"Oh, Miss Heith is purchasing Spirit Cloth in the city?"
When Isagi narrowed his eyes slightly and said this with a thoughtful expression, for some reason, Ryuu had a very bad premonition.
And sure enough!
The young man immediately beckoned Cecil over and whispered quite a few words into the silly girl's ear. Ryuu couldn't hear clearly; she only saw the small sky-blue ponytail bobbing up and down continuously as Cecil just kept nodding, her face full of a serious "I got it!" expression.
What is the situation?!
She felt that her juniors were plotting something quite un-[Justice] again!! But when she asked Isagi, the boy acted all mysterious and wouldn't say, only replying:
"Eat, eat, eat."
This was obviously changing the subject!
"Speaking of which, Ryuu-senpai actually didn't trip when coming back today, eh!"
"Ugh!"
Actually, she did trip.
After leaving Solingen, the small path outside the city was somewhat rugged, and there were no lights. One moment of carelessness, and...
It was just that because she had anticipated this, the Elf girl held the two food boxes in a death grip the entire way, preventing them from being overturned!
Ryuu's small, pretty face blushed slightly. But when she placed both portions of the meal on the table, she still unconsciously puffed out her small, tender chest.
Hmph!
Wait, what am I being proud of! It's not like I'm a child; being praised by a junior like this isn't worth being happy about at all, okay!!
Even—
Ryuu saw that Cecil was also giving her a thumbs up with a silly look.
!!!!
Have I been acknowledged by the idiot?!
Although it wasn't nice to say this, her junior was indeed a bit foolish. Anya, Cecil, and adding Tiona to the mix—they were simply like children. And to be praised by a child, wasn't that even more embarrassing?!
For some reason, as the senior Elf girl, a certain feeling of hopelessness inexplicably rose in her heart.
Let's eat, let's sleep, let the world be destroyed—
The late night was quiet.
The mountain wind brought the sound of the long river flowing from afar, accompanied by the swaying of branches and leaves in the forest. It was a completely different experience from being in the city. It was very conducive to sleep.
After dinner, she went out for a walk, then came home to shower and sleep. Ryuu felt herself drift into dreamland instantly. However, as she slept, what was clearly a pleasant dream suddenly became...
Ugh!
So uncomfortable! It felt as if she was being crushed by something!
In a daze, the Elf girl woke up in bed. It took her several minutes to figure out the current situation in the darkness.
It was this guy Cecil; her sleeping posture was too terrible! The girl currently had one hand and one foot completely pressing down on Ryuu, sleeping soundly.
So uncomfortable.
But it was useless. Even if she quietly moved her limbs back to their original places, before long, this guy would fall over like this again.
Back in the city, everyone also lived in one house. Ryuu knew Cecil's sleeping posture was relatively poor, but since everyone slept separately back then, she only felt the idiot was somewhat foolishly cute. But now...
Suddenly, Ryuu recalled the look Isagi gave her today when he heard she would be with Cecil. Why did he reveal a somewhat "pitying" look?
So you knew all along, right?! Not only did you know, but you also—
After getting up the next morning, Isagi offered a suggestion to the Elf girl.
"Ryuu-senpai, you can grab that idiot's hands, like this! Then use your legs to firmly lock her legs. That way, Cecil won't be able to move around!"
"I see!!"
Wait! How would you know about this kind of thing?!
"Hypothetically," Isagi said.
Because his Familia senior raised this issue, if one put themselves in those shoes and thought about it, the answer naturally came easily. This is called the Hypothetical Principle! Anyway, if he were to sleep with Cecil, he would definitely deal with her like this!!
"?"
Ryuu couldn't believe it; the boy could actually think like that!
"Is there no other way?"
Simulating what Isagi said in her mind, Ryuu felt it was somewhat embarrassing. Moreover, wouldn't that hurt Cecil a bit too much? After all, wasn't that explicitly pointing out that her sleeping posture was terrible?
"There is," Isagi said very seriously, but then he shook his head. "But Ryuu-senpai, you can't do it."
"Why?"
"You don't have that ability."
"?"
I understand even less now! Why does my junior always say things that are impossible to understand!!
The small interlude passed. After washing up and eating breakfast, Cecil quickly went out. It seemed she went to execute the "mission" Isagi arranged—something related to Miss Heith.
On the other side, watching the rising autumn morning sun gradually climb up from the mountains, Isagi beckoned Ryuu to join him, preparing to "subdue a Spirit"!
This was the real business!!
Putting on armor, bringing potions and various items, as well as the essential cloak [Shadow of Pandora], Isagi was fully prepared. It was simply no different from going on an adventure in the Dungeon.
Is that necessary?
Ryuu thought so, clearly not yet realizing the severity of the problem.
Soon, under Isagi's lead, the two figures vanished into the forest, heading towards the depths. The already dim autumn sun was largely obscured by the shadowy, towering trees.
Although winter was approaching, not all branches and leaves had withered away. On the contrary, the deeper they entered the forest, the more lush the foliage felt. Unknowingly, the path that could barely be considered a forest trail disappeared.
The two began to shuttle through the forest stepping on tall tree trunks, like agile monkeys and birds, or perhaps like the swift autumn wind crossing over the woods.
Before long, Ryuu had completely lost her sense of direction, only feeling that she had arrived in the depths of the sea of trees with Isagi. However, the girl herself sensed a very intimate aura.
Solingen is the City of Swordsmiths, but its origin is due to it being one of the extremely rare gathering places for Spirits on the continent. Because of their existence, natural resources are abundant, supporting the countless minerals, water sources, and timber that allow the town to produce innumerable weapons and equipment day and night.
This is a "miracle" in a certain sense.
And indeed, Spirits are the envoys of the gods. In ancient times, before the gods came to the Lower World, many heroes who fought against monsters fought side by side with Spirits. They possessed extraordinary and powerful strength.
However, the "Great Spirits" from stories like the Hero Tales have long disappeared into the river of history, leaving only fragments of legends whose truth is unknown.
Nowadays, those in Solingen are merely "Mid-level" Spirits and "Low-level" Spirits—including the Goblin-like Gnomes Ryuu saw yesterday. But even so, one cannot underestimate them!
Because...
"Woo—"
Inexplicably, the wind picked up in the originally quiet forest.
Ryuu seemed to hear distant playful sounds—crisp, ethereal voices like the tinkling flow of a clear spring.
"Heehee, Isagi, you finally came to play with Yuufi~"
The air currents were rising. Unknowingly, Ryuu was surprised to find that her body was actually being wrapped by several streams of wind, detaching from the original large tree trunk, and subsequently floating into mid-air.
Isagi was the same.
The wind blowing from the depths of the forest came from all directions, forming countless corridors, wrapping him and the boy in mid-air. There was absolutely no place to apply force, causing their bodies to be completely uncontrollable at this moment, only able to "swim" in the air.
Floating here and there, drifting back and forth. Occasionally, they would even bump into a large tree.
Accompanying this was that incomparably innocent giggling sound.
"Let's play together! Everyone! Isagi is just as useless as before. What a pity, I don't know how long I can play with Yuufi this time. If it's too short, it won't be interesting~"
She appeared!
Floating out from the depths of the sea of trees was a "Spirit" as exceptionally beautiful and soft as moonlight. She looked completely like a little girl; even calling her a "toddler" would be perfectly fine!
Wearing a pure white dress, she had an unusually beautiful face just like in fairy tale books, along with flowing dark green long hair.
Wind Spirit [Yuufi]. She was the "Mid-level Spirit" Isagi was most familiar with when he was in Solingen, bar none. The reason was also very simple, it was just...
"Come play, come play, come play! Giggle giggle, Isagi is flying! So fun!! Hahahahahaha!!"
Accompanied by the toddler Spirit's cheerful laughter, a gale swept through, almost bending the waist of the entire forest.
Ryuu just felt like a "kite" fluttering in the sky. That's right, especially seeing the figure of the boy floating up and falling down in the air from a distance, it felt even more like it!!
Have the two of us become her "toys"?!
She seemed to understand why the boy always gnashed his teeth whenever Spirits were mentioned before. Whether one called it "innocent" or "ignorant of worldly affairs," in short, Spirits were all somewhat willful!
In Isagi's view, this was simply a cheeky brat in need of discipline!!
Mainly, as a dignified man of seven feet, to be toyed with in the palm of a "toddler," unable to do anything but let the other party do whatever she wanted—the anger in his heart was real! How could such an excessive guy not be disciplined?!
Hmph.
In the final analysis, this little fellow named "Yuufi" was just relying on her strength. Even for a young Mid-level Spirit like her who hadn't grown up much, she possessed at least the strength of a Level 1 Adventurer—that is, Lv.5 or above!
That's right, Spirits are just that terrifying!!
Coming here with Ryuu-senpai this time, Isagi didn't intend to defeat the opponent, but rather thought of a secret weapon that could counter her. That was—
[The Other Half of the Left Bow]!
Isagi quickly pulled out a "hand crossbow" from the cloak behind him. But it only looked like a crossbow; in reality, it was completely not one. Its only function was to store Magic, prioritizing its use as a substitute when he needed to activate Magic or consume Magic.
He had previously asked Miss Asfi to research such a mysterious item. Not long ago, after multiple tests, the woman created the "trial model" before his eyes. Utilizing special materials dropped in the Dungeon, Asfi successfully gave this item the characteristic of "absorbing Magic".
Whether he injected Magic into it himself, or it contacted Magic located around him, it could slowly absorb it into the interior for storage.
So, what to do next was very simple.
The mountain wind that the Wind Spirit Yuufi was currently manipulating to wrap him and Ryuu-senpai up was naturally also Magic. Since that was the case, it could be absorbed by [The Other Half of the Left Bow] in his hand!
Thus, taking advantage of the momentum, Isagi took out the real [Left Bow], and subsequently began to shoot directly at the distant Spirit toddler!
Golden flashes poured down like heavy rain, splashing toward Yuufi.
This guy just kept giggling cheerfully while manipulating the hurricane to blow away all his attacks. But it didn't matter. Next was a battle of attrition, and it had absolutely nothing to do with whether he had endurance or not.
The Magic consumed by the [Left Bow] came from [The Other Half of the Left Bow], which in turn could continuously use the mountain wind summoned by the Spirit Yuufi to replenish Magic. It simply became a perpetual motion machine!
However, this was just bullying this guy for being an idiot who couldn't understand what was happening at all, still thinking he was playing with her.
"Yah! Isagi became impressive!! Yuufi is so happy!! Now we can continue to play together!! Everyone come play together too!!"
Accompanied by the silly cheers, more "Low-level Spirits," resembling colorful small balls of light, ran out from the forest. The Magic emanating from their very existence caused the depths of this forest to instantly become filled with thunder, lightning, rain, and snow.
But in Isagi's view, this was just another flock of "blood bags" coming to replenish his Magic!
He just needed to hold the [Left Bow] and shoot wildly at the distant toddler Spirit non-stop. At the same time, Isagi also signaled Ryuu-senpai to attack the Spirits along with him.
And so...
...
From morning till night.
Ryuu just watched helplessly as the Low-level Spirits running out from the depths of the forest fell to the ground one by one like birds, their bodies that originally always shone with light flickering dimly, as if to say they were "already done for!".
And on the other side, the most miserable one was Yuufi. The little fellow collapsed directly on the ground, motionless. Even after being picked up by Isagi, she had no reaction.
"Ora! Don't play dead, are you completely done for just like that?!"
"..."
The tiny toddler Spirit was limp and could no longer stir up even a wisp of wind. So... was the Spirit captured just like that?
Wait!
Wasn't the junior here to gain the Spirit's acknowledgment and obtain the [Spirit Tear]?! Although the other party's personality was very terrible just now, surely he couldn't really beat her up!!
For some reason, Ryuu suddenly felt that Isagi was truly capable of doing such a thing.
No way, could it be that beating a Spirit until she cries can also obtain the [Tear]—although it seems quite logical, it still feels very strange! At a time like this, shouldn't one need to obtain the other party's "acknowledgment," like spiritually, or in terms of conviction, being admitted by the pure Spirit in all aspects...
Regarding this, Isagi could only express that Ryuu-senpai was overthinking it. Would he be the kind of person to beat a little girl?!
Although theoretically speaking, as a Spirit, Yuufi's age was completely "unknown"; maybe she was already an old geezer hundreds of years old. But he wouldn't bully a toddler either!
So, to make her obediently hand over the [Tear], Isagi had a more "gentle" method.
He directly brought her back to the wooden house outside the forest. inside the temporarily cleaned pitch-black room, Isagi tied up the still-weak toddler Spirit to prevent her from suddenly escaping.
Subsequently, he brought over a small stool and began attempting to "influence" her.
"Yuufi~"
"Eh?"
"Have you heard of the stories from Grimm's Fairy Tales..."
____
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