Chapter 1[แก้ไข]
Part 1[แก้ไข]
---[Underwood] Foot of the Mountain, Reception area for the Harvest Festival
Shiroyasha only let Kuro Usagi go after keeping her for three more days.
The Sun slowly sank in the western horizon and the view of the Great Tree City would soon be swallowed up by the color of night.
At this point in time, Kuro Usagi faced her back to the sunset as she took a breather and stretched herself.
"Hu……. Freedom at last."
Her rabbit ears perked up in alertness before flopping down lifelessly. Since the moment Shiroyasha showed up to drag her along for the journey, Kuro Usagi had already mentally prepared herself, but she hadn't expected the reason for the kidnap to be so random.
[Forget it…… Shiroyasha-sama may be trying to cover something up when she used that kind of joke as a perfunctory reason.]
Being in the position of a [Floor Master], she wouldn't be able to tell her secrets that easily.
……Maybe it's just me who cannot accept the fact that I was used as a decoration. No, no, no, how can that be….
Either way, Shiroyasha seemed to have achieved her aim.
Shiroyasha kept muttering about wanting her to wear the transparent tight one piece dress till the very end and Kuro Usagi who managed to escape, albeit with much trouble, from the grasp of that demon can finally take a breather.
Arriving at the reception area for the Harvest Festival, Kuro Usagi ran into the dryad Kirino.
"I'm Kuro Usagi of [No Name]. Could I trouble you to show me the way to the guest rooms?"
"Your registry is accepted…… Oh, but the members of [No Name] aren't in their rooms now."
Kuro Usagi cocked her head in puzzlement. Kirino handed over to Kuro Usagi a map of the Harvest Festival grounds and the event timelines that were all drawn on goatskin parchments.
"From what I know----- Sakamaki Izayoi-sama is reading in the underground library. Kudou Asuka-sama and Kasukabe Yō-sama are participating in the hunting event. Jin Russel-sama has brought his companions to meet up with the representative of [Six Scars]. Lily-chan…..Erhm…. Lily-sama and the senior group have gone to help out with the preparations for the opening event."
"Wow, everyone is so dispersed throughout the city."
Scratching her ears, Kuro Usagi gazed up at the Great Tree of [Underwood].
"Let's make it simple then. I will go look for Izayoi-san. Which is the route I should take to reach him?"
"Nn…. There's only one way to get there, through the waterway, and you would need someone to ferry you. But with the preparations for the festival underway, we currently do not have the people to spare----"
"Oh if it is like this, then may I do it?"
"Eh?" Kuro Usagi and Kirino both turned their heads to look at the other end of the Reception area. The man that walked into the Reception area was of a tall stature, thin and long eyes with a lone eye patch across one of them. Not only was his smile very suspicious, as with his way of speech that seemed to be Kansai dialect but at the same time seemingly not.
"Kouryuu-sama[1] …. Is this okay? You're the VIP guest of [Draco Greif] and needn't trouble yourself."
"It's fine, it's fine. No worries. We can help each other out since you guys are shorthanded."
The man who walked into the Reception area patted Kirino's head lightly.
Kuro Usagi tilted her head.
[Hmmm…… This person…..]
---Strong. Even though the person wasn't showing any aggression towards them, Kuro Usagi's instincts had reflexively responded by placing her in high alert.
His attitude was casual and chic, but his brisk footsteps and posture when standing didn't leave any weakness to be exploited. Evidently, he was mentally prepared to do battle at any given moment. At a glance, those firm muscles packed within his body would have told of unimaginable years of training.
As for the most obvious thing that felt amiss------ was the fact that he lacked the Domineering aura that would usually surround such figures.
[If he's hiding it in out of consideration for Kirino-san, it would be fairly impressive. For someone with such natural movements to be repressing his Aura to this extent is definitely a rare sight.]
Prowess obtained from adhering to a strict regime of training tends to surround a person in the form of a Domineering Aura. Just from the regal airs given off from this person, it should have overwhelmed the female dryad with awe and fear without having to move an inch.
However this man before them------ Kouryuu has completely hidden his Domineering Aura.
"Hello, we meet for the first time, Miss [Highborn of Little Garden]. My name is Kouryuu and I'm just one who wanders around Little Garden. I have no surname so I'm fine with any way that you call me by." He said while walking up to Kuro Usagi maintaining his hearty smile that looked suspicious on his face, before bowing.
Even though everything about this man made him look dubious,…….not a trace of ill will was felt from him. Only then did Kuro Usagi decide to trust this man.
"YES, Please take care of me!"
"Haha, really energetic. Then, let's go find the underground waterways."
Having left the reception area together, they boarded one of the gondolas that would go to the underground library.[2]
The gondola was a necessity since one would need to cross the waterway to reach the hollow that was a gap between the roots of the Great [Underwood] tree, on the other bank. Though it wasn't impossible to swim across, it was still out of personal safety since one might just swim off the edge of the waterfall at the end of the waterway and fall all the way down.
Finally, the gondola reached the bank. Ventilation here was poor and within the river nearby, the air was saturated with moisture. And that made the site the worst possible place for a library.
"Wh, Why would a library be built in this kind of place?"
"About this, I had similar doubts when I first saw it too. Anyway, let's go in first." Under Kouryuu's urging, Kuro Usagi reached out to the big doors.
Pushing open the doors of the Library, a blast of hot dry air hit them as it rushed out from within.
(Wow…..) Dry air brushed pass her face. Kuro Usagi absentmindedly took a large breath of the dry air into her lungs and started to cough. Hurriedly, she closed the doors behind her.
"So….So that's how it works. The roots of the Water Tree absorbs the moisture from the air and creates a natural drying chamber."
"Yes that is how it is. I will wait on the gondola, go quickly and find your friend." Kouryuu waved his hand while lighting his pipe.
Kuro Usagi walked briskly, deeper into the library, looking for Izayoi. She noted that the environment was quite stifling and would be detrimental for one's health if one stayed in here for a long duration. With that in mind, she swore to herself to bring Izayoi away with her as fast as she could. Scanning the shadows of the ancient book shelves, she finally made her way to the centre of the library.
Upon seeing the flickering shadow of a person that was casted by the light of a gasoline lamp, Kuro Usagi called out:
"….Izayoi-san?"
"Eh? Oh! It's Kuro Usagi." Izayoi who seemed to be so engrossed, with his face buried within the pages of the book, didn't seem to notice Kuro Usagi's approaching. Though his voice sounded surprised, Kuro Usagi was more surprised than him.
The reason was due to the accessory that she had never seen him wear on his face before------
"Wh, What's this? Tha….. That pair of spectacles."
"Jack sold this to me. Setting aside the dry air conditions, this place is quite dark. According to him, the glass of these spectacles can adjust the refractive index of light and enable night vision."
Saying so, he pushed to readjust the spectacles on his nose.
The glasses with a thin outer frame gave Izayoi a learned look. When placed together with the knowledgeable Izayoi, this kind of appearance suited him more than his usual look.