Ch. 14

It was an excessively adorable being.

Made of water, about the size of a palm, and shaped like a tiny mermaid, it had an overall round and soft appearance that made it seem irresistibly precious.

“Hello, Undine.”

Undine hesitated before extending its tiny hand toward me.

As soon as its hand touched the tip of my finger, that spot became as cold as if snow had just fallen on it.

“Oh my, how beautiful. You’re so different from someone else.”

The four elemental spirits had predefined names according to their rank.

A low-ranking water spirit was called Undine. And unlike a certain someone, it looked gentle and docile. That certain someone, of course, was Rai. That guy was already acting all arrogant.

I wanted to savor the fairy-like cuteness of this adorable creature a little longer, but as I felt my mana rapidly draining away, I hurriedly proceeded with the contract.

“My name is Geenie Crowell.”

Undine fluttered lightly and landed gently on my palm.

“Little spirit, would you make a contract with me?”

Undine seemed fascinated by me.

It stared at me intently before nodding shyly and making a sound that resembled a dolphin’s cry. Now that it was so close, I kept hearing the soft popping of water bubbles, as if we were underwater.

‘Blub, blub.’

Undine’s laughter was so heartwarming that I had to clutch my chest as my heart ached from the sheer cuteness.

Ah, this was it. This was the kind of spirit I wanted! Not some haunted candlestick!

“Great, I look forward to working with you, Undine. I’m glad to meet you.”

Was this what they called destiny? Undine and I felt comfortable with each other, as if we had been old friends.

As I leaned in, as if drawn in for a kiss, Undine, sitting on my palm, lightly kissed the tip of my nose.

‘Poof!’

With a small popping sound, it vanished like a bubble.

“It left.”

[Get lost! Never come back!]

Rai hurled a curse at Undine as if he had witnessed something he shouldn’t have.

What was with him? Did he have rabies or something? No, he was a spirit, so would that make it ‘spirit rabies’?

[Why are you being like that to Undine?]

[You never treated me that warmly! This is discrimination!]

[Hah? You’re not cute, and you’re a candlestick.]

I had no idea why Rai was so aggrieved, nor did I care.

Instead, I nudged Master Yael Roenin, who seemed utterly dazed, and flashed him a sly grin.

“Ahem.”

Even if it was a low-ranking spirit, contracting with the notoriously difficult water attribute at just ten years old—if that didn’t make me a genius, what would?

Well, aside from my unknown past.

“G-Geenie?”

Master Yael’s trembling voice called out to me, his expression one I had never seen before.

It seemed he was so overwhelmed by admiration and astonishment that he was at a loss for words.

“What did I tell you?”

“My goodness.”

“When I say I’ll do something, I do it.”

“You… truly are incredible! I thought you had talent, but I never imagined it would be to this extent! This will go down in history!”

Yes, be more impressed!

Praise me more! Be even more amazed!

I am the undisputed genius of this field!

Mwahaha!

Being a genius was truly exhilarating. Unable to contain myself, I burst into unrestrained, boisterous laughter, filling the contract room with my voice.

Now that I had successfully formed the contract, I was free!

A true genius studies on their own!

I’ll breeze through this academy in no time!

I could already see my comfortable future ahead.

—

Even geniuses needed to eat. And use the bathroom.

As I idly reviewed today’s lunch menu, I thought about how peaceful today felt.

There wasn’t enough meat today!

It was just greens every day. And they really needed to stop mixing honey into the milk. A genius wanted to eat something else.

“Haa, spicy pork trotters…”

[Master? What about my body?]

“Hmm?”

[I want to be able to move freely as soon as possible.]

[I don’t want to keep being carried around as a candlestick.]

The candlestick on the table was annoyingly loud. Always making demands.

Every time I tried to leave it in my room, it threw a fit, so I had no choice but to carry it around. I never expected to have to bring it to the cafeteria, though.

Fortunately, the other kids were too busy eating to care whether I was muttering to myself or glaring at a candlestick.

The cafeteria was always noisy, so as long as I kept quiet, I could blend into the background.

[For my body, having four legs would be ideal. Humans might make you feel uncomfortable, so perhaps a dog or a cat would be best.]

[What are you even talking about?]

[Oh? Didn’t I explain this before?]

[First time hearing it, you shameless spirit.]

I was beginning to regret contracting with Rai.

If I had just waited one more day, I could have contracted with Undine instead.

This weird thing stuck to me 24/7, and its clinginess was unbearable.

Not only was its attribute odd, but its behavior was eccentric, and its demands were even more peculiar.

[I told you I need a body, didn’t I? A metallic body to use in the physical realm.]

[Yeah, you did.]

[Normally, spirits need a constant supply of mana to ‘exist’ in the physical realm—like Undine does.]

[Hmm?]

[But if I have a body, I can use it. That means I can exist without constantly drawing mana from you.]

Rai had requested a variety of metal components.

He wanted them melted together so he could absorb and shape them into his body. I remembered that much.

[So, what’s your point?]

[When you melt the metals to create my body, you’ll have to mix them together, right?]

[Yeah.]

[At that moment, toss in a corpse to act as my outer shell.]

“Pfft.”

Did he just say ‘corpse’?

I ended up spitting out a bit of the milk I was drinking. Though I quickly tried to act casual, some unknown kid was looking at me with a weird expression.

What are you looking at?

Grinding my teeth, I glared at them until they turned away. But my lips were already covered in milk. The honey in the milk made it stick to my mouth.

[So… you want me to throw a corpse in when I’m melting the metals for your body?]

[If you add it while it’s boiling, it melts together. Super easy, right?]

[Why would I even do that?]

[Because metal retains the shape it was cast in. If I absorb it, I can take on that corpse’s form.]

[No other spirit can do this, you know? I’m pretty useful, aren’t I?]

‘None of this is easy, and none of this makes sense! You cultist spirit!’

I seriously needed to reconsider this contract with him.

The only thing he was good at was running his mouth, and now he expected me to procure a corpse for him?

I’m a ‘Spirit Mage’, not a ‘Necromancer’!

[Impossible! Where do you expect me to find a corpse?]

[That’s why I said an animal corpse would do, didn’t I?]

[Oh, thank go— wait, NO! The issue is the corpse itself!]

I was learning how to scream internally.

Seriously, this guy was a hassle. Undine never needed anything like this.

[Master, please! I may be stuck as a candlestick now, but once I have a body, I can do so much more!]

[So far, the only things you’ve shown me are possessing metal, acting as an intercom, and removing rust!]

[…You were happy when I removed the rust, though!]

[That’s because I didn’t know it would eat up so much mana!]

[W-Well! Think about it! If I have a body, Master wouldn’t have to carry around a candlestick anymore! Doesn’t that sound convenient?]

[Hmm, that ‘is’ tempting.]

For a moment, I was intrigued.

As I shoved a piece of milk-soaked bread into my mouth, I thought about where I could get an animal corpse.

Would the Alchemy class have one? Do they do dissections?

Oh, wait—there ‘was’ something that could be found all over the place. Something easy to obtain.

[How about a rat corpse? There are tons lying around.]

[Hahaha!]

[If that’s the only opti—]

[I’ll just live like this. Not having a body is fine. I love being a candlestick. Doing nothing is great.]

For a spirit, he sure had some picky tastes.

[All you need is to be able to move, right? Rats are cute. People even keep them as pets.]

[No. I can’t showcase my cuteness with that.]

…This guy. Was he jealous because I kept calling Undine cute?

It’s not like I like everything just because it’s cute.

[Can’t you just settle for a rat?]

[As long as it’s not a rat, I can consider it.]

[You do realize how arrogant you sound, right?]

[Spirits take after their masters.]

[Did you just insult me?]

[Of course not. That was a compliment.]

Why did it feel so unpleasant, then? I was sure that was an insult.

As I scowled and ate my bread, a commotion suddenly erupted in the cafeteria.

A large group of teachers was rushing in, looking serious. Leading them was Master Yael Roenin, and I even caught a glimpse of the Headmaster among them.

For some reason, they were ‘charging straight at me.’

[‘Huh? What’s going on?’]

[‘What’s happening, Master?’]

What the hell? Why are they coming this way?

Did I get caught for something?

Was it the enchanted dagger I hadn’t returned yet? The mana solution I secretly took from Mia? Or the ancient language book I took from the library without permission?

Or… something worse?

Ah, whatever!

I quickly shoved the rest of my bread into my mouth and slid off my chair. I needed to ‘run.’

“Geenie!”

But I regretted it instantly.

I had eaten too fast, and my throat was blocked. I couldn’t move.

In that brief moment of hesitation, Master Yael reached me, and before I knew it, I was completely surrounded by teachers.