Swallowed Whole
I got swallowed.
Really and truly gulped down and sucked right in.
Feeling the water pressure as I slid down the long gullet, I finally came to my senses only to find myself, of course, underwater.
I held my breath and looked around, watching my golden hair swirl upward in the current.
But something was off. This wasn’t a lake.
I was in a world filled with nothing but endless water.
A place where I couldn’t tell up from down—there was only water in every direction.
‘Huh?’
What kind of test is this?
At first I had no idea what was going on. But the realization came quickly.
This was the domain of Endairon.
I instinctively understood what I was supposed to do.
The trial was simple: could I defy the water that Endairon ruled and escape this place? Or not.
A battle of wills.
A clash between human and spirit.
All I had to do was bend the water to my will with a resolve stronger than Endairon’s.
A question occurred to me. What happens if I fail here? Is the price of this test death… or becoming Endairon?
No wonder there weren’t many high-ranking spirit masters in the world. Maybe most of them had died right at this stage.
Obviously, if I couldn’t get out of here, I’d die.
‘But… it’s actually kind of nice here.’
I’d always liked being underwater.
Even as I sank deeper and deeper, I felt strangely good.
Instead of fighting it, I gently closed my eyes and let my body drift even further down.
‘Why would I need to resist?’
Water had always been my friend.
My heart.
My precious existence.
Maybe I could even breathe underwater. After all, the water loved me.
What the…?
I don’t think I died and went to heaven.
When I opened my eyes, I was sprawled out on solid ground.
I’d definitely been sinking into the water. How did I end up here?
For a while I just lay there, rolling my eyes around. I only sat up because the blazing sun was too hot on my skin.
“……Did it work?”
It felt like the contract had succeeded.
I could sense it vaguely.
Undine and Undain… and Endairon. Their presence now rested across my soul.
Maybe the answer to the test hadn’t been to fight. Maybe it was to surrender. Or perhaps both paths were valid.
Either way, I could tell it was over. I pushed my soaked body upright.
My mana was almost completely drained. My core felt hollow and empty.
But my mood was surprisingly good.
That said, the way my fingertips were still trembling told me I’d been to an incredibly dangerous place.
Guess it wasn’t a dream.
I flexed my numb fingers. They were a little stiff, but they moved.
“Aaaah… I really did it.”
I’d succeeded. The fact that I had actually contracted with Endairon slowly sank in.
More than joy, I mostly felt dazed.
My head still wasn’t completely clear, so I just stared blankly at the lake.
The water’s surface was perfectly still, peaceful as if nothing had happened.
Earlier when Endairon had appeared, it had looked like a stormy sea…
“Maybe I’ll go for a swim.”
The sudden thought pleased me quite a bit.
I already missed the water I’d just been submerged in.
Vanessa Lake was originally a popular spot for people to bathe and swim anyway.
I jumped to my feet and started stripping off my wet clothes.
Cool breeze touched my bare skin.
Splash. The moment my feet touched the water’s edge, my mind cleared and joy finally flooded in. My heavy body felt weightless the instant I entered the water.
“I did it!”
Only when the water reached my neck did I shout in triumph.
Then I dove straight in and started swimming.
The cold ripples brushed against my skin. As my hair soaked through completely, it felt like I’d returned to my own world.
I was freely swimming across the lake, savoring my success, when I sensed a small presence.
Who would come to the back of a lake with no path? A goblin? An orc?
Thinking it was a monster, I turned my head toward the sound. Up until that moment, I was still in a perfectly good mood.
“What the hell is that?”
Wait, why is he here?
A familiar person was standing on the spirit circle where I had carelessly tossed my clothes.
I’d assumed no one would come around the back of the lake, so I’d stripped down to swim.
The man who had been staring intently at the spirit circle seemed to finally notice my clothes—and the underwear on top.
Thank goodness I was still wearing the bottom half. Otherwise I really would have had to kill him.
“Senior.”
I called out as I swam toward shore. Bright stood up and turned to look at me.
Light brown hair that sparkled faintly in the sunlight, purple eyes staring straight at me, and the best skin of any man I knew. It was Bright Keniyan.
“J… Jeanie?”
“……Could you give me back my underwear?”
“Huk!”
“Before I kill you.”
Stop staring at me like that.
“U-uwah! Uwaaaaaah!”
Why is he the one screaming? I’m the one who should be screaming!
I had to cover my chest, so I plugged one ear with a single hand and shook my head.
Bright’s loud scream echoed across the entire lake.
“Who are these people?”
Two people had hurriedly climbed down the cliff after hearing Bright’s scream.
An older, bald, middle-aged male mage and a female mage who looked a bit younger than Bright.
Judging by their royal mage robes, they were probably from the same faction.
“This is… my uncle.”
“Ah, I see.”
“And this is a junior who works in the same department.”
By the time I had finished dressing, the two who had arrived were staring at the bright red handprint on Bright’s cheek with puzzled expressions.
“B-Bright, sir? What happened to your face?”
“Well, you see…”
“I slapped him. He was peeping while I was swimming.”
“Pardon?”
“That’s not it, Jeanie!”
“Ah, let me correct that. He wasn’t peeping—he was staring so hard I came out and slapped him. Only then did he finally snap out of it and look away.”
At my explanation, the female mage looked at Bright with utter disgust.
“I-it’s a misunderstanding…”
“By the way, Senior, why are you here? You didn’t follow me like a stalker, did you? Because that would be a real problem.”
Maybe I should just gouge his eyes out.
As I stroked my chin in serious thought, Bright hurriedly blurted out an excuse.
“No way! It’s not like that! We ordered something from Baelan! I was on my way to meet the delivery since it was about time for it to arrive. It’s true! Ask them—they’re my witnesses!”
Ah, that made sense. If he’d secretly followed me, he would’ve been alone.
Bright had a tendency to like me a little too much and sometimes did annoying things. But since he stopped when I told him to, I usually let it slide.
“I was just passing by when I saw Blondie up there. There’s no way I wouldn’t recognize the horse I gave you as a gift, right?
So I thought it was strange and wandered over… then I felt an enormous mana fluctuation, so I came down to check. That’s all.”
So he’d sensed the mana surge when I summoned Endairon.
Mages were sensitive to mana, so it was entirely possible.
Only then did I start to feel guilty.
There was a perfectly visible high-grade spirit summoning circle on the ground. The mages didn’t seem to recognize what it was, but if they asked, things would get troublesome.
Before Bright could ask any questions, I quickly changed the subject.
“This is on the main path, after all. What are you getting from Baelan?”
“I ordered a magic stamp. It was supposed to arrive around today, so I came out to meet it.”
Baelan did make excellent magical tools.
So this was like going out barefoot to greet the delivery guy.
“Alright. I’ll believe you didn’t follow me on purpose.”
“Thank you!”
The men around me really were all so mild-mannered. Getting slapped and still saying thank you?
Normally I wouldn’t have let him off so easily, but I was in a good mood today, so I decided to stop here.
As I uncrossed my arms, the female mage stared at me with burning eyes.
Why is she looking at me like that?
“By any chance… are you Lady Jeanie Crowell?”
“That’s me. Why?”
“Wow! I’ve heard the rumors! I’m from Dricke too, you know.”
Rumors?
“The genius who became an intermediate spirit master at seventeen! The witch of the annex! The one with such a terrible personality that no one could handle her… mmph!”
“Jeanie! You can’t kill her!”
Bright quickly covered the female mage’s mouth and shouted in panic.
Anyone watching would think I actually murdered people!
“I don’t kill people that easily!”
“B-but you looked like you were about to kill her just now…”
Damn it! Who’s calling me a witch?!
It just so happened that the personal training room the academy gave me was in the middle of the forest, and I carried a snake around. And yes, sometimes the elementary kids came to my training room for courage tests, but still!
“More importantly… when you came down this way, didn’t a snake block the path? A white one.”
“No, I didn’t see anything?”
That Rai bastard must be slacking off again. I clearly told him to guard Blondie.
“I saw it, miss.”
The man who was Bright’s uncle spoke up.
My eyes kept drifting to his shiny bald head. I couldn’t help thinking that might be Bright’s future.
“Oh, I saw it too!”
“Really? Did that snake try to stop you from coming down this way?”
“No. It was just circling around the white horse, dodging its hooves.”
Dodging the hooves?
“That’s right. The horse got so worked up because of the snake that it started bucking. Bright tried to calm it down, but the snake kept interfering. It was a strange snake.”
Aaah. Come to think of it, I never told him not to let anyone into the forest…?
I only told him to guard Blondie.