The Double-Edged Ring
For a while I was completely absorbed in experimenting with the ring.
I tested it on Enk, on Gail, and of course on Rai.
The strange part was that Rai’s inner thoughts didn’t register at all.
Rai’s obvious relief at that fact told me everything I needed to know about what he usually thought of me.
I’d assumed it was because we were connected, but after repeating the tests I finally figured out why.
The ring only reacted to living creatures.
Since Rai’s body was made of inorganic metal, the ring’s power simply didn’t work on him.
So the first condition for using the ring is that it has to touch skin… In that sense Rai’s disqualified? What if I wear gloves, put the ring on over them, and then touch someone’s bare flesh? Would touching hair still block the reading?
I tried every variation I could think of.
Before long I discovered I could read the minds of animals like rabbits and horses too.
Of course they weren’t highly intelligent beings, so instead of detailed thoughts like humans I only caught fragments of emotion and mood.
On the first day after leaving Hirilyke, when I grabbed the ears of the wild rabbit Enk had hunted while wearing the ring, I was hit with overwhelming terror. It was the rabbit’s own fear.
The fear of death felt by the lowest link on the food chain, the massive dread of being eaten.
It landed heavily enough to deal me a bit of mental damage too.
Thanks to that rabbit—which later became our dinner—I learned that using the ring’s power could be dangerous for me as well.
I might get swept up in the other person’s emotions and end up mentally drained, or find myself acting on impulses that weren’t mine.
Reading someone’s heart, emotions, and thoughts was an act that required accepting a certain level of risk.
A classic double-edged sword, I suppose.
Another thing the experiments taught me was that the ring operated purely on mental strength, completely unrelated to mana or magic.
The more I read other people’s thoughts, the more mental fatigue I felt.
It was only a theory, but I suspected I wouldn’t be able to read the inner thoughts of anyone with stronger mental power than me.
Even with Ash, when he was relaxed the ring worked fine, but the moment he seemed lost in serious thought and I touched him, nothing came through.
I could only barely sense that he was worried about something.
I wanted to learn more about how the ring worked, but I didn’t have many test subjects. Animals all felt roughly the same, and Enk and Gail’s inner thoughts were boring.
Gail was busy worrying about food, and Enk already seemed to have his mind on the capital where the Sword Masters’ duel would be held.
On the third day after leaving Hirilyke, our group arrived smoothly at the rest stop where we expected Lox and Chad to pass through.
If we stayed here a day or two, we would naturally reunite with the whole party.
I fiddled with the ring and looked around the empty rest area. I needed to hide it again before Lox returned.
I didn’t know about the others, but Lox would definitely become suspicious the moment he saw the glowing ring on my finger.
Enk and Gail hadn’t had a single thought about the ring they’d never seen me wear before, and while Ash’s interest in me had let him notice I’d started wearing it, he seemed to assume I’d simply picked it up as one of the many treasures scattered around that dungeon.
Because I could read their thoughts, I knew they harbored no suspicions toward me.
That was one of the ring’s best features: it let me easily tell whether someone was entertaining useless ideas or not.
Wasn’t this exactly the kind of ring a ruler tired of betrayal would need?
“Mine, though.”
Rai’s voice echoed directly in my mind. Master, it seems that ring has really caught your fancy?
Over the past few days I had developed a habit of fiddling with the ring.
Wearing it on my right index finger felt most comfortable, so that was where it stayed.
“Of course I like it. There’s no more frustration from not knowing what the other person is thinking. It would be perfect if I could read your thoughts too, Rai.”
Whoa! What a scary thing to say!
“Instead of just killing time here, let’s go hunt some monsters!”
Monsters all of a sudden? What are you planning to do with them?
“Catch them and read their minds! I’ve been curious what monsters think about for ages!”
I wondered who in the world would be curious about something like that… and of course it’s you…
Why hadn’t I thought of this sooner? When it came to test subjects, monsters were perfect!
Only two hours after we started waiting for Chad and Lox at the rest stop, I was already plotting something else.
Watching Enk and Gail unpack their gear in the distance, I tried to slip away sideways…
“Jeanie? What was that about monsters?”
“…Nothing?”
I must have sounded too enthusiastic. Ash, catching the dangerous scent, closed the distance in an instant.
“It looks like you’re trying to go somewhere…”
“No. I’m not going anywhere.”
I didn’t even need the ring to know Ash didn’t believe a single word—his distrustful eyes said everything.
“Right. You might disappear in a few seconds.”
“Your internal injuries aren’t fully healed yet. Wandering off alone is dangerous. Please just rest quietly here.”
“I’m bored. Chad won’t get here until tomorrow anyway.”
“He might pass through today if he’s early. I’m sure Chad is hurrying.”
Ash was the one who took my hand first.
He probably didn’t realize his own thoughts would flow into me, but over the past few days he had grown completely natural about holding my hand.
Of course, I was the one who had gotten addicted to the ring and kept grabbing his hand at every opportunity first.
“If we don’t keep a proper watch on the road we might miss Chad, and then our paths could cross. Come on, let’s wait together.”
“…Tsk.”
If I couldn’t hear his thoughts I would have ignored him and run, but Ash’s quiet gaze and the feelings behind it made me feel strangely good, so I pretended I couldn’t win and followed.
We sat beneath a tree in a corner of the rest area, and Ash began combing my messy hair again today to soothe my grumbling.
At this point even Enk and Gail no longer teased us about it.
Had they gotten used to the sight? Or maybe it was because Rai had chased them half to death the last time they tried.
“If you’re bored, Jeanie, I’ll tell you an interesting story.”
“What is it? If it’s boring can I leave?”
“Um… Then why don’t you tell me about yourself? Anything works… But if it’s still dull, let’s take a walk together. Is there anything else you want to do?”
The things I found fun would probably shock Ash to his core.
For now I brought up the most peaceful thing on my list.
“Then since we have time, will you teach me how to fight swordsmen?”
“…I distinctly remember asking you to rest. Was I not clear enough?”
“I understood, but you promised before. You said you’d teach me how to effectively crush a swordsman! The attribute! How a Spirit Master can wipe the floor with one!”
“Jeanie, who trains while injured? Your internal wounds still have a long way to heal, and I told you not to use your fingers yet you keep using them. The swelling hasn’t even gone down!”
“…You won’t let me do anything, Ash!”
I was the one who had done wrong, yet the moment I raised my voice first Ash immediately looked sorry. Striking first always wins.
“I’m sorry. I was just worried…”
“Then at least teach me the theory! Tell me what my weaknesses look like to you! From a swordsman’s point of view!”
“Pretend I’m Robenin! What would a slightly crazy bastard do?”
Of course a normal person couldn’t understand a crazy one. If they could, they wouldn’t be normal.
Ash was extremely normal while Robenin was absolutely not, so the two were complete opposites.
Yet the fact that their sword styles were surprisingly similar was interesting.
If you ignored how much more aggressive and kill-focused Robenin was, their foundations felt almost identical.
Both swords carried an elegance born from perfect basics.
Still, calm yet powerful, and at the same time delicate.
Whether mercy existed at the tip of the blade or not made all the difference.
“Was the opponent you wanted to fight Robenin?”
“Huh? Not exactly…”
I sometimes forgot how quick-witted this man was.
I kept getting fooled by that kind-looking face. If I told the truth, Ash would pack a lunch and drag me away even if it meant carrying me.
Since they were relatives who had spent their childhood together, he knew exactly how dangerous Robenin was, and since I was also a walking bomb he would never let us clash.
He was the type to freak out over a single swollen finger, after all.
And if he knew I wanted to kill Robenin he would act very much in character.
“Aren’t swordsmen the natural weakness of Spirit Masters? Robenin is the prime example… and since we’re going to watch his duel it just came to mind. That’s all.”
Heh. A perfect excuse.
“Tell me the truth. You’re not planning to fight Robenin, are you?”
“…Well…”
“Jeanie?”
Thank goodness the ring belonged to me. I fiddled with it again and gazed at the distant mountains. Damn it, why doesn’t Heidricke have any mountains?
“Jeanie!”
Ash rarely showed a serious face, but when he did it was scarier than dirt under the fingernails.
“Ah, it’s Chad!”
“Who would fall for that! Answer me. With Robenin…!”
“It’s real! Look over there!”
There was no mistaking that massive frame.
Ash thought I was changing the subject and kept staring only at me, but it really was Chad.
Behind Ash I could see Chad sitting on the coachman’s seat of a carriage pulled by two horses.
Look at that huge body taking up two people’s worth of space all by himself!
“Chad!”
I shoved Ash aside as if nothing in the world could be more welcome and ran toward Chad.
I admit it. I was fleeing Ash’s barrage of questions.
“Whoa!”
“I’ve been waiting!”
For two whole hours!
Chad, who had been riding with a bored expression, spotted me and hurriedly stopped the horse. Before it had even fully halted he jumped down from the coachman’s seat.
“Wow, you! You’re already up!”
Then in just two strides he closed the distance—five steps for me—lifted me clean off the ground, and hugged me tight.
He even rubbed his cheek against me like a brand-new teddy bear. It gave me goosebumps.
What the hell? Why are you being so cringy?
We’re not that close!
“I was so worried!”
“…Ah, I suppose you would be.”
“Did I say thank you? Ash told me I absolutely had to.”
“No, when I woke up you weren’t there? And could you put me down now?”
It feels unpleasant when it makes me seem short. Chad had both hands under my armpits holding me in the air, but he seemed to have forgotten that fact; it looked effortless for him.
I hated the feeling of my toes not touching the ground.
“Words aren’t enough to express how grateful I am. I’ll thank you for the rest of my life! When I have kids I’ll teach them your name!”
“Enough… that’s way too cringy.”
“Anyway I was worried you might still be lying down. When did you wake up? Where’s Ash? Gail?”
“It seems I woke up a day after you all left… They’re over there.”
As expected, Chad’s outer and inner selves were amazingly consistent. And his head was noisy.
Also, because Ash occupied such a large portion of his stream of consciousness, he looked for Ash first even before setting me down.
What a loyal guardian he would make.