Vol 2 Chapter 11 (1/2)

Dusty, Disappearance, the Weeping Nagisa

“I’m back.”

“Master… welcome back.” Just like how she had always done so in the past, when she greeted me, Silent Water took my book bag and the grocery bags that I was carrying.

Ah~~~ Silent Water was already my familiar; this was totally like a dream. Seeing Silent Water standing right there before me, I could feel a bit of happiness inside.

“Master, please… please don’t look at Silent Water like that. Silent Water would… feel embarra.s.sed.”

What’s going on? What’s going on? I kind of got the feeling that Silent Water just got cuter? The old her wouldn’t have said such a thing. Could it really be because that after forming a contract with me, she felt comfortable saying what was on her mind?

“Hah~~ Sorry, sorry. Where’s Dusty?” Normally, when I got back home, it would be waiting for me by the door. But today, surprisingly, it wasn’t there.

“Dusty is inside. It might be feeling a bit down today.” Silent Water seemed to have read my mind.

“Oh? Why? Have you not given it any food today?”

“I have given it food, but….” Silent Water glanced at me and suddenly stopped talking. I guess she wasn’t so comfortable with me that she would say everything that came to her mind.

“I’ll go check on it.” Why would Dusty be feeling down? Wasn’t she usually very lively and playful?

—————— Living Room

“Dusty~~ Dusty~~ Dusty?” It wasn’t in the living room.

—————— Bathroom

“Dusty~~ Dusty?” Not in the bathroom either?

—————— My Room

“Dusty?” Not a peep in my room? It wouldn’t be hiding underneath the bed, would it? Was it trying to play hide and seek with me?

“Dusty… are you in here?” I kneeled down on the floor, lifted the bedding and looked underneath the bed, and discovered… nothing?

Staring at the vacant room, I couldn’t help but get a bit anxious: What is going on? Where could it have gone to?

I hurried downstairs and asked Silent Water, who was in the middle of was.h.i.+ng some vegetables, “Little Silent, have you seen Dusty?”

“Dusty? Yeah, hasn’t it been sitting on the sofa this whole time since you’ve been back? What’s the matter?”

“Little Silent, Dusty has gone missing…”

“Gone missing? It can’t be, right? Unless it is because…” It seemed like Silent Water had thought of something.

“Because of what?”

“Can’t say for sure… It was in low spirits today… it could have gone out for a walk.” Silent Water hemmed and hawed.

“Ah? Really?”

If what Silent Water said was true, then Dusty could have just gone out for a walk. Hahaha, really, I was making a mountain out of a molehill.

‘No, if my guess is right, then the lowest-cla.s.s spirit has indeed run away from home.’

‘Why do you say that?’ Freed’s words frightened me. To me, Freed was a powerful dragon. He was almost like an omniscient presence in my mind.

‘I have decided not to tell you the reason, because if I were to tell you, you and your spirit partner will not be able to form a deep enough bond with each other.’

‘Why not? Hurry up and tell me the reason. As far as I am concerned, whatever your bulls.h.i.+t about spirit partners is not nearly as important as a single strand of hair on Dusty.’

Right at this moment, the images of Dusty and I playing together flashed across my mind: the time we bathed together, the time we slept together, the time I told it stories about the human world…. Dusty had joined the family after Silent Water, so it had been with the family for only a short while. But in this short time, it had brought me great joy. When I was in a bad mood, to be able to hug it, pat it, play hide-and-seek with it, and on Sundays, go outside and have a run with it…. All these had already become an essential part of my routine; without Dusty, it would feel like there was a hole in my life.

I was obviously happy with Silent Water being around, since I had a companion in my day-to-day life. However, I could not be without Dusty – Dusty is part of my family.

‘Kid, even though… ack… you are rather loving; if you have time to spare reminiscing your bulls.h.i.+t happy days, why not spend that time to search for it outside?‘

‘Sorry, Freed! Thanks for reminding me. Looks like, I am really no good without you.’

‘Don’t… don’t all of a sudden say such disgusting things….’

‘What about me? What about me? Brat, what about me?’ Yalide spoke.

‘You, I can do without.’

‘I’ll give you another chance to answer my question; but before you give me your answer, let me give you a hint: I was the great Demon World Administrator.’

s.h.i.+t! Even though I didn’t normally talk much with this black dragon, I will have to rely on him in about two days’ time….

‘I can’t do without you too.’

‘Then, since I am one of your important companions, you should go and get a book for me. You wouldn’t have forgotten the name of the book, would you? It’s called “My Master and…”.’

‘Don’t you have any sense of urgency? Just who was it that just a moment ago wanted to go outside and look for the lowest-cla.s.s spirit?’ Freed interrupted Yalide’s sentence.

‘Right, really, I almost forgot about it! Why is it that I am always like this?’ I was clearly very anxious, but if I was interrupted, somehow I would be able to switch gears and calmly tackle another problem?

‘Based on my preliminary a.s.sessment… it’s because there were two sets of memories…. Anyway, for now, let’s just hurry up and look for the lowest-cla.s.s spirit.’

————————

“Dusty?” I went to the place where I usually took Dusty – it was a meadow near where my house was. Every Sunday, I would bring it here to play. But for now, there was only the lingering lights from the setting sun, dyeing the gra.s.s in the field a hue of red….

————————— On Main Street

d.a.m.n it, d.a.m.n it, where could it be? It’s been two hours. I’ve been looking for Dusty for two hours, but why?

Why is it that I couldn’t find Dusty anywhere? Is it really impossible to look for an ordinary earth spirit in a big city?

As I walked along, I inadvertently arrived at the place where I first met Dusty….