Chapter 46 – Hug Me

Hug Me

Cherny came out to play with Saya, who was feeling bored alone.
“Cherny! Look at this!”
To show off the staff she received from Ariel, Saya shot a fire spell into the sky.

Rumble—!
The sky turned red, the air heated up. The ground shook.
‘Is this a case of like parent, like child…?’
Cherny, who was blankly watching this scene, swallowed.

“Cherny. How was it?”
“Amazing…”
“Hehe. Ariel will be surprised too, right?”
Saya spoke while preciously hugging the staff she said she received from Ariel.
Seeing this, a faint smile appeared on Cherny’s lips.

“She will be.”
“Hehe. I wish she would come back soon.”

“W-What did you say? How dare you, a mere human…!”
The spirit’s beautiful brow started to wrinkle upon hearing the words to get lost.
That cliché phrase must be written in some textbook somewhere. It might even be included as an example.

Grip. Puel’s hand gripping my collar tightened.
“Sister…”
“Just a moment, close your eyes Puel.”
High-level spirits, who live eternally and possess reason, are always hungry for stimulation.

Because they can’t manifest in the physical world except in opportunities like this, the water spirit before us wants to contract with Puel by any means.
‘But that’s not my problem.’
The power a high-level spirit without a contract can exert in the physical world is limited.
…Even if their true form came, I’m confident I could win.

“Y-You. How dare a mere human…!”
As I started drawing up mana, the water spirit who had been standing proudly in front of me started to slowly back away.
She looked as if she was scared.

“Are you afraid of me?”
“H-How dare you utter such blasphemy!!!!!!”
When I smirked at her with a sardonic smile, the enraged being let out a roar.
Swoosh─!

At the same time, water spray rose around her towards me.
A torrent of water with will cut through the wind and shot towards me.
“[Barrier]”
Each stream of water had threatening water pressure, enough to pierce through normal people and leave wind holes.

“How refreshing.”
Of course, there’s no way such water could penetrate my barrier, so the water blocked by the barrier scattered in the air, creating a beautiful rainbow.
‘I don’t like getting my clothes wet though. It’s uncomfortable.’
Fortunately, the weather is cool.

Perhaps hurt in her pride that her attack was so easily blocked, anger swirled in her blue eyes.
Whoosh—!
Then she grasped a water whip made of angry waves.

“How dare you!!!!!”
The whip, undulating as if alive, cut through the air and was swung towards me.
Bang─!
The water whip swung with overwhelming force touched my barrier and shook the surrounding air.

The water spirit continued to swing the water whip, apparently displeased that the barrier didn’t even crack.
“Huff… huff….”
Eventually, she started panting, exhausted on her own. But the barrier was still smooth like a glass bead.
Seeing this, the spirit in front of me spoke in bewilderment.

“I-Impossible. For my attacks to be blocked so easily…! How about this!”
Swoosh!!
Mana gradually gathered around the spirit. Following her gesture, all the water in the stream formed a huge tsunami and crashed towards Puel and me.

‘As expected of a high-level spirit? The scale is different.’
The wave looked to be over ten meters high at a glance.
I had only been defending to see how much power she could draw out, as it had been a while since I met a high-level spirit… but I didn’t want to get any wetter.

Rumble─!
I slowly raised my hand towards the fiercely approaching wave that cast a huge shadow.
“[Blizzard]”
As the short chant ended, white light was emitted from my fingertips.

The light, making the surrounding air extremely cold, advanced towards the wave.
─The moment the light touched the wave, it stopped in place as if time had frozen.
*
“I-Impossible…”

The water spirit muttered in disbelief.
The undulating wave froze like a calm iceberg, and Ariel stood there calmly like a queen on a glacier.
The water spirit tried to back away, holding her breath in front of her power, but─she couldn’t even do that due to her frozen feet.

“T-To the spirit realm… W-Why?! Why can’t I return?”
The water spirit hurriedly tried to return to the spirit realm, but she couldn’t return as if bound by something.
“…Where do you think you’re running?”
Facing Ariel approaching with cold eyes, the water spirit felt fear for the first time since her birth.

“Contract terms. First. You will not appear when Puel doesn’t want you to. Repeat.”
“T-That’s too much! Wait, don’t use magic! I-I’ll do it!”
The spirit kneeling before Puel and me. I feel like a bad person since she’s still naked, but it’s safe because the woman in front of us is not a person but a spirit.

“Second. You will void the contract whenever Puel wishes. Repeat.”
“W-Whenever Puel wishes, I will void the contract.”
Puel? Where’s the respect, spirit?
“Add ‘nim’.”

“I-I’ll add it! Whenever Puel-nim wishes, I will void the contract!”
Right now, Puel and the water spirit were in the process of contract procedures.
Usually, in the contract relationship between spirit users and spirits, the spirit is often in the superior position and the spirit user in the inferior. But there’s no way I’d just watch Puel be in an inferior position.

I originally wasn’t going to let her make a contract, but…
“Puel, do you really want to contract with this one?”
“Yes, sister. I, I want to make a contract.”
…Due to Puel’s firm will, we finally decided to proceed with the contract.

It should be fine since I’m acting as a notary for the contract, so there won’t be any unexpected troubles.
Besides, opportunities to contract with high-level spirits don’t come every day.

“Third. You will prioritize Puel over your own life.”
“I-I will prioritize Puel-nim over my own life.”
“Fourth. If any of these terms are violated, the water spirit Undine will die by Ariel’s hand.”
“I-I understand! I will absolutely not violate them, no, I won’t! Undine will die by Ariel’s hand!”

‘…It sounds a bit strange if you only repeat that part.’
The spirit, knowing that I have the ability to really find and kill her true form, nodded her head continuously with a pale face.
‘Good. Nothing’s been left out….’

What started as just a short walk turned into Puel contracting with a high-level spirit. It was an absurd situation even thinking about it now.
“Then, begin the contract. Undine.”
“I-I understand.”

As the contract proceeded, Puel and the water spirit’s bodies were enveloped in a warm light, and then the water spirit’s form turned into shining particles and scattered in the air.
And a mark appeared on the back of Puel’s hand. It was proof that she had successfully completed the contract with the spirit.

“It feels strange, sister.”
Puel spoke to me while gently stroking the back of her hand. She looked quite satisfied.
I don’t mind if Puel is happy, but I wonder why she decided to make a contract.

“Puel. Why did you decide to contract with the spirit?”
“Fufu. It’s a secret.”
Saying that, Puel gently took my hand.
“Let’s go home! Sister!”
“Okay.”

…I headed back home holding Puel’s hand, with a bit of curiosity in my mind.

“Amazing…”
I knew sister was strong. There’s no way she could be weak after subduing those bad guys.
But I didn’t know it was to this extent.

“P-Please spare me! I won’t challenge you again!”
According to the spirit magic book, the power of high-level spirits is said to be enough to shake the world.
How strong must Ariel sister be to easily subdue such a spirit?

‘It’s so high…’
I looked up at the wave that sister had frozen.
That wave looks so high, I don’t even dare to think of climbing it.
I’m not as cute as Saya, nor as useful as Cherny-san.

I know it would never happen, but what if sister thought I was useless?
…I wanted to stand beside sister someday.
At that moment, what the high-level spirit-nim had said flashed through my mind.

“Why? If you contract with me, I could give you power that would astonish the world.”
If I contract with the high-level spirit-nim, maybe someday I could stand beside sister?
“It’s cold, you know. Because of you. What if Puel catches a cold?”
“T-That’s because you used freezing magic… I-I’m sorry! It’s my fault!”

…Somehow it doesn’t seem very reliable.
In the end, with sister’s help, I ended up contracting with the high-level spirit-nim.
On the way home with sister afterwards.
I spoke to the high-level spirit—Undine-nim in my heart.

‘Um, Undine-nim. How strong is Ariel sister?’
[Y-You call that a question? …She’s incredibly strong. Honestly, I doubt if she’s human. Could she be a dragon in disguise?]
‘Then, could I someday become as strong as sister?’
[Impossible… No, you might be able to. After all, you’re the contractor of this Undine-nim.]

I finished my conversation with Undine-nim and looked up at sister.
Ariel sister smiled brightly when our eyes met.
“Sister.”
“Hm? What is it, Puel.”
“…Hug me.”

Even at my sudden childish request, sister smiled and hugged me.
“…You must be very tired.”
As I’m embraced in sister’s warm arms, my eyes naturally close.
I hope someday I can hug sister too.