Sia Clearwater (1)
I sat down beside Niagara.
[Mm.]
Niagara nodded once and began his story.
[Sia has trouble dealing with humans.]
It was about Sia Clearwater, Niagara's contractor.
[It's probably my fault. She's been with me since she was little, so she thought all humans were as kind as spirits.]
Sia Clearwater had contracted with Niagara ten years ago, in the first year the Spirit Realm connected to the human world, when she was just nine.
[Because of that, she's been betrayed a lot and used a lot. Just recently, she found out her family kicked her out of the company they built.]
After Niagara vanished, Clearwater Cosmetics had fired the entire Clearwater family.
"So she's lost faith in humans?"
[The opposite. She can't trust herself for trusting humans so easily. Sia doesn't try to get close to others anymore.]
There were spirit users like that. Having only dealt with pure spirits, they got deceived and hurt by those with hidden faces.
Those spirit users ended up disappointed and scared of others, eventually only mingling with fellow spirit users.
'That's one reason spirit users get called weirdos.'
Sia Clearwater had gone through it all from such a young age, so her walls seemed thicker than most.
"And after five years alone in the Amazon, dealing with people must be even harder."
[……Yes. That's a mistake with no excuses—wholly my fault.]
I offered no comfort or rebuke. Niagara's twisted expression already looked like punishment enough.
"So why tell me all this out of the blue?"
Niagara fixed me with a serious gaze. It was the face of a seven-year-old boy with catfish whiskers like Grandpa Ho Ho, but those eyes held a parent's worry for their child.
[You're the only human Sia treats without walls, comfortably.]
"Didn't know I was that close to Sia Clearwater."
Closer than close—I'd only seen her twice today.
Niagara shook his head, denying it.
[It means she'd be okay even if you betrayed her. That's how grateful she is. Of course, I know you're not the type. Nobody knows better than I do that the human Aqua chose wouldn't be.]
That was parenthood—worrying endlessly, even knowing better.
[……Hate me all you want. I deserve it. But please, be kind to Sia.]
His words dripped with sincerity.
Niagara stared at the ground, voice gloomy.
[A poor child whose fate twisted because of a spirit.]
Such nonsense deserved no empathy or consolation.
"She's happy to have met a spirit."
Niagara looked up at me. I patted his small shoulder.
"Don't blame yourself too much. You are a gift to Sia Clearwater."
To every spirit user, their spirit was a gift. One irreplaceable by anything in the world.
[…….]
Niagara stared silently, then turned his eyes forward.
[……Thank you.]
Small words, but heavy with meaning.
We sat by the lake a while, watching undines play.
[Ah, but don't get the wrong idea.]
Niagara suddenly spoke up. His eyes, softened by the moment, turned sharp and venomous.
[I have no intention of marrying Sia off to a guy like you.]
"What brought that on?"
[Humans—human men especially—mistake kindness from a woman for romantic feelings.]
"……You need to cut back on the internet."
[Even if Sia feels indebted and can't refuse you, I never will.]
Niagara glared daggers at me.
I could forgive the misunderstanding as his freedom, but this level of wariness? Then it hit me.
'Worried I'll steal Sia too, after Aqua.'
Suddenly, his hostility felt adorable.
'So pathetic, yet so cute.'
Feeling my lips twitch, I ruffled Niagara's head vigorously.
[Urk! I said don't touch my head!]
His reaction—like Aqua's, but a bit different—made me burst out laughing.
"How about a belly rub, then?"
[No bellies! Only Sia and Aqua can touch me!]
"Aqua and I are one, so that should be fine."
[Watch that sly tongue!]
As I kept trying to pet him and he kept blocking, a voice cut in.
"You two get along well."
Sia Clearwater had approached unnoticed. Beside her lumbered a bear cub loaded with firewood—ears long like a rabbit's.
The bear naturally stacked the wood by the house. For dinner and campfire.
"Thank you."
Sia petted its head; the bear let out a pleased rumble and vanished into the woods.
Spirit Realm animals were always friendly and docile to we humans, who resembled spirits. Nothing surprising.
'An S-rank like Sia Clearwater wouldn't get taken down by a mere beast anyway.'
I welcomed her.
"Good work."
[Mm. You've returned.]
"It's nothing."
Sia Clearwater pulled what looked like scorched herbs from her pocket and sprinkled them around the door and windows.
Our eyes met; she smiled faintly.
"This keeps snakes and beasts away, just in case."
Life in the Amazon left its mark.
"Shall we get back to work?"
[Mm.]
Inspired by her, we picked up our tasks.
Niagara resumed weaving leaves. With the lake nearby, I started prepping fish at the shore.
"Prepping fish?"
Sia Clearwater sat beside me mid-task.
"Yeah. For our dinner."
Crouched down, her already petite frame looked even smaller.
'Middle-school height... around 140 cm, maybe.'
Five years in the Amazon during growth years—likely malnutrition.
Niagara's romance talk aside, no real worries there.
'Can't see a girl who doesn't reach my chest that way.'
She just felt like a little sister.
Sia eyed the fish in the basin.
"I'll help."
"You will? Great."
I never refused help easily—it could be rude.
"Here."
I offered a stone knife Uluru had made. Sharp blade, proper handle—like store-bought.
"I'm good."
Sia shook her head, grabbed a round stone from the water, and smashed it against another.
Crack! It split clean, revealing a razor edge.
"This is enough for me."
While I gawked, she started filleting with it. No hesitation, no awkwardness—scales off, head and guts out smooth.
I joined in, drawing on my fish market experience, but couldn't match her flair.
"Impressive knife skills."
The words slipped out.
Sia smiled. "It's simple."
"Simple?"
Fish prep wasn't rocket science, but for a teenage girl—an S-rank hunter, elite—no easy task.
"Fish is basic."
Her innocent smile turned reminiscent.
"In the Amazon, we ate snakes too. Once, I botched the venom and nearly died."
"Ah......"
Far from light, yet she spoke like fond memory.
"How was life in the Amazon?"
She kept filleting.
"Hunted for food, otherwise meditated under the waterfall. Thought it'd raise my Spirit Affinity."
Sia had tried boosting her Spirit Affinity to cross into the Spirit Realm herself for Niagara.
"Months, then years—no progress. But no other path."
If I'd lost to Niagara and Aqua returned to the Spirit Realm, I'd have lived similarly.
'Life without a spirit is miserable for spirit users.'
Sia was better off; others lost hope and became shells.
"That's why I'm so grateful to you, Hyunwoo."
Her smile shone like her golden hair as our eyes met.
"You ended my endless hell."
Her eyes curved into pretty half-moons—pure, youthful, fitting a teen. Yet detached somehow.
"I'll repay this favor. Call on me anytime you need help."
Her smile drew mine.
"I won't hold back."
We chuckled softly, focusing back on the fish. Her small hands worked deftly.
Watching her resilient strength, I pitied her early maturity—then remembered she was nearly an adult.
'That tenacity comes from years alone. That detached smile, from five solitary years.'
Even filleting, my attention kept drifting to her. She stuck in my mind.
Two hands made quick work. During cleanup, Niagara approached.
[Sia, medicine time.]
"Oh, right."
Sia swung her crossbag forward and rummaged. Over five pill bottles clinked out.
'......American!'
Like a U.S. drama—I couldn't hide my awe.
Sia popped pills one by one. Niagara formed healing water and fed it to her.
Gulp. Routine; her face unchanged.
"Mind if I ask what they're for?"
I asked Niagara.
[Nutrients, calcium supplements, growth promoters.]
Trying modern medicine to fix Amazon-stunted height.
Done, Sia scooped Niagara into her arms like a teddy bear.
Height difference minimal, but her S-rank strength made it easy despite her fragile look.
"Mmm......"
She buried her face in his head. Routine; Niagara floated calmly, feet dangling.
Well-adjusted despite hardships—but this reminded me of lonely teen years.
'That's why she sticks in my mind.'
Sia felt pitiable. Pure yet detached aura, childlike build unfit for her age. Betrayed and used young due to contracting a spirit king. Above all, those five years.
'Only happiness ahead now.'
Past unchangeable; just move forward.
[Sia. Stomach okay?]
Sia nodded, face still buried.
"Yeah. Settled since the Spirit Realm."
[Tell me if it acts up.]
"Okay."
I had to interject.
"Something wrong with you?"
Sia peeked out halfway.
"Well......"
Shy, eyes down, her small mouth opened hesitantly.
"I have parasites in my gut."
"......Parasites?"
The word blindsided me; I just blinked.