These Insolent Fools!
These insolent fools!
“How long do you think it’ll take to cut down trees, tie them together, and rebuild the bridge by throwing ropes across? Taking a detour is far better than putting ourselves through all that backbreaking misery! You’re just tossing that idea out because you don’t want to do it, aren’t you!”
“Tsk tsk. You lot still don’t truly understand what a Spirit Master is, do you? And here I thought I’d shown you plenty already.”
I could retrieve objects dropped into the sea, make it rain, supply drinking water, handle the dishes, laundry, showers… Huh? Come to think of it, maybe it wasn’t all that impressive after all.
I suppose I need to show them something truly cool for once.
“Rejoice, you foolish mortals. This great one shall create a bridge!”
“Can you drop that ridiculous way of speaking?”
“Yeah, it really doesn’t suit you.”
I quickly admitted as much and was dismounting when I spotted Lox approaching with shaky, zombie-like steps. He grabbed my shoulders and shook me vigorously.
“You can make a bridge? Really? Truly? You?”
“That’s what I said.”
“I can’t believe it! You’re saying you’ll use your powers for something other than killing? And you’re volunteering for it of your own free will?”
“…So that’s where you were going with this! I do occasionally handle annoying tasks that don’t even benefit me!”
“Indeed.”
Though only when it’s less annoying than the alternative!
Using my abilities was a hassle, but I had just finished calculating that taking the long way around would be even more of a hassle.
“Besides, I just made it rain over the farm earlier, didn’t I?”
“That was you accidentally digging your own grave, though.”
“…How irritating. Why should I have to expend my noble power just because of rude people like you?”
“While showering with spirit magic…”
“What would you all do without me? You poor, pitiful souls.”
“At least we wouldn’t feel this grossed out.”
“What did you say? Do you really want to die? A weakling like you sure runs his mouth.”
“We wouldn’t constantly receive death threats from our own allies. And we wouldn’t be looked down on for being weaklings. Judging people solely by strength is a terrible thing.”
It was strange. I was clearly someone worthy of reverence, yet the only people around me were these insolent brats.
“You still don’t seem to realize how lucky you are to be traveling with me. This should be considered an honor to your family name, you know?”
“Why don’t you enlighten us, then?”
“…You think I don’t see right through your little scheme to provoke me into making the bridge?”
“I realized you’d noticed. You’re going to make it anyway, right? You don’t want to take the detour either. That’s why you volunteered for once, isn’t it?”
“Tch. Busted.”
Lox was the intelligent, sensible type, so he and I never quite saw eye to eye.
It seemed he had recovered the sanity that had shattered along with the bridge.
I had planned to show off a little more before helping, but on second thought, since I was also a member of this party, there was no point in acting smug.
I sometimes forgot that myself. That in a party, we were supposed to help one another.
Not that remembering would change anything.
“Undine.”
Should I connect the bridge?
“All the way to the other end. Make it sturdy since we’ll be walking across it.”
It was something I had never done before, and bridge-creation magic didn’t even exist within water spirit magic, but refusing to be bound by such limitations was the greatest advantage of spirit arts.
Undine slowly filled in the bridge’s remaining shape with water.
Soon a translucent water bridge stretched all the way to the opposite side, gradually deepening into a rich blue as it compressed into something solid.
Creating the bridge didn’t take long at all.
It was finished in the blink of an eye. Easy.
“See? Simple, right?”
“……”
“I’ve made the bridge, so hurry up and cross. My mana is draining in real time.”
There was actually one other way to cross the canyon using a water spirit—riding the spirit like a mount, the way I rode Undain.
But flying through the air wasn’t part of water’s fundamental nature, so the mana efficiency was terrible.
If it were just me, maybe, but moving this many people and horses made building a bridge the far easier choice.
“Um… that thing… no matter how I look at it, it’s just water?”
“I’m a water Spirit Master, so of course it’s water. Got a problem with water?”
“It’s water! Water! It looks like we’ll just fall straight through instead of crossing! Are you trying to kill us all?!”
“Ahem. Don’t underestimate water just because it’s water!”
Chad was glaring at me with deep distrust and protesting violently. Swordsmen already tended to be skeptical of magic, and spirit arts were even more alien to them, so their aversion ran especially deep.
“Do you even know how much we weigh? That water-made… water… thing made of water! You’re saying it can hold us? That makes no sense!”
“I told you it’s fine. Don’t you trust your big sis?”
“Who the hell trusts you?!”
A single horse weighed around five hundred kilograms, and with five grown men on top of that, the total would be enough to snap an elevator cable.
“You people have no sense of scale… It’s more than enough to cross! The water is compressed, so it’s as solid as brick! How do you not get that?!”
“Water is still water no matter what you do to it! Hey! Do you guys actually believe her? She says water is hard!”
I thought it was only Chad, but most of the party wore uneasy expressions.
Even Lox—who I had considered the smartest of the bunch—looked confused. It seemed the concept of a water bridge was simply too unbelievable for them.
“…You do know what compression is, right? Compress anything and it gets hard. Water compressed under high pressure could even pierce your thick skull.”
“How are we supposed to believe something like that?!”
“Want me to demonstrate?”
“No thank you!”
They weren’t children, yet here they were, huddling together and flinching away in terror at the mere thought of crossing one bridge.
Good grief. This wouldn’t do.
“Ash? Let’s go. Once we cross, they’ll follow on their own.”
Showing them the bridge was safe by crossing it myself seemed like the only answer.
I mounted the horse and spoke. Instead of replying, Ash simply stared at the water bridge. I placed my hand on his shoulder and pressed close against his back.
Then I whispered into his ear.
“You trust me, don’t you?”
If even you doubt me, I might actually feel a little sad.
To commoners, magic was something rarely seen—an object of yearning, yet also unfamiliar and terrifying.
If I had to pick the one person here familiar with magic, it would be Ash, a member of the imperial family.
Ash slowly guided the horse toward the bridge.
At the boundary between solid ground and water, the horse kept pawing the earth, reluctant to step forward. We coaxed it gently until it finally moved.
The brown horse carrying Ash and me stepped onto the bridge while everyone watched.
For a moment it stood with only its front legs on the bridge, frozen.
I tugged Ash’s waist. He urged the horse forward.
With every step, the bridge made soft splashing sounds, like walking across shallow water.
We crossed the water bridge in strange silence and tension, finally reaching the opposite canyon. Completely safe, of course.
The moment we stood on solid ground, I felt Ash’s tiny sigh of relief through our pressed bodies.
That was what embracing someone meant. Every tiny shift—whether he was tense, excited, or startled—was completely exposed to me.
“Well done.”
“It was noth… ing.”
I lightly stroked the horse’s neck. Ash must have thought I was speaking to him, because he trailed off, looking embarrassed and quickly averting his gaze.
“Hehe. How cute.”
“…Is that a compliment?”
“It is. I happen to like cute things.”
“The one doing the… liking, I see.”
“Exactly. That’s why Undine receives the most love from me.”
I stroked the embarrassed Ash’s head as well.
Unlike my own hair, his was soft and straight, wonderfully pleasant to run my fingers through.
The texture of hair slipping between my fingers felt different from both Rai’s and my own.
So I kept playing with it.
Unaccustomed to being called cute, the man’s ears burned crimson all the way to the tips.
I had picky tastes and rarely found anyone cute. I practically never found humans cute at all. Yet Ash was a rare exception who received my affection.
Yes. Ash was cute.
That was clearly one of the reasons behind this ticklish possessiveness.
After fooling around like that for a moment, I shouted at the men still hesitating on the opposite side.
“You cowards!”
Come to think of it, we weren’t alone. No wonder my mood had felt pleasant for a second—it was because we were alone together.
“W-wait for us!”
“I’m coming right now!”
“Why do you even carry swords if you’re this scared! Just go die, all of you!”
“Damn it! I’m going! I’m going!”
Only after I scolded them did they finally begin crossing one by one. With bodies as large as mountains, what exactly were they so afraid of? Of course, falling into the canyon would mean instant death, and the transparent bridge let you see straight down, so even without a fear of heights it would be terrifying.
Whether from fear or sheer reluctance, they crossed one at a time, each waiting for the previous person to finish, dragging the process out endlessly.
Honestly, such high-maintenance men.
When everyone had finally crossed, I generously rubbed it in.
“Go on, admit it. What would you all have done without me? Hm? What were you going to do?”
“So annoying…”
“Ahem. That’s no way to speak to your lifesaver.”
“Huh? How does that even follow?”
The water bridge that had served its purpose crumbled away like a wave at the perfect moment.
“If I had removed the bridge while you were still crossing, you would all be dead. But I didn’t kill you, did I?”
Kyahahaha!
Therefore, I am your lifesaver!
It was a joke, but none of them looked particularly amused. Did they actually think I might have done it? Well… if things had gone wrong, I suppose I might have.
Provided the condition ‘if Ash weren’t here.’
“I thought our luck had finally turned, but isn’t she herself the real ordeal?”
“…That actually sounds plausible.”
“Gasp! That’s exactly it!”
“You people.”
Now that I thought about it, maybe what they feared wasn’t the water bridge itself, but entrusting their lives to me. They had the instincts of prey animals! I should compliment them for that.
“Hm? What is it, Rai?”
His voice sounded so dejected and resigned that I looked around for him. Where had he gone? I couldn’t see him anywhere.
“Ah!”
I only realized I had left the stinky Rai behind after completely dissolving the bridge.
Far away on the opposite canyon, Rai stood like the tragic protagonist of some romance, hair fluttering in the wind.
Instead of whining like usual, he simply stared with forlorn eyes, silently broadcasting how upset he was.
“Um… Rai, you live there now. I’m leaving.”
I don’t apologize to spirits!