I received a detailed map of the vicinity from Lumia-san and left the room.
On the way out, someone tugged on my clothes.
A small hand was holding me back.
“Katia, you stay here for a bit.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Well then Katia, I’m heading out first. I’ll be near the north entrance of the city, so come find me.”
“Understood.”
The three of them left the principal’s office together.
…Now then.
“What is it, Lumia-san?”
“Is Tim doing well, Katia?”
Oh, she’s asking about Grandpa. Considering his age, yes.
“So you are acquainted with him after all.”
“Indeed. I heard he hurt his back…”
“Yes. He should be staying at the village chief’s house now.”
I wonder if he’s getting along with everyone, Grandpa.
Hanna-san and Rosa are both kind, and the village chief is just the way he is, so I think he’ll be fine.
“I see, I see. It’s lonely, seeing everyone around me grow old…”
“Lumia-san…”
“Oh, my apologies. I didn’t mean to get so sentimental… Ahem. More importantly, I sense a strange aura from you.”
“…What kind?”
“It’s a special ability of mine. I can vaguely sense the wavelength of a person’s magic…”
“…”
Magic wavelength…
Is that another High Elf trait?
“I feel like there are two types of aura coming from your body. I’ve never met anyone like that before.”
“!”
Two types?
Could that be…?
“It seems it’s not just my imagination. I can tell better when I touch your body like this… Hmm.”
Lumia-san spoke as she touched my stomach.
Partway through, she made a puzzled expression.
“What’s wrong?”
“One of the auras is quite weak… What does this mean?”
“! Is that true!? How weak is it? Lumia-san!”
I don’t want to believe it, no way.
Tell me it’s a lie, that you were mistaken.
“Calm down! …Haa, it seems you have some idea about the other aura. I don’t like secrets, so tell me everything. Then I’ll tell you.”
Damn it…!
But this information concerns her life.
My… no, my secret doesn’t matter right now.
“The truth is–”
I told her everything, hiding nothing.
“…I see, it’s hard to believe. Reincarnation, and a different world, huh?”
“I’ve told you everything. So–”
“Indeed, it certainly does add up. It’s normally impossible for one body to have two auras. But if there are two souls in that body, then it makes sense.”
“…”
“…Since you were raised by Tim. –Fuh, I suppose I’ll believe you.”
“Thank you very much…”
Lumia-san listened silently to the end, even though it was a story that defied common sense.
Just that alone shows how open-minded she is.
In the current situation, that’s extremely helpful.
“And about the aura of the other soul… I’d say it has one or two months at most…”
“No way… Is there nothing we can do!?”
That’s short, too short.
Whether we try to devise a plan or investigate, there’s not enough time.
“The cause is likely the separation of souls due to the awakening of self-awareness… A living soul cannot exist without a vessel. The control of the body lies with your soul, correct?”
“Because of, me…?”
“Your speech is breaking down… It’s understandable, but. If you weren’t there, that girl would have died, right? Don’t blame yourself.”
“But!”
“…There is one thing we can try.”
“Really!?”
“Spiritualization, of the soul.”
“Spiritualization…?”
“That’s right. The spirits that appeared in the royal castle – let’s call them Greater Spirits to differentiate them. They said that spirits are what human souls become. The souls of the dead, after a time, eventually lose their self-awareness and become spirits. The Greater Spirits are said to be a collection of those smaller spirits.”
It’s probably an astonishing fact, but nothing’s registering in my head right now.
In short, all I understand is that it’s meaningless.
“But wouldn’t that be the same as being dead…! She’ll be gone.”
“That’s right, there’s no guarantee that the girl’s self-awareness will remain. However, if you trust my senses, that soul, the lacking aura, seems to be supported by fire magic. The fact that it can perform such a feat suggests that it’s already beyond the standard for a human soul. It’s likely in a state very close to a spirit. Furthermore, the fact that she maintained her self-awareness and controlled the body in that state means…”
“There’s a good chance she can spiritualize while keeping her self-awareness…?”
“Indeed. However, the fire magic is also weakening, almost as much as the aura. So, if we ask the Greater Spirit of Fire to lend its power, perhaps… she might be able to manifest as something close to a Greater Spirit. It’s not possible to replenish the aura of a different person, after all.”
Aura is a power more dependent on the individual.
This means that she is already not accepting the aura emitted by this body.
But magic, from what I’ve heard so far, is likely something that everyone has the same type of.
“That soul, and you yourself, are already exceptional. Since they can’t be measured by normal standards, nothing that happens would be surprising.”
“Then, we should go to the royal castle immediately–”
“Wait, wait, don’t be hasty. It’s impossible right now, the royal castle is in chaos. I’ll send a letter so that we can be connected as soon as possible, so be patient for a while.”
“Damn it… Understood. Thinking about it, we’re lucky that we have the Greater Spirit as a lifeline.”
“That’s right… For someone like you to appear at the same time that the Greater Spirits manifested… I can’t help but feel like there’s some kind of design at work here.”
It’s certainly too good of a timing.
However, I can’t worry about that right now.
If it means saving this girl, I don’t care if I’m dancing in someone’s palm.
“Hmm, and to think you were originally a man… Is your body really that of a normal woman? I’d like to examine it.”
“Um, I’m not really in the mood for jokes right now…”
“What a shame, I was fairly serious… But if you keep making that face, you’ll be eaten by a dragon.”
“Hmm… Is that so?”
“It is. Focus on what’s in front of you right now. There’s nothing you can do by worrying.”
Even though I look like this, she’s much older than my combined age from my previous life and this one…
I was certainly in a bad mental state.
“…Understood, I’ll deal with the dragon for now.”
“Good. That’s the spirit.”
“And, about the matter with the royal castle, please…”
“It’s a request from an old friend’s disciple, don’t worry. I’ll make sure things go smoothly… Be careful, Katia.”
“Thank you… Then, I’ll be going, Lumia-san.”
I left the principal’s office with a slightly heavier heart than when I arrived.
“Ah, Katia-chan, over here, over here! Yoo-hoo!”
When I got near the city entrance, Fina-san spotted me first and waved, so I was able to join them right away.
Although, it might have been because of this conspicuous red hair.
There’s a lot of people coming and going today, and a lot of food stalls targeting them…
The gatekeepers look busy.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“That was a long talk. Huh? Katia-chan, are you okay?”
“Eh? …Yes, talking about Grandpa made me miss my hometown.”
She’s as sharp as ever.
Fina-san would see through any clumsy lies, so I told a lie mixed with a little bit of truth.
“So Lumia-sama knows the Sword Saint as well. She really is eighty years old, even if she doesn’t look it. Katia-san, I think you should send a letter when we get to the capital. It’ll cheer you up a bit.”
“Indeed, I’ve seen him with Tim a few times. They should be on good terms.”
“I see. …Wait here a moment.”
It seems I didn’t arouse any particular suspicion.
Only Fina-san, as if struck by an idea, left the group.
I wonder where she’s going?
“By the way, what kind of dragon is it?”
Since I had nothing to do, I threw a random question at Lyall-san.
“An Earth Dragon, naturally, considering the members. It’s a large, adult dragon.”
In the case of a Wyvern, we’d need a lot of magic users or archers to shoot it down.
This group consists of two swordsmen, a pugilist, and one mage, lacking in anti-air capabilities.
There’s no way Lumia-san didn’t consider that, so naturally, the opponent is a type of dragon that this group can handle.
“Fii-nee took it on in the heat of the moment, but… is it okay, Katia-san? I mean, it’s not like we’ll lose or anything.”
“There are already victims, so… well, it’s a good opportunity since Neil-san’s skills have improved, right?”
“Isn’t it strange to test your skills against a dragon?”
“Isn’t it obvious? If you think about it normally…”
“If you think about it?”
“It’s strange.”
“Yeah, I guess so… Right…”
Neil-san let out a helpless sigh, as if he had given up.
After that, the three of us chatted for a while, and Fina-san returned.
“Fina-san, that’s enough, mogo-”
Something was stuffed into my mouth.
…It’s sweet.
“They were selling melon bread, freshly baked.”
“Why, melon bread?”
“Sweet things are the best when you’re feeling down. How is it?”
The sweetness spread in my mouth.
More than the sweetness, Fina-san’s kindness seeped in deeply.
“Thank you, very much.”
“Yep! Now, let’s do our best for the fireworks!”
“Hey, Fina. What about us?”
“You guys can eat some meat from those stalls over there! There was a line, so I could only buy two!”
“That’s harsh. Hey, Neil, let’s go. We need to put something in our stomachs too.”
“Yeah. We’ll buy some other things too, so wait a little while.”
The usual exchange was incredibly appreciated right now.
Just as Lumia-san said, there’s no point in rushing.
First, we need to defeat the dragon.