The Six Spells of Undine
Sink. A spell that adjusts the buoyancy of water to sink a designated target underwater. Water Screen, a spell that creates a barrier of water around the caster to block damage from fire attacks.
Water Walking, a spell that allows you to walk on water. It works even while wearing heavy armor.
The carriage rattled.
“Water Breathing, a spell that lets you breathe underwater.
Purification, a spell that cleans contaminated water so it can be drunk.
Aqua Ball, a spell that attacks by hurling a ball of water with weak pressure……”
The carriage rattled again.
And again.
“This is insane.”
The curse slipped out before I could stop it.
Inside the constantly rattling carriage, I flipped through the spirit magic book Teacher Iel had handed me—specifically the section on spells available to the lower water spirit Undine—and felt a wave of crushing despair wash over me.
There were only six spells listed. And out of those six, just one was for attacking!
Undine wasn’t an offensive spirit to begin with, but still.
“What the hell is this supposed to achieve!”
Were these teachers trying to get their students killed? Throwing a ball of water? Were they joking? I hurled the book onto the empty seat across from me and thrashed around wildly inside the carriage.
Why did I have to go to the fighting tournament of all things!
This really was a trial sent from the heavens. Who would have thought something like this would happen to me? I didn’t care about the Winkan Festival even a tiny bit, yet here I was, specially recommended by the king himself! There was no way I could back out now!
“Ugh… ugh.”
The combat team had three from the combat division, four from swordsmanship, four from magic, and one from spirit magic—twelve members total. And by some cruel twist of fate, I was one of them.
I was cursed with terrible luck.
I would have had far more confidence in the quiz competition that Mia was entering.
Out of all the peaceful events they could have picked, why did I end up stuck in the one where people beat each other senseless?
I wished this was just a nightmare.
I hated using my brain, but I hated using my body even more! Couldn’t they tell just by looking at me?
“Can’t you tell?!”
Aaaargh!
I was still flailing in irritation when the carriage came to a stop and someone knocked on the door.
Were they here to tell me to shut up because I was being too loud?
Knock. Knock.
“My lady, it’s lunchtime.”
Thank goodness that wasn’t it. I really shouldn’t have had an appetite after all that, but I’d made such a scene that I’d worked up an actual hunger.
I forced my lethargic body upright, shuffled over, and opened the door.
The journey to the empire was brutally long—twenty full days by carriage just to reach the first stop. They stopped periodically to distribute meals.
It was only simple bread and soup, but since this was a royal delegation, the food actually tasted decent.
I was standing in line to collect my portion when I caught the whispers aimed squarely at me.
“Did you hear about Crowell? They say she buttered up His Majesty and forced her way onto the team. Leo from the combat division was supposed to go, but he got dropped because of her.”
“Ugh, that’s ridiculous. What’s the point of bringing a spirit anyway? Poor Leo.”
“I hate it. She has no real skill, so she’s just acting cute. That must be all she’s good for. So damn unlucky.”
Yes. I was hated by several of my peers. And the resentment was quite intense.
They blamed me for the fact that the prestigious combat division—traditionally allocated four spots—had only managed to secure three. Of course, they were right.
To those combat kids, I must have been an unbearable eyesore.
And judging by how my ears were burning, this Leo kid seemed to have a lot more friends than I did.
Though truthfully, I’m on the no-friends side myself.
Ah, and here was another misfortune on this trip: the absence of my best friend Mia.
She had been selected for the delegation too, but she got so excited that she started some bizarre preparatory experiment, ended up poisoning herself, and had to undergo detoxification for a while. When I visited her, her face had turned a lovely shade of purple.
“No skill at all.”
“If we lose, it’ll be all Jeanie Crowell’s fault.”
The reason I stayed quiet despite the harassment was simple.
I genuinely had no confidence that I could produce any decent results in the actual competition. Even I could see that Leo from the combat division would be far more useful to the team’s performance.
There was no way I could beat anyone in a fight using spells that made people float on water or purified drinking water.
At first I had been furious, wondering who had shoved me into this muddy mess.
But then I remembered Teacher Iel’s proud, lengthy speech as he saw me off onto the carriage, and my anger simply lost its direction.
“His Majesty personally recommended you. What greater honor could there be for your family?”
“…His Majesty did?”
“Our nation is the only one with a genius spirit master. He probably wants to show you off to the empire. His expectations for you are enormous.”
If I had a sin, it was being a genius. If there was something I couldn’t control, it was my own excellence. Ah, being too talented really is exhausting.
Rai, who had been hiding inside my clothes, poked his tail out through my sleeve and pointed.
When I looked, a rather gaunt-looking red-haired knight was standing guard, warily scanning the surroundings.
The forest was full of dangers, so we were supposed to avoid stopping if possible. Meal times, however, forced us to halt and post sentries.
I narrowed my eyes and studied the sword hanging at the knight’s waist. To put it kindly, it had an antique look. To put it less kindly, the tacky pattern on the scabbard made it obvious the weapon was old—most likely an heirloom.
After I said it, I realized it sounded like I’d be fine with him eating it if the owner died.
Murder might be common in this world, but it had nothing to do with me.
Rai often lacked basic common sense because he was a spirit, but no matter what, he usually obeyed me. Plus he always called me Master, which made it impossible to actually dislike him. Even when he acted cheeky.
They were the ones badmouthing me.
Therefore they were my enemies, and I had no choice but to repay them at least a little.
It was sad, but what could I do? They were the ones who turned their backs first.
Even if he ate everything, metal was rare in this world, so at most a few coins would vanish. Still, it was more than enough to give them a proper headache. I considered the damage caused by Rai eating metal to be something like a natural disaster.
Because it wasn’t the work of human hands.
“Hehe.”
“Shut up.”
The representative team’s travel schedule was rather brutal for children to endure.
First we had to spend twenty days in carriages to reach the Sage’s Country of Hailan. From there we would use a multi-person warp facility to enter Elan, followed by another long and complicated immigration process.
Traveling the entire distance to Elan by carriage would take at least three months, so this was still the fastest and safest route. Dmitry’s lack of multi-person warp facilities due to insufficient magical manpower was a problem, but so was the fact that our delegation contained many young children who couldn’t endure all-night travel.
Carriages carrying children had to stop frequently. Racing at high speed or traveling through the night was completely out of the question.
There were far too many restrictions. The children constantly complained of fatigue and couldn’t stand being cooped up inside the carriages.
The carriages stopped often even outside of meal times. Some kids suffered from motion sickness; others simply cried that they couldn’t bear staying inside any longer.
I, being the mature one, simply slept.
Lying down and doing nothing had always been my greatest talent.
Sometimes I wondered if I was more of a genius at that than at spirit arts.
“Mmm?”
It was around dusk.
I had been sleeping deeply, as usual, when the commotion outside woke me. Strange noises kept grating on my ears and wouldn’t let me rest properly.
It sounded like fighting… or at least like some kind of uproar.
“Rai? What’s that noise?”
I turned to Rai first—my personal intercom, my barking, talking friend.
He might be a spirit, but he was a peculiar one with limited usefulness in that particular area.
At my question, Rai melted into a watery shape and slithered out through the gap in the carriage door like spilled liquid.
It had seemed fascinating at first, but now I was used to it and simply watched while yawning.
Once awake, I realized just how noisy it was outside.
Rai returned almost immediately and gave his report.
Rai, who had come back in a gurgling, overflowing mass of water, quickly reshaped himself into a snake.
At the word “monster,” I shot upright from where I had been lying.