episode_0012

“Is it okay for you to not wear clothes, Vine?”

Trying to make her question sound like mere curiosity rather than concern focused on Vine upon their arrival at Libra, Eliza cautiously asked Vine while hiding her worries about Vine being the center of attention.

“I don’t need clothes since they’re uncomfortable when moving.”

Vine answered Eliza’s question while looking at the rapidly passing scenery outside.

Both were riding in the cargo area of a truck. Maisa had to drive, and both Victor and Maisa didn’t want to be in the same space as Vine.

Eliza wanted to sit in the passenger seat, but (due to Vine’s gaze filled with an implicit threat of ‘I’ll rape you if you’re not with me,’ although she denied it forcibly), she climbed into the truck cargo area with Vine to consider the two.

There was a somewhat soft mattress in the cargo area, albeit messy, allowing them to be more comfortable than sitting on the floor. It was the mattress left for transporting the injured person they found on the “Great Road.”

Aware that people were in the cargo area, Maisa did not drive at her usual speed of over 120 km/h, allowing them to enjoy the breeze that dried the sweat caused by the summer heat without discomfort.

“So, do fairies all go around without clothes?”

“Some compatriots wear clothes according to their preferences. Mostly the tribes who like imitating humans. Those who don’t wear clothes put on animal fur if they get cold. I do the same.”

“…Do fairies like being naked?”

Eliza said, touching a cartridge rolling on the floor.

“How about trying walking around naked like Elsa? It would be more comfortable than awkwardly wearing clothes.”

“I’m fine. Walking around like that in the human world is like advertising my madness.”

Eliza, rolling the cartridge back and forth, felt a living gaze and stopped moving.

“Vine…?”

Eliza spoke cautiously, full of fear.

“Vine! I’m sorry! Please forgive me! Comparing fairies to humans so carelessly…”

“Do you dislike my body?”

“…What?”

Eliza was stunned by Vine’s words.

Like a cat slowly approaching its prey, Vine lay down and approached Eliza.

Her plump breasts swayed gently with pink hair.

“Do you find my body repulsive? Disgusting?”

Vine brought her face close to Eliza’s. Eliza’s golden eyes filled with fear met Vine’s red eyes filled with pure anger.

When he was still a man, Eliza had been intimate with women a few times.

It was all in brothels, and he had never taken the lead in sex. Eliza followed the lead of the prostitutes, caressing their chests and swaying his hips.

Even after becoming a woman, was Eliza destined to experience something similar? Vine grabbed Eliza’s arm and roughly pressed it against her chest.

Desperately trying to come up with an excuse, Eliza’s mind went blank as soon as she felt the softness of the breast with her hand.

“You can touch as much as you want.”

Eliza, her face turning crimson, tried to pull her arm out of Vine’s grasp, but she couldn’t escape because Vine held her too tightly.

With no other choice, Eliza did as Vine wished and caressed her chest.

“Ugh…”

A moan escaped from Vine’s lips.

“…S-soft…”

The plump and firm breasts, which Eliza could barely hold with one hand, were softer and had a better texture than the breasts of all the prostitutes Eliza had touched.

“…Ugh…”

The nipple, the color of pus, gradually hardened. The sensation of the hardening nipple in her hand was so stimulating to Eliza.

“…V-Vine… That’s enough now….”

Eliza pleaded to Vine.

“……”

Vine released Eliza’s arm. Eliza quickly removed her hand from Vine’s chest.

“Feeling good?”

With his usual cold expression, completely unchanged, Vine asked Eliza for her thoughts.

“……Yes.”

Eliza avoided Vine’s gaze.

“You can touch me as much as you want when I allow it. Consider it an honor. If it were someone else touching me instead of Eliza, I would have cut their throat by now.”

Vine whispered in Eliza’s ear with a low voice.

“If you do well, I can let you touch even more intimate places.”

Eliza’s face turned even redder.

“I-I….”

Eliza, whose mind was tangled like a ball of yarn due to Vine’s words, couldn’t speak properly.

“So, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make rude comments like suggesting I wear clothes or feeling embarrassed about being naked.”

“What?”

Eliza finally came to her senses.

“Surely… You knew what I was thinking and saying?”

“You were speaking so openly without any intention to hide. ‘Walking around the human world like that is as crazy as advertising it,’ you said. Why do you keep judging fairies by human standards?”

“Ah….”

Eliza cast her eyes down.

“Just because of that one thing, did you let Vine touch your body….”

“Using hands or feet for physical communication is basic social skills.”

‘It seems that in fairy society, lesbian sex is considered a common social value.’

Eliza, who momentarily became wiser, did not voice the thought that had just crossed her mind.

“So, Eliza, don’t resist.”

Before Eliza could respond, Vine fondled Eliza’s chest.

“Hu…huhhh!”

“Such excellent breasts that they make me jealous. Soft and firm.”

Vine, who also had large breasts comparable to Eliza’s, commented on Eliza’s chest.

“V-Vine… Ahhh….”

“Eliza, do your breasts feel uncomfortable or do your nipples tingle? Fellow fairies who secrete breast milk often complain of such discomfort.”

“No! I’m fine!”

In reality, Eliza didn’t feel any particular discomfort in her chest, except for the fact that her bra was too tight.

“…Is nothing coming out yet… Oh well.”

Vine lifted Eliza’s top, revealing her large breasts with erect pink nipples.

“If I suck, something might come out at least a little.”

With a greedy look reminiscent of the previous night by the stream, Vine stared at Eliza’s chest.

Seeing Vine lick his lips greedily, Eliza felt a horror beyond manners.

‘At this rate… I’ll be victimized again….’

Eliza wanted to escape from Vine’s clutches, but there was nowhere to run in the cargo hold of the truck hurtling down the road.

“……?”

Sniffing the air, Vine wrinkled his nose.

“Why… Vine…. What’s wrong?”

Seeing Vine gradually retreat, Eliza cautiously spoke up.

“There’s a disgusting smell.”

Eliza also sniffed the air, but she didn’t detect any particular odor.

“Vine, there’s no smell at all.”

Ignoring Eliza’s words, Vine extended his shoulder outside the cargo hold and looked across the road.

He licked his tongue.

“…It made me feel dirty. I won’t do it.”

Upon hearing Vine’s words, Eliza breathed a sigh of relief.

“So, Vine, can you see anything with your eyes?”

“I still can’t see anything. But…”

“But?”

“If we keep going at this speed, I might be able to see.”

Curious, Eliza forgot the almost-assault situation from earlier and asked Vine.

“What do you mean?”

In his usual indifferent and cold tone, Vine responded to Eliza’s question.

“Black Corpse.”

*

After running for about ten minutes, Meisa, who discovered it, stepped on the truck’s brakes.

Now Eliza could smell it too. A lukewarm and unpleasant stench reminiscent of decaying mangrove swamps in the water.

Eliza had smelled this stench before. In the cave where the Black Blood Elenis growled.

“….”

Net, who got out of the car, walked a few steps as if possessed, then stared at what was blocking the path.

“…Horrible.”

Victor commented. It was similar to expressing the inner thoughts of the other two besides Vina.

It was a wooden cross with a boy halfway through Elenization nailed to it. The cross stood on the middle of a two-lane bridge over the Loki River.

The suffering boy looked to be around fifteen or as young as thirteen.

His face hadn’t completely undergone Elenization yet, but his left cheek was covered with black, viscous flesh that dripped like tears, and his eyes had turned into dark red masses that only left traces of what they used to be. The mutations on his arm with a nail driven through it and his legs tied with ropes were even more severe.

From the nailed hand, black liquid constantly flowed. This black liquid is called ‘Sacred Blood,’ the substance that serves as the origin of the Black Blood Elenis, also known as Compound-R900.

There was no problem consuming Sacred Blood without much thought. Sacred Blood contained no toxins or hazardous substances harmful to the human body.

But if consumed with the hope of bodily regeneration or the resurrection of a loved one…

“■■■■■….”

Incomprehensible groans escaped the boy’s mouth. It sounded like moaning filled with rotten seaweed.

Under the cross were a man and a woman, both not fully Elenized like the boy, and a girl who looked around ten years old. All three were producing dreadful harmony with their groans, just like the boy. They were entangled with objects resembling iron fences, fixing the cross on the asphalt while completely blocking the two-lane bridge, preventing trucks from passing.

A rope was hung around the boy’s neck, and the rope was tied to a large wooden board like a sign hanging on a door latch.

The wooden board covered the boy’s torso down to where his legs began. The wooden board had writing that resembled Sacred Blood.

Hoping for the resurrection of a devout boy’s family, they prayed day and night to the Almighty,

And the ‘Wings’ granted their wish, shedding the black blood of holy resurrection.

The boy and his family were anointed, willingly sacrificing themselves to spread this grace widely.

Pilgrims, witness them and spread the grace of the Almighty far and wide.

-Do you know? Prada apparently loves means of slowly and painfully killing, like crosses or whips. Wouldn’t it be better to torture with something simpler like a knife or a whip before they die quickly, rather than crosses or whips?

Eliza recalled part of the nightmare-like conversation she had with Lisa yesterday.

Prada. Lisa had complained that Prada’s church was rich in donations, unlike Satra’s monastery.

Eliza had never heard of names like Prada and Satra before, but she knew there were sects that worshiped Elenis.

Such sects were driven into heresy during the religious reforms of the Renaissance era (most of the classifications were unavoidable even if they were driven into heresy. They had committed all sorts of terrible acts like rape and human sacrifice), but they tenaciously survived until the days of great tribulation.

The worshippers of Elenis served something claimed by the apostles of the “Wings” other than the “Wings,” but even the most devout followers did not know their names. According to Lisa, it was a Level 1 secret.

So they called their masters like this.

“Blasphemous Five Stars!”

Eliza shouted without realizing what she was saying.

“They are! The cause of all calamities! Those who lead with mockery and ridicule, guiding through a journey of suffering! Ahhh!”

Eliza screamed and collapsed.

“Brother!”

“Elza!”

Meysa and Vine simultaneously shouted and rushed to Eliza.

“Brother! What’s wrong! Are you okay?”

“Calm down, Elza. It’s just a human death. Nothing special, so snap out of it quickly.”

They each worried about Eliza in their own way.

“…I’m fine… I’m fine now….”

Although far from fine, Eliza forced a smile and got up from her seat.

“Is this the work of Canterbury ‘Elena’? There’s no one else around here who would cause such a commotion.”

Meysa said, frowning as if mentioning that name was unpleasant.

“Haven’t the Elenis living in Elena come out of the sanctuary for almost a hundred years?”

Victor countered Meysa’s statement.

“They are Elenis. Unpredictable bastards. Even if they suddenly swarm to Libra tomorrow, I’m confident I won’t be surprised.”

In ancient Canaanite, “Elena” meant “land anointed with oil,” signifying the region blessed by the “Wings” or the “Blasphemous Five Stars” that became the stronghold of the Elenis.

Not far from Libra, there was also an Elena. It used to be a small village named Canterbury with a 5km radius centered around the church of the same name. Surrounded by low mountains, fences resembling old government facilities, and abandoned buildings, Canterbury Elena had existed since before the Day of Tribulation.

“…Looks like we need to detour. There’s another bridge a bit further away, let’s head there.”

Victor made a calm decision.

“Aren’t there any explosives left in the truck? Can’t we blow it up and move on?”

“We didn’t receive any supplies this time. The militia leader said the budget was tight, so there’s no money to buy explosives.”

Upon hearing Victor’s words, Meysa grimaced and said, “Being poor is a sin. Ugh… We should have detoured when we first saw it.”

“We’ve only had unpleasant experiences due to the foolish judgment of incompetent humans.”

Vine, standing at a distance, gazed at the cross with a displeased expression. The sight of humans suffering eternal torment did not evoke sadness in Vine.

Instead, he thought it was a fitting end for humans. Choosing beings like the “Wings” as objects of faith, who did not deign to look upon them, was an incredibly foolish choice.

Meysa and Victor ignored Vine’s rant and got into the car. They realized that engaging would only degrade themselves.

“Elza, let’s go now. Watching any longer will only make us feel dirtier.”

Eliza, unresponsive to Vine’s words, stared blankly at the cross.

“■■■■■…!”

The boy noticed Eliza’s gaze and whimpered more intensely. It was as if begging for salvation. Or perhaps pleading for death to end the suffering.

As if urging us to save him with his own hands, gathering the courage to scream.

Eliza’s eyes met the boy’s, and

“Ahhh!”

Screaming, she quickly leaped into the truck compartment.

“Elza!”

Seeing Eliza’s sudden action, Vine swiftly followed her.

“Brother! What’s happening? Is it the Elenis again?”

Maya, who was about to start the truck engine, heard Elsa’s scream and jumped out of the driver’s seat.

Eleanor, who had climbed onto the cargo bed, took out a vial from her discarded belt. Without hesitation, she gulped down the orange liquid inside the vial.

“…Elsa?”

Vine, who followed Eleanor, witnessed an orange ring composed of complex characters that had appeared, unseen before.

Looking at Vine with a surprised expression, as if she might burst into tears at any moment, Eleanor glanced briefly at her and then, as if unable to delay any longer, swiftly leaped out of the truck cargo bed towards the cross.

Upon reaching the cross, Eleanor stretched out both arms towards the cross with palms facing it and

“Burn!”

She screamed with a mix of terror and sorrow.

A small orange magic circle appeared on Eleanor’s palm, then a larger one materialized above the smaller one.

With a crackling sound, flames spewed out from the magic circle, engulfing the family who had received the grace of Prada and were met with a tragic fate.

“Aaahhh!”

Tears of blood streamed from Eleanor’s eyes. It was due to the side effects of the potion she had consumed, causing some blood vessels, including those within her eyeballs, to burst, leading to bleeding. While major arteries did not rupture, posing no immediate threat to her life.

“…A sorceress?”

Maysa murmured, watching the scene unfold.

Eleanor was not a sorceress and had no magical circuits, but she could use magic through potions crafted with alchemy.

The potion Eleanor had just consumed, named “Flame Magic Elixir,” though ordinary in name, granted a brief enhancement of low to intermediate-level (most magic was graded based on how much impact it could have on the ‘wings’ of creatures) magical circuit affinity for flame magic, lasting from 10 seconds to a maximum of 3 minutes.

While not as potent as potions made by the great alchemist Mirayu Ruster, Eleanor’s concoctions still possessed decent efficacy. She did not fight primarily with physical prowess like her mother but inherited a combat style involving temporary ability augmentation through potions.

Her mother fought with fists, while her son,

(a beautiful daughter)

Eleanor fought with various long-range magics, with little difference between them.

Although the cross and iron fence were ablaze, they did not easily succumb, perhaps due to the sanctified relics of Prada.

On the other hand, families halfway transformed into Ailenees were burning more readily than the cross and iron fence, seemingly lacking in divine protection.

The family members engulfed in the searing flames emitted a nauseating smell akin to burning flesh and tar, groaning in agony.

“Aaahhh! Aaahhh!”

Eleanor’s eyes continued to shed tears of blood.

“…Elsa…”

Concerned that Eleanor might collapse from excessive magic use, Vine slowly approached her and peered into her face.

“….”

Seeing Eleanor shedding tears of blood, Vine’s expression hardened.

“If you continue like this, you’ll collapse, Elsa. Stop right now.”

Ignoring Vine’s words, Eleanor did not find herself in a position to heed anyone’s advice.

Slightly angered by Eleanor’s disregard, Vine moved behind her and attempted to stop her magic use by suddenly making sexual contact, causing Eleanor’s surprise. The physical body of the Sanguine Nymph was quite resilient to elemental magics, so direct contact posed no issue, but aiming for a more dramatic effect, Vine chose to step back.

At the moment when Vine tried to make Eleanor emit a small amount of breast milk by stimulating her chest,

“…It’s hot!”

The flames emanating from Eleanor’s hands began to burn more fiercely, and unable to withstand the heat, Vine stepped back.

The cross, which had only caught fire without burning, began to burn with a bitter smoke. The iron bars held out a little longer but started to melt under the flames. The wooden plank hanging around the boy’s neck began to crackle and ignite.

“….”

Vine gazed at the fierce flames with an inscrutable expression.

“Hyung…?”

Meisa stared blankly at the burning cross.

Engulfed in flames, the boy, bestowed with a wretched eternity by Prada’s blessing, looked at Eliza one last time before his pitiful life was cut short.

The emotion on the boy’s face was clearly gratitude.

Eventually, the momentum of flames emanating from Eliza’s hands ceased, and in reverse order of appearance, the magic circles vanished. As the small magic circle disappeared, the rings that had appeared on both wrists also vanished.

A torn piece of paper flew from the engulfed cross unburnt, and Eliza, who had been staring blankly at the burning cross, reached out and grabbed the paper.

Written neatly on the paper was a short message.

This is the first and final warning. Leave the fairies behind and depart.

Eliza stared at the writing on the paper for a moment, then exclaimed, “Elsa!”

Overwhelmed by the sudden rush of fatigue, she staggered before collapsing on the asphalt, unconscious.

Vine, who had rushed ahead of the others, found Eliza lying there and discovered the crumpled note in her hand. Unfolding the paper, Vine read the written message.

“….”

Vine tore the paper to shreds and threw it into the air. The wind carried the scraps towards the burning cross, where they ignited and disappeared in the flames.

The cross, emitting a foul odor of black smoke, burned down, and the tragic faith of the boy who prayed for resurrection came to an end.

*

In the end, Meisa and Victor chose to take a detour, delaying their return to Libra by about 30 minutes.

Vine sat leaning against the truck’s wall. Eliza lay on Vine’s lap, fast asleep.

Although Eliza regained consciousness about a minute after fainting, after a brief exchange with Vine, she promptly fainted again. The strain from excessive magic usage and the subsequent outburst had taken a toll on her mind.

Vine looked out towards the receding Rocky River and the morning’s blue sky, singing a clear, pure, yet melancholic tune.

Deep in the forest, the fairies reside.

The fairies are shy and don’t often come out into the sunlight,

But when hungry, they visit our village.

The fairies show no interest in our village’s pigs and goats

But seek us out.

Our blood is wine, flesh is bread, organs are spirits.

When the fairies visit our village,

We prepare foods that will please them.

Smiling, we offer the fairies’ hunger-satisfying dishes.

Sometimes the food we prepare

Does not satisfy them.

Hiding in the dark corners, we retreat further,

But eventually, the fairies find us.

Our blood is wine, flesh is bread, organs are spirits.

They smile at children and parents alike

Embrace farmers and landlords without discrimination

The fairies do not dislike anyone in our village.

Deep in the forest, the fairies reside.

The fairies are shy and don’t often come out into the sunlight,

But when hungry, come to the neighboring village.

The fairies show no interest in the neighboring village’s pigs and goats

But seek us out.

Vine had no fairy friends. While there were followers who worshipped Vine as the chosen fairy princess, true friends were absent.

However, there were human friends. Though just one, they shared a genuine bond.

It was that human friend who taught her the song.

Vine closed her eyes, momentarily lost in memories of their first meeting, adventures, and bond.

Betrayal.

“I won’t ask for forgiveness. I followed my beliefs, and this is just the result.”

“If you want to kill, then kill. Our relationship was destined to end like this.”

“There’s no way fairies and humans can get along, right? How foolish. Did you really believe your delusions would come true?”

“…That child is no longer needed.”

Vine betrayed and led a friend who tried to atone for the mistakes for the future of their compatriots to death. Even by killing a precious friend, they couldn’t save their compatriots from the clutches of human cruelty.

Vine felt no guilt about killing their precious friend with their own hands.

(Or so they thought)

“Now I hold the key.”

Eliza is the key to saving Vine’s kin and the only means to seek forgiveness.

Vine absentmindedly stroked Eliza’s face. Eliza, perhaps sensing Vine’s touch, murmured softly.

“…Mom… Mom….”

Eliza found a mother who no longer exists in this world.

Vine looked down at Eliza with cold, calculating eyes, but did not stop caressing her face gently.