HTWBB Chapter 38

'I don't know if you're doing the right thing. Please take good care of our Rietta again.'

'That's none of your concern.'

'I know you didn't contract without reason. You need Rietta desperately too, don't you?'

'You know more than I thought.'

'Bully my niece and I'll appear as a ghost and kill you.'

At the threat that held no real impact, Abel snorted and readjusted Rietta in his arms.

Then he easily pulled out the dagger she always carried at her waist and lightly sliced through the air. Like cutting through thin paper, a long crack formed at his side and a maw gaped open.

After returning the blade to its place, he looked back at El Nas. The space was collapsing.

'How did you make such an excellent blade?'

'Is that what matters?'

He gestured with his chin at Rietta in his arms.

'My master will use it.'

El Nas's brow furrowed sharply at once.

'Really, if only I hadn't died... It's made from a thunder dragon's bone. Happy now? Hurry up and go.'

He turned away from the rapidly collapsing space. As he passed through the torn gap, the sounds of breaking and shattering vanished instantly.

Abel straightened his bent body. A completely different texture touched beneath his hand. The beautiful blue tail he'd seen in the past. The fluttering tail fin moved like wings along the flowing water.

Abel considered laying her, still unconscious, on the bed, then changed course after seeing the half-rotted support.

"I didn't plan to get entangled this deeply."

Muttering like a sigh, he pushed open the broken captain's quarters door. Something whitish came into view at his feet as he cast his gaze downward.

Old clothes he'd seen before, a heavily rusted longsword with missing teeth, and old human bones lay scattered carelessly.

Inside the open-mouthed skull, a lightless magic stone lay alone, swaying forlornly. Abel passed the remains of the gatekeeper who'd completed his mission.

A large, low noise resembling a whale's cry shook the surroundings with each step. He raised his head to the shipwreck's ceiling, which had clearly begun tilting.

"It's time to go back, Rietta."

The ceiling that had been seamlessly filled now had sparse holes large enough for two people to pass through. The ship, with the caster's will completely gone, was collapsing as rapidly as the time it had been suspended.

He escaped the time-devouring crumbling space with a single leap. It was time to wrap up the exploration that had taken longer than expected.

Rietta slowly lifted her heavy eyelids. A stone ceiling with a hole on one side was the first thing she saw.

Outside was complete night—a round moon floated through the small hole. It was a familiar place. Certainly inside the cave where the shipwreck had been left.

She blinked to correct her blurry vision. A voice reached her ears then.

"Are you coming to?"

When she felt around, hard stone floor touched her hand. Rietta put strength in her palm and raised her upper body halfway. When she lifted her head, Abel naturally supported her back while meeting her gaze.

"I feel like I'm asking the same question twice somehow."

"Did we get out, from the ship?"

The voice she'd thought forgotten flowed smoothly through her lips. Rietta reflexively touched her throat. Abel's eyes had grown round. She too was flustered, her thoughts rarely showing so clearly on her face.

In her confused mind, the reunion with El Nas and the conversations exchanged in that short time flashed quickly past.

Inside the captain's quarters of the shipwreck, that music box, her air bubble had definitely been contained. As soon as her hand touched it, she'd been pulled somewhere, and there El Nas had given her tea to drink.

She'd said left air bure. Had she really gotten it back?

Abel nodded toward Rietta, who was feeling her throat.

"Yes. And you found what you wanted too."

What I wanted... Rietta turned her gaze downward this time. Two legs remained unchanged. But it was different from before.

Even sitting still, the feeling was clearly different from the heavy, somehow blocked sensation up until now. Though not perfect, it felt like she could breathe.

Just as Abel said. She could tell without even testing. If she jumped into the sea right now, the blue tail she'd lost for a while would appear. No different from any mermaid. Rietta exhaled deeply.

"Only half, though."

"There's more left?"

"Air bure come in pairs."

Mermaids' 'air bures.' In other words, each species' source of magic power had different names and locations. Sometimes inside the body, sometimes attached externally where not visible.

For mermaids, typically behind the waist or ears—a pair on both sides. The right air bure handling magic pathways, and the left air bure for delicate control.

Through this incident, Rietta had obtained only the left one from El Nas's fragment of the past, but the emptiness somewhere inside her felt a little more filled.

Abel, who'd been staring at her as she stood on her own strength, spoke again.

"You were a mermaid."

"Yes. I heard you met El Nas."

Abel had much to say. Though he only became curious now, countless questions had arisen after seeing Rietta's past.

He'd learned enough about the source of her rough voice and why she'd only exuded human energy despite being a mermaid.

But what happened to the humans Larissa and Jeffrey he'd seen in the past, and why was she alone now?

And the whereabouts of the other air bure and other mermaids. But swallowing all those questions, Abel simply shrugged.

"Yes, I met her. She asked me to take care of you too."

Rietta frowned.

"Pointless interference."

"Never mind that. Anyway, since it came up, how about we take care of what needs to be done first?"

"What needs to be done?"

Rietta tilted her head to one side. Water-soaked coral hair slid down her shoulder. Abel raised the corners of his lips.

"We agreed to contract."

"Ah, right."

They'd definitely made that promise. She'd forgotten briefly with so much happening. Even though she'd stated it herself with certainty.

"What do I do?"

"...Are you really sure about contracting with me?"

"You said no backing out."

"That's separate. I thought you avoided getting tied to anyone."

Rietta slowly closed her eyes and opened them. He was a perceptive man. She had many excuses if she wanted to make them. That she wasn't the type to go back on her word, or that she'd become lenient with newfound leisure.

But regardless of excuses, a reason to contract had emerged.

She had no intention of going against El Nas's request, and like Melian, Abel had learned too much about Rietta. No, far deeper than Melian.

"It's fine."

"...Alright. First, give me your hand."

Rietta obediently placed her hand on Abel's outstretched one. Drip. A water drop falling from her chin wet the small back of her hand.

Abel's eyebrow lifted sharply, then a rustling breeze blew. Rietta's hair floated into the air before settling down gently.

Her heavy head felt light. Even her clothes had dried completely. Abel closed his eyes with a satisfied expression.

"A true name is needed for the contract."

"Understood."

"So you did have one."

He let out a small laugh. Rietta was about to open her mouth when, in the next moment, she suddenly lowered her gaze to the pale violet light beginning at their feet.

Excluding the small space where they stood, a large circle was being drawn. Light began faintly there. The curve being carved around them finally met its starting point. Abel tightened his grip on their clasped hands.

"Let's begin."

The tightly closed eyelids opened, revealing eyes resembling the deep evening sky.

Shining far brighter than usual, he gazed at Rietta. His closed lips slowly parted.

"I, guardian of the west and first sea of Pluteris."

That characteristically captivating voice resonated heavily throughout the entire cave. The inside of the circle began filling at tremendous speed with complex formulas and letters she'd never seen. A magic circle.

Over the more-than-half-complete circle, purple magic power that had been barely recognizable by color gradually deepened and surged.

"『Leviathan』."

As the true name was pronounced riding his voice, the formulas slowed briefly.

Wait. What?

Rietta reflexively tried to pull back, but Abel yanked the hand he held. The distance between them narrowed.

The rippling magic like an upside-down aurora grew in height to around Rietta's shoulders.

Rietta stared at him without blinking. At her wavering eyes, Abel smiled with curved eyes. A mischievous face.

"'Leviathan'?"

"You know of me."

"That's impossible."

"You can't refuse, Rietta."

His nonchalant attitude was absurd. Rietta knew of him vaguely. Though she hadn't experienced it directly, it was a name one could hear at least once living as a treasure hunter.

A massive demon beast presumed to have crossed dimensional boundaries during the Great Calamity. Since it had never shown itself, no one knew its exact appearance.

However, since the 'summoner' had definitely summoned two of them, boundary researchers asserted his existence with near certainty.

Rietta too had heard unreliable sightings in various regions.

"...Yes. Your name was 'Abel (aivel).'"

Rietta's belated lament echoed in the air.

"As promised, I accept companionship with you."

As the final words ended, the magic power completely enveloped them. It looked like a beautiful, non-threatening prison.

Rietta, who'd been looking upward without realizing it, squeezed her eyes tightly shut at the sudden gust of wind. She'd already let go of the hand she'd been holding.

Waiting for it to calm, she was suddenly seized by a strange feeling.