Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 129

129.

“Ah, shit… Which bastard… Cough, cough!”

—Endil, are you okay?

He seemed to have swallowed a lot of water in a short time. Concerned that his contractor was constantly spitting out water, সিকুয়েল সিকুয়েল [Sikuel Sikuel] hurriedly approached to check on him. Unlike others, he, as a high-level spirit, couldn’t possibly fail to recognize that the wave that had just hit Endil was an artificial attack. He began to look around with angry eyes.

—Who dares…

As it was a blatant attack, tracing the source should be easy. সিকুয়েল সিকুয়েল quickly identified the origin and turned his head. However, his sharp gaze turned to astonishment as soon as he found me. He seemed to have never imagined that I would be here. Watching the guy freeze for a moment and gape stupidly (it was the first time I realized a wolf could gape), I smiled brightly.

—Yo, Your Majesty…

—If you acknowledge me now, you’re dead.

—…

Fortunately, সিকুয়েল সিকুয়েল understood my meaning well. I gave him a proud look for immediately shutting his mouth, then turned my gaze back to Endil. In the meantime, he had regained some composure and was staggering to his feet.

“No, what on earth is going on? Endil! Are you alright?”

The captain, who belatedly heard the commotion on the deck, rushed over with a pale face and asked. Endil swept back his wet hair and glared.

“Does this look alright to the captain? Shit, who is it? Which bastard did this? Can’t you come forward right now?”

“Huh? What are you talking about, Endil?”

“What am I talking about! I’m talking to the bastard who attacked me!”

“Attacked? Who? It was just a wave that rose.”

The captain stared at Endil, who was suddenly acting up, as if he couldn’t understand. Other witnesses were equally bewildered. Despite the active involvement of spirits, people in this world are generally ignorant of the abilities of spirits. To ordinary people, it would have just seemed like a natural phenomenon that happened by chance, so his sudden search for the attacker seemed strange. Some of them whispered and laughed, saying that Endil was deliberately blaming others to avoid embarrassment. Endil, seeing this, shouted with a reddened face.

“Ha! Why would a wave rise in the middle of the sea when there’s no typhoon? Talk some sense, you idiot! There’s a spirit user in here! That bastard attacked me!”

“A, a spirit user?”

“That’s right! See, I’m right, সিকুয়েল সিকুয়েল? This isn’t just a coincidence, is it? Someone definitely attacked me, right?”

At Endil’s question, সিকুয়েল সিকুয়েল hesitated slightly before nodding. The captain and onlookers were all taken aback by the answer, while Endil became triumphant.

“See, I knew it. সিকুয়েল সিকুয়েল, do you know where that spirit user bastard is?”

—…I don’t know.

“You don’t know? You’re a high-level spirit!”

For a moment, সিকুয়েল সিকুয়েল’s gaze very quickly flickered towards me and then away. I stifled a laugh at the speed that resembled a spy movie. I could almost see thick beads of cold sweat dripping down his drooping ears.

—I, I can’t find the opponent’s aura.

“Look properly! Can’t you really find it?”

—I’m sorry, it’s impossible.

“Shit! What kind of high-level spirit can’t even do that!”

Endil pounded his chest with a frustrated expression. It seemed that he had enough sense to recognize that it was the work of a spirit, but he wasn’t skilled enough to find the spirit user’s aura himself. It was quite rare for a high-level spirit user to be so inept.

Come to think of it, his aura wasn’t anything special from the start. I didn’t even realize he was a spirit user until I saw the mark on his forehead. In other words, he didn’t have much natural talent, but he had special luck. ইশানা ইশানা [Ishana Ishana] was a similar case, but in terms of talent alone, that elf seemed to have even less.

“Ugh, this is so annoying! Seeing as he can’t even come out in front of me, he must be a bastard who would get his ass kicked in an instant if we fought. What kind of tricks is this shitty bastard playing? Just wait until I catch him! I’ll tear him apart limb from limb!”

‘Try all you want with water. See if you can tear him apart.’

His shouts were so confident that I decided to give him my own answer. This time, there was no need to create waves; I simply created a ball of water directly above Endil’s head. Splash! He was hit by a water bomb while still shouting.

“Puhak! Mangm Nangm%$#%$@!!”

“E, Endil!”

While the soaking wet guy was uttering incomprehensible gibberish, I pressured সিকুয়েল সিকুয়েল with my eyes. You know what to do if you speak, right? He desperately nodded at the gaze filled with numerous meanings. It was unfortunate for Endil, but it would be impossible for him to find me on his own, even in a million years. Even if he did find me, he wouldn’t be able to take revenge in the way he wanted.

“Ah, I feel much better now. Let’s go back to the cabin.”

I said with a smile to the still frozen group. The two, who had been stiff for a moment, soon stifled their laughter.

“Amazing, এল এল [L L]. It seems to be the most exhilarating sight I’ve ever seen.”

“Hehe, really?”

“Yeah! Awesome, এল এল. It was really cool.”

Some of the onlookers were openly laughing. Their laughter spread quickly and soon took over the deck. Even those who were cautious at first soon began to burst into laughter, and eventually Endil quickly wrapped up his business and disappeared as if running away.

“Damn it! Just you wait!”

Until the moment his departing shout echoed, the deck was filled with people’s laughter. Thanks to that, the atmosphere was pleasant on the journey.

* * *

Despite the commotion that day, Endil’s spirit business (?) thrived as if to show off. The underwater world was not a space that anyone could easily experience, and humans were the most curious race among many. Rather, it seemed that the ridiculous sight only added to the promotional effect, and a large crowd gathered in front of him. Thanks to this, I had no choice but to watch the spirit show that took place on the deck every day—it was just a show in my opinion—with a miserable feeling.

The only consolation was that the business didn’t go on all day. Endil only accepted two customers a day, and the exploration time was only about 10 minutes. He refused to take more, even if they offered more money.

At first, I thought it was his own business principle, but as time went by, I naturally understood why he had no choice but to do so. It wasn’t that he was deliberately not accepting customers, but that the limit of mana that Endil could use was only up to that point.

I already knew from the beginning that he had poor qualities, so it wasn’t that surprising, but one fact that I learned in the process bothered me a lot. Even so, the contract mark on Endil’s forehead was very faint. But sometimes it would disappear completely. It usually happened once every three days, and on those days, Endil had to rest from his business, ignoring the many complaints. The problem was that on the day after he rested, the mark was a brighter color than usual. It was as if he had recharged a depleted part.

‘Something’s a bit strange…’

Even a faint mark can become clearer through training. But it was rare for it to become fainter or disappear altogether. Even the fact that a completely disappeared mark suddenly became clear was incomprehensible.

What convinced me that it wasn’t a mistake was a conversation he had with people a few days later.

“Spirit summoning spell? I don’t know anything like that?”

It seemed that someone who wanted to become a spirit user had asked him how to make a contract. However, everyone was bewildered by Endil’s unexpected answer.

“You don’t know? How can a high-level spirit user not know a summoning spell? Hey, you’re lying because you don’t want to tell us, right?”

“Crazy. Do you think I have nothing better to do? Why would I lie about something like that? Only stupid bastards think you can only make a contract with a spirit by chanting a summoning spell.”

“Then what else is there?”

As the question marks on people’s faces deepened, Endil wore a smug expression.

“Do you know what an bestowed contract is?”

“An bestowed contract?”

“Tsk tsk, I thought so. Clean your ears and listen carefully this time. Spirit users are sometimes born with it, but rarely, they develop the ability later in life. I’m one of those cases. I received সিকুয়েল সিকুয়েল as a gift from the Water King.”

“The Water King…?”

“Of course, it’s the Water Spirit King এলকুইনেস এলকুইনেস [Elquines Elquines], who else would it be?”

“…!”

Endil’s bombshell statement instantly heated up the surroundings. Wow, a huge exclamation erupted, and at the same time, I jumped up from my seat. Since I was far away, no one noticed my actions.

“Is that true? The Spirit King gave you সিকুয়েল সিকুয়েল?”

“Then you actually met the Water Spirit King?”

“You pathetic bastards. Do you think such a noble person can appear directly in this lowly world? সিকুয়েল সিকুয়েল told me when he descended.”

“সিকুয়েল সিকুয়েল?”

“I was praying when suddenly water gushed out of the air. Then it turned into a beautiful water wolf. I was surprised and asked, ‘Who are you?’ Then the wolf answered, ‘My name is সিকুয়েল সিকুয়েল. Endil, the Water King saw your admirable heart and sent me to you.'”

“Wow!”

Everyone was excited by the theatrical and plausible reenactment of the situation. Endil, who was also excited by it, wore a very excited expression.

“I found out that it’s a very rare case to become a high-level spirit user like me among bestowed contracts. Well, there are some side effects. Since it’s developed later in life, my stamina gets a little low if I keep using my abilities. So I have to rest once every few days.”

“Hee, so that’s why you rest. Anyway, that’s amazing, Endil! You’ve officially been recognized by the Spirit King. Isn’t that more amazing than other ordinary spirit users?”

“Well, that’s right.”

Admiration and envy poured out towards him as he shrugged his shoulders. The surroundings were a cauldron of excitement, but contrary to the heat that filled the deck, my head gradually cooled down. All the things he had said a little while ago were completely new to me.

—Yo, Your Majesty…

সিকুয়েল সিকুয়েল, who had appeared in front of me at some point, carefully bowed his head. It was the very guy who had made a contract with Endil. I glared at him with a stern face, knowing the sin he had committed.

“সিকুয়েল সিকুয়েল, don’t tell me…”

—P, please forgive me, Your Majesty.

Yes, now I knew for sure. The reason why I didn’t recognize Endil as a spirit user at first glance was because he wasn’t a spirit user who had gone through the formal contract process.

Come to think of it, it was strange from the beginning. No matter how lacking his qualities were, it didn’t make sense that a spirit user with such a serious level that I couldn’t recognize had made a contract with a high-level spirit.

‘…To think that সিকুয়েল সিকুয়েল would volunteer to be his contractor.’

I held my throbbing head with one hand. As far as I knew, there were only two ways for an ordinary person to make a spirit contract. A transcendent being like the Spirit King or a god could directly make them a spirit user, or they could constantly come into contact with a spirit in their living environment (Let’s make ইশানা ইশানা’s case an exception since it was literally a miracle). Both were rare, but the latter was more likely to happen.

No matter how ordinary a person is, they will naturally accumulate affinity if they come into contact with a spirit for a long time. In this case, it was possible to make a contract if the spirit wanted to. সিকুয়েল সিকুয়েল probably used this method to make a contract. He even added the absurd story of the King’s gift.

The problem was that he was a high-level spirit. The amount of mana and affinity needed to make a contract with a high-level spirit like সিকুয়েল সিকুয়েল cannot be compared to that required for a contract with a low-level spirit. It was almost impossible to accumulate the appropriate level just by constantly coming into contact with them. Moreover, a person without innate qualities cannot properly maintain such tremendous affinity. Even if they were lucky enough to succeed in the contract, it would inevitably break off before long. It was only natural since there was no space to accumulate energy in the body in the first place.

But the reason why Endil has been able to hold out as a spirit user until now was because সিকুয়েল সিকুয়েল was unilaterally sacrificing himself. He was constantly by his side, pouring energy into him, and desperately preventing the contract from being terminated by supplementing the framework every few days. It was truly a devotion that even a virtuous woman would envy.

“You really…”

—I’m sorry. I will gladly accept the consequences of my sins. But that child doesn’t know anything. Please hold me responsible for all of this.

“Are you even saying that right now?”

Seeing him trying to protect Endil even in the midst of all this made my head spin. To think that a lower spirit would side with another in front of the King. And that too, for a contractor like Endil, who had no redeeming qualities to be found.