NOVEL NEXT Chapter 13
Chapter 13
—–CROW—–
-Wh-Why are you looking at me like that?
Did she really not know? I stared at Silphy with a cold, disillusioned gaze. Alright, time to accept reality. The Spirit King Silphy in my memories was gone. I’d revisit that memory in a few thousand years.
“But I should still take a picture.”
It was shocking, but this was undoubtedly Silphy in her younger days.
[Encounter with Young Silphy]
– Author: YonggariSnack
(Picture of young Silphy)
The cat and I just got kidnapped. The culprit? Silphy, of course. She dragged us deeper into the cave, and we almost died from the mana pressure, but we survived. And guess what? That creature I thought was a cat? Apparently, it’s a tiger.
– Woohoo!
– Young Silphy? I can’t believe I’m actually seeing this.
– Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
– Huh? Our kitty is actually a roaring tiger?
└ What the…
└ Even better! So cool!!
My post quickly became a hot topic in the gallery. A picture of Silphy in her younger days, already a popular figure, plus the revelation that the creature I’d been living with was a tiger, not a cat.
– But Gallery Master, are you okay?
└ Seriously, the mana there must be incredibly strong.
└ Silphy helped them, didn’t she?
└ As expected of Silphy. So kind.
└ That same Silphy kidnapped them, you know?
Some people were shocked that Silphy had kidnapped us, but thankfully, it didn’t seem to be a big deal.
– What are you doing, staring into space?
‘As expected, only I can see the gallery.’
I had suspected as much, but now it was confirmed.
“Sss.”
“I was just looking around.”
– Really? So what do you think?
“Sss.”
“It sucks.”
– That’s so mean! I worked hard to decorate it!
She decorated this? I immediately took a picture and added it to the post.
[Silphy’s Housewarming Party]
– Author: YonggariSnack
This is what Silphy calls her “home.” As you can see, there’s nothing here, but she claims she worked hard decorating it. What do you guys think?
– Silphy ㅠㅠ.
– You lived in a place like this?
– She decorated this? You mean cleaned?
└ She just cleaned. She even removed everything.
└ LOL.
Yes, it was laughable. An empty space as a home? And she claimed to have decorated it diligently? There was nothing here!
‘And… wasn’t this place originally a restricted area for spirits?’
Many thoughts crossed my mind, but the most intriguing question was why Silphy was here. According to HistoryRestorationAddict, this was a neutral zone where spirits agreed not to alter the environment. That’s why I thought there wouldn’t be any spirits here.
‘But I was wrong.’
Silphy’s presence refuted my assumption. It seemed it was a restricted area in terms of environmental manipulation, not access.
“Sss.”
“But why is a Wind Spirit in a cave like this?”
I still couldn’t understand why a Wind Spirit would be in a closed-off cave. Wind Spirits usually resided in open, natural environments where the wind blew freely. That’s why they mostly took the form of birds, to better understand the wind.
– That? I wanted a home!
“Meow?”
“Sss?”
“A home?”
– Yeah! We Wind Spirits don’t really have homes. We just drift aimlessly, wherever the wind takes us.
Whoosh.
– But I didn’t like that. Why should I keep moving with the wind? I thought, why can’t I just settle down in one place?
Now, hold on a second. I almost got swept away by the mood, but Silphy could understand our animal speech! She was understanding and responding to our words.
‘It’s been so long since I had a proper conversation.’
Farewell, days of playing emotional charades with that cat-like tiger. The Great Silphy had arrived to save me.
– But the other senior spirits didn’t ignore me and found me this home!
“Sss.”
“So how long have you been staying here?”
– Me? Let’s see… about 20 years? Yeah, around that long!
Wow, she had been living here for 20 years? How long had it been since I arrived in this cave?
‘Huh?’
Wait a minute. Then why hadn’t I seen Silphy during my time here? She couldn’t have just stayed inside all the time. She must have gone out for walks or something. But there was no way out of this cave except for the entrance where the cat and I lived, unless there was another exit deeper inside.
‘Don’t tell me…’
Ssssss.
“Ssssaaa.”
“Hey, Silphy.”
– Yes? What is it, our snake friend?
“Sss. Ssssaaaa.”
“How did you go outside while living here?”
When I asked seriously, Silphy tilted her head, looking puzzled.
– Go outside? Why would I go outside when I have a home?
“Sss?”
“What?”
What did I just hear?
– Well, yeah! This is my home! So there’s no need to go outside.
Was she really a Wind Spirit? How could a spirit, the embodiment of wind, think like that?
“Sss.”
“So you’ve never been outside this entire time?”
– Nope!
Sigh…
I was speechless. How could she say “Nope!” so cheerfully? She hadn’t stepped foot outside her “home,” this cave, for 20 years?
“Sss.”
“This won’t do.”
– What won’t do?
“Sss.”
“Let’s go outside.”
– Uh…
I really hated that look Silphy was giving me. But I was serious. If I didn’t get her out of here, something bad might happen. No, maybe something bad had already happened.
“Ssssaaa.”
“Hey, cat.”
“Meow?”
“Sss. Ssssaaa.”
“Help me out.”
Did it understand? It tensed its body and nodded. Good, let’s move.
– Wait a minute? Wh-Why do we have to go outside?!
“Sss. Ssssaaaa. Sss.”
“You’re a Wind Spirit. Have you ever seen the wind stay in one place?”
– Ahhh! No! I don’t want to go outside!
Seriously, stop it. I gave her an exasperated look, climbed onto her, coiled around her neck, and placed my head on top of hers.
– Kyaaah?! Wh-What are you doing?! Suddenly climbing on me!
“Sss.”
“Let’s go.”
Squeeze.
– Cough?! I-Is this a threat? Are you threatening me?!
“Sss.”
“Let’s go.”
– This is so unfair! I showed you my decorated home, I used my power to protect you and keep you from getting hurt! And you’re threatening me by choking me and forcing me to go outside!
There wouldn’t have been a problem if you hadn’t kidnapped us in the first place. I suppressed those words and tightened my coils.
“Sss.”
“Let’s go.”
– Snake friend, you’re a really bad guy! Tiger lady! Tell your friend to stop!
“Hiss!!”
– Why is no one on my side?!
Because you kidnapped us. I tightened my coils again and nudged her head with mine.
Wasn’t this dangerous? If Silphy got angry and removed the mana protecting us, both the cat and I would die instantly.
‘But I know.’
How kind Silphy was. Her image had been tarnished here, but her true nature hadn’t changed. Even now, she wasn’t withdrawing the protective wind despite our actions.
– Ughhh. I don’t want to go!
“Ssssaaa.”
“Let’s go.”
“Meow!”
– Okay, okay! Stop choking me! And you, stop biting my hair!
The cat was biting and pulling Silphy’s hair, which reached the ground, while I was choking her and urging her forward. I wondered what the gallery users, especially Silphy’s fans, would think if they saw this.
‘I might be assassinated on the spot if they ever meet me.’
But no one would know unless I posted about it. That’s why I was confident.
– Ughhh. W-We’re really going. Just a little further, and we’ll be outside…
We were almost there. Just a little more! Hang in there!
Pause.
“Sss?”
“Meow?”
Why did she stop?
Then, something changed with Silphy.
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
– H-Hey, friends? I don’t know why, but my body is trembling as we get closer to the outside. I-Is this okay?
Silphy was trembling as if there was an earthquake. Feeling the tremors through my head, I checked on her with a serious expression. Well, I had expected this. She had spent 20 years in a cave without sunlight, so this was only natural.
“Sss.”
“Let’s go.”
– A-Are we r-really going? Is this r-really okay?
She was even stuttering now. But we couldn’t stop here. It might be difficult, but we had to go outside.
“Ssssaaa.”
“You can do it. I believe in you!”
– W-We just met, why would you b-believe in me?!
But seeing Silphy take one hesitant step after another towards the outside, I smiled.
The hikikomori Wind Spirit. Venturing outside for the first time in 20 years.
—–CROW—–