Something Buried in the Water
Innocent scattered translucent droplets into the air as she explained.
"When you go there, there's something hard stuck in the water. The same energy as yours flows out of it. That's why I love the Water Garden so much!"
She laced her fingers together and let out a sound that could have been laughter or a squeal, clearly giddy just thinking about it.
"Something hard... could it look like that one over there?"
It was Quinn who handled matters of water in Bayul's stead, and his face had gone taut with tension.
"Hmm."
Innocent tilted her head, eyeing the stone stele beside Shame.
"I can't really tell..."
"What do you mean, you can't tell? Why not?"
"I told you, didn't I? It's jammed into the lakebed down there. So I can't see the whole shape. Not that it matters to me anyway. Heehee."
With a sly grin, Innocent darted back off toward the spring. Quinn shuddered and murmured,
"It's something the Spirit Kings left behind."
"Where did that come from? Why are the Spirit Kings suddenly in this conversation?"
"Gideon, was it?"
Quinn lifted his cold blue eyes toward Logan.
"He said it before. That the Spirit Kings left something behind. There's no other explanation. If that weren't the case, why would the spirits love these things so much?"
"That's true. It makes sense."
Eli nodded enthusiastically along.
"Reviving a collapsed Spirit Realm would take all sorts of resources, after all. Provisions. Yes, let's call it provisions. The Spirit Kings scattered these steles for the Spirit Users and spirits who would come after them. Right now we only feel a vague comfort from them, but that could change someday. Who knows what tremendous power might be hidden inside!"
"Ooh, that's not a bad hypothesis."
The corner of Aidan's mouth curled up, apparently impressed.
"So what we need to do now is dig into what that rock actually is?"
"Exactly! It must have some kind of use!"
"Let's search for more! There's no way only two of these things exist in the whole world. Provisions are supposed to come in bulk, aren't they?"
Struck by the point of Aidan's argument, Bayul turned straight to Shame.
"Shame, by any chance, are there more steles like this one nearby?"
"This is the only one I've found..."
"How did you find it?"
"I just... was playing in the forest, and..."
The same had been true of Innocent. She loved water anywhere and everywhere—she'd plunge herself in before anything else. That was how she'd stumbled upon the Water Garden, too.
Bayul couldn't say why, but he had a strong feeling these stones were deeply important. It wasn't because of Eli's theory—it was simply a hune he felt in his bones.
Perhaps, just perhaps, this could unravel the secret of why he had become a Spirit User at all.
Chapter 10 — Ah, Dad?
The following day, at the lunch hour. While most students hurried to the cafeteria to fill their growling stomachs, Bayul and his friends rushed off to the Water Garden instead.
Their goal was to see, with their own eyes, the Spirit Stone that (according to Eli's theory) the Spirit Kings had left behind for the revival of the Spirit Realm. With names flying around wildly—boulder, rock, stele—they'd agreed to simply call it a Spirit Stone until they could figure out what it actually was.
"So who's going in?"
"What kind of question is that? Quinn, obviously."
Quinn had come with exactly that in mind, so he didn't hesitate. His hands moved swiftly as he peeled off his jacket and shirt.
"I'm going in too."
"Are you sure about that?"
Everyone knew by now that Bayul feared water, and they worried he was pushing himself for no good reason.
"I have Innocent with me now. I want to see it with my own eyes."
"Well, suit yourself. With a water spirit and a merman both here, what could possibly go wrong?"
"Right. Let's finish up quick and get out before the crowds show up. We'll keep watch."
The Water Garden was popular with students as well as spirits, not just Innocent. If they were caught doing this in a spot with a NO SWIMMING sign planted proudly at its edge, nothing good would come of it. Word reaching the professors' ears might even mean demerits. They needed to get it done while no eyes were watching.
"Be careful, Bayul."
Logan watched anxiously as Bayul followed Quinn into the water. It was obvious what was going through his mind.
"We'll be right back."
Bayul answered with forced brightness, then dove under, following Innocent.
The Spirit Stone lay in the deepest of the lakes within the Water Garden. Perhaps thanks to Innocent, breathing underwater was not all that difficult. Remembering the swimming strokes he'd learned as a child, Bayul moved his arms and legs in a natural rhythm—until Quinn shot past him.
He seemed far more vital in the water than on land. Quinn's silver tail carried him through the depths with a movement that was both fluid and dynamic, like a graceful prowl.
We're here! Over there!
Innocent was beside herself with excitement at the thought of showing off the Spirit Stone. She pointed ahead, where the view blurred into murk, and shouted to Bayul.
Quinn was already far ahead. Bayul quickened his pace, following in Innocent's wake.
The old me never could have done this.
Even with Innocent at his side, he found it astonishing—and rather admirable of himself—that he no longer flinched at water. With his heart in this state, it felt as though he could accomplish anything that came his way.
Bayul, hold on. I'll clear away all this muck for you!
Deeper into the lake, the floating debris and moss made it nearly impossible to see. Mercifully, Innocent had noticed Bayul's predicament and set about cleaning house.
I was wondering if I'd have to do it myself. Thanks.
Bayul flinched at the sudden voice from Quinn. How was he talking underwater? His confusion must have shown on his face, because Quinn's voice rang through his mind again.
Merfolk can send our thoughts. On land we speak like humans, with our mouths, but in the water we converse like this.
Oh!
It was obvious once you thought about it for even a moment. Wasn't his race one that lived both on land and in the sea? There was really nothing surprising about it at all.
There it is. That must be it!
At some point, the water around them had turned clean and clear. Transparent sunlight poured down from above.
Bayul, this is it!
Innocent urged him on from the lakebed, telling him to hurry down.
Let's go.
Quinn flicked his tail in a magnificent pose and descended straight down like an arrow. Not about to be left behind, Bayul drew in a breath and followed.
The material seems the same.
A nod.
Just as Innocent had said, a considerable portion of the Spirit Stone was embedded in the lake floor. Its full shape was impossible to make out, but even at a glance the material looked strikingly similar to the stele Shame had found. Quinn and Bayul each reached out to touch it directly, and they confirmed it: the two Spirit Stones shared the same roots.
Let's go up.
Having confirmed what they came for, the two rose to the surface without delay.
"Did you see the Spirit Stone? It's really there?"
"What does it look like? Similar to what we saw yesterday?"
Water dripped steadily off Bayul and Quinn as they climbed out. The moment Bayul thought, I should've brought a towel, the moisture vanished from his body—and Quinn's too—leaving them perfectly dry.
"Thank you, Innocent."
"My thanks as well, Innocent."
"Don't mention it!"
Unlike Bayul, Quinn could dry himself off well enough on his own. Innocent surely knew that too, yet she'd gone out of her way to be kind—which meant she must like Quinn quite a lot.
"Hey, why are you both ignoring me? I asked how it went!"
He'd been waiting the whole time and it was driving him mad. At Aidan's insistent prodding, Bayul and Quinn answered in turn.
"It's a stone of the same material."
"It was stuck in the lakebed, so we couldn't see the full shape, but it looked just like the one from the Forest of Corruption."
"Oh, so that means other Spirit Stones look similar too? That might actually make them easier to find."
"The shape and material aren't anything distinctive—how would that make it easy? Go take a lap around the Academy right now. You'd find a few more rocks that look just like it."
"Looks like we'll need Innocent and Shame's help after all. They both said they felt a sense of comfort, so that's the only method we have for tracking them down."
"Bayul, did you feel anything yourself?"
"Nope. Unfortunately."
He'd secretly hoped, against all odds, that he might—but no such luck.
"Let's be satisfied with confirming the Spirit Stone today. If we keep thinking it over, a good plan will come to us. For now, let's go get lunch."
Students had begun to trickle into view. They couldn't all starve together out here. If they hurried, the good menu items would likely be gone, but the cafeteria would be relatively empty—better for eating in peace, really.
"By the way, Aidan—why did you tell Schubik about the palace business? I get that you wanted to humiliate Jared, but what if he figures out you're the accomplice?"
"Don't worry about that. He'll never find out."
"Where's this confidence coming from? Not long ago he was shaking you down calling you a fraud—or did you already forget?"
Forget? As if he could. Even thinking about it now made his teeth grind. You hid the fact that you're a noble, you deceived me—there had never been a more shameless load of nonsense in his life.
"The moment he learns his accomplice is you, he'll go berserk with betrayal. I don't know where you get the nerve. A week? No, he'll torment you for a month at least."
"I know. If I get caught, it'll be a huge pain. This time he might even try to kill me."
"Then why do it?"
"I just dangled a little bait. What better delight does the guy have? He'll be so absorbed in palace gossip that he won't spare a thought for who the accomplice might be."
"He did seem that way. He kept asking about everything else."
"See? The kid's spectacularly simple."
Aidan snorted and twitched his mouth into a smirk.
"Huh? What's going on?"
They'd been walking along, chattering back and forth about Schubik, when the cafeteria building came into sight. But contrary to their expectations, the area outside was anything but quiet—more students than usual were milling about in a commotion.
"Why is everyone crowding like that?"
"Are they serving lunch outside today?"
The moment they arrived, heads cocked in curiosity, Bayul and his friends all froze as if by prior agreement.
"...What is he doing up there?"
"He's not actually thinking of jumping from that height, is he?"
"Are you insane? A fall from up there means instant death! No one in their right mind would jump!"
"He looks like he's got it in him, though."
"His eyes have gone blank."
It was true. At the very top of the cafeteria, on the outer railing of a balcony some ten-odd meters up, a male student was perched at an angle. His two legs hung limp beneath him, as if they'd lost their way. It was a precarious pose—one stronger gust of wind and he would plummet.
"...That's Jared's lackey, isn't it?"
The boy at the center of it all was someone the group knew all too well. It was Nathan—the coward who, under Jared's threats, had framed Aidan as a thief.