-- cool, cold, hard feeling.

............ hmm?

　Something is different.

　Normally the comforter is more fluffy and warm and wraps around Iruna and tries to keep her awake, but today ...... an uncomfortable coldness wakes Iruna's hazy head.

　A slight scowl crossed your face as you rubbed your eyes and half-lifted your body.

　Then, out of focus and out of sleep, you see an evenly spaced line of iron bars and a ceiling that doesn't even allow you to stand up.

　I was awake in an instant.

　And when you look down at your neck, you see a collar around Iruna's neck and a thick chain extending from the collar and connecting it to a loop coming out of the floor. You can feel a definite magic from the collar. Perhaps it's a magic tool.


　--Iruna was trapped in a cage.


----

　I remember.

　Iruna was playing, when suddenly strange men appeared and poured something liquid-like on her.
　At that moment, Iruna lost consciousness and ...... realized that she was here.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find the same kind of cage as Iruna's, a girl with beastly ears from her head, a girl of the demon tribe with horns like a sheep, and people of various races. There are no men. They're all women.

　The only thing they have in common, though they are of various races, is that they all have despair and resignation in their eyes, so much so that even young Iruna can see it.

　And then, halfway through the day, half confused, but somehow looking around to see what's going on, the sound of two people's footsteps echoing on the stone floor reaches her ears.

We got lucky. I thought you were dead for sure.

"You're right. I was about to be fed to the demons in the back arena.

　While exchanging such a conversation, two men emerged from the back of the room.

　--They look familiar.

　These two men appeared in front of Iruna, who had been playing - and, as I recall, were with the men who had turned Iruna's (・・・・・) hometown into a mess (・・・・・・・・・).

Wake up, you little shit. d*mn, you made me do a lot of work!

"Ugh--

　Struck in the face from behind the cage, her young body easily blows off and hits the back of her head with a thud against the iron bar behind her.

　Tears ooze from the intense dull pain.

"Hey, stop. I know how you feel, but if you drop the value of your product, you'll get hurt again. Either way, the kid's going to end up in the pervy aristocracy. Just live with it.

...... Hey kid, listen up. You'd rather die all day, every day, than be a plaything for some perverted aristocrat who says he loves kids' bodies. How do you feel?

　It's not just a good idea to have a good time, but it's also a good idea to have a good time.

　It's a good idea to be able to have a good time with your friends and family.

　...... It's okay.

　--I've got an older brother.

　The first thing that comes to mind is a figure.

　The older brother is very kind and warm and I love him. I was a little scared of him at first ...... but he's not scary at all.

　But she's not a scary person at all.

　It's the only thing that can keep Iruna's heart afloat right now. It's not just a matter of time before your family was killed, your hometown was destroyed and all you could do was despair.

　--And then there's the lady who is usually a goofball but can be counted on in times of trouble.
　Those two are so strong. They've been told many times how scary and scary the demons are, but with them you can kill them easily.

　So--it's okay.

"...... d*mn kids

　Perhaps not amused by Iruna's reaction, the man clicked his tongue and called out to the other man next to him, "Let's go," and left.


　　　* * * *


　When they were out of sight, Iruna scrubbed her eyes and worked her young head hard -- but she couldn't just wait.

　--But it's not enough to wait.

　But we can't just wait. Crying and waiting in sadness that comes later and later will not help anyone.

　Only by moving yourself will you have a chance to grab a helping hand.

　Then what you can do now is to buy yourself some time.

　You can't run. You don't know where you are, and you don't know which way to run.
　It's better to buy time by hiding out somewhere or something until the two people she loves come to you.

　After deciding that, Iruna whispered in a small voice as if to arouse her faint heart.

"Please, spirit of the earth. I need your help.

　At that moment - a blur, a slightly brownish light appears.

　It's a pale light that seems to melt into the darkness ...... but it's certainly there.

　The Blessing of the Spirit King.

　It's a title that not even Refi, let alone Yuki, is aware of that Iruna has.

　Blessing of the Spirit King: Blessing by the Spirit King Ig-Draziel. Able to see the good and bad in others and sense their harmful intentions. Acquire the skill "Spirit Magic". This title and its accompanying skills cannot be seen by others.

　--This was the means by which Iruna was rescued when she escaped last time and was somehow able to survive despite being attacked by the demons of the demon forest and protect herself from other demons until she was protected by Yuki.

"Please, spirit of the earth. I need you to unlock this collar and the cage.

　The pale light makes a nodding motion, and then is sucked into Iruna's collar and - just when you think it's time to go in - there's a click and a small sound of the collar coming off.



　I'm sure that in light of the fact that Iruna escaped before, the collar was also used as a magic tool to prevent her from escaping next time - but that doesn't matter for spirits.

　A genie is magic power itself. They eat magic power and exist through the medium of magic power.

　Therefore, they are no match for other creatures if you let them handle it.

　It is a magic tool, but it won't move if the magic power, the source of power, is gone. It's no big deal for a spirit to suck up all the magic power of a magic tool in an instant, empty it, and destroy it.

　The pale light slides through the hollow and then enters the lock of the cage itself, which also clicks open in a matter of seconds.

　Confirming this, Iruna thanks the earth spirit and then calls the dark spirit.

　In addition to the four types of spirits of earth, water, wind, and fire, there are a total of six types of spirits, including light and dark, each with a different magical field of expertise.

　The earth spirits are related to earth, minerals, and metals - and the darkness specializes in deceptive, dark magic that is mixed with the other eye.

　...... I would help the others if I could, but I can't right now, even if I could ....... If we let them all go as well, there would be a lot of confusion.

　--Just wait and see. I will not abandon you, just as my brother helped me.

"Thanks to ......, dark spirit.

　Then there was no one to notice Iruna, who had disappeared into the dimness with the help of the dark spirits.