--and I don't want to burden Rei with it.

"Nn, did you say something?"

"I didn't say anything. Look, Shifle's going to leave us."

Rinna increases her walking pace.

Shifle seems to have progressed a considerable distance.

She turns to look at us and stops.

"Aww, wait, Rin-chan."

Rei followed Rinna and they both caught up with Shifle.

"Were you two making out again? You two are so close."

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to keep you waiting."

Rei's response to Shifle who was grinning at her was already familiar.

She immediately apologized and started walking with Shifle.

Rinna, on the other hand, was blushing.

"Oh, by the way, Shifle-chan is an A-class summoner, not an S-class. right?"

"Yes, that's right, Shifle just became an A-class summoner."

The three of them walked down the long mountain road.

As they reached a densely forested area, the smell of thick greenery hit their noses.

From Rei's question, the conversation drifted to Shifle.

"You can control an S-class summoned beast that well, but you can't move up to S-class?"

"That's right. Fuu-chan was amazing earlier."

"...In order to become S-class, you need to be able to control a variety of summoned beasts, and Fuu-chan is only doing this because it cares about Shifle."

Shifle stops speaking and looks up at the cloudy sky peeking through the trees.

"With Shifle's original ability, even an S-class or A-class summoned beast wouldn't obey her."

She laughs a little sadly and pats Fuu-chan.

She knew that she wasn't an A-class person by nature, and that thought had been lingering in her mind for a while now.

"Without Fuu-chan, Shifle is just a child."

"That's not true!"

It was Rinna who raised her voice unusually.

Shifle turned to Rinna and stopped dead in her tracks.

"You know, Shifle taught me about partial enhancements. It helped me save Rei and gave me the confidence to continue to help her. So, please don't say such things..."

"Rinna-onee-san..."

Tears formed in the corners of Shifle's eyes.

Rubbing it with her arm, Shifle's speech relaxes a little.

"Ehehe, I showed you an uncool part as a senior, didn't I?"

"Shifle..."

She must have felt a little better after letting out what she was holding in.

Shifle smiled a little shyly.

Then Fuu-chan, above her head, looked at the sky and raised her voice.

"Fuu-chan!"

"What's wrong, Fuu-chan..., ah!"

The weather in the mountains can change easily.

This is especially true in the mountains of thunder.

Sunlight streamed in through the thick clouds.

It poured down from between the trees and warmly illuminated the three of them and one bird.

In the warmth of the sun, the girls paused for a moment.

"...Let's go, Rin-chan, Shifle-chan."

"Hmm... I suppose so."

"Let's go!"

The clouds were beginning to fade and the sky was blue.

The three of them descended the mountain path, their steps much lighter than their ascent.