The Adorable Undine
It was an excessively adorable creature.
Made entirely of water, no bigger than the palm of my hand, it took the form of a tiny mermaid. Everything about it was round and soft, the kind of thing that made you instinctively want to protect it.
“Hello there, Undine.”
Undine hesitated for a moment before reaching out a tiny hand toward me.
The instant its fingertips touched mine, that spot grew cold, as if snow had fallen on it.
“Oh my, how pretty. So different from a certain someone.”
The four major elemental spirits had names assigned according to their rank.
A lower water spirit was called an Undine. And unlike a certain someone, this one looked genuinely gentle and docile. That certain someone was, of course, Rai. That guy had already started acting cocky from the beginning.
I wanted to enjoy this fairy-like cuteness a little longer, but the mana rapidly draining from me forced me to hurry and propose the contract.
“My name is Jeanie Crowell.”
Undine fluttered through the air and gently settled onto my palm.
“Little spirit, will you form a contract with me?”
Undine seemed fascinated by me.
It stared for a while, then shyly nodded its small head and let out a sound somewhat like a dolphin. With Undine right in front of me, the constant popping of water droplets—something you’d normally only hear underwater—kept ringing out.
Pop. Pop.
When Undine laughed, the sight was so heart-melting that I clutched my chest in pain.
Ah, this was it. This was the kind of spirit I had wanted! Not some possessed candlestick!
“Great. I’ll be counting on you, Undine. I’m so happy to have met you.”
Was this fate? Jeanie and Undine felt comfortable with each other right away, like old friends.
When I leaned in close, wanting to kiss it, Undine on my palm lightly kissed the tip of my nose. With a soft pop!, it vanished like a bubble.
“It’s gone.”
Get lost! And never come back!
Rai hurled curses at Undine as if he had seen something unbearable.
What’s wrong with this guy? Rabies? No, since he’s a spirit, should I call it spirit rabies?
I couldn’t understand why Rai felt so wronged, nor did I care.
Instead, I poked the side of a dazed Teacher Iel and grinned wickedly.
“Ahem.”
Even though it was only a lower spirit, the fact that I had contracted a water spirit—one known to be incredibly difficult—at the age of just ten meant that if I wasn’t a genius, who was?
Of course, there was that little secret from my past life that no one knew about.
“J-Jeanie?”
Iel called my name in a trembling voice, wearing an expression I had never seen before.
It looked like a mixture of reverence and astonishment had left him speechless.
“What did I tell you?”
“Good heavens.”
“I told you I could do it, didn’t I?”
“This is… truly incredible! I knew you had talent, but I never imagined it would be to this degree! This is something that will go down in history!”
Yes, get more emotional!
Praise me more! Be more amazed!
This body right here is the genius of this generation!
Mwahaha!
Being called a genius was truly exhilarating. I couldn’t hold back and laughed loudly enough to shake the entire Contract Chamber, completely forgetting my manners. Now that the contract was done, I was finally a free woman.
Genius students don’t attend regular classes!
I’d blast through the academy at high speed and graduate early!
My comfortable future seemed so close I could almost touch it.
Even geniuses had to eat. And use the bathroom. Today, as I peacefully pondered the cafeteria menu, I came to the calm realization that the world was still the same.
There’s not enough meat today!
It’s all greens every single day. I wish they’d stop putting honey in the milk. A genius wants to eat something else.
“Haa… spicy pig’s feet…”
“Hm?”
The candlestick I had set on the dining table was being incredibly noisy. It had so many demands.
If I tried to leave it in the room, it would throw a fit, so I had no choice but to carry it everywhere. I never expected it would follow me all the way to the cafeteria, though.
Fortunately, the other children were too busy eating to pay any attention to me muttering to myself or glaring at a candlestick.
The cafeteria was always loud anyway, so if you stayed quiet, you naturally blended into the background.
I was starting to slightly regret contracting with Rai.
If I had just waited one more day, I could have contracted with Undine. How on earth did I end up shaking hands with this weird guy?
He stuck to me twenty-four hours a day, and the annoyance was beyond words.
His attribute was unique, so his behavior was unique too, and the things he demanded were especially strange.
Rai requested metals with as many different components as possible.
He said if I melted them all together, he would absorb them and make them his body. I definitely remembered hearing that much.
“Pffft.”
Did he just say carcass? I accidentally spat out some of the milk I was drinking. I tried to act casual, but some nameless kid was staring at me with a strange expression.
Stop staring!
When I glared at him while grinding my teeth, the kid turned away, but my mouth was already covered in milk. The honeyed milk stuck to my lips especially well.
It’s not simple at all and I don’t understand any of it! You fraudulent spirit!
I was seriously considering canceling the contract with this guy.
All he could do was chatter nonstop, and now he was asking me to procure a corpse?
I’m a Spirit Master, not a black mage!
I was learning how to scream inside my own head.
What a hassle this guy was. Undine didn’t need anything like this.
My ears perked up just a little.
I stuffed a piece of bread soaked in milk into my mouth and pondered where I could get an animal carcass.
Maybe in the alchemy class? Do they do dissections or something?
Oh, there was one type of carcass that was lying around absolutely everywhere. If it was that, it might be easy to get.
For a spirit, he sure was picky.
It seemed like this guy was feeling pointless jealousy because I kept calling Undine cute.
Just because something’s cute doesn’t mean I automatically like it.
It definitely felt like an insult…
I was frowning and chewing my bread when a group of people suddenly rushed into the cafeteria. A crowd of teachers with serious expressions, led by Teacher Iel. I even caught a glimpse of the dean.
For some reason, they were charging straight toward me.
What the hell. Why are they coming this way?
Did I get caught for something? Did I not return the magic carving tool yet? Did they find out I secretly took mana solution from Mia? Or maybe that I took ancient language books from the library without permission? Or perhaps…
Ah, whatever. I quickly stuffed the rest of the bread into my mouth and jumped down from my chair. I was going to run.
“Jeanie!”
But I immediately regretted it.
I had eaten too fast and my throat was blocked. I couldn’t move. In that short time, Iel reached me, and I was instantly surrounded by teachers.