episode_0068

Karizan, the Fairy Village

“Oh ho ho ho… humans in the Criton Region… I never thought I’d see the day.”

‘She’s a very old woman. Saphia said that the lifespan of fairies is similar to that of humans, so it’s clear that this fairy knows the most about fairy history.’

“Hmm? Oh ho ho… that weapon… it’s an Elven weapon, isn’t it?”

Akada pointed at Trahan, which I was carrying on my back, and spoke. That’s amazing, isn’t it? She must be seeing Trahan for the first time, yet she immediately recognized it as an Elven armament… I inwardly admired Akada and then took out Trahan, speaking.

“Yes. You saw correctly. This is an Elven armament… but how did you recognize Trahan as an Elven armament at a glance?”

“Having lived for a long time, I can now sense by intuition what race a piece belongs to just by looking at it. That ornament, made of ancient Elven script. It’s a method only Elves use, so I could tell at once.”

“Ah… you mean the script on this blade… Indeed, not many people use such ornaments…”

I said, pointing to the script engraved on the blade. Akada nodded and then pointed at the script on Trahan, asking.

“Have you interpreted that script?”

“No… I haven’t had a chance to experience Elven culture yet.”

“I see… But it’s peculiar. For Elves to give that to you implies they trust you greatly… yet you don’t seem to know much about Elves.”

“Ah. The Elves who accepted humans trust us, but not all Elves trust us. So, the Elves who trust me said they would try to change other Elves to also trust humans. That’s why I plan to ask the Elves later what the inscription on this sword means.”

“Oh ho ho… I understand. And as for the other human…!!!!!!!”

Akada listened to my words, nodded, and then turned her head towards Aria. The moment Akada saw Aria’s face, she suddenly gasped in shock and immediately collapsed to the ground. Akada’s sudden immense shock greatly flustered Rubaea and Saphia, who were next to her, and I was also greatly bewildered.

“Ch-Chief-nim!! What’s wrong, all of a sudden?!”

‘Th-This is bad! Village Chief-nim’s insight was so good that she immediately recognized the Trahan I had as an Elven armament…! That means she’ll surely immediately notice that Aria has a terrifying side to her!’

“Oh… Oh oh oh oh!! My… My heavens!!”

“Chief-nim, why are you suddenly like this?!”

“Sa… Saphia… that… that’s her…!! The light that stopped the gigantic Alraune World Tree that suddenly appeared two days ago—that’s her true identity…!!”

“…What?… Huh?!”

When Akada said that Aria was the true identity of the light that had previously felled the World Tree, Rubaea and Saphia looked as surprised as Akada and were speechless. Ah… the World Tree was so huge that it must have been visible even from here… As the World Tree was mentioned, I scratched my head, recalling the events of that time, and Rubaea, seeing my reaction, asked in a trembling voice.

“Z-Zeke-nim… is that really true…?! Was the Saintess-nim the one who defeated that monster we saw back then?!”

“…The World Tree was so massive that it seems it was visible even from here… Now that I think about it, I said I’d tell you our story, but I completely forgot while enjoying your culture. First of all… that monster you saw back then was the World Tree, the first Alraune that lived in ancient times… wait a minute.”

As I was about to explain about the World Tree, something bothered me, so I stopped explaining and immediately looked at Akada. This was because there was something I couldn’t understand.

“You just said World Tree, Village Chief-nim?”

“Ah ah ah ah… Yes… yes… that’s right.”

“How did you know that monster was the World Tree, Village Chief-nim? The World Tree was a monster that was defeated once 1,500 years ago… how did you recognize the World Tree, which revived two days ago after such a long time?”

“Zeke-nim. I told you before that the lifespan of fairies is the same as humans, right? But the Village Chief-nim… she’s a sage who has lived since ancient times!”

“…Huh? Wait… does that mean…”

Hearing Saphia’s explanation about Akada, my expression instantly hardened, and I looked at Akada in that state. Akada and the fairies were surprised that the one who defeated the World Tree was Aria, who was right before their eyes, and my expression hardened upon learning that Akada’s lifespan was immense.

‘…I don’t know why I keep meeting people with immense lifespans after Grovell.’

“My… My heavens… I never thought I would meet such a hero like this… Thank you, Saintess-nim. If you weren’t here, our world would have collapsed…”

“Don’t misunderstand, I didn’t kill the World Tree to save you all. Hehehehe… It would be troublesome if this world, which I will share with Zeke-nim, were to collapse because of such trash, wouldn’t it?”

“…Ah, right. That was your objective… Oh.”

Hearing Aria’s words, I stroked Aria’s head, but then I noticed something and couldn’t continue speaking… How in the world did these guys move?

“Hey, Rubaea.”

“Ah… Ah… Yes! Zeke-nim!”

“…Why were you two caught by the Village Chief-nim?”

“Huh…?”

“No, not that… How did you even move to gather so many of them?”

“E-Eeek!?”

When I pointed at something with my finger, Rubaea turned her head to look. When she saw about thirty fairies hiding behind trees, staring at Aria with expressions of shock, Rubaea was greatly flustered, and Saphia, seeing this, was also shocked.

“What?! How on earth?!”

“That… that human defeated that monster?!”

“Is it because they’re humans from outside that they’re so amazing?!”

“Amazing…”

We were surprised that Rubaea and Saphia were caught by other fairies, and that many fairies followed them. And the fairies were shocked that we defeated the World Tree. Then everyone fell silent. Then Aria whispered into my ear.

“Zeke-nim. Why are those fairies thanking me? I don’t care if everyone else dies except for you, Zeke-nim.”

“…It’s because your actions saved them despite your intentions, Aria… Well, it’s better than me becoming famous, I guess. Besides, we would have been exposed eventually anyway. At least they’re not treating us like monsters.”

“Oh. Then what about your shock at that old woman’s age earlier?”

“Ah… I’ve already met the very end of the line, so 1,500 years is nothing…”

“Ah…”

Hearing my words, Aria immediately understood. This was because she understood what I meant. In Grovell, I had already met Estur, who had lived for over 400,000 years, and Estur had also mentioned a small organization called Busterz, where people had lived for over 100 million years…

“Th-The Saintess-nim truly…”

“Stop that!! It’s true!!! Aria really defeated the World Tree, so stop it, Saphia!!”

“Ah… Yes…”

“More importantly, what about those guys?! We secretly brought supplies and taught them about our culture to avoid causing chaos!”

“Ah…”

Saphia scratched her head in embarrassment, looking at the fairies hiding behind the trees. Akada, who had been greatly surprised, calmed herself and spoke to me.

“Phew… I’m finally calm. Shall we discuss the rest of the story in our village? I’ll prepare refreshments for you.”

“Excuse me? Look at our size, Village Chief-nim. How can we go to that tiny village with these bodies… And I barely tasted the snacks Saphia made earlier, so I don’t think refreshments will work either…”

“Oh ho ho ho… Just follow me… Children! Let’s return to Karizan! Tell the others that important guests are here too!”

“Yes… Yes! Chief-nim!”

At Akada’s words, all the fairies, including Rubaea and Saphia, began to return to Karizan. Akada smiled and said to me.

“Now, please follow me. You don’t need to worry.”

“Hmm… Yes… Well… I don’t really have anything to worry about these days, especially with Aria around…”

“Hehehe… Indeed, you feel comfortable with me around, Zeke-nim…!”

“The problem is that you yourself are a worry.”

“…”

At my words, Aria seemed greatly disheartened, bowing her head and looking glum. So, I stroked Aria’s head, then held her hand and followed Akada. Perhaps because I held her hand while following Akada, Aria smiled happily at intervals. As we followed Akada, we once again saw Karizan, radiating brilliant light. Seeing Karizan before her eyes again, Aria asked Akada.

“Hmm… But what are you going to do now? You’re not going to tell us to wait here, are you, Village Chief-nim? If that’s the case, it would only interrupt Zeke-nim’s time, so it’s better not to.”

“Don’t worry, Saintess-nim. The only thing you two need to do is trust me.”

“Trust you? I don’t trust anyone but Zeke-n…”

“Now now… I’ll trust you, Village Chief-nim. What should we do?”

“Ho ho ho… Take a step towards Karizan. Then you’ll know naturally.”

“Huh?!”

Hearing Akada’s words, I was utterly shocked. She wants us to step into that tiny village? Does she intend for me and Aria to accidentally stomp all the fairies inside to death?! Is she doing this because she wants to quit her position as Village Chief?!… But… but…

“Hmm… Still, she told us to trust her, so… shall we go, Aria?”

“Yes, Zeke-nim…”

I took a deep breath. And trusting Akada, I immediately took a step towards Karizan with Aria. And at that moment, an unbelievable sight unfolded.

“Th-This can’t be…!!”

“Oh my. I didn’t even know about this…”

“Ho ho ho…”

The moment we took a step towards Karizan, our bodies gradually began to shrink. The more steps we took, the smaller our bodies became, and before long, we were as small as fairies. Karizan, which had been visible at a glance, instantly became a giant village to us, and the buildings, which had looked like sandcastles, became taller than us.

“What is this… Magic? A curse? Or what is this…?”

“The small stature of our fairy race made it difficult to interact with other races, and this was an issue we had always wanted to resolve since ancient times.”

“Huh…?”

Aria and I turned our heads towards the source of the suddenly unfamiliar voice. Before our eyes stood a young lady in a witch’s outfit, holding a staff. W-Who is that woman…? Seeing the insect wings sprouting from her back, she must be a fairy…

“The fairies who couldn’t bear it and left this place are the Melodian Fairies who settled with humans in the Magrion Region. However, we continued to research here and at least found a way for other races to visit this place.”

“Oh my…? Who could that be, Zeke-nim?”

“C-Could it be… Village Chief-nim?”

Noticing Akada’s disappearance nearby, I guessed that the young fairy talking to us was Akada. The lady before us covered her mouth with her hand, adjusted her brown hair, and said to me.

“Yes, that’s right. Thank you for trusting me, human.”

“…Huh?!”

“Oh dear…”

When the lady said she was Akada, I was greatly shocked. Even Aria was shocked by this, covering her mouth with her hand and widening her eyes in surprise. No, seriously… that old woman suddenly became young?! How on earth?!

“Oh ho ho… Seeing your surprise, it seems you’re curious about how I transformed to be so young.”

“Uh… Yes… No, which one is your true form?!”

“This is my true form. I previously received a cruel punishment called the curse of life from the World Tree. It’s a curse, so to speak.”

“A curse…? Aria, can you sense if this person has a curse on her?”

“Yes. Just a moment…”

As Aria stared intently at Akada to check for a curse, Akada scratched her head and said to me.

“Um… Saintess-nim? Why are you staring at me so intently…?”

“Hmm… There is a curse. Is it the curse of life?”

“Yes, it is.”

“If there’s a curse as Aria says… then that appearance earlier was due to the curse’s influence…”

“Ah~ That’s not it. The curse of life just made my body unable to die; it doesn’t make me grow old.”

As Akada waved her hand, saying no, I was momentarily dumbfounded. I naturally thought that the appearance Village Chief-nim Akada showed earlier was her appearance under the influence of the curse… but it wasn’t?

“What do you mean by that…?”

“Well… most people associate a village chief with an elder, don’t they? So, I transform into an elderly appearance in front of outsiders. And I show this true form to those who trust me and enter the village. Besides, an elder’s appearance gives a feeling of benevolence, so it inspires trust, doesn’t it?”

Hearing Akada’s explanation, I unconsciously recalled the various races who hadn’t easily trusted us before, and I sighed deeply as I replied.

“…That’s certainly true.”

“Shall we discuss the rest of the story at my house…? Well… that might be better for both of you too.”

“Huh?”

“Zeke-nim. Look around you…”

Hearing Aria’s words, I looked around. Then I realized that people were peeking out from buildings, inside trees, and along the roadside, staring intently at us, and I was startled.

“W-What?!”

“Ho ho ho… It seems those children spread the rumor quickly, didn’t they? It might cause a big commotion, so wouldn’t it be better to go to my house?”

“B-But then, if the fairies start knocking on your door…”

“Don’t worry. No fairy in Karizan knows where my house is. Would you mind taking my hand for a moment?”

“Your hand? Well… Huh?”

Akada extended her hand, and I was about to grasp it with some doubt. But at that moment, Aria quickly snatched my hand and said to me with a smile that seemed to be holding back anger.

“No, you can’t… I cannot tolerate Zeke-nim touching another woman’s hand right before my eyes…!”

‘Ah… Oh, right.’

I was flustered by Aria’s personality, which I had momentarily forgotten. Come to think of it, what Aria said she would do was make me fall for her on my terms, and she didn’t say she wouldn’t do things like this…

“Um… Village Chief-nim. Would it be alright if I held Aria’s hand, and Aria held your hand?”

“Hmm… I understand. Hehehe… It’s truly been a long time since I’ve met someone like this. Would everyone close their eyes for a moment?”

As I held Aria’s hand and Aria held hers, Akada asked us to close our eyes. Why is she suddenly asking us to close our eyes? I was skeptical but complied with Akada’s request for now.

“Yes? Ah… Yes.”

“Alright… then… One… two… three! You can open your eyes now.”

“Why are you suddenly asking us to close our… Ugh?!”

At Akada’s words that we could open our eyes, I complained and opened them. Then I realized I was indoors, not in the middle of a village street, and was flustered. Wait a moment… that feeling just now… Could this be…

“Summoning ability…?”

“Yes, that’s right. Hmm… It’s a bit strange to keep calling you humans… How about we sit at the table and share our stories? Aren’t you curious? Why your bodies shrank, what this ability is, and various other things… No, aren’t you curious about everything?”

“Ah… Yes… Well… You don’t seem like a bad person, so… we’ll tell you our story too.”