Chapter 913 The Elf’s ‘Regression’
After teleporting to an indiscrete corner in Kuoh Town, Le Fay followed Elaine's instructions of leaving her alone for now, but not until after giving her a guidebook and making proper arrangements for her accommodations that could last her for months if she wanted to.
"Riveria-sama, it'll probably be after you learn how to use your Demonic Power before Elaine moves on to the formal lessons. I wish you good luck."
After Elaine's words, Le Fay already has an inkling of what Elaine and Kisuke were trying to do as she also went through something similar long ago. Though as a child, she was able to get through this phase quite easily.
Riveria thanked Le Fay for her time and asked her to give her regards to Elaine before she disappeared within the light of the Teleportation Magic. Now that she was alone in the quiet corner of the town that was full of greenery, she was able to calm her mind and took a deep breath, 'Do they really have to be so mysterious about this?'
As she took her step forward, the light between the leaves of the trees hit her face, 'Pride and desire... Pride is... thinking that you yourself are great, isn't it? Desire... What do I want exactly? Suddenly being asked that question, I won't be able to answer it easily.'
The cheerful chirps of the birds entered her ears signifying that she was pretty far away from the hustle and bustle of the town. It was then that she recalled her Familia. Being alone in this foreign world for the first time and not being busy burying herself among the books, she realized how much she missed the companions that accompanied her throughout life and death situations.
Riveria thought that she'd be immune to such a thing, but it turned out that she wasn't very different from others that would feel insecure when thrust into an unknown situation alone.
Riveria lifted the guidebook with a map sandwiched between the pages. She looked at it for a few seconds before clenching her fist and keeping it within her bag with Space Magic cast on it before turning around and walking deeper into the forest, and she wouldn't come out of it even after a week of staying in it.
.
.
.
On the morning of the 8th day of staying within the forest undisturbed, Riveria was living relatively well since she was given a full set of camping materials and food in her bag. Leaving her tent, Riveria met the first light of the day and stretched out while conjuring water through simple Magic to wash her face, 'Looks like the weather will be good today.' she thought while wiping her face.
Compared to the first time she came to become a hermit, Riveria had calmed down a lot and was able to rearrange her thoughts properly, 'I'm glad that I secluded myself. Though I still can't use my Demonic Power at its full capacity.'
She'd always ask herself if she had really become a Devil and would always get her answer by taking out and flapping her pair of Devil wings along with the night vision in the darkness. She was already capable of using her Demonic Power but was focusing on the fact that it could be used through the power of imagination. Without thinking of the process, she was able to move wind, combust matter, gather wind, and lift the earth, but beyond that and anything more complex would make her Demonic Power retract. So to a large degree, she's still failing.
Riveria was about to prepare her breakfast and continue her routine when a ringing sound suddenly came from her tent and she looked towards it. She didn't have to go inside to know what it was because, for the past four days, it'd ring about two to three times per day.
Riveria sighed and thought, 'I can't avoid him forever. The only thing I'm passing to him was the fact that I'm acting like a sulking child... Though I'm not really at fault, am I? I still think it would have been better to hear it from him directly so that I wouldn't be forever dependent on him.'
After contemplating for a few seconds, Riveria set aside making breakfast for now and reentered her tent to pick up the card that was placed on the table beside her bed. She looked at it for a few more seconds before taking a deep breath and injecting her Magic Power into it.
[Hmmm? Riveria-san? You finally answered! Does that mean you forgive me now?] A holographic screen showing Kisuke's face emerged from the top of the card.
Kisuke's nonchalant and borderline flippant tone of voice immediately struck a nerve in Riveria's head and she was about to hang up.
[Wait, wait, wait! Don't hang up!]
Riveria decided to wait, "What is it, master? I'm still quite busy figuring out how these things work."
[You can actually make yourself busy in that forest? That's amazing.]
"If there's nothing else, I'll just hang up."
[...] However, Kisuke only silently stared at her with a small smile on his face.
"W-what?"
[Nothing, really. I'm just glad that you're doing alright. I was worried, you know?]
Riveria was stunned and wasn't able to speak for a moment as the string in heart was struck nicely. She immediately noticed her strange silence and cleared her throat, "If you were worried, then at least apologize. I trusted you, but I'm now very confused with everything and started questioning why I'm even here."
Despite that recovery, her wiggling and red ears betrayed her and revealed what she's feeling right now.
[...Too easy...] Kisuke muttered under his breath.
"What was that!?"
[I mean too cute!]
"Wha!?" Riveria's face heated up, "Stop messing with me! I'm fine so I'm hanging up!"
But before she could do so, Kisuke, with a serious tone, said, [I did betray your trust, but I won't apologize.]
Riveria clenched her teeth, "You won't apologize because you know you're right? Is that it?" She couldn't really handle this rollercoaster of emotions that Kisuke was subjecting her to.
[I wouldn't say that I know I'm right because I always make mistakes too. I don't think of myself that highly. I just think that it's good for you and my opinion of that hasn't changed. Hence, I won't apologize.]
"...Why? Is it fun playing with me?" But then, Riveria immediately realized how wrong her words was and saw Kisuke sighed with disappointment, "N-no!"
[It's fine. Because from the outside perspective, I'm really just playing with your emotions.]
"Stop!" Riveria raised her voice, "Please stop! Please don't say that... I apologize... I didn't mean it"
'While you like messing around with people's heads, you're not the type of person who'd betray the feelings of someone you care about just for some amusement!' Is what she wanted to say but she had to swallow it because she was afraid. She's afraid that she didn't qualify for the condition of 'someone he cares about'.
'What's this? Why does this hurt? I have to calm down...' Riveria took a deep breath in an attempt to reign in her feelings.
But Kisuke only panicked when he saw some tears were about to fall from the corners of her eyes, [Hold on... Riveria-san... Are you okay?]
"Ahm fyne!" Riveria inevitably sniffled while giving out a reply, 'What's going on!? Why can't I stop myself!? This is embarrassing!'
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