Honestly, both of them were shocked to hear Kura's voice. Both Jared and Caroline wouldn't have made the cheap mistake of waking Kura up. What's more, in times of battle, Caroline would automatically use her "Tectonic Coordination" to sense the activity of a mouse 50 meters away, so there was no way that she wouldn't be able to detect a little girl like that.
Then there's only one possibility.
It's the girl herself that's the problem.
Jared was slightly wary at the thought, but he didn't move out of the way to allow Kura to see the moaning leader of the thieves behind him. Although he had considered the possibility that the girl and the thieves were in cahoots, the chances were too slim. It would have taken a number of coincidental overlaps to get that result. So Jared immediately ruled out this guess, but, on second thought, the girl in front of him was still very mysterious. After all, she had slept the entire trip, and so far the only useful information Jared and Caroline had gotten from her was her name.
"Whoopi ..."
Kura cocked his head, still looking as if he was sleepwalking, but the words came out straight to the center.
"Big brother, are you going to kill that man?"
"That's right."
Jared glanced at the silent Caroline and nodded. She had apparently also noticed something unusual about the girl, so she was currently watching the girl warily. But after receiving this answer, Kura seemed to be very happy and laughed softly, then raised her head and looked at Jared. The pair of emerald green eyes without a trace of pollution, pure and chilling.
"So, big brother, let me do it."
"... Are you sure?"
Jared was taken aback by the unexpected question. Kura, on the other hand, nodded her head as if it were a matter of course, but the way she moved, it was more like an unconscious response in her sleep.
(Jared, the boy ...)
Caroline subconsciously tightened her grip on the hilt of her sword, but made no further move at Jared's direction. According to their thinking, they didn't want to put a human life in the hands of such a small girl anyway. And since these people were obviously here for Florence, they were connected to them. But Kura, who joined halfway, was certainly not one of them. Because of their connections, neither of them would accept a girl killing a man.
Jared, however, nodded and sidestepped out of the way.
"Well, he's all yours."
His tone was calm, but there was a hint of toughness.
"But I think I have a lot of questions for you after that."
"Uh, no problem yo ..."
Kura remained in the same drowsy state, and then she raised the figure she had been clutching tightly in her arms.
That's chanting.
A low, sanctuary-like hymn came out of the girl's mouth, filled with the serenity and sadness of death. As if by magic, it infected the emotions of Jared and Caroline. It made them feel as if they were in a cemetery, attending and mourning the funeral of a dead friend. The man struggling on the ground's eyes widened in surprise as his body began to involuntarily ripple and throb in response to the song, as if he were a fish struggling on the shore due to a lack of oxygen. Then, his body arched upward, as if bent into a bow. To their amazement, the two men saw a translucent humanoid object slowly being pulled out of it. Kura's chanting was still low, but now it was filled with seriousness. The almost ethereal sound of the song hovered in the air, but it was very ghostly.
The man's body was shaking more and more, and both Caroline and Jared had moved carefully away from him, while cautiously gripping their weapons for any contingencies that might arise.
The semi-transparent humanoid inside the man's body was finally pulled out by an invisible force, and then ran towards Kura with a movement so fast that it was almost impossible to see, and then disappeared into the mouth of the ragdoll in her embrace.
The singing stopped.
And the man is now also motionless on the ground, apparently already dead. But his eyes and mouth were wide open in terror, it was really miserable.
"Oooh ... Ruby? Is it good?"
Kura asked to herself as she gently stroked the Muppet's head, then turned to Caroline and Jared.
"Thank you, big brothers and sisters, Ruby hasn't had a soul in days ..."
"... I think you remember, what I said before."
"... uh ..."
Kula buried her head in the doll again, looking like she was about to fall asleep.
（Jared, this is not the place to talk.)
Caroline said to Jared. She could hear people talking in the distance, and it was clear that the change in the area had attracted the attention of some people. Even if they did, it was better for Jared and Caroline to minimize the trouble. So she took Kula's hand and left quietly down a different path. Jared, on the other hand, cautiously examined the body before disappearing into thin air before the fire and the crowd arrived.
When he returned to the room again, Caroline and Kula were waiting.
(How's it going?)
"From what the men said, it looks like they came because they found the guards passed out from being drugged, so don't worry. And Florence is also sleeping, no accident."
For Jared, who was able to completely manipulate light, distorting the scene illuminated by the firelight was not a difficult task. He even followed the side of one of them until he had finished prying out all the information, and then he leisurely rushed back. Jared sat down wearily on Caroline's bed and looked over at Kura, who was sitting in the other chair.
"Well, ma'am. I think it's time for us to talk."
"... paging ..."
"Stay awake!"
Jared hurriedly reached out and hit Kura on the head, which pulled the girl back from her slumber. She didn't look like she was pretending to be asleep to get out of it, but she was actually falling asleep.
That's what makes it tricky.
"It's time you told us who you really are. And what method did you use to kill that man?"
"..."
Kura lifted her head, her eyes half-closed, giving Jared a bad feeling, as if the girl was going to fall asleep again. But luckily, this time it didn't go the way he thought it would.
"Kura is a Necronomicon? To put it simply, she's a magician. ..."
Kula just said the most amazing thing, as if it were nothing.
"Necromancy ... aria envoy?"
"That is, the magician who makes the soul of the servant, oh? Kura can summon souls ... summoning souls can attack the enemy ..."
(...!!!)
Caroline reflexively shrank at the sound of the soul, so it seemed that she couldn't get used to something that really didn't work.
"But what did you kill that man for?"
"Because, for Ruby of Korra to become strong, she has to eat other souls for food?"
Kura held up the doll that was never far from her body, a doll that could not be described as good-looking or beautiful even with flattery. The two eyes, made of twisted buttons, were just hanging on, and seemed to be a bit out of place. The edges of the mouth were densely sewn with stitches, and the body was covered with patches, so no matter how you looked at it, it was a product that should be thrown into the garbage dump for recycling.
"Do you ... do that from time to time?"
"No Oh?"
Kula shook his head adamantly.
"Only the souls of bad people can be eaten Oh, that's why Kula is always looking for bad people, but there are so few bad people in this world."
Less?
The two of them looked at each other suspiciously, then decided to put such trivialities behind them.
"So Kula, that ... you have that looks like you're singing hymns is casting magic?"
"Uh-huh."
Kura waved her hand at the dolls in greeting before sinking her face back into the soft back of the muppet.
"That's a magic poem? Don't you know that? That's how magic works in this world."
Like singing?
This really surprised Jared, in his mind, magic should be something that could be released by reciting a few incantations? Why did he have to sing a hymn?
"There is also that kind of magic yo... but that kind of thing, magicians like Kura don't use it yo."
During their conversation with Kula, Jared and Caroline finally realized what this world called magic was all about.
Unlike the magic they had imagined, the magic in this world was a bit strange. According to Kura, magic is in fact a ritual to please the spirits of magic and make them help you. It's like praying for rain, except that it's quick. In the early stages, a magician can only communicate with the spirits through gestures, offering their energy to them in order to gain their assistance. At higher levels, some wizards choose to communicate directly with the spirits around them in this way. Depending on one's preference, this can take the form of hymns or chants. This way, the assistance of the magical spirits will be more obvious and powerful. Of course, not every wizard can have this opportunity, as the spirits have their own consciousness and will only assist those who can please them. In other words, if you don't have a beautiful voice, you won't be able to get that kind of effect.
"That is to say, if the average person can work hard, then becoming a magician should not be a problem. But if you want to go a step further and become an apprentice chanting magician or higher, it's completely impossible. ..."
（"How do you feel, it's like an audition for a singer ...)
After listening to Kula, Caroline immediately expressed her feelings, which were shared by Jared.
Moreover, according to Kura, there was no such thing as a magical talent in this world, and anyone could try to use magic at will. But for the ordinary people, who hadn't received systematic education, the spirit of magic wouldn't pay any attention to their crude requests and invocations. Moreover, the sign of becoming a powerful wizard is to be able to sign a contract with one of the magic spirits and manifest it. Wizards who are able to do this are very rare, because generally speaking, only those with a high affinity for magic and a good voice are likely to be favored by a magic spirit and allow it to sign a contract with them.
In a way, it's a very harsh condition.
"And Ruby ..."
Kura said, proudly holding up the worn out ragdoll in her hands to the two of them, an unusually wide smile on her little face.
"It's Kura's contracted spirit oh?"