episode_0027

The chieftain of the elves, Abélard, had no fear.

To be precise.

He had never felt the emotion of ‘fear.’

It wasn’t that he inherently lacked the emotion of fear,

Nor was it filled with empty bravado.

The reason is simple.

He was one who had lived his entire life in the position of the ‘strong.’

He may have been the object of fear for others,

But he himself was not an object that felt fear.

That’s why he was always curious about the emotion of ‘fear.’

‘Why on earth do they feel such an emotion?’

Afraid of lightning striking from the sky?

I can also make lightning strike.

Afraid of encountering ogres or trolls?

Just smash their skulls.

Afraid of death that will come someday?

I too will simply return as a part of nature.

But,

Such a thing happened that he felt fear for the first time in his life.

-Dad. I think humans are all disgusting creatures.

When his daughter became firmly entrenched in a strange ideology.

He felt the emotion of ‘fear’ for the first time in his life.

Afraid that his daughter would be seen strangely by others.

Afraid that he might not be able to correct his daughter’s wrong thinking for life.

Afraid that his daughter would fall into even more wrong ideologies.

He tried every means to return Merina to her original state,

But all efforts returned to nothing.

Only then did he understand the emotion of fear.

‘Fear comes from powerlessness.’

A result derived from the occurrence of a situation that I cannot control.

He realized that was the primal core of fear.

Discouraged by his daughter’s increasingly severe ideology,

When he was immersed in powerlessness.

-Dad, I think I was wrong all along.

His daughter returned to her former self.

Completely.

At first, he was angry.

Of course, he thought that her memories had been cut out with magical procedures,

Or that she had undergone a brainwashing-like operation.

However, as a result of examining it, it was really just ‘purely’ returning her thoughts themselves to the way they were before.

Naturally, he became curious.

‘How on earth?’

The part that even I couldn’t control,

How on earth did she solve it?

After hearing the detailed story from Merina, his curiosity grew even more.

‘She influenced my daughter with music? And a human girl of 11 years old did it?’

Of course, there was a recommendation from the imperial princess that there was a tremendous genius in the Magic Tower, but he did not hear the story that she was an 11-year-old girl.

Her age aside, the means itself was also surprising.

The chieftain was also an elf,

So he also had considerable pride in music itself.

It was a genre that he prided himself on that elves were the best compared to anyone, but he couldn’t help but be curious when he heard that his daughter had changed due to a human girl’s performance.

Naturally, he wanted to hear the girl’s performance,

And this thought became deeper and deeper as the days went by, and it did not fade.

Then eventually, he came face to face with the girl.

His first impression, in a word, was unusual.

‘Truly beautiful.’

An appearance close to perfect even when viewed through the eyes of elves, a race of beauty.

He didn’t think she was inferior at all even when compared to his daughter, who wouldn’t hurt even if he put her in his eyes.

The girl named Serena gave the impression that her snow-white silver hair and skin resembled that of an angel.

Despite her young age, her strangely relaxed appearance in everything was impressive,

And he was very surprised when he moved with her and eventually pierced Grebo’s pendant with a huge spear.

‘Certainly, at that level, she is good enough to fix my daughter.’

Now that he knew that his daughter’s explanation was not exaggerated, it was time to ask her to perform.

The girl, who was always relaxed, was relaxed even by his sudden request as the chieftain.

How relaxed was she? She even asked what kind of performance he wanted to hear.

‘What kind of performance do I want to hear, huh.’

As he thought for a moment, one thought came to his mind.

If it was a performer who solved the problem of his daughter, who had made him, who had lived his whole life without knowing fear, know fear,

Wouldn’t it be possible to have a performance that makes him feel fear in reverse?

It was a fairly impromptu thought, but curious, he asked the girl if such a performance was possible, and

-Of course.

She simply agreed lightly this time as well.

Waiting for a while filled with anticipation,

Serena called him.

When he came out to the place the girl had mentioned with the others,

She, who had already come out, was meditating for a moment.

Noticing the group, she stopped meditating,

And began to materialize something in the air with magic.

‘Hoo….’

The magic gradually changed its shape and transformed into various kinds of musical instruments.

‘The idea of materializing musical instruments with magic and performing them.’

His anticipation increased even more at the very unique and creative idea.

At that time, his daughter whispered next to him.

“That’s strange. She played the piano directly last time, but it’s not here this time.”

As his daughter said, there was no piano among the many instruments the girl had materialized.

Instead, various other kinds of instruments filled the space tightly.

‘…To materialize 16 kinds of instruments like that in such large numbers.’

How much magic does she have,

And how delicate is her control possible?

He let out a hollow laugh at the absurd sight.

Serena, who had no way of knowing his thoughts, closed her eyes and slowly began to play.

The beginning started at a slower tempo than expected.

However, that didn’t mean it was ordinary.

‘What, what is this feeling?’

As he listened to the performance,

An unpleasant sensation began to creep up on his body.

‘Just with instruments, such a sensation?’

It wasn’t just an unpleasant sensation that he felt.

As he listened to the melody in a fairly low register,

He felt uneasy without realizing it, and his body began to stiffen with tension little by little.

In fact, he already felt that this alone was amazing.

But the real change was just beginning.

Suddenly, the sound of the performance itself became very loud.

Along with that, he felt as if his heart sound, which he was listening to, was also being heard loudly.

-Thump.

-Thump.

-Thump.

As the performance progressed,

The image of the night deepening naturally came to his mind,

And he felt as if the forest was gradually darkening.

‘Wait. Am I just imagining it?’

Confused, he looked around.

Then, an unbelievable sight unfolded.

‘…Was I not just imagining it.’

He didn’t know how it happened,

But darkness had actually fallen on the forest.

The change didn’t end here.

-Brrrrrrrr.

-Bbirolololong.

The spirits that should have been in the spirit realm suddenly began to cross over to the human realm here and there.

The number of spirits appearing gradually increased and gathered around Serena, who was performing.

This alone was an amazing sight,

But the spirits didn’t stop here.

-Ihihihihi.

-Euhheukyakyakyak.

The spirits, who originally loved nature and made friendly sounds,

Were now beginning to make eerie laughter that evil spirits or witches would make.

It goes without saying that Abélard’s mouth was wide open as he watched this sight.

‘What on earth is this absurd sight.’

Looking closely, he felt that the laughter of the spirits was also different from their usual warm laughter, and was somehow possessed by madness.

‘I feel like the color of the spirits has also darkened a little…?’

Not only that, but at the moment when everyone around him was spaced out,

The performance was gradually heading towards its climax.

-Hihihihihi!

-Hyahyahyahya!

-Heuheuheueheu!

The spirits, making more and more insane laughter,

Gathered around spinning and displayed the appearance of a huge demon like a pointillist painting.

“Ah, ah….”

“Oh God….”

“Fear weakens me, disbelief in God weakens me, Lord, please strengthen me and keep me from temptation….”

People were looking for God here and there,

There was even someone who was reciting prayers.

-Hihihihihi!

-Hyahyahyahya!

-Heuheuheueheu!

The insane laughter did not subside at all,

Rather, it lingered around them even more loudly as if mocking them.

The performance is getting faster and louder.

A barrage of cymbals, timpani, and trumpets that make your ears dizzy.

Dissonance created by numerous instruments.

The explosions of the spirits that can be heard in between.

Cold sweat running down the back of the head and spine.

The moment when all of these things, which are harmonized and turn the inside of the head into a complete mess with vibration, reach their peak of madness-.

-Diing.

-Diing.

All the performances stopped at once,

And the sound of a bell ringing calmly.

-Diing.

-Diing.

In the midst of the frantic scene where he felt like he was going to lose his mind,

The sound of a bell that even felt sacred.

With that bell sound, the darkness of the forest gradually began to dissipate.

And…

-Ppubyabyabyap!

-Parabarabap!

As if nothing had happened,

The spirits who returned to their usual brightness let out friendly laughter and disappeared into the spirit realm one by one.

And then came a soft and gentle performance.

‘Ah….’

As if the events of a moment ago were a nightmare,

The performance that soothed his heart confused him even more.

Abélard couldn’t find the words to say at the surreal and unrealistic sight.

The performance ended with the harmony of the soft harp and woodwind instruments,

-Hoo.

The girl, who breathed heavily as if she had accomplished a great task, approached him.

Serena spoke first to him, who was still dizzy and choosing his words.

“How was it? Did you like it?”

The girl’s appearance, smiling as she said that,

Was more beautiful and more frightening than any sight he had ever seen.

‘Fear is an emotion that comes from something I cannot control….’

He,

Was certainly afraid of the girl.

And probably,

Almost everyone in this place would be the same.

* * *

It seems that my performance was very pleasing to them.

Judging from the fact that they were speechless for a long time even after the performance was over, they must have been reminiscing about the feelings they felt after listening to my performance.

‘There’s no way that someone who is even a chieftain would be so scared that he froze.’

Actually, I was thinking about choosing a scarier song,

But somehow the thought that elves = forest crossed my mind and I spontaneously chose it thinking, ‘Isn’t Bald Mountain the scariest thing for elves?’

‘If elves saw North Korea’s Bald Mountain, they would faint, right?’

I was in a fairly good mood,

So I was wearing a silly smile on my face while having silly thoughts.

Why am I in such a good mood?

The reason is that the chieftain was more generous than I thought.

‘To give me a magic orb to put on my staff.’

It wasn’t even just a magic orb,

It was a magic orb imbued with the magic of a great spirit.

‘How much did they get from the elves?’

Elixir, a staff, and even a magic orb to put on the staff.

‘Elves are a race like a big mountain peak…!’

I kept giggling and rolling around on the bed by myself, when someone came to the room.

-Knock knock.

-It’s me, Serena.

‘It’s Flora?’

I quickly got out of bed and opened the door.

-Slam.

“Serena. I enjoyed your performance.”

“Sister! I came too!”

It seems that Merina came with Flora as well.

But Merina was glancing at me.

“What’s wrong, Merina?”

“Well… the performance was so scary, hehe….”

“Haha. Merina is still young.”

“No! My dad was scared too!”

“The chieftain? No way.”

“Hing. It’s true….”

There’s no way that the mountain-like gentleman would be scared by just a performance.

When I laughed off Merina’s words, Flora opened her mouth.

“I don’t have to worry about my graduation recital either, right? Hehe.”

“Of course! I’ll give you the best performance!”

“Really? Then I’ll look forward to it. By the way, I came to give you something.”

“Give me something?”

“Yeah. Here.”

Flora handed me a letter as she said that.

I received the letter and checked the place of dispatch.

“The place of dispatch is… my house?”

“Really? Go ahead and check it.”

Actually, my house doesn’t send letters often.

‘Because we mostly contact each other through crystal balls.’

And I also visit home regularly, though not very often, so there is almost no reason for my family to write me a letter.

‘It’s been a few months since I last went home.’

I have a bad feeling.

It’s not a very bad feeling,

It’s just something… something strange.

-Rip.

I tore off the seal of the letter and carefully checked the contents.

To my beloved Serena.

My daughter.

It’s been a while since you’ve been home.

Something happened at home while our daughter was away.

It’s something that you must come to,

So please come home as soon as you see this letter.

I’ll say it again, you must come!

-From your mom who loves our daughter the most in the world.

‘What does this mean…?’

A fairly embarrassing situation.

I was worried that it was a serious matter, but fortunately there was a postscript.

p.s. It’s not a bad thing.

‘Then what on earth is it?’

I had a headache from the empty letter.

‘I miss mom…’

Ah, I have to go see my mom.

‘Ugh. I wish you could tell me more about what’s going on.’

Still, I have to go if I’m told to.

Because that’s what ‘children’ are….

I sighed and started preparing to go home.