I’ve smoothed things over with Mister Guen and Mister Giarth, and now I’m facing them with the great spirit girl in my arms.
“…”
“…”
It’s kind of awkward how they’re looking at me with jealousy, so I just open my mouth and ask what I’m thinking.
“By the way, how do we get out of here?”
“Hn? Ah…”
“We don’t have a way to escape Sheryl’s darkness prison either.”
“I see.”
Brute force it is then.
‘If you do that again, I will kill you for real.’
I hear Miss Sheryl’s voice in my head, as if responding to my thoughts.
And at the same time, the magic energy around us disappears.
“Oh? Sheryl?”
“It was fast this time. I thought we would be locked in here for years…”
The darkness clears, and we find ourselves sitting in the center of the colosseum.
I look up to the audience seats, and see a scared Katima and an exasperated Sheryl.
Apparently they’ve been watching from the outside.
“…Come here, all of you.”
“Y-yes.”
I approach her with the girl in my arms, and she takes us to a place with a fancy table and chairs. It’s like the dining table of a noble.
“Hum…?”
Katima and I are confused, but Mister Guen and Mister Giarth sit down.
“Don’t just stand there, sit down too.”
“Y-yes.”
Sheryl presses us to sit down, so we do.
And then, spirits that look like round black apparitions rush to bring us cups and food.
It’s kind of cute how they’re running around busily.
I’m sure Luna and Tiltue would be happy if I brought one home.
“Hey, Arata… What’s going through your mind?”
“Nothing.”
“…Liar.”
“I’m not lying.”
Katima is sitting next to me, still scared, but also suspicious of me.
“Why are you always digging up trouble?”
“…Just let me say one thing.”
“Go on.”
“I’ve never once thought about stirring up trouble.”
Seriously, I don’t try to find trouble. So stop looking at me like that.
“I tried to solve this problem my own way. And then stuff happened, and then you know, in the end…”
“Well, Reina’s the one responsible for Arata. She can treat you like a problem child later.”
“…”
“Katima’ll just say this. Katima won’t save you. Absolutely not! So don’t look at Katima like that!”
Because Reina is scary when she’s angry.
That’s why she’s looking at me like she knows I’m thinking of asking her to come up with a good excuse with me.
“Katima won’t save you!”
“Yes yes, that’s enough you two.”
Sheryl says as she looks at us with an exasperated expression, and stops our comedy duo back and forth.
Suddenly, I realize there’s warm food on the table. It looks like the darkness spirits have been hard at work.
“Hn?”
The darkness spirits that look like black spheres all gather, and make something that’s like a floating bed.
“Let the girl sleep there for now.”
“Ah, yes.”
She’s not really showing any signs that she’ll wake up soon, so I lay her down on the darkness bed, after holding her all this time.
As I do, spirits move away, swaying as they do.
Watching them move up and down and left and right as they go is kind of surreal and funny.
“Well then, let’s talk…”
On the other hand, Miss Sheryl’s eyes aren’t funny at all…
As we eat, we once again sort out what we talked about in the darkness prison.
There were signs that a new spirit would be born, so the three of them gathered to decide what to do.
Mister Guen and Mister Giarth wanted to be grandparents, so they went nuts.
And since they were about to get into a big fight to decide who would be the real grandfather, Miss Sheryl locked them in a darkness prison.
“Oh? It’s a little different from what I heard before.”
Specifically what got them in the darkness prison.
They talked about looking after the newly born great spirit but… A big fight?
I tilt my head, and Sheryl lets out a sigh, before pointing to the other two.
“These two idiots.”
“I’m not an idiot.”
“I am no idiot.”
“If they kept going like that, this entire area would have been blown away.”
“…I see.”
Miss Sheryl and I look at them, and they turn their heads.
Yes, if they started fighting without holding back, it would’ve been big trouble.
“Katima…”
“Stop, Arata. Don’t turn this to Katima.”
“The great spirits are kind of airheads, aren’t they?”
“Katima will be in big trouble if she responds to that! Stop it, seriously!”
It’s kind of funny watching her argue with tears welling up in her eyes, so I start playing with her without even thinking.
Before, she didn’t really show expressions like these, but I feel like I’ve been having fun getting to know more facets of her since we got to the alfar village.
“Anyway, I think I understand.”
I feel like I’ve got a good grasp on their natures after what I heard so far.
Also, Miss Sheryl was said to be the scariest, but she’s actually the one with the most common sense.
“So what should we do now?”
I ask as my eyes turn to the girl sleeping on the bed created by darkness spirits.
She’s a newly born great spirit, but she still looks like just a girl.
“Isn’t it obvious? Take responsibility and look after her.”
“…So it really comes down to that?”
“Of course. If you leave her, she might start crying and throwing a tantrum.”
Says Miss Sheryl, and I turn to the girl again.
She did blow Mister Guen and Mister Giarth away…
“Can I talk about this at home at least?”
In particular, I need to tell Reina about it or she’ll be mad.
I can already feel her looking at me and saying ‘again, Arata?’.
“Fine, but take her with you.”
“That’s what I figured.”
Well, I’d also feel sorry if I left a girl that’s taken to me and she cried.
I pat her head gently as she sleeps soundly, and it feels chilly.
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