The Seirei Gensouki Spirit Chronicles
Chapter 2: Assassin Girl

“Om, nom …! Mmmhgh .. nom.. nnn ... uguu ..” Latifa firmly filled her cheeks with bread, but started crying halfway through. Born into slavery, this sandwich was the greatest delicacy he had ever tasted in his entire life.

“I won't take it from you, so eat it slowly. It's not good for you to eat like that.”

Rio sat next to Latifa and patted her back gently.

“Wah ... hic .. Every day, Brother will ... hic ... when feeding me .. waah ...” Latifa choked on her tears as she remembered her food until now. How horrible was he being treated during his meal time? Rio was not even willing to think about it. He kept patting his back quietly until he calmed down.

Rio refilled the gourd with water using his essence, then offered it to Latifa after she stopped crying.

“It's water.”

“T-Thank you ..” Latifa nodded and started sipping it as Rio drank from his flask as well. He couldn't find the right words to say.

“... We'll be leaving soon. I want to cross the country border and enter the Wilderness the day after tomorrow. Today, we will go as far as we can .. At worst, we can camp in the forest if need be.”

“O-OK.” Latifa rubbed her eyes with the sleeves of her robe and nodded.

◇

◇

◇

As they had discussed, Rio and Latifa dedicated as much time as possible to move forward, towards the distant Galarc kingdom to the east. Before the sun began to set, Rio found a lowland area suitable for camping and made suggestions to his traveling companions.

“Let's make camp today. I'll get us a place to sleep, so you wait there. ”

“Place ... to sleep?” Latifa tilted her head in surprise. He seemed to question whether they had the ingredients to make such a thing, as their backpacks were mostly filled with food supplies.

“I'll make it myself. Back off a little.” Rio smiled slightly as he unsheathed the sword at his waist. He walked towards a medium-sized tree and jumped towards it, swinging his sword at a speed faster than the eyes could see. The next moment, bushy tree branches descended from above.

“Wow ...” says Latifa with widened eyes.

Rio picked up a very thick branch from the scattered selection. He stuck it to the ground at the edge of the lowered hole, fixed it in place. It will serve as the main pillar of support for the campground it will build.

Next, he attached the branches on either side of the pillar, diagonally to the ground, positioned it like a triangle and used ropes to strengthen the structure. At this point, it formed a tall tent shape.

Then, he covered it with greenery to make it blend naturally with their surroundings. The leaves also help cover any gaps to block wind and rain. All one has to do is make the door and also disguise it before the tent

simple finished. Since the forest at night is cold and the weather is unpredictable, it is feasible to build such a shelter.

Seeing how quickly he built such a beautiful sanctuary, Latifa looked at Rio with enchanted eyes. With a forced smile, Rio lit a fire near the entrance of the tent.

“OK, time to make our food. Can you fan the smoke in there? ”

“Kipas ... smoke?”

“Just make smoke blow into the tent.it acts as an insect repellent. ”

“O-OK. Leave it to me!” Latifa nodded solemnly, Rio picked up his backpack and walked some distance away from the camp, to avoid leaving the smell of food near the tent just in case the wild beasts roamed around at night. He chose the right place to start cooking; the menu today is pasta soup.

First, he built a simple base to put the pot and fill it with water, lighting a fire underneath to warm it up. Then, he did the same for the frying pan, oiling it with vegetable oil. He put the dried meat and wild grass pieces he picked up here into the frying pan, adding herbs and spices before he started frying them. He would sometimes use his essence to create a gust of wind, casually blowing the scent of food straight into the air.

Meanwhile, the water in the pot was already boiling, so he added salt and let it boil. Then, he put the paste into the pot, emitting it from the middle. He turned off the heat and stirred the paste lightly; it boiled as he adjusted the temperature of the bubbling water.

Once done, he moved the pasta to the pan, cooking

all together with a small fire. Then he poured the broth and adjusted the seasoning to complete the pasta soup. Rio preferred spicy food, but he held back so that a child like Latifa could easily eat it. Hm? He suddenly felt a presence behind him,

make it spin.

It was Latifa, captivated by the smell of food. Her nose twitched sweetly as she inhaled air. Saw

the typical fox-like behavior made Rio laugh a little. Latifa noticed him laughing at her, and blushed in response.

“Spaghetti ? Is this spaghetti ?!” Latifa glanced into the container and shouted in astonishment.

“... You know what this food is?” Rio asked the question in a daze, although at first, he was at a loss for words for a moment.

“I know! I know it! Can I ... eat it? ” Latifa nodded firmly, looking at Rio with expectant eyes.

“Of course. Eat it before it gets cold. ”

“Thanks!”

As soon as she got permission from Rio, Latifa smiled cheerfully, her eyes twinkling as she started to eat pasta. Rio noticed her in contemplation. A noodle-like food called ‘pasta’ only appeared in the Strahl region recently. Moreover, it was only sold in a limited number of areas at the moment. Rio was sure he had never seen pasta in the Beltrum kingdom, at least.

 Furthermore, Liselotte – inventor of pasta – never called it spagehetti. However, latifa glanced at the pasta and called it just like that. He even used a fork and spoon with skill, moving the paste into his mouth familiarly. What exactly does this mean? Rio's mind stopped.

“Omf, about nom.” Latifa was engrossed in that steaming hot paste.

“... You will burn your tongue like that. Slow down a little,” Rio warned her gently, afraid that she would hurt herself.

“Om – huh, hot!” Sure enough, Latifa burned her tongue. Rio smiled bitterly.

“This, water.”

“Ah, t-thank you.” Latifa received the flask from Rio and brought it to her mouth in haste.

“It turns out, this food is called pasta. Have you eaten it before?” Rio asked as soon as Latifa drank some water and calmed down.

“Fweh? Spaghetti-like? Ah .. umm, yes. I used to.. eat it.” Latifa expression suddenly stiffened, afraid that she had done something bad. But after a while, he put an uncomfortable smile on his face and nodded enthusiastically.

“So so. No wonder you are used to eating it. It was great,” Rio said, as if he was impressed. But inside …

He never received a proper education, yet he knew how to use cutlery and eat high-class food. Pasta hasn't even been circulating in the Beltrum market .. Rio calmly concluded that Latifa lied or hid something from her. And he had one theory he was pretty sure close to the – truth that Latifa also had memories of her previous life.

However, Latifa language ability seemed a bit too retarded for that, Rio thought. From her interaction with him to this point, she could tell there wasn't much difference between her mental age and appearance. If anything, they fit perfectly.

Perhaps it was due to his slave upbringing, but his mental instability made him seem like a child. At the very least, he seemed to have no experience with the society in his previous life. Of course, it might all be actions, but Rio could not imagine the necessity

he did that.

Which means the age is not much different – children of primary school age – in previous life.

However, if that was the case, then that meant Latifa had suffered a much more tragic second life

than Rio. A boy living in a prosperous modern Japan has been stripped of his human rights and made into a pet slave. If he was born and raised as a slave, he would never know better, but that all changed once he regained his memories of

previous life. He will live his life with the desire to be free from slavery, to return to his former world.

Her pain and fear would far surpass anything Rio could imagine. No freedom to live. Not even allowed freedom to die. Just imagining the circumstances Latifa had done made her feel nauseous.

She should be less than ten years old at the moment; she did not know how old she was when her memories returned, but if it was at the same age as Rio, then she would be six years old. Even if Latifa was an elementary school student in her previous life, she would not have had more than ten

years of life experience. Just combining those two young lives together doesn't mean their life experiences have advanced any further. Rio had a feeling that he knew

why did Latifa appear and behave like that. And at the same time, he knew why he seemed a bit unstable as well.

“Fuu, fuu.”

Right now, Latifa wholeheartedly ate Rio's cooking. At a certain point, his eyes even glazed over, but his expression was extremely happy. As soon as he finished the final bite, he licked the empty bowl regretfully.

“There are still some left. You can eat more .. This.” Rio took Latifa bowl and

serve him to help.

“Thanks!” Latifa smiled happily and lowered her head. Rio completely lost his appetite, so he forced his first serving himself and gave the rest to Latifa.

 Chapter 2: Assassin Girl