Chapter 982: More Frightening Than a Fallen Fairy

The moment Shinar entered the Fairy City, she forgot the commotion around her and sank inward.

‘If I need sparks, then sparks.’

If she needed patience, then patience.

Through everything she could do, she opened the path of her swordsmanship.

The name of the Fairy City was Kirheis. Everyone opened up what they had and helped her. Then, inspired by the Endure Enkrid had shown her, Shinar newly established the Sword of the Four Seasons. In that process, she gained a small but satisfying new goal.

“Bran, listen.”

“Yes. I’ve heard it countless times already, but somehow I never tire of it.”

Woodguard Bran roamed around Lockfried more often than Border Guard. Whenever he showed himself, people used to follow after him just out of fascination, but now, unless they were outsiders, they mostly took it in stride.

He had a great interest in the life of the city. Because of that, even his way of speaking had come to resemble some of theirs.

Meaning, he had started using irony.

“Yes, every time you hear it, it always feels fresh and entertaining, doesn’t it?”

In that respect, Shinar was no match for Bran. She had wandered the continent since long ago.

Properly ignoring what Bran had said, she devoted herself faithfully to her purpose and rambled on about what she wanted to say.

“I’m thinking of writing a book when I go out.”

That was what Shinar said after finishing her training, wiping away her sweat, and drinking the dew Druyus had given her.

“What kind of book?”

Bran had given up and was now just playing along.

Shinar had adapted herself more to life on the continent than to the life of a fairy.

All of it had been for the sake of fighting demons, and now that she had dealt with that demon, the fairy who had wandered the continent had developed habits that made it hard for her to return to the same fairy-like life as before.

She grew bored too easily now in stagnant time. Her heart also felt busy because of an impatience she had never had before.

Shouldn’t she hurry and go see her partner already?

Anyway, for one reason or another, Bran understood that she was fighting boredom. As part of that, she kept bringing up this book over and over.

“The Tale of the Returning Fairy.”

Here we go again, Bran thought, nodding. Understanding did not make it any less tiresome.

“Yes.”

“It begins with my search for my partner. The man who sees the fairy he has not seen for so long falls in love all over again at first sight. And thus the story begins.”

“I see.”

“It will be interesting.”

“I’m sure it will.”

“You have no soul.”

“Are you expecting emotional expression from a fairy?”

“That’s not something a fairy who goes into the city every day to chatter with humans and wrestle giants for fun should be saying.”

“That’s that, and this is this.”

Shinar and Bran met each other’s eyes. She knew it too. The world was going to change.

If the fairy race wanted to survive within that change, exchange was essential. This old Woodguard had stepped forward at the head of that exchange. Well, half of it was because he enjoyed it himself.

“And so begins the Tale of the Returning Fairy. How does it feel to witness the start of a great epic?”

“By the way, did you hear the news about Enki?”

Bran recited a fact he had deliberately withheld so as not to disturb Shinar’s training. This too had been part of his duty.

“Speak. I’m listening.”

“Esther—that is, the witch called the Black Flower—placed her hand on his chest and...”

What the fairy scout had seen in the middle of the night was relayed exactly as it was, without omission. A hand placed over his heart, an exchange of feelings, and the personal opinion that the way they looked at each other had not seemed ordinary.

“I see.”

Shinar nodded. So she isn’t exploding, Bran thought, lighting the cigarette in his mouth. He puffed and blew out a harsh cloud of smoke.

“You said she placed her hand on his chest? Then I suppose I should do the opposite and bring his hand to my chest. It would be warm.”

It was a trivial little joke laced with light jealousy. Esther was someone worth acknowledging.

Shinar knew that, and Esther knew it too.

And so she stepped outside and joined the party, for the beginning of the great epic of the returning fairy.

“Let’s gooo.”

When she stretched out the words and shouted that, the dragonkin copied her.

“Let’s gooo.”

“That strange way of talking rubbed off on you.”

Jaxon said that to the fairy, and Shinar answered with a faint smile.

“It is speech that has become fashionable in the city these days. Fall behind the times, and you grow old, Jaxon.”

As befitted a first-rate assassin, Jaxon possessed superhuman patience. And so he swallowed the response that he did not want to hear someone like her calling him old.

“Good job.”

Yenatrice noticed and said so as she took his hand. Jaxon squeezed it once, then let go and moved out at the front.

Naturally, Ragna, followed by Audin and others, had also tried to join them, but Kraiss’s letter held them back.

“We are going to the Empire. Naturally it will be dangerous, and if the captain is detained or captured there, we will strike at once. So prepare yourselves. Abnaier, your role will be a major one.”

That was essentially what the contents of the letter conveyed. To them, Enkrid was that kind of existence.

Everyone accepted it.

Besides that, Kraiss issued various instructions disguised as requests. The ones staying behind had plenty to do as well.

“I can’t even imagine trying to imitate it.”

Abnaier muttered that as he looked over everything Kraiss had directed from far away by letter.

When it came to the ability to sit in one place, predict the future, and prepare for it, Abnaier did not think there was anyone who could match a man like Kraiss.

He truly thought so.

Anyway, Jaxon, the dragonkin, and the fairy set out.

The three of them did not bother with the Safe Road or with stopping in cities.

“Would you like to try a fairy path?”

It was Shinar who guided them at the start. She never lost her way in any forest.

Well, any forest except one in the Demon-lands.

After they passed through several forests like that, Jaxon took over. He was one of the people who had wandered the continent more than almost anyone else.

As an assassin, he had made handling an information guild his trade and had roamed all across the continent.

That was how they entered the city of Zaltenbuck. It was a plain where green showed here and there among dry straw.

This side had built up a considerable stretch of rice paddies and fields. If monster disposal had become routine and bandits had decreased, then expanding the fields was only sensible.

“That’s nice.”

Shinar looked to be in a good mood. For several days now, she had kept repeating the words the beginning of a great epic. Jaxon had not asked what it meant, but Temares had asked several times and heard the answer. Shinar had only replied that since he was seeing that epic in person, there was no need to explain it.

They passed over ground thick with the mixed smell of fertilizer and crops. Three soldiers standing guard in a watchpost over the Safe Road kept watch, then confirmed who they were and saluted in military fashion.

Jaxon’s name was now fairly well known, and the fairy’s appearance stood out anywhere.

Of course, the one who stood out the most among them was the dragonkin.

“What, isn’t that him?”

The chatter of a soldier up in the post reached the ears of the three.

Had rumors about the dragonkin spread already? Even though Jaxon had instructed and restrained him, Temares’s eccentric behavior had been enough for rumor to spread beyond the city.

After all, he had been flirting indiscriminately with men and women of all ages.

The fact that he had stirred spring winds in the hearts of several old women was enough to make a person gape.

But the words were not directed at the dragonkin.

“Who? Ah, that fairy who fell under his spell?”

Not exactly wrong.

Shinar acknowledged as much.

“And that man is the one Sir Rem was talking about, right?”

Rem? Sir Rem was talking about him?

While Jaxon was wondering that, the soldier’s tone grew more cautious.

“He said to be careful because he’s like a cat in heat.”

“He also said that even if his face looks normal and he’s a member of the order, we shouldn’t show him any women.”

“Surely he’s not that bad?”

“Still, we ought to be careful...”

That bastard.

Jaxon was angry, which was rare, and Shinar turned to look at him, but said nothing.

“They’ve already gone in.”

The dragonkin coolly assessed the situation and spoke the conclusion aloud. His mind had been uplifted ever since he had newly established his duty.

Within the duty of being together, the most important figure was Enkrid, the singular being who had awakened his interest.

The three of them were already inside the city. Jaxon wore a calm face as he gripped the dagger hidden in his sleeve. The dragonkin was full of the desire to carry out his duty faithfully. Shinar was looking forward to seeing the face her partner would make when he saw her after so long.

If she appeared suddenly, he surely would be surprised.

That was how they came upon the group.

It was in front of the villa outside the city that the lord of Zaltenbuck used separately.

The people involved—the king and even the Empire’s envoys—were too high in rank for the lord of the city to handle casually. And to announce their visit to the entire city? There was no need for that, and since they were even keeping the route secret in preparation for any possible attack, such a thing would never happen.

Naturally, they had not informed the Empire either.

The lord of Zaltenbuck probably had not learned of their arrival until after they got there.

And so, to some of the soldiers, they had only left the message that the Mad Order of Knights would rendezvous here.

While waiting, Rem had said he was bored and spread rumors about Jaxon, and those rumors had become the signpost that led the three of them straight here.

That was the result.

In order to strip information out of the Empire, Enkrid was once again putting effort into Seriana today.

“Seriana, there’s something on your face.”

“Ah, my hands are like this.”

They were sitting on the grass enjoying tea and snacks, talking about what flowers had newly bloomed and how there were flowers in this land that did not exist in the Empire.

Then, just as Enkrid reached out to remove a tiny blade of grass from Seriana’s face, Shinar appeared.

“Good.”

Seeing that, Shinar drew her sword.

“You’re a demon.”

That was the strongest insult a fairy could utter.

She spoke as she approached. Valmung stepped in front of her.

“What is this? A fairy? A fallen fairy? She’s full of killing intent.”

Valphir Valmung had fought all kinds of fairies. A fairy did not have to have darkened skin to be tainted by demonic energy. There were plenty of fallen fairies who looked perfectly normal on the outside.

With this much killing intent, was she an assassin sent by a servant?

Hadn’t they seen quite a few of those before arriving here?

Then a beautiful man whose appearance was exceptional even at a glance suddenly vanished from where he stood and appeared behind Rem without warning.

Two daggers crossed through the place where Rem’s neck had been.

The daggers only cut through an afterimage. Rem bent his knees and lowered his posture to dodge. He did not only dodge. He drew his axe at once, twisting his body and swinging upward from below.

That axe too split empty air.

“You barbarian, I’m going to kill you today.”

The beautiful man said that.

Shinar, after seeing the woman speaking affectionately with Enkrid, had let go of the thread of reason.

“So the beginning of the great epic was a romantic farce.”

The dragonkin said that in admiration. Was he not now witnessing the beginning of the Tale of the Returning Fairy that Shinar had kept muttering about?

Without a word, Shinar placed her hand on Night Walk’s hilt.

As expected, servants of demons were all lunatics.

That was what Valmung thought as well while making up his mind, and then the man with lemon-colored hair and vertically split pupils approached Enkrid and asked,

“Is there still no need for me to turn into a female body?”

If they were to be together, would a female body be better? Or would a male body be better? It was a question asked with perfectly pure intent.

Hearing it, Valmung’s pupils shook faintly.

What is this? What kind of nonsense is this now?

It felt as though he had fallen under some kind of charm spell.

Of course, he behaved like the experienced knight he was.

“Hah.”

With that short bark, he shook off the distracting thoughts. He focused only on what he needed to do. He stood in front of Seriana and said,

“Nephir.”

“I’m ready too.”

The mage and the knight had already dealt with servants once before, just the two of them.

This time Enkrid, Rem, and Esther were here as well.

“Ah, they aren’t enemies.”

That was Crang speaking while still chewing bread behind them.

Valmung did not lower his momentum and did not even turn his head, but Crang continued,

“Welcome. This is probably your first time seeing an order like this, yes? They are the Mad Order of Knights.”

The name of an order symbolized its identity.

Just as it did for the Imperial orders, so it did for the knight orders of the continent. The Red Cloak Order of Knights carried the meaning that even if their cloaks were soaked in blood, they would keep fighting to the end.

These people were not called the Mad Order of Knights for nothing. The reason a name as low and crude as mad had attached itself to a knightly order’s name, where honor ought to abound, was vividly visible before his eyes.

“It’s been a while. I thought you would leave, but are you staying? Kraiss said you might not come.”

Crang spoke with perfect calm and greeted the dragonkin.

“I found my duty.”

Temares answered, then naturally sat down before the refreshments and picked up a pastry to eat.

Seriana was astonished. She had experienced all sorts of things in the Empire, but these truly were astounding people.

The most astonishing of them was the fairy who had abruptly swung a sword. Her eyes were murderous.

At that moment, Bianca Conti, the Empire’s matchmaker, came to mind. She had said there were two mad women beside Enkrid.

‘The mage also keeps shooting looks at me at the slightest thing, and that look in her eyes is terrifying indeed.’

This fairy was simply insane. She had drawn her sword at once. If Valmung had not stepped in to block her, would she really have swung it?

It seemed that way.

“You’re here.”

Esther said that.

Her face brightened in a way that was rare to see. Her welcome was plain on her face.

Shinar’s return.

Esther welcomed that more than anyone else. Especially after seeing Seriana’s stunned, speechless face, she seemed to welcome it twice as much.

“Shinar.”

Enkrid merely lifted a hand and greeted her in his usual calm way.

“My partner, why are you not coming here and throwing yourself into my arms?”

The fairy spoke boldly.

“You let someone else paw at your chest, and you expect me to simply let it pass? Are you trying to tear this delicate fairy’s heart to pieces?”

Was that a joke, or was it serious?

At words that crossed back and forth over that line, Seriana, for the first time, saw Enkrid left speechless.

If someone attacked with such merciless joking, anyone would be left at a loss for words.

“When you put it that way, it invites a great deal of misunderstanding.”

Enkrid answered that.

Shinar’s age, after all, made it uncomfortable to speak down to her.

“There is no misunderstanding here. Get away from that woman before my sword tears you away from her by force.”

Seriana and Valmung, seeing how the situation was unfolding, more or less understood what it was.

That fairy was Enkrid’s woman.

That was the conclusion they reached.

A fairy blinded by jealousy was more frightening than a fallen fairy.