Chapter 32: Challenge Her Fear
"Where are we going first?" Elysia asked in her mind after walking up to a city park.
"Having fun!" Elena exclaimed cheerfully.
"Yes, but where?"
"To an amus.e.m.e.nt park or festival?" Elena asked back.
"Wait a minute, let"s take a look at the city map first." Elysia sat on a park bench and put Vanessa on her lap before opening the map from her [s.p.a.ce Storage].
"Sister Elena, it looks like that place is not available in this city..."
"Ugh... A capital city without an amus.e.m.e.nt park or festival, boring. Boo... I"m sure the emperor of this kingdom is boring too." Elena grumbled in dissatisfaction.
"What else can we do? This is a city where the magic knowledge on the Human Continent gathers." Elysia spoke helplessly.
"Erm... Wait a moment, this city has at least a good shopping center, right? We can explore the city from there."
Hearing Elena"s suggestion about the place they had just pa.s.sed a while ago made Elysia a little hesitant and afraid because the place was crowded, not to mention at this time, there would definitely be more people than before.
On Earth she never once went to a crowd like that, she just needed to get people to buy her something if needed.
"Come on, Lil Ely. Don"t hesitate, I"m here with you. Isn"t it wonderful to explore new places? You just have to ignore all those people. You can also think of them as another species of animal." Elena coaxed softly as if she was whispering her suggestion with hypnotic abilities.
Elena knows Elysia can recover if she is fully aware of two things, the first is that she just needs a special person who cares a lot about her and can be trusted to show her something she needs to be aware of, and the second is that she just needs to avoid overthinking things or feel lonely.
Although Elysia has repeatedly convinced herself not to over-think, she is still not aware of the other important points.
For now, Elena as the special person in question is thinking about ways to reduce her fear of crowds before she can move on to the next step.
"Look there, that big man. You can think of him as a gorilla. Or that girl who was running over there, you could think of her as a lively rabbit. Well! Look at that man who tripped and fell, you can also think of him as a writhing animal. Pfft..."
Elena goes on to plan for Elysia"s recovery so that she will no longer be afraid of crowds or anything else with a ridiculous example of what they see in the city park.
"Hey, that last one doesn"t have to be. He"s in pain from falling and not a writhing animal..."
Elysia smiled because of that while shaking her head slightly, but the advice Elena just gave her would really be tried.
She tried to see some of the people who were in the city park as another subject. Rather than seeing them as human beings full of gimmicks and sin, she transforms them into adorable cutesy animals whose purpose is to entertain people in her mind to her sight.
After feeling confident this solution could fight her fear of crowds, Elysia mustered up her courage to go to a shopping center that may have become even busier than before.
"Alright, I"m ready! Let"s go there." Elysia put the map she was holding back into her [s.p.a.ce Storage] and hugged Vanessa before getting off the park bench to go to challenge her fear.
"That"s my Lil Ely!" Elena cheered happily from Elysia"s Soul Realm.
"Thank you, Sister Elena."
"Anything for you, dear." Elena answered Elysia"s grat.i.tude gracefully.
They returned to the n.o.ble shopping district of the n.o.bles while looking for a place they would visit.
Although she was noticed by many people along the way, she no longer used the technique of ignoring others, but rather the technique that Elena had just taught her to avoid being afraid of crowds.
Elysia stares back with a smile at everyone who was staring at her for a long time which made the perpetrator divert their attention in another direction because they realized the person they were staring at was aware of them.
A simple technique that she had never realized before had worked and did not scare her off the crowd. She is now starting to get excited and believes she can become a normal person without any shortcomings.
Unfortunately, her current state is far from normal or extraordinary, but that"s for later. Elena is happy with this improvement as Elysia begins to build up her cheerful personality.
"Vanessa..." Elysia calls out to the cat in her arms which is just silent.
"What is it, master?" Vanessa answered.
"Why are you just silent?"
"Erm ... I became worried after we entered the human domain. What if they become aware of my existence and ident.i.ty? I"m afraid that my "energy aura" will be detected by someone.
"Need my help? Maybe I can help." Elysia offers to help when she realizes that her new pet has her own anxiety.
She only thought that Vanessa was only afraid as a Spirit Beast from the Beast Continent to enter the capital city in the center of the Human Continent.
"Yes! Please!" Vanessa is happy about that.
Elysia uses her magic while stroking Vanessa to disguise her energy so that it cannot be detected by anyone by covering Vanessa"s body with another invisible energy blanket so that her energy cannot be detected.
Now, Vanessa can be considered a completely ordinary cat even if examined by experts.
Although this is just a theory that Elysia realizes, she believes it will work as long as she continues to provide Vanessa with that protective energy blanket.
"This way you are safe, you no longer need to worry about anything. But there is one thing you need to pay attention to, Vanessa." Elysia is pleased with the results.
"Enlighten this servant, master." Vanessa is so amazed at her master"s ability that it feels like she can do anything, she just needs to know that and *poof* it can happen.
"Hehe... What"s with that change of speech style. One important thing is that I will always protect you from what you are worried about, but don"t ever move away from me more than a 200-meter radius because that"s my perceptual distance, understand?"
Even though Elysia doesn"t know what Vanessa is worried about, she tells her about the perception distance she can use.
Vanessa interprets Elysia"s words differently from what Elysia originally meant. She considers the words of her master who "will always protect her" to be something that touches her heart.
"Yes! I understand and will not forget." Vanessa agrees with that. She only needs to go with her master and if she can"t go together, she only needs to follow her master to stay within that range.
"This, purr, purr... Good girl." Elysia stroked the bottom of Vanessa"s cheeks and chin, which are considered sensitive zones for cats to be stroked.
"Meow." Vanessa meowed because she was so comfortable stroked in the right part by her master.
"Vanessa, are you hungry? You haven"t eaten anything from our encounter, have you? Not to mention that you threw up a little while ago." Elysia asked in confusion.
"Yes, please! I eat meat and fish!" Vanessa feels embarra.s.sed to be reminded of that. If her master said it like that right now, she would indeed feel hungry.
"Then let"s go to that restaurant. I also feel a little hungry and thirsty."
The conversation between Elysia and Vanessa could not be heard by anyone but them and Elena who was watching them both with a smile.
They immediately entered the attractive restaurant they encountered while walking aimlessly, Elysia did not know that there were two men outside who were looking at her entering the restaurant with inappropriate eyes.