Cottan

The Spirit’s Song Far Eastern Spirits are a rare sight in the Federal mainland, if you’re lucky enough to see them, be sure to say hello. Far East Cottan was born in a rich area of the Far East, her people live by the human fields of the Far East. Spirits and humans live together in harmony. Upon each Autumn harvest, humans will regularly hold celebrations as a way of thanking the spirits’ protection of their crops. They will also leave the first batch of grain in the center of the harvested field for the Spirits. This grain has the concentration of people’s blessings within it, making it full of Soul Essence. For the Spirits, taking it not only means getting magic materials, but also proves the ability of the taker, perhaps it could be considered as the Spirit’s coming of age ceremony. So in order to take it, there are some weaker spirits who would rather use magic to destroy the fields than let other Spirits take it. If they can’t have it, then no one can. If they’re unable to take the grain, Fire Spirits plan to use fire to burn it all, Water Spirits want to use water to wash the grain away... However, Cottan just wants to be able to fly faster, the naive spirit doesn’t understand why the other spirits would do those things. Suddenly, a grand spirit that Cottan has never seen before appeared by her side. "This won’t do. Do you want to get that grain?" 『Yeah! I want to become a mature Spirit!" 『Mhmmm, then you must remember... When the contest starts, share your Soul Essence with everyone and you’ll win." As she was talking, the grand Spirit opened up her beautiful wings, stunning Cottan. 『Remember to give me some grain when you win." Cottan didn’t have time to respond before the spirit disappeared. As the young girl was still in awe of those beautiful wings, the competition started. Cottan remembered what the grand Spirit had said; she closed her eyes and began sharing her Soul Essence with all the other Spirits. Due to the excessive Soul Essence, the Fire Spirits couldn’t cast their spells straight, and the Water Spirits also overdid it a little, resulting them in washing themselves and other Spirits along with them. But Cottan, who had her eyes closed as she shared Soul Essence, didn’t notice what was happening around her in the slightest. ······ Cottan was ecstatic for days about the grain she had managed to take, but upon thinking about that Spirit with the beautiful wings, she felt as though she still had unfinished business. The young Spirit thus said goodbye to her home in the Far East and stepped out onto her journey to travel the world. The Federation Humans are already completely used to the existence of Spirits. As organizations such as the Tower of Seasons started to appear, Spirits were no longer mysterious like they had been before and even started to get closer with humans voluntarily. However, the Far Eastern Spirit, Cottan was an exception of the exception. This cute little Spirit was not only not scared of humans, but even shared her Soul Essence with everyone. The warm Soul Essence could not only relieve exhaustion, but was even able to fully heal wounds and sicknesses. This gave some of the Federation’s Nobles a sordid idea, having an exotic servant from the Far East would display their wealth well, especially a Spirit as special as this one. From asking around, they found out an interesting piece of information: The little Spirit loved sweet foods. After a bit of hard work, mercenaries discovered the little Spirit in an area not too far from the capital. 『Excuse me, have you seen a Spirit with wings THIS big?" The little Spirit not only didn’t avoid the coming mercenaries, but actually asked them first while making clumsy gestures with her hands. The mercenaries couldn’t believe their luck. After getting a negative reply, the little Spirit seemed a little upset, but then took an orb of golden Soul Essence to share with everyone whilst playfully giggling and smiling. Facing such a cute Spirit, the mercenaries were a little taken aback. But the Captain promptly snapped out of it. 『We’ve got this delicious food for you as a reward, can you come with us to a nice little place?" Upon opening the tin of candy and displaying his “sincerity”, the kind and cheery little Spirit suddenly became all serious. 『Everyone’s so nice to me! I must get out my most valuable possession in exchange!" The little Spirit had taken the bait! The mercenaries were over the moon, they thought that this would be perfect. However, the little Spirit just hurriedly took out the candy given to her by other humans before form her pocket and presented it to them. Of course, those irritated mercenaries started to charge towards Cottan, but were thoroughly battered by some passing by grand spirits of the Tower of Seasons. Well, that’s a story for another time...