Chapter 96 - She Came Along

Night had arrived, and the main festival of the Sacred Tree Festival had begun.

The plaza in the center of Rigfores.h.i.+a was beautifully decorated and crowded with people.

I dont know if its because the hunting tournament was canceled this year, or because I was the only one who achieved victory, but many people rushed to my side.

Honestly, there are lots of people out here, and I was hoping that they wouldnt be able to find me easily but they could tell I was the winner because of the medal on my chest.

[Congratulations on your win, you did really great By the way, my daughter was just around your age]

[No, err]

For some reason, an adult male elf is desperately trying to introduce me to his daughter

[Umm, Im going to the royal capital And I was wondering if youd like to have dinner with me or]

[Huh? Eh?]

A young female elf, with her cheeks dyed red, invited me to dinner

[Miyama-sama a caterpillar like mewas foolish enough to challenge you. Please accept my apologies.]

[I dont even know who you are.]

And for some reason, a female elf who seems to be a spirit mage gets down on her knees just when we first met

Anyway, things got so dreadful and the fl.u.s.tered me couldnt handle them well.

But then Someone I never expected became my savior.

[How rude! Dont talk to master so casually, or Ill tear you to pieces!!!]

[.]

Yes, this is where Anima came into play. She gallantly appeared, and just like a breakwater, held off the people who were coming at me like a tsunami.

Yep It looks like a few people have gotten beaten up from time to time, but it really helps that the barrage of questions stopped.

[Thanks, Anima. You really saved me there. Id like it if you were to keep things in moderation though, but please keep it up.]

[Master Yes! This unworthy Anima is going to do everything for her duty!!!]

I dont know if she was happy to be praised by me or not, but she smiled at me like a blooming flower, and then turned away the people who were closing in on her with more vigor I feel like the number of people who have been beaten up was increasing though, did she hear my instruction of keeping it in moderation? Ahh, another person flew away

With Animas great efforts no, it looks more like her great rampage, I went to greet the elven big shots.

I guess Ive expected it, but because of Lillywood-san, they all treated me favorably, and our greeting went smoothly.

[Kaitokun-san! Congratulations on your win~~]

[Thank you very much, Raz-san.]

Raz-san threw her congratulatory message at me, to which I returned my thanks.

Thereupon, I suddenly realized that I couldnt find Neun-san, who was supposed to have come to the Sacred Tree Festival with Raz-san.

[Ummm, Raz-san. Wheres Neun-san?]

[That is well, Neun-san is acting strange again.]

[Eh? Did something happen?]

[I dont really know, but after she cheered up back on the first day of the Sacred Tree Festival, she would sometimes turn strange Look, Neun! This way!]

It seems that Neun-san had apparently become strange, and when I asked her concern, Raz-san turned somewhere and called out.

Turning to where she called out, I saw Neun-san hiding in the shadow of a building.

When Neun-san turned our way, although it cant be seen from the armor shes wearing, she moved her body as if she was fl.u.s.tered, and after a little while, she slowly walked towards us.

[Neun-san?]

[ ! ? K- K- Kaito-san, g- g- good morning!]

[Its currently night though?]

[C- C- Congrachulations on your v- v- victory!]

[Y- Yes Thank you very much. Ummm, Neun-san, are you alright?]

[Yes.h.!.+?]

Indeed, Neun-san kinda looks different from normal.

Or rather, she seems to be in some kind of panic, as shes even fumbling her words.

Seriously, whats going on? Could it be that shes not feeling well or something like that!?

[Neun-san, could it be that youre sick]

[Awawa, Kai- Kaito-san, your face is too close ex- ex]

[Ex?]

[Excuse me!!!]

[Ehh? Wait, Neun-san!?]

I got worried and took a step closer, but Neun-san looked even more fl.u.s.tered and ran away at a terrific speed.

After Neun-san left, the remaining Raz-san and I tilted our heads at each other.

[Neun-san, seriously, whats going on?]

[I dunno, its just that I think since we met Kaitokun-san, she would sometimes mutter incomprehensible things like premarital diskashons or weding.]

Weding? A wedding? No, the sudden talk of marriage here doesnt make sense, so she must have been talking about something else.

Hmmm, Im worried about her but For the time being, Ill leave her to Raz-san. As I still have to continue giving my greetings to everyone, I exchanged some words with Raz-san before we parted ways.

Away from the noisy yet joyful atmosphere of Rigfores.h.i.+a, Im now walking through the Spirits Forest by myself.

It seems that the spirits have their own customs, so instead of the large number of spirits approaching me in the daytime, there are only a few spirits around me who would be guiding me around.

When I followed their guidance and walked through the forest, I came upon a shrine or rather, a cave.

[This is even more]

It was a much more difficult place to sleep in that I thought it would be.

Entering inside I could see a round hole in the ceiling where moonlight s.h.i.+nes through it, creating a fantastic scene, while the spirits are lined up by the wall of this shrine.

It seems like they really have lots of customs, as a large number of spirits are neatly lined up inside the s.p.a.cious shrine, standing still in a neat row, staring towards me.

Unnn? What am I supposed to do now Should I really just go in the middle and sleep there?

Perhaps, this was originally meant to be a way to show the spirits the face of the winner.

Ive seen Lillywood-san leading a mountain of spirits around, but essentially, being able to see so many spirits should have been a very valuable experience.

After looking at the inside of the shrine under the moonlight while thinking about this, I move my gaze to my feet and let out a sigh.

Yep, putting aside the grandeur scene around me As expected, as a modern kid, Im having a hard time sleeping here.

The floor is made of soil Yep, it should have been obvious that I wont be sleeping in a bed made of sand.

Should I be relieved that its not made of something really hard like stone? Or perhaps, should I perhaps, continue thinking how the heck this happened

[My body would be stiff after sleeping here Its going to be tough even with my blanket]

[Then, how about we lay down a tatami?]

[Yeah, youre right, Id really appreciate it if theres some tatami Eh?]

[Unnn?]

I thought I was just muttering to myself as I slumped my shoulders, but for some reason, I heard a reply.

The spirits cant speak rather than them though, that voice sounded rather familiar. Rather than just familiar though, I think Ive been hearing that voice almost every day.

[Why are you here, Kuro?]

[Ehehe, I came along.]

Kuro replies to my words with a bashful smile on her face.

That expression on her face though, seems to s.h.i.+ne in the moonlight.

Dear Mom, Dad As the winner of the harvest festival, Ill be spending the night in the Spirits Forest. And then, for some reason Kuro came along.