The Seirei Gensouki Spirit Chronicles
Chapter 5: Misunderstanding

“... But I can't say I forgive eavesdropping as a hobby.” Rio was directed to the other side of the door. His words made Sara gasp and turn towards the door. There stood Ursula, Orphia,

and Alma.

“Seeing us, right? My apologies. I have a few things on my mind about that girl,” Ursula

apologizing, a confused expression on his face.

“Is there a problem with Latifa?” Sara asked fearfully.

“This is just my own guess, but .. Latifa is probably my descendant.” Ursula's words made everyone present jump. He gave a bitter and helpless smile, and carefully chose his words while continuing to speak.

“More than ten years ago, a blood relative of mine asked their daughter to run away from home. She is a free and unrestrained girl. At first, I thought he was tired of the village and had decided to roam nearby, but he never came home again. He disappeared without a trace, so we believe that he has been attacked by a monster or a beast, but .. ”

Ursula looked at Latifa sleeping figure while clinging to Rio.

“A-Is that true ?! elder Ursula?” Sara asked, surprised.

 “Hmm. It happened long before you were born, Sara. I'm not sure, but looking at Latifa makes me feel nostalgic. I wanted to ask her mother's name, but at the same time I was afraid to do it. Her mother is no longer alive, is she?” Ursula said with a somewhat sad expression.

“Unfortunately, I've heard Latifa's mother is no longer from this world ..”

“Begilah ..” Sad look comes to Ursula's face.

“Mm ... Onii-chan? Morning ... ” Latifa was awakened by a conversation that happened right beside her.

“Good morning. Looks like breakfast is ready. Do you want some?”

“Ya please!” Latifa nodded excitedly. His peaceful smile showed no signs of the cruel past he had to endure. Right now, she was just a happy girl that was appropriate for her age.

“Rio-same, ,

I'm really grateful to you.” Ursula thanked Rio sincerely.

“No, I ..” Rio expression was misty as he shook his head in guilt. I was just looking for myself .. she swallowed those words without voicing them.

“... Hm. Rio-sama hasn't had breakfast yet, right? I haven't been either. If you don't mind, can I eat with you?” Ursula suggested to change the serious atmosphere of the room.

“Ya of course. Right, Latifa? ”

“Um .. sure. If Onii-chan is okay with that.” Latifa grabbed Rio's clothes and nodded

bashful.

“Great, it makes everything simpler. I will introduce Rio-sama to the elder council this morning. All of you, prepare the food. Take your own share while you're there.” Ursula smiled widely with happiness.

“Ya, soon! We'll bring him back here. Let's go Sara, Alma.” Orphia took the initiative and moved first. He ran towards the door.

“Indeed. Come on, or you'll be left behind, Sara.” Alma chased after him nonstop, calling out to the slow Sara.

“A-I know.” Sara flinched from a momentary daze and ran out of the room in a hurry.

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After leaving Latifa to Sara and Alma, Rio was led by Ursula and Orphia to the highest floor of the town hall, where the village elders gathered.

The town hall was a tree house built on a large tree located in the center of the village, the same building where Rio stayed last night. Rio climbed up the spiral staircase that stretched outside the tree house, overlooking the village building below.

Spirit people have fully integrated their lifestyle with nature, building houses out of wood, stone, and clay in the forest. It was a magical sight to see. Once they reached a point above the other trees in the village, they could see one enormous tree towering above everything else.

“It ..”

“Fufu. That is the World Tree, where Great Dryas – giant tree spirits – are located. It says there is

here long before we came to this land. It's huge, isn't it? ” Orphia explained proudly

to Rio with wide eyes.

“... Excellent. An advanced illusion magic barrier stretched around the World Tree, so it could not be seen without extensive training in spirit arts.” Rio's casual comment made Orphia's eyes become more rounded.

“Is that so?”

Rio did not seem to be completely convinced, and tilted his head. Since he had never met another spirit art user until now, he had nothing to compare with his spirit art level. However, he realized that his ability to freely imitate most magic spells was simply by unjustly destroying the flow of essence in the formula

profitable, even to himself.

“Hm. Rio-sama, you said you did not learn spirit arts from anyone. Is that true?” Ursulae

suddenly asked as they walked.

“...Yes. I got a little push in the right direction .. but I mostly learned it myself.” Rio hesitantly replied at first, but finally agreed.

“So so. That's an amazing talent you have there. May ...” Says Ursula with

a pensive expression on his face, halted before finishing his sentence. Before long, they arrived at the top floor.

“We have arrived, Rio-sama.you are also in, Orphia. ” Ursula opens the door and signals for them to enter. Rio entered first, followed by Orphia behind him. Inside, various figures of elders sat on their seats as they waited.

“Rio-sama, please sit here. Orphia, sit next to His Greatness and meet his needs.”

(Tln: His greatness is

Dryas)

Ursula directed Rio to a chair near the door and Orphia to a corner of the room. There stood one

young lady.

“...Huh?”

For a moment, Orphia doubted her own eyes. The young lady was an existence far superior to herself as a blood relative of the councilors in the village: the spirit of the giant tree, Dryas, whom Orphia had just said about Rio. Under normal circumstances, she would never be found in a place like this, but—

“What's wrong? move.” Ursula showed no signs of being distracted as she casually ordered Orphia.

“A-Ah, of course!” Orphia nodded awkwardly and headed to Dryas. When Dryas saw Orphia, he hugged her happily. But Orphia was agitated, making a single point of agitation in the peaceful space. The other elders in the council remained silent and smiled in satisfaction at them.

After sitting down first, Rio looked at Dryas and Orphia with curiosity, but diverted

his view ahead. In front of him were three seats for the three chief elders: High elf Syldora, dwarf leader, Dominic, and Ursula.

“Now that all the preparations have been completed, I would like to start the elders council meeting. Since we have invited a human boy as our guest on this occasion, we will speak in human language,” Syldora said, stating the start of the meeting. Just for this meeting, they would hold a trial on the common tongue of the human Strahl region as consideration for Rio.

“Now, human boy. I want to extend my apology for calling you here today. And I thank you sincerely for your presence. ”

“I should have said that. It's an honor to be invited here.” Rio bowed lightly from where he was sitting.

“I am Syldora, one of the chief elders of this spirit village. Beside me was another chief elder. I

sure you know Ursula. This dwarf man here is— ”Syldora stand up and start introducing Dominic.

“Dominic. Nice to meet you, son of man.” Dominic interrupts first, introducing

himself.

“... As you can see, he's a bit dull. I'm sorry if he offended you in a way

anything. I will introduce the other elders to you on another occasion.” Syldora smiled bitterly with a small smile.

“Thank you for the consideration. Nice to meet everyone – my name is Rio.” Rio stood up

and bowed deeply with a simple self-introduction.

“No need to humble yourself, Rio-sama. You are our guest and benefactor. For the problems my brothers caused because of their misunderstanding, as well as for releasing one of our kind from slavery, I express my deepest gratitude and apology to you,” Syldora said, encouraging all the elders of the room to stand up and bow their heads towards Rio.

BAMBOO