The Spirit Hidden in the Earth
"I knew something was off about him."
"Aidan, that doesn't mean he's *suspicious*…"
"This guy is a blank to me. I have no idea what he's thinking, or what he wants to say. Nothing comes through. Nothing at all."
Aidan's expression as he stared at Black was deadly serious.
"This has never happened to me before."
Everyone froze at that admission. After all, who knew better than they did just how extraordinary his communion with animals was? Even allowing for how strange it sounded, it was far, far too strange.
"You hear that?"
"…Huh?"
"They're all terrified. Ever since *he* showed up, it's been like this. Constantly."
Come to think of it, the paddock that had been so quiet was now filled with the bleating and bawling of livestock. The very animals that had stayed calm even while Innocent splashed and frolicked among them had suddenly begun to cry out at the tops of their lungs.
"What could have them so scared?"
"Maybe he went hunting while we weren't looking?"
"Hunting?"
"Look at the size of him. He looks built to swallow a wild boar whole."
At Eli's conjecture, Aidan shook his head.
"No, it's not like that. Less like the fear of being preyed on, and more like… some much deeper, primal terror. Anyway, it gives me the absolute creeps."
"Primal terror…?"
"Arf! Arf!"
Black barked and nipped at the hem of Bayul's sleeve, tugging at it as the boy mulled over Aidan's words. Since it seemed as though the hound was asking for attention to be focused on him and him alone, Bayul dutifully set to petting him.
"Honestly, he just looks like an ordinary dog with a big frame to me. Look at him, rolling over belly-up because he's happy. You sure you're not imagining things?"
"Yeah, Aidan. Why don't you try meeting Black's eyes again? Maybe today will be different."
Thrilled by Bayul's attention, Black fussed about eagerly. His bulk was occasionally intimidating, but to the eyes of the other friends, he looked like nothing more than an ordinary dog.
"No use. I've already tried a dozen times."
Later he had even tried out of sheer stubbornness. But each time, it was as though an invisible curtain stood between them, and he simply couldn't see into the creature at all.
"Ooh, actually, I just thought of something. What if Black is *rejecting* you?"
"Rejecting me?"
"Yeah, look at him. He's crazy about you and you alone. He doesn't give the rest of us the time of day."
"He's been like that from the very start, the little brat."
"Usually animals adore me. But for whatever reason, this one latched onto you, Bayul. So as far as I'm concerned, I don't exist."
"So what you're saying is — because he has no interest in you, your communion doesn't work?"
"Maybe…?"
Since this had never happened before, even Aidan couldn't be sure. It was simply the conclusion he'd arrived at after piling inference upon inference.
"That could well be it."
Judging the theory reasonably persuasive, Quinn, who had been quiet until then, nodded along.
"Aidan, that must sting like crazy, huh?"
"Yeah, but I learned something. Apparently not every animal in existence has to like me. It bruises the old pride a bit, but you've gotta give credit where credit's due."
"Oh, that's pretty mature of you."
"It's just hard to let it go when he's right there in front of me. It seriously ticks me off!"
It amounted to a failure in the very domain where he'd been most confident, so his feelings were understandable. Given Aidan's usual temperament, he should have been throwing a full-blown tantrum already; it was a mercy, if anything, that it ended here.
"Anyway, by that logic, shouldn't we rename him? Calling a white dog 'Black' is just weird."
"It's not that I never thought of it, but changing it now feels awkward, honestly."
It hadn't been all that long, yet he'd already grown attached to the name Black. Now that even his appearance had changed, renaming him on top of it would only make the hound feel all the more like a stranger.
"Hmm. Fair point, I suppose?"
"Eh, whatever. It's your call. He doesn't care about any of us anyway."
"So is today's training over, then?"
With Innocent off resting, there was nothing more to be done here. They'd more than repaid themselves for the rain she'd drenched them with, and it seemed best to head back to the dormitory and get some sleep before it grew any later.
"Innocent's gone, so there's really no reason to stay, is there? That dog of yours has worn me out too. I'm calling it a night."
"At last, the hour of my deliverance from this cesspit has come! Ugh, I've endured far too long!"
"Rai, you haven't moved an inch off that rock, so what's with the all this filth talk? The only thing the rain got wet is your shoes. You're spotless!"
"What you see is not all there is! What about this suffocating smell, hmm?"
No matter how much time passed, he simply could not grow used to the stench. Frankly, his mere presence in a place this unclean was an affront to reason. And the mere thought of stepping off the rock and wading through a floor of muck in a moment already sent shivers crawling up Eli's spine.
"It's earthy, that's all! Honestly, you're too delicate to be of any use to anyone."
"I'm fine, so why don't you worry about your own shoes instead? They're so filthy I can hardly bear to look at them with my eyes open."
"Ugh — seriously, am I the *only* dirty one here? Everyone's covered in it except you!"
Choking up, Aidan swung his gaze toward his friends' shoes.
"Look at that. Quinn's filthy, Bayul's filthy, that guy too — huh?"
His gaze, sweeping past Quinn and Bayul on its way to Logan, swung back to Bayul.
"…You're clean?"
"Hm?"
At Aidan's remark, Bayul finally looked down at his own shoes.
"Yours are the only ones without a speck on them. Cleaner than Rai's, even."
"Huh? He's right."
Even if one had been careful to step around every bit of muck, a coating of dust was only natural. What's more, the ground right now was a quagmire thanks to Innocent's rain. And yet Bayul's shoes bore not so much as a single grain of sand, let alone mud.
"Don't tell me Innocent cleaned only yours before she left?"
"Whoa, while she was collapsing from exhaustion?"
"She wouldn't have had the time for that…"
Puzzled, Bayul bent down and ran a hand over his shoes. Truly, there was nothing on them at all. Surely the soles weren't clean too? To check, he lifted one leg up like a rooster squaring off for a fight.
"Arf arf!"
Black, apparently deciding that Bayul was about to leave him behind, suddenly bounced about and barked at the top of his lungs. In the process there was a small collision, and Bayul — one leg still hoisted in the air — lost his balance entirely.
Whiiiip—!
That was when something came flying. A long, cord-like object shot in from who knows where and whipped itself around Bayul's waist. Then, as if catching a falling man in its arms, it pulled taut — and set Bayul down safely on the ground.
Long as the description may be, all of it happened in the space of a heartbeat.
Swish—!
The instant both of Bayul's feet touched the earth, the object vanished back to wherever it had come from. And Bayul and his friends saw it, unmistakably.
"A… a tree branch?"
"…Did the tree just move on its own?"
It had. What had caught Bayul and saved him from falling was a tree branch. It now hung shamelessly ordinary upon the tree's trunk, as though nothing had happened — but mere moments ago it had stretched out long as a living serpent and coiled itself around his waist.
"What in the world…?"
Just as they all stood gaping, unable to string a sentence together, Quinn murmured in a low voice.
"…A spirit."
"What was that, Quinn? I didn't catch it."
"How could something like this even be possible…"
"What is it? What did we just see?"
"…A spirit."
It was Eli who answered in Quinn's stead. His crimson eyes trembled with disbelief.
"A spirit? What kind of spirit?"
"The sovereign of earth and wood and stone, of meadow and verdant green."
"The spirit of the earth."
It was the first appearance of Shame — Bayul's second contracted spirit, and the one who would one day become the Spirit King of Earth.
The spirit of the earth?
Ever since meeting Innocent, Bayul had always wondered about other spirits. He hadn't seen it himself, but when he'd collapsed in shock at the sight of Innocent, they said all four signs of the primeval elements had flared into being. Quinn had flatly dismissed it — a single Spirit User possessing all four attributes was simply impossible — and yet Bayul, strangely, could not put that hope down.
But perhaps it was all too sudden. Now that the moment had actually arrived, his mind simply went blank. They were calling it a spirit of the earth, yet nothing appeared before his eyes the way Innocent had, and the whole thing refused to feel real.
"Bayul, say something. Anything."
"…Huh?"
"You've got to call him back out, right? You need to make the contract."
Startled as he'd been by the arrival of a new spirit at such an unexpected moment, Aidan had by now grown fairly used to Innocent. He lifted eyes brimming with curiosity and looked at Bayul.
"That's right, Bayul! Call him out again, quick!"
Before long, Eli and Quinn had collected themselves and were urging him on too. It was true that the two of them, being the most knowledgeable about spirits, had been the most shocked — but that same knowledge made them all the more curious.
"Let's confirm it properly. Whether he's really a spirit of the earth."
"Bayul, call him out, come on!"
"…H-how?"
The spirit of the earth had appeared for only the briefest of instants. The branch, having returned to its original state, now hung stiffly from the tree's trunk as if nothing had ever happened, showing no movement of any kind since.
"You'd know better than any of us, wouldn't you? Anything different from usual? Any strange feeling, or something like that?"
"Not really…"
"Take a good look around. He could be hiding somewhere nearby."
"…I can't see him at all."
"What about sounds? Any suspicious noises?"
"…No."
"Then think back to how it felt when you called Innocent. He's a spirit too, so wouldn't it be similar?"
"What about touching the tree?"
"Knocking on the ground?"
Suggestions poured in from every side. Bayul took them all in earnest, trying each one with the utmost seriousness — and nothing happened. Not a trace of an earth spirit, not even the faintest sign. It was as though the creature had scurried off somewhere and burrowed deep, gone utterly silent.
"What's going on? Don't tell me he just left?"
"No way! Making a person this curious and then running off? That's just rude."
"Then is he playing a prank on us? Innocent did the same thing, remember?"
Innocent's first greeting had been a sudden downpour of water followed by hysterical laughter. There was no guarantee the spirit of the earth wouldn't pull something similar.
"In that case, there's only one method left. Bayul."
Aidan called his name with an air of grave solemnity.
"You've got some brilliant idea, don't you?"
Not only Bayul, but Eli, Quinn, and even Logan turned to him with eyes full of hope.
"Of course I do."
"What is it?"
"You fall over again."
"…Huh? What do you want me to do?"
"Fall down again, like you did just now. He appeared right before you hit the ground to catch you, didn't he? If you recreate the exact same situation, he's bound to come again."
Aidan wore a smile of pure, self-satisfied genius as he declared it with total conviction.
"You know, I think I might actually be a genius. How do I even come up with ideas like this?"
Wrapping his own arms around himself in self-praise, he looked genuinely, deeply proud of himself. Just as everyone stood dumbfounded, unable to muster a reply, the unexpected response came from Quinn.