Chapter 50

When we arrived at the guild, Miria immediately came to greet us.

"Mr. Toya, I've been waiting for you. I'll show you in."

We followed Miria and stopped in front of a private room. After knocking and receiving permission, we opened the door. Inside, Ebrand was sitting alone.

We sat across from him.

"I'm sorry to have called you here."

"No, no, it's fine. It's no trouble at all."

"More importantly, let's get to the point. I talked to you about that armor yesterday. And even though they're not royalty, the Lunette Empire has been pressuring us to hand over the people who came from there. If we don't hand them over, they won't hesitate to use force... Are those two the ones they're talking about?"

Ebrand's words made Shal and Al tense up.

"I already told you yesterday that we have no intention of handing them over."

Ebrand smiled at my words.

"...I thought you'd say that, Toya. —This is still a secret, but the lord of this region and our guild master are planning to send troops to capture the two. I wanted to tell you this..."

"Is it okay to spill such confidential information?"

"The lord of this region and the guild master are, for better or worse, ordinary. It's a good town, but if pressure comes from another country, they'll hand you over to maintain the current peace. I've had a lot of fun with you in various ways. Besides, I can imagine what will happen if we become enemies. I don't want to hurt our guild members."

"...Is that the truth?"

"Sure, you can take it that way. The envoy from the Generate Kingdom should still be in this town. Try not to be found. That's all I wanted to say."

I nodded and extended my right hand to Ebrand.

"Thank you for everything. I appreciate it."

Ebrand smiled at my words and shook my hand firmly.

After leaving the guild, we headed to the mansion.

"Sir Ebrand is so kind..."

"Yeah, he's been helpful. I didn't expect him to tell us that much."

"More importantly, we need to prepare to leave this town."

As we talked, we returned to the mansion and started thinking about our next move. It's fine to leave this town. However...

I glanced at Felis, who was standing in the corner of the room. Felis is a house spirit. Since she lives in the house, she can't move.

—We have no choice but to leave her here...

I don't want to come to that conclusion. That's my honest feeling.

While I was thinking about this problem, which I didn't want to solve, the sun began to set.

"I'm back!"

Natalie, who had closed the shop, also returned. She sat on the sofa and relaxed as soon as she came in.

You, despite being a guest, you're really making yourself at home...

I thought this as I watched Natalie.

"Hey, Natalie. Can house spirits move? Can you take them with you when you move?"

Even though I knew it was impossible, I asked Natalie, who tilted her head in confusion.

"What are you talking about? They can move, but there are conditions... Isn't that common knowledge?"

"Really!? What do I need to do!?"

I stood up and grabbed Natalie's shoulders.

"Toya, that hurts! Shal knows more about this. Shal, explain it to him."

Shal nodded at Natalie's words.

"Mr. Toya, to move a house spirit, you need a spirit crystal. It's extremely rare, and the Lunette Empire only has two, which are considered national treasures. When a house spirit needs to be moved, the country lends the crystal to a noble and moves it with strict security."

"—National treasures. Do any of you have one...?"

Everyone shook their heads apologetically in response to my question.

"...I see..."

Natalie asked me, as if remembering something.

"Toya, you have all sorts of surprising things, right? Maybe something will come out with a big bang at a time like this?"

...Huh? Spirit-related? Could it be!?

I visualized the contents of my dimensional storage and searched.

"......I found it."

I took out a necklace from my dimensional storage. The necklace is called the "Spirit Crystal Necklace." In the game, it's an item needed to enter the dungeon in the Spirit Forest. Without it, you can't enter the dungeon. It's just an item for entry.

The necklace has a chain made of mithril, and a blue glowing stone is set in it, decorated with mithril.

"Felis, can you inhabit this necklace?"

Felis stared at the necklace intently.

"—If you wear it, it might be okay..."

At her words, I immediately put the spirit crystal necklace around my neck. Felis approached the stone on the necklace, touched it, and was sucked in. She reappeared shortly after.

"Yep, it's fine. I can feel Toya's magic in the stone, and it's comfortable."

Hearing Felis's words, I was so happy that I picked up Natalie and hugged her.

"Natalie, you did great!!"

"N-no, what are you doing!?"

Natalie's voice, red-faced and flustered, echoed through the living room.

Thank you as always.