Chapter 10 — Friends Reunited
The whole affair ended rather anticlimactically. Startled by Aidan's assault—or, more precisely, cowed by the killing intent of a demon—the rats scattered in every direction, squeaking in a panic.
As far as they were concerned, their territory had been invaded and they were in mortal danger, but Aidan could hardly be expected to sympathize. To him, they were nothing but wicked vermin trying to hurt his precious Ingrid.
"I'll kill every last one of you!"
Utterly beside himself, Aidan went around whacking anything that moved with his stick.
Fwoosh!
In the chaos, a good number of rats picked the wrong direction and came flooding straight toward Bayul. It was most unfortunate for them, but every single one met Spinel's flames and ended up as lumps of blackened meat.
"Can I eat that?"
The smell of roasting meat suddenly wafted through the air—though with a distinctly burnt note—and Death's appetite stirred. But perhaps instinct knew better. Some vague sense that this was not food to be eaten suppressed the impulse.
"In the Demon Realm, only the lowliest of low-rank demons would eat something like that. I did promise you dinner later, so even if you're hungry, do try to hold out a little longer."
"...Tch. Fine."
Amon, terrified that Death might change his mind, made sure to impress the warning upon him.
By the time that was settled, there wasn't a single rat left standing anywhere. Everything in sight was either unconscious, blown apart, or reeking of char.
"Oh no! Ingrid! Where did you go this time?"
Just when his excitement had finally begun to die down, Ingrid had vanished again, and Aidan let out another shrill cry.
"Hey, hey! Calm down!"
Fortunately, Bar managed to grab the boy before he spiraled into a full-blown fit, or things might have gotten ugly. Wrapping his arms around Aidan from behind, he twisted the boy's shoulders until his gaze was forced toward a corner of the room.
"Just wait. It'll show itself again."
"Excuse me, Bar! What do you think you're doing? Now is not the time! Let go of me! I have to find Ingrid right now!"
"That's exactly why you need to wait!"
Aidan squirmed and thrashed trying to break free, but Bar didn't budge an inch. It had always been impossible for the boy to overpower him anyway.
"Ah, seriously, why are you doing this! Please, just—!"
Mid-shout, still flailing, Aidan suddenly froze in place like a stone statue.
"I-Inggrid?"
Wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him, the boy squeezed them shut and snapped them open again.
"...Whuh? Ingrid, what's wrong with you? Why does your body keep appearing and disappearing?"
Even with the rats gone, Ingrid still looked anxious. It wasn't trembling the way it had before, but it remained huddled in on itself so pitifully that even Bayul's heart ached to see it. It almost seemed to be in pain.
"Did you forget what I told you? That its ability to hide itself for protection would evolve?"
"You... you meant that as a way to dodge concentrated attacks?"
"That's right. It's not that its body is vanishing—it's turning invisible."
"Invisible?"
"It's an extraordinary technique for concealing its own weakened state."
It wasn't a skill every Metamorph possessed. One had to be born with it.
That a creature cowering in fear before a swarm of rats had suddenly unlocked invisibility struck Bar as absurd for the second time that day. Perhaps because the offspring of a Metamorph, which should have belonged in the Demon Realm, had been raised by human hands—something about it had grown all jumbled and mixed up.
"All right, go on now. Help it learn to shrink before it grows any bigger."
Small as Aidan's frame was, Ingrid—who had once made its nest atop his head—was now far larger than the boy himself.
"Miuuuu."
Ingrid's enormous eyes held nothing but fear and unease. The creature recognized Aidan and didn't flee, but it kept crying out in strange sounds that Aidan had never heard from it before.
"I know, Ingrid. I know..."
This was the little thing that used to scurry about playing in the palm of his hand. And in a single instant, it had grown dozens of times larger. Both master and beast were equally stunned.
But I have to pull myself together first.
Ingrid had endured everything alone, without even a mother beside it. It clearly had no idea why these changes were happening to its body. To think that the little rascal who did nothing but romp and play tricks had spent days hiding out here all alone, fighting through pain and terror—Aidan felt as though his heart were being torn apart.
"That must have been so scary, huh?"
"Miuuu."
"I'll explain everything, so listen carefully."
"You're molting right now."
"Miu?"
"It was really confusing, wasn't it? But they say this is normal. Only by going through this process can you reach your adult form. Adult means you're fully grown, Ingrid. It means you've become a grown-up."
Aidan's voice was endlessly tender, and his touch gentler still.
Perhaps that was why. The trembling, frightened Ingrid gradually seemed to find its calm.
"It startled you, your body getting so big all of a sudden?"
"Miuuuu."
"But Ingrid, you're still adorable."
"Miu?"
"Really, I mean it."
Suddenly, Ingrid buried its huge head into Aidan's chest. Partly because of the size difference, it looked for a moment as though Aidan were under attack, but Bayul made a point of watching quietly from where he stood.
Thank goodness Innocent isn't here.
She and Ingrid were so close that he had deliberately left her behind, worried she might startle the poor creature. He could summon her in an instant if needed, but right now, what mattered most was letting Ingrid settle down.
"By the way, Ingrid—they say if you want, you can shrink back down to how you used to be."
"Miuuuu?"
"Oh, you've tried already? I see. It wouldn't work, so you were hiding here, huh? I'll help you, so let's try once more. I know you can do it."
As if casting an incantation, Aidan stroked Ingrid again and again, coaxing it gently.
"Not bad at all."
The corners of Bar's mouth twitched at the sight. As a Tamer, Aidan was still green, but when it came to bonding with his companion, he was first-rate. He'd said he and Ingrid had always communicated as friends rather than master and beast—and it seemed all those years together had borne exactly this kind of fruit.
"Picture yourself getting small. Hopping around on the back of my hand, dozing off perched on my shoulder, playing in Bayul's palm over there—you remember all of it, don't you?"
For the first time, Ingrid's gaze turned toward Bayul. Without a word, Bayul simply gave it a soft smile. He had judged that it was best not to interfere while the creature tried to focus.
"And here's my head. You absolutely loved sleeping in this soft, fluffy hair. You always said it was like a warm nest."
"Miu miu!"
"I know, I know. I miss those days too."
"Miuu."
"We're going back to how things were. If you set your mind to it, you can do it, Ingrid!"
When it wanted to be big, it could simply grow big again. No one knew whether such a moment would ever come, but for now, the only thing to think about was shrinking.
"Whoa—!"
Then it happened. He'd expected it to take more time, but remarkably, Ingrid's body began to shrink little by little. It dwindled slowly at first, and then in an instant, it deflated like a popped bubble.
"Ppyok!"
And with the very sound Aidan had been longing to hear, the little creature leapt gracefully onto his open palm.
"Oh! A one-shot success?"
"Congratulations, Aidan."
"Ingrid!"
Only then, flooded with relief and joy, did Bayul hurry over to his friends.
"...Aidan?"
"You did it. You did it, Ingrid."
He hadn't noticed from behind, but Aidan was crying. Perhaps all the worry and anguish he'd carried had crashed over him at once—his mouth kept praising Ingrid, but his eyes were streaming with tears.
"Ppyok! Ppyok!"
Ingrid fluttered apologetically around the boy in circles, but Aidan's shoulders trembled for a long while before they finally stilled.
"I'm so glad, Aidan."
Bayul knew exactly what his friend had been fretting over. Aidan had warned him that no one could predict how a Metamorph's offspring might change—that its form could very well turn grotesque. That was why Bayul had never said it aloud, yet he had quietly agonized over it too.
But thankfully, the only change had been growth—and Ingrid had even managed to control it beautifully. How could anyone not rejoice?
"Come here, Ingrid."
Drawing the creature from the back of his hand into a tight embrace, Aidan offered a silent prayer of thanks to the heavens.
"Ppyok! Ppyok!"
"Hm? What is it, Ingrid?"
Revived and giddy with its restored body, Ingrid darted out of Aidan's arms and made one great sweeping circuit over the heads of Bayul and the Death brothers. It was in front of Spinel that the creature finally slowed its wingbeats.
"Oh, you're asking who that is?"
"Ppyok!"
"Unlike you, I can't see it, so I can't say for certain—but I'd guess it's a fire spirit. And that's a question better asked of your friend Innocent, actually. I only found out myself a little while ago."
"Ingrid's asking about Spinel right now?"
"Spinel?"
"Oh, that's the fire spirit's name."
"A gemstone name. That's a pretty one—well chosen."
"Better late than never. Time I introduced you properly. Spinel."
At Bayul's word, Spinel—who had been visible to everyone but Aidan—appeared with a flourish.
"Greetings, Lord Aidan. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Spinel, an Intermediate Spirit of Fire."
"...Lord Aidan?"
Before the sight of the fire spirit could even register, the strange honorific that spilled from her lips made Aidan furrow his brow. It was simply far too jarring.
"What's with the formal talk? Is this what fire spirits are like?"
"It's... there's a reason for it."
"What reason?"
"Spinel isn't a Lower Spirit anymore—she's an Intermediate Spirit."
Come to think of it, she'd said as much when introducing herself.
"Which would mean Innocent, Shame, and Tempesta are all Lower Spirits, then?"
"Yeah. Spinel was a Lower Spirit at first too, but she's grown."
"Grown? That fast?"
The questions came pouring out of Aidan as if he couldn't make sense of any of it. Bayul had known this would happen. There was so much to explain that the questions would only multiply without end. But this was hardly the right place for it.
"Let's save the long stories for later—shall we go eat first?"
Right on cue, Death offered his suggestion.
I have held back an extraordinary amount, you know?
His face said exactly that. And this time, Bayul agreed with him wholeheartedly.
"But Bayul."
"Yeah?"
"Those two seem to know about your spirits. Did you tell Duke Randert as well?"
"No, not yet. I meant to, but he came early after receiving your letter, so I didn't get the chance. The Death brothers found out by accident, but don't worry—they've promised to keep quiet about it."
"So you couldn't see your father because of me? Oh! He went to the capital for the wedding, didn't he?"
"Right, that's it. I'm definitely telling him over winter break, so don't dwell on it. Besides, the Death brothers are hungry—why don't we head to the dining hall? Count Leonett asked us to join him for a meal earlier."
"Did the Demon #1 really say that?"
"...Yeah."
Having seen the man with his own eyes, the nickname truly refused to stick.
"Then we'd better attend. If we skip it, he'll hound us about it for the rest of our lives."
"I'll try to talk him around."
"How?"
"I'll just say I have somewhere to be for a bit, won't that do?"
"Nope. He'll drill you with questions without mercy. Fumble the answer, and you might be getting dragged off to labor duty too."
"You said you'd rescue me from the labor. How exactly are you planning to get out of it?"
"Running away."
"What?"
"I was just going to run. In your carriage."
"I'm sorry—what?"
At his friend's utterly hopeless plan, Bayul felt a vein throb in his temple.
"I saw the carriage you wrecked earlier. Why on earth does it have to be mine?"
"Ah, correction. The carriage you rode in."
"...What?"
"They don't inspect it, see? I got caught a few times."
In other words, to put it bluntly, Bayul had apparently come all this way for the sole purpose of aiding Aidan's escape. He was on the very brink of becoming an accomplice.
"Anyway, never mind that. Let's go before we're late—it's nearly mealtime."
"I wish the others could be here with us too..."
Ever since arriving in Carrington, Bayul had missed his friends terribly.
Logan, Quinn, Eli. I hope you're all doing well.
Murmuring their names inwardly with a pang of longing, Bayul followed Aidan toward the dining hall.
But perhaps his unspoken wish carried more weight than he knew?
"Huh? Eli...?"
"Whoa! Quinn's here too?"
Against all odds, waiting for them in the dining hall were Eli and Quinn. Logan wasn't there, but even just the two of them were more than enough to lift Bayul's spirits.
Overjoyed to see his friends after so long, Bayul sprinted across the room and threw his arms around Eli first. At that, Quinn's face soured like a rotten pear, but for better or worse, Bayul never saw it.