"Ryuya, Ryuya, Ryuya, look at this outfit! How does it look? Is it nice?"
Dragging Ryuya out, Kurumi didn't mention what she wanted him to do at all. As they walked together, she first returned to her Shadow Domain to change clothes.
"...It looks nice."
Noticing Kurumi had abandoned the gothic lolita attire for a youthful and bright little dress paired with a knitted cardigan, fully embodying a young girl style, Ryuya nodded.
Just like that, he was pulled out the door by Kurumi.
"Ryuya, look at these people! They're all looking at us!"
"I can use illusion magic to make them overlook our presence."
"No, no, that would waste too much of your magical energy."
Hearing Ryuya suggest making them less noticeable, Kurumi shook her head.
"Hmm? Not really. This level of consumption is meaningless to me. And since I'm helping you, shouldn't we lower our presence?"
Raising an eyebrow, Ryuya was still wondering what Kurumi wanted him to do.
"Ah? No need for such trouble. I wasn't planning to ask you to do anything particularly difficult anyway."
Shaking her head, Kurumi's steps suddenly halted, "Ryuya, by the way, haven't you considered that I might ask you to do something very troubling for you?"
"Something troubling for me? Probably not. I think what you want most right now is to travel through time, to go back to the past. Although I'm not entirely clear about your grudge with Mio... that is, the Spirit of Origin, I believe there must be a misunderstanding between you."
Having great confidence in Mio, if Ryuya didn't even trust his own beloved, then he was a pretty failed King.
"Of course, if you want to go back to the past, Kurumi, I can provide you with magical energy. But I'd need about a year to prepare."
This life simulation hadn't been going on for long. Although Ryuya was growing rapidly, his current strength was roughly at an all-around SSS-rank level, not even reaching the planetary Unique One tier yet.
He still needed time to grow.
Developing at a geometric rate, he would recover to his peak condition within a year at most. By then, he could provide Kurumi with sufficient magical energy for time travel.
"But having said that, I think with your current strength, Kurumi, traveling back in time wouldn't be useful. Not just you, even I am no match for Mio."
"So I don't think you'd try to travel back now, at least not without preparation. As for other matters, I don't believe you'd ask me to do anything unacceptable. After all, we're still friends, aren't we?"
When making the promise with Kurumi, Ryuya didn't add conditions like 'won't do things that cross my bottom line' or 'won't do things that betray my beliefs'. He trusted Kurumi, hence his promise to agree to any condition.
They had spent over a month together. If he couldn't even read people and build that level of trust by now, he might as well quit. Don't be a King… be a villager instead.
"Ah, Ryuya, you really understand me. I indeed won't go back to face the Spirit of Origin now."
Her eyes lighting up upon hearing Ryuya's words, which showed the man's trust warmed her heart. Kurumi then continued with light steps, "Actually, I wanted to ask what happened between you and the Spirit of Origin, or why you trust her so much. But I feel if you don't want to talk about it now, then asking is useless."
"Just as you said, I don't want to make you do things you're unwilling to do. So, let's just enjoy today."
Unlike the Kurumi from seven years later when the main story begins, the current Kurumi hadn't killed many people yet. In the future story, Kurumi had killed thousands, though they were all evil individuals, but killing still carries psychological weight, and she wasn't like Ryuya. It was normal for a girl to bear such heavy pressure. Just look at how decisive someone like Shinomiya became after being reset over a thousand times.
Also bearing numerous responsibilities and convictions, the Kurumi from seven years later had, to some extent, fallen into a frenzied obsession, hence her relentless pursuit of the Spirit of Origin and her desire to return to the past at any cost.
But now, still retaining some beautiful illusions about the world and yearnings for various emotions, this Kurumi was struggling between her feelings for Ryuya and her hatred for the Spirit of Origin.
She had actually already decided that today would be her last day with Ryuya. She wanted to sever the connection and leave tomorrow, returning to her solitary world.
But before that...
"Let's not talk about these things anymore, Ryuya. Let's go get something to eat."
Pulling Ryuya along to continue their planned day, the two experienced shopping, eating, buying clothes, watching movies, visiting cat cafés, and many other activities.
Declaring it a truly wonderful day, as night fell, Kurumi and Ryuya booked a hot spring inn.
"Ryuya, the hot springs here are super famous. Let's relax properly."
They booked the highest-grade suite. Besides various luxurious amenities, the room had a sizable private hot spring, large enough for three people to enjoy.
Waving to Ryuya, Kurumi, in high spirits, returned to her own room.
As for Ryuya...
"Phew... Come to think of it, it's been a long time since I last soaked in a hot spring."
He wasn't a hedonist by nature, but neither was he a rigid old fossil.
Ryuya was generally casual about his environment, leaving the arrangements to his subordinates.
Whether it was Camelot, Uruk, the Millennium Castle, or his current residence in the real world, people specifically handled the setups for him.
Even so, he rarely visited natural hot springs, having relatively few such experiences.
Slightly closing his eyes, he pondered what Mio was doing and what that girl might be thinking.
'Hmm, as expected, my departure made Mio develop feelings of fear. She probably thinks my strength is insufficient, so she wants to train me like how Itsuka Shido was trained in the original work, creating Spirits to make me a Planetary Spirit.'
'This explains why she's hiding from me and why the Kabbalah Tree of Life was my reward.'
He had roughly guessed Mio's thoughts, but he had no way to find the girl. After wrestling with it for a while, he felt he might need to find all ten Spirits before he could see Mio again.
But before that...
"Hey, Ryuya, the hot spring on your side is pretty nice."
Suddenly emerging from the Shadow Domain, Kurumi, wearing only a towel, had somehow arrived in Ryuya's room.
Stepping directly into Ryuya's hot spring, her face flushed... she was preparing for her final farewell.