Ch. 55

[I cannot acknowledge you as my master.]

“W-Why not? This has never happened before.”

Maybe it was arrogance born of never having been rejected, but I had taken it for granted that the Ice Spirit would accept my contract.

But perhaps it was just pride.

[You are… a pitiful, lacking… human.]

Fssssss.

What little mana I had left quickly hit rock bottom.

The less I had, the fainter the Ice Spirit’s voice became. I grew desperate, but there was no way to stop it from disappearing.

“Hey! Wait! I’m just low on mana right now—I’m normally way better than this!”

[…I refuse.]

“What’s the problem? Tell me!”

[Everything… is insignificant…]

“Wait!”

This couldn’t be happening.

“No way! It left.”

The spirit I’d barely summoned had rejected me, insulted me, and vanished without a trace.

As if I’d just hallucinated the whole thing.

I stared blankly at the place where the ice pillars had been.

“What the…!”

[Master, just forget about that arrogant thing. You’ve got me, don’t you?]

“How could it do this! It rejected me!”

[Well, Master, you already have Undine and Ador. To the Ice Spirit, it probably looked like an oversaturated mess. You don’t exactly have the strength to take on even more spirits. To be honest, Ador should’ve been impossible too… That one just latched on himself.]

“…It called me pitiful.”

Rai was saying something in comfort, but I couldn’t hear any of it.

The Ice Spirit’s cold words lingered, making me feel small and humiliated.

It forced me to confront how arrogant and overconfident I’d become, slapping me with the cold hand of reality.

“Insignificant, huh.”

I grit my teeth. I couldn’t accept this easily.

I was so frustrated, tears were threatening to fall.

Apparently, my pride was a lot stronger than I thought.

[Master… are you crying?]

“Just you wait, you jerk!”

[That line makes you sound like a villain, so maybe tone it down…]

“Argh! I’m going to make a contract and work you to the bone!”

[Still sounds like a villain.]

I was trembling all over, and Rai was shaking his head.

In the middle of the room, the same blue Spirit Stone continued to glow brazenly and stubbornly.

“You’ll pay dearly for rejecting me!”

* * *

As with all hardships in life, this was one I had never asked for.

The whole world was spinning, and I couldn’t stay upright.

“Whuuaaanh…”

“What’s wrong with her?”

“Bluhhhrrg.”

I tried to speak properly, but only weird sounds came out, and I couldn’t keep my balance.

It wasn’t like I was pretending to look dumb on purpose.

It was that damned Warp.

I couldn’t avoid using it, but every time I did, I was hit with a brutal wave of motion sickness.

“Are you okay, Geenie? You look worse than you did in Remalli.”

True to her Alchemy Division background, Iruze’s observation was spot on.

I was feeling far worse than when I warped from Valen to Remalli—dizzier, more nauseated, like I was dying.

It seemed like Warp sickness scaled with distance.

My head grew heavy, and I couldn’t hold on anymore—I had to lean on Iruze for support.

Even while standing still, the ground felt like it was rising and the sky was spinning. I felt like I might throw up at any moment.

“Ms. Iritho! Geenie’s about to die!”

“Goodness, don’t say such things, Iruze!”

“Her eyes are literally spinning!”

I had taken motion sickness medicine before warping to Elan, but it was completely useless.

Maybe because it wasn’t caused by physical stimulation.

People who suffered from Warp sickness were apparently very rare—so why did it have to be me?

It wasn’t fair, but it seemed to be something I was just born with, and there was no way to fix it.

Unless I got reincarnated, I was stuck with Warp sickness for life.

Forever!

“If this happens every time you Warp, it’s a serious issue. Miss Geenie? Let me carry you.”

“Thanggyuuu.”

My mind was fine, but my body wouldn’t cooperate—there was no worse feeling.

Ms. Iritho, now used to this, treated me like a patient.

Normally I would’ve declined, but this wasn’t the time for pride.

I flopped onto her back like a ragdoll.

[Master, breathe! Breathe!]

[Damn it, if I ever Warp again, I’m not human—]

[Huh? If you’re not human, then what—?]

[…Forget it. I still have to Warp back, so I’ll save that vow for later!]

Even though the sickness had wrecked me, I had finally arrived at my final destination—Elan.

* * *

Late evening.

I finally felt alive again after submerging my exhausted body in warm water.

“Ahh, nothing beats a bath for travel fatigue.”

Bathing in a tub in this world was a luxury, so liking it was considered a very aristocratic habit.

Most commoners barely bathed once a month, and even then, it usually meant wiping themselves with a damp towel or washing just their face.

Baths weren’t taken in tubs—they bathed in lakes or rivers instead.

Tubs themselves were seen as luxury goods, not household necessities.

The lack of regular bathing also had to do with the scarcity of clean water.

“Undine? Can you fill it up a bit more?”

[Yes, Master.]

But I remembered a world where bathing was a daily thing, and luckily, I was now a Water Spirit Mage.

To me, water was limitless—no different from something that came out of the ground.

I built a mound of bubbles on my head and then dunked myself deep under the water, letting out a sound like a middle-aged man.

“Mmmrgh… finally feel alive.”

My happiest moments were when I was splashing around with Undine in the bath.

[Master! Master.]

“Yeah?”

Blub blub—while watching Undine make bubbles in the tub, Rai crawled up to the edge, eyes sparkling and tongue flicking.

[There’s a ton of humans out on the street. Did you see them?]

“Well, this is the imperial capital. And it’s festival season—of course it’s packed.”

[They all seemed to be having fun.]

“Yeah?”

[Why don’t you go out too, Master? It might help lift your mood a little…]

“Lift my mood, my ass! Just thinking about all the crap I went through because of this damned festival!”

Whatever peace the bath had brought me vanished instantly into the muck.

I started trembling and punched the surface of the water.

Splash!

“Come to think of it, it’s all because of this festival! Almost getting killed by The Swarm! Getting chased by an orc! If I hadn’t left the Academy, none of that would’ve happened!”

[Uh, weren’t you the one complaining about how much you hated the Academy before…?]

“What kind of messed-up world is this where I nearly die twice in just two weeks of going outside!? It makes no sense!”

[Well, Master does seem to attract incidents wherever you go.]

“What did you just say?”

[If there were a Spirit of Accidents, it would definitely want to form a contract with you.]

This little—he says whatever he wants now, huh!?

Fuming, I grabbed the snake’s neck and shook him violently, grinding my teeth, but Rai wasn’t the kind to be scared by that.

The only things he feared were the toilet or Iruze.

[Waaah, Master, your temper’s gotten worse lately.]

When I got tired of shaking him, I just dunked him into the water, but he looked completely unfazed.

Of course water torture didn’t work—he wasn’t a real snake.

The white snake submerged in the bathwater simply blinked his bright red eyes without a care.

[You know this already, don’t you? No matter what you do, I take no damage. It’s not like I actually breathe or anything.]

“Damn it!”

But true to his snakelike nature, he was a master of getting on my nerves.

Losing my temper, I flung Rai out of the tub as hard as I could. He slammed into the nearest wall, but still looked completely fine.

Only the wall had cracks in it.

Rai slithered right back toward me with an unbothered expression.

What the heck is that thing made of!?

[Got it. You’re angry because of that spirit, aren’t you?]