episode_0023

“Now, let’s move on to the next book. This book explains why humans forgot about fairies and why fairies disappeared.”

Mourian pushed aside a forgotten book that had been overshadowed by the Fairy Encyclopedia “Us” and showed it to Eliza and Vine.

The cover of the small book, which seemed more like a notebook than a book, had nothing written on it, and its preservation was even better than that of the Fairy Encyclopedia. The green cover, laid with what seemed like top-quality leather, appeared pristine without any signs of discoloration or fading.

“I actually stumbled upon this by pure chance. I was roaming the southern plains beyond the border to gather bile from hunting dogs or animals for alchemical purposes when I came across a merchant’s carriage that seemed to have been attacked by Aelenis or wild creatures!

I was rummaging through the carriage and the merchant’s corpse, looking for anything useful, and that’s when I found this in the inner pocket of the corpse’s coat.”

Mourian handed the notebook to Eliza. Eliza unfolded the notebook, but naturally, it was written in a fairy language she did not understand.

“Give it here.”

Eliza obediently handed over the notebook. Vine furrowed her brows as she read the writing in the notebook.

“It looks like a diary, but the writing is strange. There are many typos.”

“What a terrible handwriting, right? Just like the Fairy Encyclopedia, it seems this diary was written by someone significant in the world of fairytale, but their penmanship didn’t follow their status. Thanks to that, I struggled quite a bit with the translation.

Vine, is there anything problematic in the diary? If there’s anything even slightly bothersome, we won’t read this diary and will replace it with a simple lecture.”

“It’s fine for Eliza to read it. Since it seems to be written by a child who shows respect to the Blood Fairy despite being a Fairy Tale Fairy.”

Vine quickly flipped through the pages, skimmed through the diary, and handed it to Mourian.

“Thank you. I don’t want to see Vine getting hurt. Shall we begin then? The important parts seem to be concentrated towards the end, so I’ll start from there.”

Mourian began reading the diary.

*

May 2nd

They vanished.

My compatriots disappeared without a trace, without any warning. They evaporated before my eyes.

I was enjoying dinner with friends I had invited to my mansion. As I was about to tease Madeline about the progress of her research on human flesh production, there was a simultaneous sound of dishes falling on the table and the floor. Startled, I looked around the table to find that all my fairy friends had disappeared, leaving only the human maidens who were serving, staring at me with bewildered expressions.

At first, I thought my friends were playing a prank. I told them to stop joking, that it was frightening enough, and suggested we dispel the invisibility spell and continue our meal, but there was no response, no mocking laughter, just silence.

I ran around the mansion searching for my family.

No one was there.

They had all vanished.

The human maidens were extremely confused when their master disappeared, some sitting down in shock, others crying. A few quick-witted ones were already rummaging through the family’s dressing tables, stealing expensive jewels and trinkets.

Before I could stop them, other maidens caught the thieves, and in my rage, I fed five droplets of a saintly nun’s overdose-recommended green potion to the thieves. Watching them melt away their insides in agony as they died was quite satisfying.

Now that my mind is clear, I plan to search for my vanished compatriots. I needed to hurry.

Otherwise, irreversible events would unfold.

Oberon, where the fairies disappeared, was a crucible of chaos.

The human slaves, who mistakenly believed they had regained their freedom, revolted against the dwindling population of surviving fairies. Exploiting their numerical advantage, the rebellious slaves began to repay the fairies in kind for what they had endured: rape, consumption, or simply death.

Fortunately, there were loyal slaves fighting against the rebel ones. Most were laborers and soldiers under my command, as I led them at the forefront in a desperate search for surviving fairies.

Now. By the dim light that has passed three hours past dinner time, I have discovered a total of twenty-three survivors. They were all huddled in fear at my mansion, discussing why this had happened and what the future held, trembling with apprehension.

Not a single drop of the bloodline of the fairy nobles was found. It was strange not to find even one of the most numerous fairies.

Without them, it would be as if the lineage of the fairy race had come to an end.

I intend to persuade the surviving fairies to leave Oberon. Oberon is finished now. Staying here would only lead to slaughter by humans or a pitiful existence continuing in chains.

Fortunately, I had a plan.

I did not forget to retrieve the key to Titania for that plan.

May 3rd

Damn it! The fairies were more foolish and optimistic than imagined. Some fairies insisted on staying in Oberon, claiming that the Fairy Princess would come to rescue them, while others who could not grasp reality believed they could fend off the humans storming in to suppress the rebellion.

Nevertheless, ten agreed with my proposal. It was somewhat regrettable that none of the agreeing fairies were from the faction of the Dreamweavers; in fact, all those foolish optimists were Dreamweavers.

While a Midnight Fairy suggested leaving behind the foolish Dreamweavers to die at the hands of humans and fleeing together, I did not agree with her. Despite their foolishness, I could not abandon them.

Yet, we cannot linger here indefinitely. A decision must be made by this morning. We need to quickly persuade the Dreamweavers.

Continued below.

The Midnight Fairy, Partina, was remarkably bold and resolute beyond imagination. In front of everyone, she activated Oberon’s self-destruct mechanism and threatened the Dreamweavers that if they did not escape by tomorrow noon, they would perish along with Oberon.

It was highly effective. Frightened, all but one Dreamweaver agreed to leave Oberon.

That one was Mer, one of Oberon’s architects.

The era of the fairies has come to an end. Rather than struggling to survive and dying in agony, Mer said he would prefer to die happily alongside Oberon.

Respecting his wishes, we left him behind, delaying the human slaves through a secret passage before escaping Oberon.

Oberon exploded in a blaze of glory as we reached the Emerald Caves. While traversing a path to avoid human eyes, we encountered a band of looters riding horses towards Oberon. I hoped Oberon’s demise included those wretches.

Regardless, we mourned Oberon’s death. There were fairies weeping loudly.

I was one of them.

But we still had a long way to go. At least a month of travel lay ahead. There was no time to waste on such matters.

We needed to arrive before the humans found Dinacil.

May 5th

There is both good news and bad news. The good news is that the Fairy Princess is still alive, and the bad news is that she is gathering the remaining fairies to attack the Papal Palace.

I don’t understand why the Fairy Princess is attacking the Papal Court. Of course, I dislike the Wing Church too, and their leader, the Pope, but…

I just realized that the disappearance of the fairies might be a conspiracy by those Wing Church people. It could have been a matter of them praying day and night for a thousand days to kill the fairies serving their wings.

But even if that were true, I had no intention of joining the Fairy Princess’s army.

Revenge can come later. Survival is the priority for now.

As much as I wanted to persuade the Fairy Princess and bring her to Dina City, Partina opposed it, saying she couldn’t serve a failure clinging to humans anymore.

If others hadn’t intervened, we would have fought until one of us died.

May 6th

I heard a surprising rumor from a wandering fairy named Tisiphone. The rumor was that the Fairy Princess was siding with humans to erase the fairies from this world.

It’s a false rumor. Surely, it’s a false rumor. The Fairy Princess wouldn’t stoop to such actions.

I’ve heard rumors about her mingling with humans, but I found it intriguing that a Sangrean fairy would be friendly with humans and just brushed it off…

When I discussed this matter with Partina, apart from fairies like those in the fairy tales who are friendly with humans, everyone took the Fairy Princess’s camaraderie with humans seriously. Some fairies who attacked the Fairy Princess were among them.

I asked Partina what happened to those fairies.

Partina replied that they all perished.

Upon hearing that, I abandoned the idea of persuading the Fairy Princess.

My loyalty and affection towards the Fairy Princess did not waver. Even if the baseless rumors were true, she might have fallen victim to the wicked schemes of humans.

And isn’t the Fairy Princess regaining her senses and attacking humans?

However, the fact that the Fairy Princess, bestowed with a mission to protect us by our great ancestors, killed her compatriots was unforgivable.

Furthermore, the sentiment towards the Fairy Princess among other compatriots, including Partina, was not favorable. If I rushed into battle alone without my compatriots, death would be imminent.

Additional bad news, Milquise committed suicide in front of me while writing in her diary. She jumped off a cliff.

She was an excellent cheese artisan, and I used to visit her shop occasionally to buy delicious cheese.

Do you know what she said to me before she died?

She couldn’t accept our impending downfall, feeling weak and sorry. With tears streaming down her face, she said so.

May 7th

Two unnamed fairy tale fairies and Abane committed suicide. Perhaps Milquise’s suicide acted as a catalyst.

The fairy tale fairies were found holding hands, having ingested poison, and Abane jumped off a cliff like Milquise.

Neither left any last words.

Blazer and Mistina informed us that they would join the Fairy Princess’s army and left us. They left a message saying they would continue to believe in the Fairy Princess. We provided them with some necessities before bidding them farewell.

Humans lit fires and searched for us. Thanks to the advanced abilities of the Void Fairy Hiranda, we could move without being detected, but there were a few tense moments.

It was fortunate that no dogs were around. These smelly creatures could sniff us out with their keen noses, posing a danger, but we hadn’t encountered any humans with dogs yet.

I hope we can reach Dina City before everything goes south.

May 8th

We failed to save the fairy of Seoga from being murdered by a group of human boys.

Fueled by anger, Partina, myself, and the other fairies killed the boys who had murdered the fairy and even the adults who came to rescue the children.

The genitals and anus of the fairy in Seoga were oozing white semen along with blood.

We filled our stomachs by eating the humans we killed, mutilated their bodies beyond recognition, and left without a trace.

We didn’t forget to bury the fairy in Seoga. We couldn’t make graves for fear of being desecrated by humans.

Sorry.

May 9th

Encountered the corpse of the fairy of alcohol entwined with ivy.

Found the decaying corpse of the ruling fairy lying on the dirt floor and a burnt nest.

Failed to save the fairy of fables whose throat was slit while kneeling and begging for mercy from mocking humans.

Today, I witnessed too much death.

May 10th

Had a private conversation with Partina for the first time.

Partina was an incredibly old fairy. She had lived in the forest even before Oberon’s reign and after Oberon emerged, she hunted intruders in the nearby forest.

She mentioned encountering this disaster while going to sell human slaves to Oberon.

I told Partina that this disaster was caused by nobles who seized control of Oberon’s gem industry before this disaster occurred. Partina slightly teased me for not knowing about such an important person. Perhaps she found it amusing that I was a pampered fairy consumed by Oberon’s luxurious life.

But I didn’t feel bad. It was almost humorous. Has the world become so devoid of meaning that previous status holds no significance?

Partina looked at me as if finding my burst of laughter intriguing, then soon joined in. We laughed until the idiotic messenger of Sestia (the one who suggested defending Oberon) yelled at us to be quiet.

It had been a long time since we laughed like that.

May 12th

Marisa, Michae, and Biganne committed suicide.

They left no final words.

Sorry.

May 15th

Partina and I discussed our future prospects.

Food and water were not an issue. The forest had streams and ponds, and places with water were teeming with wild animals. Some fairies unfamiliar with hunting (myself included) initially found this lifestyle challenging, but we gradually adapted. Now, everyone skillfully hunted prey, tore into the meat with ease.

There was hardly any concern about being discovered by humans. With Hiranda’s powers and Partina’s knowledge of the forest, we felt secure.

Our fragile minds were the problem.

Partina argued that our downfall was due to arrogance.

No one thought that humans, essentially like livestock, would retaliate so effectively.

Due to that arrogance, we fell, and our minds, unable to accept the sudden downfall, were crumbling.

I agreed with Partina’s words and asked her how we should proceed to reach Dinasie without losing our minds.

Partina wasn’t sure. She said there was nothing to do but move forward.

Indeed, there was little we could do besides heading towards Dinasie.

May 17th

Humans were spreading ominous rumors.

They claimed that the Fairy Princess had finally been defeated and met the same fate as the other fairies.

Absurd. There’s no way the Fairy Princess could have been defeated.

Surely, this is a false rumor created by humans to break the morale of the remaining fairies.

Sestia knew this would happen, damn the Bloodline Fairy and others.

(This part was signaled by Bine not to mention in the group)

Damn Sestia. That woman needs to hurry up and kill herself to give us some relief.

May 18th

Fully armed, the Knights of the Winged Church attacked us. We fought desperately, but two died, and everyone suffered injuries. My arm was broken, and Partina either sprained her ankle or fractured her leg.

The most severe was Furu Furu. From the protruding internal organs on the upper body, entwined in a stretched-out posture, someone unseen to us was screaming loudly.

I don’t know what to do now.

May 19th

Furu Furu finally died.

We buried her and set off again.

I’m sorry.

May 20th

Rumors of Dina City being captured were not circulating among humans.

But I couldn’t shake off the anxiety that Dina City might also fall.

Partina, upon hearing my anxiety, told me to get rid of such useless anxiety. We shouted that we would definitely go to Dina City, spitting out determination.

In my view, Partina was gradually losing her mind.

No, all the fairies, including myself, were losing it. It had been just over two weeks since disaster struck, and everyone was losing it.

The remaining fairies, twelve survivors including myself, were all exhausted but continued forward with a desire to survive.

May 22nd

Hiranda went insane.

She was riding on the Milchenter she had killed, tearing its face apart and exclaiming how delicious fairy meat was and how pitiful those who didn’t know this taste were.

We had no choice but to kill Hiranda. In her madness, she tried to devour us as well.

Now, there are ten of us left.

I’m sorry.

May 24th

What if Dina City has fallen?

Even if it hasn’t fallen, what if Titania doesn’t function?

Even if Titania functions, what if humans discover Titania?

May 26th

Partina got injured.

Caught in a cleverly hidden bear trap, she badly hurt her ankle. Partina couldn’t walk alone. The remaining eight of us, including myself, decided to take turns supporting Partina. It was fortunate that many survivors were still alive.

Someone (probably Sajestia) complained to us, asking why we couldn’t fly when we had wings. They even went so far as to say that if our wings functioned properly, Partina wouldn’t have grabbed our ankles. I got angry at Sajestia. I shouted about how hard Partina had worked for us, emphasizing that we would all be dead if it weren’t for her.

Sajestia yelled back at me, and in my anger, I tried to slap Sajestia.

If Partina hadn’t shouted for us to stop, something irreversible would have happened.

“Please stop, I was wrong, so please stop,” I said, choking back tears.

Today was the first time I saw her cry. I thought she was a tough fairy without tears.

May 29th

Bau, Micaela was killed by wolves.

Lize left us, saying she would torture a human and wait for death.

I’m sorry.

May 30th

We were attacked by the Holy Order. Some of the people we met during the last attack were there.

Although we managed to barely escape this time, four people died. Florence, Parné, Muimi, and one person who never revealed their name until the end.

I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry

June 2nd

It’s been a month since the Al Inferno (Sajestia called it that disaster. I’m not sure why) occurred.

They say it only took us a month to reach this point.

I looked around at the survivors. Me and Partina, and Sajestia sitting away from us.

Ironically, the fairy I loved the most and the one I hated the most were living together.

After a month of repeating journeys where the threat of death coexisted, our morale was beyond words. It was reminiscent of a human beggar I once saw.

But our minds were still clear. (Probably)

Except for Partina, no one had suffered severe injuries, and even Partina was getting better as I applied the makeshift ointment I made on her ankle.

While Sajestia usually kept to herself, she even shared the prey she hunted with us.

When the fairy of the tale asked Sajestia how she could hunt so well, she grumbled, saying that before Al Inferno, she used to hunt bare-bodied once a month to not forget her wild nature.

I was purely amazed by her and praised her skills. Cerestia blushed, silently handed me the meat, and left without a word.

When I told Partina about this, she laughed loudly, saying she never imagined that the fierce warrior had such a cute side. I laughed along.

Although Sajestia teased us about why we found it so amusing, she too couldn’t help but smile.

I hope there will be more laughter ahead.

To be continued in the next episode.