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Mira pressed the letter onto the spirit’s hand. 「This looks genuine」 she muttered after examining the signature and wax seal.

「Please wait a moment.」

She glanced at Mira saying that, then her figure blurred like a vanishing mist disappearing from there, leaving only a refreshing scent behind.

At least half the spirits there had been rescued by the Fifty Bells Union after being attacked by Chimera Clauzen. After those heartless attacks, they concealed their usual friendly behavior and became more doubtful. Still, it was hard to actually change their true nature in such a short timespan.

Once they had no reason to believe Mira held ill will against them, the spirits looked at her with much curiosity.

But because of their past scars, they still kept their distance, only looking from far away.

Around ten minutes after the green haired spirit vanished, a large bird with scarlet wings descended from the sky. After a closer look, Mira saw there was a woman wearing traditional clothes, being carried by the bird’s legs. When the woman’s feet touched the ground, the bird appeared to be engulfed in flames before vanishing as smoke. All that was left, was a charm in the hand of the woman.

「What’s the meaning of this? What’s happening?」

The woman asked the green haired spirit that had returned at the same time. 「I have no idea」 she replied, unable to grasp the situation herself.

The lake’s shore had turned into a concert hall, the music and singing brought by Leticia, Mira was the host, while the audience consisted of the spirits and animals of the forest.

When Mira saw how the spirits’ wariness was not dispelled yet, as they refused to move closer even though someone they were deeply curious about was standing there, she thought about ways to better the situation. The way it was, the heavy atmosphere felt like mud covering the otherwise marvelous scene with a brilliant blue sky.

That was how Mira figured that if humans were not welcomed, maybe a fellow spirit would be able to establish a better relationship.

As a result, things ended up this way. That invisible wall between them had been crossed as Leticia’s quirky ‘Song for Master’ filled the space, the beats of the song seemingly synchronizing with the heartbeats of those present.

Meanwhile Mira had successfully gained a harem of spirits around her.

The woman in traditional clothing slipped the charm inside her pocket as she pushed her way through the crowd of spirits until she was facing the silver haired girl leaning against a wagon.

「So you’re Mira, I assume. I’ve been told about you, could you show me the medal as proof first though?」
「Sure… this is it.」

Mira replied and handed her the medal. The woman inspected both sides before returning it to Mira while thanking her.

「That’s proof enough. Let me introduce myself, I’m the lance corporal patrolling the Forest of the Four Seasons, Acadry.」
「I’m Mira.」

The woman called herself Acadry. Her clothes were mostly green in color, and after closer inspection it seemed to lack the amount of layers of a regular kimono and looked more like a ninja suit with long sleeves. Her long black hair tied together at the back of her head increased that impression.

「I heard the rough outline of things from General Silver. I think it’s best if you meet our superior to talk in more detail.」
「Ohh, that’s a suggestion I wouldn’t even dare ask for. I’ll gratefully take you up on that.」

Mira’s first goal there had been to find out if Nyanmaru’s master was part of the Union, but after this turn of events it seemed that delivering Solomon’s letter to the high-ups of the Union would come first now that she had been offered an effortless meeting with the leaders, so she immediately agreed to it.

「Err, then…」

Acadry turned to look at Leticia, who had been singing that song she never could before in an endless loop.

She turned to bid farewell to the audience of spirits, who cheered by using their powers to create something akin to fireworks, like any spirit would, and was sent away with a satisfied and pleased look.

「Shall we get going then?」

When Acadry asked Mira that, the gathered spirits just said 「Bye bye.」 to her and dispersed inside the forest.

The spirits smiled in a wondrous and charming way, as if they had recovered from those deep, hard to heal wounds inflicted by humans that always cast a shadow on their smiles; just as kind as they used to be. A true smile from a spirit which Acadry had wished to see again.

Thinking about that wish again, Acadry turned her face to the lake and smiled to no one in particular.

「By the way, is it alright if I leave this wagon here?」

After bidding farewell to the spirits, Mira asked as she gently hit the wagon standing majestically on the lake’s shore.

「Hm? Ah, sure. No problem. Either way, let’s get going.」

Acadry nodded a bit more energetically than needed, she was still thinking it was unusual for someone to have such an impact in the spirits’ mood. But she also felt invigorating seeing that her wish could eventually become true, so she guided Mira along the lake’s shore towards the headquarters’ entrance.

They walked for a couple of minutes before Acadry stopped, still on the lake’s shore. The wagon was still visible to their right.

「Wait a moment.」

Saying so, Acadry took out a crystal bell from somewhere and made it ring towards the lake. It produced a clear sound like glass, which vanished into the wind without echoing, but the effect it had was quite impressive.

From the shore, a line stretched towards the center of the lake. It looked like a straight line formed by two small waves colliding. As soon as that line receded back on the lake’s surface, the water seemed to break apart as if a giant invisible board had been inserted into it.

Mira let out a small sound of wonder seeing that, realizing that even something like the story of Moses she had heard once was fully possible in this world after witnessing that scene.

「Follow me. It’s a bit hard to see, but there’s steps here so mind your feet.」
「Alright, got it.」

The scene in front of Mira could be described as water kept flowing on both sides, like an endless waterfall, or a curtain moving in the wind. The stair was of a translucent blue that seemed to melt into the water, and there were many drops splashing around as well, which fell like rain.

As they went down the stairs, the drops in the air turned from blue into a form of white spray, and after going down for around three minutes, the sound around them became louder like the roaring of a strong current.

When they reached the end of the stairs, a small gate greeted them.

(Did we go all the way down to the bottom of the lake?)

Mira peeked out the border of the stairs, to see the waterfall continuing to fall below them. The bottom of the lake was still ways down, covered by a shallow basin that through some means kept receiving the endless waterfall without overflowing.

The gate was only halfway down the lake, like it was suspended there.

Acadry brought the crystal bell against the gate, then pushed on it with her palm. The gate opened with a low, heavy and metallic sound, and Mira was led inside.

Mira saw a small city past the gate.
The city looked like an ancient Japanese city, the houses were compact and resembled the style used in Kyoto during the Heian period. But the inhabitants looked foreign, spirits with colorful hair and clothing wandering around, which quickly broke that first impression.

(This is quite an odd sight.)

The entrance was located on a tall place, like a lookout platform, and Mira was able to look at the entire city at a glance. Doing so, certain stone columns struck her as being strangely out of place, they were placed at regular intervals all over the terraformed city, going up as if trying to pierce something in the sky. There were a dozen pillars, their height taller than the gate’s location, and glancing up at them one could see the water covering the city which served as its sky.

The sun shone from further away than the lake’s surface, blurring through the thick wall of water and reaching the city like a gentle drizzle of light. Looking at the ground, one could see a projection of the waves above that morphed and twisted like a willful kaleidoscope.

Acadry then guided her down a spiral staircase that went down to the city.
They headed towards the largest building in the city, Acadry giving brief explanations of every landmark they passed by. The people they passed by included other members of the Fifty Bells Union, other helpers, as well as spirits kept safe there. Juvenile spirits were especially weak, so they were heavily guarded.

That much was clearly obvious, given that no matter where Mira looked, she would always see young spirits that appeared to be almost naked. It was a sight that was almost damaging to her morality.

The helpers were mostly technical workers. Working together with spirits would improve the quality of one’s work, so this city was also rather popular with craftsmen.