Ruru Smells Trouble
What kind of vixen is wagging her tail! Just moments ago everyone was gushing about how adorable Ruru was and how this was definitely going to work. So why had everything suddenly changed like this?
“Chase, have you ever hung around a spirit that doesn’t have a contractor?”
“…What?”
When my expression hardened, Yaruru’s face grew serious too. Her earnest expression, one I had never seen before, drew close to my nose.
“I’m not joking.”
“No, I’m just… surprised too.”
After all, Adel lived inside my mental space, and she wasn’t a naturally born spirit—she was an artificial one. On top of that, Ruru could apparently detect the presence of other spirits.
Who could have guessed that?
“Spirits without contractors can be dangerous. Especially—”
Yaruru trailed off and bit her lip.
“Ah—”
She’s worried about me.
Her trembling eyelashes and tightly pressed lips made me flustered as well.
“Chase.”
“…Yeah.”
“Are you really okay?”
For a moment, I couldn’t find the words. If someone asked whether I was okay… well, from an outside perspective, this wasn’t exactly a normal situation. I was fine, but how was I supposed to explain it?
There’s an artificial spirit who was born two thousand years ago living in my mental space. Oh! I met her after touching some unidentified artifact I got from the imperial treasury!
If I said that outright, things would only get more complicated. The status window was tied to my secrets and the questions surrounding my relationship with my assistant.
Hoo. How should I put this?
“…Just a second.”
“We don’t have time for that!”
“I need a moment to organize my thoughts.”
“…”
“More precisely, um—I think I need to arrange my words so you can understand them properly.”
When I fumbled through the explanation, Yaruru’s eyes narrowed. She didn’t look fully convinced, but she didn’t seem intent on pressing me further either.
“Just don’t go near anything dangerous.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Really.”
The moment I stood up, Yaruru’s gaze followed me. I smiled inwardly and left her room.
“I’ll be back in a bit.”
“If you get scared, call me right away.”
“…Isn’t that supposed to be my line?”
“Right now, my words are the correct ones.”
Well. If we went by Yaruru’s misunderstanding, she wasn’t exactly wrong.
#
The moment the door closed, I threw myself onto the bed.
“Hmm…”
Maybe Ruru had picked up Adel’s scent instead of some other spirit’s. In other words… maybe there really was another uncontracted spirit near me.
“No way. That’s going too far.”
I had always planned to explain the mental space eventually, but not like this…
“Maybe it’ll be fine if I just explain it well.”
The important thing was that Yaruru hadn’t been trying to interrogate or accuse me. She was genuinely worried that I might have gotten involved with some strange spirit.
“First, let’s talk to Adel.”
I relaxed my body as my vision began to tint blue.
Ding.
With the familiar notification sound, I found myself standing inside the pure white mental space.
“Chase! You came early today! Did you already find the answer? Or did you just miss me…? Huh?”
Adel came running over with a bright expression, only to slow down when she saw my face.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen outside? Do you need comfort? Want a hug?”
“Something did happen.”
“Ugh… What is it?”
“It’s not that serious.”
I shrugged and spoke in a calm tone.
“Yaruru summoned a spirit, and it said it smelled something suspicious coming from my direction.”
“What kind of smell?”
“The scent of a spirit without a contractor.”
Adel’s eyes widened like saucers.
“Chase! Did you cheat on me with another spirit even though I’m right here? A spirit user and their spirit only form one contract in their entire lifetime!”
“…”
“Seriously! You already have me, so what kind of vixen is wagging her tail at you?! And shouldn’t you be more careful with yourself too?!”
“No, it’s—”
“What do you mean ‘no’?! I’m angry right now, so hurry up and explain!”
Faced with Adel standing with both hands on her hips and her eyebrows raised, I opened and closed my mouth repeatedly.
She doesn’t realize it’s about herself?
“Pfft—hahahaha!”
“What?! Why are you laughing?!”
After laughing so hard that tears formed at the corners of my eyes, I finally noticed Adel’s sulky expression.
“Hmph…”
“Haa— Adel. I think the spirit without a contractor she’s talking about is you.”
“…Eh?”
“You’re an artificial spirit, but you still don’t have a contractor, right?”
“Eeeeeeh——?!”
While Adel’s face turned as red as a tomato, I carefully explained everything that had happened outside. From deciding to make a spirit-raising game to Yaruru’s contracted spirit Ruru. Adel listened quietly the whole time, then mumbled in a small voice.
“Then… can’t we just form a contract…?”
“…How do artificial spirits form contracts?”
Adel rolled her eyes around before scratching her head.
“Hehe… I don’t know…”
“…”
I looked around the mental space.
“The real problem is that you can’t communicate with the outside. There’s no way to prove anything.”
“Ugh…”
“So I was hoping there was a slightly less complicated way.”
Adel fidgeted for a long while before carefully raising her hand.
“Do we really have to tell her everything?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, Yaruru is close to you, right?”
“She is.”
“Then just say that I was sealed inside the artifact you got from the treasury. Wouldn’t she understand that much?”
“…”
“It’s not a lie! We’re just not telling her the whole story! It’s not a bad thing!”
I mulled over Adel’s words.
It sounds like a typical playboy’s excuse… but it’s not wrong.
A detailed explanation would be tedious and overly academic. What Yaruru really wanted to know was whether the unidentified spirit beside me was dangerous or not. Besides, this world was full of mysterious artifacts, so if I said a spirit had emerged from one, Yaruru would probably understand.
“Wow.”
“W-why?!”
“No, it’s just… more reasonable than I expected.”
“What?! I came up with the idea last time too! I’m normally reasonable!”
When Adel flared up, I couldn’t help but look exasperated.
“Cheating.”
“Hic.”
“Contract.”
“Hng.”
“Vixen.”
“Waaah… I’m sowwy… I’m weally sowwy…”
I gently patted Adel’s small head as she made a pitiful face.
“Let’s look into the contract thing slowly. We’ll figure it out someday.”
“Really?!”
When Adel lifted her head and met my eyes, she quickly looked down again.
“You have to tell her this one thing.”
“What?”
“That I’m not a dangerous spirit.”
“I already know that very well.”
“I’ve never tried to hurt you, and I never will in the future either… sooo…”
“…Yeah.”
“Good! Then it’s settled!”
Adel’s mood brightened instantly and she began spinning around in the air.
“Then hurry up and go! Oh, and could you introduce me as cute, kind, graceful, and beautiful?”
“…”
“That’s too much!”
Adel puffed out her cheeks and flapped her arms in protest.
“Don’t look at me like that! I’m being serious too, you know!”
“I know, I know.”
“Really?”
“Maybe?”
“What do you mean ‘maybe’?!”
Adel charged at me with a sulky face and clung to me, tapping here and there.
It really doesn’t hurt at all.
Adel’s actions weren’t meant to threaten with force—they were just her way of expressing her feelings.
Whoosh——
Adel’s arm brushed against the edge of a translucent panel floating in the air.
“…Huh?”
Unlike when I had tested it before, the panel rippled like water the moment her arm passed through it.
And then—
Ding—
A sound I never expected to hear echoed through the space.
New functions have been activated through interaction.
Additional plugin detected
………
……
…
Welcome.
Load Project
Nista Marketplace
Bulletin Board
Messages
Notification History
“…”
“…”
Both Adel and I froze at the sudden development. She blinked, then looked down at her own hand with a confused expression.
“Chase.”
“…”
“Just now, I…”
“How did you do that?”
“I-I-I-I don’t know?! Wasn’t I not supposed to be able to touch this?!”
She was right. Until now, Adel had been able to see the screens linked to the mana panel while inside the mental space. She could even play the games I made, albeit with limitations. But she had never been able to touch any of the other panel screens.
Or… could it be that this was also something that unlocked once certain conditions were met, like game restrictions?
I stood up and approached the panel.
“Want to try again?”
“Uh… Yeah!”
With a tense face, Adel stretched out her finger and carefully tapped [Bulletin Board].
Ding.
A much larger window opened this time, revealing a long list of bulletin boards. It was just like accessing a bulletin board app through the mana panel.
“Wow! Chase, look at this! It opened! I guess I can touch this now!”
Adel quickly grew excited and began jumping in and out of various boards.
[Write Post]
[Wow, this is amazing!]
[Anon]
Does this actually work?
“Wow!”
She could even post on the boards, even if it wasn’t with an official nickname. Adel’s eyes sparkled like a child who had discovered a new toy.
“With this, I can talk to the outside world too, right?”
At her question, I examined the panel window from various angles.
[Messages]
If she could actually post on the bulletin board, then the messages function was probably the same. And the moment I saw it, Yaruru’s earlier words flashed through my mind.
Spirits without contractors can be dangerous.
If they can talk directly, that should ease Yaruru’s worries too.
“Adel.”
“Ooh— How do I get to the concept posts… Huh?”
“I just had a good idea.”
Adel had been diligently looking through the concept post list when she finally noticed the [Messages] window at my call.
“Eeeeh?! Chase! Chase! Whoa!”
Just how surprised was she? I felt a pang of sympathy as she struggled to even finish her sentences.
. . .
By the time I stood in front of Yaruru’s door holding snacks for Ruru, my heart felt much lighter.
Knock knock.
“Come in.”
When I opened the door and stepped inside, Yaruru was still hugging Ruru with a complicated expression. Worry, suspicion, and a hint of wariness. Ruru twitched her nose the moment she saw me.
“You came back faster than I expected.”
“It wasn’t that big of a problem.”
I pulled over a chair and sat down.
“Come over here.”
“Ah, okay.”
I put the chair back in place and sat on the bed. Then I got straight to the point.
“Do you remember the unidentified artifact I got from the treasury?”
“I remember.”
“There was a spirit sealed inside that artifact.”
“…”
“I haven’t formed a contract with her, but she’s not someone who would harm or threaten me.”
Yaruru stared at my face without saying a word.
“Her name is Adel.”
“Adel…”
After quietly repeating the name, Yaruru looked down at Ruru.
“Is it a girl?”
“Huh? Ah, yeah. That’s right.”
I was puzzled by the sudden question, but nodded anyway.
“Sigh… I kind of expected this, but I didn’t think it would actually be a spirit.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It’s nothing. Ruru, is that right?”
“Kuuung.”
At Ruru’s short cry, Yaruru nodded.
“Got it. I think that’s correct.”
“So there’s no need to worry.”
“…It’s suspicious, but if Chase says so, I guess I have no choice.”
“It’s not a lie, though. What can I do?”
“That’s true too.”
Fortunately, Yaruru didn’t ask any deeper questions. Thanks to the extra snacks I brought, I even got to touch Ruru’s belly for a moment.
…I guess this counts as resolved.
Squish squish…
Soft…
While I was completely absorbed in petting Ruru’s belly, several notifications rang from my panel.
Ding. Ding-ding. Ding. Ding.
Ding.