Chapter 5: Busted
As they walked the empty hallway, Joshua dropped his gaze down to Rin, floating by Ruri’s side. “Say, what is that? That’s a magic beast, isn’t it?”
“Appearance-wise, yes. But on the inside? Well—”
Rin cut her off before she could finish. “I’m one of the supreme-level spirits~! You can call me Rin.”
Joshua’s eyes opened wide, completely dumbstruck. “Wha? The supreme-level?! What are you even doing here?!”
When Rin had first arrived, she gave Jade and his aides the same explanation, and they’d had a similar reaction. Apparently, when it came to the supreme-level spirits, it was much harder and more surprising to meet one as opposed to a regular spirit.
“Hmm, well, she talked to Kotaro—another spirit—and came to see me because she wanted me to name her.”
“And you ended up naming her?”
“Yup, I named her Rin... Um, is something the matter with that?” Ruri said, halting in place and looking at Joshua. He was acting strange.
“Is somethin’ the matter, she says. Well, I’m surprised. Anyone would be surprised if they saw someone make a contract with a supreme-level spirit.”
“Contract?” Ruri repeated, tilting her head in confusion.
“Wait, so did you subjugate it and not even know it? Geez, talk about being devil-may-care, Ruri,” Joshua commented, apparently shocked.
Ruri, however, had no clue as to why he was so shocked in the first place. “What’s subjugation? I do have a contract with a spirit named Lydia, but I didn’t make a contract with Rin.”
“So you really didn’t know before you named her, then. Welp, can’t say I blame you for not knowing, seeing as how you’re not from this world, I guess.”
“I mean, Rin was being pushy, telling me to give her a name quickly. ...Does naming a spirit do something?”
“Yeah, naming a spirit is one way of forming a contract. A typical contract simply puts the spirit and contract-bearer on equal terms, but a contract made through naming is even more binding than that.”
Joshua’s explanation wasn’t helping Ruri understand, so Rin elaborated further. “Right, so, let’s say, for example, you order me and Lydia to kill one another.”
“I would never do such a thing!” Ruri spat back in a flustered hurry, quick to deny the accusation.
“Yes, I know. It’s just an example. Let’s just say you did. In that case, since Lydia made a contract with you on equal terms, she can refuse to carry out your orders. But since you subjugated me through naming me, I can’t. Giving a spirit a name means being able to place them under your control.”
“Huh...? Then Kotaro, too?” Kotaro’s image popped into Ruri’s mind. Although she just found out the other day that Kotaro was actually a spirit, the fact that she incidentally named him meant she subjugated Kotaro by proxy.
“Of course, you subjugated him the moment you named him.”
Ruri had no idea of those rules. She simply named Kotaro because it would be inconvenient to call for him without an actual name. She was dumbfounded at the major event she accidentally caused. “No way, I can’t believe that I...”
Ruri took the matter rather seriously, but Rin was rather indifferent by comparison. “No need to think so hard over it. As you heard a second ago, both Kotaro and I are supreme-level spirits—the most powerful entities in this world. Even with your powerful mana, you don’t come close to either of us. That’s why, if we hated being named by anyone... being subjugated by anyone, we would have killed them. But Kotaro was the furthest from displeased; he was downright ecstatic.”
“True,” Ruri replied, recalling her memory of Kotaro nuzzling against her and squealing with glee every time she called his name. It certainly wasn’t how someone who resented being named and subjugated would behave.
“There is your answer, then. Kotaro allowed you to name him because he didn’t mind if you subjugated him. And even when I received my name, I asked you to name me. I would’ve never asked if I didn’t want it. Besides, you wouldn’t give us any unreasonable orders, would you?”
Ruri shook her head without hesitation. “Never.”
“Tee hee hee. At first, my biggest reason for seeing you was because Kotaro told me to, but he told me about you and I actually had a chance to meet and speak with you. Now, I absolutely love you, Ruri. I’m so grateful you were the one to name me.”
“I love you too, Rin!”
Rin nuzzled against Ruri, and Ruri returned in form by nuzzling her cheek against hers. The sight of the white cat and floating clione interacting like that was unbearably cute.
However, the charming scene didn’t last for too long before the other spirits dogpiled Ruri and Rin, each declaring their massive love for Ruri. Buried underneath the spirits, Ruri let out a holler, which echoed through the hall. After a while, she managed to pull the spirits off of her and catch her breath.
“That reminds me, Joshua. Where did you come back from this time?”
“Nadasha. Y’know war’s about to break out, right? I mean, not like the Nation of the Dragon King is gonna be losing, but it’s always best to have intel, regardless.”
“Oh, true.” It seemed preparations for the war were going steadily along unbeknownst to Ruri, leaving her with a vague sense of apprehension.
“Say, Ruri? How long do you plan on keeping you being a human a secret?”
Ruri looked up to see that Joshua’s face was dead serious.
“The war’s gonna be starting any day now. Their figurehead, the Priestess Princess, is someone you know, right? Isn’t it about time you tell His Majesty that you’re actually a human and not a cat?”
“Hmm...”
Ruri had been thinking about doing that on and off. Since Asahi was the figurehead for their war efforts, Ruri couldn’t say that none of this pertained to her. She probably should explain the details of how she came to this world.
Just as Ruri was about to discuss things over with Joshua...
“What did you mean just now...?”
A third party’s voice came from out of nowhere, making Ruri and Joshua quickly turn toward the source.
“E-Euclase-san...”
“Grk!”
Ruri and Joshua both gritted their teeth and raised their brows.
Euclase was the chancellor of the Nation of the Dragon King, a wise yet beautiful androgynous-looking woman with long indigo-silver hair and blue eyes. Appearances, however, could be deceiving. While they swore up and down that they were a woman, their chest was as flat as they came and their voice, while higher than normal for a man, was too low for a woman. Nevertheless, the dainty Euclase cared more for maintaining personal appearances than most women in the kingdom. All in all, they had all the perfect markings of a beautiful woman—so much so that even if you looked really closely, you couldn’t tell otherwise. In fact, Euclase’s overwhelming femininity even made Ruri question her own merits as a woman. Even a countless number of men threw their heads back to choke back their tears of frustration because of it.
“E-Euclase-san, how long have you been standing...”
“You said you were human just now, didn’t you?” Euclase walked toward them slowly with a furrowed brow, their glare stern, as if to say that lying would do no good.
Neither Ruri nor Joshua ever imagined that this was how the literal cat would come out of the bag, so they weren’t prepared to deal with this in the slightest. They both struggled to contain their panic. Their hearts were beating out of their chests. Even so, in an attempt to smooth the situation over, Ruri’s eyes started to wander as if trying to avoid Euclase’s glare. She finally met eyes with Joshua, and the two tried to play off each other.
“What? No, that’s not what we said. Is it, Joshua?”
“N-Not at all.”
“Are you trying to play dumb? I heard you clear as day. You said that you’re a human. I demand an explanation this instant!”
“You simply misheard.”
“Yeah, we didn’t say that.”
Euclase’s eyes stared a hole into both of them, only willing to settle for the truth. Perturbed, Ruri looked up at Joshua for help.
“...By the way, why are you in sector five? There shouldn’t be any reason for you to be here, being the chancellor and all.”
“Tee hee hee hee, I just stopped by between work for a little R&R for my weary eyes. My, the beauty of the male form sure is lovely,” Euclase said with flushed cheeks.
Joshua threw a cold look their way and said, “Hey, don’t you dare go messing with any of the soldiers. You can look, but don’t touch. If you try any funny business, I’m telling His Majesty and banning you from coming here.”
“There’s nothing wrong with two consenting adults doing what they want! ...I mean, don’t change the subject! In any case, let’s go someplace different,” said Euclase as they nabbed Ruri by the scruff of her neck so she couldn’t run away.
Seeing that he couldn’t change the subject any further, Joshua said, “Welp, it’s a bust. If they heard that much of the conversation as clear as day, then there’s no point in trying to fudge the truth.” He reluctantly followed after them.
Unbeknownst to them, there was a pair of eyes silently watching this chain of events from the shadows.
“She’s a... human?” they whispered to themselves.
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