Spending my retirement in a game

chapter 68

Kirisho smiled softly and held her snow-white hand forward toward Eisen's to greet him back. "Nice to meet you too, Eisen. I'm Kirisho. It's a pleasure. It seems that you have passed the last test. Congratulations on becoming a Champion, then."

She giggled lightly and held her hand in front of her mouth while closing her eyes, making Eisen smile in response. "Thank you. This is really unexpected, though. I figured that this wasn't regular mist, but I never expected it to be a person..."

Eisen's words made Kirisho slightly jump in surprise before tilting her head to the side. "Erm... Person? You think of me as a person?" She asked in confusion, and Eisen nodded with a frown.

"Of course, aren't you? I mean, I don't really care whether or not you're a Monster, Elf, Human, Fairy, or literally anything else. You seem nice enough, and Ailren trusts you enough to let you guard the entrance to this place. So yeah, I think of you as a person." The old man explained, leaving Kirisho's white cheeks to slowly turn a very soft, light pink.

"I see... Thank you, Eisen. Would it be alright if I asked you something?" She smiled, and Eisen nodded.

"Sure, I don't mind. What do you want to know?" He said, and Kirisho nodded slowly.

"Who... is Hanako?"

Eisen opened his eyes wide. He wasn't embarrassed about anything that he did during or immediately following the test, but he completely forgot that he, well, was supposed to have forgotten. But now, he can't just pretend as if him saying Hanako's name never happened. So, he decided to take the truth, and mix it in with the story that Ari prepared for the originals.

"Ah, well... Somehow, I remembered a certain person during the test while seeing you and h earing what the voices told me. Hanako... she was my wife. But she passed away a long time ago. I guess I just kind of got emotional because of that." Eisen explained and Kirisho began to show a sad face.

"So it was something like that? I see... I'm sorry that I reminded you of her, Eisen... But... I have to go now... I'm feeling quite tired..." Kirisho said while struggling to keep her eyes open, her figure slowly losing shape.

"Then sleep well, Kirisho. Let's talk again sometime." Eisen smiled, and Kirisho nodded lightly, before she slowly turned completely back into mist, filling out the whole room once more.

Eisen turned around and looked at Ailren, who was watching with a curious look. "This was quite interesting. She usually doesn't talk all that much. And I can say for sure I have never seen her blush before." The Dragon chuckled lowly.

With a frown, Eisen simply ignored him and began to ask what was worrying him. "Is this simply her life? She is asleep for hours, days, or even months, and when she can wake up, she can only do so for half an hour?"

Ailren sighed and looked at Eisen with a sad face. "Yes, but it hasn't always been like this. You see, Kirisho is a Mist Spirit. She lived a short but happy life, and for certain reasons I am not in liberty to tell you about, in death she wasn't allowed to move on to the afterlife. She was trapped in this world through a wicked creatures' curse, and was as such bound to an amulet in a dormant state. That amulet was one that I coincidentally found during one of my travels, and through my Truth Seeing Eyes, I was able to discern that there was a soul trapped inside and freed her. For a while, she was basically like a regular person, sleeping at night and wide awake at day, but then something happened a few years ago. A group of adventurers made their way to this mountain and through to my treasury while I was out, and Kirisho was all alone to take care of this cave. The adventurers found her and immediately tried to kill her, thinking she was some kind of simple monster in the form of a woman. Soon enough, they figured out that the amulet was the source of her being and were able to shatter it into pieces. An important part of the gem embedded inside of it stayed intact, allowing Kirisho to continue living, although in the state you see now. Sadly, the adventurers took the rest of the gem and amulet with them."