The Gossip, the Wind, and a Very Stubborn Spirit
"Whoa! You mean the Ga Kingdom's princess was there too? No way! Bayul, you lucky dog! I'm so jealous I could die!"
When Princess Hwiwol was added to the list alongside Princess Grace, Schubik practically bounced out of his seat. For any young man, sharing a conversation with a beautiful princess was the stuff of dreams.
"But how gorgeous can this Princess Hwiwol be that even Jared fell head over heels? Was she pretty, Bayul? By your expert eyes?"
"Yeah, she was pretty."
"Hoh, is that so?"
Schubik made a show of pondering something deeply, then pointed a finger straight at Eli.
"Prettier than Rai here?"
Why had he done it? At that very moment, Bayul realized this was his chance for revenge.
"No one could ever be more beautiful than Rai. A beauty that conquered the entire imperial court — how could anyone presume to compare?"
"The imperial court?"
Just as expected, Schubik snapped the bait right up. Bayul could feel Eli's expression twisting beside him, and he pressed on with a smile.
"Ask Rai yourself. He's the one who danced with every lady at the imperial ball. It was spectacular!"
"Bayul, you...!"
Eli warned him to stop, but Bayul went all the way.
"And he came home with a mountain of gifts, you know? So many he couldn't even open them all!"
"Whoa, seriously? What'd you get? Rai, let's look together! Huh? Huh?"
Schubik simply could not resist his curiosity. The moment the boy lunged at him, Eli panicked and cried out.
"Hey, Bayul! Is this who you are now? How dare you do this to me? You were never this kind of person!"
"...Well, no. I suppose not."
When Bayul agreed so readily, Eli shot him an incredulous look. Bayul caught that expression and smiled awkwardly.
"I don't know what came over me. I just suddenly felt like it."
"People change, that's how it goes. You're sixteen — the age of wind and fire, you know? One day this, the next day that."
Bayul nodded along with fervent agreement.
"You hear that, Rai? So don't feel too wronged."
"Who... who even are you? Are you really Bayul? Because I'm not convinced."
Eli grabbed Bayul by both shoulders and shook him.
"Hey! Whoever's in there, get out! Stop possessing our Bayul or you'll answer to me! Out, right now!"
"Why is it so loud again first thing in the morning?"
Just then, Quinn appeared. His eyes turned sharp — he must have mistaken it for Eli bullying Bayul.
"Quinn, you're here."
"What are you two doing?"
"Ah, we were just telling Schubik about the palace visit. I was teasing Rai a little."
"...You? You were teasing someone?"
"Wow, how do you see me! When have I ever picked on Bayul? Show me one person who treats him better than I do! And you're one to talk, always nagging him!"
"I don't think I ever really nagged."
As though wiping all memory of the past clean, Quinn called gently to Bayul.
"Bayul, come here a second."
"Hm?"
"Your tie's crooked."
Back when he'd first entered the Academy, ties had given him endless trouble, but by now he'd gotten fairly used to knotting them. It had been fine when he'd left the dormitory — apparently roughhousing with Eli had undone it.
"There. All set."
Quinn smiled warmly and let go of Bayul's tie.
"Thanks, Quinn."
"First class today is Ga Kingdom language, right?"
"Yeah. You've got business administration, don't you?"
"That's right. A class so boring it's exhausting."
If it weren't a required course, Quinn would have dropped it on the spot — that was how little he cared for it.
"I'm going to catch up on sleep in the lecture hall. Which means I'd better get there early to grab a good seat."
"Try not to get caught."
"Don't worry. See you second period!"
Quinn waved and drifted away, a smile lingering on his lips the entire time.
"Is that... is that really Quinn?"
"Probably."
"Then what's with him? It's almost summer and suddenly he's all spring breeze? It's terrifying to watch!"
Schubik shuddered from head to toe like a man who'd seen something he was better off not seeing.
"Well... it happened."
"What happened?"
"Mm, the long version would take a while. Short version — Bayul became Quinn's man."
"What does that even mean? Talk so I can understand!"
"Basically, Quinn spread out his whole presence and told Bayul, 'From now on, you are mine.'"
"His man?"
"Yeah, his man. Ugh, thinking about it again gives me chills."
"...You mean he's making Bayul his subordinate?"
"What?"
At Schubik's absurd, baffling remark, both Eli — who had been doing the explaining — and Bayul, who'd been listening in, momentarily lost their words.
"That's what a boss says to his underlings, isn't it? Who knew Quinn was so nice to his subordinates! I just got so startled my skin crawled. Look, look at this."
Schubik held out his arm and rolled up his sleeve to prove it. Sure enough, goose bumps dotted his forearm.
"Congratulations on becoming a subordinate, Bayul."
Eli murmured under his breath, barely holding back his laughter.
"Can we not talk about Sir Hayes? If we start, we might not make it to first period."
"Are you asking for a truce?"
"When did we ever fight?"
No, they hadn't.
When Bayul shook his head, Eli gave a snort of laughter and slung an arm around Bayul's shoulders.
"What's with the shoulder grab all of a sudden? Don't tell me you're leaving already? You have to finish what we were talking about!"
"Didn't you hear Quinn? First period Monday is Ga Kingdom language. Ga Kingdom language."
"So what? You're both good at it."
"That's exactly the problem. Professor Vans loves to call on us out of nowhere to stand up and read."
"It's just safer to go over it before class."
"Then we'll be off."
You could never give Schubik an opening. The key was to vanish while he was still stammering in protest. Eli tightened the arm around Bayul and swiftly steered him away.
"Hey, hey! Hold on a second!"
Schubik belatedly came to his senses and shouted after them, but the two were already far down the path.
"Ugh! How can you leave when I haven't heard a single important thing yet!"
Schubik was a bundle of unanswered questions. What kind of person was the Crown Prince? Which nobles had attended the ball? Just how magnificent had Duke Randert looked in person? He had mountains of things to hear.
"Everyone's just dying for me to tell them! Just wait until lunch — I'm going to latch onto them and squeeze every last detail out!"
Once again, Schubik burned with a completely pointless sense of mission.
Despite the ordeal of being ambushed by Schubik, the day passed smoothly. They weren't far enough behind on their coursework to worry, so they agreed to gather at the library over the weekend to study together.
"Do we really have to keep training here?"
It was that hour when every light in the Academy had gone out and silence had settled over the grounds. Bayul and his friends were out at the paddock all the same, resuming the training they'd been forced to put off.
"Rai, it's already decided. Why do you keep whining? Thanks to Shame, nothing leaks out of the ground anymore."
"The smell. What about the smell, which has somehow gotten worse? It's bad enough to give me a headache now."
"Maybe it's because summer's coming? It has gotten stronger."
"Ugh, now that you've mentioned it, it smells even worse! Blegh!"
Eli pinched his nose shut and made a show of retching.
"Quinn, got another handkerchief?"
Quinn had already pulled one out and clamped it over his nose and mouth. When he shook his head, Eli groaned in despair.
"Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a wind spirit at a moment like this! It could blow all this stench away for us?"
"No way it would!"
Innocent, who'd been resting after drizzling a round of rain, came fluttering over with her lips pushed out in a pout.
"You don't even know how mean-spirited that one is!"
"Innocent, what do you mean? Have you met the wind spirit?"
"It's a terrible spirit! Totally awful!"
At Innocent's violent reaction, the friends scattered around the paddock swarmed together in an instant.
"Did you all hear Innocent? Sounds like the wind spirit is around Bayul too!"
"Bayul, can you feel anything? It's the wind spirit!"
"Could all four Great Spirits really be appearing?"
"Bayul, focus. Try to feel it."
Pressed on all sides by his friends, Bayul did his best to hide his fluster and calm his mind. It hadn't even been that long since he'd met Shame, and already the wind spirit — the whole thing was dizzying.
He racked his brain for anything that might have been connected to the wind spirit lately, but nothing came to mind right away.
"Why? Not there?"
How long had he sat with his eyes closed? Against all his hopes, Bayul felt nothing at all.
"...I can't tell."
Nothing to see, nothing to hear. The only method he had was sensing a spirit's energy, and honestly, Bayul still wasn't used to it.
"It was the same with Innocent and Shame. Unless they show themselves first or speak to me, it's very hard for me to notice them on my own."
"What if you ask Innocent again, like before? She could at least say hello to it for you."
"No! Not doing it! Never!"
Innocent shrieked and darted away through the air as if fleeing for her life.
"Innocent, come on, just once. I really want to meet the wind spirit!"
"Shorty! You're a spirit, so the smell doesn't bother you, does it? Do you have any idea how much we're suffering? Stop throwing a tantrum and get over here!"
"Nuh-uh! Bleh!"
"Innocent... would you do it for me?"
"Okay, Quinn."
Innocent's attitude toward Eli and toward Quinn could not have been more different.
Eli, ordinarily one of the friendliest students around, had somehow gotten off on the wrong foot with Innocent from the very start, and the two never seemed to grow close. Quinn, on the other hand — with water as their common ground — had grown dearer to her by the day.
"...Looks like she really does hate it."