Binary Soul

> Ellie PoV <

“All right… here I go!” (Kira)

“You can do it, Kira!” (Ellie)

“-------------- [Null Gravity]” (Kira

A transparent bubble expands rapidly out of Kira’s staff.

It passes through me and balloons out to a 10 meter radius!

I feel my feet leave the ground!

“Wha- Eep! This is a bit scary!” (Kira)

“Kira! You did it!” (Ellie)

Kira just created a brand new spell!

A spell that didn’t exist before!

“Wah! I’m floating! Ellieee!” (Kira)

I use my [Telekinesis] to gently guide her closer to me.

“Ah! Oh, it’s you, right? Thanks for that, I panicked for a moment there...” (Kira)

“But Kira! To think you actually created new magic! Isn’t that amazing!?” (Ellie)

“Huhuhu! That’s right, I’m pretty amazing, aren’t I?” (Kira)

“Yeah! This is great!” (Ellie)

I spin myself around slightly!

I always found Zero-G to be super fun!

It’s also really effective in combat.

Whenever I had to board a ship, Nano would turn off the artificial gravity after gaining access to their system.

No matter how well trained they are, nobody is truly prepared for Zero-G that comes out of nowhere.

And if you’re caught unprepared, the only thing left for you is to float until you hit a wall.

It’s a great distraction for getting in close and taking out enemy combatants!

“But Kira, how did you know this sensation?” (Ellie)

From Kira’s lectures, I remember that a big part of magic is the mental image.

If you know the ‘feeling’ of the effect you want to produce, you can shape it into magic.

Saying the name of the spell helps reinforce that mental image as well.

It is possible to do the so-called ‘chantless’ casting, but the power manifested is only about a tenth of the normal spell.

While silent casting has definite advantages, the loss of power makes it too weak for it be useful.

“Well, I remembered back in Runetap, when I saw Ellie and Nano cr- I mean, land. There was a brief moment where me and everything else around me floated in a weird manner.” (Kira)

“Wow! To think you actually turned that into a positive experience!” (Ellie)

“Don’t be silly Ellie. Of course it was a good thing. It’s what led me to you, isn’t it?” (Kira)

Kira smiles while floating upside down.

The way Kira’s red hair spreads out like tendrils is really mysterious…

“I’m not sure how useful this will be though.” (Kira)

{There are plenty of uses for a Zero-G field like this. Although none of them really apply to our little household.}

“I see… Well, the spell needs to be refined anyway.” (Kira)

“Refined?” (Ellie)

“Yeah. I need to straighten out the mental image and fix the mana distribution. The way the enchantment spreads through the air like this is acceptable, but maybe applying it to an object rather than a mana-field would be better. There’s also the issue of whether it would work better as an active or passive spell. The Archmage would probably help with the Lumbor coefficient that Gravity magic like this- Huh?” (Kira)

The Zero-G field suddenly disappeared and Kira was upside down!

“Oof!” (Kira)

“Kira, are you okay?!” (Ellie)

Kira fell on one shoulder and rolled across the grass safely!

“I’m fine. That just startled me.” (Kira)

Still, to recover so smoothly from that sudden shift in gravity...

As expected - Kiramazing.

Hmm? Me?

I just twisted my body and landed on all fours without much hastle.

“Kira! Do it again! I want to pl- I mean. I should teach you how to move around properly!” (Ellie)

It’s not playing, okay?

It’s serious training and preparation.

“Alright, why not? I need to get better at this if I’m to show it off!” (Kira)

{Speaking of which, are you sure it’s okay to do it tomorrow, Kira?}

“Huh? Why wouldn’t it?” (Kira)

{It’s barely been two weeks. Isn’t this too soon?}

“It’s fine. Ellie’s a really good listener after all. I’m sure it’ll be a really good experience for everyone involved!” (Kira)

* * *

We’ve been traveling for 3 hours now.

Leaving before dawn was a good idea.

Now we’ll have plenty of time to finish our errands once we get there!

Making our way on foot like this is slow, but it can’t be helped.

We’re carrying too much luggage to fly or run after all.

“Kira, you think this will be fine?” (Ellie)

“Of course! Ellie is diligent and honest, you’ll fit right in!” (Kira)

Kira declared the cultural lessons over yesterday night.

We went over a lot of things in these two weeks.

It’s not everything, but I should be able to get around without getting lost.

Well, Kira will be doing most of the talking anyway.

I just have to, as Kira put it, ’sit there and look pretty.’

Hehehe, she called me pretty!

It makes me happy.

I feel pretty too.

We ran into Picorio and the Short Baldy a few times with Nano’s help.

Since we killed so many monsters, we traded some of our spoils with Picorio.

We got some of his soaps and shampoos.

Kira was right, they really smell fantastic!

At first it was a bit overwhelming though.

I couldn’t pick out Kira’s unique scent among the flowery fragrances.

But I got used to it now, so there’s no problem!

That Picorio, he’s actually a decent person.

Kira doesn’t think of him as a friend though, just an acquaintance.

Hopefully Kira and me will be able to make some friends in the city of Runetap.

If one friend can make me this happy, then having more of them would be-

Huh…

Somehow, the idea of getting more friends like Kira feels wrong.

That can’t be though, right?

Ah, I’m probably just uneasy.

“Say Ellie. Are you sure you’re okay?” (Kira)

Ack!

I was seen through immediately!

As expected of Kira!

“I’m a little nervous. I’m not… good with strangers.” (Ellie)

“It’s okay, just stick with me and everything will be fine.” (Kira)

“Okay!” (Ellie)

If Kira takes care of it, then it will all work out for sure, right?!

Yep, seems logical.

“But what about your head?” (Kira)

“Hm?” (Ellie)

“Won’t it hurt from too much [Star Magic]? I lost it completely when it happened to me…” (Kira)

“It’s fine. I’m used to it so I can deal with it.” (Ellie)

It’s important to just let the unimportant thoughts wash over you like a light rain.

If you try to force them out like Kira, your head will hurt.

“...” (Kira)

Kira is looking at me with a difficult face.

“There’s something else, isn’t there?” (Ellie)

“I said I have a bad reputation, right? I don’t want Ellie to hear those things.” (Kira)

“Huh? But all I have to do is break their arms until they stop, right?” (Ellie)

“No, that’s exactly what I don’t want to happen! Please don’t break any arms!” (Kira)

“Okay. Legs it is.” (Ellie)

“That’s not the issue! Actually no, that’s an entirely different issue…” (Kira)

Kira sighs deeply with a tired expression.

Maybe Kira’s not feeling well?

“Look, I’m happy you want to defend me-” (Kira)

“Ehehehe.” (Ellie)

“-but doing that sort of thing is bad. It will look like you attacked them unprovoked, you’ll just get branded a criminal and get chased out of the city!” (Kira)

I see, Kira is worried I’ll cause too much of a disturbance and hurt a lot of people.

Even though it’s their own fault for being rude.

“As long as it’s only thoughts and words, please do your best to ignore them.” (Kira)

“... ignoring all that would be difficult though.” (Ellie)

“That’s why I want you to promise me not to use [Star Magic] unless someone threatens us directly. You’re still too impulsive…” (Kira)

“Uuuu, I don’t like it, but if Kira says so, then I promise.” (Ellie)

Kira lets out another sigh.

I guess Kira really isn’t feeling too great.

“Say, how come you don’t mind mind it at home? I mean, you can’t hear my thoughts, right?” (Kira)

Kira touches the earpiece on her ear.

“That’s because I trust Kira. You’re pretty amazing and amazingly pretty!” (Ellie)

“D-D-Don’t suddenly blurt things out like that! It’s embarrassing!” (Kira)

Kira protests with a red face.

But, Kira, you still looks a little happy.

“Ah! Look Ellie, we’re out of the forest!” (Kira)

“Hmm? OH! Is that it?!” (Ellie)

The thick forest suddenly gave way to a vast plain.

A city surrounded by a massive circular stone wall on all sides!

“That’s right! That’s the city of Runetap!” (Kira)

To the city of Runetap!

Kira’s home!

I’m so excited!

And I just can’t hide it!

Wait…

“Kira… Why are there so many corpses around?” (Ellie)

It took me a while to notice, but there’s a whole lot of dead bodies around!

There must be hundreds!

“Hmm? Ah, monster invasion. Don’t worry about it, these happen all the time. The City Guard takes care of it though.” (Kira)

“O-Okay. Those seem like a lot, though...” (Ellie)

{156 orcs, 192 goblins, 75 trolls and 37 giant wolf corpses. These City Guard guys are impressive, huh?}

“They are but… that really is quite a lot! Usually they’re no more than a hundred monsters! Maybe a hundred and change!” (Kira)

{It doesn’t seem to have been all at once. Some of those corpses seem to have been here for a while, but some of them seem to be as recent as yesterday. Possibly this morning.}

“So it wasn’t a massive attack, but rather several smaller waves huh?” (Kira)

“Is that unusual?” (Ellie)

“It is. Usually monster invasions happen when they breed too much and try to expand their territory. Something like them coming in waves is unheard of. Actually Ellie, what do you think happened here?” (Kira)

“Hm? Me?” (Ellie)

“Yes, this is a good opportunity. Consider it a test! Determining the cause of things like this are also part of being an adventurer, after all” (Kira)

“Ah, I see! Hmm…” (Ellie)

Monsters have two states when it comes to people or other monsters - fear or anger.

Usually the monsters in this forest attack aggressively and relentlessly.

There’s absolutely no reason or rationality behind their actions.

So them moving in on the city like this must be some extremely basic instinct.

Kira says it doesn’t seem to have been ‘fight’ so then, how about ‘flight?’

“Maybe they were running away from something much scarier than them?” (Ellie)

“I was thinking something like that too. But what could cause such a mass exodus? Something must have riled them up recently.” (Kira)

“Maybe it’s some terrifyingly gigantic monster?!” (Ellie)

“No, we’d notice something like that. Anything terrifying enough to chase away hundreds of monsters like this is bound to be easy… to… notice…” (Kira)

That’s strange, Kira’s face suddenly became cramped.

Did Kira remember something big that happened recently?

Something terrifying and easy to notice, right?

I wouldn’t know anything like that though.

After all, me and Nano only just arrived here two-

…

“Kira… Isn’t this our fault?” (Ellie)

It’s extremely likely.

We did spend the better part of the last two weeks systematically hunting these particular species of monster.

Kira’s increasingly cramping smile suggests she thinks the same.

“Oh well! It’s our loss if we mind it!” (Kira)

“Yeah…” (Ellie)