134 – Growth (4)

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“You can do it.”

“…”

At Pia’s answer, which came out naturally as if breathing, I unconsciously stopped moving and looked down at her blankly.

Pia looked up at me with a puzzled expression, as if she didn’t know why my hands had stopped stroking her hair.

I stared at her with my big eyes closed, then swallowed hard and asked again.

“You can do it?”

“huh,”

Pia nodded.

I felt a little creeped out by that expression that said he didn’t know what the problem was.

“how?”

“What is happening?”

“How… can you do that?”

Pia crawled up from between my legs and pretended to chop wood with an axe as she spoke.

“like this?”

“…?”

“This way, I just have to work hard to get rid of the trees that Ash wants to get rid of.”

“… Then, what about teleportation?”

“I just have to lift Ash hard and move him!”

“…under,”

I let out a hollow laugh as I looked at Pia, who was slightly bending and raising her arms as if showing off her muscles.

After all, Pia’s words that she could do anything seemed to be nothing more than a child’s naive confidence.

I sighed.

It was partly because I felt ashamed of myself for having expected that Pia might have some kind of incredible power hidden within her, but at the same time, I also felt an inexplicable sense of relief that I wasn’t suddenly given an overwhelming power that I couldn’t handle.

It’s ironic.

In this situation where I have to struggle to become even a little stronger, I am relieved to know that I did not gain any power beyond common sense.

“Yeah yeah, Pia is amazing.”

I agreed with Pia, reaching up and patting her head.

Pia rubbed her head against my hand as if feeling good and then ran into my arms.

I patted Pia on the back.

It felt like I was holding a small child, or a large puppy.

I said to Pia, who was held in my arms.

“But Pia, I can do that too.”

“Ash?”

“If I try hard, I can cut down a tree, and if I try hard enough, I can walk home.”

“really?”

For a moment, I felt strange.

This was because Pia’s question was filled with distrust and doubt, not childish innocence or anticipation.

“Ash does it too?”

“… Yeah. Maybe? It’ll be really hard though.”

“No? Ash can’t teleport with his magic power?”

“Um… Do you know that too?”

“I know everything about Ash. I’ve been watching him since he was a little kid.”

“… was that so?”

“Yeah, Ash was so cute when he was a baby!”

Indeed, even though she looked young, Pia was a spirit.

I began to wonder anew what a guardian spirit was.

Was Pia born at the same time as me?

Maybe it existed before that and came to stay with me after I was born.

But it felt a little strange to hear those words from Pia, who looked like a six-year-old child.

“I haven’t learned Ash Teleport. It’s too hard.”

“… That was… right,”

Certainly, teleportation was a magic known for being difficult even among advanced magic.

To begin with, even among the most famous wizards, there weren’t many who could use teleportation, and I know that even Sister Maria could only use it in very limited situations.

Indeed, if teleportation magic could be used without any restrictions, the journey to the Demon King’s Castle would not have been so difficult and complicated in the first place.

But I spoke as if to contradict Pia’s words.

“But Pia, you’re just carrying me. Then it’s not teleportation, right?”

“Ooh, that’s teleportation.”

“…?”

Pia, who was in my arms, suddenly wrapped her legs around my waist and clung to my body.

“Eww, Pia?”

“Can Ash do something like this?”

“huh?”

As Pia finished speaking, I suddenly felt a cold wind brushing my cheek.

wind…?

I raised my head.

“… Wait, really?”

“You can’t? Hehe.”

Before I knew it, the place where I was sitting had changed from a small cabin by the lake to a room filled with beautifully decorated furniture.

I was shocked to find that I felt nothing.

The magic clearly states that using teleportation would make you feel like your body is being sucked somewhere, or that your peripheral vision would quickly spin around, but in reality, I didn’t feel that way at all, and my location just changed quickly.

It was as if the scenery had changed in the blink of an eye.

“…Here?”

I slowly got up from my seat and looked around the room, my head moving around in confusion.

It was a familiar ceiling, a familiar floor, and familiar furniture.

The layout had changed a bit, and there was some dust there, but I definitely knew this place.

“…Ah, ahh!”

The second room inside the hallway on the second floor of the staff mansion in the Goldfield Estate.

It was my room.

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“… That’s ridiculous.”

“Hehehe, isn’t Pia amazing?”

“…”

I looked down at Pia without saying anything.

Pia puffed out her chest and showed off her proud expression.

I was stunned for a moment, looking at the two ears perking up on her head and the tail wagging endlessly behind her back.

“…Ash? What’s wrong?”

“…”

“Did… Pia do something wrong? Did I make a mistake?”

“…Oh, no,”

Use your head.

Damn, you can be surprised later, you can miss it later!

First of all, you need to start thinking straight away.

The reason I couldn’t get out of the forest wasn’t because of physical reasons, but because of the curse in these eyes.

If there had been no curse, it would have been a place I could have returned to at any time.

That is, I must not stand out to others.

“Pia, can you go back?”

“huh?”

“Can we go back? To that cabin!”

I shouted at Pia in an urgent voice.

Pia said with her ears drooping in surprise.

“Yeah, yeah! I can go back…”

“Whew…”

I sighed.

Oh my god, this is home. This is my room.

Only after hearing Pia’s confirmation did I feel a little less nervous.

Only then was I able to look around the room with peace of mind.

Unlike when I was living there, the room was half like a warehouse.

My desk and bed were pushed all the way into the room, and it looked like various materials and furniture from other rooms had been shoved in.

My magic book that had been spread out on the desk had already disappeared somewhere, and the ink bottle that had been left open had probably fallen over, so some of the material on the desk was completely dyed black.

Still, it was enough to make me feel nostalgic.

The ceiling I thought I would never see again,

A wallpaper pattern I thought I would never see again.

And that familiar door, which looks like it could be opened by Layla at any moment…

“… under,”

“Ugh, ugh…”

“Pia?”

While I was absorbed in the sentiment, I heard Pia sobbing and turned my head.

Pia was sobbing, holding onto the hem of her skirt, her ears and tail hanging down.

I guess he was surprised because of what I had said to him a little while ago.

I hugged Pia like that with a feeling of regret.

Pia hugged me tightly and spoke to me in a tearful voice.

“I, I’m sorry, Ash. I thought you’d like it…”

“I was so surprised. I’m sorry, Pia. Okay. I’m so glad you came.”

“…really?”

“Yeah, I really like it.”

Pia sniffled and laughed.

I stroked Pia’s hair roughly as if I was tousling it.

Pia laughed with watery eyes.

“Pia is right. Pia is amazing.”

“lol,”

“…Wait a minute, then Pia… wouldn’t you be able to transport me and Sylvia to the Demon King’s Castle all at once?”

Pia shook her head.

As she shook her head, the tears that had been slightly clinging to her eyes scattered in all directions.

Pia answered hesitantly, her voice still heavy with tears.

“I, I can only move Ash. And I can only go to places where Ash’s memories are buried.”

“… I see.”

I nodded at Pia’s explanation.

There are many complex restrictions on teleportation magic, but I’ve never heard of conditions like the ones Pia mentioned.

In other words, the power that brought me here to Pia must have been a completely different type of magic than the one I know.

Perhaps this is what spiritism is.

If you think about it that way, what Pia said was natural.

As my guardian spirit, it was a very understandable restriction that I could only move to places related to me.

Because other people can’t even see Pia in the first place.

Anyway, I learned one thing for sure.

The powers of this little fox spirit girl are far greater than I thought.

I muttered, letting go of Pia slightly.

“Okay, then… before we go back…”

“before?”

“What can I do…”

The fact that I got here was worth more than just easing my homesickness and longing.

There are limits to how far you can go as you have to avoid human eyes, but even in this mansion, there are many useful items that you would never find in the forest.

Among them, there might be some items that could be useful during the journey to subdue the Demon King.

In other words, this situation was a huge opportunity for me, no, for us.

As I was looking around the room to see if there was anything I needed to pack, my gaze eventually stopped at one piece of furniture.

I called out to Pia softly.

“…pia”

“huh?”

“Can I carry the bed?”

“…”

Pia shook her head with a disgusted expression.

“no,”

“…okay?”

“I am a guardian spirit, not a porter.”

“sorry…”

That was when.

Footsteps were heard outside the door.

“…!”

I was so shocked that I locked the door and held my breath.

The sound of footsteps was slowly getting closer.

Judging by the overlapping sound of footsteps, it seemed like there was more than just one person approaching.

Who is it?

Who is staying at our house?

shit,

I cursed myself for being short-sighted.

According to Sister Alice, the world outside the forest was in shambles, so it wouldn’t be surprising if some unidentified ronin were using this house as a temporary residence.

Besides, my room was filled with all kinds of furniture like a warehouse, and there was no way the furniture could have moved on its own without someone moving it.

“No, what did you hear?”

“I clearly heard some guy talking!”

“That crazy guy can hear things! Now?”

“Hey, this kid, you really want to bet?”

“No, you idiot. At best, you’re a rat or a raccoon.”

The footsteps were getting closer and closer, and the voice of the person making those footsteps was also getting closer.

I called Pia in a whisper, sweating profusely.

“Pia, let’s go back.”

“no.”

“…what?”

“You’ll have to wait a bit before you can teleport again.”

“…how much?”

“Uh… how many hours?”

“…”

Suddenly,

Someone grabbed the doorknob and started turning it.

.