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“Ah, Zion. Wait a moment.”

Thinking about it, Elder Leonard mentioned that he prepared something for Zion to use in the hot spring…

“Where are you going?”

As I stepped out of the hot spring to look for the item prepared by the Elder, Zion asked what’s going on.

“Don’t worry; I’m not going anywhere. I’m just going to find something.”

Is it that concerning for me to leave somewhere?

Anyway, the Elder said he placed one of those things at each hot spring, so it should definitely be somewhere.

“Ah, here it is.”

What I found was a small bath chair.

One chair was brought outside to make it easy to find among all the chairs grouped together.

“You can use this to move around in here.”

“Huh? What is this?”

“It’s a chair.”

The chair prepared by the Elder has four long legs, so you can sit without bending your knees, and each leg has wheels that turn 360 degrees, making it easy for Zion to move around since he can’t walk.

I heard that the Elder made this on the spot for Zion to use in the hot spring.

Of course, even if it was made on the spot, being a proud Dwarf, it wasn’t a shoddily made item.

“Wow, it’s quite convenient.”

“Right? You should try using it to move around when you wash up later. Oh, and don’t forget to let me know when you’re coming out.”

“Got it.”

Having placed the chair within Zion’s reach, I returned to the hot spring and soaked my body.

In the Dwarf village, smoke was rising everywhere.

The volcano, the hot waters, and the furnaces in the village all created plumes that rose high into the sky.

It was hard to tell if the things scattered in the sky were clouds or smoke, and shining stars peeked through the gaps in the smoke, illuminating us.

Soaking in the warm hot spring surrounded by nature, looking up at the stars, I felt relieved from the fatigue of the day… no, from the fatigue of the past while.

‘Huh?’

As I absently stared at the sky, one of the countless stars caught my eye as it seemed to head somewhere, trailing a long tail behind it.

“Zion. Do you see that? Right over there…”

“Yeah, I see it. So be quiet.”

“Huh?”

Be quiet? Is the shooting star going to hear us and run away or something?

Confused, I turned my head toward Zion, who wasn’t looking at the sky.

What Zion was looking at was the source of the spring water in front of us, where water was flowing out.

‘What’s over there?’

Due to the steam rising from the water, I couldn’t see beyond the hot spring, but since Zion said he saw something, I focused a bit more on that spot.

As I gazed quietly, I began to notice small lights sparkling near the source.

Various glowing lights in dark yellow, bright blue, and red flickered and shone.

Curious about what they were, I stealthily moved closer to Zion to bridge the distance between us.

“What is that?”

I could talk quietly now that I was closer.

Zion seemed to notice that I came closer but answered in a soft voice without taking his eyes off the sparkle in front.

“They’re spirits. Have you really forgotten everything? Is that how reincarnators are?”

Those are the spirits of this world…

In the original work, it was stated that unless someone made a contract with the spirits, they couldn’t see their true forms and only appeared as sparkling lights.

“I could be confused, you know. It’s hard to see.”

“Yeah, that does seem to be the case. Should we call them?”

“Call them?”

“Spirits usually don’t come near strangers, but since they are essentially nature, timeless beings, they might remember Hop Harvey.”

Oh no, for spirits, I’m probably just a stranger!

In fact, I’m a reincarnated person from another world, so to the spirits, I’m just as foreign as anyone else.

If the spirits saw me and freaked out, that could lead to a troublesome situation…

“Do we really have to call them?”

“As the Elder said, the spirits and the land might help us. It wouldn’t hurt to call them, even if they run away.”

“I see… well, if that’s the case…”

Since Zion said it wouldn’t be a loss even if they ran away, it seemed he thought the spirits would escape if they wanted to.

Since I didn’t oppose it, Zion silently focused on the direction where the spirits were, taking a deep breath.

– Whoooosh…

Then a small breeze blew. It was the wind created by Zion.

The wind, which started from Zion’s back, skimmed across the surface of the hot spring, creating small waves.

Thanks to that, the steam rising from the hot spring momentarily cleared, and the spirits began to come into clearer view.

“It looks like they noticed us.”

To me, the spirits appeared as little lights, but at that moment, I had a definite feeling.

The clear sensation that I was locking eyes with those little beings.

I wondered how they would react. Would they freak out and scatter, taking off?

– ……

Fortunately, the spirits did not run away and instead sparkled as they approached us.

Then, as if welcoming the hero Zion, they surrounded us, shining their little lights to greet us.

“So pretty… thank you, little ones.”

Zion smiled at the spirits and expressed his gratitude.

Is this what it means to be a hero? A person loved by the world and nature.

Her presence didn’t dull in the slightest by someone like me being next to her.

“Huh?”

As the spirits drew closer and surrounded us, they began to land on Zion’s shoulder or slip under the water, clinging to her body.

“Are you going to heal me?”

Can Zion communicate with the spirits?

That had never been the case in the original work, but the spirits answered as if responding to Zion’s question, sticking on her body while shimmering brightly, as though they were casting some magic.

Is it healing magic that belongs to the nature system? While direct healing effects might be hard to expect, it seemed reasonable to expect benefits like recovery from fatigue, relaxation, or psychological comfort.

“Thank you. I’ll do my best. With the teacher’s help here, I’ll definitely recover.”

Zion beamed brightly, surrounded by the spirits’ light. When Zion mentioned me, the remaining spirits that had surrounded us flew toward me, clinging to my body.

“Huh? Me too?”

Before I could even feel surprised, the spirits began to stick to me, sparkling while casting various kinds of magic, just like they did with Zion.

Looks like the spirits didn’t mind unfamiliar people after all?

“You might be remembered by the teacher.”

That can’t be true. Maybe they just recognized me as Zion’s companion.

The land and spirits helping… who knew the Elder’s words actually meant that the spirits would help us by sticking to us?

With the warm hot spring water sensation on my skin combined with the spirits’ glowing light, I felt something like a warm sensation washing over me, as though the fatigue that had been piling up was being purified and drifting away.

“I’ll definitely remember this. If I pile up fatigue again, I should seriously consider coming here…”

“Would you really? If the spirits helped, the dwarves would probably welcome you even in my absence.”

“Hmm…”

The truth is, the idea of wanting to come back came out so casually because I felt so good.

The spirits wouldn’t show such reactions if Zion wasn’t there, so it wouldn’t make sense to come alone.

“Seems like it’s decided then.”

“Huh? Why…”

“Because I promised not to go anywhere without Zion.”

“……”

Earlier, I thought the stars twinkling in the sky were beautiful, but now it felt like our bodies were sparkling more than the stars.

“We can come together.”

Zion shyly smiled at me, wrapped in the glittering lights.

If Zion were to accompany me…

“Then when I’m tired, I’ll call you, so you remember that?”

“Of course. Just don’t overdo it and make sure to call me.”

The spirits continued to cling to us a little longer, sparkling and casting healing magic until they felt we had recovered enough from fatigue. They then gently detached themselves, circling around us as if saying goodbye, and then scattered in all directions, growing distant.

“Goodbye~ Thank you~”

As Zion waved her hand to bid farewell, I considered waving back but felt a bit awkward, so I decided to send my gratitude silently.

Thanks to the unexpected help from the spirits, it felt like all the fatigue in my body vanished. Who would have thought I’d feel this refreshed?

“Is that enough of a soak in the hot spring?”

The spirits had left, and since I had soaked long enough, Zion was trying to emerge from the water.

She hung onto the edge of the hot spring with her arms and tried to lift her legs to get out, but the wet towel she was completely soaked in seemed heavy, dragging her back into the water.

“Need a hand?”

“Seems you’re always ready to grab my body at any opportunity.”

“If you don’t need it, that’s fine…”

After a long struggle between splashes and trying to get out, Zion finally succeeded in flopping onto the edge of the hot spring.

Now all she had to do was sit on the chair.

Since the chair was a bit away from the hot spring, instead of crawling, Zion decided to roll on the ground to get to the chair…

“!!!”

Had she been in the water too long, or was the towel tied too tightly?

Suddenly the towel unraveled from her body like a sushi roll gone backwards, falling onto the ground, neatly spread out.

“Huh?”

Feeling a sense of emptiness, Zion propped herself up to look at the ground, then raised her gaze to check on me.

And of course, she locked eyes with me, witnessing the whole scene unfold.

“What are you staring at?!!”

The very next moment after locking eyes with Zion, something heavy and broad flew straight towards my face, instantly obstructing my vision and breath.

– SPLAT!

With a loud sound, a wet something slammed into my face. This… is a wet towel…!

Being soaked, it hit my face with an impressive squelch, almost knocking me out for a moment.

‘Grrk! I can’t breathe…!’

I’ve heard there’s a method where you can suffocate someone with a wet cloth, and am I being subjected to that right now?

– SPLASH!

With a momentarily unexpected shock hitting my head, I ended up tumbling backward and fell right into the water.

 

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