The Price of Underestimating Me
Hoisted helplessly into the vast, empty sky, Grack ground his teeth. Meanwhile, I was feeling incredibly comfortable because Endairon had thoughtfully created a plush water chair right above my head.
For a moment, I wondered if this was what sitting on a throne felt like.
This water sofa is actually pretty nice!
“Ugh… this isn’t how it was supposed to go…”
“Of course it wasn’t. Looks like you completely overlooked the fact that I’m not that same little kid anymore. I can tell exactly how much you underestimated me.”
“You’re insane! I even prepared an entire unit of archers! You’re the monster here!”
“Anyway… from kidnapping Einy to looking down on me and messing with me again, your list of crimes isn’t exactly short. All things considered? You’re getting the death penalty.”
Yep. Death sentences are best delivered with a smile.
“W-wait! That’s right! I surrender!”
“What? You’re surrendering? There’s no way I’d accep—”
“Shut up and listen! Who said I was surrendering? The one who needs to surrender is you, you stupid bitch!”
“…Did you just call me a stupid bitch? You absolute piece of garbage.”
“That’s right! If you kill me, you’ll never find that little girl! Muhahaha!”
He suddenly looked like he’d realized something brilliant and started gloating, so I’d gotten a little hopeful. But that was all he had?
Well, of course he’d kidnapped Einy with this in mind from the start.
When you make plans, you’re supposed to consider who your opponent is… but there was no way Grack could have known. That I could control a metal spirit, that is.
I felt a surge of satisfaction at the realization that having so many secrets actually had its advantages.
The less my enemies knew about me, the lower the chance I’d fall into their traps.
“Hehe. Your threats are pretty cheap, Grack. How pathetic.”
“You’ll regret that arrogant little laugh soon enough!”
“Really?”
“And don’t even think about torturing me! Without the key I hid, you’ll never—ever—find that girl…”
“Unniii!”
The familiar voice that rang out from behind me belonged to a young girl.
I turned in the water chair and spotted Einy far below, tightly clutching Ash’s hand.
My eyes met Ash’s, whose mouth was hanging open like an idiot.
When I glanced back at Grack, he wore a similar expression. Except about ten times stupider.
“That’s impossible! I locked her in the safe! How did she—?!”
“Finding a traitor wasn’t that hard, was it?”
“Th-this can’t be! That safe was special! The best one a dwarf spent over a year crafting…”
“It’s just a safe.”
Rai could eat the whole thing, safe included.
I left Grack floating in the air, on the verge of passing out from shock, and rose from the chair.
Then I slid smoothly down Endairon’s long body all the way to the ground.
It felt a bit like riding a roller coaster while standing during a steep drop.
Anyone with a fear of heights probably couldn’t have done it, but I had nerves of steel. More importantly, I knew I wouldn’t slip. My spirits would never let me get hurt.
Well… Adore did occasionally burn my hair, but still.
“Ash! Einy.”
I hopped off Endairon’s body the moment we reached the ground and ran toward them.
They stood frozen a short distance away, clearly intimidated by the massive Endairon.
When I got closer, Einy let go of Ash’s hand and came running toward me—only for me to completely ignore her and sprint straight past her to Ash.
I snatched Rai from him immediately.
“Rai! I needed you!”
[Master! I missed you too!]
Rai latched onto my wrist like he was trying to crush it.
Since I happened to be in desperate need of a mana battery, I welcomed him just as enthusiastically.
[Mana! Give me mana!]
[Kyaaah! So that was your goal all along!]
[Obviously!]
[Bad Master!]
Summoning Endairon had drained an insane amount of mana, so I’d really been missing Rai’s presence.
I gripped him tightly and sucked mana straight from the Dragon Heart. Only then did I finally feel alive again.
It was a relief he’d come back at just the right time. Endairon’s mana consumption was so extreme that summoning him used about ten times more mana than calling all my other spirits at once—Undine, Undain, Adore, and Pein included.
The difference between an upper spirit and an intermediate spirit was ridiculously huge.
“U-unni…”
“Hm?”
Einy was standing right beside me, looking up with an awkward smile and her arms spread wide.
Oh. She thought I was going to hug her. She still doesn’t know me at all!
“You’re safe, Einy.”
“I was so scared! I thought I was going to die…”
“There, there. Go get comforted over there.”
I placed my hand on top of her head, spun her around, and gently pushed her toward Ash.
Ash instinctively patted the suddenly-hugging Einy on the back while staring at me in utter disbelief.
Whew. I really hate cringey stuff like that.
“I was worried, so I came as fast as I could.”
“You did?”
“…But what on earth is that?”
Ash looked back and forth between me and Endairon, unable to completely hide the fear in his eyes as he searched for answers. Well, of course. He’d probably never seen anything like it in his life.
Endairon was so enormous you had to crane your neck to look up at him, and his overwhelming presence made it instantly clear that no human weapon could possibly harm him.
“Oh, it’s nothing special. I just summoned some water.”
Very few humans had ever seen the upper water spirit Endairon. So if I didn’t tell them, there was no way they’d know what he was.
I had no intention of revealing that fact—because I might be the only human alive capable of commanding him.
I didn’t want the world gathering any information that could be used to identify me.
It would only get in the way when I was causing chaos.
“Something that incredible… Are you even human?”
“Of course I am. I was pretty cute as a kid, you know. Didn’t you see?”
“…You’re also definitely younger than me. You’re that girl from back then…”
“There are other people around. Can we stop talking about this? Quit digging into my personal life and take Einy back to the village, would you?”
“I can’t do that! I can’t possibly leave you here alone!”
Did I phrase that too indirectly? He’s really bad at reading between the lines.
“You guys are useless and just get in the way. That’s why.”
“…”
“I’m serious.”
“But…”
“Also, from here on out it’s going to get extremely violent. Not suitable for minors.”
I wonder if he’d understand if I called it “blender mode” in the middle of a waterspout.
It was a powerful technique that used high-pressure water to tear everything within range into tiny shreds.
It didn’t discriminate between the living and the dead—it shredded them all equally. It was too strong for Undain to use, but Endairon could pull it off.
Since it ripped buildings and people alike down to the size of mice, it definitely wasn’t something kids should watch.
“So just go already. Einy has trauma from seeing human intestines, you know.”
“My lady! I can’t watch that either! My heart is rather weak!”
The nameless slave trader who had been quietly listening suddenly chimed in. He was still under threat from Adore.
He was still alive, huh. I narrowed my eyes.
“A guy with a weak heart became a slave trader? You should’ve been thrown in there too, you know?”
Behind me was a massive artificial swimming pool.
It floated in the air with a miraculous structure that let people see straight inside from the outside. The sight of people drowning in the currents was unfortunately unavoidable due to the nature of water.
[Friend, while you converse, the humans are dying up there.]
“Doesn’t matter. Tell them to wait a little longer.”
[Understood.]
Endairon calmly watched the humans dying above us, and I stood with my arms crossed, completely indifferent to whether they lived or died.
The ones who could swim would probably hold on somehow.
“B-but… Hey! This wasn’t the deal! You said if I helped you find the child, you’d let me go!”
“Did I say that…?”
“You did! I searched so hard for her!”
[Yes, you did. It seems this human has done almost everything Master was supposed to do.]
I was trying to play dumb, but Rai had to butt in without reading the room.
The truth was, I honestly didn’t want to spare him—promise or not.
People like slave traders should be wiped out entirely. I wasn’t diligent enough to hunt them all down, so the most efficient thing was to sweep them away whenever I saw them…
The fact that I suddenly remembered a use for him was a stroke of luck for the slave trader.
“It’s your lucky day. I’ll let you live. But you’ll have to go to the village and spread a rumor for me. That’s the condition.”
“A rumor? What kind?”
“That the stupid slave traders on the mountain behind the village got cocky and kidnapped a dark elf, only to get completely wiped out by her.”
“…Pardon?”
“Are you stupid?”
“Yes…”
Sigh. I was so frustrated I took off my glove, and the slave trader looked like he was bracing to get hit.
I stared at his crumpled face where his eyes, nose, and mouth had all scrunched together, then spoke irritably.
“With all this chaos, someone’s bound to come looking for the culprit. I don’t want to be named, so spread a false rumor. A dark elf sounds good, right? They’re outside the law, a type of elf, and they’re known for handling spirits well.”
“Ah! Y-yes! I understand!”
“Got it? The culprit is a dark elf. You’re the sole survivor and eyewitness.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I wasn’t sure if this guy even knew what a dark elf looked like. To pull off the perfect crime, you needed a good head on your shoulders, and I wasn’t very confident in him.
“Have you ever seen a dark elf before?”
“Of course! I went to watch one locked up in prison once! Their skin is gray, their eyes are like a cat’s, and their ears are even pointier than regular elves!”
“Good. If even one person shows up who knows the real culprit of this incident wasn’t a dark elf but a young human woman… I’ll find you and kill your entire family for three generations.”
“Uh… um, my family hasn’t done anything wrong…”
“Don’t start talking about innocence when you’re a slave trader. And I’ve told you before—don’t sweat the small stuff.”
I had to give him at least this much of a threat.
Upper spirit masters were already incredibly rare, and if you narrowed it down to a young woman, the list of suspects became far too short.
Jeanie Crowell was publicly known as an intermediate spirit master, but there was no telling how long that cover would last.
Someone might have already guessed after I blocked a dragon’s attack at the founding party.
That I was an upper spirit master. Once word got out that I was alive, the suspicions would only grow.
“Did you see my face? If you did, I’ll have to kill you.”
I slapped the glove I’d removed against my palm with a loud smack and asked with half-lidded eyes. Maybe I should just kill him. No matter how I thought about it, that seemed the simplest option.
“No, no! Absolutely not! I didn’t see a single strand of your hair! I swear! Please believe me!”
“Hmm… Looks like your survival instincts make you a little smarter.”
“Of course!”
“I need someone to spread the rumor, so I’ll let you go for now. But if I ever see you again… you’re dead, got it?”
The annoying part was that Einy, who had been sniffling, suddenly burst into tears again. She was crying. Again.
“Nooooo! Unni’s scary! Waaahhh!”