The Wind Spirit and the Unremarkable Boy ~A Convenient Romance Beginning in Another World~ - The sealed girl awakens from a 340-year slumber

The corridor's depths were silent. Silent—or rather, the very air itself seemed to have stopped. Each time the smartphone's light illuminated the stone walls, the wind patterns appeared to sway. No, not appear—they were glowing. A faint, pale blue luminescence seeping from within. (It's glowing?) Takumi stopped and brought his hand closer to the wall. Curves carved into the grooves—they were definitely shimmering faintly. When he turned off the smartphone's light, it became clear. The patterns were alive. Pulsing slowly, flickering like a heartbeat. (Did it react because I got closer?) The moment he thought that, the light intensified. Takumi reflexively stepped back half a pace. But he didn't flee. He didn't understand what these patterns meant. But it felt like they were saying "proceed forward." It was conviction without basis, which made it all the harder to ignore. Takumi thought his serious nature was inconvenient in moments like this. He couldn't leave things that bothered him alone. Just a little further in. The corridor opened up. The stone pavement ended, and a lower space appeared. Takumi stopped at what looked like an entrance and raised his smartphone. It was a "room." Walls, floor, ceiling—all covered without gaps by wind patterns. But now they were all still—except for one point. A magic circle was carved in the center of the room. Multiple concentric rings overlapped, creating a swirling pattern that spread across the entire floor. And at its center, a translucent crystal floated. Floating. About five centimeters above the ground. He didn't understand the logic. But Takumi understood. That voice had come from there. "I probably shouldn't touch it," Takumi murmured to himself. He murmured it and immediately knew: that wasn't his conclusion. Reason told him "I probably shouldn't touch it," but another part of him—the part that couldn't sleep ignoring this voice—clashed with that reason in his chest, and the decision was made in less than a second. One step forward. The moment his foot touched the edge of the magic circle, all the patterns blazed to life at once. Squinting against the brightness, Takumi still walked. Three steps to the center. He reached out both hands toward the crystal. The moment he touched it— The world shattered. Not sound—light exploded. The crystal fractured from within, white radiance scattering in all directions. Fragments burst like stars, striking the stone chamber walls and vanishing. Takumi instinctively covered his face with his arms. But there was no heat. No pain. Only an overwhelming sensation of "something" passing through his palms. And then—silence. The light faded. Takumi slowly lowered his arms and looked ahead. In the center of the room, there was a girl. She lay on the stone pavement. A small frame. Pale water-blue hair spread across the floor. Not ordinary cloth—something old, a style of garment he'd never seen on this continent. The kind of outfit worn by people from centuries before Takumi was born. Her eyes were closed. She wasn't moving. (Is she dead?) The thought came for an instant, then was rejected. Her chest rose and fell faintly. Takumi rushed over and knelt on one knee. Only up close did he notice the details—translucent skin, a small pinwheel ornament on one ear, long eyelashes, and a faint luminescent aura wrapping around her entire body. She was alive. But barely. Rather than sleeping, it was closer to something that had exhausted its power releasing its consciousness. "Are you alright?" he called out. No answer. Once more. "Can you wake up?" The girl's eyelashes trembled slightly. Slowly, her eyes opened. Clear, blue-green eyes tinged with transparency. Her gaze was unfocused, staring vaguely at the ceiling. Then, slowly, her eyes moved toward Takumi. The girl tried to sit up. She placed both hands on the stone pavement and tried to lift her body—then collapsed, still on her knees. Takumi reached out to support her, but the girl pushed herself up on her own. It was a delicate movement mixing pride with exhaustion. Then she lifted her face and spoke. "...Who are you?" Jin asked. Not wariness, not gratitude, not surprise. Just a pure question. For a first words after 340 years of sealing, it was disappointingly mundane. Takumi paused for a moment, then answered. "Amamiya Takumi... Are you alright?" he said. The girl stared at Takumi's face for several seconds. A gaze as if confirming something. Then her eyes fell to her own hands. Those hands were trembling faintly. She gazed at them without speaking. Takumi said nothing either. A grand seal-breaking, followed by an awkward self-introduction and silence. This was the color of these two's beginning. ――― The girl's name was Jin. A wind spirit—Takumi couldn't immediately accept that explanation. He didn't know what a spirit was, or what that word meant in this world. But when Jin said "I'm not human" and continued with "I was there for 340 years," Takumi accepted it with surprising ease. After seeing a sky with two moons, he didn't have sturdy enough preconceptions to maintain skepticism. "Do you drink water?" Takumi asked, having noticed Jin making a gesture to moisten her lips twice. Jin paused for a moment before answering, "...I haven't." Of course not. She'd been sealed in a stone chamber for 340 years. Takumi rummaged through his bag. A plastic bottle—two-thirds remaining. That was all he had. A moment of reluctance flashed through him, but the next instant he was offering it to Jin. There was no point in keeping it all to himself. That was Takumi's judgment. Jin looked at the offered container and frowned. "...What is this?" she asked. "Water inside. A drink," Takumi replied. "Water fits in this shape?" Jin asked. "Well, that's just how it is," Takumi said. Jin took the bottle in both hands and examined it for a while. She shook it, smelled it, stared intently at the cap. She didn't know how to open it. That was written all over her face—and the fact that she didn't ask was clearly a matter of pride, which Takumi immediately understood. "You turn the cap. Like this," Takumi said, reaching out to help. His fingers touched Jin's. In that instant— A gust of wind ran through. The air in the stone chamber stirred all at once. Or rather, it "awakened" all at once. The residual light of the magic circle carved in the floor pulsed as if connecting the two of them. Something raced through the inside of Takumi's chest. Neither hot nor cold. Just the sensation of being "connected," unmistakably real. Jin drew a small breath. Surprise flashed across her eyes. "...We made a contract," she said softly. Her voice was small. Fear and relief mixed in equal measure. Takumi looked at his own palm. A faint wind was blowing from there. A truly small whirlwind, like a gentle breath. But it was definitely coming from his hand. "What happened?" he asked. "Contract magic. A soul connection between spirit and human—the spirit becomes the source of power, the human becomes the vessel," Jin explained matter-of-factly. But there was still a tremor of agitation in her voice. When Takumi asked if she'd done it intentionally, the answer came back: "No." Their souls had resonated naturally, apparently triggering it on their own. Somehow, Takumi thought he understood the reason. The sensation of "I can't leave this person alone" had already existed before words like contract or magic came into play. ――― They left the stone chamber and built a campfire near the corridor entrance. They gathered dead wood, Takumi tried to look up how to start a fire on his smartphone, remembered there was no signal, and through trial and error managed to create sparks by shaving wood—after twenty minutes, he managed to make a small flame. It was pathetic, but it was the best he could do. "That took too long," Jin said. But she didn't help. She seemed to lack strength, remaining leaned against a stone while watching the fire. Takumi pulled an energy bar from his bag. Two left. He unwrapped it and placed it near the flames to warm it slightly. Whether warming it made any difference was unclear, but it seemed better than handing it over cold. "Can you eat this?" he asked. "Food?" Jin replied. "Well, yes. I think it has nutrition," Takumi said. Jin took it and ate a bite. Several seconds of silence. "...This tastes terrible," she said. "Yeah, it does," Takumi agreed. "Make something more delicious," Jin demanded. "This is all I have," Takumi said. Jin fell silent in dissatisfaction. But she didn't stop eating. Takumi gave a wry smile and thought he'd eat his share later, turning the other bar over in his hand. He took out his smartphone and checked the battery. Forty-two percent. He muttered to himself, "I need to conserve power." "Sumaho?" Jin tilted her head. The pronunciation wasn't quite right. It was less like she'd understood and more like she was imitating the shape of his mouth. "Is it a magical beast? Is it strong?" she asked. Takumi felt drained. "It's not a magical beast. It's a tool. It has information in it, lights up, becomes a map, does all sorts of things," he explained. Jin stared intently at the smartphone. Her eyes reflected the light from the glowing screen. "If a tool holds information... isn't that a type of spirit?" she asked. "...No, I don't think it's a spirit," Takumi said. "Spirits also hold information and glow. Aren't they the same?" Jin asked. "The fundamental concepts seem different," Takumi said. "How are they different?" she pressed. "...Well, maybe they're similar," Takumi admitted. It was a defeat. The conceptual foundation was too different to mount a proper counterargument. Jin gave a small nod and continued chewing the energy bar. She didn't look satisfied, but she seemed convinced. Takumi added a branch to the campfire. The flames grew slightly larger. Orange light danced across the stone walls, making the shadows of the wind patterns stretch and shrink. For a while, the two sat in silence. It was Jin's voice that broke it. Still gazing at the campfire, her tone dropped slightly— "...But I haven't eaten something warm in 340 years," she said quietly. Takumi couldn't find words to respond. 340 years. He could understand that number intellectually. But truly "understanding" it was impossible. Alone in a dark stone chamber, that much time had passed. Holding only a voice, waiting—without even knowing what she was waiting for. "...I see," was all he could say. But he didn't say anything unnecessary, which was probably the right choice. Takumi quietly placed another energy bar in front of Jin. She looked at it for a moment, then took it without a word. ――― Night deepened. As the campfire began to shrink, Takumi noticed Jin gradually moving closer to him. Or rather, he noticed but pretended not to. But once he'd noticed, he couldn't stop being aware—and before long, their shoulders were touching. Jin said nothing. Takumi said nothing either. "The contract holder is warm," Jin said softly, her eyes still on the fire. Takumi, facing forward, didn't know how to respond. (Contract holder, huh...) He still didn't fully understand what that word meant. But someone was beside him—and that fact was bigger than he'd expected. The presence around Jin's shoulders faded. Sleep. Small and regular breathing. Takumi glanced sideways at her. Her eyes were closed. She was asleep. ...She's small, he thought. She looked twelve or thirteen. Though apparently she'd lived over 340 years, right now—leaning against the stone wall, asleep—she looked like nothing but an exhausted child. Something swelled in his chest. Responsibility, maybe. But not just that. There was something there that had no name. Takumi took off his jacket and draped it over Jin's shoulders. She didn't wake. "...Well, I guess we'll figure it out," he said softly to himself, continuing to tend the fi

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Episode 2

Name: The Wind Spirit and the Unremarkable Boy ~A Convenient Romance Beginning in Another World~
Author: Novelia

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