The Ring's Secret
As I approached the window and asked with bleary eyes after a yawn, Ash squeezed his eyes shut and muttered as if he'd given up.
"……No way. It's because I like you too much. That can't be. How could I possibly……"
I felt strangely pleased whenever Ash tried to match my pace despite it clashing with his own nature—despite how cautious he was and how impulsive and reckless I could be—and ended up crumbling like that, unable to do anything about it.
Watching him rub his face with a large palm, trying to go along with whatever I wanted regardless of his own preferences, made something warm well up inside me.
Oh no! This is bad, Rai!
What is it, Master? Has Magi appeared? Where? Where!
No, Ash is just too cute.
……Excuse me?
Ash is so cute I want to pounce on him! Isn't he adorable and lovable?
He likes me so much it's cute!
Men really are best when they're the large-dog type! It's thrilling!
Ha…… I want to kiss him and make him cry……
I'm the one in trouble. My one and only master is a pervert!
How could I torment and make Ash cry even more?
Seeing him cry because he liked me too much made me itch with anticipation. Ah, was this love?
No.
It's not?
Honestly, I thought Master was just a bit of a pervert, but you're a full-blown dangerous one. Ash! You can't hear this, but…… run away! At least you should escape…… Kyaa!
I'll punish you for this, definitely!
Save the spirit!
It was clear that Rai was partly to blame for my sadistic tendencies.
Not that I hadn't had any to begin with.
***
Thanks to my enormous wealth, I successfully entered the capital in record time and was greeted by one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.
The good news was that we'd managed to secure the last remaining inn in the capital. The bad news was that it was a very low-class establishment with quite poor quality.
When I stood there with my brows deeply furrowed in displeasure, Gail, who had secured the inn, fidgeted anxiously and tried his best to list its merits—as if squeezing them out one by one.
"It's a bit…… dirty, but look! You said you wanted to go to the bookstore, right? It's really close! There's a library over there too!"
"So what? The most important places—the square and the duel arena—are ridiculously far."
"And you get a private room. You know how hard it is to find one?"
"Don't tell me that's a rat?"
A gray creature the size of an adult man's fist slowly passed in front of me.
The fact that it didn't even fear humans told me everything about the hygiene standards here.
"……The meals here are cheap! The lowest price in the area!"
"I'd rather pay more and eat something delicious without rats……"
I preferred expensive and tasty over cheap and tasteless.
"Aren't you excited to sleep alone?"
"I'd rather have a big room even if we all sleep together……"
"I'm sorry…… C-could you at least get angry instead?"
Apparently, my quiet sighs made him more uncomfortable than if I'd yelled. But getting angry wouldn't improve the lodging now.
I'd been looking forward to the city for once…… I let out a deep sigh, and the only one who could comfort me was Ash.
"At least we have a place to stay. Isn't that something, Jeanie? You can sleep in a bed tonight. That's a good thing, right?"
"……The bed is nice, but……"
"We can buy food elsewhere…… I'll make a reservation at a good restaurant. I'll find something you'll like. That should be fine, right?"
"Hmm……"
"We'll ride horses to the duel arena. If you want, you can have the four-person room all to yourself."
Sometimes, it was enough just to see people around me trying to accommodate me, whether the situation improved or not.
These things were matters of care and sincerity.
I decided to stop complaining.
Still, what a tragedy to have money but be unable to spend it. From now on, whenever traveling during peak season, I should buy the best inn in advance.
"Fine. I'll be satisfied with this much. Thanks for your hard work, Gail."
"Phew……"
They really had it rough, trying to please a noble young lady.
"Ah, and here's the leftover jewelry. Take it quickly. It's too much for me to carry……"
"You keep it."
"……What? This much? You're joking, right?"
"I have more. I couldn't bring much out from 'there,' remember? I'm giving it to you."
"Miss……"
Gail suddenly dropped to his knees in an exaggerated manner, clasped his hands together, and crawled halfway toward me.
"Just give me any order. What bad deed should I commit next?"
"Why are you like this? It's creepy. I'm younger than you, you know?"
"My soul belongs to you."
"Get lost! I don't need it! What kind of cheap soul is that!"
Ash was more than enough as an attendant.
When I turned my head sharply, Enk was staring at me with sparkling, expectant eyes.
So he had some gold coins left too. Good grief, these poor guys.
"Tsk tsk, you take some too."
Still, their conscience in not running off with the money was admirable, so I decided to be generous.
"……Lady Jeanie! My lifesaver, employer, and master greater than any lord. From now on, I'll worship you as a god. I'm your slave."
"Me too! Even though I'm a commoner, I'll do anything you ask with all my heart."
"You guys are too easy…… Pfft."
I knew they were half-joking, but watching Enk and Gail act like they'd give me their livers and gallbladders was amusing enough to make me laugh out loud.
Time really was terrifying—I'd grown quite fond of them.
What I liked about these idiots was that they didn't lie. And that they never had any sexual thoughts when looking at me. Maybe it was because they saw me as a completely free-spirited companion.
Those simple aspects—neither treating me as grand nor distant—felt incredibly comfortable.
What they saw was simply "me."
"Hey! What about me?"
Right. Come to think of it, this guy was here too.
Chad. The biggest and most intimidating-looking, yet surprisingly the safest one. His lack of tact and shamelessness were his defining traits.
"You…… I'll think about it once you develop some tact."
"Then no investment? I'll open the skewer shop under your name. Jeanie's Skewers, how about that? Jeanie's Skewer House? Jeanie and Skewers. Skewers and Jeanie."
"How much will you take to not use that name?"
I'd forgotten my complaints about the inn and was laughing and chatting when I suddenly noticed Ash being strangely quiet.
"Ash? You seem…… upset about something?"
His expression was the same as usual, but I got that feeling. Ash shook his head with a smile as if nothing was wrong, but I had my intuition too.
And I had the ring!
I gently extended my right hand and grasped Ash's forearm.
When I touched him while looking up as if asking why, the truth was completely revealed.
Getting jealous over something like this is ugly. I hate that she's close with everyone……
Huh.
I should stop. Stop…… Surely she wouldn't let Chad or Enk touch her hair. She has a careless side, so she might let them without thinking…… Chad has many younger sisters, so he's good at handling hair…… Good grief, just worrying about that is making me this depressed. I'm not normal either.
What, he'd been seriously worrying about that? Anyway, being popular was exhausting. After peeking into Ash's trivial worries, I quickly lost interest.
Then I extended my left hand toward the person I now had to part with.
"Akia, are you heading to the hospital now?"
"Yes, my lodging is there. It's a bit far from here, but…… Let's meet again soon! I'll treat you to a delicious meal. If I ask my teacher, she'll definitely know a good restaurant."
"Yeah, see you later."
I briefly shook hands with Akia using my left hand.
The ring was on my right hand, and to read someone's inner thoughts, the ringed hand needed to touch their bare skin.
I didn't read people's minds all the time.
It consumed a fair amount of mental energy, and there were clearly moments when I could sense someone's feelings without the ring's power.
It wasn't difficult when I saw those eyes filled with reluctance.
"Your internal injuries aren't fully healed yet, so you absolutely mustn't overexert yourself. Understood? Make sure to take your medicine. If you feel nauseous or unwell at all, come to the hospital anytime, okay?"
"I've heard that at least ten times already."
"Lady Jeanie always seems to let things go in one ear and out the other. Promise me! Don't use magic…… or spirit magic like usual just because you're not in pain right now. You know where the hospital is, right?"
"Yes, yes."
She'd given me three days' worth of medicine, so after three days I could use my powers as usual.
Without a doctor constantly telling me no, the world was mine.
"I'll take Akia to the hospital and come back. Everyone, rest up."
"Huh? Are you sure you'll be okay alone?"
"There are plenty of security forces and knights on the streets, right? It seemed safe, probably because there are so many nobles. It'll be fine. If Akia is really worried, I'll take one more person."
"It's okay! Helicke is famous for its good public order, so Chad coming with me will be enough. Everyone, please rest well. You need to recover from the journey."
In that moment, my sharp intuition flashed.
When had Chad started calling Akia by her name? He'd definitely called her "Doctor" at first. And now he was casually creating alone time for the two of them.
I wanted to use my magic right hand to see what kind of emotional change this was…… but if I touched Chad, Ash would make a serious face, so I'd do it later.
I wiggled my ringed right hand as if it itched and saw Akia and Chad off as they left the inn.
***
Finally, Helicke. The capital of Heidricke where Tumdra was held. The third-largest metropolis in the Elan Alliance.
As expected of a sizable city, the bookstore was larger than I'd thought and well-stocked, which pleased me.
The two-story bookstore had an entire corner dedicated to books about ancient treasures.
I easily found the book I wanted.
"This is it!"
Ancient Treasure Compendium — Rings and Necklaces Edition
Through my own experiments, I'd roughly figured out its functions, but I still wanted specific information about the ring.
Fortunately, ancient treasures had many experts and related books had been steadily published over thousands of years, so finding information wasn't difficult.
There were about a hundred times more books on ancient treasures than on spirit magic, and there was so much information it was almost overwhelming. The book I'd just pulled out was as thick as my wrist.
It was the first time I'd felt grateful to history enthusiasts. To think they'd documented everything in such detail.
"Oh, is this it? No. Then this one…… Hmm. No."
I had to flip through many pages.
Rings were one of the most common forms of treasures, and many were considered treasures even without magic.
Because some famous person had owned them, or some queen had praised them as the most beautiful, or because everyone who possessed them died as if cursed.
Next to the rings were illustrations showing their appearances along with descriptions, but there were far too many similar shapes to mine.
The body was silver, the embedded gem was a smooth, droplet-like circle, and it was transparent.
"Hmm…… This one looks similar, but mine doesn't have any engraved letters. This one has something carved on it……"
Master! That one!
Rai had transformed back into a snake for the first time in a while.
He knew it was better this way if I wanted to bring him into the bookstore without restrictions. It wasn't the first or second time I'd smuggled a snake into a bookstore.
"That's not it either. Look at the description. This ring was made by dwarves 4,200 years ago. The dungeon we excavated was at least 8,000 years old."
It looks similar though.
"It's harder to find than I thought? I figured I'd find it right away."
When I got a bit annoyed and flipped through four or five pages at once, I stopped my hand.
I couldn't take my eyes off the illustration of a ring that was drawn particularly large. It was exactly the same.