You can see them?

"I welcome everyone," the patriarch continued, his voice resonating through the hall. "All of you must be wondering why we are gathered here?" He swept his gaze across the guests; every face held a curious, expectant air.

"Today, I, Fred Rodrick, have not one, but two significant announcements to make." He paused briefly, allowing his words to hang in the air. While the head of the family made his pronouncements, his wife stood silently behind him, her mouth subtly covered by a folding fan.

"First, Carl Rodrick, step forward."

Carl immediately stepped forward, positioning himself before everyone, facing the patriarch. 

"Firstly, allow me to introduce him for those who don't know," Fred Rodrick began, gesturing to Carl. 

"This child here is Carl Rodrick, the first son of the Rodrick family. He was admitted to our nation's number one academy, 'Halo Academy,' at 17 and will turn 18 this year. Many of you wouldn't know this, but he is a mage."

A wave of gasps rippled through the crowd in realization.

"You can say he's already at an intermediary level. You all must be wondering why I'm telling you all this. You say I'm a proud father, and I am thrilled to declare that Carl Rodrick will be the next head of the Rodrick family!"

His wife's lips curved into a smile of amusement, quickly hidden behind her folding fan. But it was evident she was immensely pleased. Others in the hall didn't react strongly; the announcement seemed entirely acceptable to them. They all knew how their other son was always in trouble—no wonder he was never even considered for the next head position. No one opposed his decision. The family elders were smiling in affirmation, as if it had been discussed beforehand.

Is this what Carl meant when he said he had a surprise for me? Hiroto mused, a cold clarity settling over him.

"The announcement is not over yet." Fred Rodrick's voice cut through the murmurs. 

His gaze swept over the assembled nobles and stopped at the head of the Shaw Family, Helmik Shaw, standing next to his daughter and wife. Helmik Shaw was very tall and well-built. He walked forward with his daughter behind him.

After he stopped in front of everyone, he smiled at Fred Rodrick.

"You know of the deep bond between our Rodrick and Shaw families. Through the generations, we've weathered storms and shared triumphs. And to solidify this enduring alliance, both families are overjoyed to announce the betrothal of our children—"

A few whispers started, anticipation building, assuming the familiar names would follow.

"—Emma Shaw and Carl Rodrick!"

A wave of stunned silence washed over the hall, immediately followed by an almost audible gasp of collective confusion. Guests exchanged bewildered glances, their whispers growing louder. 

Emma? But... wasn't she engaged to Hemal? 

The question hung unspoken in the air. Fred, however, smiled, a thin, satisfied curve to his lips, and raised his glass. Helmik Shaw mirrored his gesture, a faint, unreadable smile. Seeing that everyone else also started raising their glasses, one after another, Hiroto watched. This was between two families, and changing the wedding groom or bride at the last minute wasn't uncommon. So, everyone just went with the flow.

Everyone else was shocked and amazed, but Hemal had already left the venue. He was outside in the palace garden. Although it had nothing to do with Hiroto's original life, he was in Hemal's body, so everything connected to Hemal indirectly involved Hiroto. He didn't know how to feel about it. Hemal had his fiancée snatched from him right before his eyes. Hiroto didn't want to deal with the aftermath, so he quietly slipped out of the banquet.

The garden was silent, a stark contrast to the lively banquet. The moon shone brightly overhead. 

Hiroto thought that the moon was no different from the moon on Earth, staring up at it for a very long time.

Suddenly, something flew past him. He was startled. Hiroto carefully observed it. It was flying around and didn't look hostile at all, shining with a silver aura. Hiroto assumed it was likely mana. He decided to follow it. After a short while, he saw many other similar things flying around in that part of the garden. He hesitated at first but decided to see what was going on, thinking perhaps it was normal in this world.

Hoping to learn something new, he then heard a voice, though he couldn't make out what it was saying. He saw the shiny things moving around the source of the voice. He spotted someone sitting on the ground from a distance, with all the shiny stuff flying around them. The person had something shiny on their finger and seemed to be talking to it. It felt like he'd stumbled upon another magical banquet.

The person sitting down suddenly looked in Hemal's direction. 

"Who are you?" It was a female voice. Hiroto didn't know what to do in this situation.

"I was just passing by and saw those shiny things..." he began, but before he could finish, the girl spoke, surprised.

"You can see them?"

"Y-yes," Hiroto awkwardly replied.

"So, why are you standing there? Come sit next to me."

"Um, what?" Hiroto couldn't comprehend the direction of this conversation. Regardless, he entertained it, as he had nothing else to do. He sat in front of her. This was the first time he truly noticed her features. She had long blonde hair, adorned with silver ornaments, and wore an elegant blue dress with golden designs. He didn't know this girl. She talked to all the shiny things as if playing house with them.

"Can you understand what they are saying?" Hiroto asked, curious.

"Can't you?" she countered.

Hiroto shook his head. 

"I don't even know what these shiny things are."

"What?"

Hiroto immediately regretted saying that, thinking it must be common knowledge.

The girl pondered momentarily, then said, "These are spirits."

"Spirits?"

"Yes, you should know there are many ways to interact with mana. One of the ways is using Spirits."

"So, you are a Spirit user," Hiroto concluded.

The girl looked at him dumbfoundedly. 

"Well, that's one way to say it, but the correct word is 'Shaman'."

Hiroto was amazed, learning something that hadn't been in the books he'd read. He wanted to know more. 

"Can anyone see and use spirits?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "They are even rarer than a mage."

Hiroto was surprised by this.

"Regardless, you need to form a contract with a spirit before you can see them," she continued.

"But I can see them," Hiroto pointed out.

"So you must have also contracted with them beforehand," she reasoned.

Hiroto looked at her intently.

She asked awkwardly, "You did, right?"

He shook his head. "This is my first time seeing something like this."

The girl stared at Hemal, her disbelief evident. 

"How is that even possible?" she asked.

"Is it really necessary to make a contract before you can see them?" Hiroto pressed, genuinely curious.

"Well, not always," she explained. "If a spirit wants to contract with you, it will show itself."

"Does that mean all these spirits want to make a contract with me?" Hiroto wondered aloud, looking at the shimmering forms around them.

"I'm not sure about that. I've never heard of this happening," she admitted, her brow furrowing. "If it were one spirit, it would be possible, but this many at once... I don't know."

"But you can see all of them," Hiroto pointed out.

"Well, I've been contracting with them since I was little," she replied.

"Makes sense," Hiroto murmured, a thought sparking that it probably had something to do with his possession. He asked, "Can't you just ask them?"

"I did ask them."

"So?"

"They said they never revealed their presence to you." She paused, then added, "They did say they find you quite unique."

"Unique? In what way?" Hiroto leaned forward.

"Hmm... How should I put it?" she mused, gazing at him intently. "Like you are here but not here at the same time." 

She shrugged. 

"I don't know what it all means."

The spirits began to circle Hiroto, just as they played around the girl. She chuckled. "I think they like you."

"They do?" Hiroto asked, surprised.

"They usually don't go near other people," she explained.

This is a good thing, Hiroto thought. Spirits can help with mana manipulation—another thing to try later.

He then noticed that not all the spirits were silver; a few were green. "Are they different spirits?" Hiroto pointed.

"Yes, they are. Most of them are wind spirits, and others are tree spirits," she confirmed.

"You mean the silver ones are wind spirits and the green ones are tree spirits?" Hiroto clarified.

"Silver? Green?" she repeated, a puzzled expression on her face.

Hiroto instantly regretted his words.

"Y-You can see colors in spirits?" she stammered.

Hiroto sighed. "I can see colors... What do you see?"

"Um... they all look the same to me. Only their shapes are different."

"Shapes? Aren't all of them just round, shiny clusters?"

"No," she said, pointing. "This one looks like a bird, this is a butterfly, and this is a dragonfly, and that one..."

"Okay, I get it. But I don't see their shapes."

"You're giving me one shock after another," she muttered, looking at him wide-eyed.

Hiroto pondered what could be the reason behind this new discrepancy. 

"The way you're saying it," the girl mused, looking at Hiroto, "it feels like you're not seeing the spirits, but something else entirely."

Suddenly, something clicked in Hiroto's mind. "I think I know what I'm seeing," he declared.

"What?" she asked, intrigued.

"Before that, can you tell me something? Can a mage see mana?"

"Yes, isn't that obvious? How else would they use mana?"

"I don't mean sense it," Hiroto clarified. "By 'see,' I mean literally see."

"No..." Her eyes widened in disbelief, and for a moment, she looked as surprised as she remembered being the first time she contracted and saw a spirit. 

"You... you can see mana?"

Hiroto offered a hesitant smile. 

"So, I have a theory," he continued. "What if Spirits are just clusters of mana with consciousness?"

The girl thought for a while, pondering everything she knew about spirits. But she had never heard of anything like this before. 

"I've never heard of something like this before," she admitted.

"I could be wrong," Hiroto said, "but if I'm right, everything would make sense."

The girl tried to understand the theory behind his words. 

"When you say you see mana, what do you see?"

Hiroto looked around, trying to articulate his perception. 

"It is like clouds of different colors. When I try to touch it, I can't."

The girl abruptly stood up. 

"I think I need to study more about this. If I discover something, I will contact you." Saying that, she quickly ran towards the palace's exit.

"Wait—" Hiroto tried to stop her, but she was quick on her feet. Before he knew it, she was out of sight.

How is she going to contact me? Hiroto mused with a sigh, I don't even know who she was or what she was doing here. He still had more problems to solve, but this discovery meant the probability of his returning to Earth had perhaps increased.

He decided to go back to his room and conduct the experiment he had delayed earlier.

Note: Check the showcase.