CHAPTER 21: THE FRENZIED SPIRIT

Misnia proudly shouted that she would show us how Spirit Summoning is done.

There was someone who called out to her. 

“E-Excuse me—”

It was Laura. Without anyone noticing, she moved over to where Misnia was.

“I-I think it would be best not to…”

Misnia looked at Laura as if she was looking at something filthy.

“…Can a creature like yourself not speak to me!?”

Despite what she said, Laura didn’t falter. 

“I believe this is dangerous! I feel an abnormality in the spiritual power from this lake. Summoning such an unstable spirit is—”

“An abnormality? I don’t feel anything like that, though? Besides, so what if it’s ‘unstable’! Suppressing a spirit is the chance for the summoner to show off their skills, is it not!?”

“B-But—”

Then, Misnia’s followers stood in between Laura and Misnia.

“Don’t get near Miss Misnia, you creature!”

“You’re a nuisance, a total nuisance!”

Laura whimpered and stepped backward.

Laura… you did your best…

The reason I recognized Misnia must’ve been because of her interaction with Laura.

Misnia rushed out of the classroom and bumped her shoulder against Laura, who was walking down the hallway.  

“Ow…!”

Misnia bluntly spoke to Laura, who was grimacing in pain.

“…Be more careful! How dare someone from the cursed village touch me…! Aah, how disgusting!”

Misnia took out her handkerchief and brushed her shoulder like she genuinely believed it was filthy.

I remembered how Laura looked dejected while watching Misnia leave.

…What a heartless person.

As Laura’s friend, I didn’t think well of Misnia.

Precisely because I knew what happened back then—

I wanted to praise Laura for her kindness and courage to show concern for Misnia, all while pushing through her negative feelings.

Usually, the teacher should be stopping something like this, but Flin was nowhere to be seen after heading to the investigation party.

Misnia began chanting a spell.

Every word she weaved together caused a ripple to form, which quietly traveled across the lake surface. Once those ripples multiplied and overlapped over each other, Misnia used her spell. 

“Come forth, o Water Spirit! Call Spirit!”

The lake shook violently.

Immediately after, a pillar of water sprouted straight up in a spot approximately ten meters from the shoreline.

Once the pillar of water disappeared—

A single woman took the place of the pillar.

A beautiful woman sat on top of a horse that stood on the lake surface.

She had straight hair which extended down to her chest and a face with beauty akin to a sculpture. She adorned herself with a long dress and sat on the horse with both legs on one side. 

She was gorgeous enough to make a person lose their breath, but—

She was abnormal.

The woman, horse, and even the clothes they were wearing were entirely composed of water.

The woman stared at Misnia.

“Are you the one who summoned me?”

“That’s right! The great water magician Misnia did!”

Misnia laughed cockily and placed her hand on her chest.

“Listen to what I have to say, o Water Spirit!”

“Speak your business with me.”

The horse began slowly advancing⁠—as though the surface of the lake were ground.

Just then, I noticed something strange.

The large quantity of water that made up the water spirit was sincerely breath-taking⁠—but a single black stain floated up to her cheek.

What… was that…?

With every single step the horse took, the black stains multiplied like the cracks in shattered glass. 

The Water Spirit stopped her advance at the coastline.

“Let’s hear… what you have to say…”

The Water Spirit’s voice somehow sounded strained.

Without the slightest concern nor care in the world, Misnia spoke.

“Why is this lake polluted!? Say the reason why!”

“That’s because you humans keep dumping that dark, unpleasant substance⁠—the substance that contaminates us spirits⁠—”

“What’s a ‘dark and unpleasant substance’?”

The Water Spirit delayed her response.

Her body trembled in apparent agony, and the horse raised its legs up and down in an irritated manner. The black specks which floated to every corner of her body were now as plain as day, no matter who looked. 

“I-Isn’t something strange about that thing…?”

“Did the summoning fail?”

The surrounding students whispered among each other. Misnia sternly glared at the people speaking.

“WHAT!? There’s no way I failed! The water is dirty, so it goes without saying the spirit is dirty too!”

Then, Misnia faced the Water Spirit and held her right hand out.

“Listen to what I say! Come on, answer! What do you mean by a ‘dark and unpleasant substance’!?”

Misnia strengthened her control over the Water Spirit. 

The Water Spirit responded like she was gasping.

“Darkness…”

“Darkness? What does that mean!?”

“D-Darkness is⁠—”

The Water Spirit turned her face down. After her body shook several times, she lifted her face. The Water Spirit’s right eye was dyed pitch black.

“̴̧̬̱̱̰͉̟̽͑̄̈́͠ͅD̴̨̥͕̙̜̰̘͌͗̈́̃ą̸͖̪̭̤͎̻̰̦̅̋ḱ̶̖̮͍̘͔͐̓̿́-̴͈̖͎̦̖͈͋̋̂͒̂̓́̕͝k̷̨̤̀́̓͋̆̃͂͝ņ̸̨̝̟̜̒͐̑ͅe̷̲̖̱̪͇͂̇ņ̶̱̣̱̻̂̑ę̸̟̗̘̣̂̓̾̅̑̔͝-̴̨͉̙̣̦̎̏̃̄ñ̶̡̦̻̠̩̦̪̱̮̀̂̍̄̕e̷̫̜̫͓̝͔̔̐̒͑͒̈́̉̇̉s̸̩̳̘͖͈̒̒i̶̘͖̅͋̿-̶̮̠̦͓̂̾̈̿́̄͠i̷͕̦̥̕į̵͖̱̣̝̱̌̅͆̔̉̓̕-̵͈͕̬̏i̸̪͂̓̔́̇̊͝i̷̠̜̫̾̅̅̈́̈́̇̒̇ị̶̡̢̛̬̰̮̯̾̀̂́̍̿̾͝ş̵͈̀́̃͂̉͊̿͠ ̸̫̗̻̖̗̹͊y̵̩̥̘̆-̵̰̖̅̾̚o̵͍͊̉̊͊̑̌͋̕͠ǫ̸̜̀͋̓͐͠o̴̢̝̖̲͍̬̳̻̓̈͐̓̆̀̚-̴̨̭̞͎̯̠͂͊̔͆ͅͅi̷͕̦̥̕į̵͖̱̣̝̱̌̅͆̔̉̓̕-̵͈͕̬̏i̸̪͂̓̔́̇̊͝i̷̠̜̫̾̅̅̈́̈́̇̒̇ị̶̡̢̛̬̰̮̯̾̀̂́̍̿̾͝ş̵͈̀́̃͂̉͊̿͠ ̸̫̗̻̖̗̹͊y̵̩̥̘̆-̵̰̖̅̾̚i̷͕̦̥̕į̵͖̱̣̝̱̌̅͆̔̉̓̕-̵͈͕̬̏i̸̪͂̓̔́̇̊͝i̷̠̜̫̾̅̅̈́̈́̇̒̇ị̶̡̢̛̬̰̮̯̾̀̂́̍̿̾͝ş̵͈̀́̃͂̉͊̿͠ ̸̫̗̻̖̗̹͊y̵̩̥̘̆-̵̰̖̅̾̚D̴̨̥͕̙̜̰̘͌͗̈́̃ą̸͖̪̭̤͎̻̰̦̅̋ḱ̶̖̮͍̘͔͐̓̿́-̴͈̖͎̦̖͈͋̋̂͒̂̓́̕͝k̷̨̤̀́̓͋̆̃͂͝ņ̸̨̝̟̜̒͐̑ͅs̸̩̳̘͖͈̒̒i̶̘͖̅͋̿-̶̮̠̦͓̂̾̈̿́̄͠i̷͕̦̥̕į̵͖̱̣̝̱̌̅͆̔̉̓̕-̵͈͕̬̏“

The Water Spirit’s body trembled violently. 

Black stains rapidly filled her body.

“Hya!”

Misnia’s face stiffened, and she shrunk back.

“That thing is weird, isn’t it?”

“W-What is that!?”

The students who were watching shrieked. 

“D̸͎̟̝͍̮͔͕͌̓̆̿̑́̇̃͑͝͝͝͠͝͠A̶̛̾͊̀̄̐͆͠R̶̞̙̗̳͍̲̻̻̓̉͌̑̃̕K̸̃-̸̢̛͓͖̱̫͕̦͔͍̖̌̾̕Ι̫̳̥N̷̈́͊̎Ȅ̸̏≠̎̏̆̿̃̊̐̋͝͝S̸͓̝̈́̍̂́S̷̓͆́̊̓́̈͆̓D̸͎̟̝͍̮͔͕͌̓̆̿̑́̇̃͑͝͝͝͠͝͠A̶̛̾͊̀̄̐͆͠D̴͂͌͋̕͠Ǎ̵Á̴̅͊R̶̞̙̗̳͍̲̻̻̓̉͌̑̃̕K̸̃-̷͖͉̼͓̖̑́̓̈́́͆̊͠N̷̈́͊̎-̷͖͉̼͓̖̑́̓̈́́͆̊͠Ȅ̸̏Ñ̵̽̊-̸̢̛͓͖̱̫͕̦͔͍̖̌̾̕Ι̫̳̥-̷͖͉̼͓̖̑́̓̈́́͆̊͠E̸N̷̈́͊̎Ē̵̛͓̯̰̋̊̈̀̓̆͑͋̀̉́̾̂͑̓̇͂͌̊̑̀̎̈́͊̒͂͋̎̍̒̏͌̽́̽͠͝͠S̸͓̝̈́̍̂́-̷͖͉̼͓̖̑́̓̈́́͆̊͠S̷̓͆́̊̓́̈͆̓R̸̤̂́K̶̂̈́̑̿̍͒͑͆̚Ņ̵͇̮̖̩̖̜̀̃̃̈̌Ȩ̵̡̞͓̄͂̾͒̐S̸̨̠̠̏̑͒͆́̈́͗́̋͆K̸̃N̷̈́͊̎-̷͖͉̼͓̖̑́̓̈́́͆̊͠Ȅ̸̏S̸͓̝̈́̍̂́S̷̨̡̛̘̝̳̣̠̓͆́̊̓́̈͆̓̔̒̎̍D̸͎̟̝͍̮͔͕͌̓̆̿̑́̇̃͑͝͝͝͠͝͠A̶̛̾͊̀̄̐͆͠D̴͂͌͋̕͠Ǎ̵̚R̶̞̙̗̳͍̲̻̓̉͌̑̃̕≠̎̏̆̿̃̊̐̋͝K̸̃N̷̈́͊̎Ȅ̸̏N̷̈́͊̎-̶-̷͖͉̼͓̖̑́̓̈́́͆̊͠N̷̈́͊̎Ȅ̸S̸͓̝̈́̍̂́S̷̨̡̛̘̝̳̣̠̓͆́̊̓́̈͆̓̔̒̎̍R̸̤̂́K̶̂̈́̑̿̍͒͑͆̏̓̈́̚Ņ̵͇̮̖̩̖̜̀̃̃̈̌Ȩ̵̡̞͓̄͂̾͒̐S̸̨̠̠̏̑͒͆́̈́͗́̋͆“

While screaming in cryptic speech, the Water Spirit’s body gradually disintegrated.

Her arms fell, her dress melted, her body crumbled, and the horse below lost its form. Everything that collapsed became water and returned to the lake.

The last fragment of the spirit turned into water and vanished. All that remained was the murky, stagnating lake, which reverted to its previous stillness.

“…W-…What was that… What was that thing!?”

Misnia screamed, her voice brimming with anger.

That night—

The broken remnants of the Water Spirit accumulated at the bottom of the lake.

I need… to go—

The will of the Water Spirit reacted to something.

I can hear a voice calling—

The Water Spirit gathered the surrounding water and once again began constructing her body.

The influence from the Spirit Summoning that Misnia used still remained in the Water Spirit’s consciousness. 

The compulsory obligation left by the residual spell stimulated the spirit.

The figure of the beautiful woman sitting on her horse once again manifested at the bottom of the lake. Every inch of the maiden’s body was dyed jet-black—the color of darkness. 

She no longer had the same appearance. 

The lower half of her body fused with the horse; She became half-horse and half-body.  

“We shall go now, my Master.”

The Water Spirit spread both of her arms.

Immediately after, clay dolls in the form of humans stood from the mud in the lakebed. 

“This time, I shall bring them to the bottom of this magnificent lake. Master shall surely be pleased with me.”

The spirit giggled.

She tilted her lips, smiling in a way that reflected her apparent madness. 

The Water Spirit was no longer sane, having been afflicted by the darkness for many moons. 

The Water Spirit began her advance. 

Following behind her on her march was a large number of clay dolls—