Ch. 188
Undaine was ready as well.
As I stepped lightly into the water’s edge, the lake parted before me, revealing the soaked ground beneath.
Just like the miracle of Moses, the lake split open and revealed a path within.
The deeper we went, the more the ceiling above filled with water, giving the space an almost cave-like atmosphere.
Undaine wagged her tail as if inviting us in.
“Everyone, enter!”
“…I’m scared.”
“Welcome to the aquarium.”
“What’s that!? Is that the name of this watery hell?”
It was natural to feel instinctive discomfort at the idea of a path through the middle of the water. The men grew visibly tense and stiffened up as they gulped nervously.
What is wrong with them?
They acted like people stepping into water for the first time.
Being impatient, I started hurrying Chad, who was the closest.
“If you’re not in within 10 seconds, we’re leaving you. We do need a horse keeper, after all.”
“W-Wait… this is really safe, right? We’ll be able to breathe in there, right? It’s not gonna collapse suddenly or anything…?”
“10, 9, 3, 2…”
“Wait! You skipped numbers!”
Pale as a ghost, Chad entered first, followed stiffly by the others.
They looked at me like I was tormenting them.
‘Should I make the water ripple once while we’re walking…?’
I admit it.
Watching them get scared was kinda fun.
—
After walking along the lakebed for about twenty minutes, the surroundings grew abruptly darker.
The beautiful part where light filtered through the water and painted wave shadows around us ended quickly, and we soon reached a depth where not even a sliver of light reached.
The bottom of the lake wasn’t exactly flat. There were large boulders and towering aquatic plants taller than a grown man.
And the further we went, the muckier it got, making it harder to walk.
“Watch your step. See those bubbling patches of mud? Step there and you’ll get sucked down into the underworld. You know the place—I send people there all the time.”
I summoned Ador to light the area and gave them a casual warning.
Only then could we finally make out the ground.
I might not know everything, but I had expertise when it came to underwater ecosystems—just like how Lox was an expert on dungeons.
“Hey, I’ve been wondering. That glowing thing…”
“Ador?”
“It’s got nothing to do with water, right? Aren’t you a Spirit Mage? A water Spirit Mage…”
“So?”
“So what is it? A light spirit?”
Three years at the academy and the mutt finally started learning basic facts about Spirit Mages.
Still, it was nice that someone took genuine interest in my sacred profession.
I gave Chad a faint smile.
“Asking a lady something like that? How rude.”
“…Isn’t it unrelated?”
“I mean you shouldn’t pry.”
“You have so many secrets.”
“Not worth the energy to explain. Just walk.”
It would still take over an hour to reach the dungeon entrance.
Flying there on Undaine would be faster, but carrying all of them wasn’t realistic.
Flying one or two was fine, but lifting five full-grown men? No thanks. The way we were walking consumed less mana over time.
Touching my own summoned spirit took only a bit of will and a little mana. But letting someone else touch them required a huge amount of mana and intense focus.
They were completely different concepts.
It was like the difference between putting food into your own mouth and chewing, versus trying to get some slack-jawed fool to chew and swallow for you.
Naturally, the latter was a pain in the ass.
Doable—but annoying.
“From here on, be careful. The water pressure’s strong. If you leave the shield, you’ll get squished.”
This path was essentially a modified [Water Shield].
I tweaked a standard Water Shield, mixed in [Water Breathing] to allow for air, and added fluidity to follow our movements… sounds simple, but I invented it.
No, it doesn’t have a name. Naming stuff is embarrassing.
“Squished? That means we’ll die! I thought you said it was safe!”
“Ugh, he’s been whining non-stop.”
“We’re talking about our lives here! Of course I’m panicking!”
“Just don’t wander off! As skilled as I am, I can’t un-squish you. Hohoho!”
“You’re insane. I knew we couldn’t trust you. O gods, watch over us! Heios! Aghiotita! And… Crowell! Please protect us!”
…What the hell.
I nearly dropped the shield from shock after hearing something I wasn’t supposed to hear.
“…Chad? Did you just include someone weird in that prayer?”
“Who?”
“Crowell… ‘nim’…”
Lox, you seemed very hesitant to add that honorific.
“She’s a person but also a saint! A symbol of sacrifice! She died saving nobles from a dragon… the savior of our age! Who else would we pray to?”
“Never mind… let’s not talk.”
“Great idea! Let’s all pray together. May we cross this lake safely! Crowell-nim! We believe in you!”
“We believe! Please save us!”
Left alone, they’d actually start a choir behind my back.
By the time Enk and Gale joined in with sincere prayers, I realized—yeah, I’d gone too far.
Okay, okay. I’ve been messing with them way too much.
This one’s on me.
I won’t do it again.
Just please, not the saint prayer!
“Stop praying! You don’t have to!”
“But…”
“I’M the one protecting you! Your prayers are pointless!”
“Huh? Now that you mention it… Crowell-nim’s name was ‘Geenie’ too, wasn’t it? Geenie Crowell.”
“Oh? You’re right.”
The pressure was increasing. Can they not disrupt my concentration?
See? Even without meaning to, the shield started rippling. Just like my unsettled emotions.
“It’s a common name, right? We had three back in my village. Big Geenie, Little Geenie, and Glasses Geenie.”
“I’ve got two friends with that name.”
“My cousin’s named Geenie too! She’s turning sixty this year.”
They gave me surprisingly little attention.
It was annoying how they didn’t even question that part, when they doubted everything else about me.
Sure, Geenie and blonde hair are common.
But blonde Spirit Mages aren’t.
—
We walked nearly two hours across the rough, slippery lakebed.
The men, with their trained bodies, looked fine. But I hit my stamina limit fast and was already riding on Undaine’s back.
Sitting sideways with my legs crossed, I hummed and let her carry me forward.
“Are we there yet?”
Meanwhile, Lox—who had no ride and no stamina—was barely dragging himself along at the back.
I mean, I’m weak too, but he’s really something else.
“We’re here. Just up ahead!”
“Really!? Where!? Where!?”
Lox ran up beside me with a hopeful look. His pale face got so close I almost smacked him.
Looking at him, I figured I wasn’t the one who needed the recovery potion.
“There.”
“I don’t see anything?”
“Just get a bit closer and you’ll see it.”
“You said we’re here?”
“Where is it?”
“Where the heck is it!?”
It wasn’t just Lox getting impatient—one by one, the others started pressing me too.
They all widened their eyes and scanned the area for the dungeon entrance, but like I did yesterday, they found nothing.
Finally, when we arrived at the secret place, I slid gracefully off Undaine’s back and gestured grandly for Ador to light the entrance.
“Tada! Here it is!”
Like introducing the star of the circus, I focused the light right on it.
[I want that too… Master! Give me a spotlight too!]
[Get lost.]
[Master always hates me!]
[Because you never shut up!]
Rai was all sparkly-eyed, desperate to jump into the spotlight like the main character. The other five men kept looking around, confused.
“Where? Where?”
“Here!”
“I don’t see a door or anything?”
“There’s a passage down here. Go down it and the dungeon entrance appears.”
“Okay, so where is this passage?”
“How many times do I have to say—right here!”
I pointed repeatedly at a waist-high, mound-like boulder.
It was about a meter wide, looked like any of the countless other rocks we passed, and was as ordinary as they come.
Even though Ador was lighting it directly, the guys clearly didn’t get why I was highlighting it.
“Stop messing around!”
“Geenie! We’re being serious!”
These guys really had zero trust in me.
Well, I couldn’t blame them. Even I didn’t believe this was the entrance when I first saw it.
“You’ll understand in a second. Undaine? Show them.”
Without water spirits, we never would’ve found this place.
Undaine nodded and flew around the shield, then glided smoothly through the rock—like a ghost phasing through matter.
“See? Easy.”
“…What the hell did we just witness.”
“Excuse me? We’re humans, not ghosts or spirits…”
“You can do it too. The rock’s an illusion. Look.”
I kicked the rock hard.
My foot passed right through it. Then I shoved my hand in and pulled it back out, proving it wasn’t real.
“Ah.”
Ash, who caught on first, reached out and tried it himself.
The rock looked incredibly realistic, but it wasn’t actually there. Just an illusion spell concealing the passage.
“There’s a long tunnel under this rock. You go way down… but enough talk! Experience is the best teacher!”
I got sick of explaining and, before anyone could say another word, dove straight into the rock.
Someone yelled after me in horror, but their voice quickly faded behind me.