episode_0056

Splash-

The chilling touch of shallow water on the back of my head.

I immediately pushed myself up from the ground.

Whoosh—!

What immediately caught my eye was, as before, the bright and beautiful landscape of the sanctuary.

A dazzling display of light and brilliance emitted by spirits, incomparable to luminescent herbs.

Amidst the kaleidoscopic world, right before my nose.

“Ow… What happened—?”

Dark smoke was rising from a vaguely human-shaped figure.

I took a step back and assumed a battle stance.

“…What are you?”

“And what are *you*, you know?! Seriously!”

The creature, awkwardly rising from the ground, was strangely disfigured. Its lower body was ripped apart, and one arm lay detached, rolling on the floor.

A dark spirit of questionable origin, its grotesque human-like form making it all the more unsettling. I silently channeled mana, keeping my guard up.

“Your… body, what happened to it?”

“…You ripped me apart!! Waaaaah—!”

“Me, me?!”

I had clearly only dispelled the magic… Ah.

Could it be that the dark mana I sensed as mind control magic was… its body?

Then I didn’t use separate magic, it was carrying my consciousness within its very being.

“It hurts… it hurts so much… Waaaaah…”

It now sat on the ground, wailing.

I unclenched my fist and approached the creature.

“I… I’m sorry. You didn’t listen…”

“Waaaaaah—!”

“Honestly, who wouldn’t resist being told they’re going to be put to eternal sleep?”

The spirit, radiating black mana with a soft glow—*pororong*. It started to cry even louder at my explanation.

“I just wanted to scare you, uhuk, why should I, uhuk, keep someone like you around…!! ”

“So, I scared you…”

“Just for a moment, uhuk, I just wanted to read your memory a little and then release you, uhuk, waaaah…”

Well… it’s none of my business anymore.

As a human, I couldn’t know how much pain the spirit felt, but while getting up I couldn’t help but tear away something surrounding my consciousness.

Seeing the creature’s mangled body… it did seem to hurt a lot.

“What… what do I do to heal your body? Will giving you mana work?”

“No—! If I eat mana of a different attribute, even if it’s the same type… I don’t know what will happen?!”

“Uh, I don’t know…”

“Waaaah…”

I mean, how would I know that…?

Black smoke continued to rise from the dark spirit’s body. It seemed to flow even more when it thrashed… how can I calm it down?

“Uhuk… I finally became a high-class spirit, and I could go outside, but what is this…”

?!

Hey— why are you telling me this now?

I quickly pulled out the [High-Class Spirit Core] from my pocket.

“Hey, you. This—”

“Hey isn’t my name, it’s Nix!!”

“…Right, Nix. How about this, will this work?”

[High-Class Spirit Core]

-Rank: Unique -A core that can create a spirit’s physical body.

A transparent orb, absorbing the surrounding light. As soon as I took out the core, Nix frantically approached.

“Th-this… this is…!!”

“This will heal your body?”

“I-it’s not just healing… I can create a whole new body…!! You idiot, such a precious thing…”

The faint outline of its trembling body. Joy, relief, ecstasy, excitement, gratitude… and remorse.

A mixture of emotions flooded Nix’s body, making it look like a small child.

“Really… you’re giving this to me…?”

“Well, if it can heal you, I don’t mind… You already know what happens if you use this right?”

“…Yes.”

For a spirit that achieved high-class status and gained freedom, the core represents a kind of home.

For an adventurer who travels for a lifetime, a home is a place to rest comfortably. Thanks to it, they can freely choose to be a settler or a wanderer.

The same goes for spirits. Once they inhabit the core and acquire a physical form, they can freely move between their spiritual and physical bodies, which is a great help in their lives.

However, just as even an adventurer won’t easily give up their home once they have it. A spirit who inhabits the core also becomes bound to it.

To get freedom, one must give up freedom. As a high-class spirit, Nix would understand. That’s why it seemed to hesitate.

But.

Nix immediately offered me the arm from which black mana was dripping.

“You’re… interesting. Even if I become bound to you—no, once I am yours— I feel like I can see and learn so much more!”

“Really?”

“Yes… Will you take me?”

The dark spirit, emitting black smoke, began walking towards somewhere. …Limping.

The place they arrived at was surprisingly dark for a sanctuary.

“Here. I’ve lived here for hundreds of years.”

“…It’s gloomy.”

“I like it this way—!”

And in the midst of it. Among the tree’s shadows, on the darkest, dampest ground.

A single red rose bloomed.

“This is your origin.”

“Yes. I started from this small life. I slowly felt the passage of time, and studied the vast knowledge of this world that flowed through mana.”

“…Were you lonely?”

Nix paused, happily recounting the past, before hearing my question.

This dark place was almost like looking into a memory. Narrow, stuffy, a place without a single ray of light.

My room used to be like this. In my past life, and in this life.

The creature claimed to like this atmosphere, but… you never know.

A living being with consciousness and self wouldn’t have not been lonely living alone for hundreds of years. I was terribly lonely spending barely two years alone.

Nix looked towards the sky, like a small rose blooming in a corner.

“…It can’t be summarized so simply. I was lonely, I was lonely… but I liked the waiting.”

“…Yes.”

Loneliness is closer to hope than despair.

Quietly waiting for the light to come someday in the dark room. Slowly savoring the deep loneliness within the soul, only looking forward to a future where one would shine.

How hopeful.

Nix was remarkably like my former self. In that memory, it stole, a figure that didn’t lose hope in the darkness.

Really similar.

The creature approached its origin quietly, slowly settling into it.

“If you hold the core here … the merging will begin immediately.”

“Are you ready?”

“Huuu… Yes. Go ahead.”

A deep, pure black rose. In this darkness, paradoxically the darkest and brightest origin of Nix.

I slightly extended the core.

The rose’s vine stretched out and wrapped around the core itself.

*Sarararak—*

Black mana began to seep into the transparent core. One drop, then another. Nix slowly poured their existence accumulated in this world into the core.

Before long, the rose, its origin, turned to dust and scattered, leaving only a completely pure black orb that dropped *thud* onto the ground.

I gently picked up the core.

“How’s the new house?”

“The inside is cleaner than I thought—”

“Where do you get that line… did you read my memories again? But that’s a death flag.”

Nix trembled in my palm.

“Ec- uh, what do I do…? Am I going to die? Do I die right after merging?!”

It seemed to have faintly recalled a similar line from my memories. The creature, rolling around helplessly from my prank, was quite cute.

“So, listen closely.”

“Ye- yes…!!”

“Next time you want to read my memories, do it slowly, carefully.”

*Thud-*

The core, which had been rolling in my palm, stopped.

“…Is it okay?”

“Yes. But don’t tell anyone else. It’s our secret.”

“Yes… yes…!! I won’t!”

Black vines sprouted from the black orb, transforming into a necklace.

This form is definitely more convenient to wear. I put Nix’s core, a beautifully shining pure black jewel, around my neck.

*Peeng—!*

The black fog I had seen earlier rose hazily, forming a human shape.

But it wasn’t that creepy shadowy thing anymore.

A beautiful girl with snow-white skin and a captivating figure revealed from the fog, wearing a black dress.

Nix, the high-class spirit, had obtained a new body.

“Wo, wow… Is this a body…?”

She gracefully stepped down, delicately treading on the leaves, shyly looking at me.

“You were clearly hiding your identity… should I call you Nari?”

“Yes, you know well.”

“Nari… Nari, Nari… Nari…!”

Her first body. Her first human voice, her first time saying her own name.

Nix’s elated expression seemed to reflect the novelties in this experience.

“Nari! Thank you so much—!”

“Wow-”

*Poong—*

She couldn’t control her emotions any longer and rushed into my arms.

『[Character Story: Nix]’s progress has drastically increased.』

I didn’t need to be informed.

Her body was soft and supple, still unable to perfectly control her mana, leaking it a bit. Nix, jumping excitedly and hugging me tightly, didn’t let go for a while.

Was she trying to feel the tangible reality as much as possible? She rubbed her face against mine as if to crush it.

“Nari- Nari~! ”

“Yes, yes.”

“Let’s be together forever? Let’s? Yes?”

Hmm… how should I interpret this?

Of course, we’ll be together from now on, but it doesn’t seem to be in that way.

So I simply nodded.

“Huuung… Nari’s the best—! I love you!”

“This kid never runs out of things to say…”

“Make me miso soup every morning!”

“…….”

Did she read my thoughts again…?

Nix, still overwhelmed with excitement, knocked me down, rolling around and hugging me on the ground.

It took a long time before she calmed down.

. . .

I noticed another spirit’s presence and turned to look.

*Pyuroong—*

“Narita! You were here.”

Frida. I reached out to the spirit, still holding Nix.

“What’s up?”

“Mother! Mother called for Narita.”

Ah, right. I had forgotten everything else because of the most important matter.

Hmm, the World Tree… the mother of all spirits. Am I going to meet my mother-in-law now?

Even the thought made me feel a wave of tension.

“Ehehe… Nari…”

“Let’s go, Nix. To meet your mother.”

“Hike-”

Whether she knew my feelings or not, Nix peacefully hugged me.

I walked towards the direction of the World Tree with Frida.