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Chapter 3: To Strahl Again 

Two weeks had passed since Rio and Aishia left the spirit folk village. Perhaps it was a result of Miharu’s prayers, but their journey was remarkably smooth. They arrived in the Strahl region unscathed, having not run into any dangerous encounters along the way. 

Their current location was the eastern tip of the Kingdom of Beltrum, in a forest on Marquess Rodan’s territory. Rio and Aishia descended in a random area of forest when the sun began to set, setting up the rock house and settling down for the day. After that, they immediately prepared dinner and sat down facing each other at the table. 

“We’ll arrive in the capital of Beltrant by tomorrow afternoon, so let’s go over our plans one more time,” Rio said to Aishia. 

“Okay.” 

“First thing tomorrow morning, we’ll head straight for the kingdom capital. Once we arrive, we’ll gather as much information as we can about the hero summoning while it’s still bright out. Then, at night, we’ll sneak into the academy and visit Professor Celia’s research laboratory. If her room hasn’t changed over the years, then we should be able to meet her there.” 

“Got it,” Aishia acknowledged quietly. 

“Professor Celia may know something about the heroes, so we’ll also ask her if she knows anything about Miharu’s friends, Sendo Takahisa and Sumeragi Satsuki. I may introduce you to her, too, but it depends on how complicated the discussion may get. Can I leave that decision until after we meet her?” 

“Yeah. I’ll change into my spirit form and focus on guarding your surroundings,” Aishia said, volunteering herself as a lookout. Since she couldn’t be seen in her spirit form, being a lookout was the perfect role for her. 

“Thanks, that’d be great. Now, since we’ll be getting up early tomorrow, let’s call it a night now. We were flying all day with only a few breaks, after all,” Rio said, smiling gently. 

“Yeah, let’s get a lot of sleep,” Aishia nodded with a dazed expression. It seemed like she was sleepy already. 

 ? ? 

The next afternoon, Rio and Aishia arrived at the capital of the Kingdom of Beltrum. They set up the rock house on the outskirts of the city as a landmark in advance and headed into the city. 

At the moment, they were at the entrance of the main street leading to the business district inside the castle walls. 

“Now, arriving at the capital is one thing, but...” Rio gazed at the street crowded with people and muttered to himself. 

“What’s wrong?” Aishia tilted her face that was hidden by her hood and asked. Her appearance tended to attract attention, so Rio had ordered her to put a hood on. Rio, on the other hand, wasn’t wearing his hood. 

“No, I was just thinking... It’s gotten a lot more lively here. It used to be pretty populated in the past, but... Let’s ask around in some stalls around here,” Rio answered with an unconvinced expression, suggesting they get a move on. 

“Yeah,” Aishia nodded, reaching out to grab Rio’s left hand so that they wouldn’t be separated in the crowds. Rio gently held Aishia’s hand back. 

The two of them stepped onto the crowded road, but it was difficult to make progress down the main street, so they decided to enter a random store and gather some information. 

“There are no empty stalls around here. Let’s try going into an alley.” With a strained smile, Rio pulled Aishia by the hand and led her to a back alleyway. 

“The alleys are crowded, too, but the stores at least have seats. Let’s enter one of them,” he said, wandering further into the alley. As he expected, there were more empty seats in the shops around there instead. 

“We haven’t had lunch yet, so let’s get something to eat.” 

“Okay... That one smells nice.” Aishia sniffed in the air and followed the scent before pointing out a shop. It appeared to be a stall selling sandwiches where a group of people were accepting their freshly made meals. 

“Then let’s go with that,” Rio said, moving toward the stall. 

He gave his order to a girl around twelve or thirteen years of age behind the counter. “Excuse me. I’d like to take two, please.” 

“...” The girl took one glance at Rio and froze as though she was captivated by him. 

“...Is something the matter?” Rio asked curiously. 

“Oh, no, two orders it is. Please wait a moment. Mom, two please!” The girl shook her head with a faint blush on her cheeks before passing the order on to her mother behind the counter, where she was preparing the food. 

“Yes sir, please wait a moment!” The girl’s mother gave a friendly nod and immediately began preparing the ingredients. She looked to be in her early thirties — still fairly young and with refined facial features. 

...Hm? Rio looked at the woman’s face and felt a strange sensation similar to deja-vu, but he couldn’t think of a reason why, so he let it go and returned his thought process to his main objective. 

“The main street is filled with crowds of people. Is it always that busy?” he asked the girl. 

“Oh, I think some really high class nobles are getting married tomorrow, so lots of people are visiting from outside the capital. There’ll be some big celebrations and even a parade, or something. Because of that, even a stall located off the beaten path like us is getting customers, so we are very grateful,” she answered with a happy smile. 

“Tomorrow... I see. May I ask which noble family...?” If it was a really high class noble, then there was a chance he knew of the family too. 

“Umm, who was it again? Something like Ar... Ar...” The girl couldn’t quite recall the name, inclining her head as she searched through her memory. 

“...The Duke Arbor family?” 

The girl’s expression brightened as she nodded. “Ah, that’s it! It’s a noble by that name.” 

“I see. That is indeed a high class family,” Rio said, recalling what he knew of the kingdom’s politics. 

Holding the ceremony during a parade... Is it a show of power? The Second Princess’ kidnapping incident nine years ago should have caused Duke Arbor’s influence to decline greatly, at least up until I left the kingdom... Was there a shift in the political powers of the kingdom after I left? If I recall correctly... Professor Celia’s family was part of the Fontaine faction that was especially loyal to the king. Comparing the balance of the past with the present, he formed a hypothesis on what was happening. 

“Umm, you really seem to know a lot about nobles, mister,” the girl said, looking up at Rio’s face hesitantly. 

Rio’s eyes widened for a moment before he picked up on what the girl was implying and reassured her with an amused smile. “Hm? Yeah, but I’m not a noble, so you don’t have to be scared.” 

“Ah, no! That’s not what I meant! I just thought you spoke really prettily, so I was wondering... It wasn’t that I thought you were one... Umm, you don’t have to talk to someone like me so politely. Ah, my name is Sophie, by the way!” The girl blushed, explaining herself with flustered gestures. On top of that, she introduced herself for some reason. 

“What’s wrong, Sophie? Here, it’s done. Hand it to the customer.” The food had been completed and Sophie’s mother’s voice could be heard from the back. 

“Ah, okay Mom. Here... Thank you for waiting, mister!” Sophie accepted the completed sandwich and offered it to Rio with a bow. 

“I apologize for my daughter’s rudeness, sir.” Sophie’s mother also bowed her head deeply at Rio. 

“No, you have a very cute and friendly daughter there. I enjoyed our conversation very much.” Rio shook his head with a smile. 

Sophie’s mother sighed quietly in relief. “I’m glad to hear that, then.” 

“If you don’t mind me asking, have you had this store here for a long time?” Rio suddenly asked. 

“Yes, it’s been around five years now. I started when this child was still young,” the girl’s mother answered with a slightly curious look. 

Ah, I see now. No wonder... A smile tugged at Rio’s lips as it all clicked in place. 

“I see. I believe I may have visited this store once before, back then. No wonder I felt a strange sense of deja-vu when I saw the front of the store. I remember your daughter was tending to the store back then, too,” he said, explaining his sudden realization. 

Sophie twitched in surprise at the mention of herself. “Oh my, is that so? Thank you very much for your continued patronage,” she thanked him happily, having no recollection of Rio. 

The last time Rio had visited this store, he had been preparing for his journey to leave the kingdom after receiving his arrest warrants. Rio had grown a lot since then, with different colored hair to boot, so it was understandable that the mother and daughter wouldn’t recognize him. 

“No, not at all. Here’s the money. Aishia, here.” 

“Thank you,” Aishia nodded, accepting the sandwich and taking a small bite of it immediately. “...It’s delicious.” 

“Please feel free to have a seat as you eat,” Sophie’s mother said with a pleased smile, stepping out from the back of the stall and setting up seats for Rio and Aishia beside the counter. 

“Well, if you don’t mind.” Rio and Aishia both accepted the seats offered to them. Rio took a bite of the sandwich first. 

“Wow, this is really good.” 

The bread was a firm type of baguette and the fillings were a mix of meat and vegetables that were seasoned with meat juice and a salty sauce; it filled his mouth with rich flavor. 

“Thank you very much. Please, take your time eating,” Sophie’s mother said, returning to the stall. Sophie occasionally shot glances over at Rio and Aishia. Eventually, Rio felt awkward enough to speak up. 

“Umm, Sophie?” he asked. 

“Y-Yes! How can I help you, mister?” Sophie replied happily. 

“If I’m not disturbing your work, there’s one more thing I’d like to ask...” 

“As long as no other customers are around, feel free!” 

“Do you know anything about the hero that was summoned around four months ago?” 

“Oh, there was a huge fuss about that for a while. A huge pillar of light shot up from the royal castle, so that kind of reaction makes sense!” Sophie said elatedly, recalling the events that occurred. 

“The... has this kingdom officially announced the existence of the hero?” 

“Yes — the castle issued a proclamation to the people.” 

“Huh... Do you know the name of that hero, by any chance?” Rio asked with interest, but Sophie shook her head apologetically. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t know the hero’s name...” 

“I see... That’s all right. Thank you for telling me,” Rio said, resuming his meal. Aishia continued to chew on her sandwich in an adorable manner next to him. 

“Thank you for the meal — it was truly delicious. I’ll drop by again if we’re ever nearby, so maybe we’ll meet again,” Rio said once they had finished their food several minutes later, leaving the store behind him. 

“Yes, please come again anytime!” Sophie and her mother saw Rio and Aishia off cheerfully. 

“What a lovely couple they were,” Sophie’s mother — a woman named Angela — said to her daughter. 

“Yeah. I only saw a little bit of her face under the hood, but that lady was really beautiful...” Sophie agreed with a mix of fascination and jealousy. 

“Fufu, it’d be nice if we could meet again,” Angela said, smiling amusedly. 

 ? ? 

After lunchtime, Rio and Aishia continued to walk through the market in search of information. The sky gradually grew darker; eventually, all the stores closed up shop for the day. Instead, inns and bars started to bustle with life, but the two travelers had no business with those establishments. 

Rio walked down the much less crowded main street beside Aishia. “All right, I guess we’ve gathered as much information from the market as we can for now. Sorry I had you accompany me for so long. Thank you, Aishia,” he said, offering words of appreciation to Aishia for keeping him company the entire time. 

“I didn’t do anything. All the information was gathered by you, Haruto.” Aishia shook her head with a calm voice. 

“No, having you beside me helped make people less wary when talking to me. You were a big help.” 

“I’m glad to hear that, then.” 

Though she had her face hidden by the hood the entire time, it was easy to tell Aishia was a woman from close up because of her figure. A man and woman walking together was easy to mistake for a couple, and a few of the store attendants were more willing to chat after being distracted by the glimpse of Aishia’s beauty that they caught. It was all thanks to Aishia that their bout of information gathering went so smoothly. 

“I was thinking of going to the academy next, as planned. But if you’re tired, you can go and rest first...” 

“It’s okay. I’ll go too. If we’re sneaking in, my spirit form might be useful,” Aishia offered without any sign of reluctance. 

“...Then I’ll take your word for it and count on you. Let’s hurry, shall we?” Rio smiled with a mix of gratitude and guilt at Aishia’s devotion, before resuming their walk toward their objective. They were, of course, headed for the Royal Academy of Beltrum, where Rio once attended and Celia’s research lab was located below the library tower. 


However, the academy grounds were deep inside the noble area surrounded by castle walls, adjacent to the castle itself, so there was no entering from the front. That inevitably meant they had to sneak in instead, but Rio and Aishia had access to spirit arts to make that task much easier. 

The two of them went around the wall to locate a relatively unguarded location and leaped into the air with spirit arts, easily clearing the ten-meter-tall castle walls. They had waited until dark simply because it was easier to sneak around with the cover of night; there was no way they could have flown through the air so recklessly during the day. 

“This way.” Rio jumped down to the roof of a moderately sized building and enhanced his body with spirit arts. Then, he burst into a light run across the rooftops of the noble district with Aishia bringing up the rear. With that pacing, they arrived at the academy in a matter of minutes. 

As a former student, Rio made his way around the school grounds without hesitation. The number of guards were also fewer than the noble district, so they were able to reach the library tower with ease. Two guards stood at the entrance of the library tower, but with no sign of anything amiss, they didn’t seem very motivated about their jobs at all. 

“There’s a terrace on the second floor at the back. The lock on the window there used to be easy to break, so let’s try that. If we can’t get it to open, you can enter in your spirit form and just unlock it.” 

“Got it.” Rio and Aishia leaped up to the second floor terrace. 

“I believe it was around here... Oh, it’d be faster to just get you to go inside in the first place, wouldn’t it?” Rio stood before the wooden window and looked at Aishia with a wry smile. She could also check if there was anyone inside. 

“Yup, leave it to me,” Aishia nodded, dematerializing her form and disappearing from sight. Less than ten seconds later, a click sounded from inside as the window unlocked and creaked open. 

“Come in. There’s no one inside.” 

“...Thanks, Aishia. You made this so much easier than I was expecting,” Rio laughed, then climbed into the library tower and closed the window once more, locking it shut. 

“Let’s go. Professor Celia’s lab is underground.” 

They refocused themselves on the task at hand and headed downstairs. There were no guards inside the library tower, but there would be researchers working overnight — they couldn’t afford to let their guards down. 

This sure brings back memories, Rio thought to himself as they walked down the familiar underground corridor. They advanced down the illuminated hallway, dimly lit by the light of magic artifacts, until they reached the room Celia used as her research laboratory. The name plate on the door was still carved with the name Celia Claire. 

It’s still her name. Rio broke into a grin, then took a deep breath and quietly knocked. However, the inside of the room remained silent, with no sign of a reaction for several seconds. 

“...Is she out?” He knocked once more to check before his expression fell with a frown. 

“I’ll take a look,” Aishia said, turning into her spirit form. Her body scattered into particles of light and dispersed. 

No such thing as privacy with her, huh? He hadn’t realized it before as she was usually in her physical form, but she could really abuse that ability if she wanted. Rio would have to have a talk with her about when and where it was appropriate to invade someone’s privacy — and who, of course, he thought with a wry smile. Soon after, the light particles gathered once more to form Aishia’s figure. 

“Celia isn’t there. It’s completely deserted,” Aishia reported. 

“You mean she’s gone home for the day?” 

“No. At the very least, the room hasn’t been used at all recently. Most of the things in the room have been removed.” 

Rio placed a hand against his mouth with a contemplative look. “...Looks like we’ll need to investigate this a little more,” he murmured in thought. 

“What do we do?” 

“It might be a little risky, but let’s see if there are any other researchers around and cast a spell on them. For now, let’s search as many of the research labs on this floor as we can,” Rio replied. 

“Okay. I’ll search in my spirit form.” 

Rio paused for a moment. “That’s probably the least risky option. Can I ask you to get to that right away?” 

“Leave it to me.” Aishia immediately took on her spirit form and set about on her task. Then, less than a minute later, she materialized once more before Rio. 

“This way, Haruto,” she said, leading Rio to the room she had marked. 

“Thank you. What’s inside?” 

“A middle-aged researcher. I’ll enter the room and cast an illusion on him before calling you, so come inside after that,” Aishia said. Illusion arts were a type of spirit arts that affected the five senses of perception of a person. For example, planting suggestions into someone’s mind was also considered a form of illusion arts. There were many different kinds of illusions, the most difficult and powerful of which were capable of making the other party experience what was, in short, a waking dream. 

However, as illusion arts required time to cast, its effect was weakened when met with resistance — to the point where it could be completely repelled. In addition to requiring a great amount of skill in spirit arts to perform, it was also extremely difficult to use it in a practical way. Therefore, it was best to cast illusion arts when the other party was unaware of it. 

Even if an illusion was forcibly cast, the illusion would be noticed the moment any resistance was met. Therefore, even if the art was successfully activated, the utility of the illusion was essentially ruined. 

With all that in mind, Rio nodded uneasily. “...You’re right. It’d be better for you to cast the illusion arts in your spirit form, Aishia,” he said with a small sigh. “Remember, we’ve snuck into this academy in search of information about Professor Celia. We can’t have anyone realize that, so you need to put him into a dream state before he resists.” 

If they could place him under a dream state before he noticed them, his memories of Rio and Aishia would be hazy even after the illusion wore off. Rio was capable of casting the illusion arts himself, but after considering the time lag between opening the door and approaching the researcher, he decided it was more reliable to have Aishia do it. 

“It’ll be fine, don’t worry.” Aishia didn’t seem to have any concerns at all, as her response to him was blunt. 

“...Yeah. If it’s you, then I don’t need to worry.” Rio gave a faint smile as he relaxed. 

“Yup,” Aishia nodded, dispersing into particles of light again. Then, after a short while... 

Come inside, Haruto, Aishia’s voice echoed in Rio’s head. 

Rio immediately opened the door without knocking; a single middle-aged man sat at his desk in the room. Beside him stood Aishia, her hand held up against the man’s head. 

“Hey.” The researcher seemed to perceive Rio’s entrance and called out to him in a friendly manner. However, his eyes were unfocused and had a dazed look about them. 

He thinks you’re an important work-related visitor. If you want to ask him your questions, he should answer them properly — to the extent of his knowledge, at least. Aishia explained to Rio via telepathy. Rio gave her a brief thanks and began to question the man sitting before him. 

“I have business with Professor Celia Claire. Where can I find her?” he asked. 

“Shouldn’t she be in the castle?” the man replied casually. 

“The castle... Why would she be there?” 

“Hahaha. Duke Arbor’s faction may have regained their power, but the kingdom’s internal affairs are still very much unstable. They’re probably being wary of Duke Huguenot’s faction, what with the upcoming wedding ceremony and all.” 

“...Wedding? Of who?” Rio almost doubted his hearing. 

“Celia’s, of course. She’ll be wed to Sir Charles of Duke Arbor’s house,” the researcher stated the fact simply. 

“Charles?! Charles Arbor and Professor Celia?” Rio’s jaw dropped, his shock making his words come out louder than intended. 

His reaction made sense — Charles Arbor was the same person who forcefully tortured Rio under the name of interrogation during the incident where the Second Princess Flora was kidnapped. It went without saying that Rio didn’t have a very good impression of Charles. 

“Well, it’s your standard political marriage. Celia’s family is from the Fontaine faction... Or rather, the faction recognized as the leading nobles with regard to their support of His Majesty. With the Huguenot faction chased out of the capital right now, they’re the perfect marriage candidate to increase the Arbor family’s power. And though it pains me to admit it, Celia’s worth as a genius researcher also gives her a high value as a wife,” the man explained. 

“Professor Celia... No, the Count Claire family also wanted this political marriage?” 

“That’s anyone’s guess... But with the current state of the kingdom, it wouldn’t be smart to turn down a request from the Arbor faction. It would have benefited Count Claire’s house more to side with the winners, so to speak.” 

Rio took a deep breath and calmed himself down on the surface before continuing his line of questioning. “...I see. But I still don’t quite understand why she is living in the castle. What do you mean by being wary of Duke Huguenot’s faction?” 

“The Huguenot faction is currently being treated as a rebel faction in this kingdom and have hidden themselves. But their power cannot be underestimated. A link between the Duke Arbor and Count Claire families would be most undesirable to them, so the families probably feared for Celia’s safety. It was for those reasons that she was taken to the castle.” 

“I see, so that’s what happened... I suppose it would be easier to guard the castle...” Rio muttered with a grimace. 

I guess a lot of political disputes occurred after I left the kingdom, huh? And because of that, Professor Celia ended up with the short end of the stick... He felt ashamed of his own ignorance of Celia’s predicament, though he couldn’t have known otherwise. 

“...The wedding ceremony was to take place tomorrow, right?” 

“Yes. There’ll be a grand parade and all,” the researcher confirmed with a nod. 

Rio took another deep breath to calm himself down as much as he could. Then, he changed the subject. “On another note, could I ask you a few things about the dispute that happened with the Proxia Empire, in which the king and the Huguenot faction lost their power?” he asked. 

There was no mistaking the fact that the shift in internal politics was what had prompted Celia’s marriage, but he needed to have a more accurate grasp of the situation. 

“Mm... I’m not very interested in politics, so I’d just be repeating what I’ve heard from others.” 

“That’s fine.” 

“The dispute in question happened roughly half a year ago.” The Proxia Empire was a large military nation located to the north of Beltrum. The former mercenary and current first-generation emperor, Nidol Proxia, rose to power when he killed the king of a small kingdom forty years ago. He had since absorbed numerous small, northern countries and their armies, rapidly developing Proxia into the current empire. Because of their track record, the neighboring kingdoms became inevitably wary of the empire. Those sharing borders with Proxia — including Beltrum and Galarc — also had a history of getting into frequent skirmishes dating back to the first founding of the empire. 

Despite this, ever since a military alliance of several kingdoms led by Beltrum and Galarc was formed to oppose Proxia, the tension between the alliance kingdoms and the empire had at least been reduced to a stalemate. 

“The conservative approach His Majesty and Duke Huguenot had maintained for so long became their downfall as Proxia launched a daring invasion of one of our kingdom’s key locations. Our troops had their station captured and had to admit defeat.” The invasion had greatly changed the tension between Beltrum and Proxia. 

“I don’t know the details of the retreat, but I heard the Proxia Empire’s strongest army, the Winged Knights, played a huge part in their victory. In any case, that was when Duke Arbor made his appearance. He hounded His Majesty and Duke Huguenot for responsibility over the seized location and had since taken over the role of negotiations with the Proxia Empire, which have been going fairly well.” As the researcher also doubled as a professor of the academy, his explanation was well arranged and easy to follow. 

“After that, while I’m not sure of the particulars involved, it was thanks to Duke Arbor that our kingdom succeeded in making peace with Proxia. That Duke Arbor’s influence and esteem within our kingdom shot up, allowing him to turn most of the nobility in the royal court on his side and duly purge the Huguenot faction with just cause. He used that momentum to criticize His Majesty and seized a portion of his power.” 

“Criticizing the king must have been quite a bold move to make...” 

“That was how disadvantaged His Majesty’s position was. His Majesty has been stuck dealing with the faction rivalry ever since the former king passed away.” The researcher spoke of the issue objectively and sighed. He seemed to have the minimum amount of expected knowledge regarding noble society, but he truly didn’t seem to be interested in politics. 

“On another note, do you know the name of the hero that was summoned recently?” He didn’t know when someone might visit this laboratory, so they couldn’t afford to chat for too long. Rio decided to quickly ask what he needed to know right then and there in a blunt manner. 

“Ah, what was it again? I believe it was... Rui. Yes, it was Rui Shigekura.” 

“Rui Shigekura, you say? Right, thank you very much.” While it was certainly a Japanese-sounding name, it was not the person Miharu and the others were searching for. After that, Rio confirmed a few more things with the man. 

“That’s all. If you’d please excuse me,” he said. 

“It was my pleasure.” The man shook his head amicably and saw Rio off. The illusion would wear off later, clearing his mind but leaving the impression that he had been napping. 

“What will we do?” Aishia asked Rio after they left the room. 

“...There are still some missing points in the timeline of the marriage, but there’s no time. I want to meet Professor Celia before the ceremony, so let’s sneak into the castle immediately.” It’d be easiest to hear the details of what happened from Celia’s own mouth. 

“Then let me help, too. I’ll locate the room Celia’s staying in inside the castle.” 

“Thanks. The castle is right next to this academy. If it’s just entering the grounds, then it shouldn’t be too hard, but...” The problem was locating exactly which room Celia was staying in. The inside of the castle was spacious and had many rooms, almost all of which Rio was unfamiliar with. 

It doesn’t seem like there’s any kind of barrier set up around the perimeter, so the problem will be the interior... Especially inside the castle itself... 

There was a technique using advanced wind spirit arts that could erase his figure from view, but it required moving at a walking pace to perform successfully. It also risked triggering any magic essence detectors and giving away their location, so he had to think carefully. They probably would have been able to break their way in and escape without an issue, but then the security would be tightened and make it harder to reach Celia. 

“I’ll turn into my spirit form and search through the castle alone. That way, the risk of detection is lower,” Aishia uttered simply. 

“...The inside of the castle will have zones with restricted entry, so they may have ways of detecting suspicious sources of essence. Ignoring the characteristic aura you emit as a physical spirit, won’t you be a mass of ode and mana in your spirit form? Are you sure?” They had considered this risk when they were sneaking into the academy too, but the royal castle was more likely to be guarded carefully in comparison. 

“It’s no problem. If there’s any kind of barrier that detects magic essence, I’ll be able to detect it first. And the humans of the Strahl region typically can’t perceive essence, so my spirit aura shouldn’t be an issue, either. Plus, I don’t feel any spirits around here. As far as the radius of my detection reaches, anyway.” 

“Dryas also said that wild spirits rarely ever appear in Strahl,” Rio noted. 

“Most spirits are cowardly by nature, so they tend to avoid human habitats. The spirit folk who live together with spirits are actually an extreme exception, according to Dryas.” 

“I see... Then can I rely on you once more, Aishia?” Rio requested reluctantly. He felt sorry for depending on Aishia so much, but they had to search as efficiently as possible right now. 

“Yup,” Aishia agreed without missing a beat. 

“Thank you. Let’s head to the castle right away, then.” 

The two of them set off toward the castle. 



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