After a while, Nihonium calmed down. Venting all of the frustrations that had gotten to her for so long had lightened a load on her shoulders. Of course, we hadn’t solved anything yet; she just felt a little better for now.
“I look forward to seeing your work,” she said. “I’ll be waiting for good news here.”
“Just wait a minute for me.”
“Yes. For as long as it takes.”
I left the spirit, who seemed to misunderstand me a little, and went up to B9. It seemed like it would be faster to show rather than tell, so I used the B9 warp gate to go back to the mansion and then warped over to Aurum.
Aurum cocked her head at my sudden visit. “Huh? What’s up, Ryota? You haven’t come here in a while.”
Now that she could move around freely, I got to see her in the mansion every day. There wasn’t much reason for me to come here anymore.
“Sorry, Aurum; I need Miike for a bit. I’ll return him right away.”
“Okay, but… Well, I guess I don’t need to ask why.”
She smiled and happily handed over her new BFF, who she always cradled like a doll.
“Here. Make sure you help Ryota, okay?”
“Of course!” he replied.
With one eager Miike in tow, I used the gate to go through the warp room and to Nihonium’s chamber.
“Huh? You’re back… Is something wrong?” Nihonium asked.
“I told you to wait just a minute, remember?”
“Yes, but I didn’t expect it to be so literal. What’s going on?”
“Here.” I handed her Miike.
“Who is this?”
“Hold him, and you can leave the dungeon.”
“Huh?”
“Come live with us for a while.”
“But I’m this dungeon’s…” she started to speak, but she sadly trailed off. “Well. There isn’t much point in me staying, is there?” I could almost hear her saying, nobody will come.
But I was about to solve that problem, so I ignored it. I didn’t know how to fix things just yet, but it was clear that leaving her alone here was a bad idea. So instead, I wanted to take her with me.
“Okay,” she assented. “I’ll go with you.”
“Great. Hold on tight to Miike, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Happy to be working with you!” the mini-sage saluted.
I took her free hand while the other held Miike, and we went through the gate to the mansion together.
“You are a fearsome one,” Nihonium mused as we entered.
“Hmm?”
“No other human in all of history has ever so casually taken a spirit from her dungeon. And yet here you are.”
“It’s no big deal.” I gently took Miike from her. “Thanks, Miike. You’re a big help.”
“May I go back to Lady Aurum now?”
“Yep. Give her my regards.”
“Okay!” he replied before using the warp room on his own to go back to Aurum’s chamber.
After seeing him off, I guided Nihonium out of the room. “Now, we’d better get a room ready for you…”
Just then, I heard Emily’s voice from the hallway. “Welcome back, Yoda.” It was followed by the slapping of her slippers as she ran over.
“Perfect timing, Emily. This is…”
I was about to introduce Nihonium and make a request, but I stopped myself when I realized that Emily was staring at her awfully intently─so intently that it seemed like she wouldn’t even hear me.
Immediately after, she pulled the spirit into a hug.
“Ah…” Nihonium was taken aback.
This was a familiar sight; she’d done the same thing for me once. Emily’s warm, soft embrace had a way of comforting people.
She’d instinctively sensed Nihonium’s pain. Impressive, but no surprise coming from her.
Nihonium, too, sensed something in her and hugged back.
From an onlooker’s perspective, they looked like the manager of an elegant inn and a child, but their roles were quite the opposite as Emily tenderly supported and soothed Nihonium.
They stayed like that for a while until Emily suddenly looked up at me and said, “Yoda!”
“Y-Yeah?”
“We need to have her live with us for a while.”
“Yep. That’s why I brought her here. You mind taking care of that?”
“Of course!” She enthusiastically took Nihonium’s hand and dragged her off. The spirit still seemed confused by the situation, but she gave up and let Emily guide her.
While I saw them off, Erza and Ina popped out of the Swallow’s Returned Favor branch office.
“Ryota, who’s that?” Erza cocked her head.
“A friend of yours, maybe?” Ina smirked and raised her pinky─a classic gesture implying that I’d brought a girlfriend home.
“No,” I answered. “She’s Nihonium.”
“Nihonium… Wait, do you mean…”
“Another spirit?”
“Yeah. She’ll be staying with us for a while. Be good to her, okay?”
Erza and Ina looked at each other in amazement.
“O-Okay.”
“Wow…”
Maybe I should’ve realized by then─or rather, I should’ve shut them up. Considering things that had happened so far, and considering their affiliations, I should’ve made them keep Nihonium a secret.
Because early the next morning, word about her had spread to the main office of the Swallow’s Returned Favor, and all kinds of merchants and other interested parties had flocked to her dungeon, hungry to take its future into their grasp.