Rio woke up in a room that he was not familiar with.
His body felt sluggish, as if he was catching a cold. That was the worst feeling.
When he tried to lift his body and confirm his situation, an intense pain ran through his abdomen.
Rio immediately tried to bring his hands towards the injury, to treat it with spirit arts, only to find that he was shackled.
Moreover, the shackles carried similar effects to the ones that he wore in the Bertram prison, a long time ago.
It obstructed the flow of magical power in his body and disturbed it.
Clicking his tongue at this situation, Rio laid on his back and send his sights towards the ceiling.
Moonlight came into the room via small windows in the corner of the room. However, it was only dimly illuminating the place.
In that darkness, his abdomen was throbbing with pain.
Until the pain lessened, he thought that it’s better to stay put.
When he was out, it also seemed that the clothes that he wore, and his belongings, were stripped off.
To put it simply, he was currently only wearing his underwear. [TL : KYAAAAA!—>Shotacon oneechan voice resounded from the background]
It was cold.
That was because of the wind, that was coming inside from the windows. Due to that the temperature inside the room lowered and made it as cold as outside.
The time right now was like just before spring.
It was night and with dawn still yet to come, the temperature inside the room easily fell below 10 celsius.
Though he could raise the his temperature even by just moving his body a little, the pain in his abdomen was preventing him from doing so.
’Let’s just rely on natural healing.’
He could only endure it while quietly thinking so.
And just like that, somehow a long time passed.
The chilling sensation on his skin gradually reached its peak, but it also simultaneously made him recall feelings of comfort.[1]
Sleepy…
Am I going to fall asleep like this?
That was what he thought.
But, he would surely catch a cold if he slept like that, so he struggled to keep his eyes open, for the sake of keeping his consciousness awake.
While repeating that several times, he felt that putting effort in his eyes to stay awake become longer and longer; without his noticing, he fell asleep.
「Haru-kun」
——–N?
「Wake up already~, Haru-kun」
He dearly missed that way of calling him. Stirred by that pleasant voice, Haruto slowly raised his heavy eyelids.
Reflected in his eyes was the ceiling of the room where he lived a long time ago, and the worried face of his childhood sweetheart.
「Ah, Haru-kun, you’re up!」
When the girl saw that he finally opened his eyes, a blissful smile bloomed on her face.
With only that alone, it made a kind of warmth spread inside his body, and warmed his heart.
「What is it…………………? That was my long awaited high-quality sleep」
Casually looking at the clock inside his room, it was still some time before morning.
「‘What is it’, you can’t do that, Haru ~. Today is the excursion day, you know. That’s why, you must wake up! 」
That was right.
That day was the first excursion day, during their first year in elementary school.
Because of the his excitement, he had a very difficult time getting to sleep last night. That was what Haruto remembered.
「N—, Good night then」
But, looking at the worried face of his childhood friend made him want to tease her.
The truth was, his head had already cleared when he remembered about that excursion trip.
「You-, You can’t do that ~. You said that in the bus, we’re going to sit next to each other, you kno~w!」
It was an expression that looked like she would burst into tears at anytime; that girl shook Haruto’s body.
「N~~」
And Haruto answered her with somewhat spiritless voice.
Instantly, the girl’s restless face assaulted him from his bedside.
「UUUuu, Geez. JUST WAKE UP ALREADY!」
As expected, that time, when he went to wake up slowly, that girl was getting atop of Haruto, from above the futon.
「GUHA. Wa, wait! Wait a minute! I give up! I will wake up ！ 」
Appearing from inside the futon, due to unforseen impact, his childhood sweetheart looked at him with a proud face.
The expression of the girl when counterattacking, made the bud of mischief sprout in Haruto’s mind.
「Ah, Haru-kun!」
He dragged her inside the futon, and tightly hugged her in there.
It was warm.
The face of the girl before him.
He could feel, while she was beside him, her breathing and her temperature.
It was really nice and warm.
「UU~」
The girl’s face flushed red and she was faltering.
His face was also flushed red.
She thought that Haruto was very bold.
「Then, is it good to sleep like this?. Good night～」
Then playing dumb to hide his embarassment.
If it was going as it was, they wouldn’t need to go to their excursion trip.
He thought that was an excellent idea.
「Please wake up already」
Though, despite of that, someone still tried to wake Haruto. No, it was Rio.
Who was it?
That was a girl’s voice.
But, it was not his childhood friend’s voice.
If that was the case, Rio instantly understood.
Well, anyone was fine. He continued to pretend he was asleep while hugging his childhood sweetheart.
That was what Rio thought while quietly putting more strength into his arms.
But, as if something restricted it, he couldn’t move his hands.
And then, somehow, the warmth of his childhood sweetheart vanished.
「U~m, please wake up」
Rio opened his eyes.
The figure of his childhood sweetheart till just now, suddenly disappeared.
Instead, in her place, was a silver haired wolf girl and an extremely cute blonde haired elf.
Instead of the warmth of his childhood sweetheart, he felt weary.
Feeling a sense of loss, his earlier expression vanished from his face.
A~h, so that was a dream, then Rio recalled his current situation.
And then, lightly, tears fell from Rio’s eyes.
It was because his sweetheart wasn’t in this world.
Nevertheless, he actually still loved, her despite that.
Even though it was only in his dream, he could feel her warmth.
Just by recalling that sealed memory.
Re-opening the seal of his childhood sweetheart, made Rio know that it was difficult and he still had not give up on her.
He still wanted to meet her, till now.
He wanted to meet her, right now.
He really wanted to meet her and continue their conversation just now.
Just thinking about that was enough to make him want to cry, very much.
The elf and the girl become bewildered when they saw Rio in that state. [-_-]
Then he noticed something different, before he noticed, he was already covered with a blanket.
As expected, though they were from different races it seemed they couldn’t bring themselves to steal a glance at the half-naked boy from the same age as them.
Thinking like that, Rio gave his usual bitter smile.
That time, a girl ran into the room from the opened jail doors.
It was Latifa.
And then, following her were the winged girl and flaming haired dwarf.
Latifa clung to Rio while letting out a “Waaa-waa” crying voice loudly.
Latifa repeatedly said「Onii-chan」「Onii-chan」「Don’t leave me!」, in the human language.
Seeing Latifa in that state, somehow washed out Rio’s previous sentiment, also made him completely forget about the pain in his abdomen. Just like that he was smiling wryly to Latifa. [2]
All the people in that place, that were looking at that scene, somehow their expressions were a little, no it was already considerably pale.
And then, an aged fox eared person entered that place.
「For some reason it has become quite noisy here, hasn’t it. What happened in the jail this time? Is it that aforementioned human?」
While saying those words, in a language that was completely unknown to Rio, the woman surveyed the room and found Latifa.
「Hoo……… A girl from the same tribe . Though I can’t see her, that kid is cute, isn’t it?」
A sad smile floated on that old person’s face when she saw Latifa.
And then, she instantly noticed Rio, who was being embraced by Latifa.
「Is he the rumoured human, that invaded our territory? Though the elders scheduled to hold an assembly this noon but, is there something wrong with him」
「That, it has something to do with this fox girl but…………..」
The silver haired wolf girl tried to explain the situation.
That Rio was trying to bring the restrained Latifa along with him to her hometown, by passing the barrier.
He was being misunderstood as a slave hunter because Rio disturbed the magical power in Latifa’s body and made her fall into a deep sleep.
And then, a short time later, after they were back in their country, Latifa woke up at midnight and began to cry.
She was crying very loudly, especially when she noticed that Rio wasn’t by her side.
After such difficulty, since the girl couldn’t speak the language of the Seirei no tami.
Then they hurriedly came back to the jail Rio was imprisoned in, to make sure about the situation. [3]
And then, Latifa instantly rushed to the room when she sniffed Rio’s smell.
「I see……」
—-
The old fox woman finished listening to everything and directed her gaze to Rio and Latifa.
「That girl, hasn’t she really become emotionally attached to him……………..！」
「You, you were all was so cruel to onii-chan. Unforgivable」
He heard Latifa say those words, though her anger was conveyed in a broken Seirei no tami language.
「Mu, from the looks of it, it seems you can’t talk in our language. Nevertheless, this killing intent…………..」
It was too strong.
It was already beyond too strong.
It wasn’t something that should be able to come out from a girl of this age.
Everyone in that place was drenched in a cold sweat, except for Rio.
Appearing one step before them was the winged girl, as if protecting the other girls from the frizzly sensation, that was as if their skin roasted.
Thereupon, the one who restrained her was the hand of that Elder.
「My apologies. For the time being, let me hear your circumstances. On top of that, I’m also apologising for our misunderstanding. First, we will untie that person. Will you be agree on that for now? 」
The Elder lowered her head deeply while persuading her.
「……….If that’s the case, do it quickly. I’ll kill you if you try to do something」
Latifa said that — the Elder’s sincerity, it was uncertain whether it got through to her —- with eyes infused with killing intent.
「Umu…….. Are you the one that attached that to him, Ôfia? Then, it would take a while with my[washi] skill. Ôfia, please unfasten that handcuff」
The Elder gave an instruction to the elf girl.
「Na, elder！ Is that really alright? This fellow is human, right!? We also haven’t heard his circumstances yet! 」
And, the winged girl quickly said that to the Elder.
「You fool. Accept the fact that the child is already emotionally attached to that human child. Treating someone like a criminal without hearing their circumstances is a violation towards the teachings of our Seirei no tami, that we are proud of. Ôfia, please do it quickly」
「U, understood」
The elf girl called Ôfia walked towards Rio.
Though he didn’t understand the flow of the conversation, since he couldn’t understand their language, Rio guessed the situation from the flow of the mood. Maybe his handcuff was going to be removed.
Just like that, he silently raised his hands.
Ôfia held out her hand on the handcuff on Rio’s hand; light was emitted from that hand.
That was a beautiful light.
Rio was unintentionally fascinated by that light.
（This is spirit arts………….）
That was entirely different, and yet looked like magic.
And, it was really different from Rio’s spirit art, that was used by copying magic.
Though maybe it worked in a similar way to 『Release Spell Magic(Dispel)』 to unfasten the handcuff, it was not mimicking the flow of mana like『Release Spell Magic(Dispel)』, the one used by Rio.
Rio felt that Ôfia’s spirit art had far more freedom than his spirit arts.
It differed greatly from him, who just copied the flow of mana from system contract ceremonies.
Her spirit arts was more direct, and yet, complex and more advanced.
Although Rio, up till now, has regularly mimicked magical phenomenon by manipulating mana, he always thought that, along with control of mana, system contracts were necessary to cause the phenomenon.[4]
But, it seemed he was mistaken by that kind of thinking.
（Could it be, that control of mana wasn’t necessary for spirit arts？No, that’s not it. It doesn’t mean that it’s not limited by the need for controlling mana, from looking at the spirit art of the elf girl, from sometime ago. Where is the difference………………. Could it be that image for the phenomenon is also important? Which reminds me, I couldn’t understand how I did it but I was able to strengthen my body and physical ability. Was that because I imagine it like that*…………)
Even while analyzing and ruminating about the essence of the skill that the girl used, Rio felt that this is the true spirit arts.
「Thank you very much」
Looking at his freed hands, though they might not understand human language, he expressed his gratitude to Ôfia.
「N, no. We are the ones that must apologise to you! 」
Hearing that, Ôfia frantically apologised and bowed her head down.[5]
She understood human language.
「Latifa, I’m okay, so retract your killing intent」
Rio said that to Latifa who was spreading her killing intent, as if intimidating their surroundings, till now.
「But！」
Latifa tightly grasped Rio’s clothes. [6]
「It’s fine already」
「……Uhm」
While he gently brushing Latifa’s head, as if to calm her. Latifa slowly retracted her killing intent.
The Elder then began to talk immediately after confirming that the atmosphere inside the room had calmed.
「Well then, young man. Would you let us hear your story? … But not in a jail like this… Let’s go to a room」
The Elder spoke to Rio in the human language.
’This place is a prison after all’ While thinking that, Rio smiled wryly.
That was the second time he had gone to jail. While thinking that it was not that rare to experience it in his second life, Rio accepted the Elder’s offer.
When he tried to stand up, he was attacked by a sudden pain in his abdomen. Rio knitted his eyebrows.
「Excuse me. Can you let me do some treatment for this injury? 」
「Mu, let me quickly do it for you.」
「No, its fine. I can do it myself」
From what he felt from the Elder, he didn’t think that she would be unkind to him. But just to be safe, since this kind of treatment might not last, he thought that it was not wise to leave himself indebted to her, even if it was just a little.
Thinking like that, Rio refused the offer of the Elder who was just about hurried to start.
Rio applied his hand to his abdomen.
Though the basics of the flow of mana resembled the magic formula of 『Healing Magic(Heal)』 like usual, he recalled the spirit art that the girl used previously. Just like that, he controlled the mana while holding a strong image of healing in his head.
From the feeling of the lingering pain, maybe the damage reached his internal organs. Maybe there was also a hemorrhage[7].
Naturally, though it also depended on the user, treating internal damage using 『Healing Magic(Heal)』 would take some time and was also quite difficult.
However, right now, he was using less magical power than usual; moreover he also felt that the healing speed was faster.
It looked like he succeeded in copying that girl’s spirit art.
Rio was surprised, himself, that the progress was that big from just that small difference in technique .
Seeing him did that, the eyes of the Seirei no tami in that place also became filled with surprise. [8]
「That’s, just now……………..？ 」
Their representative, Arthura, said that first[9].
「Spirit arts……Well, I thought that is what I’ve been doing till now, but is it not that different?」
Wanting to hear the opinions of the authentic spirit art users, Rio asked without hiding anything about his power.
「…………..Certainly, though it’s a little unpolished, control of Odo, that’s still spirit art…………. You, what kind of contract and spirit is tied to you?」
「Contract with spirits？ 」
Rio inclined his neck in confusion, as if he didn’t pick up her question.
Looking at that situation, Arthura judged that Rio didn’t bind a contract with a spirit yet.
「Mu, for there to be a human so skilled in mana manipulation and isn’t contracted with a spirit*？ You must be very loved by the spirits. How come ……………..?」
Arthura had a complex expression, as if thinking about something.
「Ôfia, did you know something about this？」
「Uh, no. Only about his mana, I only know that it’s loved very much by the spirit, just that………….」
The elf girl Ôfia said that with a bewildered face.
「Mu, to skillfully manipulate the mana, as if you’re a high elf, and without contract at that」
「GAHA, GAHA」
At that time, Rio coughed violently and spat blood from his mouth. [TL : Eh, did it just changed genre to wuxia?]
「Onii-chan！ 」
Seeing that scene, Latifa cried in worry.
「A, Are you alright!!？ 」
Looking at Rio spitting blood, the peoples of spirit also called to him in worry.
「Yeah, it’s alright, it’s just coagulated blood from my internal bleeding」
Rio said that as if it was only a trifling matter.
「I see, then it will be good if we quickly go to someplace where you can slowly relax and rest, right?* It’s already close to dawn. Come to think of it, what’s your name boy? I’m called Arthura[10], the eldest of this country of Seirei no tami 」
「My name is Rio, nice to meet you」
「I see. Well then, Rio-dono, I will guide you to the room. Follow me」
Going along with the Elder, Rio left that place.
[1] [TLC: 心地よい comfortable; pleasant; 《fml》 agreeable; By being in extreme situation, body instinctively remembers and amplifies whatever good feeling he felt]
[2] [TL : Is your love only on that level? to easily defeated by a LOLI]
[3] [TL : he’s already imprisoned twice due to some misunderstanding] [PF: at least this one has some reasoning behind it instead of rage inducing reasons] [ED: If it keeps happening people are going to think there’s a reason for it][TL : he’s loved by prison goddess]
[4] [ED note: Remember he was ridiculed for being unable to use magic in the academy.][TL : his dark past]
[5] [ED note: At this point, Ôfia was feeling scared of the killing intent and felt guilty.] [TL : behind you, behind you]
[6] [ED: Wasn’t he only wearing a blanket?]
TL : and underwear
[7] [TL : internal bleeding]
[8] [ED: For a different reason.]
[9] [TL : WTF, I don’t see anyone with that name before] [ED: I don’t think it’s ever been mentioned… Just go with it?]
[10] Arthura