Ch. 79
I got eaten.
Literally swallowed into the mouth and sucked in.
I felt the water pressure as I slid through the long body, and by the time I barely regained my senses, I was—obviously—underwater.
I held my breath and looked around as my hair floated upward.
But something felt off. This wasn’t just the lake.
I was in a world of nothing but water.
There was no up or down, just endless, all-consuming water.
‘Huh?’
What kind of test was this?
At first, I didn’t understand. But soon enough, I realized—
This was water ruled by Endairon.
And I knew instinctively what I had to do.
Could I escape this place, moving against Endairon’s domain?
That was the test.
A clash of will against will.
A battle between human and spirit.
If my will was stronger than Endairon’s, the water would follow me.
But a question came to mind—what happens if I lose here? Was death the price of failure in this trial? Or would I become part of Endairon?
No wonder there were so few high-grade Spirit Mages—maybe most just died here.
Of course, failing to escape meant death.
‘But… this place… is so peaceful.’
I liked the water.
Even sinking this deep felt good.
Instead of resisting, I closed my eyes and let myself drift deeper.
‘Why fight it?’
Water had always been my friend.
My heart.
My precious companion.
Maybe I could even breathe underwater—because the water liked me.
—
What the…
This wasn’t heaven, was it?
When I opened my eyes, I was sprawled out on bare ground.
I had definitely been underwater—what happened?
I lay there for a while, only rolling my eyes, and finally sat up because the blazing sun was too hot.
“…Did it work?”
It felt like the contract had succeeded.
I could sense it faintly.
Undine, who was bound to my soul, and Undain… and now, Endairon.
Was the answer not to fight, but to surrender? Or perhaps you had to either win or submit?
Either way, I knew it was over, and I stood up, soaked through.
My mana had been nearly drained—I could feel the emptiness in my core.
But my mood was surprisingly good.
Although… judging by the trembling in my fingers, I must’ve gone somewhere incredible.
So it wasn’t a dream.
I flexed my tingling fingers—they were stiff, but they moved.
“Ahh… I did it.”
I had really made a contract with Endairon. The realization hit me slowly.
More than joy, I just felt dazed.
My mind still felt foggy, so I blankly stared out at the lake.
So calm, so peaceful, as if nothing had happened.
Just earlier, when Endairon had appeared, it had been like a stormy ocean…
“Maybe I’ll go for a swim.”
The thought came out of nowhere—and I liked it.
I already missed being submerged.
Lake Baresa had always been a place where people bathed or swam.
I stood up and began peeling off my soaked clothes.
Cool wind brushed against my bare skin.
Splash. As my feet touched the water, my mind cleared, and joy rushed in. My heavy body felt light in the water.
“I did it!”
Up to my neck in the water, I shouted with glee.
Then I dove in.
I could feel the cool, rippling water across my skin. My hair was soaked, and it felt like I had returned to my world.
As I swam freely through the lake, basking in the joy—
I felt a small presence.
Someone coming around the back of the lake? A goblin? An orc?
Assuming it was a monster, I turned toward the sound. Up to that point, I was still in a great mood.
“What the hell…?”
Wait, what is that guy doing here?
The person I saw standing on top of the summoning circle—where I’d tossed my clothes in a heap—was very familiar.
I had completely stripped and was swimming because I never imagined anyone would show up behind the lake.
The man, inspecting the summoning circle with interest, finally seemed to notice my clothes—and then my top underwear.
Thank goodness I was still wearing the bottom half.
Otherwise, I’d have had to kill him.
“Senior.”
I called out as I swam back to shore, and Bright turned toward me.
With sun-kissed brown hair and violet eyes staring right at me, and the smoothest skin I knew of, it was Bright Kenian.
“G-Geenie?”
“…Can you hand me my underwear?”
“Guh!”
“Before I kill you.”
Stop staring at me already.
“W-WAAAHHHHH!”
Why is he the one screaming? I should be the one screaming!
I only had one hand to cover my chest, so I used the other to plug my ear and shook my head.
Bright’s deep, thunderous scream echoed across the lake.
—
“Who is that?”
Two people had rushed down the cliff, likely drawn by Bright’s scream.
An older, bald male mage and a younger female mage who looked a bit younger than Bright.
Judging by their royal court mage robes, they must have been from his circle.
“That’s… my uncle.”
“I see.”
“And that’s a junior colleague from my department.”
By the time they arrived, I had already dressed. They were looking at Bright’s bright red cheek with confusion.
“B-Bright? What happened to your face?”
“That’s, uh…”
“I hit him. He was peeping while I was swimming.”
“Ehh?”
“That’s not what happened, Geenie!”
“Correction. He wasn’t exactly peeping—he just kept staring so hard that I came out and slapped him. Only then did he finally look away.”
At my explanation, the female mage stared at Bright like he was utterly disgraceful.
“I-It’s a misunderstanding…”
“By the way, why are you here, Senior? Don’t tell me you followed me like a stalker. That would be a real problem.”
Maybe I should just gouge out his eyes.
As I rubbed my chin in thought, Bright quickly launched into a panicked explanation.
“No way! Of course not! We were expecting a delivery from Vailan! It was supposed to arrive today, so we were on our way to meet it. It’s true! Ask them—they’re witnesses!”
Ah, that made sense. If he were stalking me, he’d have come alone.
Bright had a tendency to like me a little too much and occasionally did things that were a bit annoying. But as long as he stopped when I told him to, I let it slide.
“I was just walking along the trail when I spotted Blondie up there. I gave you that horse—you think I wouldn’t recognize her?
I thought it was odd, so I wandered over… and then I sensed this massive surge of mana, so I came down to check. That’s it. That’s all.”
So he must’ve felt the mana surge when I summoned Endairon.
Considering how sensitive mages are to mana, it was definitely plausible.
That’s when I started to feel uneasy.
There was an advanced spirit summoning circle clearly drawn on the ground. The mages didn’t seem to recognize it yet, but if they asked, I’d be in trouble.
Before Bright could say anything else, I hurriedly changed the subject.
“This is part of the main trail, I guess. What exactly is it you’re picking up from Vailan?”
“A magic stamp—we ordered one. It’s supposed to arrive today, so we were heading out to get it.”
Right, Vailan was known for quality mage tools.
So it’s like they were rushing to meet the delivery guy.
“Alright. I’ll believe you didn’t come chasing after me on purpose.”
“Thanks!”
Men around me are always so tame. Imagine getting slapped and still saying thank you.
Normally, I wouldn’t let something like this go so easily, but I was in a good mood today, so I decided to let it slide.
As I uncrossed my arms, the female mage looked at me with glowing eyes.
What’s with that look?
“Um… Are you Geenie Crowell?”
“That’s me.”
“Wow! I’ve heard so much about you! I went to Drike too.”
Heard what?
“You’re the genius who became a mid-grade Spirit Mage at seventeen! The one they call the Witch of the Annex! The one with the nasty temper no one could handle—mmph!”
“Geenie! Don’t kill her!”
Bright frantically covered the female mage’s mouth and shouted in alarm.
Anyone would think I really was going to kill her.
“I don’t kill that easily, you know!”
“I-I thought I saw murder in your eyes just now…”
Damn it! Who’s calling me a witch?!
So what if the academy assigned me a private training room in the middle of a forest, and I walk around with a snake? And maybe some of the kids from the kindergarten division occasionally do courage tests by sneaking into my training room!
“More importantly… did you run into a white snake while coming down this way? It should’ve been blocking the path.”
“No, I didn’t see anything?”
That little Rai. He must be goofing off. I clearly told him to guard Blondie.
“I saw it, miss,” Bright’s uncle chimed in.
I couldn’t stop staring at his shiny bald head. Was this Bright’s future?
“Oh, I saw it too!”
“Really? Didn’t the snake try to stop you from coming down here?”
“No, it was just circling around the white horse, dodging its hooves.”
Dodging hooves?
“That’s right. The horse was freaking out because of the snake, and Bright tried to calm it down, but the snake kept interfering. Very strange creature.”
Ah. Come to think of it, I never told Rai to stop people from entering the forest…
All I said was to guard Blondie.
