WCSVL 09

Chapter – 09

Encounter.

Time passed quickly, and before she knew it, two years had gone by since Ruri started living with Chelsea.

She learned about the common sense of this world from Chelsea, gathered medicinal herbs and fruits in the forest to sell at the market, and had even begun to make acquaintances in town.

Sometimes she visited Lydia to play, helping her organize rooms that were destined to be erased.

She experimented with the limits of magic alongside the spirits, and taught Kotaro tricks.

She had reached the point where she rarely thought about Asahi or her classmates anymore—outwardly, she was living a fulfilling and peaceful life.

—

Then one day, Chelsea brought something up.

“Ruri, what are you thinking about your future?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s been two years since you came here. You used to talk about revenge and all that, but there’s no sign of that anymore. Don’t you think it’s about time you decided how you want to live in this world?”

“But it’s not certain that I can’t go back yet…”

“Then why don’t you ask the spirits? If there’s a way home, the spirits who have existed everywhere in this world since the beginning would be the best ones to ask. Don’t you think it’s about time you faced reality?”

Struck at a sore spot, Ruri averted her gaze awkwardly.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t tried to ask the spirits. But she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. If she heard the answer from them, and it was that she couldn’t go back…

She still wanted to hold on to that faint hope—that she might be able to return to the other world.

“You already have a feeling, don’t you?”

“…………”

The spirits knew that Ruri wanted to go home. Yet the spirits, who were always so cooperative with her, never touched on that subject. That probably meant exactly what she feared.

But Ruri had been pretending not to notice.

She had family back there. A university she had worked hard to get into—and though she still had few friends, she had finally started making some after distancing herself from Asahi.

It wasn’t a life she could give up so easily after only two years.

She wanted to keep escaping into the fantasy that this world was still just a dream.

But she also knew she couldn’t keep doing that. She couldn’t keep taking advantage of Chelsea’s kindness forever.

“I know I can’t go on like this. I know I can’t keep relying on you, Chelsea.”

“I don’t mind, you know. Living alone is fine, but having you here makes life easier. What I’m worried about, Ruri, is whether it’s really okay for you to keep hiding in this forest, running from reality.”

The sincerity in her voice showed how deeply she cared, and a warmth kindled deep in Ruri’s heart.

It was because Chelsea worried about her so seriously that Ruri had been able to live these two years in peace, untouched by despair.

“………But I don’t know what to do.”

“Then why not run an errand for me?”

“To town?”

“No, to the royal capital.”

Ruri blinked in surprise at the unexpected answer.

“My son just asked me to send him some medicinal herbs. I’d like you to take them. While you’re at it, spend some time seeing the capital. Go alone.”

“By myself?”

“Yes. I’ll send word ahead for you to stay with my son. Spend some time in the capital and see how all kinds of people live. If you can find a foundation for your own life, maybe you’ll eventually be able to sort out your feelings.”

—

***

—

And so, carrying the medicinal herbs and a letter addressed to Chelsea’s son, Ruri said goodbye to Chelsea for a while.

“Take care and go safely.”

“Okay~”

“Bumo bumo~”

Kotaro shrank his massive body and rubbed his nose against Ruri, as if to say he wanted to come along too.

“Sorry, but I can’t take a big guy like you to the royal capital—it’d cause a huge commotion. I’ll definitely come back, so until then, please help Chelsea in my place, okay?”

“Bumou~”

With a lonely cry, Kotaro moved away from Ruri and went to Chelsea’s side. Watching him, Ruri took to the sky.

“Well, I’m off.”

She waved broadly and headed for the royal capital.

—

Flying through the sky, which had been unsteady at first, was now second nature after two years. Lately, she even flew to town on her own without riding Chelsea.

Even with the speed she’d gained, the royal capital was far away. She took several days to get there, resting at various towns along the way.

Since she wasn’t in a hurry, she enjoyed the trip like a leisurely vacation.

The royal capital had a Western-style streetscape, and walking on the cobblestones made her feel even more like she was traveling abroad.

If all the passersby had been human-shaped demi-humans, she might have genuinely mistaken it for somewhere else—but every time she saw people with animal ears, tails, or faces of beasts and reptiles, she was forcefully reminded that this was not Earth.

The royal capital was larger in population and scale than any town Ruri had seen in this world. She thought that bringing the spirits with her would cause an even bigger commotion than the first time in a town, so she told them to follow at a distance.

But the complaints were louder than expected, so she reluctantly wore a loose robe, let a few spirits who won at rock-paper-scissors hide inside, and made sure they couldn’t be seen from outside. Since she had lent her wig to the lonely Kotaro, she pulled the robe’s hood deep over her head to hide her hair.

—

Living in the royal capital required money, so the first thing Ruri did upon arrival was head to a place to cash in.

What she planned to sell was a spear from the inheritance she received from Lydia’s previous contractor—one that Lydia had said had no sentimental value and could be sold. Since she had never used weapons and the spear was too big for her, she was grateful to exchange it for money.

Demi-humans had keen senses, so she told the spirits to conceal their presence and entered a weapon shop recommended by Chelsea.

“Welcome, what can I do for you?”

“I have something to sell. Chelsea told me this shop was trustworthy.”

“Oh, so you know Chelsea. I haven’t seen her lately—how’s that old hag doing?”

“She’s doing just fine.”

“Well, that’s good to hear.”

She immediately pulled the spear from her spatial storage and placed it on the counter. The moment the shopkeeper saw it, his eyes went wide with surprise.

“Well, I’ll be damned. This is a spear from a very long time ago. But it’s in excellent condition, and the craftsmanship is top-notch. How did you come by something like this?”

Unable to say she’d received it through a contract with the Spirit of Time, Ruri hesitated. The shopkeeper seemed to interpret her reaction in his own way and nodded knowingly.

“Maybe you fell victim to a spirit’s prank?”

“A spirit’s prank?”

“Sometimes, items you never put in your spatial storage suddenly appear there. They can range from national treasures to junk. Since items that were left in the owner’s space when they died long ago can resurface like this, there’s an old saying that some spirit must be playing tricks.”

Come to think of it, Lydia had mentioned tossing items from spaces slated for erasure into other people’s spaces. That was probably what people called a “spirit’s prank” in the outside world.

(Lydia, you’ve been doing that for ages, haven’t you……)

“You’re lucky, miss. I’d love to be pranked by a spirit myself someday.”

“Ahaha.”

Since he seemed to have the wrong idea, she just laughed it off.

“But this is a problem. I’d love to buy it since you know the old hag, but……”

“You can’t?”

“If I were to sell this spear, it’d fetch a pretty hefty price. Unfortunately, this little shop of mine doesn’t have that kind of cash on hand.”

With that, the shopkeeper closed up shop and took Ruri to a large merchant store in the capital. What followed was nothing short of intense.

A fierce battle of wits between the merchant trying to buy cheap and the weapon shop owner haggling for the highest possible price. In the end, the shopkeeper’s final trump card—”Then I’ll sell it somewhere else”—sealed the deal, and they settled on a price that would let Ruri live lavishly for years.

“There you go. See? Leave it to me.”

“Ah, thank you so much!”

The shopkeeper grinned triumphantly and handed her a heavy pouch full of money.

Considering she would have definitely been cheated if she’d gone alone, she tried to pay him a portion as thanks, but he refused. Instead, they agreed she’d buy plenty of goods from his shop later. She bowed deeply and parted ways.

—

………Everything had gone well up to that point. But no sooner had she left the shopkeeper than Ruri found herself accosted by two thugs.

“Hey there, little lady. We’re a bit short on cash right now.”

“You seem to have a lot of money on you—how about sharing some with us?”

Apparently, they’d overheard the haggling between the shopkeeper and the merchant. Seeing the money go to Ruri, who looked weak, they must have followed her. Well, with such a loud negotiation, it was only natural that it drew attention.

If the shopkeeper had known the capital well, he should have realized the danger of this situation—but the thrill of victory over the merchant had made him completely forget.

Ruri tried to back away from the leering thugs, but she was gradually cornered into a deserted area.

(Oh, this might be bad……)

For the first time since Chelsea had taken her in, she felt genuine danger and broke out in a cold sweat. But then the spirits inside her robe began to stir restlessly, and she broke out in a cold sweat for a completely different reason.

(Whoa, wait a minute—)

She quickly grabbed the spirits inside her robe to hold them back, then looked past the thugs and made a startled face. Falling for the classic trick, the thugs turned around. Seizing the opening, Ruri dashed off in the opposite direction at full speed.

“Hey, stop, you bastard!”

“Who stops when told to stop?!”

As she fled through the deserted streets, taking corners whenever she could, she heard restless murmurs from inside her robe the whole time.

*’Ruri’s enemies are our enemies, right?’*

*’Let’s make sure they can never get up again.’*

*’Let’s do it!’*

“No means no!”

A warning Chelsea had given her before leaving the capital flashed through her mind: *”Spirits are honest with their emotions, so they might go overboard attacking for your sake. The capital has many dangers, so make sure you keep them in check.”*

(I might not be able to keep them in check, Chelsea!!)

Not only could she feel the spirits inside her robe getting agitated, but thanks to her contract with Lydia, she also sensed a large number of other spirits gathering from all around.

“This is bad, bad, bad.”

On top of that, Ruri didn’t know the geography of the capital—it was her first day there. She had no idea where she was running and was completely lost. She’d meant to head for a main street, but somehow she’d ended up in a dim back alley.

Meanwhile, the thugs knew the area inside out. The chase was taking its toll on her physically, too.

At her wits’ end, Ruri pulled a small ball—about the size of one hand—from her spatial storage. Right after turning a corner, she threw it back down the passageway where the thugs were approaching.

At the same time, she closed her eyes and pinched her nose. A moment later, a blinding flash and thick smoke erupted from the thugs’ passageway.

When she returned to the passage after a while, the two were lying unconscious, and a horrible stench hung in the air.

“Ugh…”

Ruri wasn’t the only one who turned her face away. The spirits seemed to have been affected too—she felt the presence of the spirits that had been gathering scatter in all directions at once.

The ball Lydia had given her for self-defense in the capital—one that burst with a flash and a foul odor—proved highly effective against the sensitive senses of demi-humans.

But it was almost *too* effective, and even Ruri, the user, suffered considerable collateral damage.

“I feel sick…”

She regretted not putting up a barrier, but it was too late now. Not wanting to bother the neighbors, she quickly blew away the stench with wind magic and finally caught her breath.

“Please tell me they’re not dead…”

She didn’t think the stench would kill them, but the two were completely motionless, and she grew worried.

Just then, she heard a low male chuckle from behind her and spun around.

A man dressed entirely in black, his face covered except for his eyes—the only visible part, striking deep green-blue eyes that shone vividly. He wore a longsword at his waist, and by any measure, he looked suspicious.

“Who are you?”

“I saw someone being chased by thugs and followed.”

At that answer, Ruri relaxed her guard just a little.

“Were you trying to help me?”

“Didn’t seem necessary, though.”

The man glanced briefly at the unconscious men at Ruri’s feet. It felt strange to think this after someone had tried to help her, but she couldn’t help feeling mildly annoyed that he hadn’t shown up sooner. That’s how intense the smell had been.

“………Impressive.”

“Uh, thanks.”

She assumed he meant taking down the thugs, but when the man stepped closer and took a lock of her hair in his hand, she realized he was talking about her hair.

At the same time, she finally noticed that her hood had come off during the chase, exposing her distinctive hair color.

*This is very bad.*

The words *human trafficking*, *kidnapping*, and *suspicious person in front of me* swirled through her mind, and a wave of alarm rushed over her.

She’d already been attacked once. There was no guarantee this man was safe. Trusting someone who only showed their eyes in a deserted back alley was hard to do.

“W-Well, I’m in a hurry, so excuse me!!”

“Wait—”

She heard him call out from behind, but she ignored it. He didn’t seem to follow, but Ruri hurried to put distance between herself and the suspicious man.

—

***

—

Meanwhile, back home, Chelsea—

“Is Ruri doing alright……”

—let out what must have been her umpteenth sigh that day.

“Maybe I should have gone with her as far as Klaus’s place after all. She seems reliable, but she has her absent-minded moments…”

Even though it was her own idea, she was already regretting sending Ruri off alone.

Living with Ruri for two years, Chelsea felt almost like a mother to her now. All her own children were male, and for dragons, who have strong bodies from a young age, a hands-off approach was the norm.

But Ruri was incomparably weaker than dragon-kind. Chelsea worried about her more than she’d ever worried about her own children. Her high magic power and the presence of the spirits by her side only made her more anxious.

Chelsea hadn’t actually wanted to push Ruri out like this. If Ruri wanted to hold on to a faint hope of returning home, Chelsea could have waited for her to find peace naturally.

Dragons lived long lives, and Ruri, who also possessed a great deal of magic, would likely live far longer than ordinary humans. There was plenty of time for her to sort out her feelings.

—

But then she received a regular report from her grandson Joshua, who was gathering information in Nadasha. Over time, reports had come in about—

The shrine maiden summoned to Nadasha was searching for her friend.
She was grieving that her friend had been abducted by the Dragon Kingdom.
Nadasha was hiding the truth and trying to use the shrine maiden’s name.
And this time, the shrine maiden was cooperating to save her friend, and Nadasha was using that as a pretext to prepare for war against the Dragon Kingdom.

“Nadasha never learns, does it.
…………And that girl, Asahi—she’s either simple or stupid. Since she’s been fawned over all this time, she probably can’t imagine anyone around her acting against her interests.”

Whether she couldn’t see what was around her, or she only believed what she wanted to believe—if a friend suddenly disappeared, the first thing you’d suspect would be the people of that country, wouldn’t you?

According to the reports, she seemed to dislike studying—she hadn’t even tried to learn about the Dragon Kingdom, let alone Nadasha itself. And yet she so readily concluded the Dragon Kingdom was the culprit. As a member of the Dragon Kingdom, Chelsea found it infuriating.

From Chelsea’s perspective, who knew the truth, it was nothing but a farce. To put it kindly, the pure and obedient Asahi was a perfect puppet for Nadasha.

Ruri hadn’t been told any of this yet. Because if she were, she might fly into a rage and march straight to Nadasha to protest.

Eventually, Chelsea wanted Ruri to meet Asahi in order to clear the ridiculous false accusations against the Dragon Kingdom. But before that—besides sorting out her own feelings—Ruri needed to understand just how much her actions could move the people around her.

The magnitude of Ruri’s magic, the influence of the spirits beside her—these were things she couldn’t grasp just by going back and forth between the forest and the town. To learn that, the fastest way was not only to interact with ordinary citizens, but also to talk with rulers and those with hidden agendas, and see their reactions firsthand.

She wanted to avoid a situation where, unknowingly, Ruri’s emotions ran wild and the spirits went out of control.

But that kind of learning came with its own dangers………

“Maybe I should go check on her every now and then, after all.”

Chelsea remained conflicted.