Following behind Ran, Shiro saw a few glowing orbs of light which she recognised as spirits but they soon disappeared.
"If you’re curious about that, it’s because they’re being sent to the material world. The dryads there should find them soon and look after them." Ran smiled as Shiro nodded.
"So who’s your granny?" Shiro asked curiously since it sounded like her grandmother could help her integrate to this place as a member of their society.
"Oh she’s the current acting leader of Spirits. She’s one of the oldest people around so everyone calls her granny. She’s very kind to me though since she raised me from the moment I returned here as a young a.d.u.l.t." Ran explained.
Seeing that Ran had a rather lively body language the moment she mentioned granny, Shiro could guess that she loved her a lot.
"I see. What does she do as the acting leader?"
"Well she oversees everything. With the help of others of course. She protects us in case monsters appear here since they slip through the gap at times and she also tries her best to keep everyone happy. Granny works super hard. I asked her why she was working super hard and her reply is always ’I have to since I made a promise.’ She still hasn’t told us who she promised though." Ran sighed.
"I see... well that just shows that your granny is a responsible person isn’t she? Keeping her promise through all the years." Shiro smiled.
"That’s right!" Ran grinned.
Fighting the urge to pat the bouncing ball of joy’s head, Shiro looked into the distance and saw a rather large castle surrounded by floating islands.
There were towers constructed on the islands and were joined to the castle using bridges. But since the islands moved around, the bridges had joins on each end to make sure it didn’t break.
Looking at it from afar, it was akin to observing a finely crafted clock.
"Looks beautiful doesn’t it?" Ran smiled as Shiro nodded her head.
However, the only thing she could think of when looking at the tower was how the intricate pieces could be converted into weapons.
Just looking at the design gave her an idea of a new flying fortress since it would be better disguised than her last design.
’What am I thinking about? Not everything can be turned into a weapon you battle junkie.’ Shiro berated herself with a sigh.
"We’re approaching the gates now." Ran said as she jogged ahead and started to talk to a few guards.
Coming back, she grabbed Shiro’s hand.
"Come on, they’ve given us permission. Granny should be free right now so we can see her quickly."
Nodding her head, Shiro followed behind Ran while she gave her some advice. Such as where the shops are.
"Oh right, if any of the older spirits tell you to follow them because they have sweets, don’t do it." Ran warned as Shiro tilted her head in confusion.
"Well you’ve been in human form for a long time haven’t you? This means you probably haven’t lived the full expected course of a young spirit so you’re still a child despite your appearance and the older spirits will be able to sense that. There are some creeps so you want to be careful but there shouldn’t be many. Granny deals with them the moment she finds out but they keep appearing." Ran sighed.
However, Shiro would be more worried for the older spirits since they might find an arrow up their a** if they’re not careful.
"I wanted to tell you just in case. Anyways, we should be able to fly around now since we’re close to the castle. Do you have a flying divinity or should I help you?" Ran asked as she unfurled a set of iridescent wings that glowed with a soft crimson.
"Ah I have a flying divinity so you don’t need to worry about that." Shiro smiled and started to hover.
"Which divinity did you get? Don’t most divinities give you wings so that you can fly? But you’re using wind." Ran widened her eyes in surprise.
"Ah it’s just a slightly unique one." Shiro smiled.
"Heh~ I see. Well anyways come with me. If I’m correct, granny should be at the top floor right now." Ran grinned as she soared up into the sky.
Glancing around, she saw a few of the spirits sigh and understood that this was probably a common occurrence.
Flying behind Ran, she watched as the young looking spirit took a deep breath and charged at one of the windows.
"GRANNY I’M HOME!" She shouted out.
Raising her eyebrow, Shiro watched as a woman hastily opened the window before Ran could shatter it to pieces.
Catching Ran in a hug, the woman patted her head with a soft smile.
She had long silver blue hair that flowed freely and a pair of golden eyes. Her skin looked delicate and soft. Wearing a long white dress, the woman that Ran called granny didn’t seem old at all. Instead, it looked like a woman in her prime.
"Ay... how many times Ran. You’re going to give your granny a heart attack." The woman sighed while stroking Ran’s hair.
"Fufu, it’s fine granny. Anyways, I brought a guest. I found this child releasing her aura haphazardly in the wild when some of the spirits told me about her. She’s a bit clueless so I brought her to you." Ran smiled as the woman looked towards Shiro.
The moment she saw Shiro, her eyes widened for a moment before bowing.
"This servant welcomes the Empress back to the Spirit World." The woman said as Ran paused in shock.
"Huh? Empress?" Ran tilted her head and looked back at Shiro who was just as confused as Ran.
Hearing confusion in her voice, the woman took a second glance at Shiro before sighing.
"My humble apologies. With my old age, it seems servant has recognised you as the previous Empress who had graced us with their presence. Please, come inside." The woman stood to the side as Shiro nodded her head.
Flying through the window, she landed gently in the office.
"Granny what do you mean by Empress? Is this child someone important?" Ran asked.
Patting her head, the woman smiled softly.
"This child isn’t any ordinary child. She’s the next Empress of the Spirit race. Or rather, she is already the Empress. But I am confused, how come your highness has not awakened your true spirit nature despite being the Empress for quite a long time? It also seems is your first time in the spirit world as your body is still adapting to this place." The woman asked with concern in her voice.
"Well... my circ.u.mstances have been... odd." Shiro smiled while sitting down on the sofa in the centre of the room with the table in front of it.
"I see. But before we go into detail of anything, can I ask which domain are you governing over? This one in the Forgotten Realms or the world outside of this place."The woman asked with a sad smile.
"The world outside this place." Shiro replied.
"It’s a shame but I suppose the world outside is in more danger than this place. It makes sense that the Empress would appear there instead of here." The woman sighed.
Sitting down opposite Shiro, she looked towards Ran.
"Can you get us some tea dear?"
"Ah, right away." Ran nodded and left the room.
"Care to introduce yourself and what this place is? Since I’m a rather new Empress and as you can guess, know nothing of this place since this is my first time in the Spirit World." Shiro smiled as the woman nodded.
"This servant is called Lamira. I was the attendant of the previous Spirit Queen that was born in this world and have been acting in her place under the promise that I will look after the spirits in this world." Lamira replied as Shiro nodded her head.
"And this is the Spirit World. This realm also exists in the outside world but it is ’whole’ in this place due to the Primordial Towers. With their presence, this world is able to stabilise, allowing more spirits to be born and giving us a safe haven of sorts without having to survive out in the dangerous world." Lamira smiled.