Chapter 13: Girl, Settles Things
Chapter 13: Girl, Settles Things
REWINDING the story several minutes back—Oswald had rolled over on the deckchair with the best sun-to-shade ratio. Ready to indulge in indolence once more, he shut his eyes.
Life’s been hectic since we left the forest. I can’t even get a peaceful nap in anymore, aside from the occasional downtime during commutes like this.
A lover of sleep above all else, he basked in the glorious sunlight with his eyes closed. Unfortunately, his peaceful rest was soon interrupted by something that rolled and tumbled into the legs of his deckchair.
“…?!”
The entire chair, with him on it, went flying into the air, and he landed hard on his back. Piercing screams ransacked his eardrums—and they belonged to the apprentice he’d grown accustomed to.
“SOMEBODY HELP ME!”
Nichika’s shrill, earsplitting screams rang through his head. Pushed past his limit, Oswald got to his feet while rubbing his back and proceeded to stomp over to wherever those terrible screams were coming from.
“PUT A LID ON IT! You disturbed my peace and quiet time! Want me to sew those lips of yours shut?! HUH?!”
“OZ! SAVE ME!”
“Huh?”
He looked down to find his apprentice not only with tears in her eyes, but underneath a strange man with half of her clothes pulled off. His cheeks twitching, Oswald spun on his heel, raised one hand to wave goodbye, and tried to leave the scene.
“Oh…err…good for you, Nichika. There’s somebody in this world with weird enough tastes to want a thin, scraggly girl like you…”
“HEY! What’s that supposed to mean?!”
“Yeah! How dare you mock my empress!”
Nichika jerked her head up in shock; she had just met this man for the first time, why was he acting so intimate with her? “Where do you get off calling me your empress?! Can you quit with this one-sided nonsense?!”
“Nichika, dear! What is the story with this man? Is he your acquaintance? No, he can’t be. You’d never associate with someone who looks so underhanded, like an unhealthy slacker!”
Oswald was by no means a patient man. His temples bulged with straining veins at those insults.
Failing to notice, Nichika replied incredulously, “Before that, I want to know who in the world you are…”
“You aren’t lovers, are you?! If you compare the two of us side by side, it’s plain as day that I’m the far more handsome man!”
His boasting wasn’t unwarranted. His looks were exceptional: his silky gold hair shimmered under the sunlight; his blue eyes sparkled like crystals; his facial features and his body were almost too perfectly sculpted that it made him look like he had been carved from stone. Coupled with his white clergyman-like clothing, he almost bore a divine visage—if his actions up until now hadn’t utterly ruined the image, that is.
Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t Nichika’s type. Without being entranced by his beautiful face, she protested, “M-Me? Lovers with him?! As if! Would you get off me already?! You weigh a ton!”
“He has an evil look in his eyes! And his posture’s terrible! His clothing sense is horrendous, with all that black—”
The winged man stopped speaking mid-sentence when a sudden gust of wind grazed his ear. One second later, and the deckchair that had been chucked at him crashed into the ground a meter away.
He swung his gaze in the direction the chair came flying from and found a scowling Oswald, already picking up a second chair. Oswald’s unparalleled bad temper had finally gotten the man to roll off of Nichika. He stood up and straightened his clothes out.
“Hm? Are you challenging me to a fight?” he queried calmly.
“You can do whatever you want to that girl, but if you’re gonna do her, do it somewhere without people. You’re friggin’ loud.”
Nichika was appalled Oswald prioritized his sleep over her chastity, but, quickly remembering that this was the kind of man her master was, she sighed. Meanwhile, a pleased smile touched the winged man’s lips, and he held his fists up as he shifted his stance to a fighting pose.
“Interesting. I’ll take you on.”
“I’ll smack you right off this ship,” Oswald spat.
“Wai—” Nichika grabbed the winged man’s cuff to stop them before the situation exploded.
Out of nowhere, a bright light surged around her—by the time her vision cleared, she was standing in an unfamiliar white space along with the winged man.
“Eh…? What is this place?”
The endless white space, lacking any walls or floors, threw her depth perception out of whack. The winged man walked over and hummed speculatively. An impressed expression had taken the place of his previous fawning.
“To think you could unconsciously transport me to subspace—your potential is higher than I anticipated.”
“I brought you here?”
“I haven’t introduced myself yet, have I? Call me Ini.”
Nichika gaped at the man—Ini—who was now formally facing her. “Ini…”
Saying his name struck a nostalgic feeling in her chest. She tilted her head at the mysterious warmth filling her, when Ini made an absurd confession.
“There’s no reason for me to hide it. I’m the one who summoned you to this world.”
“Oh, you are—WHAAAAAT?!” Her reaction was delayed because of how casually he had dropped the news.
Not letting her speechlessness bother him, he promptly revealed the truth—or at least he shone a light on why she had violently crash-landed in that forest—with a dimpled grin.
“Goodness gracious, you wouldn’t believe the panic I was in! The summoning worked out great, but some trouble knocked my coordinates off the mark.”
Nichika scrambled to plead, “P-Please send me back to my world! Actually, let me contact my mom first and—”
“Now, now, patience. Hearing me out won’t delay you by much.”
…I guess he’s right about that. He probably had a good reason for summoning me here…I hope.
“Haaah… Fine. For what purpose did you bring me here?” she asked, confronting him with a frank question.
Ini waved his hand. Instantly, as if captured by a drone, a projection of scenery spread out at their feet.
“This world is currently on the verge of unprecedented danger,” Ini explained, his tone grave. He pointed to areas where the forests and rivers had mutated into an abnormal shade of purple.
Nichika instinctively knew that the obviously poisonous color meant nothing good. “It sure looks like it… What happened?”
“Balance among the spirits has been crumbling due to the drastic increase in people who are mishandling black magic.”
Purple slowly permeated farther and farther before their eyes. Even from a distance, Nichika could tell the surrounding creatures were turning ferocious from the agonizing pain induced by the purple aura.
“This is awful…”
While her heart was aching for their plight, Ini’s severe intonation hit her. “You are the only person who can save this world now, Spirit Priestess Nichika.”
Nichika gawked at the crazy title, and unconsciously pointed to herself as she repeated his words to confirm she’d heard right, “Priestess? Me?”
“Yes, you. You have the power to communicate with the spirits.”
Ini took her hand and pressed a transparent orb that was slightly larger than a baseball into her palm. Beads of sparkling light danced inside, making it clear that this was no ordinary glass ball.
“Travel the world and collect the Four Great Spirits’ power into this magic orb. Once you do, the world will regain balance.”
Nichika felt horribly confused and flustered. “Y-You think you can just tell me that and I’ll do it?!”
Ini solemnly knelt before her and squeezed her hand. “Please, Nichika, save this world.”
“You’re putting me on the spot! I don’t have a strong sixth sense! And I’m not from a family of priests or priestesses, or anything like that!”
What can a genuinely normal person like me do about it?
Ini nodded confidently despite her refusal. “No problem there! You are one-hundred percent the Spirit Priestess without all of that! I absolutely know I didn’t choose wrong!”
“Say what you want, but—” Nichika tried to continue questioning what he was basing these claims on, but he swiftly cut her off with a statement that made her waver.
“Naturally, I’m not asking you to do it for free. The eve you successfully complete your mission, I’ll not only send you back to your world but also grant you any one wish!”
Nichika’s eyes went wide as she quietly turned the words over in her head. Then, placing her hand on her abdomen, she cautiously asked, “…When you say ‘any wish,’ you really mean anything at all?”
“Indeed. Nothing is impossible for me!”
The scales in her head weighed “Being the Spirit Priestess” against “Removing Fake Lover Seed + Being Sent back Home.” One side of the scale immediately fell.
“I’ll do it!”
***
FOLLOWING Ini’s directions, Nichika successfully escaped the subspace and landed back on Whale’s deck. Just as she felt relief over her safe return, a deckchair suddenly came hurtling toward her and slammed into her side, sending her flying across the deck.
“UWAAAH!”
“Huh?”
Needless to say, Oswald had thrown the chair. Knocked to the ground, Nichika shot a teary glare at him. “What’re you doing, jerk?! That HURT!”
“You…where did you come from?”
From Oswald’s perspective, he had thrown the chair at the creepy winged man. Yet, Nichika abruptly appeared where the man had been. It had been an inevitable accident out of his control.
Oswald was about to ask Nichika what kind of wind she’d caught to end up there, when a line of light ran through empty air and a glowing man hopped out of the rift.
The moment he arrived, Ini grasped the situation. His eyebrows pulling back in anger, he flared up, “You cretin! How dare you act so violent toward my empress!”
“I’m NOT your empress!” Nichika yelled.
“You’re so adorable when you’re being bashful like that,” Ini cooed.
“Hey, Ini, I’m telling you to quit it—”
As Nichika tried to straighten him out, Ini wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him.
Irked by the slightly more amicable mood between them, Oswald briskly strode forward. Abruptly and forcefully, he yanked Nichika away and pushed her behind him. “An apprentice isn’t allowed to wander off without her master’s permission.”
“U-Um, you see, Oswald…” Her mind raced for an explanation that would conciliate him, but her attempt was immediately squandered by the upturn in Ini’s lips.
Ini smirked belligerently. “That reminds me, our fight hasn’t been settled yet.”
“I was under the impression that you ran with your tail between your legs.”
“Come on, you guys! Give it a break—” Nichika started, when unexpectedly, a ridiculous electric noise burst out of nowhere and reverberated across the deck. “…What is that sound?”
His expression the only composed one of the bunch, Ini procured a phone-like device from his pocket and held it to his ear. “Hello? It’s me.”
“What, the sound came from you?” Oswald muttered.
Ini spoke with someone on the other end of the device for a bit before his face stiffened, and he began repeatedly nodding to the person who couldn’t see him. He truly seemed to be talking to someone.
After hanging up what Nichika could only view as a cell phone, he stood still on the deck with a grim face. Just when she thought he was turning to look at her, he glomped her for the third time.
“GEH!”
“I’m so sorry, my honey. An urgent job came for me. But you needn’t worry your pretty little self! I’ll be watching you at all times!”
“You’re one crazy stalker…” Oswald grumbled, staring off into the distance.
Unfazed, Ini held up an index finger. “There you have it, manservant. I grant you the honor of serving as my empress’ caretaker. Be extra careful not to let a single hair on her head be harmed. That’s an order.”
“Who’re you calling this girl’s ‘manservant’?! It’s the reverse. THE REVERSE. She’s my servant!”
“I’m your apprentice! Please don’t make this conversation any more complicated than it already is!”
Ini lightly danced across the deck and nimbly jumped onto the railing. Theatrically spreading his arms, he gave a graceful bow.
“Sorry for disturbing you, ladies and gentlemen! Let us meet again soon! HA! HA! HA!”
He kicked off the railing and disappeared below the deck. Nichika rushed over, but a blast of wind burst from below and a figure shot up into the sky. The massive golden wings vanished into the sun like someone was playing his arrival in reverse.
Sensing a stabbing glare burrowing into her back, Nichika jerkily turned around. Forcing an awkward smile, she cocked her head.
“…Um, are you mad?”
“What the HELL was with that guy?!”
Nichika opened her mouth to placate her master, whose normally sharp and icy glare had grown even more pointed, when she realized her answers had just flown away.
She thrust her hand out for Ini in a futile attempt to bring him back. “COME BACK HERE! I still have a lot of questions for you!” Weakly falling to her knees, she hurled her problems at the sky. “How am I supposed to find the spirits and collect their power?! At least let me contact my world!” she cried.
But alas, the man showed no signs of turning back. So much for always watching over her.
However, Nichika was the type to recover fast. Jumping to her feet, she grasped Oswald’s hands. “Master! I would like to inquire something of you, if I may!”
“You’re only going to call me master in a situation like this?”
Nichika took the opportunity to finally recount what had occurred in the subspace zone. After hearing her out, Oswald frowned as if he had just heard something that sounded like a load of crap.
“You’re the Spirit Priestess? What the hell is that? A new scam?”
“I thought so too, but those who are drowning will grab any rope tossed to them, right?”
“You’re really grasping at straws here.”
“U-Ugh. A-Anyways! He said he’ll send me back home if everything goes well.”
“Don’t you think that’s a convenient consolation prize, considering that he’s the one who summoned you here against your will?”
“Blegh... You’re right, but…but he might get rid of the Fake Lover for me! Which I did to myself,” she added. Thinking that showing him would help explain, she pulled the magic orb from her pocket and handed it to him. “Apparently, I need to collect the uh—great spirits’ power into this thing.”
Oswald accepted the ball, which was about the size of his hand. He examined it in various ways, holding it up to the sun and rolling it around on his palm. Then, he deliberately split it in half with a pop.
“Oh my gosh?! You destroyed it!”
“Idiot. How do you plan on learning more about it without opening it?”
As Oswald continued to stare at the halves, his eyes widened slightly. Though Nichika was surprised to see him react that way, she quietly watched him so as not to interrupt his train of thought.
“What is this…?” Oswald mumbled, “I thought it was a simple storage device, but what’s going on inside…?” The look in his eyes shifted, and, finishing his inspection, he snapped the orb shut.
Tired of waiting, Nichika urged him on by asking, “So? Did you learn anything?”
“Not much, aside from either that man has more to him than meets the eye, or he’s a swindler who happened to get his hands on something ridiculous.”
I don’t really follow, but I get that it must be something extraordinary. Well, the guy did summon me to this world, so he can’t be a nobody, Nichika concluded, storing the magic orb Oswald returned to her.
Then, looking her master right in the eyes, she declared, “I think I’m going to try it.”
“……”
“He just showed me what a wretched, miserable state this world is in. I don’t have the slightest clue why somebody like me was chosen, but I feel like if someone’s coming to me for help, I have to answer that call. That’s why—”
“We should go our separate ways now.”
A distant voice replayed in Oswald’s ears—a fragment of a memory from long ago. Conflicted feelings buried deep within screamed at him, howling for his attention from where he had left them untouched beneath the layers of dirt and dust…
“I know I’m probably going to cause you all sorts of problems from now on, but, um—Oswald?”
“I don’t need you anymore.”
“Wait!” The hand he desperately flung out didn’t reach her.
“I wish you were never here from the very beginning.”
Her silver hair fluttered in the air like snow. She left him behind with nothing more than, “Farewell.”
“…!” He grabbed hold of Nichika’s arm without thinking. Her startled face overlapped with the person in his memories.
How long did they stay there in that frozen position?
With his eyes trained on the ground, he asked her in the faintest voice, “…Are you leaving? On your own?”
Barely catching what he had said, Nichika ran the words through her head and came to a separate conclusion. “Why would I?!” she shouted hysterically.
What part of their conversation had led him to ask that? Nichika had no idea. Frowning, she grabbed his cuff and shook it.
“Can’t I come with you? Don’t you break your promise to me now!”
Oswald gasped, his mind finally catching up to the present. The girl simmering with anger in front of him had dragged him back to reality. Just what had he been thinking about again?
“…What promise?” he asked blankly.
“Even if you try to abandon me now, it won’t work! I’ll stick to you like gum to the sole of your boot!”
The phantom that had haunted him momentarily had already vanished. Yet, he still felt rather jumbled up inside. “Y-Yeah, that’s true,” he agreed hastily, before he had thoroughly processed what she had said.
“…You won’t suddenly up and leave me behind?”
The anxious expression Nichika peered up at him with sparked his teasing nature. Smirking wickedly, the witch haughtily folded his arms. “Don’t you know that’s what society refers to as a stalker?”
“Wha-?! Who’re you calling a stalker?! I’d much rather pursue a swamp frog than you!”
“Poor froggy. What a horrible fate, to have a girl like you pester him for kisses.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?!”
Oswald’s mood lifted as he teased his offended apprentice. That’s it, he realized, I just have to cover up the bad memories so that it’s like they never even existed. Humans are forgetful creatures, after all.
“Good grief!” Nichika huffed.
“……” A genuine, peaceful smile touched Oswald’s lips as the wind brushed past him—a truly rare expression. She’s laughing one minute, crying the next, and getting angry right after that. She’s really a girl with ever-changing expressions. “I never get tired watching you,” he commented.
“…How am I supposed to take that?”
“I feel like I’m observing a rare animal.”
“I knew it!”
Oswald decided it’d be best to change the topic before she started screaming in his ears again. Besides, their destination had come close enough to see with the naked eye.
“On another note…you’re in luck. The Sacred Fire Temple is located in the Cherry Blossom Kingdom we’re headed for.”
“Fire Temple?”
“Might be a good place to pick up a clue on those spirits of yours.”
Nichika’s face instantly brightened as she earnestly rejoiced, “Then! Then you’ll help me out? Thank you, Master!”
“Of course. Doesn’t hurt to help if it means I can bid farewell to my adorable little apprentice even a day sooner. Not to mention, I will of course add it to your ever-growing tab.”
“…The way you put it bothers me.”
In any case, she had a plan of attack in place and her destination was decided. Nichika raised her fist into the sky and let out a hopeful cheer.
“Let’s do our best!”
Watching her from behind, Oswald thoughtfully put his finger to his chin. “Nichika?”
“Hm?”
“I don’t mind helping out, but under one condition.”