WIEDERGEBURT Chapter 28

Liten was a small town located about two week’s journey from Midgard. Me and Kari had arrived at this tiny town the other day and located an inn that we could spend the night at.

The inn was not very big. It consisted of 12 rooms that were all the same size, about 150 square meters or so. While the rooms were small, all of them were furnished with a bed, a dresser, a nightstand, and a desk in the far corner. There were, unfortunately, no baths. However, we had grown used to not using baths after living in the Endless Desert for two years.

It was early morning, the sun was peeking out from the horizon, and I could see the tall buildings of Midgard against the backdrop from our window. We were supposedly a hundred or so kilometers away, so the fact that I could see the buildings told me how impressive the city was. For the moment, however, I ignored the dazzling sight to focus on the woman kneeling before me.

Kari was kneeling on the ground, her naked back bared to me. She had grabbed her hair long hair and moved it over her shoulder so nothing obstructed my view. A number of soft scars were visible on her porcelain skin. These scars, remnants of our time in Nevaria after the Demon Beast Invasion and the two years spent in the Endless Desert, were a testament to how difficult our lives had been. I had more than a few scars myself.

A bucket sat beside me. The gentle fragrance of soap wafted from it. I reached in and grabbed a cloth that had been soaking up the water. After wringing it out until it was just damp, I began washing Kari’s back. Her soft but firm muscles rippled as I dragged the cloth from her shoulder blades to her lower back.

“It seems we’re only a few weeks from Midgard,” I said softly as I continued washing her off. “Hold out your arms, please.”

Kari raised her right arm so I could wash it. I started from her fingers and gently worked my way up her arm, until I reached her shoulders, and then I moved the cloth to the underside of her arm. After washing off her armpits, I switched from her right to her left arm.

“Yes.” Kari agreed with a nod, sighing softly as I cleaned off her neck and even behind her ears. I liked being thorough. “If we keep up with this pace, I imagine it won’t take much longer to reach Midgard. I wonder what that city will be like. Everyone we’ve met has said that it’s a marvelous place.”

“Well, it’s definitely a big place,” I said. “The mere fact that we can see it from here is impressive.”

“Nevaria can’t possibly compare to it…”

“Kari…”

A sharp pain appeared in my chest when I heard the heartache in her voice. I set the cloth down, leaned over, and embraced her from behind. My arms went around her waist as I pressed my chest into her back. I placed chin on her shoulder.

“Sorry,” Kari muttered. “I don’t think about it too often, but every now and then…”

“I understand,” I said. “You can rely on me whenever you feel this way. I’ve been leaning on you so much to support myself. It’s okay for you to rely on me a little more when you need support too.”

Kari smiled as she tilted her head. “Thank you.”

I didn’t say anything, but I really didn’t need to. We remained like that for a little while, but since Kari had expressed an interest in exploring the town and its surroundings, I finished helping her wash off, then she helped me clean, and then we both got dressed after that.

Liten really was small. At most, I would say it had around 60 to 100 buildings, and most of them were houses. It had the same stucco style as Vahn. However, where many of the buildings in that city were large and majestic, the ones in this place were far more quaint. The largest building was two-stories, and it belonged to the town mayor.

“The food here is pretty interesting,” I muttered as she and I sat on a small park bench. We were both holding food that had been wrapped in paper. It was a dish made from pork, cucumbers, onions and served on flatbread. There was a slightly tart dipping sauce that me and Kari were periodically dipping our food into.

We had gotten the food from a street stall vendor who’d been cooking meat on a vertical rotisserie. It had been one of many different types of food being sold.

“It tastes vaguely like a kebab, but the bread and sauce adds something extra to the flavor,” Kari added as she took a bite of her own flatbread sandwich.

“It also tastes nothing like a normal sandwich,” I said.

After finishing our food, Kari and I explored most of the town, which only took around half a day or so. We visited shops, bought food from vendor stalls, and enjoyed an outdoor play. It was a tragic romance about a pair of lovers who had been soldiers on opposite sides of a war. The woman had been a warrior for one country, while the man had been on the side of the other. They had fallen in love before realizing the other person was their enemy, and then they were forced to choose between love and duty.

“Ugh… that was so beautiful,” Kari softly sniffled as we walked away from the outdoor theater. She was holding a handkerchief to her eyes as she shed tears.

“It was a good story,” I admitted. “Tragic ending, though.”

“I wish they could have been together at the end,” Kari muttered.

I smiled. “Me too.” I looked up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set, painting the canvas above us in pale reds and yellows. “What should we do now? Find a place to eat? Head back to the inn?”

“Would you mind if we explored the forest outside the town?” asked Kari. “I heard there are a couple of ancient ruins just outside. They’ve already been emptied out, but I’d really like to see them.”

“We can do that,” I said. “Let’s not stay out too late, though.”

“Of course.” Kari gave me a grateful smile before dragging me out of the city.

The trees within the forest surrounding Liten weren’t the largest I’d come across. Nevaria’s forests had larger trees than this. However, there were many of them, and they were packed so closely together that a lot of the branches became tangled with each other. They created a thick canopy over our heads that blocked out most of the light.

“Hmmm…” Kari hummed as she stared at a map of the surrounding area. We’d bought it while we were in Vahn.

“Any idea where we are right now?” I asked.

“Well…” she stretched out that word as she continued studying the map. “We headed north, which means we are somewhere around here.” She pointed to a specific spot on the map. “However, I am not sure exactly where we are, just the general area.”’

I would have sighed, but Kari and I fortunately had a good sense of direction. Even if we couldn’t figure out our exact location on the map, it shouldn’t be difficult for us to find our way back to Liten. That said, it didn’t look like we would be leaving soon.

“Do you know where those ruins you mentioned are?” I asked.

“According to that young man at the stall selling jewelry, it should be a couple kilometers north of Liten, which means we should be coming up on it soon.”

“Hmm… was it just me, or was that man acting a little weird?”

“Maybe?” Kari tilted her head as we kept walking. “Now that you mention it, he did seem a little reluctant to talk about those ruins. I wonder why?”

“I guess we’ll find out if we manage to find them.” I shrugged.

“You mean ‘when’ we manage to find them,” Kari corrected.

“Yes.”

We continued walking for some time, wandering past a few trees with gnarled roots, when the two of us stopped and cocked our heads to the side. A noise penetrated the forest. It was not natural to the forest, however, or even a part of nature in general. It was the sound of a person screaming.

“Let’s go, Eryk!”

“Yes!”

The two of us darted through the trees, which passed by us in blurs of brown and green. It didn’t take long before we had located the source of the scream. A young woman had backed up against a tree. Her clothing was in tatters, blood was leaking down from several cuts on her arms and legs, and her hair was a dishevelled mess. Standing before her were a pair of cloaked individuals.

“SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!”

As the woman screamed, Kari and I rushed forward without warning. However, the distance between us was too great. Even if we ran as fast as we could, I already knew we wouldn’t be in time to help this woman. Perhaps because I had recognized the danger that woman was in, I sent some Spiritual Power to the bottom of my feet. My body suddenly rocketed forward at a speed that caused me to see nothing but a blur. The cloaked figures couldn’t see me either.

I crashed feet first into the nearest cloaked figure. A loud thud rang out as my feet smashed against their head, launching them clean off their feet and sending them soaring backward. That person slammed into the ground, skipped across it, and then rolled for several meters before going still.

“?!”

A strange noise emitted from the other cloaked figure as they tried to leap back, but Kari had used my distraction to appear before them. She moved her hands around in a strange pattern, creating several intersecting points of light as her Spiritual Power surged. Her hand movements created a five-pointed star, which she thrust forward, launching the attack at the cloaked figure. It struck the person full on. They were blasted backward, slamming into a tree, which splintered underneath the impact, and then striking the ground with enough force to leave a small crater.

“Are you okay?” asked Kari as she held out her hand. However, she became startled when the girl huddling against the tree suddenly scrambled over and grabbed her wrist with enough strength to leave marks.

“P-please! You have to help me save my friends! They’ve all been taken!”

“Taken?” Kari did not seem bothered by the girl’s fierce grip as she glanced at me, then the cloaked figures, and then at the girl. “Are you talking about these people who were chasing you?”

While Kari spoke with the girl, I glanced at the figures. However, to my surprise, the cloaked figures were gone. The one that I had struck was nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, the figure that Kari had hit with her Spiritual Light Technique had also vanished. There was nothing but his cloak lying on the ground by the tree.

The girl, who couldn’t have been older than sixteen or so, nodded. “My friends and I had gone over to the ruins on a dare, but then some people showed up! They came right out from within the ruins and attacked us! The others were all taken! I… I didn’t want to leave them, but I had to go find help, so I—”

“I understand.” Kari placed her other hand on the girl’s hand, slowly pulling the frightened teenager’s fingers from around her wrist. She then took the girl’s hand in both of hers. There was a warm smile on her face. “Do not worry. We will rescue your friends.”

Since it looked like Kari had already come to a decision, I didn’t dare argue with her—not that I would. I was worried about those girls too.

“Can you lead us to the ruins?” I asked. “It will be faster if we had someone show us the way.”

The girl’s face went pale when I asked her to show us the way, and her body soon began shaking like a leaf caught in a whirlwind. For a moment, I thought she would deny my request. That would have made it hard for us to rescue her friends. I didn’t know what these people wanted with a couple of teenage girls, but my instincts told me they would not be alive if we took too long to find them.

Fortunately, the girl took a deep breath, regained her determination, and nodded.

“Y-yes, I will lead you there. It’s this way.”

As the girl took off into the forest, Kari and I glanced at each other before following her.

We traveled quite a distance, passing by trees, racing over shrubs, and taking seemingly random turns. I wasn’t sure this girl knew where she was going. However, within less than five minutes, she brought us to a slow stop.

“It’s… just over here,” the girl said with a gesture.

Immediately in front of her was a large clearing with a ruined building in the center of it. It was made of numerous large stones that had been laid on top of each other. Each stone was about two heads wide and one tall. There were a lot of other stones of varying sizes as well. The entrance was created from a large archway that seemed to have been carved from a single stone. The stones on the roof looked a little broken, but I guessed that was due to age. Crawling along the walls were numerous vines.

“Your friends were taken in there?” I asked.

“Y-yes.” The girl nodded. “We were just playing around outside when these people rushed out of the ruins and grabbed us.”

Kari and I shared another look. I could already see from her expression that she wanted to rush in and save them, so I turned back to the girl.

“Stay here and wait for us,” I said. “We’ll go inside and rescue your friends.”

“T-thank you very much!” The girl bowed her head to me.

Me and Kari did not have our weapons on hand, which did decrease our fighting efficiency a little, but we kept our guards up. We were more than capable of using Spiritual Techniques without weapons. That said, I would have felt a lot safer with a sword in my hand.

We went up to the ruin entrance. The interior was so dark that we couldn’t see even a meter ahead of us. Kari moved her right hand in a circle pattern, her Spiritual Power fluctuating as she created a ball of light that illuminated the area. There was nothing before us except for stone walls, ceiling, and floor.

“Let’s go,” Kari whispered.

I nodded and followed her into the dark hallway, her sphere of light the only thing illuminating our path.

This hallway was quite weird. Not only was the floor surprisingly smooth, which I would not have expected given the derelict entrance, but there were many motifs and carvings engraved into the walls. One featured a man with pointy ears standing above several other people who were bowing down in worship. There was another where that same man was holding a giant sphere over his head. The more we passed, the more I realized that all of them featured this pointy-eared individual.

“Do you think these ruins were some kind of temple?” I wondered out loud.

“I don’t know.” Kari eyed the walls. “I wish we could explore this ruin, but first, we have to make sure those girls are okay.”

“Do you mind if I ask why you decided to help that girl?” I asked.

“What do you mean?” asked Kari. “Do you not want to help?”

“It isn’t that I don’t want to help. What’s happening here doesn’t have anything to do with us.”

Kari stopped walking and turned around, startling me. There was a look in her eyes that caused me to freeze. She studied me for a moment, and then, unbidden, a sad smile crossed her face.

“You are afraid of not being able to save these girls, aren’t you?” Her words made me look away in shame as I remembered the people from Nevaria, the ones who had run into the Endless Desert with us and died. “Eryk, I know you are afraid of not being strong enough to save someone after extending your hand to help them, but you shouldn’t let that stop you. We have the power to save these girls. If we have the power to help people, we should put that power to good use.”

“I… yes, you’re right,” I said at last. “Sorry for being so indecisive.”

Kari shook her head. “It is fine. I do not blame you for feeling this way—not after what we’ve been through. Anyway, let’s keep going.”

“I’m right behind you.”

These ruins had numerous passageways, spacious rooms, and hidden doors located inside. It was far bigger than I had originally thought. While it didn’t seem very big on the outside, that was only because the outside only showed the first floor. After taking a stairwell that led down to the next level, the number of passages, branching hallways, and rooms increased.

One of the things I noticed about these ruins was how all the walls were covered in carvings, and how each one featured that pointy-eared character. Some of the larger rooms contained statues of this person, which made me wonder who he was. I think what really astounded me was how these carvings and statues still appeared to be in relatively good shape despite being who knew how old. Just what sort of building techniques were used to create objects like this that could withstand the test of time?

Kari looked like she wanted to study these ruins some more, but she held herself back.

As we descended to the third level after finding another stairwell, loud voices echoed to us. We paused and strained our ears to listen harder. Those voices weren’t talking. They were screams of despair and cries of fear.

The two of us did not hesitate to rush down the hall. We used the echoes of the screams to locate where they were coming from. Several twists and turns later, the two of us were standing on something that looked like an inside balcony that extended around a room.

This particular room wasn’t the largest we had come across, but it was the most intricate. Six stone statues of the pointy-eared figure were standing in rows of three on either side of the room. To our right was another entrance on the floor below. To our left was an even larger statue. It was the same statue of all the others, a man with long hair, pointy ears, and a flowing robe that reached down to his sandal-clad feet.

In the center of this room was an elevated platform. There were seven figures on this platform. Six of them were the same cloaked individuals as the two we had fought, but the last one was a girl who couldn’t have been older than 16 or 17. She was in the center, lying on her back, her arms above her head and her legs stretched out as chains pinned her to the ground. Tears streamed down her face as she cried and pleaded with these cloaked people to spare her. There were five other girls, each of whom was chained to one of the six statues.

“Please let me go… let me go… I’m sorry for coming here. We’ll leave, I swear. We won’t tell anyone about what we saw here,” the girl in the center begged between sobs. The other five were also shedding tears as they did the same.

I frowned and scooted closer to the edge. No one had noticed us yet. I glanced at Kari, who was also preparing to leap down.

The cloaked figures ignored the girl’s pleading as one of them stepped forward and produced a dagger from within their robe. It was an ugly looking thing. The dagger was jagged and made from a black material that glinted in the light. If I had to describe it with a single word, the dagger just looked evil. As the cloaked figure raised the dagger above his head, the girls’ cries increased in volume.

Kari and I acted.

We leapt from the balcony. As I jumped into the air, Kari made a circular motion with her hand, and then thrust it forward like she was punching something. An arrow of light shot out and knocked the dagger from the cloaked figure’s grip. As the dagger clattered to the ground, the cloaked person looked up just in time to receive my boots to their face.

A loud bang echoed around the room as I slammed into this person, the power of my heels launching them clean off the ground. I flipped and landed back on my feet. The person I had launched myself at wasn’t so lucky. He slammed into one of the other cloaked people, sending them both to the ground.

The hairs on my arms were suddenly raised as I detected danger. I leapt back as an arrow of darkness shot through the place where I’d been standing. Spinning around, I generated a ball of lightning in my hand, which I threw at the person who had attacked me. Unfortunately for me, this person was quicker than I gave them credit for. They sank into their own shadow and vanished.

By this point, Kari had launched herself from the balcony as well. While she was still airborne, she used to same circular and thrust motion to launch numerous light arrows at the cloaked figures down below. The two figures that were knocked down during our initial assault were pierced, but the rest avoided the attacks. However, the two who were struck gave an unusual and shocking reaction to being pierced by those arrows.

A loud screech that didn’t sound the least bit human resounded from the cloaks of the two individuals. It echoed all around us. The wailing cries they emitted was worse than someone scraping two rocks together. These cries contained pain, rage, and terror all in one. As the pair of cloaked figures continued to wail, their bodies writhed as smoke poured from them. In less than a second, the two figures were gone, evaporating into black dust. Only their cloaks remained.

The remaining four cloaked figures shrank back when Kari waved her hands above her head and created several massive spears of light, which crackled intensely with repressed Spiritual Power. It seemed she had also recognized that these cloaked people were weak against the light element. Without giving them a chance to fight back, she launched the light spears at the cloaked figures.

I thought the spears were going to destroy them, but just when it looked like they would hit, the four individuals sank into the shadows and vanished. The spears struck the walls. Several chunks of stone were blasted apart. However, the people she had wanted to hit were no longer present. We waited for a moment to see if they would launch a sneak attack. Nothing happened.

“Can you sense them?” asked Kari.

I frowned and squinted as I tried to sense any fluctuations of Spiritual Power, but I eventually shook my head. “I can’t detect anything. It could be that they’re gone, but they might also be able to mask their presence by using the shadows somehow.”

“We’ll be careful then.” Kari made a swift decision. “Let’s break these chains and get the girls out of here.”

Agreeing with her plan, I knelt next to the girl bound on the elevated platform and broke the chains by creating a lightning sword. The girl was sobbing still. However, as I pulled her to her feet, her cries became tears of gratitude.

“T-thank you so much,” she sobbed. “I… those people were…”

I only twitched a little when the girl fell into my chest and cried. Given what happened, I couldn’t blame this girl for bawling her eyes out like this, but I also wished she wouldn’t rub her runny nose all over my chest. She was getting snot on my clothes.

Kari snickered at me as she cut the chains binding the other girls using the light element. Unlike me, she had to use hand motions to create a sword that could cut the chains. She rotated her wrist and moved her hands up, then down, creating a sword of pure light. While the action was complicated, her light element worked even better than my lightning element when it came to cutting through steel.

As the girl continued to sob and soak my shirt in at least two different types of fluid, I glanced at the platform we were on and frowned. This platform had numerous symbols etched onto its surface. I recognized them as Runes, which were often found on Spiritual Technique Scrolls, but I had never seen them being used like this. Some buildings did have them for decorations. However, perhaps it was thanks to the ancient feeling of this place, or maybe it was because of what those cloaked figures had been going to do, but something about these Runes sent a chill down my spine.

“Hey, Kari. What do you make of this?” I asked after getting the girl to finally let go of me.

After making sure the other girls were free, Kari jumped onto the platform and looked at the floor as well, a frown growing on her face as she studied the Runes. She eventually shook her head.

“I don’t know. I recognize most of these Runes, but I’ve never seen anything like this.” She bit her lower lip. “We can come back here tomorrow and do a more thorough investigation. For now, let’s get these girls back home.”

“Yeah. That’s probably a good idea.”

We led the girls outside, where their crying friend was waiting for them. All seven girls broke down and hugged each other, bawling their eyes out and making me look away in discomfort.  I became even more uncomfortable when the group thanked me and Kari for rescuing them. Fortunately, Kari was much better at accepting thanks than me.

The next day, we would go back to these ruins, but Kari would be unable to make sense of the Runes. We wouldn’t learn about what they did until much later.

***

The next day, I woke up bright and early again to meet with the Eieren Family member who would be showing me to my potential new house. Lin had wanted to come along, but for very obvious reasons, I told her she couldn’t.

“I believe you will like this house,” the young man from the other day said as he led me to what might become my new residence. “It has everything you asked me for the previous day plus a little extra.”

“So long as it’s livable and has a lot of space, anything will do,” I mumbled.

There were quite a few people on the street that day. A group of kids were running between the adults as they played a game of tag, some older people were chatting as they sat around and played chess at nearby tables, and a couple of low-class workers were lugging around a variety of goods. It seemed everyone was up and about at this time of day.

We were in the northern section of Nevaria, which was consequently very close to where the Nadine Library was located. This section of the city was marked primarily by educational facilities where the children of lower-class citizens were taught. There were a couple of schools that taught language, math, and a few other basic academic courses. They were larger than the average building. Each one was about three-stories in height, longer than they were wide, and marked by many windows without glass. While they weren’t the most luxurious buildings around, Empress Hilda had at least made sure they were sturdy and functional.

These school buildings was also the reason Ms. Nadine had set up her library in this section.

“Here we are,” the young man said with a smile.

He and I had stopped in front of a house that was sectioned off by a small fence. Compared to some of the buildings located in this area, it did not appear like much at first, but while the building only consisted of one-story, it was clearly of a higher quality than the buildings surrounding it. Unlike most of the buildings in this part of the city, which were all made of wood and brick, this one was made of limestone, a material that was more often used by nobles.

“This home once belonged to a successful merchant,” the young man said. “It had been built by him for his mistress to live in. Sadly, his mistress passed away during childbirth, so he sold the house to us. I don’t think he wanted to retain something that reminded him of her.”

I nodded as I listened to the story. “Can I take a look inside?”

“Of course.”

The man used a thick key to unlock the gate. I followed him up to the house, where he used a different key to unlock the front door, which led into a small entrance hall. I studied the hall for a second before nodding. It was several dozen meters long from the entrance to a door at the opposite end, and wide enough that Princess Lin would have no trouble fitting through it.

“Come.” The young man beckoned to me. “Let me show you the rooms.”

The hall was connected to each room. There were five in total. On the left was the so-called family room and the kitchen. The family room was about three times larger than my bedroom, and while there was no furniture, the floor was made of carpet instead of wood or stone. Carpet was considerably more expensive. The kitchen had a stone floor and was about a third smaller than the family room. There were two stone ovens. One was meant for boiling, frying, simmering, and stewing, while the other was meant for grilling and baking.

“What do you think so far?” the young man asked.

I nodded. “It looks fine so far. I have no complaints.”

He beamed. “In that case, let me show you the last three rooms.”

The last three rooms were the master bedroom, the secondary bedroom, and the bathing room. The bathing room was located between the two bedrooms. It featured a stone tub that was about twice the size of my wooden bathtub. The tub was built into the ground, shaped like a square, and had steps that allowed a person to walk in. It wasn’t full right now, so I could see how deep it got, which I judged to be about a meter. Meanwhile, the master bedroom and secondary bedroom were merely large rooms. Once again, there was no furniture.

“While you do have a tub, there is no running water beneath this house, I’m afraid,” the young man said. “If you wish fill the tub, there is a canal just behind it that you can retrieve water from. The canal runs through the backyard, which is also sectioned off by a wall, so you’ll have your privacy. There is also an outhouse out back, so you do not need to use a public toilet when taking care of business. May I know your thoughts?”

“I think this place will work,” I said slowly. “What is the price on this house?”

With a beaming smile, the young man answered me. “It’s 46,000 valis.”

I took in a deep breath. That was 4,000 less than the amount I told him I was willing to spend. Judging from how cunning this man seemed to be, I was sure he’d found this home precisely because it was just a little below my targeted price range. Still, the house was nice. It was large enough that it could fit two people, which was all I needed right now. I’d have to buy furniture at some point, but I could do that later. I had the money.

“I’ll take it,” I said at last.

“In that case, Mister Eryk, let us go back to my office.” The man’s smile widened. “I just need you to fill out some paperwork, and then you’ll be the proud owner of a brand new house.”

***

It took around one hour to fill out the paperwork. It was mostly just me signing several documents that would go to the Eieran Family for safe keeping. They apparently liked to keep documentation of all the people who bought homes from them.

After I signed the papers, I gave the man 46,000 valis in exchange for the keys to the house. However, while I was eager to begin moving everything in right away, I couldn’t do anything more today because I had to work. It was my turn to close the library.

Kari wasn’t there when I arrived. She came around an hour after me. By that point, I had finished cleaning everything and most of the people who came were regulars by this point, so they didn’t really need my help. The moment she appeared, the two of us snuck off to the second floor.

If I was being honest, I felt a little bad about using the time I should have been working to talk with Kari, but before she had shown up, most of that time had been spent reading anyway. There was only so much a person could clean before cleaning became redundant and pointless.

That day, we did not talk about adventure stories and exploring dungeons. Kari asked me many questions about Spiritual Techniques, how they were made, how they worked, and advice on using specific ones she was practicing. I answered her as best I could. Given that I had studied the creation of Spiritual Techniques in depth from various sources in my previous life, I was fairly well-versed in how they were created.

“It seems you’re learning a lot of different Spiritual Techniques,” I said at last.

Kari nodded. “There are several different Spiritual Techniques that I would like to learn. I think I’m currently practicing… about ten.”

I frowned. “At the same time?”

“Yes.” Kari must have noticed the chiding tone in my voice because she paused for a moment. “Is that bad?”

“Well… not necessarily.” I frowned and thought about how to put this. “You can still learn ten Spiritual Techniques at the same time and not have any problems. However, if you are practicing ten at the same time, then you aren’t devoting yourself to mastering them. I think it’s more important to master a Spiritual Technique than it is to just learn it. A Spiritualist who has mastered one Spiritual Technique to perfection is a hundred times more dangerous than one who has learned ten different Spiritual Techniques but mastered none of them.”

The Kari from my timeline had known 25 different Spiritual Techniques, but all of those were ones she had practiced one at a time. It was actually Kari who told me it was better to be a master of one than a master of none. This did make me wonder why this Kari was trying to learn so many Spiritual Techniques at once. Perhaps a slight divergence had occurred because of my interference? The last time around, I had not challenged Grant Leucht to fight me in the Spiritualist Grand Tournament, after all.

“Yes, I think I see your point,” Kari muttered with a nod. She gave me an embarrassed smile complete with a healthy blush. “You seem to know a lot about Spiritual Techniques.”

“Well, I have been studying Spiritual Techniques and their creation for awhile,” I admitted.

“Because of the Spiritualist Grand Tournament?” asked Kari.

“Not quite.” I couldn’t lie to Kari no matter how easier it might be, so I tried to explain without telling her that I’d come from the future. “There was a time in my life where something happened, and I wanted to study Spiritual Techniques so I could learn how to create my own.”

“A time in your life?”

“A very dark time,” I added with a sad smile.

“I think I understand,” Kari said.

There was a brief pause in our conversation as Kari scooted a little closer. While her cheeks were flushed a slight red, she still brought her face a little closer to mine, staring into my eyes as if she was searching for something, though I didn’t know what.

“Hey… do you mind if I ask you a question?” she finally asked.

“Not at all.” I turned slightly so I could face her. Now I was sitting with one leg on either side of the bench. “What do you want to ask?”

Kari looked at the table and bit her lower lip, seemingly hesitant about something. I waited for her. It seemed like she wanted to ask something that might be difficult for me to answer, so I didn’t want to rush her.

“How much… do you love me?”

The question startled me for a moment, but I didn’t need to think about my answer for very long. “There is no one in this entire world who I love more than you. I would do anything for you if it would make you happy.”

“Anything?” Kari glanced at me from the corner of her eye.

I nodded. “If you asked me to do it, there is nothing I wouldn’t do.”

“What if… I asked you to kill someone for me?”

“I would do it.”

Kari sucked in a deep breath. Then, in an even more tentative voice, she asked, “What if that person I asked you to kill wasn’t a bad person?”

“It’s cute that you’re trying to use this kind of psychological tactic to make me question whether I’d kill someone for you.” I grinned at the girl, whose cheeks suddenly turned a startling shade of pink like a child caught stealing snacks before dinner. After studying her for a moment, I shrugged and answered her. “The girl I fell in love with is an adventurous young woman who is kind, polite, and doesn’t wish harm upon people who don’t deserve it. If you were the kind of woman who asked me to kill people who didn’t do something to warrant death, you would not be the woman I fell in love with, so the question itself is moot.”

“I… I suppose so.” Kari nodded as she followed my logic. “I’m sorry for asking such a weird question.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for. You should feel free to ask me anything.”

Kari nodded again, bit her lip some more, and then asked, “but you would really do anything for me?”

“So long as it makes you happy,” I said, which caused a small, joyous smile to bloom on Kari’s face.

While I wasn’t sure what the purpose of her questioning was, it seemed like my answer had satisfied her. She changed the subject back to Spiritual Techniques. We talked until it was about time for me to close up. Oddly enough, Kari decided to wait for me until I had finished closing the library. I’d given her an odd look and questioned why she was sticking around when she should have been heading home, but she just smiled and said she wanted to spend a little more time with me.

After closing up the library, I glanced at Kari, who was still smiling that small smile.

“Are you heading back home now or…”

“I thought I would walk part way home with you,” she admitted. “You live that way, right?” She pointed down a specific route. “You take this street everyday. I can reach the Imperial Royal Palace using this route, so I thought I’d walk with you until we had to part ways.”

“I understand.” I accepted her explanation and held out my hand. “In that case, shall we get going?”

“Yes.”

Kari’s lips widened into an even bigger smile as she took my hand and we began walking. I think she was getting used to physical affection, or at least certain levels of it. She’d probably burst with color like a steamed lobster if I hugged her, but at least she didn’t blow up with embarrassment when I held her hand. Actually, these days it was often Kari who grabbed my hand first.

A lot of people stared at us as we walked past, but I knew they weren’t staring at me. I knew for a fact that the men, at least, were all directing their gazes toward Kari. She was wearing a delicate white dress that seemed thin, allowing the lovely curves of her body to be displayed. This dress also possessed slits on either side to allow freedom of movement, but that also meant her legs were exposed as she walked. The sleeves had cutouts along the shoulders and were voluminous near her hands. Aside from her gorgeous figure and outfit, the elegant bearing she possessed was enough to cause heads to turn.

“Lady Kari looks so beautiful today,” one person said with a dreamy sigh.

“Ugh, I’d heard she had been spotted around here, but I never imagined I’d be able to see her in person.”

“Who is that girl with her?”

“That isn’t a girl, dude. That’s a guy.”

“Wait! For realz?!”

“Look! They’re holding hands! Do you think… I mean, you don’t think they’re… you know?”

“They had better not! I’ll murder him if he’s with her!”

Or maybe some of them were just glaring enviously at how we were holding hands. As several conversations happened around us, I glanced at Kari who, from the heavy blush staining her cheeks, had obviously heard every word these people had said.

“Just ignore them,” I advised her. “The words of these people don’t mean anything.”

Kari nodded and squeezed my hand. I could tell she was embarrassed, so I was honestly happy that she was unwilling to relinquish my hand despite that.

As we walked, I wondered how we should say goodbye. Would it be inappropriate if I kissed her by this point? I think we were both already aware of our feelings for each other, but I also knew that the Kari right now might not be as receptive toward that sort of physical intimacy. Maybe I should ask if she’d be okay with it? Was that appropriate?

I felt like I was overthinking this, but I was honestly really worried. A part of me just wanted to take this girl into my arms, kiss her silly, and then make passionate love to her, but I was also aware that these feelings and desires might not be shared by the current Kari. I had to tread carefully until I was certain of where she stood and what boundaries she wanted to set.

“I should definitely ask her…”

“Did you say something?” asked Kari.

Looking into Kari’s eyes, I decided that now was the perfect time to ask about what her boundaries were in regards to physical intimacy. I opened my mouth, prepared to express these opinions—

“ERYK VEIGER! I HAVE COME SEEKING REVENGE FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO MY YOUNGER BROTHERS!!”

However, I would never get the chance to say anything. At that moment, a loud scream filled with rage resounded across the street, causing everyone, including Kari and myself, to stop.