Chapter 96

Indeed, that was her reaction.

Rio looked at Shiraha. She didn’t seem particularly shocked, but given that she was the type who rarely showed her emotions, it was hard to tell what she was thinking.

In front of a worried Rio, Shiraha yawned.

“Hwaa… so?”

“So, you…?”

Shiraha’s calmness in continuing the conversation left Rio speechless, but upon reflection, it didn’t matter who Shiraha was; their relationship wouldn’t change. Instead, Rio thought it was better to be glad they had learned one of the reasons they were being targeted and turned to Churas.

“Shiraha, we understand that Rinnin Dia used the magic orb to create you and Churas. But, after finding Shiraha, no one similar appeared in the village for nearly a year.”

If the magic orb could create new species using ambient magic, there should have been many beings like Shiraha in the forest. In fact, the monkeys that were apparently created by the same magic orb had formed a hidden village in the forest.

Churas seemed relieved that Rio and Shiraha weren’t too shocked and sighed, swaying his tail slowly from side to side.

“Perhaps it would be best to explain my origins and how I came to cooperate with Nac.”

With that, Churas began to explain his origins and background.

“I was born in the Flahwa Mountains to the north of this town. There was a magic orb nearby, and I played with it, rolling it around until I broke it.”

“…Broke it?”

Imagining the large black cat Churas playing with the magic orb, it seemed like a very plausible outcome. Churas turned his face away, slightly embarrassed.

“My consciousness was still hazy. The girl was probably the same, wasn’t she?”

“Indeed, at first, Shiraha couldn’t even speak properly.”

It made sense that a feral child wouldn’t be able to speak, but if she had just been born and her consciousness was only partially awakened, it was understandable. This meant that by the time Rio met her, the magic orb that created Shiraha was already damaged. Even if it hadn’t been, it could have been damaged by the flood that Rio was caught in. Rio decided to write a letter to his hometown to search for the damaged magic orb and took out paper and a pen from his bag. Writing about everything that had happened in this town would be quite a lengthy task, but they had gained a lot of information. As he wrote, Rio asked Churas a question.

“Since you broke the magic orb, you don’t have any other companions, right?”

“No companions of the same species. Nac Schwark was my companion, but he is dead.”

After looking down with a slightly sad expression, Churas seemed to regain his composure and continued.

“The magic orb, with its internal magical circuit and ambient magic, periodically generates beings of a certain shape. The new species and unknown evil spirits causing trouble in various places were created by the magic orbs. If the girl hadn’t broken the magic orb, similar human-like new species would have been born.”

“Shiraha, do you have any idea where the magic orb might be?”

While writing in the letter about searching for Shiraha’s magic orb, Rio asked her. He thought it would save time if they could pinpoint the location, but Shiraha shook her head.

“I don’t remember it well.”

Churas added to Shiraha’s response.

“Consciousness is almost non-existent at birth. As the body, which is initially a mass of magic, is replaced with matter through eating, consciousness gradually awakens. I blended into the city in this form and received food from a butcher. The butcher’s son was Nac.”

“So, you were originally a commoner, but you were a butcher.”

The origins of Nac Schwark, who had split the knight order of the Ors Baron’s territory, were surprising. Even Galdorat only knew about Nac Schwark from the time he became a knight.

Churas had known Nac longer than Galdorat.

“I learned to speak from Nac and began to speak secretly. When he became a knight and started gathering information on evil spirits, he connected the unknown evil spirits to my origins and began to investigate together.”

“Hey, how old are you?”

“I am twenty this year.”

“Older….”

Surprised, Rio suddenly realized and looked at Shiraha. Had she reached the same conclusion? She pointed to herself and said,

“I’m one year old.”

“Of course, that makes sense.”

Everything about their first meeting made sense.

Churas continued his story.

“Nac and I gathered information on the appearance of unknown animals in various places and realized that an organization was behind the creation of the magic orbs. We then took separate actions.”

“Was that around the time of the nightmare in Rihelan, about five years ago?”

“No, it was about eight years ago.”

They had been investigating the magic orbs for quite a long time.

“I investigated the organization in this town where many unknown evil spirits appeared, while Nac investigated the magic orbs in human society. We occasionally communicated, but after Nac’s death, I acted alone. As a slave, Galdorat couldn’t investigate, and he might have been eliminated by the organization.”

Killing Galdorat, who had such skill with the sword, would normally be difficult. However, considering the existence of Oks-style users on par with regular knights and beings like Muse, it wasn’t impossible for Rinnin Dia.

While writing down the information, Rio urged Churas to continue.

“So, what kind of organization is Rinnin Dia?”

“I don’t know much. It’s a secret organization with sympathizers everywhere. They create magic orbs and set them up in various places, but they don’t seem to interfere deeply beyond monitoring the results, and there’s no sign of profit-driven activities. Their purpose is still unknown, but according to Muse, who fought you, the key is something called the ‘Savior Species’.”

“The Savior Species… I don’t understand that at all.”

“You’re too focused on Rinnin Dia. You should consider your own situation.”

“Yeah, we’re being targeted by both Rinnin Dia and the Horned Family.”

Not just Shiraha, but Rio himself was also being targeted. Since they had joined forces with Churas, he thought they should leave this town as soon as possible. Just then, Churas sighed deeply and looked at Shiraha.

“That’s one reason, but if things continue like this, the girl will also turn into an evil spirit, like the calamity, the evil god Kazha.”