I think Safi froze for a long time.
It’s no wonder though. After all, when she woke up, it’s already 1000 years in the future, and she is far away from her hometown, Alfheim. In fact, even the name of her beloved hometown had changed to “Alvis.”
Solana may be watching over her because the goddess herself remembers the time when she woke up alone.
“Safi-san……”
It was as if the fire had been extinguished, and her liveliness had disappeared.
“I’m okay.”
Safi sits back down, making her green pigtails sway in the process. She looked like a child, but her eyes were intense.
“I’ll tell you what I remember too. I think I’ve been asleep for a very long time. But—”
She paused then she continued,
“When I woke up, there was no one around. I mean, for it to be 1000 years later……”
She held her head and then she shakes head. She’s like a real child.
“……I’m sorry.”
“No, you don’t need to.”
“So I went out of the room I was in, but my head went fuzzy and more than anything, it was very cold…… I don’t remember much about what happened right after I woke up.”
Solana asked softly, “Did you hear the horn?”
“……Horn? Oh, I think I heard something……”
On Safi’s finger, a red ring glittered.
“From far down where I was sleeping, I felt a very…. hmm, how should I put it, ―it’s a very scary presence! I thought of running away so I went all the way up the stairs, and then I came out into a place that looked like a river…… I think I hid in a crate, and the next time I woke up, it was here.”
We looked at each other.
Maybe her memory is hazy in some places too. Because of that, there are a lot of parts that doesn’t make sense.
“……Can I ask you something?”
Solana narrowed her eyes at Safi’s ring. She stretched out her white hand and take Safi’s hand.
“It’s a ring imbued with magical powers.”
As if in response to the goddess, Loki approached the table.
“Let me have a look. Hahah~, it’s a dwarf’s work.”
Loki looks down at us and raised the corner of his mouth.
“It’s a ‘Guardian Ring,’ and the amount of magic you put into it protects its owner from hardship. Now you can imagine what it is.”
Loki points out his index finger.
“Perhaps she woke up from the seal because of the horn or maybe for some other reason. Then for a while, the protection of the ring allowed her to push aside the seal and move. But eventually, the time ran out, and she was finally resealed and turned to stone —I think that’s probably the case. If she managed to hide in the crate, then she must have been shipped as it was.”
Loki chuckled.
“I’m glad it’s not an antique-shop carriage. Imagine, what Ghent stone statue will you be?”
“Damn, you……!”
“Loki, that’s mean.”
—Even I decided to chime in with Safi, who was getting angry. Bent over laughing, Loki even points his finger at Safi.
Loki then adjusted his figure and pointed at Safi’s hand.
“What’s more, your ring also seems to have the effect of absorbing the magic of the surrounding area.”
“The surroundings?”
“This time, it must have absorbed the power in the magic stones that was carried with you. Which means that after a while, the magic power on it will be revived, in short, it can be recharged.”
Safi jumped up.
“Oh, I remembered! And I just woke up! But outside the crate is a completely different place, and I’m hungry—I went to scavenge for my stuff.”
Finally, I was convinced of one thing. Just before Safi was released from her seal, she had turned to stone with her hand reaching in her bag.
She was probably looking for food.
“S-so sturdy huh……”
Mia-san was stunned and impressed.
Solana puts her hand to her chin.
“I see…. But on your way to resupply, you turned to stone again, then we found you—”
Felix-san rubbed his eyebrows.
“……Let’s sort out our concerns. The situation is unclear. However, it seems that the golem core may have come from Alvis, just like Safi.”
After all, they were all on board that carriage.
Felix-san’s words made me think about it too.
It seems certain that the mining town of Alvis is located in the same place as Alfheim. If so, it certainly means that the golem core came from the place where Safi was, that is, the destination of our journey.
“Golem huh……”
In the Western dungeon, and again this time, the golem gives off the shadow of a giant. It’s just as big, but there’s something even bigger.
Safi stared at the table for a while. Then she raised her head.
“That…… I still don’t understand what the seal is. But I still have friends in Alfheim. There are voices that responded to your call, right?”
Safi looked around at us.
“Please, help Alfheim and wake them up. I’m sure everyone will be thankful, in exchange, you can take from the dwarf’s forge……!”
Her sincere wish is different from the dangerous image of the “black dwarf” that I knew beforehand. If the dwarf’s skills are on our side, it will also help protect Lu.
I would like to respond, “Of course”.
But right at that moment, Loki’s voice echoed in my head.
『Rion』
……He is outside the coin but he’s using telepathy. It’s the same way he does when he is in the gold coin.
『Be careful. We don’t really know much about this child, but even in mythological times, distrust and betrayal were commonplace. In any case, just be careful……』
Loki……
After all, something happened huh.
Safi laughed sadly.
“……You can’t? Hehe, I guess you guys can’t trust the black ones after all.”
No. I shake my head.
“Everything is going according to plan, right everyone?”
Both Mia-san and Felix-san nodded. Solana is watching over us like the sun.
“Rion, I agree with you.”
Safi’s face lit up. Her pigtails shook as she got excited and then she pulls out a small hammer from her heavy-looking bag.
“Then I’ll help too! Just wait, until we get to Alvis, I’ll forge you weapons to the point where you can’t even look at your current ones!”
The dwarf blacksmith puffed her chest proudly.
“I’ll carve a special magic runes just for you!”
“Runes?”
“It’s like a coat of arms, a weapon strengthening! Dwarf carving, also known as magic runes, is something special that even the gods can’t imitate—wait with anticipation!”
We decided to hurry on the road to Alvis.
We also added a new companion to our group —the dwarf blacksmith, Safi.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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