For better or for worse, the pride of Relirex’s princess didn’t allow her to be blown away by the jet of water. She stood tall and proud in the face of the deluge, subjecting herself to its full power and offering quite the surreal sight. While most of those present were too stunned by the absurd situation to be surprised by the spirit’s speech, Tutte and Safina in particular cracked awkward smiles like they’d expected things to go down this way, much to Noa’s confusion.
“H-Huh?! She’s just...standing there!” the spirit said. “Eugh! She creeps me out!”
“We’re trying to be friendly with you!” Emilia roared. “How dare you take that attitude with us?! Wanna go, pip-squeak?!”
The spirit was clearly taken aback—or more precisely, he’d managed to regain his composure while Emilia had lost sight of herself to rage. This was an endless loop of fury.
“Pigheaded women aren’t really my type,” the spirit said. “Thank you, next.”
“Screw youuuuu!” Emilia roared. “We’ll turn you down! Before you talk down others, why don’t you fix yourself?! What even is that form of yours?! Keep it together! It’s beyond abstract! You look like you’re melting! What you need is a bit more muscle and sturdiness to your body!”
Emilia furiously rocked her body about to attempt to illustrate a perfect form while Noa watched on perplexedly, confused at what the princess was trying to explain. Noa wasn’t very knowledgeable about anatomy.
“Huh? I’ve never seen anything like that before,” the spirit retorted.
When it came to the princess and the spirit’s...passionate battle of appearances, one might say...even Noa had grown worried, wondering if they should just sit back and watch.
“Then behold these beautiful muscles!” Emilia shouted.
As blood rushed to the princess’s head, she turned to Sacher nearby and tried to peel his clothes off him.
“Hey! Stop it, Your Highness!” Sacher cried. “Wait!”
It was then Noa witnessed a phenomenon she found most curious. Though the girls around Sacher shrieked and covered their faces with their hands as Emilia undressed him, none of them tried to stop her.
“Uh, no, guys aren’t really my thing,” the spirit said. “I’d like a girl, please.”
The spirit had been furious at first, but he now seemed quite calm and collected while distracted by Emilia’s antics. Noa’s eyes glimmered with awe, impressed by the Relirex princess’s expert maneuvering of the situation, when Tutte kindly but firmly reminded her that one must never copy Emilia’s actions.
“Tsk, you really drive a hard bargain, don’t you?” Emilia replied to the spirit. “If Ilysha were here, we would’ve offered her to you as a bit of a joke.”
“Kindly refrain from offering my mother,” the prince replied quietly. “If such is your aim, why don’t you offer up your own mother?”
“Ugh, no. We can’t do that. Our mother isn’t meant to be viewed by others!” Emilia’s streak of rudeness had now even extended to the queen.
“Oho? Are you implying my physique isn’t fit to be seen in public, Little Emilia?” Queen Belletochka asked.
The high praise Noa had once held for Emilia had now all swiftly vanished, and she wondered to herself if Emilia might be better suited for a title such as the “faux pas princess” over whatever she had now—it felt like every time Emilia opened her mouth, she was digging herself into a deeper grave.
“Speaking of girls... My dear Frederikaaaaa?!” the spirit suddenly shouted while Noa and the others were distracted. “Where are youuu?”
“Huh? Frederika?” Emilia asked. “She isn’t here.”
“Sh-She isn’t?!” the spirit gasped. “B-But... I chased her around and finally cornered— I mean, finally managed to visit her here!”
The spirit’s disquieting choice of words didn’t escape Noa’s notice. Now that she felt he was acting strangely, she was being sure to pay careful attention to him.
“Where the hell did you take my dear Frederika?!” the spirit shrieked. His anger having now relapsed, waves were once again rocking the area. Perhaps simple reaction was the extent of his thought process?
“Now, now, wait one second,” Orthoaguina said. He’d heard the conversation with Emilia and determined the spirit to be rather simpleminded. “Spirit, I’m the great— Ahhhh!”
“S-Sita!” Rachel shouted.
The spirit took no interest in Orthoaguina’s long-awaited entrance to the conversation and made to wash his book away with a deluge of ocean water, a move which was certain to inundate Sita alongside him. Rachel, ever alert and ruthlessly committed to her sister’s welfare above all else, grabbed on to Sita and pulled her back out of danger, leaving Orthoaguina alone to be swallowed by the tide. Watching it all happen, Noa was more sure than ever that Orthoaguina was nothing more than just a very chatty tome.
“Ahhh! Orthoaguina’s a sopping mess!” Sita cried. The drenched book lay in the corner of the stage, and she hastily went to fetch it. It was a sorrowful scene, and the book was a wretched sight. Everyone was trying to think of a way to calm the spirit down, but he refused to listen to reason and raged on. Noa tried to think of a solution herself.
“Calm down, spirit!” Emilia shouted. “Who cares about Frederika?”
“Nooooo!” the spirit wailed. “My dear Frederikaaaa!”
Once again, the faux pas princess of Relirex had touched a nerve with the spirit and made matters worse. Clearly, Frederika was precious to the spirit, and to say that the mermaid was gone or that no one cared about her naturally only escalated his irritation. Even Noa had enough sense to know that.
The stormy sea was causing the ship to rock violently from its position near the stage. Meanwhile, the stage was now awash with brine, soaking everyone standing on it.
“Tsk, this is getting us nowhere,” Emilia grumbled. “We’ve got no other choice. Let’s gently punish this crying child!”
“No, Little Emilia!” Queen Belletochka shouted. “If you harm the spirit, you’ll never be able to take it back!”
“Nay, spirits like him need to be taught a lesson or two and be silenced! That’ll be the quickest way to a solution! Mwa ha ha ha! Spirits don’t scare us! Who do you think we are?! We’re the princess of demons!”
With complete disregard for the queen’s warning, Emilia excitedly began preparing a spell. In the face of all this chaos, Noa wondered if Emilia was the “musclehead” she’d once heard Mary mention.
“What a sorry sight,” remarked an unknown voice a good distance from Noa. “When I’d deigned to alight upon this sea, I’d hardly expected to be subjected to such a feebleminded conflict.” In stark contrast to the pandemonium, the speaker sounded calm and detached.
The moment Noa heard the voice, it felt like the world around her had frozen over—like everything but his voice had gone silent. She felt a shiver run down her spine, and her heartbeat grew faster as it thudded with dread. She felt a warm sting behind her eyes and her vision blurred as she slowly, ever so slowly, turned toward the voice.
A lone man was floating in the air.