I Met Her First... Mid-Grade Spirit Undine
“Kruaaagh!”
The frenzied Hobgoblin, flailing its severed wrist, charged at Sein. Sein, who had been looking delighted while clutching something in his hand, thrust his sword at the oncoming Hobgoblin. However, the blade only embedded itself weakly into the monster's shoulder, doing nothing to stop its momentum.
Blood spraying from the severed wrist splattered across Sein's eyes. To save him, I lunged forward again and brought my sword down on the back of the beast's neck. My longsword bit deep without resistance, cleanly severing the Hobgoblin's head.
Just as I felt a momentary relief, a wave of intense heat washed over the back of my head. Even if I dodged, Sein would surely be hit. Without hesitation, I grabbed the headless corpse of the Hobgoblin and hurled it backward. It was incredibly heavy, but I gripped it tight and threw it with all my might. The headless carcass flew through the air like a shot put.
Boom!
The incoming fireball failed to penetrate the Hobgoblin's corpse. Instead, the flames wrapped around the dead flesh, greedily incinerating it. Glancing at the distant Goblin Shaman, I saw it panting heavily, sweat dripping down its face. It seemed that despite the power of its staff, its remaining mana was nearly depleted.
Realizing this was the perfect time to finish it, I readied my longsword, which had been dragging on the ground, and charged. The exhausted shaman's face twisted in panic, but it didn't stop casting. A crimson glow was swelling around the staff in its grip.
The moment I leaped past the burning corpse, a sinister smirk spread across the shaman's face. Its empty right hand glowed black as it gestured, and suddenly, the burning corpse of the Hobgoblin sprang back to life, lunging at me.
Startled, I kicked it away with my boot to avoid catching fire and tried to slash its upper body. However, the Hobgoblin's outstretched hand clamped onto my blade, blocking the strike. As we locked in a struggle of strength, I felt a sudden surge of blistering heat from afar. The shaman's casting was complete.
Fuck. Should I let go of my sword and roll? Even if I dodged the fireball, if the Hobgoblin pinned me to the ground the moment I rolled, I would be burned alive without a chance to fight back.
[“Good job, Sein!”]
The moment that cheerful voice rang out, a thick stream of water shot from behind me, colliding head-on with the fireball. A massive explosion erupted, and a dense cloud of steam instantly blanketed my vision.
Craaaash!
Seizing the moment, I kicked the Hobgoblin in the abdomen and sliced its waist in two. As its severed upper torso fell to the ground, I spotted a dense cluster of runes near its heart and immediately thrust my longsword into it. I felt the blade pierce the heart, and with a soft hiss, the runes dissolved into a wisp of smoke.
The Goblin Shaman, its face contorted in sheer fury, shrieked as it began casting yet another spell.
“Kreeeeck! Kik, keeeeeeck!”
Sensing that surviving the next fireball would seal the victory, I gripped my longsword tightly and braced myself. But Undine had other plans. Gathering droplets of water in midair, she condensed them into a thick, liquid spear.
[“Filthy goblin, die already!”]
Just as a blazing fire began to coalesce on the staff, the water spear shot forward and pierced the Goblin Shaman straight through the throat. The shaman's eyes rolled back as it died instantly, and the staff in its grip wobbled violently. I thought it was over, but then the shaman's hand holding the staff began to wither rapidly, and things took a bizarre turn.
It was obvious that all the remaining mana in the staff was being violently sucked out. The fireball hovering at its tip swelled rapidly, growing larger than my head in a matter of seconds. I shot a desperate look at Undine, silently pleading for her to do something, but she only stared back at me with panicked eyes. It seemed that last spear had exhausted her remaining strength.
The withered hand snapped off with a dry crack, and the staff fell forward. Grabbing Sein—whose face was covered in blood, leaving him completely blind—by the collar, I dragged him away as fast as I could. But the massive fireball engulfed the spot we had just occupied, detonating with a deafening roar that threatened to tear our eardrums apart.
BOOM!
Rumble...
Clatter! Crash!
[“Sein!”]
The sound of a massive collapse, Undine's scream, and a thick cloud of dust immediately filled the cavern. I had dragged Sein toward the shaman's side to seek cover, but a horrific shriek suddenly tore from his throat.
“Aaaaargh! My—my legs! Urgh!”
Startled, I let go of his collar, crouched down, and rushed to his side. Waving my hand to clear the dust, I took a look at Sein. He was in a wretched state.
His legs must have been crushed by falling rocks. Both of his limbs were horribly twisted, and he groaned in agony as his iron-reinforced boots pressed mercilessly against his shattered shins. I immediately pulled out my dagger and sliced open the leather at the back of his boots to free his feet.
His feet were completely mangled and bent at unnatural angles. Deciding to fashion a splint, I remembered the Hobgoblin's club. I dashed through the settling dust, retrieved it, cut off the handle, and aligned it against his ankles. Finally, I tore up my half-burnt cloak and wrapped it tightly around his legs to secure the splint. It was a crude but passable job. However, because Sein screamed in agony every time I touched his shattered limbs, I had no choice but to stuff a wad of leftover cloth into his mouth.
“Mmmph! Hngh, mmmph! Mmmph!”
Sein thrashed his head and struggled, but I ignored his writhing and finished the emergency first aid before propping him up against the cavern wall. As the dust finally settled, I realized our situation was far worse than I had thought.
The path we had come through was completely blocked by boulders that had collapsed from the shockwave of the fireball. There were gaps here and there, but digging through them with our current gear was out of the question. Moreover, there was no telling if the ground, which had endured multiple explosions, was even structurally stable. Swallowing the sigh that rose to my throat, I decided to clean up the corpses scattered around the cavern first.
I resolved to use the corpses of the Hobgoblin, the rookie mercenary, and the Goblin Shaman to temporarily block the passage leading deeper into the cave. I had to tend to Sein, and I was quite exhausted myself; the last thing I needed was more goblins swarming us. It was a logical choice, but three goblins, likely drawn by Sein's screams, were already creeping toward us, drool dripping from their mouths. Looking closely, I saw no runes on their faces or bodies, meaning there were no more shamans among them.
I gripped my hilt tightly, waiting for the right moment as I approached. The three goblins, warily watching my movements, suddenly shrieked in unison and lunged at me. I took a deep breath, pushing my lungs to their limit, and drew my sword with the absolute maximum speed I could muster.
Slash!
The three goblins fell to the ground in pieces, their upper and lower bodies cleanly severed midair. After catching my breath, I stacked the corpses to block the passage, looted what I could, and finished tidying up. Behind me, Sein, who had finally calmed down from his whimpering, pulled the cloth from his mouth and apologized.
“I'm sorry, brother...”
[“Sein... you don't have to apologize! We're companions!”]
Undine's chiming in was so absurdly naive that I couldn't suppress the irritation bubbling up inside me. I let slip what I was holding back.
“No, he absolutely should apologize. Look at the mess we're in because of him.”
[“What?! You mean human! Sein is badly hurt!”]
Seeing me bicker with Undine, Sein quieted her down and turned to me.
“...Stop it, Undine... B-but brother, can you see Undine too?”
It was too late to pretend otherwise, so I nodded.
“I've seen her from the start. I thought she was your contracted spirit.”
[“Of course! Sein and I are going to make a contract soon! Right, Sein~?”]
“Y-yes, Undine...”
Upon learning that I had known about Undine's existence from the very beginning, Sein's gaze shifted, turning wary. Seeing his guarded attitude, it occurred to me that this seemingly simple-minded kid might be harboring dark, possessive desires deep down—desires I hadn't noticed before.
He must have realized that if I could see her, I had also heard all their conversations. That was undoubtedly the source of his wariness. But in his current state, there was absolutely nothing Sein could do. Whether it was because I had grabbed him by the collar or because he simply couldn't control his own body, he was now a cripple with crushed legs. The only ones he could rely on were me and Undine.
In fact, if he couldn't even contract with Undine, I was the only physical support he had left. To survive, Sein would have no choice but to cling to me even tighter and try to stay on my good side.
To break the tense atmosphere, I asked how the two of them had met. Undine, who had been warily watching me with a sullen face, started explaining quietly at first. But since she loved to chatter, she quickly grew excited and began spilling details left and right.
[“Sein and I met at the pond in his village!”]
[“Sein was swinging his wooden sword and sweating, and he looked so cool~ So I popped out of the pond to play a prank on him, but Sein went 'Wah!' and fell splash into the water, and then he got super mad at me!”]
“Undine...!”
Embarrassed by the trip down memory lane, Sein waved his hands to stop her, but the excited Undine kept babbling away.
[“After that, we talked, and Sein said he was going to leave the village to earn money! He said nothing good would ever happen if he stayed there~ He even swore a lot, but when I told him it scared me, Sein never swore again!”]
Undine, whom I had thought was just prickly, was now smiling as brightly as a child while talking about Sein. Seeing her innocent devotion to him, I listened attentively to her stories while mentally organizing the information about Sein. As I chimed in with compliments and encouraged her to tell me more, Undine began to flutter around the cavern, giggling happily.
“Stop it, Undine!!!”
When a frustrated Sein grit his teeth and shouted, Undine froze mid-air. Tears welled up in her cute, translucent eyes. It seemed his shouting had deeply shocked her, and Sein, realizing his mistake, hung his head in regret, his face twisting with guilt.
I could understand Sein's feelings. His legs were killing him, yet here we were, chatting away happily. On top of that, the naive Undine was leaking free information to me, a man he deeply distrusted. It was only natural that he had grown anxious. Still, he shouldn't have lashed out like that. If I turned my back on him, Undine would be his only ally left. He should have been coaxing her, not scolding her.
I gently placed my hand on the dejected Undine's shoulder. A cool sensation seeped through my gauntlet and into my palm. As Undine flinched in surprise at the sudden touch, I spoke to her softly.
“Sein is severely injured, so he's going through a very hard time right now. Don't be too hurt. Instead, we just need to find a way to heal his legs, right? Once you make him better, I'm sure he'll hug you and thank you.”
At my words, whispered just loud enough for Sein to hear, Undine instantly cheered up. She nodded vigorously and clung to Sein, apologizing.
[“I'm sorry, Sein... You were hurting, and I was just babbling away without a care. But don't worry! Once we make a contract, I can heal your legs in no time with my Healing Water!”]
Healing Water... I had heard rumors that certain water spirits could produce a liquid capable of healing human injuries like a potion, and it seemed Undine was one of them. Sein, apparently hearing this for the first time, widened his eyes and grabbed her hand.
“Really?! Then let's make the contract right now!!!”
[“W-wait a minute!”]
Startled by his tight grip, Undine gently pulled her hand away. She glanced at the pile of goblin corpses blocking the passage, then turned back to Sein with a tearful face.
[“The Magic Stones we have right now are nowhere near enough. Even if I make Healing Water using just the Magic Stones without a contract, it won't have much effect on your legs.”]
“But then there's no other way! What am I supposed to do, Undine...!”
[“Sein...”]
Driven by desperation, Sein raised his voice. Undine shrank back slightly, clearly unfamiliar with this harsh side of him. The more desperate he got, the rougher he treated her, which would only drive her further away. A brat was a brat, after all.
“Are the Magic Stones I have not enough either?”
I pulled out the Magic Stones I had gathered. There were four relatively large ones and seven smaller ones. Undine placed her finger on them, closed her eyes to sense their mana, and shook her head.
[“Still not enough. We'd need at least twice this amount to even have a chance.”]
“Well... there is one other way.”
[“Really?! What is it?!”]
“R-really? What way is that?”
Ignoring the urging Sein, I took Undine's finger and guided it to feel my own mana. Though it was a measly amount that I couldn't even coat my sword with yet, it was still several times more efficient than raw Magic Stones.
[“With this much... it might be possible if we gather just a few more Magic Stones. But wait, don't tell me...?”]
I nodded and spoke.
“What if you make a contract with me, heal Sein, and then we get out of here?”
“No!!!”
[...]
Sein shrieked in protest, and Undine, startled by his outburst, took a step back. Glancing at the furious Sein, she too expressed her refusal.
[“I want to contract with Sein... That's my only wish...”]
“Undine...”
“Then do you have another way? As of right now, this is our best option.”
[“We could find another exit...! Or we could somehow gather enough Magic Stones so Sein and I can contract...!”]
“And how are you going to get those Magic Stones? Look at his legs.”
[“Well... that's...”]
Undine twiddled her fingers and looked at me. She was silently asking me to gather the Magic Stones for them. Amused by her shamelessness, I let out a soft chuckle. Seeing this, she puffed out her cheeks and turned her head away.
“Even if we go deeper into the cave, there's no guarantee we'll find enough goblins. The most logical choice is for you to contract with me. You don't want Sein to die, do you?”
[“Ugh... Hmph!”]
Deflating her puffed cheeks, she suddenly shot a thin stream of water straight into my face. Chuckling at her childish behavior, I wiped my face with a cloth, walked over to Sein, and laid out the situation.
“For now, our best bet is to use this place as a base camp. You rest here, and I'll go investigate deeper into the cave with Undine.”
“You're taking Undine with you...?”
Sein asked, his eyes filled with anxiety. He clearly wanted to object but hesitated. I simply nodded in response.
“Undine was the one who found this colony for you in the first place. While taking care of you is important, using Undine to find another exit is our priority. You agree, right?”
“...Yes.”
“Right. I can handle ordinary goblins on my own, but if there's another Goblin Shaman, I can feed Undine Magic Stones like before to help us hold our ground.”
“That... makes sense.”
“Exactly. Don't feel too bad, and cheer up.”
I lightly gripped Sein's shoulder and gave it a reassuring pat, but his expression only darkened further. It was painfully obvious what was going through his head: he was terrified that I would steal Undine from him. Undine trusted him implicitly, yet this bastard didn't trust her at all.
“Let's sleep for tonight. Tomorrow morning, we'll check on your injuries and head out to investigate. Your legs still hurt a lot, don't they?”
“Yes... Honestly, I feel like I'm going out of my mind.”
“Hold on a second.”
I searched the bag discarded near the rookie mercenary's corpse. It had fallen off along with his gear when he was thrashing around in flames. I rummaged through it thoroughly, hoping to find something useful.
Inside a small pouch, I found a bundle of herbs. They certainly weren't detoxifying herbs, and I wasn't sure if they were for stopping bleeding, general healing, or pain relief. As I stood there puzzled, Undine fluttered over, her face lighting up at the sight of the herbs in my hand.
[“Whoa! That's a herb that dulls pain! That's great, Sein!”]
“Ah, so it has that kind of effect?”
[“Uh-huh! Sein knows it too! It grows all over the place near the pond. We're so lucky!”]
Following Undine's advice to just feed it to him, I handed the waterskin and the herbs to Sein. Undine's words must have been true, as Sein's eyes widened slightly, and he spoke in a relieved voice.
“If I eat this, the pain should ease up a bit. Thank you.”
“Sure. There are a few more of these, so take one every day. It's a relief.”
“Indeed. Though it would have been better if we had a potion...”
“Potions are basic mercenary gear, but that guy didn't have a single one. You don't have any either, Sein?”
“No. Potions are too expensive...”
“That's fine. Just wait a bit, let's get a fire going first.”
The Hobgoblin's club proved highly useful. It was so massive that even after splitting it into firewood, there was enough left to build at least five more campfires. I lit the fire, helped Sein lie down nearby, and covered him with a spare cloth I had brought along just in case.
“Thank you...”
“Don't mention it. You must be in pain, so get some sleep. I'll take the first watch, so just hang in there until tomorrow.”
“N-no, brother. I should take the watch. I'm sorry, I forgot.”
“Nonsense, go to sleep. It makes no sense to put an injured man on watch.”
“Then... maybe Undine could...”
[“Me?! I'm not tired at all! Should I go scout around right now?”]
Despite her clash with the Goblin Shaman earlier, Undine showed no signs of fatigue. Sein had once explained to me that wild spirits didn't need to return to the Spirit Realm; they could sustain their existence indefinitely just by absorbing the ambient mana in the air.
Honestly, I was exhausted from exerting myself since morning. I felt like I could fall asleep the moment I closed my eyes. I had offered to take the watch to score points with Undine, but seeing how energetic she was, she seemed perfectly capable of handling sentry duty and scouting on her own.
“Then Undine and I will take the watch for a bit, and then I'll get some sleep. Don't worry, Sein, just rest.”
“Ah... the two of you... Y-yes. I understand.”
[“Don't worry! I don't need to sleep, so I'm not tired at~ all! You're hurt, Sein, so sleep tight. I can feel how exhausted you are. You even got cranky earlier...”]
“Undine, I'm sorry for snapping at you... You must have been frustrated too...”
[“It's okay, you're injured! Once we find more goblins and make our contract, you'll heal in no time!”]
Undine smiled brightly, flexing her arms as if showing off her non-existent muscles. But killing goblins didn't guarantee a Magic Stone drop, and there was no telling how many goblins were even left in this cave. Leaving the cheerful Undine to her antics, I stared into the crackling campfire.
I felt a bit sorry for Sein, but looking at Undine, an overwhelming urge to contract with her welled up inside me. How delightful would it be to make such a pure, cheerful spirit mine? I had never tasted a spirit's pussy before. Lewd thoughts began to spiral, one after another. It would be absolutely perfect if I could claim her while we were trapped in this goblin colony...