"Eh?! You can truly see spirits?!" Stella cried out.
The shout was loud enough to be heard outside, startling the people nearby.
Ichigo nodded.
Stella drew closer to Ichigo with tremendous excitement.
"WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE?! PLEASE GIVE ME SOME KIND OF DESCRIPTION OF THEM!!!" Said Stella, continuing to press closer.
Ichigo stared at Stella's face with an empty expression.
"Could you step back a little? The spirits seem to be annoyed because of you."
Stella immediately jumped back.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, truly." Said Stella, her cheeks flushing red and her pupils trembling.
She then looked to her left and right.
"Um... they're not angry anymore, are they?" Stella whispered.
Ichigo shook his head slowly.
Stella let out a relieved sigh upon hearing that.
"I nearly became an elf despised by the spirits."
She then looked toward the window.
Outside, Seren could be seen climbing the stairs toward Stella's home.
The moment Seren reached the door and was about to knock, Stella immediately opened it.
"You've finally come." Said Stella.
Seren stepped inside Stella's home.
"Ah yes, it was a bit crowded outside, so I'm a little late."
"By the way, did you two just cause some kind of commotion?" Seren asked.
Stella explained what had happened.
After hearing Stella's explanation, Seren let out a sigh.
"Good grief, is it really because outsiders come here so rarely that everyone gets that worked up?" Seren muttered.
He then bowed toward Ichigo.
"I apologize for our lack of manners, sir." Seren looked at Ichigo.
"Let us begin the examination."
This person truly has a remarkable aura.
He then put on gloves and began checking Ichigo's pulse.
After that, Seren proceeded to examine various things using his magic.
The examination concluded, and Seren opened his eyes.
"Heart rate is slightly weak. No serious injuries, however the blood volume is truly below normal levels. It could almost be called an emergency."
"That sounds bad." Said Stella.
Seren nodded slowly.
"Yes, it really is bad." He then reached into the inner pocket of his coat.
"Fortunately, I found a medicine that can heal very quickly."
He then produced a flower that resembled a red spider lily, but with blunted petals.
"This flower is called Bloody Mary. It commonly grows on the bones of monster corpses near the desert. It contains a very high amount of iron, along with other compounds that can directly accelerate blood production in the bone marrow. It was given to me by one of my friends who guards the forest border." Seren explained.
He then ground the petals until they became a slime-like substance, saying it would make the compounds more concentrated and more effective.
Once the medicine was ready, he handed the bowl to Ichigo.
"Eat this slowly, and drink water alongside it."
He then turned to leave, but before going entirely, Seren gave Stella a word of instruction.
"Stella, watch him to make sure he doesn't choke. I'll be on my way."
"Oh, and by the way, tomorrow he should be able to walk around the village."
And with that, Seren left.
Stella simply responded to all of it with a small smile, then turned back toward Ichigo.
"Ah, please forgive my friend, Ichigo. He can be quite blunt."
"B-But he really is kind, I promise."
"I know. It doesn't bother me." Ichigo replied flatly.
Ichigo ate the medicine Seren had given him slowly, pausing between bites to drink water.
Stella then helped him lie down after he finished the medicine.
Ichigo fell asleep.
Once she was certain Ichigo had drifted off, Stella went outside to attend her village chief training with her father.
"I'm heading out." The door closed quietly.
The next morning came.
Ichigo woke earlier than usual, since he had gone to sleep earlier the night before.
He simply lay there in stillness without moving from the bed for hours on end.
He didn't even feel bored from it, until Stella opened the bedroom door.
Stella had actually stayed at Astella's home after training the previous night, which was why she was a little late coming to see Ichigo.
"Ah, forgive me. Yesterday's training was really exhausting." Stella said with a breathless pant.
Ichigo's blank face looked at Stella. "It's fine."
They began getting ready to take a walk around the village.
"Alright, Ichigo, follow me, your exceptionally talented forest guide!" Said Stella with great pride.
Ichigo answered with only a small nod.
"Allow me to introduce myself once more. My name is Stella, which means shining star. As the eldest daughter of the village chief and the next chief-to-be, I will be the star that illuminates and nurtures this forest."
Stella then looked directly ahead.
"Now, let's start our tour!"
Stella stepped forward with great enthusiasm, her blonde hair swaying with every stride.
Ichigo followed from behind with calm, steady steps, not too close, not too far. His eyes moved in every direction, carefully taking in every corner of the village.
"This village is an elven settlement that has stood for one thousand years, quite a span of time, isn't it? Though for long-lived creatures, it is a fairly modest length of time. We use a suspended house system to keep away wild animals, and there is also an abundance of strong wood fiber here, so we make full use of that." Stella explained.
She then called upon a tree to offer a strange fruit to Ichigo. The fruit had the color and texture of a pear, but was shaped like a fully bloomed rose.
"Eat this." Said Stella.
Ichigo took the fruit and ate it by pulling off pieces shaped like petals. The texture was crisp and very juicy, with a sweet flavor and a hint of cool mint.
"Well? Delicious, isn't it? This plant is called Rosa aquosa. It's wonderful as a thirst-quenching snack in a forest environment so close to the desert. Best of all, the seeds sit right at the top center of the fruit, making them very easy to collect and replant."
Ichigo listened attentively.
"You're right. It's good."
They continued on their walk.
Stella described the homes of many forest elf residents in great detail, at one point nearly letting something embarrassing slip about one of them, though thankfully she stopped herself just in time.
Eventually they arrived at the second floor, where the village marketplace was located.
"Ta-da! We've arrived at the... village trading area!"
Ichigo gave a slow, quiet clap, with the same blank expression as always, to appreciate Stella's enthusiasm.
They entered the marketplace together, with many people coming and going around them.
The flooring at the market was wider and thicker than other floors in the village, designed to accommodate a larger number of elves.
Ichigo looked in every direction, as the surroundings were quite different from the levels below. This floor was louder and slightly more disorganized than the others.
The market stalls were made from a combination of fibers, branches, and naturally fallen timber, carefully sorted to produce sturdy structures.
They then made their way to one particular stall: the stall of Seren's friend, the border guard who sold Bloody Mary flowers. He was a male elf older than Stella, with short, messy green hair and bright blue eyes.
"Ah, hello, Stella." He greeted her.
"Hello, Wald. How have things been lately?" Asked Stella as she browsed Wald's goods.
Wald described a few interesting things that had happened during his border patrol duties near the desert, including something strange he had been noticing recently.
"Lately, we've been finding monster carcasses with wounds that look completely unnatural, as though something tore them apart with sheer brute force." Said Wald, his tone growing increasingly serious.
"You've been getting a lot of these flowers, haven't you?" Said Stella as she picked through them.
"That's right. The monster corpses we've been finding appear to have been killed by a creature with extraordinary magic, so powerful that traces of it linger on the carcasses where these flowers grow. Based on the residual magic, it could well be a very dangerous creature." Wald reported.
Stella then glanced over at Ichigo, who stood quietly with his usual blank expression.
It seemed she knew that Ichigo was the one responsible. Stella even let out a small laugh at the realization.
"Hee, is that so~." Said Stella.
After that, Stella bought four flowers and they continued walking.
They eventually reached a bridge from which the lower floor of the village could be seen very clearly below.
"Oh, look! It seems the forest festival is starting right now. Goodness, I had completely forgotten." Stella pointed down toward the tournament grounds.
She then turned to Ichigo.
"Let's go down there!"
To Be Continued~