(Attendances… plz…)
….
After eating with everyone else, Reinhard was making his way toward his sleeping quarters. They had all enjoyed the meal, and after some light conversation around the fire, they had decided to call it a night.
Kaval, Gido, and Reinhard were staying in one hut, while Ellen and Shizue were in a separate one nearby, a necessary arrangement due to the limited number of completed houses.
Reinhard was just about to enter his hut when a quiet voice called out to him from the darkness. "Reinhard."
He recognized the voice instantly. He turned and saw Shizue standing a few feet away, a lone figure in the pale moonlight.
"Can we talk?" she asked. "I want to ask you something."
For Shizue to approach him like this, after everyone had already said their goodnights, it had to be important. Something she couldn't wait until morning to ask. And for her to call out to him when he was alone, instead of bringing it up in front of the others, meant it was private.
"Yes," Reinhard replied, his voice calm. "Is there something you want, Shizue?"
Shizue nodded. "Yes. I want to talk to you about something, and it is important… at least, to me. I didn't want to wait until morning, if that's okay with you."
Reinhard couldn't imagine what it could be. They had only known each other for a few days. If there was something important she needed to ask, she could have done it back in Blumund. Or maybe this was something new. Something that had just occurred to her. He nodded. "Of course."
"Thank you," she said. "Let's talk somewhere else, where we won't be disturbed." It wasn't like anyone was around to overhear them, but her desire for privacy only confirmed that this was a serious matter.
Reinhard followed Shizue in silence as she led him to a quiet spot near the village fence, away from the warm glow of the dying bonfires. When they stopped, she turned to face him and, with a slow, deliberate movement, reached up and took off her mask.
Her youthful, beautiful face was illuminated by the moonlight. She looked at him, her dark eyes filled with a heavy, ancient sadness that didn't match her young appearance.
"You don't really have to take that off to talk to me," Reinhard said gently.
Shizue shook her head, a small, sad smile touching her lips. "I think it would be rude."
Reinhard chuckled softly. "Well, I'm not really that much of an etiquette person, to be honest. So, what is it that you want to talk about?"
Shizue took a deep breath, as if steeling herself for what she was about to say. "Reinhard," she began, her voice quiet but firm. "I won't spin this or try to be subtle. I'm just going to ask you directly. Are you a Summoned?"
Shizue watched him closely, noticing how he didn't react. There was no confusion, no denial, not even a flicker of surprise in his calm blue eyes. His silence was, in itself, an answer.
Reinhard, for his part, was genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected this at all. How had she figured it out? Was it just a wild guess, a shot in the dark to gauge his reaction? Or had Ellen, in one of her chatty moods, let something slip back in Blumund?
"It seems I was right," Shizue said, her voice now filled with a quiet certainty. "You really are a Summon."
Reinhard didn't react much, his expression remaining neutral. "What gave it away?" he asked, his curiosity genuine. "Did Ellen say something, and you pieced it together? Or was it something else?"
Shizue shook her head. "No, she didn't say anything. However young I may look to you, I have lived for a very long time. And I… I am also a Summon in this world."
Reinhard already knew this, of course. It was one of the key pieces of information from his memories of the story. But he just gave a slow, understanding nod. "I see."
"What I don't understand," Shizue continued, her gaze intense, "is what you're doing here. Seeing how strong you are, your skills… you defeated all those Knight Spiders with a simple stick. I don't think any kingdom that summoned you would just let you go free."
"Yes, I am a Summon," Reinhard confirmed, deciding there was no point in denying it. "But I don't think I'm the type you're thinking of. I just… woke up in the Great Jura Forest a few weeks ago. I don't know who summoned me, or if I was even summoned at all."
Now it was Shizue's turn to be confused. No one summoned him? He just… woke up here? She had never heard of such a thing, but then a memory surfaced. Hinata. She had also said she just appeared in this world, without a summoning ritual.
"Are you from Japan, perhaps?" she asked, a flicker of hope in her voice.
Reinhard shook his head. "No. I'm not from a place called Japan. I'm from the Kingdom of Lugnica. I was… a knight there."
Shizue's hope or whatever it was faded. She was from the World War II era of her Earth, a time of nations, not fairytale kingdoms or empires.
And while her world had changed a lot since she'd left, she knew from her talks with Yuuki, Hinata, and the other kids that there was no "Kingdom of Lugnica" there.
He was from a different world entirely.
"Are you, perhaps, looking for someone from that place?" Reinhard asked, sensing her disappointment.
A small, weary sigh escaped Shizue's lips. "No," she said, her voice quiet. "I was just wondering." She looked at him, her centuries of experience evident in her tired eyes.
"As I said, I'm much older than I look. I've traveled quite a lot in my time, and I've never heard of you, or your family name. And believe me," she continued, her gaze sharpening, "someone with your kind of strength, who can wipe out dozens of A-rank monsters with a single strike from a tree branch… you would have left rumors."
She paused, letting her words sink in. "There would have been talk. You wouldn't be in a simple B-rank party. But when I arrived in Blumund, there was nothing. No rumors of a powerful new adventurer, nothing at all."
"I joined the guild right after I arrived in the town," Reinhard explained. "And I joined this party a day later. I don't think there was much time for any rumors to start."
"I see," Shizue said, though she still seemed to be piecing things together in her mind. "I didn't know for sure, of course. That's why I just guessed. I haven't traveled the entire world or remembered every story I've ever heard. Asking if you were a Summon was just a shot in the dark on my part. I didn't actually expect you to be one."
Reinhard chuckled, a warm and genuine sound. "Hahaha, with a mind like yours, you could be a great detective. To figure all that out just from seeing one attack."
Shizue's expression remained serious. She had gotten her confirmation, but that had only led to more questions. "So," she asked, her voice now filled with a professional, almost academic curiosity. "If I may ask… what skill was that? The one you used in the forest against the Knight Spiders."
….
A/N: So, How was it?! New day new chapter. So dont forget to send power stones.
I'm building things up for Shizue to finally lose control in the next 2 chapters. I don't wanna make it feel sudden, like "oh, next day Ifrit takes over. When everyone wakes up." It'll happen outside the village. Or like when she comes again in the village after outings.
Next two chapters are already on my discord.
Melatonin, spawn and many more on my discord … thanks for beta reading this fic and not to mention suggestions too.
Hoped you all liked the chapter and all.
And if you want to read ahead you can do it by just joining my discord server.
&
you can join my discord server: https://discord.gg/5Y7uZ2kN2Y
Or in short just click in join via invite link in your discord and enter this code: 5Y7uZ2kN2Y