But I Met Him First
Undine drifted through the air, casting a sidelong glance down at the human below, Casano.
Today, they had scouted the path leading to the goblins' warehouse and colony, and they had found far more than expected. She had even managed to snag a sword from the warehouse to give to Sein, and when she peeked beneath the stairs, she had seen an absolute horde of goblins.
There looked to be well over ten of them, making her worry that Casano might get hurt. But the moment he drew his sword, he wiped them out in the blink of an eye! She had heard him mutter something about finally being able to take things seriously, but she didn't quite understand what he meant, so she didn't ask.
Searching the fallen goblins yielded four magic stones. At this rate, it felt like they would gather enough in no time, which made her spirits soar.
Suddenly, old memories came rushing back. A spirit and a boy from the same village, setting off on a journey together—a fateful encounter leading to a contract. It was the kind of story found in human fairy tales, and it made her heart flutter with excitement.
Sein will definitely be happy...
Ever since he injured his leg, Sein had become a little scary. Even back then, shortly after they left the village, there were times when he frightened her. Once, she had even run away, crying and telling him she hated how he was acting.
She had spent the next day lingering around the inn, wondering, Is Sein looking for me? When he finally spotted her, he had rushed over in a frantic panic, hugging her tightly while weeping and promising he would never act that way again.
When Sein swore to cherish her like family—no, like a lover—that was the moment she decided she wanted to form a contract with him.
But Sein possessed no mana. As it turned out, humans had to amass an astronomical amount of money just to learn how to gather even a sliver of mana.
She had never heard of or been taught a way to contract without mana by any other spirit, which left her deeply disheartened. Then, bad men had dragged Sein away. It was a group of humans called a merchant caravan, and even there, Sein was looked down upon, forced to do menial chores.
Then, a tall human joined them. One night, Sein told her that the man seemed quite strong and decent, suggesting that if he stayed on his good side, the man might teach him how to gather mana.
He doesn't really look that nice... she had murmured, but Sein hadn't paid her any mind. Feeling slighted, she hadn't pressed the matter further.
The next day, Sein clung to the man's side constantly. True to Sein's words, the man did seem kind, treating Sein incredibly well. Perhaps because of that, Sein clung to him even more, which meant he had absolutely no time left to talk to her or spend with her.
What a detestable human!
Still, thanks to that detestable human, she learned that extracting mana from the magic stones dropped by goblins would allow her to contract with Sein.
So, she had told Sein about a spot teeming with goblins that she had noticed during her scouting. Sein had practically jumped for joy. Hehe, is he really that happy to contract with me? she had wondered.
But when they brought the other humans and encountered the goblins, something went terribly wrong. A massive goblin and an incredibly powerful goblin appeared, launching a relentless assault on them. The detestable human kept trying to help Sein, but because of the powerful goblin, he couldn't fight properly.
In the end, the detestable human shouted at Sein to use the magic stone. Ah, I wanted to save that for my contract with Sein! But the situation was dire, so she ultimately drew out the mana to fight back. He's actually pretty clever for a detestable human!
She thought everything had ended well, but she was wrong. A loud scream rang out, and when she looked, she saw Sein severely injured, weeping in agony. Seeing him in so much pain broke her heart, especially since there was nothing she could do to help.
As she hovered anxiously, watching Sein writhe in pain, that detestable human, Casano, quickly put something together, gagged Sein, and administered some sort of treatment. Isn't that a bit too rough? Still, it seemed to work, as Sein's expression looked much better than before.
Seeing Sein stare blankly at the ground, apologizing in a miserable voice, she felt so sorry for him that she decided to offer some comfort.
"Sein... you don't have to apologize! We're companions!"
In truth, she felt incredibly guilty for just standing by, unable to do anything while Sein suffered. Since she assumed only Sein could hear her voice anyway, she had blurted out those words to comfort him—but she was mistaken.
"No, he definitely needs to apologize. Look at the mess he made."
Casano could hear her voice. She had never imagined that anyone else would be able to hear her. Flustered and slightly embarrassed that he had overheard her, she raised her voice without thinking.
"What?! You mean human! Sein is badly hurt!"
In truth, he wasn't actually mean. Casano was the one who had kept helping them... But she couldn't help but feel a little jealous of him for being so useful to Sein when she herself had been utterly powerless. What if Sein starts thinking I'm a useless spirit? What will happen to me then? One negative thought led to another, causing her to keep snapping back at him with a defensive attitude.
Yet, Casano remained kind to her. He didn't get angry; he simply listened quietly to her complaints and answered calmly. He was completely different from the other humans she had seen around Sein!
Before she knew it, she had grown excited and started babbling about all sorts of things. Casano listened with a warm smile, asking questions whenever he was curious, and their conversation flowed endlessly.
But then, Sein's sharp shout cut them off. Ah, right! This was supposed to be our secret. She stopped talking and looked at Sein. He was glaring at her with a deep, angry scowl. His cold gaze made tears well up in her eyes. She just felt incredibly sad.
In the quiet alleyway, Casano comforted her. He spoke in a gentle, soothing voice, telling her not to take it to heart because Sein was just going through a hard time due to his severe injuries. He assured her that if she helped him heal quickly, Sein would surely be grateful to her.
Hearing Casano's words, the sorrow that had welled up inside her began to subside. His tender comfort made him seem incredibly mature.
After that, she and Sein apologized to each other, and the three of them put their heads together to discuss how to fix Sein's leg. In truth, if they could just form a contract, she could easily heal him with the healing water she was capable of producing.
When she mentioned the healing water to Sein, he looked startled, as if hearing about it for the first time, and begged her to make some. I've told him about this before, though... Pushing her disappointment aside, she explained that healing water made without a contract was practically useless. Upon hearing this, Sein desperately began babbling only about the contract.
She wanted to contract with Sein too, but the way he acted right after getting hurt was somewhat frightening. He did nothing but obsess over the contract. While she knew it was because he was in pain, she couldn't help but feel hurt by his attitude.
Leaving Sein's complaints aside for a moment, she used the residual mana from her fight with the powerful goblin to sense any nearby magic stones.
Counting them up, the number was woefully inadequate compared to what was needed to contract with Sein. If only Sein possessed even a tiny shred of mana, they could have easily contracted with just a few magic stones using a method she had learned from another spirit.
Casano pulled some magic stones from his own pocket to show her, but even with those, they were still far short. Still, she was secretly surprised by how many he had. She found it incredibly mature of him to unhesitatingly offer up his own possessions like that.
As she racked her brain for a solution, Casano called out to them, saying he had an idea. He had her grasp his finger and began channeling his mana into her. Feeling the rich mana surging through her hand, a deep sense of fulfillment washed over her, and she instantly understood what he was trying to propose.
If they pooled all the magic stones and gathered just a few more, it would undoubtedly be much faster to simply form a contract with Casano. But... even if that was the logical answer, she had wanted to contract with Sein ever since they first met.
Even though Sein was in a critical state, she had still never once considered contracting with any human other than him. After agonizing over it, she was just about to open her mouth to decline when Sein's furious shout erupted.
Sein shrieked at the top of his lungs, screaming that it was absolutely out of the question. If she had seen him act like this before coming here, she might have been touched, thinking he wanted to contract with her that badly.
But overlapping with his earlier anger, Sein's screaming, contorted face only looked terrifying to her now. Still, she shared his sentiment. So, she told Casano that she couldn't do it. Casano's face remained perfectly serene, as if he had expected that answer all along.
So, she desperately tried to suggest other alternatives—like finding more magic stones or searching for an exit. But every time she brought something up, Casano calmly explained why those options were impractical. Honestly, in her head, she knew contracting with him was the only logical solution. But surely there had to be another way? When she suggested they just hunt more goblins, Casano looked at her and asked how exactly they were supposed to do that.
The way he smirked, clearly knowing what her response would be before he even asked, felt so mischievous and teasing. How could he play around at a time like this! Pouting, she squirted a stream of water right into his face. He burst into hearty laughter, wiped his face clean, and walked over to Sein.
He's so mature, she couldn't help but think once again. Looking at Sein, it was painfully obvious how displeased he was, even as he listened to Casano's reasoning. Perhaps it was only visible to her because she had known him for so long, but she was certain Casano could see right through Sein's attitude as well.
Waiting for their conversation to end, she fell deep into thought. He's right, though. If I truly care about Sein, shouldn't I contract quickly so I can heal his leg without any complications?
But she had abandoned her glowing pond just to leave with Sein and contract with him. In transitioning from a spirit of the pond to a wandering water spirit, she had lost a significant portion of her original power.
Even so, she kept remembering Sein's childhood, when his eyes would sparkle with dreams as he babbled endlessly to her. Back then, she had felt a strong urge to look after this young boy, to help him because he had nothing and was always so sad.
She believed that a life of having nothing had stripped Sein of his peace of mind. She had hoped that if she just stayed by his side and watched over him, he would eventually be okay. And indeed, the harshness she had sometimes sensed in him seemed to quiet down—but perhaps that had only been her own wishful thinking.
Watching Sein continue to snap back at Casano with resentful eyes, a wave of complicated emotions washed over her.
Closing her eyes, she repeated the mantra over and over in her mind. I left my home because I wanted to contract with Sein. No matter what happens, doing what's best for Sein and contracting with him is the sole reason I came this far...