Chapter 183
Chapter 183
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.42 – When Spring Blooms (2)
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[-Humans fear that child and call it a monster, but in truth, it's closer to a fairy. It's just that, belonging to the underworld, it's greatly degenerated. Still, it takes its duties seriously and sometimes grants our requests. Especially since it doesn't harm lives without reason. It's not a bad kid, hehe.]
“……”
...The knights were at a loss, unsure whether to empathize, be shocked, or something else at this point.
Should they be surprised that the Dullahan wasn't a monster but actually a fairy? Or that the Spring Fairy treated the Dullahan like a pet and made free use of it?
However, having experienced a glimpse of the power these fairies wielded, Lee Han couldn't help but feel a growing curiosity.
“...I don't quite get it. Why on earth was the Spring Fairy captured by mere spellcasters? With this much power, couldn't you have subdued them before they even caught you?”
“What a blasphemous bastard!”
“I-I mean, I can ask, right...?”
For some reason, the Spring Fairy seemed incapable of directly harming humans.
But it was clear she could defeat them in other ways just fine.
Like when she first broke free of her seal, converting the mages' mana into soil nutrients—or simply summoning that Dullahan there, and most mages would have lost their heads.
The same went for those spellcasters who'd rotted away for 400 years...
So why hadn't the fairy resisted at all and gotten captured?
[You're curious about that, huh? It's not that big a deal. No need to be so cautious.]
The Spring Fairy was nonchalant.
Even as he treaded carefully, she responded as if it were no issue at all.
[Well, to answer lightly: the way we use our power is tricky.]
“??”
[To put it simply: we can't casually wield authority beyond our designated roles. It could 'collapse' the natural ecosystem if we're not careful.]
The fairy shrugged lightly as she continued her explanation.
[Beyond that, there are 'constraints' and 'promises' imposed by the gods... Hmm, even without those, we can't use our power easily anyway. Using it could lead to some real 'bad things' happening.]
“……”
He didn't even dare ask what those bad things were.
It felt like the answer would surpass his wildest imaginations in the worst way.
[Take that Dullahan child—even it faces conditions and restrictions to use its power in the living world. But it can wield power against the dead. That's why it granted our request, too.]
“Then you, Fairy...?”
[I told you: 'I'm truly grateful to you all.' If you hadn't punished those mages, we still wouldn't have been able to act against them. To make it easy for you to understand: because a causal link was established, we could finally intervene!]
The Spring Fairy wiggled her fingers, drawing a circle in the air.
Whoosh!
An aurora traced a perfect circle, as if illustrating her own take on the world's cycles and laws.
It was complex, but Lee Han shrewdly grasped the meaning.
'Since my comrades and I were in the midst of punishing the spellcasters, the fairies could assist us in the role of [allies].'
Thinking about it, the fairies had only neutralized mana or turned the dead into nutrients—they hadn't directly harmed anyone.
Despite the spellcasters surely irking them, they'd shown restraint by not attacking recklessly. And the reason for that patience was likely to avoid wreaking horrific havoc on the world by wielding their power.
'Scary stuff, for real.'
Beings so powerful they could upend nature's laws if careless, hence bound by heavy restrictions on using that power.
It naturally paled his face.
Yet...
'So incredibly kind.'
Gentleness, mercy, nobility—all radiated from her, stirring even reverence.
'She could use her power anytime if she wanted.'
By his reckoning, the talk of constraints and promises was true, but she probably wasn't entirely unable to use her power at will.
Surely, if she chose, she could directly harm humans without issue.
—Yet the fairy refrained.
Aware that misusing their power could doom the human world.
Thus, the fairies were sacred.
Even with godlike mysteries at their command, they refrained from abusing that power.
They might seem innocently childlike at a glance, but in truth, no race was deeper-thinking or more merciful.
'No wonder they were deified.'
How could ancient humans not praise such merciful, noble beings?
'Even I'm in awe...'
For the first time in his life, Lee Han felt someone was both noble and divine.
Magnificent fairies.
Today, he personally understood why they bore that title.
“Amazing, truly.”
Lee Han murmured, nodding deeply.
And at his words...
[Uuung, th-that's embarrassing. It's been so long since anyone praised me like this...]
“...?”
[You're a really good human, hehe!]
“...Just to be sure, can fairies read people's minds too?”
He asked, half-wondering.
He hadn't said much, yet she seemed so flustered.
The fairy...
[-It's a secret.]
“……”
She covered her mouth with a finger and winked, leaving Lee Han with a bemused expression.
'...Why are there so many mind-reading women around me?'
Her reaction alone felt like ample confirmation.
Clop, clop.
The knights stared fixedly as the sound of hooves faded into the distance.
“……”
For some reason, he had a premonition that they'd clash someday.
An illogical, uncertain hunch.
And this...
[------.]
Fwoosh!
...wasn't just their feeling, as the Dullahan's blazing blue foxfire eyes—felt only by them—turned their way.
The heat emanating from that foxfire.
Its mere presence made their bodies tingle all over.
Yet the knights didn't avert their gaze.
Death's harvester or whatever it was, if they fought someday, 'victory was all that mattered.'
“See you again.”
[-------.]
At Lee Han's provocative words, the Dullahan seemed to twitch—as if grinning.
Clop, clop.
The Dullahan slowly rode away.
Having reaped hundreds of souls.
The knights merely watched, committing the sight to memory.
Clop, clop......
Before long, the Dullahan vanished.
Engulfed in mist from who-knows-where, it simply disappeared.
Its presence utterly gone, Lee Han and Lark...
Thud...!
“...I'm exhausted to death.”
“You brute of a thug...! Why provoke it at the end?”
“Uh, f-felt like the mood called for it?”
“...You mad thug.”
“...Tch.”
...collapsed onto the ground, voicing their fatigue.
Having just fought an intense battle, facing off in a battle of wills against something with such overwhelming presence was bound to leave them drained.
In truth, already battered, they'd become even more wrecked.
Slumped where they fell, they stretched out naturally, desperate to pass out right then.
“...Whoa, this is serious.”
Derek, who'd approached unnoticed, clicked his tongue.
It was after activating his [Medical Skill - Diagnosis] to check their conditions.
“Muscle tears, severed tendons, bones... No, how are you two even moving?”
The more he looked, the less he could say.
These were injuries that wouldn't be odd if they dropped dead immediately.
Yet ironically, those were the minor ones.
“...Your internals are a mess. Instructor, it's like you detonated gunpowder inside you. Sir Dylon looks like he's been tortured for days? What the...”
If he were a doctor, Derek's precise diagnosis would earn him fame as a miracle worker.
It was truly dire—surgery was needed now.
Surgery with slim odds of survival, at that. To even raise those odds, they'd need a priest pouring holy power throughout just to cling to life?
“...Sleep it off overnight and it'll heal.”
“He's right.”
“...You're more likely to sleep and never wake.”
Of course, for 'normal humans,' these were fatal—but not for them.
They possessed tough, tenacious vitality.
They could recover naturally; half a year of rest would make them whole.
But Derek knew.
They weren't the type to obediently rest for half a year.
'These guys are all workaholics. They get itchy mouths without work...'
They—especially the instructor—might deny it, but their instructor was undoubtedly a workaholic.
“Ahh, gotta get going soon, and we've only got three days of leave left...”
...A severe case, at that.
“Please just rest, seriously.”
Derek muttered, about to use his skill.
For emergency treatment, at least...
[-No, you can't.]
“……”
[Can't steal my job, hehe.]
“...Y-Yes, ma'am...”
When had she snuck up?
The Spring Fairy stood quietly behind him, giving a meaningful look.
[...You're one who's been summoned by 'her,' aren't you?]
“!!?”
[Hehe, don't worry. I won't go blabbing anyone's secrets. Just mildly intriguing.]
“……”
...Gulp.
Derek swallowed dryly.
As expected of a fairy...
'F-Feels like she sees right through me.'
Nothing could be hidden.
No, probably not just him...
[Those two over there are fun too, hehe. 'She' must've pulled off something amusing. Well, these things happen occasionally.]
“Occasionally...?”
Derek mustered courage to ask back.
Wondering what 'occasionally' even meant.
[Cases like you all popping up. Once every few hundred years. To make the world more bountiful and fun—yes, in human terms, like an 'event' or 'festival'?]
“……”
...A few hundred years is 'occasional'?
[Don't worry, the gods aren't manipulating or using your fates. If they meddled, the world would lose its fun. So they mostly just watch it flow naturally.]
“……”
[Hehe.]
“...Should I be flattered or offended...?”
[Enjoy the world. Otherwise, you're just hurting yourself. Chin up!]
“……”
Derek couldn't manage his expression watching the fairy flash a beautiful smile, cutely raising both hands in cheer.
No matter how adorable, this fairy's age was...
[Naughty.]
“...Sorry.”
Derek immediately bowed his head.
“...Stop bullying my kid.”
[But he's so cute~]
Lee Han grumbled, watching Taechang still under flower-bombardment in the flower field.
The fairy just smiled playfully.
...This must be why fairies are said to be born mischief-makers.
“Anyway. No need for treatment or anything. This'll heal on its...”
[-Your lifespan's shortened a bit.]
“……”
[It happened while freeing us, so I have to repay you.]
“No, this is...”
Lee Han had plenty of counterarguments.
No regrets, or it wasn't just for her sake, etc.
Lifespan? A few elixirs from Princess Sis would more than make up for it, so no prob—
Tap.
[Too chatty.]
Wha—wait... Hmph!?
Lee Han suddenly found himself immobile, body seized.
Just from the fairy hugging him—unable to resist, frozen solid, not even a chance to fight back...
“Gasp!”
“Mmm.”
“...Whoa.”
......She claimed his lips hotly.
The knight's 'first experience'—cherished for 30 years—was ironically not with a human, but a fairy.