Chapter Index

    Fairies of the Kriton Region

    “So, you see… I got a lot of honey from that flower!”

    “Really? Could you share some, perhaps?”

    A fairy with long blue hair and a fairy with long red hair were fluttering their butterfly wings, passing through the forest. The blue-haired fairy handed the red-haired fairy some honey from the basket she was carrying.

    “I heard it’s good for your skin too! And it’ll suit your taste!”

    “Really? Good for my skin too? How should I use it?”

    “Just put a little honey on your finger and apply it to your skin little by little. About once a day.”

    “I see… But you know…”

    “Yes… So you knew too…”

    When the red-haired fairy hinted, the blue-haired fairy spoke as if she already knew, and her expression turned serious. Then the red-haired fairy’s expression also became serious, just like the blue-haired fairy’s. The reason the fairies became serious was…

    “Hmm… So that honey is good for the skin? Then if I steal the honey those fairies have and use it… Hehehe…”

    “I would be displeased.”

    It was because we were secretly following the fairies from behind a tree. But perhaps we were hiding too clumsily, as the fairies already knew about us. They didn’t know why we were following them secretly, so they were just scared and changed the topic.

    “…Why are those humans chasing us like that…? It’s rather scary…”

    “Shh, be quiet! If those humans catch us… But why are there humans in the Kriton Region? I heard most of them get caught by the elves of Probelitu Forest…?”

    “That’s why it’s even scarier! That means… those humans are stronger than the elves!!”

    “Th-that’s right…? W-what should we do…?!”

    At the red-haired fairy’s words, the blue-haired fairy began to tremble. I noticed something strange about the blue-haired fairy’s wing movements and asked Aria.

    “…? Doesn’t that fairy seem a little strange, Aria?”

    “Oh? She does. But whether a fairy is strange or not, I have no interest.”

    “…I knew you’d say that. Hmm… Is she suddenly sick? I’m worried, you see…”

    “Oh, dear… Zeke-nim is too kind, to his own detriment… Though I said I would protect such a Zeke-nim, being too soft-hearted might harm Zeke-nim himself…”

    “Aww… What can I do if I wish for others to be better off, even if it harms me?”

    “Even so, you don’t need to be so self-sacrificing.”

    “Don’t you do that for me?”

    “Hehehe… My case is an exception, you see? But I’m telling you, Zeke-nim, you don’t need to be so self-sacrificing because you are precious to me.”

    At Aria’s words, spoken with a sweet smile, I sighed deeply and scratched my head. The fairies, who had heard all this conversation, trembled as they spoke.

    “Aaaah… They must think we can’t hear them… They really think they weren’t caught…!!”

    “Th-that’s not it, is it? Or are they just openly chasing us…? But either way…”

    ‘It’s scary…!!’

    The fairies, whose fear of me and Aria had almost reached its peak, began to flap their wings even more vigorously. Seeing this, my eyes gleamed, and I pointed a finger, saying:

    “Look, Aria! The fairies seem fine, don’t they?”

    “Hmm… To me, they seem somewhat flustered? It seems our tailing has been discovered.”

    “Oh, come on, no way…”

    After hearing Aria’s words, I didn’t think we had been caught. But the fairies, upon hearing that, were greatly astonished and thought the same thing.

    ‘…?! Did they really think they were well-hidden?!’

    “L-let’s run! It seems they’re trying to catch us!”

    “Yes!! We’re small, so it’ll be hard to catch us… Let’s fly fast!!”

    As soon as the fairies realized that I and Aria were too dangerous, they quickly flew away. Then I realized we had already been discovered and immediately cried out.

    “Aaaah! We really were discovered! Damn it! We hid behind a tree, how did they know?!… Oh, right.”

    I had been wondering why we were caught, then I screamed and realized the reason. Come to think of it… Riera has the ability to detect sounds… So, those fairies, being the same kind… can also detect sounds…

    “Aaaah! That’s right!! The fact that Riera has the ability to detect sounds… means it’s a common fairy ability! They have excellent hearing!!”

    “Hmmmm… How unpleasant…”

    “…Huh?”

    I had been screaming, belatedly remembering the fairies’ physical abilities, when a chilling voice suddenly came from beside me. I swallowed hard and slowly turned my head. Aria was gripping her staff tightly, glaring in the direction the fairies had fled. What was this ominous feeling…?

    “They already knew… and they even ran away…? From Zeke-nim, who is so curious? How very unpleasant… I suppose I should tear off all their limbs and…”

    “Don’t say such chilling things! What about the promise you just made?! You said you’d make me fall for you in the way I prefer!”

    “But seeing the fairies’ attitude makes my anger surge. I will go and catch those fairies immediately.”

    “W-what?! Ju-just a moment, Aria!!”

    Startled by Aria’s words, I hastily tried to stop her, but Aria had already taken her staff and chased after the fleeing fairies. Realizing Aria was no longer beside me, I sighed and thought:

    ‘…Surely she wouldn’t actually do that… Oh, come on, would Aria really do something I don’t want her to…? No way… Besides, how could she chase fairies…? Oh.’

    I tried my best to believe that Aria wouldn’t actually catch the fairies and dismember them, and that she wouldn’t be able to find them. But remembering what Aria had tried to do to the Riera sisters before, and that Aria had gained the ability to sense nearby presences due to her awakening as a Holy Radiance, I grabbed Trahan and rushed forward.

    “Dammit! Aria might actually do something like that! And she’ll definitely find them! Aria, stop!!”

    At the moment I hurried my steps to stop Aria, the fairies, panting, looked back and spoke.

    “Pant pant… Haaah… They’re… gone, right?”

    “Uh… yeah… I think they’re gone… Haaah… We barely shook them off…”

    “It’s a good thing we’re small fairies… If we were big humans, we would have been spotted immediately… Let’s hurry back to the village…”

    “Yeah… I think that would be better…”

    The fairies, seeing no humans behind them, were catching their breath and about to return to their village when suddenly a golden staff appeared in front of them and plunged into the ground. The fairies swallowed hard and slowly raised their heads. Then they saw Aria’s face, looking down at them with a chilling smile, and upon seeing her face, the fairies began to scream.

    “Screeeaaam!!!”

    “Found you, fairies? You can’t escape from me, you know?”

    “H-how did you find us… Just how…?”

    “Hehehe… I have the ability to sense the presence of living beings nearby, you see? No matter where you run, as long as I know the direction, I can chase you immediately~”

    The fairies, astonished upon learning of Aria’s ability, stopped flapping their wings and sank to the ground. Then Aria slowly extended her palm towards them, and the fairies began to shriek in fright.

    “Squeak!!”

    “Now then… Let’s go to Zeke-nim… Before that, since you might fly away again… Hmmm… Lightly damaging your wings would be alright, wouldn’t it? Rather than tearing off your limbs…”

    “Sc-scary!!!!”

    “Now then… *Muffled sound*?”

    The moment Aria extended her hand to the fairies with a chilling smile, I hastily covered Aria’s mouth and grabbed her arm, stopping her. Fortunately, nothing had happened when I arrived…

    “Ah… Oh dear.”

    “That… just now… W-what?!”

    I had been relieved, thinking nothing had happened, but I was flustered to see that one of the two fairies was unconscious in front of Aria’s staff. The red-haired fairy, seeing her friend unconscious, was as flustered as I was and frantically shook her fallen friend.

    “Wake up, Saphia!! Aaaah!!”

    “…Aria, what exactly did you say?”

    “Th-that human said she’d tear off our wings!!”

    The red-haired fairy cried copious tears as she told me what Aria had said. Then I slowly turned my head to Aria, and Aria avoided my gaze. That must be the answer… Haaah…

    “Aria.”

    “Ye-yes~ Zeke-nim?”

    “…Could you please not say things about harming others…? Do you want me to be misunderstood too?”

    “But Zeke-nim wanted to observe the fairies…”

    “Phew… Don’t say such things… Um… Little fairy there?”

    “…?”

    The red-haired fairy trembled as she looked at my face, and I sighed deeply. It seems I’m about to be misunderstood as an associate of a terrifying priestess because of Aria… I worried about the future and pulled out a candy from my pocket, saying:

    “You experienced something incredibly frightening because of my companion… I’m truly sorry. I heard you talking about honey earlier… Do you like sweets?”

    “Is there… perhaps a sleeping drug in it…?”

    “Don’t worry, there’s nothing like that. We aren’t trying to harm you.”

    “Then why…?”

    “Ah… I’m an explorer, and I don’t know much about the fairies of the Kriton Region. I was following you, hoping it might lead to a fairy village. If I scared you, I apologize on behalf of…”

    “Zeke-nim should apologize… *gagging sound*.”

    I pressed the back of Aria’s head with my right hand, making her bow, and then I also bowed to the fairy to apologize. The fairy, who had been crying, stopped her tears and stared at me blankly, then opened her mouth to ask me:

    “So you really weren’t trying to kidnap us?”

    “Uh… no. I apologize again for my companion startling you…”

    “…I’m okay now, but… how will Saphia react when she wakes up…?”

    The red-haired fairy looked at her friend Saphia, who was collapsed beside her, and worried about the future. Like the red-haired fairy, I also worried about what to say later to convince Saphia. Meanwhile, Aria, seemingly unconcerned, smiled sweetly when I removed my hand and said:

    “Still, isn’t it fortunate that I caught up to the fairies, Zeke-nim?”

    “…Half fortunate… and half a big problem…”

    “But human-nim, you said you were an explorer, right?”

    When the red-haired fairy tugged at my pants, I placed the red-haired fairy on my hand and raised my hand to be at the same eye level. The red-haired fairy looked around, and I said to her:

    “That’s right. I am Zeke Luprian, an explorer. And this is… Aria Ritt, known as the Black Saintess outside.”

    “Sa-saintess? She… she didn’t seem like one…”

    “Hehehe… I am a Saintess only for Zeke-nim… It doesn’t matter if I become an object of fear to others…”

    “Aria, I *do* care, you know…? Sigh… Anyway, what’s your name?”

    “My name is Rubaea. Um… Could you also put my friend on your palm? It’s not good to leave her on the ground…”

    “Ah… That’s true.”

    Hearing Rubaea’s words, I placed Saphia, who was unconscious on the ground, beside Rubaea. By the way, fairies… I thought they wouldn’t weigh anything since they’re the size of my palm… But with two of them on my hand, they weigh more than I expected. I should record this.

    “But how is Zeke-nim able to stay safe in the Kriton Region…? Ah.”

    “Well… as you might guess, mostly…”

    Rubaea was questioning how I survived in the Kriton Region when she realized something and turned her head somewhere. I also agreed with her and turned my head to Aria. When I looked at her, Aria blushed, as if shy, and Rubaea said to me:

    “I think I roughly understand the reason… Earlier, when the Saintess-nim chased us, we really thought we were going to die.”

    “Uh… well, that’s about right… There are only weak monsters living in the Kriton Region… but all of them have been transformed into Aria’s cooking ingredients.”

    “What? Then what about the elves? Haven’t you met the elves in Probelitu Forest? I heard from the Village Elder-nim that the elves of Probelitu have been shunning humans for a long time.”

    “Ah… that’s a long story. Could you guide us to your village? I want to experience your culture and record it… But wait… Are you perhaps…”

    “Do we shun humans? Are outsiders perhaps thinking that all fairies shun humans just because one fairy group defected to the Magrione Region with humans?”

    “Huh…? No?”

    I was flustered by Rubaea’s words. That’s because Eli had clearly told me that there was a fairy group friendly to humans, and that group had split off from the fairy community to live in harmony with humans in Melodian. But judging by Rubaea’s reaction… that’s not the case…?

    “No. We fairies don’t have such rigid personalities as elves.”

    “…But I heard there was a fairy group friendly to humans in a village called Melodian?”

    “Really? Hmm…”

    Rubaea closed her eyes and began to think deeply about my words. Then, as if something had dawned on her, Rubaea opened her eyes and said to me:

    “Then it would be best to ask the Village Elder-nim. The Village Elder-nim knows the history of the fairies.”

    “Ah, I see. Is your village near Kroa Spring?”

    “Hmm… It’s on the way.”

    “I see… Then let’s go to your village first… And… Aria?”

    “…Ah! Yes!”

    Aria seemed displeased that I was talking to Rubaea, as her head was turned away with a bitter expression. So I called out to the sullen Aria, and when I called, Aria was startled and replied.

    “Don’t do that again… But I understand, since you did it for me. Good job.”

    “…!!! Ze-Zeke-nim… Th-that’s… a matter of course….!!!!”

    When I told her she did a good job, Aria, seemingly embarrassed, replied in a very flustered voice. Then I took Aria’s hand, and Aria, whose face was completely red, looked at my hand holding hers and was utterly dazed on the spot.

    “Hehehehe… Hihihihi…”

    “…Zeke-nim. Is that Saintess-nim usually like that…?”

    “She likes me a bit too much. But thanks to Aria chasing you, we were able to clear up the misunderstanding… But was our hiding too shoddy?”

    “…I heard Zeke-nim shout while running away earlier… We don’t have as good hearing as the Melodian fairies, you know? We just saw everything…”

    “…*Choke*…”

    When Rubaea told me that Aria’s and my stealth abilities were ridiculously terrible, I nearly shed tears on the spot. And so, feeling a little deflated, I followed Rubaea towards the fairy village in the Kriton Region. How long had we walked? The green grass… Huh? Bl-blue…?

    “Um… Were there ever plants with blue leaves?”

    “This is Karizan, the village where the fairies live, Zeke-nim!”

    “…..Oh my.”

    I was so astonished by the sight that I was speechless. Fairies living by making spaces in the plants, surrounded by blue plants… And the village where the fairies lived glowed blue, just like the surrounding plants.

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