The pair exited the labyrinth to the surface. There, a dense forest expanded before Ristia’s eyes, making them light up in awe.
“Wowie... A long time really has passed, hasn’t it~?”
“Did this area look different a thousand years ago, Ma’am?”
“Yes, most definitely. Back in my times, this whole place was one big plot of scorched earth.”
“Scorched earth...? Was there some sort of war that transpired?”
“Mm-mm, nope. It was just that this area was inhabited by dragons.”
“Oh... dragons. Right.” The dragons that came to Nanami’s mind were several meters tall, just like the one in the labyrinth. The dragons that Ristia spoke of, however, were ten times bigger than that, which was something that Nanami couldn’t even fathom, so she had a look of disbelief draped across her face. Seemingly unaware of Nanami’s expression, Ristia stretched her arms and started to bask in the light shining through the tree branches.
“Mmm~ The soft sunlight feels so good~”
“Yes, quite... Oh, Lady Ristia?! Are you okay with just bathing in the sun?!”
“I’m not okay. I’m actually so happy that I feel like breaking out into song and dance.” Ristia smiled, putting her index finger over her lips and saying, “Keep it a secret.” The pair were the only ones around, so it was a mystery as to whom she was keeping that a secret from, but Ristia’s gesture was cute, nevertheless. Nanami found herself captivated by Ristia’s display. That was, until...
“No, wait, wait, wait. That wasn’t my point. Isn’t the sunlight a vampire’s weakness...?”
“Mm-mm. Our physical abilities drop to about half of they are at night when exposed to sunlight, but it’s not particularly a weakness.”
“...Are you saying your abilities being cut by half isn’t plenty reason enough to call it a weakness?” she said, making a logical point to the best of her knowledge, but Ristia returned with a perplexed look. “Why?” she asked.
“’Why’...? That basically means that being exposed to the sunlight puts your strength at half-capacity compared to nighttime, correct?”
“Mm-mm, not at all.”
“...Then what does it mean?”
“I mean that I only use a fraction of my strength normally anyway.”
“You whaaaaat?!”
Nanami was flabbergasted that the “hee-yah” with just a fraction of Ristia’s power behind it was enough to obliterate that dragon.
“That’s why it’s not necessarily a weakness.”
“W-Well, when you put it that way... Yes, I suppose so.”
If she only used a fraction of her power normally, then she would be perfectly fine even if her max physical abilities were halved. And to top it off, thinking about how she turned that dragon into ash back there with her fraction of a “hee-yah” made it hard to imagine that a day would come where Ristia would ever need to fight at her full power. Perhaps it was reasonable that Ristia herself never considered it a weakness.
“But I have heard about there being vampires who can’t deal with the sunlight. Like, when it hits them, they become visibly weaker, or they even turn to ash in some cases. Rare cases, that is.”
“Rare cases... I feel like I’m losing track of what’s the norm as I converse with you, Lady Ristia.”
“Why? I’m a normal girl.” She cocked her head to the side in confusion. Her jet-black hair swayed as her pair of crimson eyes below her bangs pushed up from the smile set on her lips.
“Yes, silly me...” I mean, what even is normal, anyway? Nanami thought to herself, unbeknownst to Ristia. “Ehehe...” Nanami adorably chuckled, coming to an agreement.
“Alrighty, then. Let’s head to town~”
“Yes, Ma’am. I will lead the way. It’s to the west of here. By foot, it would be about... a three day trek.”
“Okie dokie~” Ristia gave a sprightly nod as she started to walk in the direction of the town. After proceeding for a while, Ristia started to lead the charge. The dense forest was supposed to be a relative challenge to traverse on foot, but there Ristia was, walking in a sundress with the greatest of ease. Nanami was accustomed to going out on journeys, with the extra added bonus of feeling lighter than usual after being enchanted by Ristia’s healing magic. Despite that, it was Nanami who started to panic, as she felt as though she was about to get left behind.
“L-Lady Ristia! Please...” Before she could finish saying “please wait a moment,“ Nanami cut herself off. Mostly because she knew she couldn’t be the one dragging the party down after she had been the one to volunteer her services as a guide. However, in the next moment, Nanami found her panic stemming from something else—that something being that the thicket surrounding her legs was avoiding her. That wasn’t a figure of speech, either. The grass and ivy were quite literally pushing themselves away from Nanami’s path—an otherworldly phenomenon that would be normally impossible.
Could Lady Ristia, by any chance, be doing this for me? That was what the girl thought as she looked back up to see Ristia walking a short ways ahead, checking up on her from over her shoulder.
“Are you alright, my dear Nanami? If you’re having a hard time, don’t hesitate to ask for my help,” she said with the kind smile of an angel.
“Thank you very much!”
So kind and cute... Lady Ristia truly is an angel! thought Nanami, I would be oh-so happy if a girl like this were my big sister.
However, the sentence engraved on the pedestal of the labyrinth room and Ristia’s own words came to Nanami’s mind. She never was able to really ask for the exact reason Ristia lay sleeping in that cage, but apparently she was searching for her little sister. In other words, Ristia had a little sister that she parted with in life—or possibly even in death. There was no way she could just waltz up to her and ask if she minded being called “Big Sis.” Of course, she was totally misunderstanding the situation. If she were to propose that idea to Ristia, the princess would nod her head, jumping for joy all the while, but seeing as how there was no possible way for Nanami to know that, her thought process was led down a different avenue. It was the start of a series of unfortunate miscommunications.
At any rate, Nanami and Ristia proceeded through the forest at an abnormally fast pace, but clearing an ordinarily three-day hike in the span of one afternoon would an impossible task for anyone. The sun started to set amidst the trees. That was also exactly when Nanami remembered something of great significance.
“Lady Ristia, I’m sorry, but I’ve forgotten that I don’t have any food left.” In addition to wasting several days that weren’t scheduled in the labyrinth, she cleared out her inventory to escape all the monsters, which left her without rations. She flew into a panic, thinking, I can personally bear the hunger, but I cannot allow Lady Ristia to suffer in suit.
“Hm? Dinner? Oh, right. I guess it is about time for dinner. But first...” Ristia said, waving her right hand. As soon as she did, the plot of land before their eyes was cleared out.