The White Cat That Swore Vengeance Was Just Lazing on the Dragon King’s Lap - Volume 5 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Ghost Dwelling in a Pocket Space

It had already been a few days since Ruri and her party returned from the Nation of the Beast King. In the renovated Sector One, everyone’s lives started to return to how they once were.

As Jade worked away in his completely refurbished office, the sound of rushing footsteps echoed outside in the hall. The sounds got closer and closer, reaching the front of the office before long. Then, without so much as a knock, the door flung open.

“We have a situation, Your Majesty!”

“You’re causing a racket, Agate,” Jade warned. He couldn’t help but wonder about Agate’s youthful exuberance in spite of his age. In fact, it almost felt as though he wasn’t growing weak from aging, but powering up instead. He was especially gung ho when it came time to talk about Jade marrying, where he would display an unbelievable amount of gusto.

Jade simply had to reproach Agate for his lack of manners, entering the royal office without so much as knocking, but the next words out of the old man’s mouth made Jade’s pen stop in place.

“My apologies. However, there are more pressing issues. Master Quartz has made his return!”

Jade’s eyes opened wide. “Master Quartz? Are you sure?!”

“Indeed I am. He landed on the terrace just a moment ago and Euclase is seeing to him right now—Ah, wait, Your Majesty!”

Jade rushed out of the room before Agate had a chance to finish his sentence. People watched in bewilderment as he stormed the halls, but he darted past all of them, unfazed.

A crowd had formed at the terrace, and at its center was the man Agate had mentioned. He was exchanging banter with Euclase. Seeing this, joy surfaced on Jade’s face.

“Master Quartz!” Jade called.

Hearing his name, the man turned and smiled broadly. “Hey there, Jade. Been a while.”

A tinge of disappointment crossed over Jade’s otherwise happy expression. “‘Hey there, been a while,’ nothing, Master Quartz. Where have you been wandering about for the past few decades? You could have at least written just one letter. Everyone has been worried about you,” Jade said, using this chance to launch his complaints.

However, instead of offering an answer, Quartz gave a hearty laugh in reply. “Ahaha! Now, now. I’m back now, so that’s all that matters. All that aside, I heard a Beloved showed up here.”

“Indeed, one has.”

“In my travels across the lands, you see, I happened to overhear news of the Beloved, so I hurried back here.”

“You’ve come back to meet Ruri? But you never came back all this time for any other reason,” Jade said, his eyes filled with dissatisfaction. He had never even received a single letter.

“Don’t get all pouty at me, now. This is a huge event, isn’t it? I felt inclined to get a look at them.”

“In any case, let us go to my room. I’d like to sit down and talk,” Jade suggested.

“Yes, let’s do that.”

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

Ruri had gone to Lydia’s and was helping her erase rooms without owners. As new rooms were spawning one after another, so too were rooms with owners lost to time. Each room either signified a new life brought into the world or a new life taken from it. Since pocket spaces could only be opened by their owners, they had no choice but to erase what lay inside along with the room, which was why they took out anything useful first.

Ruri was averse to this at first, but there was no way to pass items along to the deceased’s families since you couldn’t figure out what belonged to who. And just erasing the possessions from existence seemed like a waste. Those facts gave Ruri a change of heart. She would check the rooms and search for anything that seemed useful. Anything she needed, she would bring back to her own pocket space. However, finding useful items wasn’t the easiest task in the world.

“Too bad. This room doesn’t seem to have anything,” Ruri said, closing the door to a room after peeking in and seeing that it was practically empty.

Many people who realized they were on death’s door would bestow their belongings to others while still alive. After all, a pocket space could only be opened by the owner themselves. That meant there were a lot of rooms that were virtually empty. At the same time, there was no small extent of those who died without bestowing anything. Ruri would search through those rooms, and once she was done, she would have Lydia erase them.

“Not much worthwhile today, huh, Lydia?”

“Yes, well, these days do happen. There are many rooms, after all.”

“Rats, here I was hoping to sell anything that looked valuable to help fund my hot spring too.”

Ruri had pledged to build a hot spring once she got back to the Nation of the Dragon King since having an earth, water, and fire spirit made that possible. However, it would cost money to acquire the land and build the facilities for the spring. The realistic nature of her problem saddened her.

“Your hot springs are one thing, but isn’t there something more pressing you should be caring about, Ruri?” Lydia asked.

“What do you mean?” Ruri asked.

“I mean that. The dragonheart,” Lydia replied, pointing at the necklace dangling from Ruri’s neck. It was a scale the same shade of green as Jade’s eyes.

Jade’s kind eyes popped into Ruri’s mind, sending her heart aflutter.

“That should take priority over the springs. You haven’t given him an answer yet, correct?” Lydia asked as Ruri’s romance was a point of interest for her.

“No. I mean, I know you’re right, but...” Ruri stammered, acting indecisive.

“Oh my,” Lydia said, putting her hand on her cheek and cocking her head. “Did you plan on turning him down, by any chance?”

Ruri had never been asked that question in such a straightforward manner before and she couldn’t hide her unrest.

“N-No, that wasn’t the plan. It’s just...”

“Then why not answer him already?” Lydia nonchalantly suggested. Things weren’t that simple, however.

Ruri’s face was painted in distress. “Uuuugh~! I know I should. I know I should, but...!” Ruri groaned, clutching her head.

She realized she was delaying the inevitable. She had been so very careful not to sway any conversation in that direction that it oftentimes made things awkward. Jade was bound to suspect something sooner or later. No, in fact, he probably already did.

“Listen, I just don’t know how to break the ice. And it’s not like he confessed to me in the first place; he just gave me the dragonheart. He might end up thinking I’m being too self-conscious...”

“What are you talking about? Giving someone a dragonheart is the biggest form of confession for dragonkin.”

“Hmm...” She had been told that many times in the past by both Celestine and Rin, but to Ruri, who was raised in a world without dragonkin, it was more important to convey things of this nature in words. Even if told via an item, it wouldn’t click because the recipient wouldn’t have any idea of how valuable that item was, obscuring the point. Knowing that any possible mistake in judgment would bring shame made it hard to tread forward.

However, Rin told her up and down that a dragonheart held great importance, so Ruri knew. She knew, but...

“Gaaaah, what should I dooo?! Lydia!”

“Asking me won’t get you anywhere. It’s all on you whether you accept his feelings or not.”

“Ugh~”

“Do you even like the king in the first place?”

“Well, um...”

“You should start from there, shouldn’t you?”

She did like Jade. Or rather, it would be strange if she didn’t have feelings for him considering how much he doted on her. Things would be fine if he had any noticeable bad qualities, but he was personable, very handsome, a king, and especially kind to her. Jade was someone with great status, fame, looks, and personality. Knowing that someone like that might be in love with her, even if someone else were to show up, she would immediately compare them to Jade. She found Jade’s presence extremely comfortable, but she couldn’t say for sure whether it was simply because their mana wavelengths were compatible.

Ruri pondered for a while and then answered, “Okay, I’ll think about it after I make my hot springs.” She had decided to delay it for the time being.

Lydia threw her an exasperated look. Ruri tried not to glance her way as she resumed sorting the rooms.

“That’s called ‘escapism,’ you know.”

Ruri pretended not to hear her as she absorbed herself in sorting through the rooms as a means to run from her problems. That was when she heard a sound from out of nowhere, causing her to stop what she was doing.

“A song?”

It wasn’t just any sound—it had a melody. These faint notes were coming from a female voice, producing a tender yet forlorn song that traveled through Ruri’s ears. However, the only ones here were Ruri and Lydia, neither of which were speaking.

Could it have been her imagination? This was a place where only the Spirit of Time, Lydia, and her contract-bearer, Ruri, could enter. There shouldn’t be anyone else around. Ruri looked back to what she was working on, but she started to hear the song once again.

As if being tempted, she started walking in search of the source. “Here?” she asked, her search leading her inside a dark room that didn’t have an owner. Curious if anyone was actually inside, she reached for the door—but that was when it happened.

“Ruri, don’t!”

Just as Ruri was about to open the door, Lydia stood in front of it to stop her.

Ruri was perplexed by her frantic display. “What’s the matter, Lydia? This is a song, right? Is someone here?” she asked, even though that shouldn’t be. Not only had she never heard of anyone else being in this pocket space, she knew extended periods of time here affected one’s psyche. It wasn’t an ideal place to sing a ditty without a care in the world.

Nevertheless, it was there. Ruri listened to the beautiful song in vacant admiration.

“That is the singing of the ghost that dwells in this room, so you should by no means open it.”

“G-G-Ghost?!” stammered Ruri. She immediately backed away from the door. There were two things Ruri absolutely hated—bugs and ghosts.

“The owner of this pocket space died several decades ago, but after some time, I started to hear a voice coming from the vacant room. I initially thought the owner put a living person inside or something of the sort before their death, but I didn’t feel the presence of a living being. I became curious, so I peeked inside. And that’s when I saw it.”

“S-Saw what?” Ruri questioned. Lydia’s creepy tone coupled with her serious expression caused Ruri to gulp loudly.

“The transparent form of a woman!”

“There’s no twist to this, right? Like it being a spirit all along?”

“No twist. No other spirits aside from myself can enter here. It was terrifying. So since then, I’ve made this room off-limits.”

“Can’t you deal with it?”

“Deal with it how?”

“Like exorcising it or something?” Ruri suggested. Spirits filled the role of God in this world, so it didn’t seem like a stretch to think they could purify or exorcise a soul. “Oh, or couldn’t you just get rid of it, room and all?”

Lydia, however, strongly disapproved. “No way. What would happen if I got haunted as a result?”

How could a spirit be afraid of a ghost?

As the two conversed, the song continued. Ruri was afraid of ghosts, but the music was beautiful. The pleasant-sounding and memorable melody comforted her. She listened to the song, forgetting all about her fears. It even compelled her to start singing the same song herself.

According to Lydia, the ghost had been staying here over the course of decades. Ruri wondered what ran through her mind in her many years of being here. At the very least, she couldn’t imagine someone with such a beautiful singing voice would be spiteful and haunt others.