Then there was me, who, for some reason, went by “Kazuhiho.” I only had my young self to blame for getting one letter wrong. It was based off of my real name, Kazuhiro Kitase...but I had spelled it wrong when I was doing the initial setup.
“No use crying over spilt milk... Oh, just talking to myself. Anyway, it’s not often I see you all the way out here, Marie. Would you like to go check out some nearby ruins with me?”
“My, that’s quite a place you’ve just invited me to. I don’t quite understand human sensibilities yet, but do women usually like it when someone invites them to ruins?”
“I guess that would depend on the person. But, if you do decide to join me, I’ll treat you to some bento.”
Her long ears twitched in response.
I saw a sparkle in her purple eyes, and despite it being plain as day that she was tempted, she fidgeted with the staff she was holding behind her back.
“W-Well... If you really insist, I suppose I could take you up on your offer. Though I am pretty busy with some other business, just so you know.”
With that, she glanced at the bag I had placed beside me. It was quite small, so the shape of the bento box was visibly bulging out of it. She seemed to have a keen sense of taste. Ever since I’d shared some of my bento with her a while back, she came to expect it more and more. But, being difficult as she was, she never directly asked if she could have some.
It was also very rare for me to run into her. Ever since she moved from the elven forest to the Sorcerer’s Guild, she’d been spending her days studying magic. Since I had this rare opportunity to spend time with her again, I wanted to go have some fun with her.
“Let’s go, then. There aren’t many strong enemies around, so it’s perfect for taking a walk.”
“I think your idea of a ‘walk’ is a little odd. Most people would call this ‘exploring ruins,’ not some afternoon stroll.” Her brow furrowed adorably as she corrected my not-so-common sense.
I’d known her since grade school, now that I thought about it, so she may be my best friend in this world. Though she did act like she was my big sister or something, being much older than me and all.
We began walking side by side, when my gaze was drawn to the object she was holding.
“Oh, is that your staff? I wanna see!”
“Hmhm, go ahead. The shaft is made from holly—and look, it even has unicorn hair here.”
“Wow, Marie, I’m always so impressed that you can even use magic. Let me take a good look at it while we walk.”
Marie smiled happily in response.
Her ability to control spirits was a specialty of the elves, and, as her gray robe indicated, she was also a mage. It seemed she had just obtained her staff recently, as it was in pristine condition. I had no idea how this thing was able to unleash magic, since all I’d learned was how to swing my sword around.
It was cute listening to her go on about the valuable materials her staff was made of, but she had actually killed me when we first met. She was quite an outrageous elf, but she seemed to have finally calmed down in recent years. I voiced this observation out loud, and she gave me a slightly annoyed expression.
“You have it all wrong. That was your own fault, you know. I was horrified when you came back to life and talked to me again with a smile on your face. I thought you were a ghost or something.”
“Well, in any case, it wasn’t murder. And I don’t know if I was really smiling, but I do feel happy when I see you, since you’re so pretty and all.”
Marie ran her hand through her hair with a cool expression, as if she heard that all the time. She kept glancing back at me as if to say, “Go on...”
I thought it was cute when girls made that sort of expression. I might be in the body of a child, but I was a full-grown adult in reality. So being able to escort an adorable girl like this was far from unpleasant. In fact, I kind of enjoyed it when she acted cheeky like this... though she would hate it if I told her that.
I gazed at her in the morning light as we walked along the river. The color of her smooth hair was far too lustrous to describe as a mere “white.” Maybe the closest comparison would be silk. Her eyes were purple like amethyst, so saying they were like gems would be an apt comparison. Maybe it was because of the long life she’d lived, but even though we were similar in height, I couldn’t hold a candle to her in terms of intellect.
“Oh, is that it? Over by those mossy rocks.”
Her slender finger pointed at the ruins in question. The cave-like hole before us that was surrounded by moss-covered rocks was the entrance to the Nazul-Nazul Ruins. It had quite a long history, and rumors said it was once an underground city that was destroyed one thousand years ago. But how was such a well-developed magical civilization destroyed? That was a mystery still yet to be solved.
“Well then, let’s go seek ancient mysteries, shall we?”
“Yeah, you’re definitely an odd one. What do you hope to find in some ruins nobody has stepped foot into in ages?”
We stepped up to the cave, and I pulled her up by her slim hand. I didn’t realize how light she was and overcompensated the pull. She was propelled into my chest, and I found her big, round eyes right in front of mine.
“Hmph, can’t you do something about those sleepy-looking eyes of yours?”
“I was born with these eyes. There’s nothing I can do about them.”
She giggled and waved her holly staff. A light spirit emerged from the staff and began floating around us. Then, it flew over to the cave and banished the darkness within.
The preparations seemed to be complete. Marie nodded, and our exploration of the Nazul-Nazul Ruins began.
The Nazul-Nazul Ruins...
Long ago, there was a civilization that had suddenly been wiped out. In most cases, destroyed cities met their end due to war or natural disasters wreaking havoc on homes. But those who’d investigated these ruins reported no signs of conflict, and most homes there had been left undamaged. Because of this, there was a theory that this civilization had crumbled due to an unknown illness. However, the likelihood of that was questionable when considering how advanced their magic was.