Chapter 36
THE DAY BEFORE the showdown with Fuzzy Dice, Mira and the others were still getting ready.
Mira headed off the main street and down a side street. After following that for a while, she came across a tranquil residential area. The stone apartments and evenly spaced lampposts gave it a relaxing atmosphere; the children playing around the spot made the scene even more picturesque.
Since it was far removed from the main street’s hustle and bustle, the space felt distinctly homey and serene. Still, Mira occasionally glimpsed what looked like adventurers. From their actions, she guessed that they were looking for Anrutine.
A few of them have pretty sharp instincts, huh?
Anrutine was indeed hiding nearby. Sensing as much thanks to the Spirit King’s blessing, Mira made her way toward the water spirit, careful not to attract any attention.
As she went farther, she felt that something was off. She hadn’t been able to tell from far away, but the closer she got to Anrutine, the more the spirit’s presence seemed to come from below.
Soon, there was no longer any doubt about that. Reaching a small vacant lot surrounded by nothing but homes, Mira looked down at her feet. Somehow, Anrutine was underground.
That certainly is a good place to hide and not get spotted. But just how am I supposed to get down there?
Mira couldn’t remember seeing anything that looked like an entrance to an underground location on her way there. How would she access Anrutine’s hiding spot?
As she pondered that, the water spirit moved below. She apparently sensed Mira standing right above her, and it seemed that she was trying to reach the summoner. There were no exits nearby, however.
As Mira wondered what to do, water began to overflow from a drain in the ground. It gathered into a three-dimensional shape, eventually forming a human figure. The very next moment, it turned into the Anrutine that Mira knew.
“Wow! I should’ve expected as much of a water spirit, huh?”
Anrutine had turned herself into water, then gone through the gaps in the drain; Mira marveled at the fantastic aqueous sight. Anrutine quickly looked around, then ran over to Mira.
“I haven’t seen you in a long time, Mira,” the water spirit began. Quickly dispensing with greetings, she urged, “Now, let’s hurry and make a contract, as you agreed!”
She seemed to be in quite a rush, but Mira couldn’t really blame her. After all, numerous adventurers were currently gunning to create a contract with her.
“Mm, yeah. It’s been a while,” Mira replied.
Gesturing for Anrutine to sit tight, she summoned Wasranvel. The summoning circle he appeared from was extremely inconspicuous and difficult to make out, very much in keeping with his abilities.
When Wasranvel saw Anrutine, he said with a relieved smile, “I’m glad you found her without incident.”
“Well, yes, it’s true that I did. Still, it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing,” Mira prefaced, preparing to suggest that they use optical camouflage to hide from any adventurers’ prying eyes.
“At any rate, why don’t we conceal our physical forms?” Wasranvel said, as if he understood the entire situation. Then he camouflaged them before Mira even had a chance to ask.
“…You catch on pretty quick.”
It wasn’t as if they were sneaking around enemy territory—they were simply in a peaceful residential area. Yet, before Mira had a chance to say anything, Wasranvel perceived the need to conceal them. Why had that occurred to him? Since there wasn’t really any need to ask, Mira smiled wryly to herself.
“The Spirit King and Martel have been discussing this situation eagerly.”
“Yeah, that figures.”
Mira had thought that they were being rather quiet, but that was actually because they’d begun delivering a play-by-play of the whole situation over the Spirit King Network.
Chuckling slightly at how much the pair were enjoying themselves, Mira noted that the time she’d save in not having to explain everything to Wasranvel was actually a plus. On the battlefield, a single moment could make or break a conflict; if everyone knew the situation going in, that would make it easier to act.
“Now then, shall we make that contract?”
Mira and her companions could no longer be seen with the naked eye, thanks to Wasranvel’s power. That said, they were dealing with adventurers, and Mira wasn’t sure just what detection methods they might have access to. If one of the search parties contained a sage, they’d notice something was up when they used Biometric Scan.
In any case, it would be best for Mira to get the contract with Anrutine done quickly. She swiftly moved to a corner of the vacant lot and hastily put her hand against the water spirit’s proffered forehead.
“Are you ready?”
This contract was special. It would be Mira’s second contract with a spirit from a specific element, something she’d thought was impossible. What made it viable was the Spirit King’s power, so his cooperation was a must.
“Mm. I’m ready. We can begin anytime now.”
The Spirit King’s powerful voice had reverberated through Mira’s mind, as if he was stating that the time had come. He’d reacted at a speed only possible for someone who’d been actively watching the whole scene.
[Evocation Support: Contract Forging]
Mira’s palms glowed faintly, and the crest of the Spirit King’s blessing emanated from her entire body. That had never happened previously; it was clear that this contract was exceptional.
Mira felt almost as if she had another body, but she was also more aware of herself than ever. It was an indescribable, extremely uncanny sensation.
At that point, the bond between Mira and Anrutine was fully realized. The crest of the Spirit King’s blessing enabled Mira to feel that bond nestle close to her before it melted into her entire body.
“Oh ho… Success!”
Despite her surprise at experiencing such a thing for the first time, Mira sensed that her body had attuned to her connection with Anrutine without issue. Bringing to mind a water spirit now conjured images of both Anrutine and Undine, in contrast to before, when she’d only ever had a single choice with no other options.
She’d successfully forged a contract with Anrutine without affecting her previous contract with Undine, just as the Spirit King said she could. Giddy over the fact that she was probably the first summoner ever to succeed in making contracts with two spirits of the same element, Mira celebrated by jumping for joy.
“Uh-oh. Mira, watch your volume!” Wasranvel said hurriedly, immediately silencing her.
Sure enough, an adventurer poked their head out right away on the rooftop facing the vacant lot, looking toward them to see what’d happened.
They’d heard Mira’s voice.
The adventurer intently scanning the vacant lot couldn’t actually see Mira. But they began eyeing the spot carefully, with no small amount of suspicion, as if they sensed something there.
Meanwhile, Mira and her companions hid in a corner and held their breath. If they got caught there, it’d be trouble. The adventurers would discover the spirit they’d been searching for secretly meeting the Spirit Queen. Worse, they’d find out that Mira had already made a contract with her. If those female adventurers learned that, what would they do?
Shuddering at that thought, Mira asked Wasranvel to conceal her fully. That almost overpowered ability let her evade any form of detection. Owing to how powerful it was, however, it could only be used for a limited time.
After that, thanks to Wasranvel’s full concealment, nobody could detect Mira and her companions any longer. Perhaps because of that, the adventurer soon made their way elsewhere.
“Phew… Sorry about that. I was just so excited…” Mira apologized in a whisper.
She used Biometric Scan to survey the area. She didn’t detect any adventurers, so they deactivated Wasranvel’s full concealment, and Mira asked him to go back to using solely optical camouflage.
Meanwhile, over the Spirit King Network, she heard, “Ah, Spirit King! And Mistress Martel!”
Anrutine beamed, appearing overcome with emotion at having heard Martel’s and the Spirit King’s voices. Wasranvel wore a somewhat cheerful grin himself. Anrutine was finally part of the team and no longer on the outside looking in.
Not only the Spirit King and Martel but Sanctia and Wasranvel—who stood right in front of Mira—all began chatting via the Spirit King Network; they must’ve been pretty happy. It bore mention that Mira couldn’t actually hear what they were discussing.
Though the spirits’ communication system was simply known as the “Spirit King Network,” it actually comprised two separate channels. The first was a special one that Martel and the Spirit King used to check in with Mira. The other was used exclusively by spirits to communicate with each other.
The Spirit King had set that channel up so that he could keep up-to-date on spirits’ doings; therefore, Mira wasn’t connected to it. That was actually for the best. If she’d been looped in, she’d have had to deal with the spirits’ chatter all day. That said, if something did come up that required her attention, the spirits could have the Spirit King or Martel send word to her.
As all this was explained to Anrutine, Mira heard nothing but silence. Having just gotten her hands on a new summon, she couldn’t contain herself.
“Well, mission accomplished. Now, can’t I learn a bit more about your powers?” she pressed impatiently.
She didn’t know what the spirits were talking about on their private channel. Besides, at any rate, the important thing now was Anrutine’s powers—and how they could help her moving forward.
“Ah, yes. Of course. That should come first.”
Faced with Mira’s mad grin, and remembering when Sanctia and Wasranvel had forged their contracts, Anrutine turned toward Mira and began to explain her abilities. They turned out to be quite different from Undine’s, which were offense-focused.
For one thing, Anrutine specialized in enabling one to go underwater, as she had when she’d brought Mira into a lake on the day they met. Her abilities let her bring anyone and anything within an area of effect extending deep underwater without worrying about water pressure. According to Anrutine, even diving six miles underwater wouldn’t be an issue. Six miles underwater would be like a completely new world, so that ability was noteworthy despite not being particularly flashy, much like Wasranvel’s.
Additionally, while Anrutine didn’t seem very skilled in combat, she knew quite a few defensive techniques, which she began relaying to Mira. One of them, Aqua Coat, was particularly powerful. It worked by spreading a thin layer of highly compressed water over a person, so it was a fairly simply technique. That said, it was incredibly effective.
According to Wasranvel—who knew Anrutine fairly well—Aqua Coat not only blocked physical and magic attacks, it also excelled at defending against heat and fire attacks. What made the technique special was how concentrated the water it used was. And it used such a huge amount of compressed water that it had even weathered a breath attack from a fire dragon.
As Wasranvel said that, a wry smile formed on Anrutine’s lips. Whatever had gone on in the past between her, Wasranvel, and a dragon was known only to them.
When it came to offense, Anrutine primarily attacked by crushing her enemies using a ball of highly compressed water.
“Hrmm. I think I get the gist of it! Incredible. This is very exciting!”
Anrutine’s abilities mostly seemed to be based around manipulating water pressure. Perhaps thanks to just how diverse spirits’ abilities were, Mira had never heard of any of the techniques; she was overjoyed that she’d now even made a contract with a spirit who possessed them.
“I could even search shipwrecks and underwater ruins. My adventuring horizons have expanded further still!”
Just as Mira’s statement implied, countless tales and rumors surrounded the ocean, including those involving wrecked ships, ruins, and so on. Still, there were few methods of investigating such things. To do so, you needed a spirit with abilities like Anrutine’s or help from someone who could use similar techniques. That said, very few were able to do so. Thus, plenty of unknown adventures could be just waiting for Mira undersea.
Beginning to think feverishly about the new realm of adventuring that was now open to her, Mira told Anrutine, “I look forward to our time together,” then clasped the water spirit’s hand powerfully. “Sorry I led you all the way here. Want to go back? Shall I have Mr. Wasranvel take you outside the city?”
Mira had accomplished her goal. All that was left now was to get Anrutine back to where she’d been before while hiding her from the adventurers searching for her. Wasranvel could surely help with that by taking Anrutine outside the city while using his abilities to conceal her. At least, that was Mira’s idea.
“No, here is fine,” Anrutine answered. Looking down at her feet, she continued nonchalantly, “Before this, I hid in a big underground waterway below the city. It seemed to run underneath the entire area.”
“Oh ho. An underground waterway, huh? I see.”
Now that Mira thought about it, when she’d arrived, Anrutine had been underground. The water spirit had made her way out by passing through a small drain, so that drain must’ve connected to the subterranean waterway. A water spirit certainly wouldn’t have trouble simply following that waterway and making their way outside the city unnoticed.
At that point, Mira suddenly began wondering about the location. “By the way, was that waterway separate from the sewer?”
By “sewer,” she meant the spot that various kinds of wastewater emptied into. It would be better just to have Wasranvel escort Anrutine back than to have her go through a place like that.
Once Mira asked this, Anrutine quickly replied that that wasn’t the case. “It wasn’t particularly dirty,” she responded without a moment’s hesitation. Then she briefly described the underground waterway.
When Anrutine found that waterway, she’d been curious about the extent to which she could use it as an escape route, so she’d apparently investigated the entire thing. By all accounts, so long as a water spirit was touching a water source, they could detect the area surrounding it. However, that ability wasn’t limitless. Its range depended on the individual spirit and their specific strengths and weaknesses. Still, Anrutine had been able to “see” just about the entire city.
Did such an ability really exist? Mira was taken aback by the skill, which Anrutine hadn’t even bothered to outline earlier. According to her, she hadn’t felt she needed to mention it, since most water spirits could do the same thing.
Through that ability, Anrutine had learned that there was something special about the underground waterway. Namely, that it took in water flowing down from a large river located upstream. Furthermore, rain and runoff emptied and mixed into the waterway at several points. It wasn’t the kind of space that flowed with sewage; it was so clean that it was hard to believe it ran under a city.
The waterway was also quite enclosed and was seemingly rather intricately constructed. According to Anrutine, several different channels coursed within it, and the entire network was dim and moss-covered. From what she could tell, there weren’t any entrances or exits. If there were, they had to be fairly well hidden. Northeast of where they stood, however, was a spot where no moss grew; a secret passageway might be located near there.
“Come to think of it, it’s strange. Why would anyone build such an intricate, sprawling waterway?”
At first glance, it hadn’t seemed to be an aqueduct. And if it was intended for runoff, it hadn’t been necessary to make it so intricate. On top of that, judging by how much of the waterway was covered in moss, people only used a small section of it. Finally, although it wasn’t a sewer system, the waterway was so large that its branches flowed beneath the entire city.
“Hrmm… Yes, you’re right. What’s the point of such a place?”
Who had constructed the underground waterway, and for what purpose? Mira tilted her head curiously at Anrutine’s query, but no answer came to mind.
“All right, Mira. Thank you. Summon me anytime you need to.”
“No—thank you. And sure thing. I look forward to it.”
After she and Mira bid each other farewell, Anrutine slipped back through the drain into the underground waterway to return to her prior abode. She’d said cheerfully that, although she’d been in an insane rush to reach this spot, she would take her time and sightsee on her way back.
Noteworthily, it was the Spirit King and Martel who requested that Anrutine do that. It seemed that those two were themselves eager to do some sightseeing via the water spirit.
“Well done today, Mr. Wasranvel. Oh, right—tomorrow, we’ll go up against the phantom thief. There’s a chance I may need your help then,” Mira said before preparing to dismiss the spirit.
Wasranvel must’ve heard as much from the Spirit King already. “You can count on me,” he replied enthusiastically.
Since Mira would be facing the phantom thief, she’d need more than just combat finesse. Under those circumstances, unique skills like Wasranvel’s mastery of silence were sure to shine. At least, that was what Wasranvel seemed to think. He wasn’t the only one, though; Mira also felt that he might very well become her ace in the hole.
“All right, then I’ll be seeing you.”
“Yes indeed.”
Having let him know that she’d summon him the next day, Mira dismissed Wasranvel.
As the hour when she’d promised to meet up with the chief detective quickly approached, she began walking toward their rendezvous spot.
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