In order to enjoy novels and stories, Lord Spirit decided the best approach was to narrate them aloud.
A quiet room was prepared for this purpose, and Toria and Alto entered it alone.
"Right then, I'm going to speak via Friend Chat, so listen quietly."
"Ooh! I'm ready-dao!"
"Deep breath... 'Title: My Lord Demon King, There Is a Traitor Among Us! Demon King Al Betray had challenged the entire world to war. Today was the day of the Demon King’s Army Supreme Executive Council meeting to discuss the current state of the conflict. In attendance were Demon Chancellor Lee Uragi, Demon Priest Shin Hai, and Demon Grand Shogun Usha Naights. They were joined by the Four Heavenly Kings: Horn Mu of Earth, Datsu San of Water, Ku Mikko of Wind, and Gaeri Ne of Fire. As these eight pivotal figures convened, a single, earth-shattering report arrived: "My Lord Demon King, there is a traitor among us!" Who, then, was the turncoat...?'"
And with that, the torrent of words began.
Toria's mouth moved without pause; in just a few minutes, she narrated an entire chapter of nearly 2,500 characters. Her speech was perfectly precise, never faltering for even a fraction of a second. The volume remained constant and unwavering. It was flawless.
"—Gaeri Ne was hauled away to the dungeons by soldiers acting on the Demon King’s orders. He was thrown into the depths of the Demon King’s Castle Dungeon, a place from which even a dragon could never hope to escape...' And that's the end of Chapter 1. How was it!?"
"...Log confirmation successful-dao!"
"Yes! We did it!"
"Ah, don't say anything else-dao! The log will scroll away-dao!"
"...! Right, having the Voice Recognition run automatically is a bit of a nuisance in this situation... Whoops."
Toria quickly clamped her hands over her mouth.
"! ...If we transcribe it before the log disappears, we can read it whenever we want later-dao."
"That’s the plan. Let's have them transcribe it."
"Alto-chan, can you see the log-dao?"
"Could I ask Toria-chan to take the second half?"
"W-What is a 'log'? I’m sorry, I don't understand."
"Same here. Also, Toria doesn't know how to write."
"So that's how it is."
"The literacy rate is a real problem-dao."
If they couldn't write, there was no helping it. They would either have to read the text before the log vanished or find someone else to write down what was narrated. That seemed to be the only way. For the time being, they decided to just read it before it disappeared—and so they did.
Now it was time for Chapter 2. They deactivated VR Mode again to discuss how to handle the input.
"If Toria-chan has to narrate the whole thing every time, her throat is going to be shredded."
"Then why don't we just become the Halo-dao? We’re talking through Friend Chat anyway-dao."
"Ah, good point. That would save your throat from the strain."
Having agreed, they switched to Auto Mode and decided to send the chat while in the Halo state.
"Here goes. Inhale... 'How pathetic. To think that despite being one of the Four Heavenly Kings, you were defeated by a mere Hero.' 'Keke! She was just the weakest of us anyway, all brawn and no brains...' 'Honestly, that dragon was a disgrace to our name. We must appoint a new representative for Fire at once.' The remaining Four Heavenly Kings sighed in mock lament—"
"Pigi!?"
"Hya!?"
This time, both Toria and Alto let out sharp cries, cutting the narration short.
"Whoa, whoa, what’s wrong?"
"Aba... ababa... The command... um, we have to choose a new Fire representative...?"
"I-I'm sorry, Lord Spirit. A massive flood of words entered my head... I feel so dizzy..."
"Ah. So that's how it feels-dao."
In Auto Mode, the Spirit's words were treated as absolute commands. For Toria, the pasted text—the novel's dialogue and narration—had all become "commands from the Spirit." This was a serious problem.
Furthermore, even though Alto was only listening, having such a massive volume of information forced into her mind in an instant had been overwhelming. It was only natural for them to be startled; having a novel streamed directly into one's brain would be a shock to anyone.
"Hmm, that was a total failure."
"It seems like the safest bet is to narrate it to someone who can write, have them transcribe it, and then turn it into a book-dao."
"That’s way too much work... but I guess there’s no other way."
Since they had managed to read the first chapter, it wasn't a complete loss, but it was hardly a success either. They switched back to VR Mode to talk it over.
"If we’re having someone write it down, we’ll have to narrate at a pace they can keep up with."
"Getting the text perfectly accurate will be impossible-dao."
"Should we just look for a bookstore in the game? It might be faster to just buy books there."
"Ooh, that would be a sight to see-dao. We’d probably just end up with a pile of unread books—a whole new sin-dao."
"U-Um..."
"Lord Spirit. We have a small request."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"Dao? That’s unusual-dao."
The two spirit-possessed vessels spoke up timidly.
"...Toria wants to know what happens next in the story. Please tell us."
"There are still more traitors, right? What’s going to happen to the Demon King’s Army!?"
"...Ah, so that’s how it is."
"Well, this can't be helped-dao. Toria, you should tell Alto-chan and the others the rest-dao!"
In the end, using the first manual method, the Spirit managed to tell the entire story to his vessels. Toria's throat took a bit of a beating, but she was quickly restored with Light Heal.