A Familiar Scent
Lying on the sun-dried sheets that still carried the bright scent of daylight made my warp sickness feel a little better.
I drifted off for a quick nap.
As expected, my natural talent lay in doing absolutely nothing and just rolling around in bed.
"Mmm…?"
Rai was shaking me like a rag doll while I was busy discovering my true calling. For a snake, he had way too much strength; he kept lifting and dropping people with the tip of his tail.
"What the hell, you jerk? So rude, waking your owner while she's sleeping… zzz."
It had been a wonderfully deep sleep until Rai woke me.
I rubbed my damp mouth and debated whether I should even open my eyes.
"Huh?"
Still half-asleep and foggy, I mumbled a reply. Rai shoved his white snake head right up to my face.
Most people would probably faint if they opened their eyes to a white snake with glowing red eyes inches from their nose.
I'd seen it so many times it didn't even register.
"…You mean the one we missed at the Dunhel Jewelry Store?"
Now that was news that chased every trace of sleep away.
The spirit stone Rai had gone to retrieve only to run into the Bee Swarm was right here in this town!
That was mine. I paid for it and everything!
I shot upright in bed and grabbed Rai roughly.
"For real? It's here? How?!"
"What kind of coincidence is that?"
"…Long live chain stores!"
Chain stores really were wonderful.
At the good news I practically tumbled out of bed.
My stomach was still queasy from warp sickness, but it was much better than before. I figured I could manage going outside.
Besides, we were leaving Remali for Elan tomorrow morning, so I had to get that stone today no matter what.
"We're getting it back! My spirit stone!"
"The one I paid good money for!"
"No way!"
I bounded down to the first floor full of excitement, only to have my mood fizzle out the moment I saw the knights blocking—no, guarding—the inn entrance.
"Right. I can't go out alone."
As much as I didn't want to, I went looking for the knight captain first.
Just as I expected, he was sitting in the lobby with an arrogant posture, reading some suspicious book. The captain's name was Tonel something-or-other; his family name was so ridiculously long that I could only remember his first name.
For some reason, Tonel had been noticeably kind to me lately.
It was extremely suspicious.
"Sir Tonel!"
"Hm? What is… it you require?"
The book he was reading was titled 1,898 Ways to Flatter Without Being Obvious.
Where on earth did he even buy something like that?
When Tonel looked down at me, his eyes trembled faintly.
The smile he forced onto his face looked painfully awkward.
He was definitely plotting something.
The unnatural polite speech he’d started using with me recently, the way he kept trying to act like a good person on purpose—everything felt off.
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously and muttered, "I want to go out."
"Of course! You absolutely should. With weather this fine, staying cooped up in your room would be a waste. Hahaha!"
"…Could you call Sir Hansen and Sir Philo for me?"
"Wouldn't you rather take some other knights? I could assign newly transferred men with superior skills and better bloodlines…"
What kind of nonsense was he spouting? Bloodlines? What the hell is this aristocratic garbage?
"No!"
I shouted and glared at him with open displeasure.
It was strange. Even though he was clearly trying to be nice to me, it only made me dislike him more.
"Hansen and Philo!"
They were kind, which made them easy to deal with when I wanted to cause trouble!
Remali was a famous commercial city with a massive harbor.
Since it was the gateway for all kinds of imported goods heading into the empire of Elan, there were plenty of rare sights and exotic items you couldn't find anywhere else. But I headed straight for the Dunhel Jewelry Store without stopping.
Rai was acting as both intercom and navigation system.
I hurried in the direction his tail pointed.
Hansen and Philo scrambled after me, looking frantic.
I was conversing with Rai inside my head, but from the outside it probably looked like I was randomly turning right without warning or suddenly ducking into alleys, so the two of them kept almost losing me.
Remali was a large, complicated city; it would be easy for someone to get lost.
Not that I would ever become a lost child, of course.
I bent down and slipped easily through the hole beneath the wall.
It was no problem for someone small like me, but it might have been difficult for grown men.
"Ack! Miss!"
"Please! Wait for us!"
Just as expected, the two knights got stuck in the hole and called out desperately, but I didn't care.
"The middle alley?"
I could see the sign now too.
Dunhel Jewelry Store — Remali Branch
It was the same chain, but the scale was completely different from the tiny shop in that backwater town whose name I couldn't even remember.
I hadn't thought that one was shabby, but this place was on another level—bigger and far more magnificent. It looked like they'd moved the spirit stone to a larger branch because it hadn't been selling in that small town.
"Shall we head in, then?"
"What are you, some kind of pervert?!"
Don't pant like that while clinging to my waist!
To Rai's eyes, a jewelry store must look like a fish market to a cat.
I frowned for a moment, then pushed open the glass door of the Dunhel Jewelry Store without wasting any more time.
The interior was packed with jewels displayed in every direction.
There were this many jewels in the world?
Rai had a powerful appetite.
His desire to absorb metal was a bit different from regular gluttony, but since he described it as eating, it amounted to roughly the same thing.
I ignored Rai as he begged to eat something and scanned the store for the spirit stone. A heavily armed man who looked like security started walking briskly toward me. A skinny male employee wearing a bow tie followed him.
"Hey! Kid, you can't just walk in here."
"Little girl, this place is…"
"Miss!"
"Miss!"
The employees who had been about to stop me spotted Hansen and Philo rushing in after me and immediately changed their tune.
"Welcome!"
"Please, right this way, honored guest."
They must have assumed I was a noble lady out for a stroll once they saw the knights chasing after me.
It wasn't exactly a wrong guess. In any case, Hansen and Philo had proven useful.
"What are you looking for today? Lovely young lady, there is nothing the Dunhel Jewelry Store does not carry."
That did seem to be true. After all, they even had spirit stones.
Finding a single spirit stone among all these jewels was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
With more people around, Rai hid inside my clothes and only poked his head out between my sleeve and wrist.
He narrowed his eyes and slowly swept his gaze across the room, then jerked his chin toward one exact spot.
The spirit stone had been caught by his radar in an instant.