Chapter 65 – Water Knows the Answer

Water Knows the Answer

“I’m sorry, but my name isn’t Selena… it’s Pfel.”
Hearing Pfel’s words, the two men snorted and said,
“What are you saying? Pfel? Whether your name is Pfel or Elf, it doesn’t matter. Once you’re sold, it’s all the same.”

“For once, you’re talking sense.”
Seeing them looking at her with eyes full of viscous desire, Pfel recalled memories of the past she didn’t want to remember.
‘…Did those people back then have the same eyes?’

After her mother left, on a certain day when Pfel was living alone in this house, strangers came looking for her.
“Boss! Look at this! It’s a jackpot!!”
“What’s all the fuss about…”

They didn’t treat Pfel as a living being. They just saw her as a rare commodity that would fetch a higher price.
“Huu… hu…”
Even though it was a long time ago, the memories of that time still vividly come to mind when she closes her eyes.

Recalling that painful time, Pfel felt a sensation of her chest tightening and her breath gradually becoming short.
[Pfel. Get a hold of yourself. They’re getting closer!]
Even with Undine’s words, Pfel was about to fall into panic, immersed in past trauma…

“Then, will you come to our house?”
“If you come to our house, I’ll cook you delicious meals every day. I’m a better cook than you might think?”
…At the end of the painful memory tunnel, Pfel recalled Ariel’s face.

“Don’t be too scared. We’re kind people.”
“That’s right. It’ll be over soon if you stay still. Right, Celine?”
Celine nodded quietly at the man’s words seeking agreement.

Although there was a hint of guilt in her expression, still hazy from the drug, there was also a sense of relief mixed in.
…Relief that she wasn’t their target.
“Hehe, he.”

Then she started writhing in disgusting pleasure again, shaking out the remaining drugs.
Apparently finding this sight quite amusing, the men came right up to Pfel and said with a laugh,
“Puhaha!!! To think that’s your mother. You’re really pitiful.”

“Yeah, Celine. You should reflect on yourself. How can you do this to your own child?”
Just as one of the men’s hands was about to touch Pfel’s shoulder… Pfel’s demeanor changed.
“Wait a minute. You, what are you trying to…”

One of them noticed the signs of magical power swirling around Pfel, but it was already too late.
“Undine. Subdue them.”
“…I thought my neck would fall off waiting, Pfel.”

The reason she drew up magical power was to summon Undine.
Undine, who had suddenly appeared behind the men, immediately created spherical water prisons centered on their heads.
“Mmph, mmph!!!”

“Guhk…”
They were startled by the water droplets that suddenly appeared in the air and tried to pull their heads out, but the droplets stuck to the men’s heads as if they were viscous, tormenting them.
“Hmmph!! Ummph!!!”

The panicked men tried their best to remove the water droplets with their hands, but it was futile. Their expressions trapped in the water showed distress.
“Um, I’m feeling really bad right now.”
Pfel said, looking at them with cold eyes.

“Ummph!!!!!”
“Guooo!!!!!!”
The men belatedly realized that the strange phenomenon happening now was Pfel’s doing.
They immediately took out their weapons and swung wildly at Pfel, but…

“Where do you think you’re going.”
…They were immediately pinned to the ground by Undine’s hand.
There’s no way mere street thugs could escape from the grasp of a high-level spirit.
Naturally, their resistance was easily suppressed.

“…Because of you, I’ve recalled memories I didn’t want to remember.”
In the small spherical water prisons just a span larger than their heads, their faces were distorted in pain,
“Ummph!!! Hmmph!!”

“Gubububup…”
Their eyes, which had been filled with desire, now began to be filled with fear instead.
“…”

Eventually, what echoed in the silent house was the sound of the men’s struggling.
…And the sound of air bubbles they released underwater bubbling.

Pfel, who had been blankly watching them screaming silently underwater, soon removed the water droplets surrounding them.
“Kuhak!! F-Fuck. Huk… Hey! Wake up!”
“Gweeeek…”

The two men who had been to the brink of death.
Just as they were finally feeling the sweetness of air after escaping the water, Pfel’s words hit their ears like a bolt from the blue.
“Do it once more, please. Undine.”

The two men turned pale at Pfel’s words.
“P-Please! We were wrong! We don’t want to die! Please!!!”
“I don’t want any more water!! Fuck, what are you doing! Run, you idiot!”

Seeing Pfel’s expression not moving at all despite their pleas for mercy, the two immediately attempted to flee out the door.
“Hi, hiiik!!! Kurururururu…”
“Gueoeoek…!”

…Of course, they couldn’t escape from Pfel’s grasp, and with Pfel’s slight hand gesture, they began to kiss the water again.
“I’m sorry. I’m still not feeling better.”
Pfel looked down at them expressionlessly.

Seeing this, Undine recalled Ariel from the day she forcibly contracted with Pfel and thought,
[She’s exactly like her sister….]

“S-Spare us! We’ll never do it again!”
“Me too! From now on, I’ll live the rest of my life kindly and diligently!”
After repeating the same process a couple of times, the two men became new people.

When Pfel gestured for them to go outside, they rushed out the door, competing with each other.
And then Pfel and her mother were left alone again.
…No, there were three including Undine who had manifested.

“Huk… Se-Selena. You, what on earth happened? And who is that person?”
“Person? Are you referring to me? I am a spirit.”
“A-A spirit?!”

Celine’s face, demanding an explanation from Pfel, was still a bit relaxed.
…The effect of the drug hadn’t worn off yet.
Pfel, looking at her with a complex expression, quietly stood up to leave her.

“Wh-Where are you going?! You should explain to me before you go! Wait!”
Grab. Celine grabbed Pfel’s hand as she was ignoring her words and heading out of the house.
“D-Did you learn magic? If so, let’s live together. I hear magicians make a lot of money these days, I know some people. If I talk to them…”

Even Undine shook her head at her consistent behavior, and then Pfel opened her mouth that had been closed.
“…Mother. Those two men just now, they’re acquaintances of yours. Right?”
“Uh, huh?”

Celine was visibly flustered. Seeing this, Undine shook her head as if in disbelief and said,
“Didn’t you say just a few dozen minutes ago that your life was ruined because of Pfel, so Pfel should take responsibility? It seems the drug hasn’t worn off yet.”
“Th-That’s!”

“As a spirit without parents, I don’t understand human parent-child relationships well… but if you can say such things to your child, it would be better for both of you to be apart.”
“What do you know to say such things…”

“Shh.”
Undine, who had stopped Celine from starting to talk nonsense, pointed towards the door.
“Pfel, someone is coming again… their number has increased by one.”

And not long after, the old wooden door opened with a creak.
What appeared were a man with tattoos densely covering every visible part of his body and the two people who had just fled.
“Greetings, everyone. Especially you, elf friend.”

The man, who entered the house and immediately stared at Pfel with a strange smile. Like a snake examining its prey, he slowly looked Pfel up and down, then turned his gaze to Celine.
“Celine. I hear my brothers are indebted to your daughter. Did you order this?”

Celine spoke urgently, her face pale at his words.
“J-Jason. I didn’t order this! She did it on her own!”
The man Celine called Jason was a large figure, a head taller than the other two.

Moreover, he had a rusty hand axe at his waist, giving off a menacing atmosphere even at first glance.
“Originally, I was going to forgive Celine’s debt if we just took you, but I’ve changed my mind. I’ll sell your parents along with you.”

“Hey, this is different from our agreement! You said you’d only take Selena… Oh.”
Celine, who started arguing with Jason that this was different from their agreement, closed her mouth again when she made eye contact with Pfel midway through speaking.
But Pfel’s expression didn’t change at all. As if she had expected this.

“You, fight me. If I win, you’ll never bother my mother again.”
She pointed at Jason in front of her and spoke, still with an indifferent expression.
“…Huh? Boys. What is this girl saying?”

Jason snorted at Pfel’s words and asked his brothers, but their expressions were still terrified.
It was because they recalled their harsh experience with Pfel and Undine.
Seeing their faces, Jason clicked his tongue and spat out curses.

“Tch. Useless idiots.”
Crash─!
“Guhuk!! Kuk!!”
“B-Brother. Kuk… please spare us. Uwaaak!!!”

He grabbed the two of them, slammed them to the ground, and mercilessly trampled them.
The two men screamed and became bloody messes under his kicks from boots with metal plates. It was a scene that made one’s face scrunch up involuntarily.

“Pfel. Don’t be scared.”
“…I’m not scared.”
It was an obvious tactic to intimidate by showing excessive cruelty.

“Hm. You want to fight me? Alright.”
After the screams of the two men stopped, Jason approached Pfel while spinning his hand axe.
“…You know what? Some crazy nobles prefer ones without arms!”

———-

Jason was just a thug who threw his weight around in back alleys, while Pfel was trained by Ariel, Marian, and Rowen.
Naturally, Jason was no match for Pfel.

“Huh…?”
Pfel easily subdued Jason using the strength enhancement magic she learned from Ariel and the fighting techniques she learned from Marian, without even borrowing Undine’s power.
“W-Wait a minute. If you come any closer, I’ll kill your moth… Guheok!!!”

Pfel, who easily subdued Jason as he tried to take Celine hostage as a last resort, said,
“Undine, I think we need to do what we just did one more time.”
“…As you command.”

“Wh-What are you trying to… Gububububu.”
Shortly after, Jason’s silent screams and the sound of his struggling echoed through the house.