The Highest Water Spirit, Karita (2)

The evening after our long, bloody battle against Requirou of the Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings, I sat on the sofa in our lodgings, nodding off.

"Clitia, the view here is a work of art!"

Logan suddenly shouted, and every last shred of drowsiness vanished.

"To think such a magnificent sea exists!"

"Keep it down. Erin's sleeping."

Erin was using my thigh as a pillow, already fast asleep and breathing softly. She'd worked the hardest this time around, so it was no wonder she was exhausted.

"My apologies."

"Is it really that stunning?"

I'd never seen Logan this excited before. Born to a prestigious noble house, he always knew how to keep the mood light while never once compromising his dignity.

"Among every vista I have ever beheld, this one may well be the finest."

"That so."

Beautiful scenery never stirred anything in me, so I couldn't bring myself to care.

"You've got no sense of wonder at all."

Maybe he was hurt that I'd brushed him off. Logan dropped the refined speech and started grumbling.

"What was that?"

"What did I just say?"

Playing dumb, was he. He always let his real self show around me and no one else.

"When the others get back, let's take ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a walk along the beach."

I tossed out a reasonable suggestion so he wouldn't stay sulky.

"Those two wandered off on their own again?"

"Pretty much."

Liam had gone off drinking, as always. Ivar was training without rest, same as every other day. Opposite personalities, but they shared one trait: neither of them ever listened to a word I said.

"Honestly, I'm grateful you and Erin actually listen to me."

"I shall take that as a compliment."

Logan gazed out the window in silence, then spoke again.

"Once we slay the Demon King, I think I should like to travel."

"You want to be a free spirit like Liam?"

"I would rather you not compare me to that fellow."

It was only a moment, but the look on his face carried real weight.

"I simply fancy a life of wandering at my leisure."

"What about becoming head of your house?"

"What of it? I have four younger siblings. Any one of them can take the role."

I could relate, honestly.

"I just want to wander around and have fun too."

The family heir was my little sister Marinea, so that wasn't a problem. But I had no idea what position the Church would try to foist on me. They wouldn't make me Pope... would they? The Goddess could make it happen whenever she felt like it, which was a little terrifying.

"Shall we travel together someday?"

"Just the two of us would be a bit much."

"Erin and Ivar would come along, of course. Liam... well, I should have to think on that."

We both burst out laughing at the same time.

"You organize it, then."

"Another reason to defeat the Demon King, then. We shall see it done."

I brushed Erin's tousled hair aside and nodded.

"Obviously."

We could win. Easily. There was no trial in this world that could make us yield.

"Have a seat, if you would."

I sat on an ice throne that rose from the floor. My back and backside went ice-cold in an instant. A chair that utterly failed at its one job of making the user comfortable.

"You look unwell. Rest properly, I insist."

"On this thing?"

I grumbled, and all I got back was a little grin. That cute face had a way of shutting down complaints.

"What's so funny?"

"It has been some time since I last heard that rough manner of speech. I find it rather welcome."

I was glad to hear our Guardian's old-fashioned way of talking again too. The disconnect with that delicate voice was a bit of a problem, though.

"Can't you go back to how you used to look?"

"There are a great many theories and phenomena I could explain, but to put it simply: it is impossible."

The tone was so calm, as if she were talking about someone else's affairs.

"Why are you so at peace about this?"

"I found this body rather awkward myself, for about half a year."

Hair that glittered like crystal. The form of a young girl, sculpted entirely from pure ice. Nothing like the tall, well-groomed man he had once been.

"But it does not bother me in the slightest now. Adaptability is a curious thing, is it not?"

As someone who'd been through something similar, I understood. I hadn't changed species, though.

"At any rate, I imagine you have a great many questions."

Logan came closer and looked up at me. I used to be the one looking up. Now our positions were reversed.

"Ask me anything. I shall answer with all my heart."

I'd had so much I wanted to say when we met again. I'd stacked it all neatly in my head, ready to pull out one piece at a time.

"What is the matter?"

But now that we were actually face to face, the words wouldn't come. Maybe it was that I couldn't feel the same familiarity. The appearance in front of me was so extraordinary that I couldn't bring myself to open up.

"I shall tell you how I came to look like this."

In the end, Logan picked the topic herself.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"You and this one are hardly strangers, I believe."

"I know who she is."

Karita. The Highest Spirit of Water that Logan had occasionally called on in battle.

"With Karita's permission, I applied a technique I had newly researched before we faced the Demon King. Should I meet my death, my soul would be transplanted at once."

I remembered how he'd been absorbed in something on his own before we stormed the Demon King's castle.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"It was incomplete. The odds of success were not high enough to warrant telling you."

"You could've at least given us a hint."

If I'd known Logan was alive, I never would have wandered all this time. Honestly, I felt a little hurt. A little resentful.

"Think it through. What if you had come looking for me, full of hope, only to find the technique had failed?"

Logan laid it out calmly, the expression on her face saying she understood exactly how I felt.

"A heart already torn open would never have been able to close again. Would it not?"

She was right. But the bitterness still hadn't gone away.

"If it worked, you should've come find me right away."

How desperately I'd missed them, all alone, after that day. There were no photographs in this world, so I had to rely on memory to recall my companions' faces. Even those had grown fainter with time. Every time a memory faded, it felt like I was losing a little more of myself.

"It was an incomplete success. Stabilizing this state alone took more than a year."

"And after that?"

"I could not face you. I had left you to suffer alone all that time, had I not?"

Logan suddenly dropped to her knees and bowed her head to the ground.

"I beg your forgiveness once more. Words will not suffice, so I shall do this at the very least."

"That's enough. Get up."

I never wanted an apology in the first place.

"I was just a little hurt. I'm fine now."

"......"

"Thank you. For being alive."

Logan didn't answer. Instead, she came right up to the throne and spoke.

"I have heard a great deal about the Banished Saintess through the spirits."

A cold hand settled on my arm.

"Do you have any idea how bleak your eyes look? At first I truly thought you had become some blood-crazed villain."

I'd heard that more than once. I couldn't see it myself, so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'd always just let it slide.

"I know well how strong you are. But might you not allow yourself to be fragile, for a single day?"

A faint smile spread across that face like a shard of ice.

"Cry as much as you need today. You need not hold it in any longer."

Only then did it truly sink in that I had been reunited with Logan. I wavered for a moment, then shook my head.

"I made a promise to Erin. That I'd smile even when I was sad."

The face of that girl, smiling at me even as she died, tore through my mind all over again.

"Very well. Then we shall do this."

Crystal hair blazed with light. A whirl of freezing air. Before long, pure white snow had enclosed the ice throne like an igloo.

"How is this?"

"...What is this."

"This way, even Erin at the Sun's side will not know what you are doing. Will she?"

It was an absurd idea. It didn't make any sense. And yet — the latch began to ease open, little by little.

"Everyone needs someone to whom they can open their heart. From this day forward, I shall be your pillar."

Soft snow wrapped around my face, so that no one could see what expression I wore.

Comfort offered with every last scrap of dignity set aside. The appearance was ice-cold, but the warmth that came through was anything but.

"Just... give me a minute like this."

In the end, I let go. Every tangled, knotted feeling I'd been holding poured out through my eyes.

A little time passed.

"Do you feel better?"

"Yeah."

The igloo melted away all at once — just like my heart, a little lighter now.

"Your eyes have swollen quite terribly."

"I know."

"Already back to your usual self. A pity."

Logan made a mischievous face, then held out a hand to me. A droplet of water clung to the tip of those short fingers. I could feel an unusual energy in it.

"Shall we form a contract, then?"

The proposal came completely out of nowhere.

"I don't have any talent for spirit magic."

My affinity with nature was about as bad as it got. Nature itself basically rejected me. Even my master had told me not to even dream of forming a contract.

"I am well aware. It is all quite visible from a spirit's perspective."

"Then why?"

"Did you think I have spent these past few years merely idling about? Give me your hand, for a start."

I was skeptical, but I did as I was told.

The droplet fell onto the back of my hand. A cool, refreshing energy seeped in, gentle and clear. It didn't mix with my mana. It simply began to flow through my body.

"Do you consent?"

My mind snapped into focus.

"Are you sure this is okay? Your soul is still human."

"Do not worry. I am gradually assimilating with Karita."

That was not reassuring in the slightest.

"I shall remain the Logan you have always known."

"You'll stay like this forever?"

"If I should do something childish now and then, you may assume Karita has come to the surface."

In the end, that meant she was becoming something that was neither Logan nor Karita. It was a shame, but I had to accept it. At least it was better than a complete death.

"Let's do it. The contract."

My chest filled instantly with a lapping tide.

"That's it?"

"You are a spiritist from this moment forward. I did employ a rather unorthodox method, but still."

I felt dazed. I'd never expected to be able to use spirit magic.

"How's it different from a normal contract?"

"I shall explain later. Shall we leave for now?"

Without even asking, Logan turned into an ice tiger.

"We have been here far too long. I find myself wanting to wander the world."

"Alright. Let's go."

"Pardon the liberty."

I was swallowed into that enormous mouth. The ice was transparent, so I could see everything outside.

"We are breaking out!"

The cave collapsed with a roar that showed zero consideration for me sitting on her tongue.

We were back in the deepest part of the lake. She shot upward at high speed and landed outside the water in no time.

"Huh?"

"An earth spirit, I see."

Logan set me on the ground and glared at the mole that had been waiting.

"You are the spirit who told Clitia the truth, are you not?"

"That is correct..."

"Thanks to you, we have been reunited."

The mole fidgeted nervously, then vanished underground.

"I shall take my leave first!"

It fled. Spirits ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠really did seem to care about rank.

"Shall we follow that fellow?"

"Can you?"

"Not difficult in the least. I shall shrink down — climb onto my back."

The body that had been bigger than an elephant shrank to the size of an ordinary tiger. I hurried over and climbed on.

"Hold on tight."

Logan started running across the grassland on all fours, smooth as gliding over ice.

"How is the ride?"

"The ride sucks. It's cold and my ass hurts."

"It is my first time. Do bear with me."

Still, it was more satisfying than I'd expected. Spirit magic really was more useful than Aura.

"Ah, there is something I have been truly curious about."

Logan, who'd been running smoothly, suddenly spoke up.

"How on earth did you survive the Demon King?"

I'd figured this question would come someday. Which is why I had an answer ready.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean..."

"The memories are gone."

The day our hero party was defeated. I couldn't remember a single thing about what happened right after the Demon King struck me down.

A dark room where you couldn't see a thing ahead of you. A man sitting in a chair by the window, drinking wine, gestured with his hand.

"Butler."

"Yes, sir."

An old man in a tailcoat approached as if he'd been waiting for the call.

"Begin whenever you're ready."

"Understood. I shall succeed, without fail."

The man smiled quietly at the thick loyalty coming off him.