Chapter 33: Second Summon (part 2)

“… Anna.”

Shhuuang!

The angelic wings spread out and withdrew from her back, gathering in one place as if they were embracing her b0dy. Through the gathered wings, a knight in armor descended.

“Master, did you call?”

Full plate armor covered her entire body. A beautiful mask beneath the flowing blonde hair exposed the lower part of her crown. The beauty of her face could only be recognized by the exposed lower portion, but even beyond the mask, her allure was undeniable. 

She was the paladin of salvation.

I stood up, looked at her, and asked, “Anna, has anyone summoned you before me?”

“I’m sorry, but you are my first summoner. Sorry for not being of any help, Master.”

“Is that so? When you were summoned, did you receive something like a backup from the world, gaining knowledge from it or something?”

“What do you mean…?”

“No, never mind.”

As I spoke with her, I realized something about the common sense and information that summons like her possessed. I also understood that nothing I did would likely surprise her. 

I smiled slightly as I looked at the heirloom in my inventory.

‘Should I summon…here?’

A sudden thought crossed my mind. Why did this world require soul power to use heirlooms? That didn’t happen in the game. If there was a difference in this world, which was completely modeled after the game, there had to be a reason. 

And I thought the reason might be… 

‘Distribution of resources. That should be it, right?’

I turned on the system and entered the Temple of Summoning. Hundreds of billions of dollars had been spent here. Tens of thousands of users had shed tears on this ground. 

Well, since I could use the game’s system, of course, I could use this facility too. It meant there was no need to go to the temple at the academy to summon.

‘I couldn’t do it before because I had to be mindful of others’ eyes during the first summon.’

But now, things were different. No one was watching. After secretly summoning, no one would know if the summon came from a family heirloom or was performed at a temple in the Eritz Territory. 

No one would know that I had this power.

“Anna, you’ve been through a lot on your own up until now.”

“… Master? What—”

Whether Anna was startled or not, I placed the heirloom into the temple. Soon after, the heirloom began to react with the temple.

Whew!

A massive bird appeared in the distance. As it drew closer, its form became clearer. 

It wasn’t just any bird.

It was a phoenix, an immortal creature that protected the south, represented all flying beasts, and never died. The soaring phoenix dived toward the ground and transformed into a single woman.

Thrung!

A gray-haired woman appeared. Her figure was simple, armed only with a sword, and her appearance was ragged. But her eyes burned as hot as fire.

A phoenix rises from the ashes.

Then she knelt before me.

“I am Theresia Erhard, leader of the Order of the Phoenix. I have appeared at the call of my master.”

“Good.”

Theresia wore only a shabby, worn-out robe and carried a sword, despite her position as the knight commander. 

Compared to Anna, who had arrived fully armored, Theresia seemed severely under-equipped. Yet, she was a 3-star summon on the same level as Anna.

Whoosh!

A phoenix was added to the pattern engraved on the back of my hand. At first glance, the angel wings and phoenix symbol were hard to distinguish.

“Master? This?”

“You now have a companion.”

As Anna, startled by the sudden appearance of a new summon, looked between me and Theresia, I waved my hand casually.

“Come on, you two should introduce yourselves. This is Anna, our team’s tank. And this is Theresia, our knight and damage dealer.”

“… Did you say you were from the Order of the Phoenix?” 

“That pattern… the paladin from the Holy Kingdom of Azaria.”

To my surprise, they seemed to recognize each other. There were things like this in the game. Summons were legendary heroes who once lived in this world. If they retained memories of their lives, it wasn’t surprising they remembered each other.

“You two know each other? That’s great! You should become friends.”

At my words, both Anna and Theresia turned to glare at me. Though they were both beautiful, the bitterness in their eyes made me uneasy.

“Master, I apologize.”

“I’m sorry, Master.”

They spoke at the same time and then glanced at each other.

“I cannot be friends with her.”

“I cannot befriend a religious fanatic.”

“… I beg your pardon? A fanatic?”

“Would you like to test your faith?”

Seeing the two of them about to clash, I sighed. Were they like this in the game too? 

I didn’t know. In the game, the met only for a short while, and they never fought when progressing through the story or entering the Infinite Dungeon.

‘…so it’s different in real life, huh?’

With that thought, I quickly stepped in, stopping them from their heated standoff.

“Both of you, stop fighting. Theresia.”

“Yes, Master?”

“I have something for you.”

Her eyes widened in curiosity. She had just been summoned and didn’t expect to receive anything.

“Look, you can’t fight like this. You need at least some leather armor.”

“Here, take this.”

I pulled out the Phoenix Knight’s armor from my inventory and laid it on the floor. Theresia’s face stiffened.

“Master, where did you get this…?”

“Master!” 

Leaving the stunned Theresia behind, Anna rushed over, shocked. Staring at the armor, she looked at me and shouted.

“This isn’t fair! You haven’t even given me a gift yet!”

---

Things are Not Looking Good:

Yes, things are not looking good. As you know, translation requires a lot of time and energy. I translate, edit and proofread the chapters on my own. I will be honest here, I started translating as a hobby, then it evolved to a hope of earning a living by doing something I enjoy. 

However, I suffered a chain of misfortunes during and after the pandemic, and earnings from FSM and RTV helped me a lot. It became a significant part of my life. As long as my monthly income bordered around $200, I could make the time to translate in the middle of other works. Then RTV ended, and the earning decreased. Now, it has decreased to around $90-$100. And with PETTV nearing completion, that would decrease even more. A*dsence gets me about $ 0.50 per day, and you can’t get the payment until it reaches $100, so I can’t depend on that either. 

It wouldn’t be an issue in normal circumstances, but it matters a lot to me since I am still dealing with a lot of financial troubles. I am currently looking for a job, and will have to invest my time and energy in it once I get it.

Long story short, if you enjoy reading this novel, support the translation if you can, either by becoming a Patron in Patreon, or sponsoring chapters at BuymeaCoffee. You can also take some time to watch a*ds to increase the revenue on A*dsence. Grains of sand together can form a desert.

FSM supporters has been supporting me from the start no matter what, so I would continue to translate FSM as long as I am alive. But for the other projects, I now desperately need your support so that I can spend the time and energy to serve them to you all. That’s all. Thank you.