Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 7

Chapter 7

“Huhu, just leave him be, Elquines. He’s just so happy to see you.”

“Huh?”

Just then, Minerva spoke, and I barely managed to gather my scattered wits and looked up. He was wearing a blissful expression, looking this way.

“Trowell has suffered the most without water. Earth has the most direct impact on humans, after all. Taking care of the dying plants, animals, and crops every year, putting out the frequent wildfires, you were probably the most needed among us.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“Hmph, sorry to hear that. Since I’m the cause of the wildfires.”

At that moment, a voice laced with sarcasm cut in. It was Ifrit, who had been speaking to me in a quarrelsome tone since a while ago. Minerva, with a troubled expression on his face, said to the sulking Ifrit.

“I’m not saying anything to you, Ifrit. There’s no need to take it so sensitively.”

“But fire is under my jurisdiction.”

“If you go that far, wildfires happen because the air is dry in the first place. Half of it is my responsibility.”

“The air becomes dry because there is no water.”

The thorns in the last words were probably not just my imagination. I forced a smile on my face at the glaring Ifrit. The lifespan of a Spirit King is said to be over ten thousand years. I didn’t want to start creaking with my colleagues, whom I would have to see every day for that enormous amount of time, even if I died soon. But whether my appearance stimulated his uncomfortable mood, Ifrit’s eyes flared up even more fiercely.

“Stop smiling like that. It makes you look like an idiot. Well, aren’t you an idiot? How else could you have been so clueless that you couldn’t even be born properly and wandered around in the wrong place before finally returning now.”

“Cough…”

To accurately strike the part that was already pricked. Defeated, I couldn’t say a word and just had to shut my mouth. Then, Trowell, who had been rubbing his cheek against my hand until then, raised his head with a frown.

“Ifrit, what are you talking about right now?”

“What am I saying? I’m not saying anything wrong, am I? Do you even know how much stress I’ve been under while that guy was vacant? You two are at least compatible with water. My side is the opposite, so when that guy’s energy decreases, my energy increases instead. Who would know my difficulties in trying to restrain my power without being able to do anything about the sea of fire that happens in the human world every year? It’s all because of that guy!”

“Stop blaming others like that. Even the Underworld said that this wasn’t Elquines’ fault. It was just a mistake made by the person in charge of assigning souls that day. Elquines is also a victim like us.”

“Hmph, yeah—I got it. So, you’re all just happy to see that guy?”

“Ifrit.”

“That’s enough. You’re all the same. I’m just going to feel unpleasant if I stay in this realm any longer, so I’ll go back now. Have fun with each other, you happy existences.”

Ifrit grumbled sullenly with a very upset face. Then, he glared at me one last time before disappearing in a blaze of fire. It was like magic, but I couldn’t even admire it and could only blankly stare at the space where he had disappeared.

Why is he so angry? Did I do something wrong? No, even if there is. How can you just unilaterally pour it out and disappear like that at our first meeting? Are you an elementary school student?

It seems that I’m not the only one feeling absurd. The remaining Trowell and Minerva couldn’t hide their troubled expressions.

“Oh, oh. He’s really sulking. He’s still a child.”

“Ifrit is originally extreme in his emotions, so it can’t be helped. I’m sorry, Elquines. We’ll apologize on his behalf.”

“Huh? No, you don’t have to apologize this much… I’m okay. You don’t have to worry about it.”

I quickly waved both hands. Then, the eyes of the two Spirit Kings widened, and soon their faces changed into gentle smiles.

“This Elquines has quite a broad mind.”

“I agree. It’s unexpected. I thought the Water Spirit Kings all had the same personality as the previous generation. Maybe we can get rid of the old feud between Elquines and Ifrit this time.”

“Feud?”

“Ah, water and fire are originally opposing attributes, so they haven’t been on good terms for generations. Especially during the time of the previous Elquines, it was the worst. The effects will probably remain for a while. He may often pick fights with you in the future, but I hope you understand, Elquines.”

Unlike Minerva’s calm explanation, I couldn’t help but feel shocked once again. The reason is that they are opposing attributes. Then, no matter what I do, it’s useless?

“Does that mean I have to fight with that queen every time I meet her…?”

“What did you say?”

“Ah, nothing. Ahaha! Ah, but, um, about that Elquines title… Can’t you just call me Jihoon?”

“Jihoon?”

“What is that?”

I hesitated a little as I looked at the two Spirit Kings turning around with puzzled expressions.

“Um… Actually, that’s the name I used when I was human. My last name is ‘Kang’ and my first name is ‘Jihoon.’ It’s natural to get used to a new name since I was reborn, but this one is still more comfortable for me. Well, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

But the reaction that came back was a little different from what I expected. What they focused on in my words was a completely different part.

“When you were human? Elquines, were you born as a human? Not just wandering around after falling into a dimensional gap?”

“Huh? Dimensional gap? No, I was just born as an ordinary human…”

“Hee, is that true? That’s great. This isn’t just a game. A Spirit King being born as a human. I’m seeing things like this in my life. It’s something that will be recorded in the history of the Spirit Kings. What do you think, Minerva?”

“…It’s not common.”

Unlike Trowell, who couldn’t hide his surprise, Minerva seemed relatively calm. But even he couldn’t erase the curiosity in his eyes.

“Judging from the fact that your name is not in this world’s pronunciation, you must have been born in a completely different dimension, right?”

“Ah, yeah. It’s a place called ‘Earth’… I don’t know how far away it is from here.”

“Hmm. I see. But you managed to be born with those memories? Didn’t you go through the process of oblivion in the Underworld?”

“Process of oblivion?”

“Yes, it’s customary to erase all memories of your past life when you are reborn. Didn’t they make you drink anything special?”

Water. Are you talking about that nasty liquid?

At Minerva’s question, I recalled the terrible bitter taste that I had buried in my memory for a while. Because of that, I frowned, and Trowell nodded as if he knew what was going on.

“It seems like you drank it. I heard that the water of oblivion has a taste that you can’t drink with a sound mind.”

“But the memories weren’t erased?”

“Isn’t that obvious? Elquines is the Water Spirit King. The water of oblivion is a type of water in the first place, so it wouldn’t work on Elquines, who controls it. But it’s strange. Usually, if they don’t see the effect when they first give it to you, they would use another method right away. Why did they let you be born like that?”

“…”

There’s no need to tell them that I opened the door of life and threw myself in at will, right? Yeah, that’s right.

Now that I see it, it seems that Arehis asked me strange questions to confirm the existence of memories. I didn’t even know that and ran away without any countermeasures. I vowed to bury that incident in my heart for the rest of my life. Anyway, as long as I keep my mouth shut, no one will know about such minor irregularities.

“Anyway, we can call you ‘Jihoon,’ right? I got it. I’ll do that.”

“Huh? Really? Is that okay?”

“It’s not a difficult thing to do, so what. I’d like to hear about your life in the human world right away, but since the situation is what it is, let’s postpone that to the next opportunity. You’re going to be so busy for a while that you’ll be dizzy, so you should be prepared.”

I was lost in thought for a moment, but I suddenly came to my senses at Trowell’s words that followed.

“Huh? Busy?”

“Now that you’re born, we have to reorganize the rules of nature that have been patched up until now. That’s our mission.”

Is that so? When I heard it from Arehis, it seemed like all the problems would be solved just by me returning. So, I vaguely never thought deeply about what I should do or what my mission was. In short, I haven’t had any thoughts until now.

Towards me, the two Spirit Kings began to send expectant glances. They seemed to be waiting for me to start something without any particular explanation. Of course, I didn’t know what they wanted, so I could only blink blankly.

“…Don’t just stand there, why don’t you start now?”

Eventually, Minerva opened her mouth first, as if she was tired of waiting. It was a victory (?) won after a long silence and staring contest. But the problem was that I still didn’t understand the meaning of those words.

“Start what?”

“You have to restore nature.”

“So… how do I do that?”

“…What is this joke?”

Seeing Minerva’s expression sinking eerily at that moment, I flinched. She already has a somewhat cold impression, but with anger seeping in, it’s so scary that I can’t even talk to her.

No, but even if you look at me like that, I really don’t know?

Then Trowell added advice as if he had read my mind.

“You have to create spirits.”

“S, spirits?”

“Yes, spirits. The lower-level Naiads [water nymphs] will be born automatically feeling your presence, but you have to create the intermediate and high-level spirits yourself. Um? What’s with that expression? You really didn’t know?”

I really didn’t know…

Whether my expression looked stupid, Trowell and Minerva’s faces hardened subtly. It seemed that they finally realized that I wasn’t joking and really didn’t know.

But for me, their reaction didn’t make sense. I was just born. It’s natural not to know anything without learning?

“It’s not natural.”

“Huh?”

I was startled and looked up at the voice that followed at that moment. There, Trowell was staring at me with an embarrassed smile.

“Trowell, what are you saying…”

“Jihoon, didn’t you just think that it’s natural that you don’t know anything?”

“Huh? Y, yeah.”

“That’s not it. From the moment they are born, Spirit Kings are supposed to read the flow of nature and automatically realize how to deal with it. It’s normal for you to create and distribute spirits yourself without us telling you.”

I, is that so? More than that, how did you know I was thinking that?

I wanted to ask in detail, but all I could do was swallow hard. It was as if I had been thoroughly dissected from head to toe.

Then Minerva, who had been pondering something, slowly raised her head.

“Jihoon, I’ll ask you one more thing. If I tell you to create a spirit here right now, can you do it?”

“Huh? R, right now…? W, well. If you teach me, I’ll try…”

“Hmm… I see.”

Minerva’s expression, nodding, looked darker than before.

“Minerva, do you have any idea what’s going on?”

“Maybe. In my opinion, Jihoon’s current state seems to be a side effect of being born as a human.”

“Side effect?”

Minerva nodded towards Trowell, who asked back with a puzzled expression. But the most confused among them was me. Side effects! Arehis didn’t even say that there was such a thing. I’m already upset that the past ten years have become useless, but now I have this ridiculous disease on top of that? No way!

“He can’t let go of the habits of that time because of the memories of living as a human. He sets limits in advance, saying that it’s impossible for him because he’s human. In short, he’s eating away at his own abilities.”

“Hmm, it’s getting complicated.”

“This is a pretty big problem. Why didn’t the Underworld thoroughly go through the process of oblivion? They must have known this would happen.”

‘Ugh…!’

Looking at Minerva sighing, I tensed my shoulders.

It’s a problem that happened because I was born with human memories. So, in the end… is it because I ran away at will?

‘You idiot, moron! I knew I would cause an accident like this someday! Ugh, what do I do now?’

I have a feeling that if this fact is known, it won’t end with just getting hit once or twice. No, will I even be able to survive?

I don’t even know why I looked at Trowell at this moment. But as soon as my eyes met, I regretted looking at him. Because a meaningful smile appeared on his lips.

“…That’s what I’m saying, Minerva. Why did the Underworld do that?”

Looking at his golden eyes curving softly, I desperately tried to avoid his gaze.

It was the moment when an uneasy future was predicted.