The Tsunami
“Waaah……”
Yuri let out a gasp of wonder as she stepped onto the beach, her eyes sparkling at the sight of the emerald waves glittering under the sun. After Kyle had driven off the Sea God, the soldiers of the territory had conducted a brief investigation amid the commotion and concluded that the deity had simply returned early. Though they had heard an unfamiliar scream echoing across the water, nothing else seemed amiss, so the residents quickly demanded the beach be reopened.
Yielding to the townspeople’s urging, the soldiers lifted the restrictions. The very same residents who had once insisted the Sea God’s presence was essential now spread out stalls and began trading as if they had been waiting for this moment all along.
Money matters more than the Sea God after all, huh……
Kyle found it absurd, yet he purchased a mat, parasol, and beach chairs before heading to the shore with Yuri.
“Kyle, hurry, hurry!”
“Yeah, yeah, I got it. Just let me set this up.”
After calming Yuri—who was so excited by her first visit to the sea that she bounced ever so slightly on her toes—he finished arranging the parasol and mat, marked their spot, and dashed toward the water with her.
Upon reaching the sea, Yuri shuffled her feet, savoring the feel of the sand. Unlike the hard-packed dirt she was used to, the way the grains sank beneath her soles delighted her. She stomped around until she reached the water’s edge, then stood mesmerized by the rolling waves.
“It’s beautiful……”
She watched the gentle surf lap at her toes, then carefully crouched down, dipped her fingers into the seawater, and tasted it.
“……Salty.”
“Well, it is seawater.”
“This is your first time at the sea too, right, Kyle?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you should try it too.”
Kyle chuckled at her words, then took the hand she had dipped into the water and gave her finger a light lick. Yuri flinched in surprise—she hadn’t expected him to lick her finger—and looked up at him. Kyle grimaced and stuck out his tongue.
“Yeah, it’s salty.”
“……Right.”
“What’s wrong?”
“N-Nothing.”
Her words wouldn’t come out. Yuri turned her head away, trying to hide her burning cheeks as she stared at the distant horizon. Kyle seemed to understand exactly why she was acting that way; a grin spread across his face. Without warning, he slipped one arm under her armpit and the other beneath her thighs, then lifted her up with a swift motion.
“Kyaa!?”
“If we’ve come to the beach, we’ve gotta do this at least once.”
“K-Kyle? What are you trying to—!!”
The next moment, Yuri realized her body was being hurled toward the sea. The water rushed into every opening, leaving a stinging sensation before receding. Flailing, she quickly regained her balance and stood up, looking like a drowned rat as she glared daggers at Kyle.
Kyle laughed heartily—until he noticed the ice chains wrapping around his ankles and froze.
“Yuri, something like this won’t be enough to drag me under—”
As he tried to snap the chains, the very ground beneath his feet shifted, launching him into the air. Yuri had realized she couldn’t break through an Aura Master’s resistance directly, so she had moved the earth he stood on instead. Impressed by her quick thinking, Kyle allowed himself to be flung into the sea with a grin.
“Puhah—!”
After tossing his wet hair back, Kyle locked eyes with Yuri, who was also tidying her soaked locks. Both of them were now in the water. What came next required no explanation.
“Here I come—!”
Kyle immediately scooped up water and sprayed it at her like a cannon. Yuri casually manipulated the sea to block the attack, then gathered dozens of water streams around her and launched them at him like tentacles.
“Glub glub glub! Hey, wait—magic is cheating—!”
Feeling as though he were fighting dozens of opponents at once, Kyle dove underwater and used aura to swim swiftly. He could have fired aura-infused water cannons to break through her magic, but he didn’t want to risk hurting her. Instead, he maneuvered beneath the surface, evaded her attacks, and grabbed her ankle in one swift motion, toppling her over.
Splash!
Watching Yuri fall into the sea, Kyle burst into laughter.
“Hahaha! Who do you think you’re challenging, an Aura Master—”
Before he could finish, something yanked his legs from below, sending him tumbling backward just as he had done to her. Yuri had used the seawater to pull him down.
“Puhuu—”
“Huuu……”
After shaking the water from their faces, the two exchanged mischievous grins and continued their water fight. Only after a long while, thoroughly exhausted, did they carefully exit the sea and collapse onto a bench to rest.
Gururururur—
Deep in the abyss, the Sea God chewed on seaweed while recovering from the wounds around its eyes. Even a Sea God, however, could not regenerate a punctured eyeball. Blinking, it realized its left side was blind and began to seethe with rage at whatever had injured it. Fleeing pain first, then giving in to fury—that was the way of a beast.
Gurururuk.
Bubbles rose from its gills as the Sea God glared in the direction of the city where its attacker lived. It would never forgive them. It would repay the pain exactly as it had suffered. Once its recovery was complete, the Sea God gathered its power and rose toward the surface. Seawater drawn from the depths began to form waves. Creating a tsunami dozens of meters high, the Sea God rode the massive wave straight toward the city, hoping it would swallow everything in one go.
“Kyaaah—! Stop iiit～.”
“Ahaha, ahahaha! My little one. Why are you so feisty?”
Once the Sea God departed and the beach reopened, nobles who had vanished earlier began trickling back, having somehow caught wind of the news. Kyle and Yuri’s private time lasted only a couple of hours before the shore filled with swimmers and revelers, making it impossible to enjoy themselves properly. Still, the sea’s charm remained undiminished.
“……My skin stings.”
“You’ve been under the sun too long. Leave it and you’ll burn.”
“What should I do?”
“It’s similar to a burn, so a healing spell should work, right?”
Yuri cast a recovery spell on herself and flopped onto the bench. Though not as potent as holy power, her skin slowly began to heal. Before long, the redness faded, restoring her pale complexion. She slipped her coat back on and gazed blankly at the sea.
“Kyle.”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
“Me too.”
The sudden confession caught him off guard, but he couldn’t very well act embarrassed when his fiancée was professing her love. Kyle accepted it naturally with a smile, then leaned in and planted a light kiss on her lips. Yuri’s face flushed crimson again—she hadn’t expected such intimacy in a crowded public place. Yet on this beach, it wasn’t unusual; nearly every noble had come with their partner.
Ahh, she’s really cute.
Kyle felt a spark of excitement watching his adorable, well-endowed fiancée blush. If he weren’t still a minor, he might have tried making a child with her right then. To calm his racing heart, he took a deep breath and looked toward the horizon—only to notice something strange. He sat up carefully.
“……Kyle?”
“What the heck is that?”
Far away, the horizon was rippling. No—it wasn’t rippling. Something was approaching from beyond it. For something so distant to be visible at all meant it was large enough to engulf the entire city. Realizing this, Kyle leapt onto the tallest spire nearby to get a better view.
“Damn it.”
A tsunami large enough to swallow the whole city was surging toward them. There had been no earthquake or other warning, yet waves were rising without reason. Kyle rushed back to the beach, grabbed Yuri, and pulled her away from the shore.
“Kyle?”
Yuri looked at him in confusion, but Kyle was in a hurry. He headed straight for the dormitory to pack their belongings and find a coachman. Only after locating one did Yuri shake off his hand and shout.
“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”
“We need to get out of here fast.”
“Run away? Why all of a sudden?”
“Because a tsunami is coming.”
“……What?”
As she tilted her head in disbelief, the bell atop the spire began ringing frantically, confirming Kyle’s words.
Ding—! Ding—!
—A tsunami! A tsunami is coming!
While residents screamed and fled in panic, Yuri turned to Kyle and asked cautiously.
“……Is this because of you?”
“What nonsense. How could I summon a tsunami?”
“Now that I think about it, it was strange. How did you know the Sea God had left so quickly?”
Kyle was about to admit he had defeated it when he remembered the Sea God’s Force—the ability to control the sea. Could that power have created such a wave? When he fell silent, Yuri gave him a knowing look and turned toward the beach.
“Wait, where are you going?”
“A wife should clean up after her husband’s mistakes.”
“—So why do you have to do it?”
“Are you trying to run away?”
Yuri glared at him sharply, as if accusing him of abandoning the mess he had caused. But Kyle pushed her behind him and began loosening his shoulders.
“Why should you fix my mistake?”
I made this mess. I’ll clean it up.
With that thought, Kyle strode toward the massive tsunami.