Chapter 6 – Survived

Cold.

That was first and only sensation Reina could really feel when she came to. Then it was the heaviness, like she was weighed down. Her clothes clung to her, compressed further by the chainmail over her.

Hearing came to her next. There was water. It was flowing and very close. She realized it was a river, compounded by the additional realization that her clothes were wet.

She was moving in the river.

Her mind was a bit hazy, but the events from before started coming back to her. The city was attacked by the Demon Lord. She saw him. She fled. The prince was trying to escape and convinced her to come too. Then…he tried to give her up to save his own life.

Reina slowly opened her eyes. She was floating down the river. Some god or spirit or something must have been watching out for her, since she found herself holding onto a large log.

"I'm not dead…" She let the thought sink in. After dropping such a distance, she managed to survive. Not only the fall, but she hadn't drowned either. If she wasn't under such terrible circumstances at the time, she might have considered that before leaping.

There was a turn in the river. The log moved with it, but at a slower pace. It caught on the river's edge, slowing to a stop. Reina detached herself from the log, her legs more than long enough to reach the bottom of this part of the river.

As Reina slowly drudged her way out of the river and onto dry land, she heard a crack. Looking around, she saw tiny pieces of hardened clay fall from her. There was nothing she had on her before that those could have been, so the sight confused her. There looked to be some marks on them, but she couldn't make them out.

Slowly, she leaned down and pulled out her weapon, still in its Krindar Athame form. The clay pieces were absorbed into the gem, but nothing was revealed. There probably wasn't enough there for it. That'd happened with a few of the other forms she revealed from a few plants or objects.

"I can't believe it." Reina fell to the ground, hands gripping the grass beneath her. "I'm alive. I'm alive!"

A short coughing fit put a hold on any celebrations she wanted to have, as did the breeze in the air assaulting her body.

"Right…" She murmured, remembering her exact situation. "I have no food or supplies, and no real training to live in the wild."

Her pack was still at the inn she stayed in with her…party. Not that the building was likely still standing at this point. Most of her money was in that pack, too. She kept a few dozen simoleons in a pouch fixed to her belt…which seemed to have been lost in the river.

Reina rubbed her arms together, shivering from another breeze. "And my clothes are soaked. I need to get warm."

By the look of the sun, it was early morning. The air was still cool from the night, and being drenched and having slept in the river didn't help her condition. If she didn't catch something already, she probably would soon.

There wasn't much to go by from what she could see. The edge of the forest was in front of her with the river behind her. No people or indications of civilization in sight.

"Well…I guess I have no choice…again." Reina sighed, knowing what she needed to do next. She may not know a lot about survival, but she knew a few things.

Spotting a large rock that would do, she made her way over while pulling her chainmail over her head. That would be the quickest to dry. After that…came everything else. Her shirt, her thick pants—which would probably take the longest to dry—and socks came off, with her boots to the side. Then it was…the last two bits. No one was around, so there shouldn't be a problem.

"Right." Reina wringed out her clothes as much as she could before putting them on the rock to start drying. She rubbed her arms again, wiping off the water droplets that remained. With her back against the rock, she sat herself in the sunlight.

She opened up her inventory for anything she could use. Aside from the unmentionable hat, there wasn't any clothing or armor from monsters. There was something she could use, but it was a bit weird.

Deciding the warmth would be better, Reina pulled it out of her inventory. Then another. And another. She might not have had spare clothes, but she did have many dolls.

"I thought it was weird these things were so cheap, but I guess it makes sense." Reina thought as she dried off her body with a few dolls before dropping them to the ground. "They're itchy and rough. The stuffing got hard after they died, so they can't really be used for that. Maybe a tough mattress, but that's it."

With her body dried enough, she set on her next task. A fire would be a great way to warm up, plus it would help dry her clothes faster. She dropped a few more regular dolls from her athame before sitting next to the pile.

"Okay, I really need this to work." She extended her free hand at the dolls.

Reina didn't get much training from Martin. She got a simple explanation on how to do magic, but that was it. The way he explained it, learning to forge a contract with her own soul should have been enough. Contracting with other spirits imparted the spell knowledge to the caster, and learning to first contract with one's soul should be the same.

It seemed forging the contract so easily came with an unforeseen drawback.

It could be that she wasn't going to be that good at magic. Back in the adventurers' shop, there was a flint-like material for starting fires. That implied not everyone did or could form a contract with their own soul, since being able to start fires would have been simple with this basic spell. It should have been, anyway. For all she knew, people that were bad at magic probably had an easier time using flint than using Prestidigitation. Part of her regretted not buying it before, but she wouldn't have had it with her now anyway. She should have just absorbed all her gear for reveals when she learned she could, but hindsight is 20-20.

Sighing, Reina stopped her efforts. Instead, she pulled the dolls close to her as she again leaned back against the large rock her clothes were drying on. As uncomfortable as they were, they'd at least help her body retain its heat.

With some of her most pressing basic needs met for the moment, Reina moved on to the next thing.

"Forge Spirit!" With more than enough time, Reina began remaking her spirit warrior. The Forge menu popped up again, showing what she could add. She missed it back in the capital before, but she saw the Healing Touch ability there, ready to add.

"Did I unlock the Azure Star Amulet? I must have fallen asleep before the attack." Reina mused.

Another breeze, another shiver. She knew her clothes wouldn't completely dry anytime soon, but it would be better than nothing.

Selecting Healing Touch changed a number in the menu. That must be point pool for the abilities she could add to her spirit. She had plenty left for others, if she had any other abilities to add.

All that was left was to wait for her skill to finish. Then, she'd be able to test it out. Unless something attacked in the next few minutes, that was.

"I better not jinx this!" Reina rubbed her arms again.

A few minutes later—and with no interruptions—her skill completed. Her spirit appeared in front of her, just as it was the night before.

"Okay. Healing Touch!" She called out the ability she applied to her spirit. Its hand began to glow white as it neared her. Her status was open for her to test it out. The damage she sustained from the fall last night began to heal, and her MP began to decrease.

"Not that good…" The cost of the healing was pretty high. She figured it was much less efficient than the healing Martin did, or else he wouldn't have somewhat bragged about it.

Reina switched out her weapon to the Azure Star Amulet. The moment she did, her healing rate increased slightly. If she had to guess, it was maybe 10% faster at the same MP cost.

Once she finished healing, she dismissed her spirit and switched back to the Krindar Athame. Her HP was full, but her MP was empty.

"I got lucky." Reina admitted out loud. Her HP was about half full when she opened her status. If she hit the water just a little differently, or it wasn't as deep as she hoped, she knew she'd be dead right now.

But she wasn't. She survived that terrible night. And now, she needed to find a town and…do something.

She really didn't know what to do next. Maybe tell the next town she saw about the attack, or see if they already heard about it. Maybe they'd evacuate, or the lord there would send in their soldiers. She didn't even know where she was, let alone how far she was from the capital. No one came looking for her, so they must have assumed she was killed from the fall.

Maybe she should continue letting them think that. If she went around telling people she was the Spirit Forger, there could be another attack. The only problem was she couldn't really fight that well without her spirit. If she learned some magic, that would be different, but she couldn't really form a party with anyone without them finding out.

That was probably the safest option for now. Reina died three days ago in her old world. She didn't want to go through that again, now that she had another chance at life. That did spark a question in her. Would she be able to return home, to the time before she was crushed? Was she stuck here forever? She had no answers, and no one to give her any. The only one that came to mind was that silver-haired mage that summoned her.

After about an hour or so, when her stomach started to complain, Reina decided her clothes had enough time. She reabsorbed the dolls and checked out her clothes; still damp, but useable. The pants were thicker, so they'd take even longer to dry.

With her clothes back on, she pulled the chainmail over her head and tightened the belt to secure it. The boots would be a bit uncomfortable, but they'd dry too. All that was left was determining which way to go.

"If I go into the forest, I might end up wandering aimlessly and get lost. Following the river is probably my safest bet." She reasoned.

After moving her tokens and gacha bonus to the Krindar Athame, she set out on her search for civilization.

~Forging Legends~

Reina spent at least an hour on her path.

There wasn't much for her to do, even going through her help menu more. She met the occasional river doll, but they posed no threat to her.

The scenery slowly began to change over her travelling. The ground became softer as the river's flow began to slow down. She had to move further away from the slowing river to keep her footing. Eventually, it seemed like the river stopped moving altogether. The land was thick with vegetation.

"Looks like a swamp." Reina remarked. "I don't know a whole lot about this, but I'm pretty sure I won't find any villages or towns that use this."

Stagnant water didn't make for good drinking water. Reina knew that much. She'd really hoped to find at least a village along the river, but that was too much to ask for. Now she had to pick another direction to travel in. Going through the swamp would take too much time.

Reina looked to where the sun was behind her. Assuming the sun worked the same way, she'd been traveling west. She couldn't be sure of how many twists the river had before she woke up, but she knew the capital was on the south side of the river. North seemed to best option.

Before she could disembark, a light gurgling caught her attention. It was different from what her stomach had been making. Casting her eyes to the water, she saw something sticking out and coming closer to the shore.

"Alligator! No, wait…" She was set to run, but realized the green patch wasn't a fierce predator. Instead, it slowly shaped up to be a blank face with moss-looking stuff on its head.

Swamp Doll

Reina wanted to complain, but she was honestly happy it wasn't some strong monster. At least, hopefully not.

"Forge Spirit!" She called out as it got even closer, though it stayed in the water. The doll's 'skin' looked sleeker than the others, even the river doll. If she had to guess, this one spent more time in the water.

The doll stayed at the edge of the stagnant river, watching her with its beady black eyes. It had its mouth open slightly, a red 'tongue' visible. She hoped it wouldn't attack her like she'd seen videos of alligators do.

Not wanting to give it the chance, she sent her spirit after it. The spirit was able to deliver a strike to the head before it submerged itself in the water. She stayed close enough to the edge to watch for it as her spirit hovered in the air above.

With a splash, the doll jumped from the water and grabbed the spirit, both falling back in. She was thankful she had this to fight for her. If she was in her spirit's place, Reina knew she'd be freaking out right now.

Instead, her spirit struck the doll again and again as it thrashed about before finally stopping. Reina was awarded XP for the trouble.

"Alright, bring it over." She said, though she already willed the spirit to do so. The spirit had taken some damage, so she had it heal itself slightly using Healing Touch on her. Her MP had recovered some during the walk, but not entirely. She wanted to save a little for herself later, just in case.

Once on drier land, Reina dismissed her spirit and absorbed the doll into her weapon.

Swamp Doll Totem
(abilities locked) equip bonus: spirit attack 2

Reina was content with that, but she noticed another popup in her status.

Doll Template unlocked!

"A template? What's…" She began to question it, but her near-death experience last night came back to her.

The Demon Lord had mentioned something about getting a template. Was this it? Reina looked through her help menu now that she remembered.

Templates can be applied to your spirit to change its capabilities.

It was a pretty bare-bones explanation.

"Forge Spirit!" Without much else to do, Reina decided to try it out. She opened up her Forge menu and found the template sitting in a different section than Healing Touch. Selecting it, she let her spirit continue its reformation.

One thing she found earlier was that she could 'update' her spirit when it wasn't destroyed. Doing so would increase its stats to better reflect her own from any level gains. The spirit would also fully heal; Healing Touch was just faster and let it stay summoned. It also only took about half as long as forging a new one after getting destroyed. Intent also mattered when she activated the skill, since she brought up the menu without bringing out the spirit again.

A few minutes later and it was complete. The new spirit popped into existence in front of her. Gone was the ghost with stubby arms. In its place was a doll similar to the ones she's been fighting, though without any of their comical accessories. It was still transparent and kept floating in the air.

The stats for her spirit had changed as well. It wasn't a huge difference. Most of them were slightly bigger, with agility going down instead.

"Alright, that's pretty good." She nodded to herself. The template cost more points than Healing Touch, and she could see why. It wasn't just its stats that were different.

Traits: Construct, fire vulnerability (medium), cold resistance (medium).

Her time playing games told her what this meant. Different enemy types had different strengths and weaknesses, obviously. It depended on the setting, but constructs could be immune to a whole lot of things, from attacks against life-force, poison, disease, mind control, and so on. The mentioning of fire and cold were probably related to the fact that it was a doll.

"I mean, it's still a spirit, so I don't know what kind of resistances it had already." That detail wouldn't get her down. She knew something more about her spirit now, and that would help her plenty.

Dismissing the spirit, Reina began trekking in her new direction. Sooner or later, she'd find a town, or at least a village.

It wasn't long before she came across an enemy as she walked through the forest. It was a krindar, and it already noticed her as she rounded the shrubbery.

"Forge Spirit!" Reina called out. Max had told her one of them would be easy for the party, but now she was alone. She saw how it fought before and readied her athame.

The krindar paced around, watching her and the spirit in front of her. Its claws moved individually, as if anticipating the moment it could sink them into her. The krindar turned around, keeping its face to her as it walked the other direction.

Reina slowly moved closer. She wasn't going to get anywhere unless one of them attacked, but she'd rather it make the first move than her. If she sent out her spirit and the monster decided to avoid it and come straight at her, she didn't think she could recall the spirit in time.

Fortunately, the krindar acted as she wanted it to. Its hind legs braced themselves before it sprinted at her. With a mental command, the spirit swung an arm forward in a punch. Claws tore into the spirit as a 'fist' made contact with it. Another arm came around and grabbed the back of the krindar, holding it in place.

Reina dashed around and stabbed the krindar in the side of its chest. It howled as it thrashed about, trying to free itself. The doll-spirit was able to keep its hold, though it suffered more injuries. Despite not having a lot of room to move, the claws were still able to damage the spirit.

Reina pulled out the athame and struck it again and again. The blood poured out as it continued to struggle, until its movements began to slow. With its head stationary, Reina was able to sink her blade into its forehead, killing it.

"Phew!" She let out as the spirit dropped the monster. "Wow. A few points here and there really make a difference." The last time she fought a krindar, it did more damage to her spirit. The template more than made up the difference in defense the totem she used before had. Combined with the bonus to attack and strength, he spirit was able to keep hold of the krindar.

Now that she thought about it, the krindar kind of reminded her of those monsters in the capital. They both walked on two hind legs with claws in front. The krindar more resembled some sort of wolf-kangaroo while those monsters were a bit like dinosaurs, so that's where the similarities ended.

Reina absorbed the monster and had her spirit apply Healing Touch to her before dismissing it. She still didn't know how much fighting she'd be doing and wanted to save more of it for when both she and her spirit were injured. And she didn't want to be caught trying to re-forge it and not have time to heal it. This was the safest option for now.

With two krindar tokens, Reina checked to see what they'd provide her. They gave an attack bonus, but not more than the defense bonus she got from all those hill doll tokens. She decided to keep her layout as is.

With that victory now under her belt, Reina continued on her way. It was only a few minutes later that she came up to another krindar.

"Same as before. Forge Spirit!" Reina got ready, but then she paused.

Another krindar came out from behind one of the numerous trees.

"Oh boy…" She took a step back, only for another to slowly come into view.

One wasn't a big deal, though she didn't want to keep fighting them. Two would have been a bigger problem, but she might have pulled it off. With three of them…

Reina really didn't like her odds.

"Come to think of it, Max may have mentioned how these monsters tend to group up and claim a territory for themselves. The one we fought before was probably cast out." Reina thought.

She quickly weighed her options. She had confidence in her endurance, but there was little chance she could run faster than these monsters. If they were anything like wolves, they'd come at her together and from all angles. The defense bonus from her chainmail was larger on her than her spirit, but she didn't think it'd be enough to shrug them off.

Her best bet was to use the terrain to her advantage. There were more than enough trees around to use as cover and keep them off her back. It wasn't ideal, but it was likely the best she could do.

Though, it appeared whatever was looking out for her decided to help out once more. The three krindar backed away from her and started to whimper. Before she could question it, they ran off, away from the direction she was traveling.

"Huh. That was weird. What—" In answer to her question, a loud thump came from behind her. A shadow slowly crept up and blocked the light of the sun from her back.

Reina slowly glanced over her shoulder. She first saw a leg, thick with muscle at eyelevel. Her eyes trailed up at the barely covered person. A thick pet was around their waste with some sort of fur vestment over their shoulders. When she finally reached the head, she saw a face looking down at her.

He stood at about twice her height. This monster of a man towered over her, and he was within arm's reach of her. With a calm and rational mind, Reina did the only thing she could do in this situation.

She ran like hell.

"AAAAAHHH!" She screamed as she ran.

She didn't look back. She barely watched where she was going, running through short vegetation as she did her best to distance herself from her biggest source of danger.

"Hahaha!" Then she heard a laugh. It was right behind her. Reina doubled her efforts to escape, whipping past trees and larger shrubs. One of her boots got caught in the mud, but Reina didn't stop. She pulled her foot free and continued to run.

"Hahaha!" Another laugh. It was just as close as the last one.

It was too much. She shut out the noise and continue fleeing. Her heart pounded in her chest as her lungs burned. She didn't know how long she ran for, only that it would never be enough.

She couldn't let it end here. She survived something she shouldn't have. That alone was enough to push her forward. She would not let herself be caught now and killed in some random forest.

Eventually, the laughing stopped. Reina, however, didn't. She continued to run, not wanting to risk being caught. She passed by a few dolls, but none tried to stop her, or were even close enough to try. Thankfully, there were no more krindars near her, nor any other monsters stronger than dolls.

Reina finally slowed to a stop. She gulped down large breaths, holding herself up with her hands on her knees. Sweat poured down her face.

"How did they find me so quickly!?" She mentally screamed. "And what the hell was he wearing? It was like something a barbarian would wear or…" Slowly, as she began to regain her composure, she was able to think through what she saw.

Whoever that was didn't look like the brother. His hair was much lighter and his eyes…well, she didn't get a good look, but they weren't the piercing gold of the brother. In fact, he looked a little shorter than that demon person.

"That…might have been…a giant." She told herself between haggard breaths.

And the laughter didn't sound like the sister. It sounded even younger and it didn't have that gleeful sadism the sister had. Reina didn't even see anyone else there the few times she rounded a tree and should have seen someone.

"Was someone even there?" Reina questioned. "Maybe I'm hallucinating voices now. That giant was definitely real…probably. The voice probably wasn't. You've been through a lot, Reina, you're allowed to hallucinate voices, especially after spending the night in a river. But that giant…"

The only thing she knew about giants was that they didn't get along well with humans. That didn't mean they'd kill humans on sight. Plus, Martin was the one who told her that. Reina didn't know how much value to place in his words. Realizing that, she may have overreacted.

…Of course, that didn't mean Reina was about to go back there. She had too many brushes with death in the last 24 hours and she wasn't about to have another if she could help it. Besides, if she went back into the forest, she'd probably have to deal with more krindars.

That thought gave her pause as she looked around. She was out of the forest by quite a fair bit. In fact, she was on the edge of a small town.

"Oh." In her panicked fleeing, she managed to find civilization again. Another stroke of luck she happily accepted. Things were really starting to look up—

"You have to run faster than that~!"

Reina jumped and quickly looked for the source of the voice. She nearly called out her spirit, but she found what she was looking for first. A little girl was running from and even smaller boy, both laughing and giggling all the while.

Reina clenched the chainmail over her heart as she watched the pair run off. She took in another deep breath before letting it out.

"They aren't here." She told herself. "That wasn't the brother, and the sister isn't here either. The brother wasn't even chasing me in the castle. I lost the sister when I jumped from the battlement. I'm safe."

That was true for the moment. She didn't know how long that'd last, but she could at least take a break in this town. After she figured out what happened after last night, she could make plans for the future.

With a short term plan in mind, Reina walked into the town.

~Forging Legends~

Things had quieted down a lot since everything started. Very few cries for help could be heard, especially high up in the air. Well, high up for where she was. Even this high above the vast forest, she was a little above ground level with the castle.

She swooped down and up, flapping her wings to gain a bit more height. The moonlight was more than enough to aid her heightened senses. Spotting the right doorway, she touched down. After retracting her wings a bit, she entered the castle, skipping down the halls.

Lola was in a good mood.

And why wouldn't she be? She did her job perfectly, and now she was off to get her reward. Daddy would praise her and tell her she did a good job.

"Mistress!" Lola looked over at one of Daddy's little cuties as it waved a bloody breastplate from one of the castle's knights. "Shinies for shiny mistress!"

Lola beamed at the precious little imp. They always said how pretty and shiny her armor was. That's why she was their favorite mistress!

"Thank you, little one!" Lola patted the brown cutie on its head. "But that's a fake shiny. Real ones are softer."

"What~?" It brought the breastplate down and tilted it to get a look. Then, it slammed the unpadded side against the wall, earning slight bang in response. "Feh!" The armor was thrown down the hall Lola just came down. "Fake shiny!"

Lola laughed at its antics. "There should be a heavy metal door in the basement. You'll find the shinies there."

The cutie gave her a salute. "Will find! Thank you, shiny mistress!" After saying such, it scampered down the hall.

Lola continued on her way, resuming her skipping. It was only a few minutes before she found the room she was supposed to meet Daddy in. The doors were already opened and the room occupied.

Brother Gau and Sister Maphai were already there. And there was Daddy, sitting on the center throne, an elbow propped up on one of the armrests with his head resting on his fist. That's how it should be. It was the most decorated one, and Daddy was far more important than anyone else.

Daddy's eyes looked up at Lola for a moment, acknowledging her. She didn't immediately run up to him. There was something important going on at the moment.

There were also five bodies on the ground in the room. Of course she recognized them, since she killed four of them. There was Armor Guy, Sword Guy, Priest Guy, and Bow Lady. Lola knew their names, but they weren't worth remembering anymore.

Brother Gau stood next to the young prince, who was on his hands and knees in front of Daddy's new throne. He didn't look up when she entered, continuing to look blankly at the ground away from Daddy. That was good. It meant he already knew his place.

Sister Maphai knelt between Sword Guy and Priest Guy. She'd already dealt with Priest Guy and Bow Lady, and it looked like Sword Guy was next. She plunged her claw into his chest, right where his heart was. A low hiss escaped his mouth as his face twitched.

"Fallen corpse," Sister Maphai spoke commandingly, "tell me what the prince's plan for the Spirit Forger was."

Sword Guy shuddered before he spoke. "To endear himself to the Spirit Forger. We were to encourage her to rely on the prince and help foster affection. They would continue to grow close to one another while the Spirit Forger prepared to fight the Demon Lord. With the prestige from that, they would marry and lay claim to the old empire and—"

His voice cut off as blood spouted from his mouth. Sister Maphai withdrew her claw while clicking her tongue.

"Humans are so weak. Were these people truly nobles of the country?" She asked as she stood.

"The most worthwhile fighters were with the king and queen." Brother Gau told her. "What makes you think you'd find a good fight here after fighting against the king's forces?"

Sister Maphai stepped over Sword Guy and stared up at Brother Gau. It would have been better to stay where she was, since she really had to lean her head back. Sister Maphai was less than a head shorter than Daddy, but he was two feet shorter than Brother Gau.

"Do not fight." Daddy casually said.

"Yes, Father." Sister Maphai immediately turned away from Brother Gau, who looked bored at the whole thing.

Daddy looked over to Lola again, curling a finger toward himself. Lola happily bounded over to him, taking a route around the dead bodies.

"Welcome back." He said as she stopped in front of him. Daddy reached into his coat and pulled out a small pendant, looking at it. The purple gem in its center glowed. He stowed it away before speaking again. "How did it go?"

"Perfectly, Father!" She said respectfully and enthusiastically.

"Hm." He gave a light nod. "How did she escape?"

"In the river." Lola answered. "She jumped out the back and landed in the river."

"Crazy bitch." Brother Gau muttered. Lola glanced up at him.

"I like her!" She said with a smile. She returned to speaking with Daddy. "After that, I went down and pulled her out of the water, found a downed tree, and sent her on her way down the river. Oh, and I gave her a simple charm so she wouldn't freeze to death!" It could get pretty chilly in this country, after all.

"I see. Good work." Daddy told her.

"Thank you, Da—Father!" Lola beamed at his words and lowered her head to him. His hand reached over and slid across the side of her face. His lips pressed against her forehead for a moment before he pulled back again. She was all smiles from the action.

"Why…?" The young prince finally spoke, though he didn't turn to address Daddy properly. His words were soft and weak. "Why spare her? I thought…"

"I have my uses for the Spirit Forger, and they do not involve you." Daddy simply said. "I suppose I should thank you for having her summoned."

Being thanked by Daddy was a great honor! Though it didn't seem like the dumb prince appreciated it, since he continued to talk.

"Why didn't you…?" He was starting to get on Lola's nerves, but Daddy and Sister Maphai would deal with him.

"I tried. Nothing came of it." Daddy said as he rose from his new seat. "Perhaps it thought not to heed my call. I would, however, like to hear about how she was summoned in the first place."

The prince shuddered on the ground, just as any human should when in the presence of someone as great as Daddy.

"Now, go with Goalith." Daddy said, turning back to Lola. "I must speak with Maphai. And, of course, this thing."

"Okay!" Lola excitedly agreed, hopping over to her brother. With one final jump, she climbed onto his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Let's go play, Brother Gau!"

"Hm." Brother Gau let out a small grunt as he walked off with Lola on his back.

"You spoil her, you know, Father?" She easily heard Sister Maphai say.

"It's a simple reward that makes her happy." Daddy answered. "Now, human, about your plan for resurrecting the empire…"

His words disappeared as the pair went down the hall.

"Can we go fight some knights?" Lola asked her oldest brother.

"Dead or gone." Brother Gau replied. "You played too long."

"Awww." Lola let out. Those knights would have been the most fun to fight around here until they got to leave.

"There might be some city guards left." Brother Gau offered.

"…Okay." Lolo sighed. City guards were not a lot of fun.

Brother Gau reached over his shoulder to pat Lola on the back. She snuggled closer to him as he continued to carry her outside the castle.

Author's Notes:

Well, that can't be good.

I know what you're thinking. "Oh, so now the hero is starting out with nothing, just like Naofumi did." Well, imaginary person I just made up, that's not true at all. Reina still has her chainmail! And dolls! Lots and lots of dolls!

But yeah, her idea to not reveal she's the Spirit Forger isn't a bad one. She was summoned to fight the Demon Lord, so of course she'd want to stay hidden after he tore through the country's capital. It just so happens he wanted her to get away.

I wonder what he could be planning for her.

See you all next week!