episode_0750

If I turn my head to the side, I see a green stem that must be twice my height.

As I turned my head up the stem, which seemed like it would be possible to draw a circle even if several people like me gathered together and surrounded it, I saw green leaves and the yellow of sunflowers growing in all directions.

When you see a sunflower with its head raised so high, following the sun, you can tell that the round sun is making its presence felt in the sky.

But to my eyes, there was not even a trace of sunlight, let alone a piece of the sun.

It was difficult to even see the sun because the flowers that were blooming here and there like sunflowers were blocking the sky.

“The more I wander around, the more interesting the place becomes.”

It had been an hour since she had stepped into the fairy tale world, swayed by Erginus’s tongue. It was time to start getting tired, but Joy was still looking around with shining eyes.

To me it looks like just a big useless garden, but from a wizard’s perspective, is it something different?

“Is it that amazing?”

When I asked a question out of curiosity, Joy nodded with a bright smile.

“Looking at the size of the flowers, when we first set foot here, we had to hold our noses because of the overwhelming scent. However, we didn’t think it was overwhelming at all, we just thought the subtle scent was nice.”

“…I see?”

“And look at that. You can’t see any bugs that are essential for maintaining a garden like this!”

A space that is vivid enough to be infinitely close to reality, but not completely like reality.

Joey was excited, saying he didn’t know how much effort it would take to make this, but I knew something similar.

To be exact, I haven’t actually seen it, but it’s more of a concept.

“Is it virtual reality?”

“Oh. That’s a good expression! As expected from Lucy!”

When I brought up the word that was in my life as a man, Joy nodded in admiration.

Erginus created something that only exists as a concept in a world that is much more advanced than ours, with the sole intention of creating a world like a fairy tale? He really is crazy.

“I’m really glad to have such a person as my teacher. I’ll have to ask him more details later.”

“Can you understand?”

“You have to ask until you understand. No matter how long it takes.”

Frey’s image was reflected in Joy’s eyes, which were filled with enthusiasm for learning. It seems like the people around me are really not normal.

Well, a sane person wouldn’t have followed me this far.

“Heh heh heh. Where is the giant?”

As I was watching Joy walk ahead, humming a song, I felt the earth’s echo and turned my head.

Are you a giant?

No. There’s no way that this is the strength of someone so powerful that he can level a mountain.

No way.

“Joy. You idiot. You’re raising a flag by talking nonsense!”

“Huh? Me. Me!? What did I do?!”

“You’re saying there’s no bug right now, so the bug is trying to appear!”

What a bug that has grown to match the size of these flowers!

It’s terrifying to even imagine, but it’s what’s waiting for me!

I really hate them. I have almost no tolerance for bugs.

Even when fighting insect-shaped monsters, I felt like I was going to die trying to hold back the goosebumps that ran over my body, but if it was a large insect, I might faint.

…Should I just burn this whole garden down? If I burn it all down to nothing but dust, I won’t be able to see it.

Boom! While I was thinking that, I felt a presence approaching me and I hastily raised my voice.

If you think and move your body, it’s too late! You have to burn everything before I see anything.

“Nyaaaa.”

“?”

“nya!”

A giant cat appeared between the flower stems, saw me, and came towards me, wagging its tail.

Then he lowered his head and looked at me, then slowly stuck his foot out.

I blinked and unconsciously turned my cheek, and came to my senses at the feeling of the soft fur.

“Nyaaa.”

What is this?

“What?”

…Of course it doesn’t matter. As long as it’s cute, that’s fine.

I was captivated by the cat’s bright eyes, so I cautiously approached the cat and stroked its fur.

I’ve never raised a cat before, but I’ve often heard that it has a very temperamental personality, so I was cautious. However, it didn’t seem to be in a bad mood because it made a purring sound whenever I moved my hand.

Hehehe. What a cute, soft, warm, and large animal.

Good. It feels healing.

Well, it’s a place where nobles from the social world gather to enjoy parties, so it’s not good to have something like a big cockroach running around.

And then when people start to faint, there’s no answer.

That’s not a fairy tale, it’s hell.

“You’re cute.”

While I was healing myself by touching the cat’s fur, I made a gesture after hearing Joy’s words.

“Come here, the cat is cute. It feels so good.”

“That’s what it means. No. That. Is that so? It looks good.”

As Joy cautiously approached the cat, the cat, which had been growling, suddenly raised its tail, backed away, and hissed at Joy.

“Ah.”

I frowned at the sight of Joy giving up as if she knew this would happen, as she was about to extend her hand. I raised my head and glared at the cat.

The cat tilted its head at my sharp gaze, but that wasn’t the behavior I wanted.

I jumped into the air and hit the head of the cat that didn’t know English.

“Nyaaa!”

The cat screamed as if the pain was spreading through its skull, but that was none of my business.

“Hey. Take care of yourself before you get angry.”

What are you doing to my friend, not someone else? If you look like a house cat, you should act cute regardless of whether you like it or not.

When I glared at the cat with such emotion, the cat lowered its head with compassionate eyes.

Ugh. Looking at those eyes, I feel like I did something wrong, but I can’t give up!

How dare you go to my friend!

“Okay. Joy.”

“Ah. Yes. Yes. ”

Joey approached the cat cautiously again, then hesitated and extended his hand toward the cat.

The cat flinched as if it was uncomfortable, but it didn’t avoid Joy’s touch.

“It’s so soft and warm.”

“Right?”

If this magic had been performed in the social circle without any problems, everyone would have acknowledged that Erginus had created a fairy tale-like world.

But the reality is different.

The giant, who was created with so much effort and uselessness, is acting as he pleases, contrary to Erginus’ will.

If we open up our social circle here, it will just end up like the mountain we saw just now.

“Haaah. That feels really good. Animals don’t like me very much, so I’ve never been able to pet them comfortably.”

“Is that it?”

“Yes. It was so bad that the horse was causing a commotion and I couldn’t even practice horseback riding properly.”

So the moment I heard Joy say that she had rarely experienced anything like this, I guessed that part of me creating this space might be for Joy.

I don’t know what Erginus himself is thinking, but the magicians of Partran who create magic with him will all remember what made Joy sad.

If he chose this fairy tale for his master, it is understandable that he could not bring himself to destroy it.

…Ha. Damn. Why am I so uselessly perceptive only at times like this?

If I hadn’t known, I would have just beaten up the giant and left.

“Where on earth is the giant?”

I guess we’ll have to meet that guy to see if we can solve this problem or not.

Honestly, it makes me angry to imagine being treated like a kid because of my height, but I can tolerate it to some extent if I think it’s because of their wishes.

Hmm. Let’s go upstairs and take a look around.

Since it’s called a giant, if you climb up on the flower and look around, you’ll probably see something.

With that thought in mind, I left Joy, who was distracted by her cat, and climbed up the stem to reach the flower.

And then I found a man standing in a corner of the garden.

Dressed like a farmer, he was busy inspecting the plants he was growing.

Just by looking at its appearance, it doesn’t look like the kind of thing that would make a mountain like that.

He just seems like a nice country boy.

At that time, I was confused between the gap between the mountain scenery I had seen and the young man in front of me.

“Shaaaat!”

A cat’s meow could be heard from under the flowers. This guy is really acting like himself. I told him to be careful, but he’s acting up again!?

“Is it a cat?”

I was wondering if I should go down and educate him again, when I heard a deep voice ringing in my ear.

The giant’s eyes, visible under his straw hat, were filled with deep annoyance.

“No matter how much you kill that pest, it won’t go away.”

Clicking his tongue and growing irritated, he pulled out a dagger from his waistband and walked towards the sound of the cat.

No. No. Wait a minute. Cats are also animals that are called dick cats, but this is not it!

As I was about to take out my mace to strike down the giant, my grandfather stopped me.

‘Ah! That’s right!’

Damn it! What should I do then!?

Yeah. Let’s jump first! Then think about it!

I surrendered to gravity and headed down, shouting at the struggling cat and Joy who didn’t know what to do as she watched him.

“Joy! Run now!”

“Yes!?”

“I’ll tell you later, so just run with me for now!”

I was still a bit bewildered, but I made sure that Joy was following me. I picked up the cat, put it on my shoulder, and ran like crazy to the other side of the giant.