The light slowly faded, and the first thought that went through my mind once I could see again was: This isn’t the lake.
It’s...a corridor, right? The walls and ceiling were white, and the floor was dark gray. All of it was glowing slightly with a gentle light; it had a bit of a sci-fi vibe.
I didn’t want to dirty any of it, so I gave my hands a wipe with my handkerchief before lightly touching the wall. It wasn’t smooth, but it still felt nice to the touch. And the floor seems to be made of polished stone...
“What are you doing, Deir?”
I whipped my head up when I heard Chris’s voice and saw my brothers, the Spirit King, and a cute girl who had suddenly appeared all staring at me.
“I was just wondering what this was made of.”
“I don’t think it’s very polite for a lady to suddenly kneel down on the ground and touch the floor.”
Though Chris was clearly troubled by what I was doing, Alan and the Spirit King were keeping their faces turned down, and their shoulders were shaking.
You can laugh if you want, you know.
(Are you satisfied?)
“Yes!” I bounced back up, and the new girl guided us down the corridor. It had a slight curve to it, and at the end was a white wooden door. I recognized the material, but the door itself was an unusual oval shape. There were no corners and no door handle.
(Please wait a moment,) the girl said.
It turned out it was an automatic door—and not the kind that opened to the left and right. It was a door that just automatically disappeared.
On the other side was a large room, its ceiling shaped like a dome. Everything was glowing slightly here too.
“Are we underwater?” Alan asked, having suddenly dashed off to a nearby wall. When I turned to look, I realized that the blue wall in front of us was quite literally water. There wasn’t even any glass—if you held out your hand, what you touched was liquid, and yet for some reason, none of it was flowing into the room. I could even see the fish swimming through it.
“That’s so cool,” I marveled.
(Is it to your liking?) a husky masculine voice suddenly asked. It was then that I finally realized there were other people in the room besides us.
There was a table at the center of the room that looked like a flattened mushroom cap with three people seated around it on cushions. They must be the Royal Spirits, and those cushions look like the type that are so comfortable, you become incapable of doing anything if you dare sit on them. The cushions looked like those big beanbag chairs that wrapped perfectly around your body.
Oh man, I really want to sit on one.
“And this is our younger sister, Deirdre. Deir, introduce yourself before you get lost in the cushions.”
Oh. Chris had been giving introductions the whole time I’d been daydreaming about the cushions.
Come on, I couldn’t help it! It was so nostalgic. This type of big plain beanbag chair wasn’t something I’d seen since coming to this world.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
(You’re Deirdre, then? You’re so small,) one of the ladies said.
(Belisarios are such interesting humans. I’m almost jealous,) the other remarked.
(Isn’t she wonderful? Now, you must all call me Ruri from now on.) The Water King was preening.
(We have no need for names,) the man with the husky voice grumbled.
(Then you may remain without one.)
(Humph...)
The husky voice belonged to a man with blazing red hair and brown skin, his muscles as defined as a Greek sculpture’s. This was the Fire Spirit King. Did being the Fire Royal give him a naturally higher body temperature—and was that why he was wearing so little? He wasn’t even wearing sleeves. His shoulders and biceps are really nice to look at. He was wearing perfectly fitting pants and boots, maybe because he preferred comfort over all else, but...y’know, there was this real contrast between how he and the Water King looked that was beautiful to behold. If I took a picture of these two and uploaded it on social media, they would definitely gain a set of really passionate fans.
The two women were the Earth and Wind Royals. It was amazing that I could look at the Wind Queen’s green hair and yet not think it looked odd. Her voluminous hair was tied into a ponytail adorning her shoulder like a fluffy cloud, and her big curious eyes were watching me. Her body was like a model’s—slender, but with noticeable curves. She was wearing a gauzy white dress with a length of sheer turquoise fabric draped over it.
The first word I would use to describe the Earth Queen was voluptuous. That is a full-on hourglass figure! Even though she was wearing a robe of plain cloth that barely showed any skin, she was still oozing sex appeal. But nothing about the queen herself appeared flirtatious, and instead her gentle aura seemed to envelop us all like a kind embrace. In contrast with the simple clothes and the plain braid binding her light-brown hair, she had gone heavy on the accessories she wore upon her head and around her neck.
Put briefly, this was a convocation of absolute babes. With this many unearthly beauties gathered, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d wandered into the world of 2D.
(Sit wherever you please.)
Excited to finally be given permission, I ran toward the cushions, leaving my brothers in the dust.
It turned out trying to climb up onto a big beanbag as a kid was ridiculously hard; I had to practically crawl my way up. When I was finally sprawled out atop it, the angle was so bad that I could only see the ceiling. I started wriggling about, trying to get up, but then the Earth Queen picked me up and helped me sit at a better angle.
“Thank you very much.”
(Oh, you’re just so adorable. I’d love to bring you home with me.)
“Absolutely not!” my brothers protested as they ran toward me. This time, the Fire and Water Kings had to step in to pick up my brothers and sit them down on the same cushion as me.
Isn’t it pretty impressive that I managed to climb up a beanbag that’s big enough to fit all three of us by myself?
(They’re even cuter when they’re all together!) the Wind Queen squealed.
(Try this fruit,) the Fire King chimed in next.
(Your name’s Alan, right? You don’t seem to have an earth sword spirit. Let me—)
(All of you calm down. You’re scaring them.)
It turned out what had awaited us here in the Water King’s home was a warm welcome. My brothers were frozen to the spot, both clinging to me.
Leave this to me. I’ll show you a woman’s bravery.
I sat up as straight as I could and said, “I must offer you all my most sincere gratitude for inviting us here today. May I begin by posing a question?” The Royal Spirits were all seated on their cushions now, listening intently.
(Speak,) the Fire King said, everyone else nodding after him.
“Do you all know just exactly what I am?”
(We do,) the Earth Queen replied.
(The shape of your spirit is odd,) the Wind Queen added.
(You hold the memories of your life before you were transported here, correct?) asked the Water King.
He’d dropped the biggest bombshell like it was nothing!
“STOOOOOP! You’re getting ahead of yourself! At least let me explain it to my brothers first!”
(Oh, you haven’t told them yet? Then I shall wait.)
Ugh, talk about making things harder for me. I was sandwiched between my brothers, who were now naturally staring at me in shocked confusion, wondering what the Royal Spirits had meant.
The way the Royal Spirits were watching this play out with warm smiles on their faces was like... It was so... Actually, you know what they were like? They were like centuries-old grandparents excited that their grandchildren had come to visit. They were so desperate to stick their noses into our business.
“Transported as in...reincarnated?” Chris ventured.
“Yes. Chris, I actually have the memories of my previous life. The world I used to live in was one without magic and spirits, but it had a highly developed civilization.”
“Does that mean you’ve died before?” Alan asked.
I’d been hoping Chris wouldn’t be disgusted, but instead it seemed like he had a ton of questions. Alan, on the other hand, seemed worried that I still had memories of dying.
“Yes. It was an illness...I think. I died young, before my parents. What a terrible daughter I was, huh?”
“Parents? Did you have siblings?” Chris asked.
“A big sister and a little one,” I confirmed.
“You must miss them...” Alan said.
“When I was first reborn in this world, I missed them dearly, but now I have you two by my side, and I love my mother and father in this world too.”
My brothers hugged me from both sides. See? They’re utter angels.