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Separating Ciel’s hand from mine while making sure not to wake her up, I gently rest it on top of her chest. I was thinking that it might be a bit cold tonight, but then I remembered that it shouldn’t be an issue with the barrier on. I only have a short time left in this form but there’s someone I have to speak to before I lose this body of mine.

Talking while being next to the sleeping Ciel isn’t really a good move, so I guess I’ll head to the balcony for now.

Thinking so, I exited the room and saw Mohsa right outside the door.

「Is there a problem?」
「No, I was simply waiting for you, Miss Ainsel.」

As I asked so, she courteously lowered her head. What does she mean by “waiting for me”? Mohsa said that she’s in charge of assisting me, so I guess it’s related to that? Still, there was no assurance that I’ll go outside at this time. Rather, wouldn’t it be normal to assume that I’d be asleep together with Ciel?

Or so I thought, but there’s one individual that can at least read my movements.

「Was it Mistress Fiiyanamia?」
「Yes. I was informed that you likely will go outside tonight.」
「I’d like to go to the balcony, but will that be alright?」
「Of course. Preparations will be done after we arrive.」

What do you mean by “preparations”? Or so I wondered, but I decided to leave this to her. I’m not used to ordering people around, after all.

◇

It is an unspoken rule among nobles to ignore maids and servants and continue talking as if they are not present. In essence, they are treated no differently than stagehands in theaters. And they’ve also been trained to absolutely not speak about whatever they overhear. If they do, they’re dismissed. The employer is naturally higher in social status than the employed servants, so finding new employment after being dismissed won’t be easy with possible obstructions. If rumors about what the servant did spread, they’ll never find a new workplace.

It’s already bad enough, but there’s even a possibility that their family would be endangered as well. Being employed by someone with influence that great, the one who has betrayed their trust is in the wrong. This might seem high-handed back on earth, but it looks like it’s normal in this world.

Though, if I’m being honest, I’ve thought that this was a world unrelated to us.

「Mohsa, why are you working as a maid?」

That’s why I asked out of curiosity. I don’t know the specifics, but in this world where many nobles of lower standing attend those of higher status, being employed by Fiiyanamia would mean that she should be of high social status. At the very least, she’s likely not from a family that should lower their head to some doubtful, unknown strangers like us.

Based on bloodlines, we’re of a duke’s family so everyone else outside of royalty should be either equal or lower in standing, but currently we don’t have that social status. Or rather, when we were sold, our existence should have been practically erased.

「Everyone working in this mansion was taken in by Mistress Fiiyanamia.」
「Taken in?」
「Some were shunned by their noble family for being the child of the previous wife, some nearly banished from false charges, and some simply had been abandoned to reduce the number of mouths to feed. Mistress Fiiyanamia employs people that have lost their place for whatever reason on a whim.」
「I see.」

Rather than on a whim, I think it is more likely based on Fiiyanamia’s personal preferences. While she is a kind person, she only chooses to extend her kindness to certain individuals. Additionally, she may have hired people who have nowhere else to go in order to minimize the risk of betrayal.

Regardless, if there are people who are saved from this, then I think that’s fine.

Being accepted by Fiiyanamia, I don’t have any intention to find faults with that, rather, I want to follow this stance of hers as well. After all, while I don’t intend to get too involved, since we’re living in this world, having relationships with other people to some extent would be necessary.

As this happened, we arrived at the balcony. The table and chairs that were used when we had tea are still there and as I sat down, Mohsa said 「I shall prepare the tea.」 before leaving for someplace.

「Forest spirit. You’re there, right?」

Their presence is that of nature itself. Because of that, detecting them is nearly impossible. Nonetheless, I somehow felt that she came along with me, so I tried calling out for her.

「Y~up. I’m here. First time talking to you like this~, Ainsel.」

Just as I heard a slightly laxed, gentle voice, the forest spirit suddenly descended on top of the table. I see, so she was up then. Standing on top of the table, as expected, she’s now taller than my head. On the other hand, if she sits on the chair, the table will cover her. What a predicament.

「Glad to hear from you. Are you fine with me calling you forest spirit?」
「Let’s see~. I do have the name Liessyl~ but I don’t mind if you call me with something simpler~. Say, how about Lisyl~?」
「Then, Lisyl. Thank you very much for today.」

The forest spirit, now Lisyl, flashed a gentle smile before sitting on top of my lap. As expected, she can properly sit down today.

「So you can touch me as I am right now.」
「After all~, we can also talk like this too~」

I’m 100% deified during this god trial period, so I suspected that talking and coming in contact with her should be possible and it seems like I was right. The forest spirit —Lisyl— has always been there for us and there’s no telling when I’ll be able to talk to her again, so I wanted to take this opportunity to speak with her.

「The song earlier this morning was from you, right? Lisyl.」
「That’s right~. Watching you two, I just couldn’t help myself. Although I was pretty shocked when you immediately copied it~.」

While she says she’s shocked, she doesn’t really sound that surprised. And even based on her expressions, she just looks like she’s enjoying herself.

「The fact that we didn’t see the other spirits today was also you’re doing, right?」
「Knowing what you two have been through~, it would’ve been inconsiderate~. Still, I ended up being a bit intrusive anyways~」
「That song was really beautiful, was that a spirit’s song?」
「That’s right~. Though, with that said, it’s just a song I enjoy singing by mimicking others~」
「There isn’t anything special about it?」

Just the fact that it’s a “spirit’s song” sounds like it’s somehow amazing in of itself though. Seeing Lisyl contemplating, with her head tilted and her palm on her cheek, I guess I might be overthinking it.

「It’s a song that a spirit likes to sing, so it’s not really anything special~ but in the sense that a spirit sang it, that might make it special~. At the very least, people normally can’t sing it~.」
「After all, they can’t hear the song to begin with.」
「Hmm~, that’s not what I mean~ but, well, no need to think about that~.」

I’m super curious. Still, if she won’t talk about it, then it can’t be helped. I do think she would tell us if it’s bad news, so I guess there’s no need to worry in that regard.

On top of my lap, Lisyl looks up to the sky. Following her, I look up to the sky and see a blanket of twinkling stars. Amidst this celestial beauty, the two moons, one silver and one gold, stand out prominently.

It’s just like when I looked at the sky with Ciel before. However, right now, Ciel is somewhere a bit farther away. This alone doesn’t sound like anything special, but this might be the first time I’ve gotten this far away from her ever since I came to this world. Reaching this point took more than 10 years, it was by no means a short amount of time. Even if I start counting from when I was able to communicate with Ciel, it would still be 5 years.

「Ainsel, do you like this world~?」

Hearing her suddenly say so, I had no idea how I should reply. It wasn’t all just good things for me when I came into this world. Rather, it was a daily struggle. I didn’t have the leeway to look at what’s around me.

Still, at every important opportunity I could consciously have a look, the sights in this world weren’t bad at all. Why? It’s because Ciel was there. In that case, do I like this world?

The blue sky I haven’t seen in a while, the night sky where the silver and gold moons rest upon, the blue sea where the spirits frolicked about.

「Honestly speaking, I don’t know. I haven’t given attention to this world enough to have an answer.」
「I see~. Then that’s a relief~.」
「A… relief?」
「It’s a relief that you don’t hate it~.」

Lisyl held my hand. Her face had genuine happiness, I couldn’t figure out why she had that expression. Perhaps understanding this, Lisyl spoke with more context.

「I was thinking that, while Ainsel hating the world would be sad, it can’t be helped~. You’ve suffered through enough to feel that way, right?」
「Now that you mentioned it, that might be the case.」

Normally, it probably wouldn’t be strange for anyone, or rather anyone in their right mind, to curse the world while staying at Rispelgia’s mansion. Just after being sent to this world, my life is being targeted everyday. Even I don’t know how I would’ve ended up if it wasn’t for Ciel being where I was sent to.

I suppose I would’ve been like a corpse, thinking about nothing at all. To begin with, I’m a being that already died once, so I had no intention to involve myself in this world too much.

「However, from now on, I want to pay more attention to this world.」
「Yes~. I’ll do my best to have you come to like it~.」

Seeing Lisyl with a wide smile, I realized something that made things click. She’s a spirit. A being that manages this world. From her standpoint, having me like the world might have greater meaning when compared to those already living in this world. Moreover, while only a little, I possess some of the Supreme God’s power. Enough for her to say that I’m something like a parent, so I think she doesn’t want me to hate it.

Regarding the people of Estoque, I didn’t have many social interactions with them. After all, being attached to Estoque and unable to leave would undermine our primary objective. However, in the future, it may be beneficial to loosen up a bit and engage in socializing with other individuals.

In the meantime, I suppose we’ll start with the servants of this mansion.

「Mohsa, you can come in.」
「Excuse me. Would it be better that I provide two teacups?」

Being asked that, I looked at Lisyl and she nodded. Can she drink tea? Or so I wondered, but since she nodded, she probably can.

「Please do.」
「Then please give me a moment.」

In an experienced motion, Mohsa placed two cups before me. Since she didn’t put it on the other side, can she see Lisyl?

「Mohsa, can you see spirits?」
「No, I can only somewhat feel their presence. The spirit on top of your lap appears to be exceedingly powerful. I cannot see her, but I clearly feel her presence.」

Anyhow, it seems like she didn’t think that I was a weird person just talking to empty air at midnight. Though, Fiiyanamia probably talks to spirits too sometimes, so it should be unlikely for me to be seen that way.

「Lisyl, can you drink?」
「Don’t worry about it~.」

The cup clearly doesn’t match her size, so I was wondering how she’ll drink from it but she made the cup float in the air and skillfully drank. I feel like I should be able to do it if I wanted to, but it seems like it needs rather delicate magic power manipulation or a fairly complicated magic circle.

Being someone who uses sorcery in place of a hair dryer, I don’t know if I have any right to say this but utilizing her power in such an extravagant manner seems rather indulgent.

Staring for too long would be impolite, so I took a sip of the tea as well. It wasn’t just any ordinary black tea, but had a honey-like sweetness and a fragrant hint of ginger that reached my nose. After taking this soothing sip and breathing out, a pleasant warmth spread from within me.

Mohsa had thoughtfully prepared this tea for me, knowing that I was dressed rather lightly for the chilly night. As a token of appreciation, I gave her a grateful smile and said, 「Thank you very much. This tea is delicious and has warmed me up.」

Hiya~! You thought the last chapter was the end of this arc? Think again! We’ve got a bit more of Ain and our very special spirit friend~!

First of all, I’ve changed the spelling of the name of the maid that’s assisting Ain (Martha => Mohsa). It’s more phonetically correct and identifiable this way. Secondly, for the pronunciation of Liessyl, it’s Lee-es/yes-syl. It should be easy to figure from her nickname Lisyl but clarifying it would be for the best. I’ll try to clarify as much as possible if there are more… *interesting* names in the future. Also, just a little thing I noticed, but a lot of Japanese nicknames are First syllable + Last syllable (or two), which is a bit interesting.

Now, before I start gushing again, we got reintroduced to a familiar friend, the forest spirit Liessyl~! It’s quite nice that Ain tried to find her before the day ended. We’ve also gotten a fair bit of info about the mansion and the servants living in it.

This chapter, we got a bit more of Ain introspecting, generally her being more upfront about how she never really appreciated the world outside of when Ciel’s appreciating it as well. One thing I like about Ain is that she’s a bit more relatable in some aspects (though I can’t say for sure since I haven’t read other novels in a while). Despite the fantasy world, she’s a bit too occupied to really appreciate it. She’s got her share of pessimism and cynicism towards people (which, honestly, is understandable after what she’s been through). The general overthinking that chips on her self-confidence. I think it’s something people experience in their life at least once. And what’s nice about this arc is how she’s moving on, little by little. The short remembrance of the beauty of the world she’s in, the appreciation of Mohsa’s small gesture of consideration, and her seeing more of what she’s done than what she’s failed to do. Life is a series of failures. No matter how capable you may be, mistakes and accidents happen. But sometimes, dwelling on them too much will only lead to more mistakes, which was quite close to happening this time. Still, it’s hard to be self-aware, but as much as possible, it’s best to see what you can do that what you failed to do. Tomorrow’s a new day. Ain won’t have a body anymore, but there’s are things to live for and goals to look forward to. Maybe socialise a bit more, make new friends, make the impossibly hard barrier a bit more harder, do some odd jobs to pass time and earn money, or just spend some time with love ones. The story goes on.

Also, it’ll probably be an interlude fest starting from now on. Of Ciel’s Pov of course~

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay clean, stay safe, and have a nice day~!