Chapter 2: Tea Party with Lydia
Per his request, Jade was allowed to follow Ruri into Lydia’s domain. He exited the kitchen for the royal office, saying that he was off to inform the others that he would be stepping out. Ruri decided to head to the garden ahead of him.
Waiting there patiently was Kotaro with Rin perched atop his canine head.
“Ruri, are the cookies done?” asked Rin.
“They sure are.”
“I patiently awaited your return,” Kotaro said, wagging his tail and relaying with his entire body that he couldn’t wait any longer.
Ruri smiled and chuckled at this humble display. “Sorry for the wait. Here’s your cookies.”
Once Ruri placed the cookies in front of them, Kotaro wagged his tail even faster and Rin did a flip of joy in the air.
“Thank you, Ruri,” said Rin.
“I absolutely love the cookies you bake,” Kotaro added. He remembered the times that Ruri cooked back when she lived with Chelsie—not just cookies but other dishes and confectionaries, too.
“Thank you, guys,” Ruri said with a pleasant smile, even though their frank praise made her think they had her confused with someone else.
Just as Kotaro and Rin were finishing up their snack, Jade finally showed back up.
“You’re awfully late, Jade... sama...?”
Ruri was only expecting Jade, but behind him was an entourage composed of Euclase, Finn, and Agate.
Looking at the confused look painted on Ruri’s face, Jade awkwardly grinned, asking, “Sorry, Ruri, but would it be okay if Finn and the others joined us?”
“Everyone else, too? Well, I don’t think there should be a problem so long as it’s not an extended stay, but how did this even come about? Finn-san I understand, him being your royal bodyguard, but will things be okay with both the king of the nation and its chancellor absent? Well, Euclase-san?”
“Claus is staying, so everything will be fine. We had actually planned to leave Agate behind as well, but...” Euclase intentionally trailed off, peeking over at Agate by their side.
“You expect me to work with a chance to meet the legendary Spirit of Time right in front of my face?” Agate said, his eyes filled with the most expectation out of anyone present. He was bouncing up and down like a kid excited for a field trip. Perhaps it was his way of dressing up for his visit to Lydia, but the ribbon tied to his beard looked even fancier than usual.
“Well, it is pretty spacious there, so there isn’t any kind of capacity limit, but I advise you all to be careful; I was told that staying there for too long can cause psychological damage.”
Jade and the others all looked surprised. Ruri’s warning was news to them.
“I-Is this really okay...?” Jade asked, pensive and grimacing.
“So long as it isn’t an extended stay, as I said,” assured Ruri, but the extremely worried expressions on Finn and the others’ faces remained the same.
Turning away from everyone, Ruri created a portal to her pocket space—one that was bigger than usual to accommodate for the increase in people.
“Okay, time to go,” Ruri said, quickly entering the portal ahead of Jade and the others.
They were all slightly hesitant. Euclase seemed to be looking at Agate and wondering about their course of action, but Jade started walking toward the entrance. “Ruri said it would be fine as long as we keep our visit short, so it should be fine,” Jade announced to the still-hesitant Euclase and Agate before disappearing into the entrance. He turned to Euclase and the others and prompted them to come, causing Finn to follow. Once they saw Finn move, Euclase and Agate made up their minds and headed toward the entrance themselves.
The inside of the pocket space was a place for storing your belongings, so the concept of entering it yourself never crossed any of their minds. They were all equal parts curious and concerned about venturing inside. In fact, they most likely never would have done so if Ruri wasn’t around.
The domain past the entrance was more vast than any of them imagined. It was an indication of how much mana Ruri possessed. However, instead of being drawn by the vastness, Jade’s attention was drawn to the mountains upon mountains of treasure that filled the area. Once Finn and the others arrived after Jade and saw this sight, they froze in place, dumbfounded.
Jade had many questions in his mind as Ruri stood in front of him, yelling into the empty air, “Lydia, I’m here to plaaay!”
Suddenly, a transparent, specter-like figure floated into existence out of thin air. “Welcome, Ruri,” Lydia greeted with a warm smile before noticing Jade and the others behind her. Her eyes widened. “Oh my, what is this? We have quite the amount of guests today.”
“Jade-sama and the others wished to see you, Lydia. They’re not bound by a contract with you, but they should be fine in here for a short while, right?”
“Yes, for a short while, at least.”
Jade and the others relaxed upon hearing those words.
“Hmm, with this many people, our usual table is going to be too small, huh? Is there a bigger table around here?” Ruri asked.
“In that case...” Lydia held out her hand to an empty spot in the room and a large table instantly spawned there. Lydia was capable of teleporting any item in this space at will, even items from different pocket spaces as well.
While Ruri gathered enough chairs for everyone, Euclase and Agate eyed the mountains of treasure haphazardly piled up around them. Euclase, the capable chancellor with feminine charm and a sizable gemstone and jewelry collection, started discerning what was real or fake and tabulating the values. Meanwhile, Agate, the elder among the long-living dragonkin, used his keen eye to spot items that resembled lost treasures. He was practically a living encyclopedia, full of knowledge accumulated from his long years walking the planet—far longer than any human.
Totally oblivious to their reactions, Ruri finished setting the table with chairs and sat down herself. Lydia took physical form and sat beside Ruri.
Normally, a spirit needed to take someone’s body to take physical form, like Rin or Kotaro, but Lydia could materialize herself within the confines of this space. Now that she had form, her features looked practically identical to a regular human, the only difference being the clearly inhuman aura exuding from her. Even in human form, she generated an ethereal majesty that came across as anything but human.
“Here you go; I brought cookies,” Ruri said, handing the cookies off to Lydia, who could eat now that she was in physical form.
“Thank you, Ruri,” Lydia said, delightedly.
Pleased with her reaction, Ruri started prepping the tea next. There were not only cups and dishes in this space but hot water and tea leaves as well. They were for tea parties like the one today and for Lydia to enjoy a meal whenever she felt like.
As soon as there was enough tea for everyone, Ruri kicked off the introductions. “Lydia, this is Jade-sama. He is the current Dragon King.”
“It is a great honor to be in the presence of a spirit who shared a contract with the First Dragon King,” Jade said, attempting to show respect to a superior, an uncommon display for the young Dragon King.
However, Lydia stopped him. “No need for stiff greetings. Spirits have never had any interest in human-crafted etiquette, and both of my contract-bearers have been frank and sociable, so I’m not used to being treated like that. My previous contract-bearer was especially devoid of such behavior...” Though technically complaining, Lydia’s expression was gentle as she spoke of her prior contract-bearer.
“Were you romantically involved with The First?” asked Jade.
The picture of the woman next to the First Dragon King in the castle’s treasure room had been a long-standing mystery to all, but once Jade and the others took one look at Lydia, the mystery was solved.
“No, we were never once romantically involved,” Lydia said with a melancholic smile. Ruri was going to interject, but Lydia soon chuckled it off in an unaffected manner. “I heard that from Ruri in the past as well. She said she saw a portrait of me.”
“Yes,” Jade replied. “Apparently, The First said that he would never marry because he had the person in the picture, but since he was never seen with anyone who fit the description, their identity has always remained a mystery. I would have never guessed she was actually a spirit.”
“Indeed...”
“I’m sorry to mention it,” Jade apologized, sensing something from Lydia’s forlorn expression earlier.
However, Lydia stared at him blankly for a second before smirking. “Tee hee hee, why are you apologizing? It’s pleasing news since I don’t know much of what he did on the outside. Would you mind showing me the picture he drew of me? I want to know how it was he saw me.”
“Yes, I will give it to Ruri next time.”
It was probably safe to say that Lydia’s pleased-looking smile lightened up the awkward mood slightly and introduced a more friendly breath of fresh air.
After regaining their composures, the others introduced themselves. Once finished, Ruri brought up why she had come today.
“Hey, Lydia, do you have anything I could possibly sell?”
“Well, almost everything is collected in here, so feel free to take whatever you’d like, but is there something you plan on buying by selling something else off?”
“Yup, I want to buy a house in the capital. My parents and grandpa are all coming to this world, so I want to make sure I have all the essentials for daily life and a house ready so they can live here. I know there’s furniture and household goods in here, but I’m not going to have enough money to buy a house in the capital off of my wages from the diner alone.”
As expected of the royal capital of a large nation, the price of land was expensive. Far too expensive for someone who worked at a diner, hence why Ruri was asking Lydia for something worth selling.
“If it’s money you want, why not just use the money Weidt left?” Lydia said, looking over to the mountain of coins piled up in the room.
Those coins were the fortune that the First Dragon King, Weidt, left behind—bequeathed to Ruri according to his wishes. While she could very well use that money if she wanted to...
“But that’s all old money of the Nation of the Dragon King and it might not line up with the modern day currency.”
“Oh, really? Well, in that case...”
“Hold on just a second!” Euclase interjected, cutting off Lydia before she could suggest something else.
“What is the matter, Euclase-san?”
“Would you mind if I were to ask a question?”
“Feel free.”
Jade and the others looked on with stern expressions, grateful that Euclase decided to speak up.
“This pocket of space is one you’ve made, correct? Which means everything in here belongs to you, right?”
“Yes,” Ruri replied with a nod.
Next, Jade asked a question himself. “How did you amass this much of a fortune? You’ve only been in this world for a few years, so how did you gain a treasure greater than the castle’s treasure room?”
“The majority of what’s here is from Lydia’s prior contract-bearer, the First Dragon King. He left in his will to bequeath everything to the next contract-bearer, which would be me,” Ruri explained with an awkward expression. She wasn’t exactly jumping for joy over this stroke of good fortune. A part of her was happy, but she was more bewildered over coming into possession of such a vast fortune all at once.
“An inheritance from The First?!” Agate leaned over and exclaimed, being the most surprised out of everyone.
“Although, Lydia does often bring in things from other pocket spaces, as well,” Ruri said under her breath.
Picking up on that, Jade asked, “Care explaining?”
“A pocket space can only be opened by its owner, so when that owner passes away, Lydia will erase them in sequential order. That being said, she’ll either bring anything that seems useful into here or throw them into other people’s spaces.”
“You can enter another person’s pocket space?” Jade asked, seemingly composed but secretly terribly surprised.
“Not just anyone can. Only me, the Spirit of Time, and my contract-bearer are capable of that.”
“Basically, Ruri can enter other people’s pockets of space?”
“That’s correct. I assist Lydia with erasing pocket spaces on occasion,” Ruri elaborated. She thought of that spiral staircase floating in the dark void that led to the spaces of people all over the world, which only Lydia and Ruri could enter.
There were many items among Weidt’s inherited goods that Lydia had salvaged from spaces she erased after Weidt’s death, but nowadays, there were several items here that Ruri brought in herself. At first, she was opposed to the idea of bringing in stuff from another person’s room, but she was now used to it.
“Are you also able to tamper with the spaces of those still alive?” asked Jade.
“I am... but, oh...! I would never dream of taking something from a room that still has an owner!” Ruri feverishly elaborated as Jade and the others pondered with grimaces.
While she was capable of entering anyone’s space by opening any of the doors on the sides of the spiral staircase, she never crossed that line. However, Jade and the others had something different on their minds. Stepping into another person’s pocket space essentially meant that she could acquire the assets of all of those with a pocket space of their own, and even if she were to pilfer something, it would be the perfect crime since there would be no evidence. Since a pocket space could only be opened by the individual who made it, many people stored their valuables in them. If she had the ability to interfere with those spaces, then there would be no shortage of people looking to take advantage of that.
“Ruri, have you told that to anyone other than us?” asked Jade.
“I’ve told it to Chelsie-san. I assure you that I’m no fool. I would only tell something this dangerous to trustworthy people.”
Jade’s face took a very relieved turn. At the same time, since Ruri did all sorts of outlandish things like becoming a cat and whatnot, he made sure to emphasize, “I see. Good, in that case. Just be absolutely sure not to tell anyone else. We’d be in a situation if those clouded by greed set their sights on you.”
“Yes, duly noted,” Ruri said, nodding to Jade’s warning.
Euclase then resumed their questioning. “Now then, I’d like to get back to the subject of our nation’s older currency you mentioned earlier...”
Ruri stood from her seat, picked a few coins from the tall pile, and placed them down, hitting the table with a jingle. “Here they are,” she said as Jade and the others glued their eyes to the older money of the Nation of the Dragon King set before them. “Is it possible to exchange or redeem these older coins for current money? If so, I could turn it into the capital I need to buy a house.”
In Ruri’s world, there were people who collected money, and she recalled money not commonly in circulation selling for high prices. Or maybe she could go to a bank and exchange it for new money—she had various ideas.
“Maybe, worst case scenario, I could have the fire spirits melt them down and bring them to a weapons shop in the capital as raw material.” She didn’t know what mineral the old coins were made from, but they were subtly different from a regular gold coin.
However, once she proposed the idea, panic struck the faces of Euclase and all the others, culminating in Euclase screaming at the top of their lungs, “I forbid it!”
Euclase’s sudden shout caused Ruri to jump in surprise. Lydia, right by her side, was also startled by the noise.
“Why are you startling us like that, Euclase-san?”
“Because you suggested melting these down! How could you think of melting down something so valuable?!”
“Huh? Valuable?” Ruri asked, taking a look at everyone’s faces and stopping at Jade, who flashed her a wry grin and a nod.
“The old currency of the Nation of the Dragon King was crafted from a certain mineral back in the days of the First Dragon King. But that mineral suddenly dried up after his death, and by the time of the next Dragon King, they switched to the currency made out of the current materials. That mineral could also be used for weapons and armor, which meant people steadily processed the coins to the point where, nowadays, the mineral is scarcely seen still in coin form.”
“Then, if I bring them to a weapons store, I can sell them for a high price.”
“Didn’t I just tell you that I forbid such an endeavor?! If you’re selling to anyone, sell it to the nation! This is a valuable piece of our nation’s history!” Euclase stated, their eyes bulging in frustration.
Since Ruri didn’t really care where she sold the coins so long as she could get the money for a house, she handed the coins on the table over to Euclase. They seemed expensive, so Ruri figured Euclase could find out how much the few coins she gave them would fetch and then sell off any extras if it wasn’t enough for the cost of the house.
“But, why did the mineral suddenly dry up? Given they were making it into coins, I’d assume they used it as a material because they figured they’d have enough to last,” pondered Ruri.
“You’re speaking about the First Dragon King. There’s no way I would know,” Euclase replied.
“Good point.”
The tale of Weidt’s mystery sweetheart had been passed down along with the portrait, so it survived all the way up until now, but not even Euclase, and all their wisdom as a chancellor, knew what set off the natural phenomenon at the time or why they used the mineral to begin with.
However, there was one person in attendance who did know about the time during the First Dragon King—Lydia.
“Pretty sure it’s because Chi left once Weidt died.”
“Chi?”
“The supreme-level Spirit of Earth who Weidt made a contract with. Since Chi served to protect Weidt, he affected the land of the Nation of the Dragon King, the kingdom under Weidt’s protection. That was probably why they could gather such a superior mineral. But once Weidt was gone, Chi also left the kingdom, leaving the supply of the mineral to dry up.”
Aside from Ruri who replied with a nonchalant “wow,” the others latched onto Lydia’s story with serious interest.
At any rate, Ruri had raised the money to buy a house in the capital. She threw up a victory pose and celebrated her accomplishment—mentally, of course.
Next up was going into town and looking for a suitable house.
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