I glare at the window outside, taking note of the shining sun and the warming weather. It seems that spring is right around the corner. I turn around and head out the door.

“Hey Riku, you said you were going to be six years old in a month or two, right?”

Watanabe stands by my door as I leave my room for lunch, or a least a chance at getting lunch.

“Yeah, what about it?”

He takes a cigarette out from one pocket and a lighter from the other. He then glances around, making sure that nobody’s watching us, before proceeding to light it, ignoring the “No Smoking” sign next to him. He takes his time savoring the cigarette before exhaling some smoke and proceeding to talk.

“Then you’re going to elementary once the new school year starts this upcoming spring.”

Elementary school. One of those things parents take their kids to in order to educate them. I almost forgot about schools after being gone from an Earth-like world for so long.

“Do I need to go? You didn’t make me take kindergarten.”

Watanabe rolls his eyes, as if expecting this question.

“The law requires that you take elementary. Kindergarten is optional.”

I guide my attention to both his cigarette and the “No Smoking” sign before responding.

“Since when were you uptight about rules?”

He seems to take notice of my jab, but pays no mind to it and continues smoking without any concern.

“I’m not, it’s the government that’s uptight about compulsory education. Besides, being the bizarre specimen that you are, you’ll be able to pass each class with flying colors.”

Some of the smoke from Watanabe’s cigarette reach my face, forcing me to make a brief cough before I swat it away.

“Exactly. There’s no point in me going.”

Elementary school would be rather inefficient and slow for me since I’m not mentally a child, unlike the other grade schoolers who would attend. Of course, there are always new things to learn with each new world, but I would prefer to just stay in a secluded room and study what I need through books and other resources.

Watanabe shrugs while speaking.

“Well, the law is the law, and us laymen know that we aren’t above it.”

“There are some people who think they’re above the law though.”

Watanabe shows a brief glimpse of interest in my statement. He takes his cigarette out of his mouth and turns towards me.
“Then, how about you, Riku? Do you think you’re above the law?”

What a question.

I stare at the ceiling for a few seconds before answering.

“I’ll follow the ‘law’ as I see fit.”

Watanabe makes a brief chuckle.

“That’s quite the ambiguous answer.”

“We’re not here to discuss personal philosophies.”

For better or for worse, laws are created to enforce order, and I really could use order. Some actual peace and quiet for a change is all I’d ever want, something which this world will hopefully offer.

I remind Watanabe of the main topic at hand since our conversation is derailing.

“Anyways, you were talking about elementary school?”

He sticks his cigarette back into his mouth, breathes in some of the smoke, and then responds.

“Right, you’ll have to attend, whether you like it or not. There’s this school not too far from here, Kinshi Elementary or something like that, which you’ll be enrolled in. Try not to freak out the teachers too much.”

I wave my hand in dismissal of his warning.

“What do you take me for? Standing out is the last thing I’d want to do.”

Watanabe snorts, accidentally inhaling some cigarette fumes in the process.

“I had a feeling you would say that. No matter, I’ve said what I needed to. I’ll see you around later. Thanks for delivering that letter by the way. I knew you would find Koko somehow.”

That reminds me, the cola bottle Watanabe gave me for the task of delivering that letter ended up going to waste.

“Wait, one more thing, Watanabe.”

Watanabe holds up his hand to stop me.

“That’s Mr. Watanabe, need I remind you.”

“Yeah, I’m not calling you that."

Watanabe’s shrugs, as if not caring all that much.

“...Fine.”

I ask him one last question.

“Has the staff vending machine restocked on cola yet?”

“No, it has not.”

"......"

“Well kid, good luck.”

Watanabe turns around and leaves. Seeing that the conversation is over, I head to the cafeteria to grab some lunch.

 

"Why are you sitting next to me?"

I glare at Ueda Koko, who’s soon to be named Hara Koko once the adoption process is complete. She decided to take a seat next to me in the courtyard as I was eating lunch in the garden. She had been walking around before spotting me, as if she had been searching for me. That in itself is quite a feat since I deliberately picked a spot that was hidden away from everything else, a spot where nobody would see what’s going on in here.

"Because we’re friends."

Koko makes a slight smile as she turns towards me and grabs one of my bowls of rice without my permission. I give her a stern look for a few moments, pondering whether or not I should do something about the thief.

However, before I can decide on an action, she begins shoveling the contents of the bowl into her mouth. I decide to let her off the hook for now and attribute her actions to typical childhood antics.

"Friends? Since when?"

Koko looks at me in confusion for a short while before answering.

“Since yesterday! We said we would be friends!”

Come to think of it, she said something about “being friends” as I was dragging her sleepy figure back to the orphanage. She must be referring to that.

“I never agreed to being friends. You decided that on your own.”

Koko stops wolfing down her rice to give me a wide-eyed stare.

“We’re...not friends...?”

I turn away from her and pick up my remaining bowl of rice.

“No, not really.”

Koko seems to panic, as if she’s on the verge of losing something important to her.

“W-what do you mean?”

I begin eating my own bowl of rice as I answer her.

“Friendship isn’t something that instantly happens with just a verbal agreement. Friendship is earned through trust.”

Koko’s despair seems to amplify as she quickly grabs me by the shoulders.

“Then is my friendship with Alice fake too!?”

Alice? That name sounds familiar.

I grab Koko’s wrists and force her to let go of me before I respond to her.

“Who’s Alice?”

Koko suddenly has an aha moment, as if she had just remembered something.

“I forgot to tell you! I made a new friend yesterday. Her name’s Alice Williams.”

Alice Williams...Alice Williams...that sounds very familiar, but where have I heard such a name before?

“Who is this Alice Williams you speak of?”

Koko smiles with delight once more, seeming fond of whatever memory Alice brought up.

“We met at the park. She had these blue eyes, really curly blonde hair, and she wore these fancy-schmancy clothes.”

So she’s a foreigner then? Wait a minute...

“Is Alice her first name and Williams her last name?”

Koko vigorously nods.

“I think so.”

I’m starting to remember now. Alice Williams, the daughter of the Williams family. When I was an infant, I sensed something strange about her, and it seems that my biological parents did as well. They both kept me locked in the basement after the Williams family showed her to them.

“So, why do you think you’re friends with her?”

Koko then begins to retell the entire story of how she blindly ran to the park, collapsed there, and came across Alice. She tells me about Alice managing to instantly heal one of Koko’s wounds, which then led into a promise of being friends. She says the whole thing while continuing to shove rice into her mouth.

 

After she’s finally done recounting her tale, I’m left pondering about some oddities. There are two things that stick out to me.

The first of which is, how did Koko manage to sprint all the way to the park, and why did the exhaustion only catch up to her then? I don’t really think she’s in any good physical shape, especially considering her undernourishment, so she shouldn’t have enough stamina to run for so long at full speed. In fact, nobody should be able to sprint at full speed for minutes on end.

“Ueda, how did you run to that park without stopping?”

Koko stares at the floor for a few seconds, seeming baffled herself.

“I-I don’t know. I felt something inside me when I was running and when it was gone, I felt tired.”

Now that is very out of the ordinary. Something inside Koko gave her this...rather strange amount of stamina. Perhaps it may even be supernatural. Being able to sprint for longer isn’t the most powerful of abilities as far as the supernatural goes, but whatever’s inside Koko has only just begun to sprout. Her capabilities may grow as time passes.

The second thing that stands out to me is Alice Williams. It seems that my intuition was correct when I sensed something strange about her in the past. She apparently has the ability to heal wounds, perhaps more. Magic...is what she called it.

“Ueda, tell me more about this...magic.”

Koko immediately glowed, happy to oblige.

“There was this white glow from her hands! She put it on my cheek and then my cheek felt better! But doing it made her tired.”

A white glow that made her tired...

“Anything else?”

Koko thought for a few seconds before responding.

“No.”

Well, that’s not much information to work with. It seems that whatever phenomenon is conjuring that white glow is caused by “magic”, according to the young Alice. Unfortunately, magic is too broad of a term for me to be able to narrow it down. Magic can mean many things. Sometimes, magic is earned by forming contracts with powerful creatures, gaining a portion of their abilities in return. Other times, magic is an ability granted by the gods of a world, requiring a resource called “mana” to use. In yet other cases, magic simply refers to typical magic tricks that are purely for entertainment value and are not actually related to the supernatural. I suppose some would also see my abilities as a form of magic as well.

There are too many unknowns here. I suppose I’ll just keep this matter in the back of my mind for now. In the meantime, I’ll deal with the matter of Koko.

“Ueda, can you repeat what you did yesterday?”

Koko looks at me with some brief confusion.

“You mean run?”

“Yeah, are you able to run for long?”

Koko looks down at her feet.

“I...I don’t know.”

I shove the last few bites of rice into my mouth and stand up.

“Try it right now then.”

Koko looks up at me with an expression of hesitance.

“O-okay...”

She gets up and begins to sprint at what seems to be full speed. She makes quick steps, moving around the garden at a surprisingly fast pace. However, Koko begins to show a strained expression only after a few seconds. Even so, she pushes herself to keep moving at the same pace, as if trying to meet my expectations.

“Stop running if you feel too tired.”

With that as a cue, Koko immediately dropped to the floor, seemingly unable to remain sprinting. She’s definitely not bad, especially for someone underfed like her, but she got tired after a few seconds, not minutes like yesterday.

I walk up to Koko, who’s kneeling on the floor while panting.

“How did you run for so long yesterday?”

Koko keeps taking breaths for a short moment before sitting up and squeezing out her answer.

“I...I don’t...know...”

Figures.

“Well then, was anything different yesterday when you were running?”

Koko moves her right hand over to her chest before answering with a somewhat raspy voice.

“I felt...something...here...”

Now we’re getting somewhere. If there’s a feeling coming from her chest, then that must mean her prolonged running yesterday can likely be attributed to that exact thing. Chances are, whatever it is will still be lingering somewhere in her chest.

“In that case, tell me how-”

Before I can finish speaking however, Koko begins to cough.

“So...thirsty...need...water...”

Well, considering that she ran around until exhausted, I suppose that’s to be expected. The dry, hard rice she just ate probably doesn’t help either.

“Hold on, I’ll get you some from...wait, what’s that?”

I was about to head inside to get some water from the tap, but I immediately notice an orb of light appearing in Koko’s right hand. The orb is about the size of a tennis ball and takes on a blue tone. Koko soon takes notice of it as well, staring at the thing in wonder.

“It’s...the glow...”

I turn my attention towards her in response to hearing that.

“The same glow you saw yesterday?”

Koko slowly nods her head.

Before long, the orb of blue light flashes, revealing...a floating orb of water. Koko stares in surprise at the transformation. She slowly lifts her hand, causing the water ball to move along with it as well. Then, she decides to move the ball closer to her mouth.

“Wait, you don’t know if that’s potable.”

Despite my warning, Koko’s lips make contact with that water. She takes one small sip, testing the taste of it. After a few seconds, her eyes widen and she begins to greedily slurp the water until it’s gone.

I stare directly at Koko.

“Do you know what you just did?”

Koko opens her mouth to answer, but before she can get out a word, she suddenly falls over. I catch her before she reaches the floor and lean her against my shoulder.

“Sano...I...feel...so...so tired..."

Koko keeps taking deep breaths, needing to recover from whatever new wave of exhaustion had just hit her.

I think I’m starting to see what’s going on. That was magic. Specifically, spirit magic. Spirit magic is a form of magic that doesn’t require any special resources like mana to use. However, only specific people with the ability to communicate to spirits can use it. Such people report a tingling feeling inside their chest while using it. It mainly relies on the user conveying their intent to the numerous invisible spirits around them. In return, the person uses up their energy while establishing connections with said spirits. With practice, users can learn how to communicate more efficiently, reducing energy consumption. As someone who has been in worlds centered around spirit magic, I can say that it’s one of the more convenient forms of magic.

Needless to say, Koko’s currently experiencing the result of expending energy in order to cast spirit magic. In other words, Koko can use magic, though she’s still very inexperienced with it.

Koko begins to close her eyes, seemingly about to fall asleep.

“Hey, don’t fall asleep on me. Go back to your room first.”

However, Koko keeps her eyes closed.

“But...it’s so...warm...let me...stay like this...”

With that, Koko falls asleep, no longer responding to anything.

I get ready to push her away before I notice an odd presence in the air. I look above me to find a tiny black speck in the distance. As seconds pass, the tiny speck grows larger as it flies closer.

I carefully lower the sleeping Koko onto the ground before standing up. No doubt, the flying object is still getting closer, as if targeting us. Soon, it becomes large enough to identify. It looks to be a dark, hawk-like creature. Just like the creature I met before, this one seems to be made up of some dark mass as well. These things just keep showing up.

I conjure darkness and let it take the shape of a spear attached to my right hand, just like last time. Immediately following, the creature of darkness lands on the floor and gives a silent hiss in my direction. In response, I charge towards the creature, hoping to get an early strike with my spear.

However, the raven easily flies away, keeping itself out of reach. It then swoops down, attempting to attack with its talons. Before it reaches me though, I jump away to the side. With another swing, I attempt to strike it once more, but this time the raven’s talons block my attack and deflect the spear.

The raven lets out another silent hiss, as if taunting me. I could easily kill this creature with the snap of my fingers if it weren’t for the fact that this body still isn’t completely accustomed to the darkness yet.

It soars into the air once more and then swoops down. I ready myself for another attack, but notice something off. I quickly glance at the raven’s trajectory to find that it’s heading towards Koko, not me. With the click of my tongue, I make a mad dash to reach Koko first. I conjure darkness into my left arm, forming a circular panel, and leap towards Koko while shielding both her and myself with that panel.

I manage to make it just in time before the raven could manage to sink its claws into Koko’s defenseless body. Its talons make contact with my makeshift shield before they could reach her. That’s not all the shield is for though. The moment I feel the raven’s talons clash against the shield, I immediately conjure a huge amount of darkness into my left arm. The darkness instantly takes shape as a massive lump resting over the shield, encasing the creature’s talons inside it as well.

Of course, my left arm could no longer support the weight of both the total dark matter and the creature, causing my left arm, and subsequently the rest of my body, to fall onto the floor with a thud. However, with the talon’s claws now trapped inside the dark matter, it can’t fly away and remains stuck.

Seeing the raven desperately trying to flap its wings and flee, I ready the spear in my right hand and stab straight through its neck, piercing through the dirt floor as well. It attempts to cry out one final time, but the injury to its neck prevents it from using its vocal chords, if it even has any. With that, it dissolves away, leaving nothing behind.

I look around, searching for any other creatures, but sense nothing. I dispel the darkness, get back up on my feet, and stare at Koko, who’s still snoozing away, unaware of the danger she was in. I decide to pick her up and carry her back to the orphanage.

These creatures are certainly a pain to deal with. Nobody else in the area seems to have encountered them, or at least, no news of such encounters has been made known. Though, it may just be a coincidence that I managed to find these monsters before anyone else did.