Ch.111Fairy Queen (2)

The Fairy Queen looked at me, and I looked back at her.

Her gaze felt analytical, but conversely, I could also observe her in detail.

‘Her appearance is exactly as I remember it.’

Cold blue eyes reminiscent of ice crystals.

Ash-gray hair with a faint blue tint.

Long hair that almost, but not quite, touched the ground.

Skin so white it appeared somewhat pale.

Although she had transformed from pixels to reality, she looked exactly as I had seen her on the monitor.

As I continued looking up at the Fairy Queen, I felt my neck becoming slightly stiff.

The stiffness wasn’t because she was floating higher than my eye level.

After all, she wasn’t even flying but was standing properly on the ground with both feet.

The reason my neck was stiff from looking up was simply because the Fairy Queen was taller than me.

‘I knew from the settings how tall she was, but seeing her in person, she’s even taller than I expected.’

[But wait. If she’s the Fairy Queen, isn’t she ultimately a fairy?]

‘Yes, that’s right. She’s definitely a fairy.’

[Then why is she so tall? She seems at least 10cm taller than us.]

‘Since we’re 161cm, that’s about a 12cm difference. And the reason for her height… it’s one of the abilities granted by the Fairy Queen’s blessing.’

Lumia seemed quite surprised by the existence of a Fairy Queen who, even if considered human rather than fairy, would be considered tall.

Certainly, fairies as a race were typically palm-sized, so her surprise wasn’t strange.

[A large fairy… that’s somewhat shocking…]

‘Still, she can become small again by using magic.’

However, since it’s ultimately magic, using it feels like wearing ill-fitting clothes, according to her.

Additionally, it doesn’t look good to the fairies’ vision that can see souls, so she doesn’t use it often.

‘That’s why the royal palace is built to accommodate human size. When the throne is inherited, the blessing is inherited along with it.’

[Wait. So if Lilly becomes queen, she’ll grow just as tall?]

‘Um… yes?’

At my answer, Lumia seemed so shocked that she couldn’t say anything for a while.

The emotions that gradually came through felt like those of a child who had just been told Santa doesn’t exist.

‘Ah, come to think of it… Lumia really loved fairy tales with fairies in them.’

[Be quiet…]

‘That’s how you become an adult.’

Perhaps because her innocence had been shattered, Lumia didn’t say anything more after that.

Judging by the lack of emotions coming through, she apparently needed some time alone to recover.

As Lumia quieted down, I could focus on the Fairy Queen again.

The Fairy Queen was still looking at me with emotionless eyes, but the temperature in the room dropped slightly as if she was displeased with me.

She seemed unhappy that I had taught Kitsune the insights that could be considered the ultimate form of barrier techniques.

The fortunate thing was that this was merely a personal displeasure and she wasn’t expressing hostility toward me.

‘If she had been hostile toward me, she wouldn’t have allowed me to enter the fairy realm in the first place.’

No, if the Fairy Queen had been truly hostile to me, entering the fairy realm would have been the least of my concerns.

If that had been the case, I would have certainly been killed by the Fairy Queen the moment I set foot in the fairy realm.

Considering that, it seemed she was being relatively favorable toward me, which was fortunate.

‘Still, it would be nice if she could do something about this temperature…’

As the temperature continued to drop, I began to worry that my body might actually freeze if this continued.

Just as I was thinking this, the Fairy Queen, apparently having finished her analysis of me, finally spoke.

“At a glance, your body appears merely beautiful, but the state of training within is excellent. Especially your mana circuits… they’re admirable.”

“Um… thank you for your compliment, Your Majesty…?”

To be honest, I had expected the conversation to be about Kitsune, so I couldn’t help but be momentarily confused by the sudden praise.

But it seemed that such praise was merely a build-up for the Queen.

“Compliment? I was merely stating the simple facts that are visible to the eye.”

“Is that so? Well, it still sounds like a compliment to me, so I won’t withdraw my thanks.”

“However, there is one thing I don’t understand. Why did you give that girl useless knowledge? Someone like you should know better.”

The Fairy Queen looked at me as if this had been her intended question all along.

Though she merely stared expressionlessly, her cold impression somehow created a sense of pressure.

An ordinary person might not have been able to answer properly, but I had come too far to be included in the category of ordinary people.

And the best way to deal with the Fairy Queen was not to back down.

“First, I don’t think what I taught Kitsune is useless. It’s also the best I could offer her.”

“No, it is useless. Knowledge, by its nature, is something to be built upon. But if you just keep piling things up, it becomes easy to collapse.

To build the next layer, you need to solidify the current layer that serves as the foundation. Forcibly elevating it will only result in incompleteness. Eventually, eight or nine times out of ten, even what you’ve already built will collapse.

In that case, even knowledge that can’t be bought with a thousand gold pieces is worse than nothing.”

“There wasn’t time to build knowledge gradually. And I didn’t think what Kitsune had built would collapse easily.”

I told the Fairy Queen about the dwarven mines, which could be considered a magical realm.

If Kitsune hadn’t learned, she would have died unable to cope with the environment, and if she hadn’t been capable of learning, I wouldn’t have considered taking her in the first place.

“The specificity of the situation and individual ability? Very well, I can accept that. But exceptional talent doesn’t mean there are no adverse effects.

Did you really need to take that fox child to such an extreme situation?”

“Hmm…”

As she partially acknowledged my explanation but questioned whether it was really necessary, I fell into contemplation for a moment.

It was true that Kitsune’s help had been significant in my journey, but on the other hand, she had also been an unplanned presence.

After all, my decision to take Kitsune along had been spontaneous, based on seeing her barrier techniques.

At the same time, I had been prepared to send her back if her abilities fell short of what I needed.

It would have been nice if she could join, but it was a position that would have been fine without her. No, it was a position that hadn’t even been prepared for Kitsune to fill.

That’s why the Fairy Queen was asking, and that’s why I asked myself as well.

Was Kitsune really necessary for my journey?

“Yes, she was necessary. Even if the beginning was spontaneous, she was absolutely necessary. Even if she wasn’t needed at the start, she’s now both necessary and precious.”

“Is that so? Then what about Lilly?”

“Um… Lilly is obviously necessary and precious, isn’t she?”

When I answered like that, the Fairy Queen showed a very faint smile as if satisfied with something.

It was an extremely faint smile that disappeared so quickly I almost thought I had imagined it, but it was definitely a smile.

At the same time, as if proving my thoughts correct, the temperature of the surroundings, which had been dropping, began to return to normal.

“You, how long do you plan to stay here?”

“Um… probably just today? Since I was drifting, time got a bit delayed. I was planning to move as quickly as possible.”

“Then invest one more week, I’ll provide intensive tutoring to supplement the urgent parts.”

“Eh…”

The one who reacted to the Fairy Queen’s sudden statement wasn’t me but Kitsune.

Since I had returned and she thought we could now escape, she seemed shocked by the mention of supplementary lessons.

Kitsune looked at me with a confused expression, sending desperate glances for help.

But unfortunately, I had to betray Kitsune’s expectations.

“Um… one week? Actually, I don’t know what the current situation at the Magic Tower is. It would be best to move as quickly as possible, but… alright.”

“Well thought. I’ll at least make her good enough not to lose ownership of her barriers to a novice.”

Our destination was the Magic Tower, and there would certainly be those proficient in barrier techniques there.

Originally, I thought Kitsune would do well, but if the Fairy Queen spoke like that, it seemed necessary to supplement her training.

“Freyyyy…”

“Um… hang in there.”

Thanks to this, Kitsune, who was lying face down on the floor, called out to me in a voice on the verge of tears, but I had to deliberately ignore it.

Not only was there nothing I could do for Kitsune, but the conversation wasn’t over yet.

In fact, the more important part of the discussion was just beginning.

“Well then, let’s end the conversation about that child here.”

“Shall we? The previous conversation was important in its own way, but we have many things to discuss.”

The Fairy Queen sent me a silent signal, and I responded to it.

Tap-

She pulled out a large staff from thin air and tapped the floor once with it.

First, everyone except me and her was enveloped in light and disappeared, and soon after, we too vanished from the training ground.

* * *

When the light that had enveloped me and the Fairy Queen dissipated, we found ourselves in her office.

It seemed she had sent the others to different locations, as only she and I were sitting in the office, looking at each other.

The Fairy Queen looking at me had the same expressionless face, but it seemed more imposing than before.

It wasn’t so much a change in emotion as a change in attitude according to the task at hand.

If the Queen from earlier had spoken from the position of Kitsune’s barrier technique teacher, now she was in the position of the monarch of the Fairy Kingdom.

“Welcome to the Fairy Kingdom, Savior of Gagap. I am Ninianne, the monarch of this place.”

“Thank you for the welcome, Your Majesty. I am Frey, traveling to stop the Evil God’s plans and to kill the Evil God.”

So I too spoke not as Kitsune’s guardian but as myself, intent on killing the Evil God.

“So… have you learned enough about me? I hope that observation left a good impression on Your Majesty.”

“I see, you’ve noticed that much.”

“At first I thought I was bounced off by an automatic defense barrier, but thinking about it now, the movement was too gentle.”

If there was a barrier in the fairy realm that automatically activated only for Apostles, it wouldn’t simply push them away.

“From what I know of Your Majesty, you would have burned an Apostle rather than deliberately letting them go.”

“Indeed. Sending you there was not a coincidence but my direct action. I needed to know how to treat you.

While it’s true you saved Gagap, your purpose is not salvation but deicide. Therefore, as a monarch, I needed to know what path you would walk.”

“So~ you secretly observed me with magic, but what’s your honest assessment of me?”

Although I could predict the answer at this point, I still wanted to hear it directly, so I deliberately asked.

In response, Ninianne opened her mouth with an expression that seemed to say “this succubus-like fellow.”

“You sought not to become a monster for revenge and tried to do as much good as you could. Therefore, you are clearly and definitely an ally of this world.

And I apologize for exposing you to danger by sending you to the border on my own authority.”

“No, I know you would have helped if I had really been in danger. Keep your apology. I’ll just accept the praise based on clear facts.”

“…Indeed, a succubus-like fellow.”

“Um, you realize you said that out loud, right?”

While it was like a bolt from the blue for me, I couldn’t say I didn’t understand Ninianne.

I knew her as a monarch and understood her to be responsible, if cautious.

In the end, I resolved the issue myself so she didn’t have to intervene, but I believed she would definitely provide proper compensation for this matter.

‘I lost most of my items in Gagap anyway, so I need to get some new ones.’

Although being in the Fairy Kingdom meant there would be few items suitable for my body, that didn’t mean there were none at all.

“Hmm, I have an ominous feeling. As if a petty thief has entered the national treasury.”

“Ahem, it’s just your imagination. Just your imagination.”

I spoke nonchalantly, but I couldn’t escape Ninianne’s suspicious gaze.

Having noticed my thoughts, Ninianne looked at me with narrowed eyes for a moment before returning to her usual expressionless face.

“Well, it’s partly my fault too. I’ll acknowledge that. We’ll discuss compensation later.”

“Please prepare some good items.”

“Sigh, and I had prepared those for the Hero’s party…”

“I’m technically the Hero’s mentor, so wouldn’t that make me part of the Hero’s party?”

After our brief banter to lighten the mood, Ninianne and I simultaneously opened our mouths.

“Then, let’s begin the main discussion.”

“Then, shall we begin the main discussion?”

That discussion was about the demon realm, the Black Pillar, and beyond that, the Evil God’s plans currently unfolding throughout the world.