Arriving before the Spirit King Palace, the biggest mansion at the center where the Spirit King's wife appeared from, we were welcomed by a silver-haired gorgeous lady.
Compared to the other structures surrounding it, the palace was certainly the grandest.
If I can describe it properly then it's like a big dome. Though the doors could only fit their humanoid forms, the interior has a high ceiling and wide space that it's possible for them to transform back to their original forms without damaging anything.
"How long has it been, Yumiko?"
The silver-haired lady smiled upon seeing her. She's wearing a black and white tight dress showing her curves that could be compared to a supermodel.
Of course, just by appearing in front of us, it's quite clear that she's Ezyn's wife, the silver dragon from earlier.
She's not a Ruler Spirit but there's no doubt that she's at least a Peak Noble Spirit. I wonder what's their story?
The Spirit King is recognized as the strongest but she's probably the one making the Spirit Beasts fall in line. With his attitude, Ezyn could be a tyrant if there's no one supporting him who could manage everything for him.
"Yse, it's not even a year. Sorry, I kept running away from him, that's why I couldn't visit you."
Yumiko hugged her as a greeting. From the way they acted towards each other, they're not just friends but sisters. With her managing the things here, the Spirit King can go outside and play anytime he wants to.
"It's fine. I know that you're always focused on your goal to drive the long-ears away."
The silver-haired lady shook her head to ease Yumiko up.
"Erm, but I never tried to hear him out before this. Can you tell me more about it?"
Yumiko looked up.
I see. Because she kept running away from him, she never knew why he was chasing her. She thought it's just the usual 'transform into being a dragon' again.
"That can wait. You just arrived from a long ride. Why don't you all rest first? I'm going to go and pick up that idiotic king."
She then led us further inside their Palace and arrived in a room that was meant for receiving guests. This is probably mostly unused. As the ruler of all the Spirit Beasts, who would dare visit them? Only Yumiko.
"Let me introduce them to you first, Yse. They're my companions, helping me all this time."
Yumiko stopped her before she went out and then introduced us one by one starting from the twins then Jayna. She doesn't have that much of a reaction towards them unlike what she showed towards Yumiko but at least, she nodded at them as acknowledgement.
When it's my turn to be introduced, the silver-haired lady stopped Yumiko from speaking.
"He doesn't look like a Spiritas. Someone from your world?"
Closing the distance between us, her eyes scanned me. After a minute under her scrutinizing gaze, she turned to Yumiko and asked.
"Nothing can really escape your eyes, Yse."
Yumiko laughed and just admitted it.
Though I knew that she would still introduce me as such, for the silver-haired lady to notice it by herself, she really got a good eye.
"I'm Daisuke, it's nice meeting the Spirit Queen."
I held out my hand for a handshake which she took.
"You're a lot weaker than Yumiko at the moment but I can feel that your destiny is way bigger than hers."
Without speaking, I heard the silver-haired lady's voice inside my head. It's the same telepathy which Jayna's father used that day.
Destiny eh? Though I'm inclined not to believe in that, there's no denying that there's something going on with my encounters in different worlds. For her to even sense that, this wife of the Spirit King isn't simple.
"It's the first time someone other than Yumiko appeared here, are you someone special?"
This time, she voiced it out. This lady is kind of scary but yeah, there are no signs of danger or any hint of ill intent coming from her.
"Ah. I'm Yumiko's support. Basically, I'm here to help her."
I answered with a smile.
The Spirit Queen nodded at my answer.
"I guess Yumiko wouldn't be as lonely now, thanks to you."
Eh? Yumiko? Lonely? Err. She's always smiling ever since we arrived in this world. I guess she's good at masking it?
After the introductions, she left us in the room and told us to feel free if we wanted to explore the palace.
Jayna, being the curious girl that she is, asked Rei to accompany her for a tour. Ren then followed them behind like a bodyguard leaving only me and Yumiko in the room.
Though Jayna first looked at me, she probably restrained herself to ask me to accompany her.
I sat down on a long chair to rest and pass the time. Well, passing the time entails for me to overthink about the things I saw and heard.
"Daisuke, what do you think of this place?"
Yumiko sat down beside me and asked. Now that I got to look at her again, she's not exuding any loneliness. In fact, she seemed to be in a good mood.
"Err... It's huge?"
? It certainly is huge but yeah, I'm playing dumb since her question is too vague.
"No. I mean, your ability isn't picking up something?"
Yumiko giggled cutely and corrected her question. Is she trying to say that I have to be wary while we're here?
"Now that you mention it, no. There's nothing that's triggering a reaction from it."
Ever since entering, my Adaptability never triggered for any danger that might've been lurking. Not even when the Spirit Queen drew close to me.
"I see."
Yumiko nodded and before letting herself be comfortable on the chair.
"Is there something I should know about?"
She wouldn't really ask me that if there's nothing.
"Un. It's about the Spirit King's wife."
She nodded as she confirmed my guess.
"You mean, your friend?"
She's her friend. Is there something wrong with her? Apart from her being a bit scary by talking about destiny, there's nothing wrong with her.
"Yes. Yse's really good to me. But you know, among the Spirit Beasts, she's the most fearsome. Uhm. That was before the old thing managed a miraculous breakthrough."
The most fearsome, eh? No wonder Ezyn's so submissive towards her. But she already went to pick him up not an hour later after telling him to kneel there.
"So before his breakthrough, she's the strongest among the Spirit Beasts?"
That's probably the truth but yeah, this information predates back before Yumiko was first summoned here. She probably heard about it from the silver-haired lady's own mouth.
"Yes. I told you she's fearsome. The first time I saw her, she talked about my destiny."
Destiny again. Is she somehow connected to it? For her to see the destiny of someone and talk about it… She's certainly fearsome.
"Ah. She also used telepathy to tell me about my destiny."
There's no use keeping it from her so…
"What did she tell you?"
Now, like Jayna, Yumiko's eyes brightened as her curiosity got ignited.
"That my destiny is bigger than yours?"
This is what Yuko believed as well, that I'll become someone greater than her. Leading them on some kind of battle.
"That might be true, you're more than extraordinary Daisuke, no wonder Yuko and Jayna were all over you."
Hearing that, I didn't expect Yumiko to agree on it but her next words were something else…
"Err... Why is Jayna included in it?"
I only asked just for the sake of conversation, it's actually more obvious now during our journey here, Jayna never left my side.
"You don't have to deny it, and you're not dumb not to notice it, Daisuke."
Bearing a mysterious smile on her face, Yumiko tapped my cheek as if she's trying to wake me up.
"So, it's already that obvious, eh? I guess you're right. Uhm, so, what's this about the Spirit Queen?"
Since she already mentioned that, I could only admit to it and bring back the conversation to our original topic.
"Un. She's probably the one who asked the old thing to invite us."
Yumiko didn't mind it when I changed the topic back and said her suspicion.
"I see. Do you think she holds malicious intent towards us?"
Probably not, Yumiko wouldn't agree to it if she does.
"Not really, no. As you can see, Yse is too good to me, I'm like her sister from the way she treats me."
Yumiko shook her head denying my question. I also didn't feel any hostile intention towards her so it's safe to say that it's not her who's making Yumiko restless.
"Then what's wrong?"
"It's the place we were about to explore."
"The Ancestral Ruins of Dragonkins?"
I see. So it's that place. What do they call it in those novels? A trial ground? I hope that's not it, but if it is then we could expect some benefit coming inside it.
"I heard about that from Uncle Harlan, it's not just an ordinary ruin and it's not really dragonkin exclusive. It's an ancient ruin which dated back way before the Spiritas Federation was formed."
Ah. The Spirit King probably just called it like that since it's in their territory. Maybe it held some secrets of this world or something like the inheritance which Zerina unearthed.
"I see. Should we stop the exploration then?"
I asked Yumiko. I'm currently her support so, if it doesn't feel right to her, I'll be her second voice.
"No. She probably wanted to know what's in there."
Ah. I guess there are some restrictions on it. Which made it impossible for her to see what's inside. So that's where Yumiko comes in, eh? Sounds about right.
Visit freewe𝑏nov(e)l.𝗰𝐨𝐦 for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience