We live in the foothills of Dragon Peak.
What is your name?
“Go, go!”
In front of me, as I sat down, the girl who had appeared before I knew it made fists with both hands at her chest and bounced, cheering me on.
What was she cheering me on for?
“I was watching the whole time. Go, go!”
The girl’s face was full of smiles.
Her long, straight blonde hair danced and bounced with every movement.
Her round, big eyes were also golden.
“Oh my, oh my.”
Ruiseine smiled at the girl’s adorable cheers.
“Uh, who are you? What do you mean, you were watching the whole time?”
I tilted my head, confused by the situation.
“Oh my, oh my, aren’t you Elnea-kun’s friend?”
“Whaaat? No. I’ve never seen her before!”
“Is that so? But she says she was watching you the whole time, and she’s cheering you on, isn’t she?”
“Hmm. I wonder what she’s cheering me on for. And when she says she was watching, doesn’t that mean she was watching what just happened?”
“No, I was watching the whole time. I was by your side the whole time.”
The girl ran up to me and hugged me.
“Fufufufufu, you’re loved.”
“Whoa! What’s going on here!?”
I was bewildered by the girl’s nonsensical words and actions.
“I’ve been with Elnea the whole time, through all of this.”
Saying that, the girl took the Spirit Tree Wooden Sword I had in my right hip.
“Ah!”
I knew it instinctively.
“Could it be, you’re the Spirit Tree Spirit?”
“That’s right. That’s it.”
As if happy that I realized it quickly, the girl hugged me even tighter.
So, this is…
The reason I found the Young Spirit Tree was guided by a faint, soft presence.
I learned it was the Spirit Tree Spirit when I visited the Mimicho village.
I had heard that spirits were low-ranking beings that could only be sensed as a presence, so I assumed the Spirit Tree Spirit was just a rare, low-ranking one.
That’s why I only recognized the spirit’s presence through the occasional faint, soft aura.
But Priscilla-chan was special. She would sometimes act as if she were seeing spirits, something I could only sense as a presence.
However, I never imagined she would suddenly appear in human form, skipping over the forms of insects and beasts.
“I was so surprised when you appeared in human form!”
“Because Elnea gave me lots of food every day, I grew a lot.”
“Is that so?”
I had been sending Dragon Power to the Spirit Tree every day when I meditated, but it seemed the spirit girl had benefited from it too.
I gently stroked the head of the spirit girl hugging me.
Her touch was just like a human’s. Her smooth blonde hair slipped through my fingers.
“Uh, Elnea-kun. Please explain.”
I gave Ruiseine, who was sulking with her cheeks puffed out at being left out, a simple explanation about the girl.
“Oh, is that so? So this is the Spirit Tree Spirit that Priscilla-chan was talking about? And what is her name?”
Do spirits have names?
I had never seen Priscilla call the Wind Spirit or the Earth Spirit she summoned by name.
“Hmmmm.”
As expected, the girl furrowed her brow, looking troubled.
“My name… Elnea can think of it.”
“Ehhh!?”
I was surprised by the unexpected request.
I get to choose her name?
I wouldn’t know what to do if you suddenly told me something like that.
This time, I was the one who furrowed my brow, looking troubled.
“M-my name… can we do it another time? When things are calmer?”
In my current situation, sitting on the roadside after a fight with a man, deciding something as important as the Spirit Tree Spirit’s name was impossible.
“Yes, that’s fine.”
The girl smiled happily.
“Uh, so why did you appear?”
This was a straightforward question.
Why had this Spirit Tree Spirit girl manifested before me?
Even if she could manifest now that she had grown, shouldn’t it have been when I was meditating and sending Dragon Power to the Spirit Tree?
“That’s because…”
The girl suddenly became serious and looked up at me.
“To cheer on Elnea, who is working hard. To help Elnea, who is in trouble. To become power for Elnea, who needs power.”
The girl hugged me tightly.
“To defeat the Dragon King, the current Elnea cannot win alone. So, I will become your power.”
“Wh-what!?”
Didn’t you just say something outrageous!?
“Elnea will become one with me. You will merge with me. We will fuse!”
“Oh my, oh my.”
Ruiseine blushed, covering her mouth with both hands, and looked at me strangely.
“W-what do you mean by fusion?”
“To become one in body and heart.”
Wha-wha-what are you talking about, girl?
“Elnea-kun, do you… do you have that kind of hobby?”
“N-no! It’s a misunderstanding!”
I flailed about in panic.
“Now, let’s become one.”
Saying that, the girl let go of me and spread her arms wide.
“Ehhhh!?”
In front of me, confused, and Ruiseine, blushing coyly, the girl’s entire body lit up.
Then, the girl turned into countless golden particles of light,
and melted into my body.
Ruiseine gasped, and I trembled with the immeasurable power that suddenly surged within me.
“Elnea-kun.”
Ruiseine looked into my eyes.
“Your eye color has turned gold.”
“Wh-what?”
My eye color is chestnut, the same as my hair. It’s not gold. But when I looked in the hand mirror Ruiseine took out, my pupils were indeed golden.
However, Ruiseine’s surprise wasn’t just that.
“Um, I think I can see this because it’s me, but… Elnea-kun is currently enveloped in incredibly dense Dragon Power.”
Hearing that, I felt it too.
I felt an unprecedentedly dense and strong Dragon Power flowing through my entire body, overflowing.
“Is this because I fused with the Spirit Tree Spirit?”
“Yes, I think that’s likely the case.”
Fusion with a spirit.
Elnea and Ruiseine were astonished by the unexpected turn of events on the roadside.
“Um. So, what happened to the spirit that fused with you?”
Did she disappear? If so, that would be terrible.
Priscilla-chan comes to the Moss Garden to communicate with the Spirit Tree Spirit, right?
If that spirit disappeared, wouldn’t Priscilla-chan be sad?
“It’s okay. I’m here.”
The voice echoed not in my ears, but directly in my heart, and I looked at Ruiseine.
But Ruiseine didn’t seem to hear it, and looked back at me with a puzzled expression.
“When I become Elnea’s power, our bodies and hearts become one. But when we’re not, we are separate.”
I see, so the spirit can separate at will.
I let out a sigh of relief.
And then, I focused my consciousness on the immeasurable Dragon Power surging through my body.
The amount of Dragon Power I had accumulated and spread throughout my body until now felt paltry compared to this exponentially greater power.
And my enhanced abilities allowed me to sense Dragon Veins without conscious effort, absorbing a vast amount of information from them.
It was morning assembly time. My schoolmates passed by, looking curiously at me and Ruiseine sitting on the roadside. People coming and going in the morning.
The presence of the people around me, who had no Dragon Power. Not only that, but I could even read their movements.
Furthermore, the presence of birds flying high in the sky, away from the ground, and even their flying altitude, and I was astonished by my ability to grasp and process all of it.
I looked down at my hands, and then took the Spirit Tree Wooden Sword.
From the Spirit Tree Wooden Sword, I felt a stronger pulsation than ever before.
I realized it now.
I hadn’t been able to properly use this Spirit Tree Wooden Sword until now.
Why did Sleigsta (Old Man) instruct me to hold the Young Spirit Tree, transformed into a wooden sword, in my left hand?
I had always wondered why the weapon was a wooden sword. Why did I have to carry the precious Young Spirit Tree as a weapon?
Although it was intuition, I felt like I had found the answer.
“This child will protect Elnea. Because she loves Elnea.”
Yes, I nodded in my heart.
That’s right. This Spirit Tree Wooden Sword wasn’t for attacking. It was in my left hand for defense, to protect me.
The immeasurable Dragon Power and Dragon Energy gained from fusing with the spirit girl. And the meaning of the Spirit Tree Wooden Sword, which I now understood.
Now, I felt like I could fight Jiludo on equal footing.
“Ruiseine.”
Ruiseine looked at my earnest eyes, as if they were too bright.
“Thank you for healing me. I feel much better now.”
“Yes. It is an honor to be of service to you, Elnea-kun.”
Ruiseine smiled.
“Uh, despite that, I’m sorry, but I’m going to go see Jiludo now.”
“Oh my, oh my. In that case, I’ll head to school by myself.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, after your interaction with the spirit girl just now, I could see a strong Dragon Power emanating from you, so I expected this.”
“Hahaha, you can’t hide anything from Dragon Eye Ruiseine.”
I smiled too.
Then, I separated from Ruiseine and stood up.
“I have to go. I have to defeat Jiludo by the end of the year.”
Today, even if I don’t win this time, I should have obtained the catalyst to win.
From now on, it’s up to my effort and resolve.
“I might not be coming to school from tomorrow until the end of the year.”
If I’m going to do whatever it takes to win, I don’t have time to go to school.
Defeating Jiludo is more important to me than school lessons.
“Mist was also very worried. Please return to Sleigsta-sama soon.”
“Yes, I’ll definitely return.”
I nodded to Ruiseine.
“If you let go of Mist, I’ll leave too.”
“Eek!”
At Ruiseine’s declaration, my face twitched.
If I can’t defeat Jiludo, will I lose not only Mistral but Ruiseine as well?
“For me, Mist, Priscilla-chan, Nimia-chan, and Sleigsta-sama, please be sure to return.”
Saying that, Ruiseine gave a deep bow, as befitting a Miko.
“Yes, I will definitely return to everyone!”
I nodded again, and then started running.
This isn’t a battle I have to fight alone.
It’s terrible that I’m still worrying everyone.
But the fact that Mistral is worried about me gave me strength.
I will definitely win against Jiludo.
I ran through the morning capital at full speed.
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