The past timeline - Three years before Ryoto and team rescues Aem and friends. ❤️ - represented by this symbol

The present timeline - Ryoto and team rescues Aem and friends. 🟥 - represented by this symbol

The future timeline - one year after Ryoto and team had rescued Aem and friends. ♦️ - represented by this symbol

***

[Location: Fujima's house]-❤

"Amash! We are back home! And we have amazing news—" Oya's voice rang out, brimming with excitement as she approached the door to the living room. However, her enthusiasm was abruptly stifled when she reached the entrance. Her legs froze, her body refusing to take another step forward. She clutched the handle of the sliding door, her knuckles turning white, and gulped heavily, an overwhelming sense of dread washing over her.

"What is it? Open the door," Konosa urged from behind her, his tone a mix of curiosity and concern.

"No… wait…" Oya's voice was barely above a whisper, yet it carried an undeniable urgency.

"What is it? Why did you stop?" Miyazono joined in, his brows furrowing in confusion.

"Senpai. Remeshi-san. And Fujima Sensei, Kane Sensei. Please wait outside," Oya said slowly, her voice steady but tense.

"But why—"

"Just wait outside, Konosa Senpai." Her slight yell reverberated down the hallway, filled with a desperate edge that left no room for argument. Konosa hesitated, bitterness etched on his face, but he complied. He led the others called out by Oya to the end of the corridor and through the main door. Once they were out of sight, Oya slightly slid open the door and quickly pulled Remeni and Miyazono inside with her.

The room was dimly lit, the shadows dancing on the walls creating an eerie atmosphere. In the middle of the room stood Amash, her figure trembling, and next to her was Reiko, a familiar yet unexpected presence.

"Amash. Are you okay? And… why are you here, Reiko?" Oya asked, her voice a mix of concern and suspicion.

"Good to see you too, Oya," Reiko greeted with utmost sarcasm, a smirk playing on her lips.

"Why are you here with Amash?" Oya demanded again, her hand already moving to grip the hilt of her sword, ready for any confrontation.

"She called me. Maybe I was the only one who could help," Reiko replied, her tone dripping with a nonchalant confidence that only served to heighten Oya's unease.

"Help? Right. Amash. I felt this uneasy feeling when we came close to your room. What's going on?" Oya's voice softened slightly as she addressed Amash, but her eyes never left Reiko.

"Turn around, Amash. Talk to us," Remeni added, her voice gentle but insistent. She hadn't fully grasped the situation yet, but the grim atmosphere in the room was impossible to ignore.

Amash slowly turned around at the sound of Remeni's voice, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. Her hands, trembling and covered in dark scales, clutched onto a dress that seemed foreign on her, an attire that radiated a sense of otherworldliness. The dress itself seemed to shimmer with a life of its own, each thread pulsating with a hidden energy.

"Wh-what? Why do you look like that?" Miyazono asked, his voice trembling with confusion and concern.

Amash lowered her head, unable to meet his gaze. Before she could respond, Reiko interjected, lounging casually on the tatami mat, her legs spread out wide and her weight resting on her outstretched hands. "This is the forest fairy or leafy elf, whatever suits you guys."

"But why does she...?" Miyazono began, his voice trailing off.

"Oh Miyazono," Reiko almost snickered, "have you not heard about curses at all?"

"Curse? Another one?" he asked, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"I don't know which one you’re talking about, Miyazono, but this one is a very rare curse," Reiko replied, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"What happens in it?" Miyazono pressed.

"Why? You think because you are a spring descendant you can help her?" Reiko's tone was teasing, almost mocking.

"Just say it," Miyazono insisted, his patience wearing thin.

"Okay, okay," Reiko brushed off her frock lightly before continuing. "It's called 'revanche' or 'Vindicta'. It's just revenge in French and Latin. It's simple, right? They wanted revenge, so they took it."

"What? That's it?" Miyazono asked, incredulous.

"How complicated do you want it to be, Miyazono?" Reiko retorted, raising an eyebrow.

"There must be something more. Why the forest fairy?" he asked, looking at Amash with growing concern.

"Oh. It actually depends on the situation, Miya sweetie," Reiko explained. "Say I was drowning and you didn't help me up. Then I shall curse you at that moment. And you turn into a hated water balloon or a water dragon that dies if it doesn't feed on one human per day."

"Who decides that?" Miyazono's voice was a mix of fascination and horror.

"Not the one who curses. The person who curses just says, 'I curse you'. The magic, the vast mana on the earth, decides the rest of it," Reiko replied to Miyazono's surge of questions.

"You seem to know a lot about these things. Why?" Remeni asked, assuming her own chance to probe.

"Is that what matters right now?" Reiko shot back, glancing over at Amash with a meaningful look.

"Ugh. Amash. Those horns on your head. They were actually a part of the curse, weren't they?" Remeni's question hit a sore spot. Amash clutched her dress harder, her eyes glittering with tears.

"Y-yes," her voice choked as she uttered the single word she was afraid to accept.

"Amash. How do we get rid of this curse?" Oya asked, stepping forward with determination.

"Oh, I'm here for that," Reiko began. "I don't know what you three think of me, but I'll tell you anyway. Because Amash called me for help. You should go to her home place. Find the person who cursed her. Use the 'Greater' spell on them. It should do the trick."

"Okay. Sounds easy. Well, unless proven otherwise by that 'Greater' spell thing," Miyazono concluded, trying to stay optimistic.

"Yeah. Everything is hard, trust me. The Greater spell is a unilateral spell. Meaning it has no caster. It is free mana," Reiko explained.

"How do we possibly use free mana? What even is free mana? We can't use mana at all anyway," Remeni said, panic creeping into her voice.

"Of course, yes. I'll tell ya'. Free mana is the energy of the world. Like the sky and the sun, it exists naturally. You can't actually use the air, but we still breathe it. What I'm saying is, it's not a work spell. A person can't cast it. But you can extract it," Reiko elaborated.

"How?" Oya asked, her curiosity piqued despite the dire circumstances.

"You know how, come on," Reiko hinted, a mischievous glint in her eye.

"T-technology?" Oya questioned hesitantly.

"Technology? Seriously? I'm not going to get involved with that again," Miyazono said firmly. "There must be another way."

"Oh? There is another way, but that is much more difficult than this," Reiko mentioned.

"What is it? Anything other than technology," Miyazono voiced, setting her resolve.

"You see, there is a sage. He lives on the mountains to the river on the white land. He knows a spell that can help," Reiko explained.

"This sounds more plausible to me," Miyazono nodded, a flicker of hope in her eyes.

"Yeah, sure. He is not easy to find. And that land is not easy to enter either. People with supreme tier five mana also give up midway to the place," Reiko cautioned.

The group stood in stunned silence, absorbing the magnitude of the task ahead. Miyazono, her voice shaky, finally broke the tension. "Why is it so hard?"

Reiko, still lounging casually on the tatami mat, replied with a nonchalant shrug, "Because it's a place with the lowest of low temperatures. It's covered in mana-layered snow. It's very hard to even stand with your eyes open, let alone walk."

"Oh," Oya sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

A loud knock on the door interrupted their thoughts, followed by Remeshi's concerned voice. "Guys? What's going on? Everyone is worried!"

Oya, resigned and defeated, slid open the door. The first thing Remeshi's eyes fell upon was the little elf girl standing timidly in the middle of the room—the young child he didn't recognize as Amash.

"Who… is that?" he asked, turning to Oya with a look of utter bewilderment.

"Amash. It's Amash," Oya replied, her voice filled with a mix of sorrow and frustration.

"What? What happened to her?" Remeshi demanded, his eyes wide with shock.

Oya took a deep breath and began to explain everything to Remeshi—the curse, the transformation, and the two possible solutions. His expression remained unreadable, a mask of calm that betrayed none of his thoughts, leaving the room in a tense silence.

"What do we do?" Oya finally asked, the silence gnawing at her.

Remeshi turned his attention to Amash, his eyes softening. "Why did you suddenly change forms?"

"I always do change at night," Amash confessed, her voice barely above a whisper. "But you guys are not always around. And when you are, I always make sure to revert the ears back to the horns and change clothes."

"And that wasn't possible today?" Remeshi asked, a deep frown creasing his forehead.

"Yeah. I changed into my kimono as usual since you guys were coming home today. But the next minute, my clothes magically changed back to this forest elf dress. Even the horns constantly turned back to ears, though I tried so hard to keep them from happening. I tried covering myself with blankets or hakamas, but all of that just disappeared a while later."

"What? Why did that happen?" Remeshi asked, his voice laced with concern and confusion.

"I don't know, Remeshi-nii. I was so scared. And then I remembered the ice descendant Oya-nee told me about. The girl who would hardly talk, only when she feels it's most necessary will she spill words, the girl who had a condescending cold look, condescending disgust even. The girl with no filter, the one who showed almost no emotions, always sarcastic. Reiko. I could recognize Reiko anywhere. She was the one who was quite known for her knowledge of curses and also as the only ice descendant with the power to revert certain curses. Reiko lived close to my village. She was infamous in our village as well."

"Got it. So we have two options at hand. I don't know much about that sage and stuff, but technology should help or at least it has more of a chance," Remeshi said, nodding thoughtfully.

"Yeah, Remeshi, but," Miyazono began, her face reflecting deep worry, "it's illegal to ship technology inside the sword master region and for a species even. Normal humans can use it like candy, but we can't. This is so risky. We could end up being labelled as criminals, and our sword master careers will be over instantly. I want to help too, but this is too much."

Remeshi nodded, understanding Miyazono's concerns. He turned to look at the little girl standing quietly in the room. "Amash, what species are you from?"

"Elf," Amash replied, her voice small and trembling.

"Wait. You are an Elf?" Oya asked, incredulous.

"No, not literally. Our species is named that though. Because we have similar traits, except the horns," Amash clarified.

"Oh. So you do what?" Miyazono asked, her curiosity piqued despite the seriousness of the situation.

"Oh. Play pranks. Curse to illness. And hypnotize people to believe we are beautiful and/or cute, pretty," Amash explained. Miyazono had no words. She stared at her, processing the revelation that what she had considered mythical stood right in front of her.

"Wow. You are a negative species," Oya muttered, shaking her head slightly.

"Okay, Amash," Remeshi began, crouching to her height and taking her tiny hands in his. "Even though you are an Elf, this is not your true form, and this form causes you to spread bad energies, right?"

"Precisely, nii. My species is known for being naughty and causing coughs, colds. Not bad luck..." Amash's eyes shimmered with unshed tears.

"Amash, I promise you. I promise you that I'll turn you back to the way you were. The real you. But there is one thing you must do for me to fulfill this promise," Remeshi said, his voice gentle yet firm.

"Name it, nii. I shall do anything to go back to the way things were," Amash replied earnestly.

"Accompany my team on our journey," Remeshi stated, his eyes locked onto hers.

"Wh-what?" Amash stammered, taken aback.

"I'll take care of what you look like—this form of yours. But you'll have to come with me for me to turn you back to normal," Remeshi explained.

"But how can I—"

"Amash. Either technology or the sage, you need to use the technology, and you need to be there for the sage to work the spell on you. You need to be there either way, Amash," Remeshi interrupted gently but firmly.

"Okay.... I'll come with you, nii. Thank you," Amash agreed, her voice filled with hope and determination.

"Yeah," Remeshi stood up and ruffled her hair affectionately. The girls followed Remeshi outside the room after saying their goodbyes to Amash. Before sliding the door closed, Remeshi turned to have one last glance at Amash. "You look cute, though. And this is not your hypnotism talking," he said, smiling as he slid the door shut.