The Spirit Makes a Splash
"Quinn!"
The moment Bayul surfaced safely from the water with the spirit's help, a crowd appeared seemingly out of nowhere. There was no need to ask who they were—every one of them bore the same fin-shaped ears as Quinn.
"Bjon."
Turning to face his kin, Quinn's face bloomed with a smile.
"…My lord Quinn?"
Most of the merfolk knew that Quinn was not one to smile easily. Bjon, his closest subordinate and captain of the royal guard, knew his liege's temperament better than anyone.
"Wh-what's the matter?"
"It was real."
"I beg your pardon?"
"It was real. I was watching it happen, and I still can't believe it!"
Quinn's voice was at a fever pitch. That, too, was a sight Bjon had never known from him.
"What was real, my lord? Unbelievable? What do you mean?"
Bjon asked, but Quinn did not answer. No—he couldn't answer, because Bayul, who had been floating in midair on a pillar of water as if it were a chair, had begun to move.
"Waaaah!"
"Bayul!"
The one who screamed was Bayul himself. He was already terrified of merely sitting atop the water pillar—and now the thing had started to move? As the pillar reached the shore, its height slowly diminished, but Bayul couldn't muster the courage to set foot on the ground.
—Not coming down?
"…Huh?"
—You seemed scared, so I thought you'd want off. Was I wrong?
"N-no, no. You were right!"
Somehow, lingering any longer felt like an invitation to ride the water pillar again, so Bayul hastily leapt to the ground. The feel of hard earth beneath his feet brought an immediate wave of relief.
"Who were you just talking to?"
Bayul shouting at empty air looked strange no matter who was watching. Aidan asked, squinting.
"Don't tell me… a spirit?"
"Mmhm."
Bayul nodded with an awkward expression. So this child really is invisible to everyone else?
He'd heard before that spirits could only be seen by a Spirit User's eyes, but actually living that reality felt deeply strange. The spirit was so vivid to him, so clear to his eyes and ears—yet to everyone else, nothing at all. It was fascinating and mortifying all at once.
Someone who knew nothing of spirits might well conclude he was a lunatic. After all, most people living in this era didn't even know spirits existed.
"Ohh! For real? No way!"
"Where? Here? It's around here somewhere?"
"Is it that little girl you saw in the lecture hall?"
"I didn't expect it to show up this fast!"
"Bayul, which side is it on? My left? Or my right? Tell me, come on, hurry!"
Whether or not they understood how Bayul felt, Aidan and Eli were in complete frenzy mode over the spirit's reappearance. They'd apparently forgotten they were half-naked, swarming Bayul and firing off every question imaginable.
"A spirit, you say? My lord Quinn, what is this about?"
It was then that Bjon's grave voice cut in. At that weighty, sharp tone, not only Bayul but Aidan and Eli alike froze mid-motion.
"Gah!"
Given the circumstances, they simply hadn't registered it. At the appearance of an armed other-race group, all three swallowed in unison as if on cue. From the context, they could guess these were Quinn's men—but the glint in their eyes and the air about them were so severe that no one could relax blindly.
"Bjon, can you feel it?"
"…?"
Quinn's gaze was chasing empty air, brimming with expectation. That, too, hardly suited his liege.
"It's moving."
Quinn smiled again.
"I think it's flying."
"What in the world are you—!"
Just as Bjon's voice rose in frustration, a sudden chill brushed across his cheek. It felt as though someone had splashed water in his face.
"Wh-who's there!"
Drawing one's weapon upon ambush was a warrior's instinct. The moment Bjon drew his blade, golden hair whipping, his remaining subordinates swiftly formed a protective circle around Quinn and readied their own weapons.
"Wh-what's going on!"
"Wh-why all of a sudden?"
Bayul was stricken by the sudden turn of events. Aidan and Eli were confident they wouldn't lose a fight in normal circumstances—but that confidence only held within the Academy. Faced with the merfolk's abrupt hostility, all three shrank back warily.
"Everyone, enough."
Only Quinn remained composed. With a jerk of his chin, he ordered his men to withdraw.
"I cannot, my lord Quinn! There is something here!"
"Yes, there is. You've finally sensed it, have you?"
"Yes! I can't see it, but something is unquestionably here. And so, my lord, I beg you—"
"It's a spirit."
Cutting off his subordinate, Quinn declared flatly.
"So stand down. Were you planning to cross blades with a spirit that's appeared after thousands of years?"
"…Did you say a spirit, just now?"
"You felt it yourself, Bjon."
That cold thing that brushed my face—that was a spirit?
"B-but how—!"
"How could the ones who perished appear again? Is that what you want to ask?"
Quinn stared blankly at the face of his stammering subordinate, and slowly his gaze drifted toward Bayul.
"I don't know the answer to that. But I do know how to find out."
"How, my lord?"
"There's a Spirit User. Right here."
Anyone could see those words were aimed squarely at Bayul. At that pointed declaration, every merfolk eye turned toward him.
A Spirit User.
A human.
"Hah!"
As if they'd witnessed something not meant for mortal eyes, they all recoiled in shock.
Why is everyone so startled?
The weight of all those staring eyes was overwhelming, but beyond that, Bayul was simply puzzled. Their reactions were far too extreme—their expressions verged on open disbelief.
"C-could it be, the legendary—!"
Bjon couldn't finish the sentence. Confronted with a reality too incredible to accept, his mind simply went blank.
—Hm, want me to take care of them?
The little spirit, which had been flitting around Bayul in high spirits, suddenly drew close to his side and asked.
"…Take care of them?"
When Bayul echoed the words in confusion, the spirit answered with pure innocence.
—Yeah, I can get rid of them.
"G-get rid of—!"
Of whom? The merfolk?
"No!"
Bayul cried out in alarm.
—Why? Weren't they bothering you? You're all uncomfortable around them.
"They make me uncomfortable, but I don't dislike them. They're just tense right now. So absolutely do not do anything! You mustn't. Got it?"
Watching the spirit utter terrifying words with a sweet, guileless face, Bayul felt a chill run through him. He still didn't fully understand spirits, but he could feel it in his bones—that was no idle threat.
—Really? Okay. And here I wanted to help.
The spirit's disappointment was plain, but thankfully it withdrew without protest. Surely it's not just saying that? The thought flickered through Bayul's mind for a moment before he dismissed it. The spirit hardly seemed the type to lie.
"What, why are you talking to yourself again? What did the spirit say?"
"…Huh?"
"It said not to do anything. Do what?"
"It says it'll wipe us out?"
"N-no, no. Nothing like that."
The moment Bayul started muttering to himself again, Aidan's and Eli's attention swung back to the spirit. Their earlier fear had vanished entirely, their eyes shining bright with curiosity.
"Then what did it say? Ugh, come on, tell us!"
"Yeah, Bayul! Just because only you can see it, you're gonna be stingy like this?"
"But Aidan…"
"What does it look like? Is it cute? Pretty?"
"Where'd it go all this time? Why's it only showing up now?"
"I still don't—"
As Aidan and Eli bombarded him with questions without pause, Bayul broke into a cold sweat. He hadn't even had a proper conversation with the spirit yet. They'd both been there the whole time, so of course they knew that—was it simply the mystery of the spirit that drove them? The two of them took turns, tag-teaming him with interrogation.
Had he ever felt so stifled? Being the only one who could see and hear something turned out to be a real headache. He wasn't used to being the center of attention, and being the taciturn sort only made it worse.
—You agonize over the silliest things.
"…?"
—Just show me to them. Done.
What? How?
It had never once occurred to Bayul that he could make the spirit visible to other people. When his face registered his shock, the little spirit smiled bashfully. And that was when the gasps erupted around them.
"Whoa!"
"Gah!"
After all that desperate curiosity, the moment the spirit actually appeared, Aidan and Eli were struck speechless. The sight of them pointing at the spirit, mouths opening and closing wordlessly, was at once hilarious and a little pitiful.
"I-it really is a spirit…!"
The merfolk's reaction, if anything, outdid the boys'—no one held back. Perhaps because they were face to face with the real thing, they ran the whole gamut: some froze like ice, some wept openly, some cheered for joy.
—Shall I let you hear my voice too?
It was clearly having the time of its life. Giggling madly, the spirit shot up into the sky.
Sssshaaaa!
At the same instant, the calm valley water surged upward like a great wave.
"Hello! Nice to meet you!"
"Wh-whoa! It talks!"
The wonder lasted all of a heartbeat. The very wave that had risen with the spirit came crashing down on the whole group. It truly happened in the blink of an eye. While everyone had been distracted by the spirit for a single moment, everyone except Bayul took the full force of the water.
The merfolk were no exception. They, who could command water itself, didn't even manage a defense before they were soaked to the bone.
"You—you! What in the world is this—!"
It was too absurd even to be angry about. He didn't even have time to check on his friends. Watching the spirit double over, howling with laughter, Bayul could only gape in sheer disbelief.
"Chirp! Chirp!"
Ingrid twittered away, circling round and round the spirit. It clearly adored its brand-new friend. And the spirit, apparently no less taken with Ingrid, playfully conjured little water droplets.
Pop!
When Ingrid pecked at an incoming droplet, it burst with a soft tap. The droplets were tiny, sized perfectly to match the little pygmy owl's frame.
"Pretty face, and a heart of gold too."
"Where'd that come from?"
"It's playing with our Ingrid, isn't it? Look, it's making the water drops small to match the little guy's size. Isn't that just the sweetest thing?"
"Huh? Sweet?"
Eli set down his towel and laughed in utter disbelief.
"Do you not see what I'm doing right now?"
"What are you doing? Drying your hair."
"Exactly! And whose fault is all this? Explain to me why I'm dressed like this!"
Their uniforms had been drenched through, leaving them no choice but to borrow clothes from Quinn. He'd stripped down nearly bare for his swim, but the clothes left on the bank hadn't escaped the deluge either.
"Eli, it's just a kid playing a prank. What are you fuming about? The clothes are clean and comfortable, aren't they?"
"Clothes are not just about clean and comfortable!"
"There goes the fashion rant again."
"There's no pattern on them, Aidan. No pattern. These aren't bandages, so why is there nothing on them? I've never worn anything like this in my entire life!"
"Your clothes are the ones that are over the top. I couldn't wear what you wear even if you paid me."
"You couldn't pull it off anyway. It works because it's me."
"Obviously. Still, don't gripe so much in front of the guy who lent them to you. Flagrantly snubbing someone's kindness is just rude."
Kindness, my foot. This was torture, plain and simple!