TCAJTWTPOTA 04

Episode 4

Encounters Come Without Warning

“Whew, that’s enough for today, Nocty.”

“Nice work today!”

“Yeah. At this rate, we’ll hit our goal soon.”

Nocty—well, that relic—to be precise, the being sealed inside that ring—was who he was talking to.
According to his own introduction, he’s a “great and mighty spirit.”
…Though in appearance, he looks like a small puppy with wings.

Maybe because he’s self-conscious about it, he gets really mad if you call him things like “cute” or “tiny.”

And calling him “Tee-chan” is a total taboo.
Well, except for Mile. She keeps calling him that anyway.

Right now, what we’re doing is digging up relics in the holy sanctuary’s ancient ruins to sell them—
raising funds so we can buy our own flying ship.

“Sky! Tee-chan! Time to go home!”

Mile’s voice rang out behind us.

“I told you not to call me Tee-chan! How many times do I have to say it!?”

“But doesn’t ‘Tee-chan’ sound way cuter than ‘Nocty’?”

“I don’t need to sound cute! Grrr…!”

Nocty growled in frustration, glaring at Mile—who only laughed at his reaction.

It was such a normal, everyday exchange now.
But on the day I first met Nocty, the whole village had been thrown into chaos.

— About two months earlier —

My encounter with Nocty came completely out of nowhere.

After the Starfall Ceremony, when I returned home, I heard a mysterious voice guiding me toward a relic.
When I opened it, I found a silver ring set with a long, blue gemstone.

And from that ring—

“Pheww~! Finally out! You saved me, kid!”

“Huh!?”

“What’s wrong, boy?”

“M–Monster!!”

“I’m not a monster! I’m what you humans call a spirit! And not just any spirit—THE Great Spirit, mind you!”

The tiny, winged creature stood proudly on its hind legs, puffing its chest out.
It… was actually kind of cute.

“A spirit? Like the ones that appeared during the Starfall Ceremony?”

“Don’t lump me in with those mindless drones!”

“Well, they glowed way brighter than you though, and looked more, uh, spirit-y…”

ZGOOON!

“Ow!! Why did you body slam me!?”

“Because you said something rude, obviously!”

“Hey, I’m supposed to just believe you’re a spirit out of nowhere!?”

“Whatever. For now, put on that ring.”

I hesitated, but he wouldn’t stop yelling at me, so I gave in and slipped it onto my right index finger.

“Good. The contract’s complete.”

“Wait—contract!? As in, I’m your contractor!?”

“Exactly.”

“…Can that contract be canceled?”

“Nope! Oh, and you can’t take the ring off either.”

“What!? Hey—come on!”
I pulled as hard as I could, but it didn’t budge.

“Told you. But relax! I exist to lend power to my contractor. So you’ve got nothing to lose!”

“Alright then, introductions are in order.”

The self-proclaimed Great Spirit continued talking like he owned the place.

“My name’s Nocty! Pleased to meet ya!”

“I’m Sky, but uh… sure.”

“Let’s get to it, Sky. How much do you know about Starstones and spirits?”

“Uhh… Starstones are needed to gain a class, and spirits are supposed to be messengers of the gods?”

“Hmm. About what I expected from current civilization.”

“So, you do know more?”

“Of course! I know everything! …Or I would, if I wasn’t missing so much of my data.”

“Well, let’s start with Starstones.”

“Their official name is Star Crystals.”

(Wait—wasn’t that what the spirits mentioned during the ceremony?)

“Star Crystals function to receive, transmit, record, and execute data. They can also act as a power source.”

“Receiving data… that must’ve been the light during the ceremony. And recording means storing class powers?”

“Pretty much. The light you saw was the data for your class being transmitted from a satellite.”

“Satellite?”

“…Just think of it as one of the stars in the sky.”

“Next is the function that lets you use your class.”

“The class’s power comes from data, right? So the Star Crystal’s job is to make that data usable.
That’s why you can’t use class powers if you’re too far from one.”

“That’s about all you need to know for now.”

“Now, about me.”

“In short, I—the Great Spirit—am the administrator of the Star Ring.
My main role is to manage its data.”

“And the Star Ring’s main function is—its library.”

“Library? What do you mean by—”

Knock knock.

“Sky, you home?”

“!? W–wait, just a second—”

Before I could answer, the door swung open.

“Mom says you’re joining us for dinne—oh my gosh, what’s that!? It’s soooo cute!”

“Wait, Mile, let me explain—!”

She ignored me completely, lunged forward, and scooped Nocty up.

“Hey! Don’t just grab me! Let me gooo!!”

Nocty wriggled frantically, but Mile didn’t care in the slightest.

“So, what’s this little guy?”

I told her everything that had happened.

“So Tee-chan’s a spirit, huh? And he lives inside that ring?”

“What did you just call me, girl!?”

“Nocty, so… Tee-chan! Cute, right?”

“You mocking me!? I’m the Great Spirit!”

He flailed his paws in protest, but Mile just hugged him tighter.

“Even angry Tee-chan is adorable!”

“Don’t call me cuteeee!”

At that point, I realized: there’s no winning against Mile.

Eventually, a flustered Nocty retreated into his ring—
only to be lured back out again when Mile promised him a delicious dinner.

When I asked, “Do spirits even need food?” he said he could taste and convert it into energy.
“I’m a gourmet!” he declared proudly… even though he’d been sealed away for who knows how long.

Now, with Nocty in her arms and a bright smile on her face, Mile led us to her house.
She introduced him to her parents like it was the most normal thing in the world.

At first, her parents were speechless—but once they learned Nocty was a spirit, they treated him like a royal guest.
He didn’t seem to mind, happily eating more food than I thought his tiny body could possibly hold.

“It’s… decent,” he said between bites—but he was clearly enjoying himself.

After dinner, as we were about to leave, Mile threw a fit saying she wanted Nocty to sleep over.
Her parents finally scolded her into giving up—reluctantly.

On the way home, Nocty looked completely content, either from the food or the relief of being freed from Mile’s hugs.

Back home, we discussed what to do next.
We decided to report everything to the village chief tomorrow—it was bound to get out eventually anyway.

The next morning, before sunrise, Mile showed up at my house again.
Obviously, she was there for Nocty.

By the time I came out, he was already devouring the breakfast she’d made for him.

(He’s totally been tamed through food. Some Great Spirit…)

After breakfast, we all went to the village chief’s house—
with Nocty, of course, being carried by Mile.

People stopped and stared as we passed by, wide-eyed in shock.
Well, it’s not every day you see a real “spirit.”

We explained everything to the chief, and with Mile’s persuasion, Nocty was granted permission to stay in the village.
Naturally, he became the center of gossip overnight.

Despite his arrogant way of speaking, his cute looks made him incredibly popular—
especially with the village girls, led by Mile herself.

After the “Nocty Boom” in the village settled down, a traveling merchant came to town.
Even with my parents’ inheritance, we couldn’t just keep living without income.
At first, I thought of helping with village work, but Nocty suggested,
“Why not sell some relics? They’d fetch a good price.”

So we did.
Nocty stayed inside the ring this time—no need to start a second Nocty craze.

The merchant had set up his stall in the square.
He looked to be in his late forties, and helping him was a red-haired girl about my age with round glasses and a peculiar way of speaking.

“Welcome. What brings you here today?”

“I’d like to sell a relic I found in some ancient ruins.”

“Oh ho, how intriguing. May I see it?”

I took out a piece from my pouch and handed it over.

“Hmm, metal, yet surprisingly light.”

“Minato, mind giving it an appraisal?”

“Sure, lemme see.”

The girl studied it carefully, then her eyes lit up.

“Whoa, I just appraised it—it’s made of somethin’ called Tianite!
It’s lighter than iron but way stronger!”

“Hey mister, you sellin’ this to us?”

“Do you have any more of these?”

“Just this one and another piece for now—but we can get more.”

“I see. In that case, I’ll return next month.
If possible, please bring whatever you can find.”

“How about… twenty thousand zenni apiece?”

“Wh—!? I-I mean… yes! That’s perfect! I’ll sell them!”

“Great! Looks like business is boomin’, Dad!”

And just like that, we sold the two relics for forty thousand zenni.

Since then, our days have been filled with relic hunting to raise funds.
But at the time, none of us could have imagined—
that this would be the event that changed our destinies forever.