A Desperate Letter from a Friend
To Bayul,
Hey, buddy! How's it going? Hope you're doing well.
How's the weather back home in Hamilton? Here in Carrington it's hot — and I mean hot. This summer feels like it's baking us alive.
Now's the time to pack up and escape to the mountains or the seaside, but I'm stuck in this house doing nothing but work, and I'm about one step away from losing my mind.
So here's the thing — could you come and rescue me? I'm dead serious, no joke. I desperately need your help. The only way I'm getting out of here is if you come pull me out.
I tried reaching Ray ages ago, but that guy hasn't sent so much as a peep. I haven't even brought it up with Quinn — a letter all the way to the Mermaid Kingdom would take forever to arrive.
And actually... Ingrid's been acting strange lately. It barely comes when I call, and there are times when I can't see what it's up to at all.
Could this be... molting? Metamorphosis or whatever it's called?
Bayul, I'm scared out of my mind!
What am I supposed to do if something happens to our Ingrid?!
I know you've been enjoying yourself back home, but come on — what are friends for! You'll be coming back when the semester starts anyway, so just think of it as arriving a little early to get settled. Can't you do that much for me?
I swear I'll pay you back for this.
I really will!
Bayul, you're the loyal sort — you wouldn't just pretend you don't know me, right?
Then I'm counting on you and only you.
No betrayals allowed!
— Aidan, toiling away like an ant in his lonely little corner of the world
"What's this? What kind of letter has you looking so grim?"
Death, who had been eyeing the cake Rita had left behind, swallowed his disappointment at Bayul's arrival and asked when he noticed the intense look on his face.
"Nothing bad, I hope?"
"...No. It's just... something."
All Bayul had expected was a friendly note asking how he'd been spending the break. After being apart from the friends he was always with, they crossed his mind at least once a day. A letter that came out of nowhere begging to be rescued? That, he had never imagined.
And on top of that, it seemed Ingrid had begun its metamorphosis. That alone had already been burning a hole in Aidan's stomach with worry — Bayul could picture exactly what state he must be in right now. There was no way he could shoulder it alone.
Then again, he still had all the housework to do on top of it — how drained he must be mentally. When Aidan had grumbled that vacations meant being dragged around like a dog doing chores, Bayul had taken it as mere complaining. But a request like this suggested it went well beyond that.
As his closest friend, Bayul was starting to genuinely worry about him.
Count Leonett seemed like a good man, from what I sensed in Father's words...
"Um, by the way... are you going to eat that?"
Just as Bayul was about to reread Aidan's letter more carefully, Death asked hesitantly, his eyes glued to the cake the entire time.
Truthfully, this was a golden opportunity for him. Bar and Amon were nowhere in sight. In other words, it was a once-in-a-lifetime situation where he could claim the entire cake for himself.
"Death."
"Yeah? Talk to me!"
"Didn't you say you wanted to get to Carrington quickly?"
"...Huh?"
Bayul — who, as luck would occasionally have it, was about to tell him to eat the cake — had brought up something completely unexpected instead, and Death's eyes went wide.
"I think we'll need to move up our cleaning schedule."
"Weren't you going to see your father?"
"That was the plan, but something urgent just came up."
When a friend was begging for rescue this desperately, there was no way Bayul could pretend he hadn't heard. Aidan had once helped him with night training that was none of his concern, sacrificing sleep to do it. Bayul didn't know how much good he could do by going, but a friend had asked, so going was simply his duty as a friend.
As it happened, while touring the territory, he'd been wrestling with the matter of the spirits' rank advancement anyway. Leaving before the break ended to solve the mystery of the spirit stones while he was at it wasn't a bad idea at all. During the semester, carving out the time might prove difficult.
He had intended to report to his father in person about the ice mine and about Derek. That, it seemed, he would have to entrust to Head Butler Cunning.
"After turning it over and over in my head for so long, this letter is what finally decided it."
Aidan's plea had become his motivation.
"You're actually going?"
Death's expression didn't change one bit — whether because he couldn't believe it, or because it simply hadn't sunk in.
"Wasn't it you who wanted to go?"
"Yeah, I did. But you said no, so I gave it up. Clean and simple."
"I had no idea you were so quick to give up."
It wasn't that Bayul wanted him to clap his hands in delight, but he hadn't expected such a flat reaction either.
"...Is Rita going too?"
"Pardon?"
"I mean, she's not staying behind and coming separately or something, is she? She did that before, didn't she?"
"Ah. That's what this is about?"
It hadn't been on the schedule, so apparently Death had grown anxious that they might leave Rita behind. However you looked at it, Death was nothing if not consistent.
"Of course she's coming with us. What I said about cooking for her with all kinds of fresh ingredients — I meant every word of it."
"Oho! Is that a fact?"
Only now did the light of comprehension slowly dawn on Death's face. The memory of trailing after Rita through the market as her pack mule, browsing this and that and sneaking snacks along the way, flashed through his mind like a lantern show.
He could live those thrilling days again!
"When do we leave?"
"I'll have to discuss it with Head Butler Cunning, but we'll probably be moving within two or three days."
"Then all I have to do until then is finish the cleaning perfectly."
"You'll need to pack, too."
"What would we even pack? You saw us when we arrived. All we own is these sturdy bodies of ours. That's plenty."
Just like before, all Death and his brothers needed to do was carry everyone else's luggage.
"You remember what you said, don't you? That you'd help us even if it meant breaking the spirit stones?"
"Course I remember. I told you a few dozen more times that I don't lie, didn't I?"
It was demon-speak, but for Bayul there was no way forward other than trusting it. To uncover the spirit stones' secret and advance his spirits, he needed every scrap of help he could get.
He did plant an incredible affinity in me, so he probably won't pull anything strange...
He might regret it later, but now was hardly the time for such worries.
"I'm positively thrilled."
At the mention of returning to Carrington, his heart began to flutter. Strictly speaking, the estate there belonged to Bayul, but to Death it was something of a special 'home base' in the human realm.
Now that they were going there, the gloom of being unable to eat meat seemed to melt away like snow. A dazzling future stretched out right before his eyes.
"I should go tell Bar and Amon right away."
"Please inform Rita as well. I'll need to meet with Head Butler Cunning and Sir Ian."
Come to think of it, his words really had become seed that bore fruit. The remark he'd tossed off as a joke with Head Butler Cunning just earlier had turned into reality like this.
"So... I can eat this now, right?"
"Yes, go right ahead."
The moment Bayul answered with a smile, Death crammed the entire slice of cake into his mouth in one go. The look on his face was that of a man who owned the world.
"Tempesta. You heard all of that, didn't you?"
After Death left, Bayul turned toward the figure perched by the window.
―Yeah! Does that mean I get to become an Intermediate Spirit like Spinel soon too?
"We won't know for sure until we get there. It might not work out, so don't get your hopes up too high."
No one could know the future. It was possible they'd arrive with spirit stones in hand and find themselves able to do nothing at all.
Still, Bayul fully intended to give his absolute best to everything within his power.
"Would you pass the news along to Innocent and Shame for me?"
―Sure. That's easy enough.
Neither of the two was anywhere in sight. Only Spinel, crackling inside the fireplace, had watched the entire scene unfold.
I hope Father isn't hurt by this...
He had promised to wait until his father returned, and breaking that promise gnawed at him. He'd meant to tell him about the spirits as well this visit — and once again, the timing had slipped away.
There'll be time again next time.
By then, he would be a far better Spirit User than he was now, so perhaps this was for the best. It was one step forward on the road to becoming a son his father could be proud of.
Chapter 8 — Death vs. Rayegar
Clip-clop, clip-clop.
The carriage carrying Bayul and his party made its way toward the estate. After three days aboard the train, they had finally arrived in Carrington — and everything looked much the same as when they'd left for Hamilton.
If he had to name a difference, it was that their clothes had grown lighter. Until recently, Bayul had planned to return with Jasper at his side, but since the dog had sired puppies, he'd had no choice but to leave him behind. Thankfully, Jasper hadn't stubbornly insisted on trailing after them like before, so it hadn't been much of an ordeal.
Even so, Bayul felt a quiet pang of regret — but Ruby and the puppies needed Jasper more.
"The sky really is blue here."
"It's amazing that not a single drop of rain has fallen."
Ian and Rita each marveled anew at the scenery passing outside the carriage. Perhaps they had grown used to the cold, damp weather back north, because Carrington's crisp, sharp skies felt distinctly strange to them now.
"Yeah. Mother would have hated it."
Until he had left the territory, Bayul had spent long hours before his mother's portrait. It was the only sight of her he would get until winter break, and he had wanted to take in every detail while he could.
What am I going to tell Quinn?
From the moment he received Aidan's letter and resolved to depart for Carrington, Bayul's greatest struggle had been the search for the Eye of the Ocean.
He himself, all four spirits, and Death's three brothers had all been mobilized to comb for the ring, but it could not be found anywhere.
According to Bar — who claimed that locating hidden treasures was his specialty — the Eye of the Ocean was not in the castle. That meant either his father had hidden it somewhere else, or he was carrying it on his person. Bayul had never once seen him wearing the ring, so it was nothing more than conjecture.
If only there had been a little more time, he could have asked his father directly. It was a shame. The thought of Quinn's disappointment weighed on him, but all he could do was promise it for later.
"Whoa there! We've arrived, milords!"
They had been gazing at downtown Carrington as they rode, and before they knew it, the estate was upon them. At the driver's booming announcement, Death and his brothers sprang to life and were the first to tumble out of the carriage.
But it took only a few seconds for their faces to twist as if they'd bitten into something rotten.
"Who goes there?"
Someone was standing in front of the manor's entrance — a doorway that should have been empty. The visitor stood where the sun beat down directly, while Ian's group was in shadow, making it impossible to make out his features.
Ian stepped forward, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. The Lizai and Livai brothers, who had ridden in a separate carriage, had somehow crept close as well.
"Show yourself."
At Ian's repeated command, the shadow emerged — very, very slowly.
"Damn it."
"Don't tell me you've been waiting for us here."
"...We're done for."
Death, along with Bar and Amon, muttered under their breath in tiny voices. The words were too quiet to catch, but Bayul had no time to wonder at them. The identity of the figure standing in the bright sunlight was simply that unexpected.
"...Chairman?"