The rain continued to shower over the fresh crop fields, turning the once-dry soil muddy. The sight of the rainwater showering over the crops was an extremely weird sight for someone like me who came from another world. After all the rainwater only fell over the crops, the rest of the village was beneath a clear blue sky.
"Well, our work here is done; we shall take our leave now."
I uttered quietly, though everyone was able to hear my words perfectly.
"Hm, you're leaving already? You have helped our village out so much. Please allow us to show our gratitude."
The village chief said, lowering his head. Seeing this, my face became troubled on how to respond, so I looked towards Alya, who was standing elegantly beside me. Feeling my gaze, she made eye contact with me, and her mouth was upturned into a lovely smile.
"Well, it wouldn't do any harm to stay for a while longer, you know, I also wanted to change my clothes. It would be an embarrassment to travel in this rugged clothing after all."
Alya responded while lightly shrugging her shoulders. Nikita walked back towards us after completing the request I gave her; she also voiced her own opinion as she came to a stop.
"I also do not object. If the master wants to stay here, then I shall oblige with the utmost care."
Nikita chimed in. Hmmm? What did she just call me? I cocked my head, confused by being called by the new name as 'Master', since when was it decided that I would be her master? I only wanted us to be companions.
"Fufufu.... someone seems to have mellowed down a bit, to think a stuck-up woman like you would actually call someone 'Master', could it be you have fallen for my 'Haruto'?"
Alya said, squinting her emerald eyes at Nikita, who seemed to be acting differently. Towards such a questioning gaze, Nikita tilted her head while elegantly placing her finger at her pink lips.
"Well, if I'm to follow his orders, I might as well acknowledge him as my master."
Nikita replied somewhat embarrassedly.
"Haha... Haruto, I didn't know you wanted to start your own harem. What an unfaithful man you are. Sigh, at this point I can't take my eyes off you, can I?"
"That's a false accusation. You know. I never said anything about having a harem!"
I retorted to her claims. Seeing that Alice, who was observing our conversation from the side, chimed in with her own thoughts.
"Now that you mention it, it seems there are a lot of girls here who have witnessed your fight with the adventurers the other day; they have been talking about you in a good light all morning."
Alice said, as though dumping oil onto the fire. My brow convulses from the two pairs of emerald and crimson eyes which were gazing at me somewhat reproachfully.
"Cough, you'll catch a cold standing here all day. Why don't you rest up for a while?"
The village chief sensed the tense atmosphere and made a suggestion. Hearing that, I had the urge to give him a thumbs-up. With that settled, we once again made our way towards the cabin we were staying at.
***
I slumped down onto the sofa and closed my eyes in meditation, though the sounds of Alya and Nikita arguing sounded inside my ear.
"Tch, look at my new dress, because of your careless aiming, my miniskirt is ripped to pieces."
"You're the one who wasn't fast enough to avoid them, don't blame me for your own incompetence."
Nikita replied in a flat tone.
"Incompetence, you say. Says the girl who had to run away from home."
Alya's words hit mercilessly. Hearing that a vein bulged on Nikita's temple as she glared back at Alya, who was watching her with a condescending eye.
My brow furrowed as I got to my feet and headed towards the door, but-
"Wait! Where are you going?"
Alya inquired curiously. I turned my head slightly, meeting eyes with Alya from the corner of my eye.
"Just going for a walk, I'll be back after I clear my head."
I replied, turning my back. I don't think I can stay here and listen to them arguing anymore.
The door opened with a soft 'creaking' sound. I then made my way outside and closed the door behind me. A soft breeze caresses my cheeks as I use my right hand to block the light of the sun glittering from above. I then made my way towards the centre of the village. Many villagers were there carrying out their regular duties. I can feel many gazes on me while I was walking by, so I chose to ignore them.
"H-Hey, mister."
"Hm?"
I turned my head to look behind me and saw a small boy who seemed to be 10 years old standing there. He has slightly long, brown-coloured hair and was dressed in rugged clothing. While observing his features, I squinted my eyes, wondering if we had met somewhere before when... this kid, isn't he the kid from back then, when I was fighting Gael, he's the kid I managed to save back then...
"He-Hello there, you seem to be doing well."
I said somewhat awkwardly. Back then, I didn't catch his name; well, it wasn't a situation where I could leisurely ask for his name anyway.
"Th-Thank you."
The boy said, lowering his head. Hmm? While I was thinking of what to say, the boy suddenly bowed to me, lowering his head with great vigour, seeing that I widened my eyes. Having a kid bow to me doesn't feel right.
"No. It's okay, you know, you don't have to do that, your mother had already thanked me, remember."
I said while being mindful of the surroundings. I was already receiving a lot of attention, but now nearly all passersby were gazing at me curiously. Sigh, I really don't like receiving this much attention.
"Cough, please don't worry about it, what I did was only natural after all.... anyone could probably do the same."
I replied, waving my hands in a gesture for him to stop. The boy raised his head somewhat shyly. I then patted his head with a faint smile. Before turning my back and promptly left that place before I could attract any more unwanted attention.
***
I stopped before a small Meadow of flowers on the outskirts of the village. I sat down beneath a tree using the many branches as a means to block the hot sun. The atmosphere was peaceful, and the gentle breeze carried the scent of flowers as it blew through my nose. I slowly closed my eyes and once again began meditation.
Blackness, all I could see was complete darkness; this was the space inside my mind. It was a special place that everyone had inside their body that was only accessible to them, the spiritual place that was like the core of their own body. As I ran my gaze over my surroundings, I narrowed my eyes, trying to perceive the vicinity... but my vision was drowned out by the dense darkness before me. However, amidst such a dark space, there were various small orbs quietly floating around in a circular motion. Red, blue, green, brown, white, black.
Those were the foundations for all living beings who can use magic in this world. The red orb symbolises the goddess of fire, while the blue orb symbolises the goddess of water. The green orb, which seems to be my most powerful orb, symbolises the goddess of wind; the brown orb symbolises the goddess of earth. For one to use any of the four elements of nature, they would have to have at least one of these orbs inside their body.
As for the white and black orbs, they were special orbs that only a few individuals are born with. The black orb symbolises the element of darkness, allowing users to use dark magic. This was an element the demon race usually used. The white orb symbolises the element of light, the counterpart of dark magic. It was suspected that this type of magic was created to counter dark magic users in the past.
For some reason, I am compatible with all elements, which is a rare case, as having two or three elements is considered abnormal. So, in my case, it could be described as 'Illogical' in a sense. However, there is one more thing that greatly confused me. I turned my gaze towards the middle of the six orbs floating around in circular motion. There was another orb there in the middle.
It was a much bigger orb when compared with the other six orbs. It was a gold mix with blue. It continued hovering in the space as it would release electric sparks occasionally.
"I never heard anything about this in any of the textbooks I have read so far."
I thought, sighing, I tried to stretch out my right hand towards the orb; however, it continued hovering silently, seeing that I continued reaching out my hand slowly until it was just a few millimetres away from making contact with the orb, but... At that moment, the golden orb glowed brightly, and a terrifying amount of heat grazed my hand.
"Ahh!!"
I abruptly opened my eyes while gazing at my right hand, from my palm to my fingers, they were completely black as though badly burned. Beads of sweat trickled down my brow, seeing that.
"Sigh, I guess messing with that thing is a bad idea."
"I think I should inform Alya about this..."
I muttered to myself before making my way back to Alya and Nikita when-
"Haruto."
I heard a familiar voice from behind me. Turning my head back, I saw a girl with long, pink-coloured hair and bright pink eyes standing there.