"That is... truly generous of you. Is it really all right?" Rio said, implying
at how his being human might cause an issue.
"Worry not. We discussed everything yesterday, and all the elders here
have already consented to it. We would love to have you here, for that child's
sake as well," Ursula confirmed decisively.
"That's right! There's no need to hold back. I like you, kid. Ursula told
us about what kinda human you are, but there are some things you can't tell
without meeting someone face to face. And boy, do I agree! You're an even
bigger man than I was told about, kid." Dominic laughed heartily, welcoming
Rio.
"Indeed, it is exactly as Ursula and Dominic say. We will exert the
utmost effort to accommodate your stay in the village and make sure it is
comfortable. If you find that you need something at any time, do not hesitate
to inform us."
"That's right. You could even ask for something other than material
goods, like one of the village girl's hand in marriage. Since you're a good
looking kid, too... if you're so inclined, how about my Alma?" Dominic
boasted, adding to Syldora's words in good humor.
"Dominic, don't get too carried away. Are you drunk?"
"Gahaha!" Dominic boomed with laughter after Ursula reprimanded him.
Chuckles stirred among the other elders, instantly brightening the atmosphere
of the room.
"Good grief. But that's how it is, Lord Rio. There's no need to hold back.
Try searching for something that you want while living in the village. My
apologies, but I must insist on expressing my gratitude somehow."
"...I understand," Rio chuckled, thinking for a moment before finally
stating what he desired. "In that case, I would like to request your support in
teaching me about spirit arts and your way of living during my stay in the
village."
"I see... That should be no problem at all."
"Hm. We will prepare a gifted teacher for you." Ursula and Syldora both
nodded.
"All right! Now that your talk has wrapped up, can I get on with my
business?" Dryas' bright voice echoed through the room. All eyes in the room shifted towards her.
"Why, of course, Great Dryas. But, if I may, could I please introduce
Your Greatness to Lord Rio first?" Ursula asked.
"Sure, go ahead." Dryas nodded easily in response.
"Lord Rio, seated over there is the spirit of the giant tree, the Great
Dryas. Orphia spoke of her just before, if you recall."
"Umm... A spirit?" Rio's eyes widened in surprise. Dryas had been
giving off an otherworldly aura, but her appearance was so humanoid... it was
hard to believe she was a spirit.
"I'm Dryas. Pleased to meet you, Rio. Let's get along, shall we?" With
an innocent smile, Dryas floated through the air towards Rio.
"I'm very pleased to meet you too." Rio returned the greeting with a
confused face as Dryas abruptly shook his hand.
"Hmm... I knew it. Though it's really faint, I can feel the presence of a
spirit within you. Perhaps it's sleeping?"
"...A spirit? Inside me?" Rio questioned in bewilderment.
"Yup. Does anything come to mind? You should've formed a contract
with it."
"Contract? No, I can't say I recall anything..." Rio shook his head from
left to right, puzzled. He had no memory of ever forming a contract with a
spirit in his entire life.
"Really? That's strange... Ah, there's no need to be worried. I say
contract, but there aren't any annoying obligations involved. If anything, it's
more beneficial to you."
Unable to keep up with her words, Rio let out an absentminded "Huh..."
"Hey, do you mind if I take a look? It won't do any damage to your
body, so there's nothing for you to worry about."
After a brief moment's hesitation, Rio nodded once. "...Yes, please."
"Then, excuse me..." Dryas said, gently grabbing Rio's face. Suddenly,
Rio felt the strange sensation of something unfamiliar entering him, but he
accepted it without resistance.
"Wow... You have a tremendous amount of ode hidden within you.
Looks delicious. Are you really human? Oh — it looks like a path's formed
after all. That means you've definitely made a contract, and—?!"
In the middle of her examination of the spirit sleeping inside of Rio,
Dryas suddenly flinched. Her eyes widened in shock.
"Did something happen?" Rio asked, sensing something abnormal in
Dryas' state. "It sure is something... There's a humanoid spirit sleeping
within you," Dryas replied with a confused expression. This caused the room
to stir louder than ever before.
Rio still didn't really get it.
"A humanoid spirit?"
"Mm... Judging by that reaction, you don't know how rare humanoid
spirits are. Orphia, explain it to him." Dryas passed on the job of explaining
to Orphia.
"Eh? Ah! Y-Yes, Your Greatness! So for spirits, only high class spirits
and above are capable of taking on a humanoid form like the Great Dryas. It
goes without saying, then, that such spirits are extremely rare. Some say you
could count the numbers of them on one hand." Despite her panic, Orphia
provided a sufficient amount of information.
"And that's how it is. In short, a spirit that rare is sleeping within you.
One with the same amount of power — perhaps even more — as myself."
"...Great Dryas, does that mean there is the possibility an upper high-
class spirit is sleeping within Lord Rio?"
"I guess so. The upper high-class spirits known as the 'Six High Spirits'
all disappeared over one thousand years ago in the Divine War, but it's not
like I know every humanoid spirit out there, either. I wouldn't completely
write off the possibility that the spirit sleeping within Rio is an upper high-
class one," Dryas answered casually, causing a noise of surprise to sound
throughout the room.
"Erm, is there some problem with upper high-class spirits?" Rio asked
Dryas, glancing sideways at the elders' reactions.
"Nothing in particular. Oh, but it might be a big deal to the villagers who
worship spirits. I'm already treated as a deity for being a high-class spirit, so
if an upper high-class spirit appeared it might cause an uproar."
"...Then why don't you wake it up and ask if it's an upper high-class
spirit yourself?"
"I wouldn't recommend that. It must have depleted most of its energy, as it's in a deep sleep. Waking it up carelessly might make it sleep even longer,
but if you leave it alone it'll wake up on its own eventually." Dryas shook her
head, putting the sleeping spirit within Rio first.
"That makes sense... I understand."
There were several points he was still curious about, but Dryas was a
being worshiped by the spirit folk, and it would seem rude if he kept
hounding her with questions. He decided to save them for Ursula later, and
refrained from asking any more questions at the moment.
"Hmm. But if the spirit within Lord Rio is a high-class spirit at
minimum, then we may need to reconsider our conduct toward Lord Rio
himself," Ursula said with a worried expression.
"What... do you mean by that?" Rio asked inquisitively.
"To put it broadly, it may be wiser to treat Lord Rio with reverence, like
a holy man. We won't ask you to take on any duties; we'll simply adjust our
perceptions for our own accord. You will not be burdened." Syldora replied
with a wry smile, sensing Rio's doubtful wariness.
"Reverence...? No, I don't feel like I've done anything to deserve that.
Suddenly treating me that way will only bother me." Rio said awkwardly.
"Gahaha! Well, don't let it bug ya. Think of it as the village giving you
an even warmer welcome!" Dominic said heartily, as always.
"Haha... I guess I shall."
Rio could do nothing but nod with a strained smile.
◇◇◇
After meeting with the elders and Dryas at the town hall, Rio met up with
Latifa and had lunch before Ursula led them to their new residence.
It was a few minutes' walk from the town hall, near the center of the
village. Many of the council members in the village had their houses located
here.
They arrived at a treehouse that was supported by the trunks of numerous
trees.
"Wow! Look Onii-chan, there's even a deck! It's so wide! And with such
a nice view!" Latifa ran around excitedly. One couldn't blame her — it had
the feeling of a secret base. A fully loaded treehouse certainly had a charm
that could make a child's heart dance.
"Hoho, how energetic. My house is next door — Lord Rio, please feel free to drop by any time. The house is already furnished, and I shall have
Sara and the girls bring you your food."
"Thank you very much. You've really prepared everything."
"Oh, no need for that. Let me show you around the house." Ursula smiled
happily and walked in.
"Come on, Latifa... Let's go. Ursula's giving us a quick tour of the
inside."
"Yay, okay!"
Rio and Latifa followed her inside. The moment Latifa stepped into the
entrance hall, she let out a loud cheer.
"Whoa!"
The first sight that greeted them was a wide and open living and dining
room. Elegant furniture was placed about the room, and a sliding door
connected to the deck outside. On top of that, there were several bedrooms
along with a master bedroom, a kitchen, and a restroom, all fully stocked.
Honestly, no matter how you looked at it, it was far too large for just the
two of them to live in.
For the most part, artifacts covered all of the utilities they required,
allowing them to live a life nearly as comfortable as that of modern Japan.
"If there are any artifacts you don't know how to use, ask the girls later.
Lastly, let me show you the bathtub."
"You even have a bathtub? I'd love that." Rio's expression brightened
greatly at the mention of a bathtub.
"Oh? That look on your face tells me you enjoy your baths, Lord Rio. In
that case, you may look forward to this. The bathtub in this house is rather
magnificent, if I do say so myself," Ursula said proudly, a big smile etched
onto her face. Her confidence did not betray Rio's expectations, as he found
himself being filled with a sense of elation at the sight.
"Amazing. So this is a bathtub of the spirit folk."
"Right? It's amazing, Onii-chan! I want to jump in right now..."
Rio's moods generally didn't fluctuate up or down by very much, but that
rule didn't apply when it came to the bathtub of this house. Latifa's eyes were
sparkling, too.
Firstly, there was a proper changing area for clothes. Secondly, opening
the door to the bathroom revealed the area to be clearly separated into a
bathing area and washing area, just like a Japanese-style bath. This made it
possible to wash the body before submerging in the water.
The floor, walls, and tub were all made of wood, a natural material that
helped the space give off a wonderful, unusual quality suitable for refreshing
oneself. Finally, the best part of all was the door that led to the outside deck,
where another wooden tub was placed. In other words, an open-air bathtub —
enclosed, of course, so that no one could peek.
"Hoho, I'm glad you find it to your liking," Ursula laughed merrily at
Rio and Latifa's happiness.
"Umm, excuse me?"
Shortly before the sun was about to set, after Ursula had left already, Rio
and Latifa were allocating rooms and organizing their belongings when they
heard the sound of a girl's voice from the entrance.
It was probably Sara and the girls. Ursula had mentioned earlier that they
would be bringing groceries over.
Rio hurried to the entrance and opened the door, and sure enough, there
stood Sara, Orphia, and Alma.
"Good evening, everyone."
"G-Good evening!" Rio greeted them amiably, which the girls returned
with extremely stiff nerves.
Orphia was managing a smile, but it was rather strained. Alma had a cool
and serious expression, nodding her head in greeting.
"I've heard the details from Ursula already. Thank you for all that you've
done. Please, come inside." While he felt a little uncomfortable at their
reaction, Rio invited them all inside anyway. The three girls thanked him and
hesitantly made their way in.
"Latifa, Sara and the others are here."
"Hello, Latifa." After being introduced by Rio, the girls greeted Latifa
sitting on a sofa in the living room.
"Oh, hello again."
Latifa responded politely, watching them carefully to judge their moods.
At some point, she had gotten rather close to them. She had probably opened
up a little when Sara and Alma took her in while Rio was speaking with the
elders.
"Umm, Master Rio. I apologize for the interruption, but would it be all
right if we brought the items in?" Sara asked, nervously jumping straight to
business.
"Of course. Please do," Rio agreed pleasantly.
"Thank you very much. Orphia, if you'd please."
"Okay. Let's start with moving the foodstuffs to the pantry. Our own
belongings can come afterwards." Sara and Orphia exchanged words.
Rio thought he heard something he should make a comment about in
their conversation just now, but decided it must have been his imagination.
The reason for that was the fact that the girls seemed far too empty-handed to
be moving items.
"Umm, you all seem to be empty-handed... Where might the items be? I
can help carry them."
"Oh, don't worry. We have them with us. Orphia, please."
Sara giggled at Rio's question, then asked him for the pantry location and
headed there. Rio tagged along with the girls, curious as to what they were
going to store there. Latifa skipped along next to Rio.
"Dissolvo." Once they arrived at the storage room, which was kept at a
low temperature with an artifact, Orphia held out a hand and chanted some
kind of spell. The space before her hand started to warp, bending and twisting
until various food items suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
"Huh?!" Rio and Latifa's eyes widened in surprise.
"What Orphia used just now was a magic artifact... the Time-Space
Cache. It uses the user's essence to create an isolated dimension in time and
space with the sorcery embedded in it, then withdraws items from the
dimension when the user chants a certain spell," Alma interjected with a
rather proud explanation, having concluded the reason for their shock.
"To think such artifacts existed... that's amazing. Can spirit folk use
time-space sorcery too?"
"Yes. However, we're limited by how much energy it consumes. The
only ones who can use it are those with large amounts of ode... what humans
would call essence. That is why high quality spirit stones are required to
create artifacts with time-space sorcery embedded."
"Spirit stones? Not enchanted gems, or essence crystals?" While Sara and
Orphia started arranging the items to the side, Rio was unable to hold back
his curiosity as he questioned Alma.
"Yes. It is an object that differs from the enchanted gems and the essence
crystals crafted from them. You may think of them as a superior version, to
put it broadly."
"I see."
With a nod, Rio finally joined the others in organizing the food. Alma did too, and for a while they harmoniously went about working out where to
place what.