Ending Maker Chapter 42
Ending Maker Chapter 42
Chapter 10 - Honeymoon #3
The Playable Characters of Hero Legend 2 were mostly composed of beautiful men and women.
Even Keynes, the only elderly character, was a handsome older gentleman overflowing with dignified charm.
'That sounds like an insult, somehow. Handsome older gentleman.'
Anyway, even among those Playable Characters, four stood out as the Four Great Pretty Faces: Yuder, the peerlessly handsome boy; Cordelia, the peerlessly beautiful girl; Maximilian, the true protagonist who had it all—character, skill, talent, connections, wealth, and even looks; and Adelaide, a transcendent beauty who always wore a mask because she was supposedly too beautiful to render in illustrations.
'Lucas is more like the minimum cutoff, I guess.'
He was the lower limit for being invited by the fairies, so to speak.
He was a manly, good-looking fellow, but he fell slightly outside the fairies' tastes.
In any case, two of the Four Great Pretty Faces adored by the fairies had gathered in one place, so an ecstatic reaction was only natural.
"He's totally handsome."
"I could stare at him all day and never get tired of it."
"So pretty. Pretty. Her eyes are like jewels."
The Winter Fairies surrounding Yuder and Cordelia spoke in breathless excitement.
Unlike the fairies they had met before, who had wanted to play dress-up with Yuder and Cordelia, the Winter Fairies seemed more interested in simply admiring them.
'This is so embarrassing I could die.'
Cordelia was always saying that Cordelia was the prettiest, but being surrounded by dozens of fairies showering her with blunt praise was almost unbearably embarrassing.
"Look at her being shy."
"Cute."
"I want to bite her."
Cordelia, growing even more embarrassed by the winter fairies' appreciation, didn't know what to do and just stared at the ground.
But Yuder was completely different.
"It's thrilling, always new, being handsome is the best."
"Eee!"
"Read this one too, this one too!"
"Not hers, mine! Read mine!"
The winter fairies hopped up and down, waving the large papers in their hands—though to a human, they were only the size of business cards.
On each paper were written lines so cheesy, so sweet, that the moment you read them, time and space seemed to shrivel up.
"Now, now, form a line. A line. Hmm, let's read this one this time."
When Yuder calmly picked one of the papers, the fairies erupted into shrieks again.
"Eee! That's the one! That one!"
"That's an iconic line."
What on earth was it that made them act like that?
When Cordelia turned her head slightly out of curiosity, Yuder looked at her, and for a moment, he flashed a wicked—no, a handsome smile.
'Cordelia, help me out a little.'
'Huh?'
Help with what, how? No, what was he asking her to help with here?
'I need a partner.'
'A partner?'
'Just stand still.'
After finishing an exchange of looks that was practically telepathy, Yuder moved right up to Cordelia. She flinched and froze.
At the same time, dozens of Winter Fairies clamped their mouths shut so they could fully immerse themselves in the performance.
'Stay still.'
With another look telling her to stay still, Yuder slowly reached out, gently stroked Cordelia's lustrous hair, and leaned a little closer.
'Wh-what is this crazy bastard doing?!'
But Yuder did not stop. He leaned in until their breaths nearly mingled, looked straight into Cordelia's blue eyes, and said,
"I cannot do that. Because I...."
'Because you what?!'
"You...."
Yuder's eyes grew moist, and Cordelia swallowed hard without realizing it.
And the winter fairies were the same.
Yuder caressed Cordelia's cheek. Looking as though he might burst into tears at any moment, he whispered,
"Because I love you."
"Eee!"
"Oh my gosh! What do we do?!"
The winter fairies shrieked and didn't know what to do with themselves.
It was a scene from The Love of the Fairy Queen and the 9th Circle Archmage. The Fairy Queen had ruined the Archmage's lifelong dream through a terrible mistake. When she begged him to kill her and cried that after making her beg for love he would not even grant her death, the Archmage held her and spoke those words.
"Did you record it? You recorded it, right?"
"I even got video!"
While the winter fairies went wild, Cordelia first kicked Yuder in the shin.
"Ack!"
"What is this crazy bastard doing?!"
My heart was pounding!
No, that's not it.
Cordelia hit Yuder a few more times to get her embarrassment under control, then took several deep breaths. The Winter Fairies decided even that was worth watching and kept filming.
'Ha, seriously. Was he an actor or something?'
His acting with just his eyes was seriously good.
Come to think of it, his delivery seemed to change slightly each time he read one of the lines the fairies held out to him.
'What did he really do for a living?'
Just as Cordelia found herself wondering about him all over again, the Winter Fairies—who had been squealing for him to read more of their lines—suddenly fell completely silent.
It wasn't because Yuder had started a new performance.
"Make way!"
Unlike the other fairies, who wore mini dresses resembling one-piece swimsuits, one fairy was clad in armor and even wore a helmet. At her booming shout, the entire banquet hall fell silent as if the earlier commotion had never happened.
'Fairy Knight.'
The strongest fairy who protected the Fairy Queen.
She was the only real combat force among the otherwise thoroughly noncombatant fairies.
"Yuder Bayel and Cordelia Chase. Her Majesty the Queen summons you."
At the Fairy Knight's declaration, most of the winter fairies drooped their shoulders with dejected faces.
It was because the declaration effectively meant the party was over.
"Follow me."
When the Fairy Knight, who had spoken with dignity, turned sharply, the winter fairies stepped aside and opened a path for Yuder and Cordelia.
"That was fun."
"Thank you."
"Let's play again later."
Yuder smiled back at each of the Winter Fairies as they called out to him, then gave Cordelia a look.
'The real thing starts now.'
Because the only one who could bestow the Winter's Blessing was the Fairy Queen, the leader of the winter fairies.
But Yuder and Cordelia were aiming for more than that.
"This way."
Following the Fairy Knight, they came to a corridor-like passage formed by closely spaced trees.
It was almost the same structure as the fairies' dwelling they had visited before.
And after a few steps like that.
Sure enough, the same thing happened this time too.
Their vision seemed to spin for a moment, and before they knew it, Yuder and Cordelia had arrived at the Queen's chamber.
"We greet the Fairy Queen."
"We greet the Fairy Queen."
When Yuder bowed, Cordelia quickly followed suit.
"What polite children you are."
On a throne made of ice sat the Fairy Queen, wearing a white dress with a bluish glow.
The previous Fairy Queen had been blonde. This one had platinum-blonde hair bordering on silver, and perhaps because of the color of her dress, she gave off a much colder impression.
'But still, a fairy is a fairy.'
Yuder took a deep breath, straightened his posture, and looked directly at the Fairy Queen.
"Indeed, you are handsome."
The Fairy Queen blushed slightly in a very fairy-like reaction and smiled. She was about to turn to Cordelia when her gaze snapped back to Yuder.
She had noticed the silver ring on Yuder's right ring finger, which he had deliberately raised toward his chest to show off.
"Fairy's Footsteps?"
'As expected.'
She recognized it.
No, she couldn't help but recognize it.
Because Fairy's Footsteps was not such a common item.
Moreover, the Fairy's Footsteps Yuder was wearing belonged to the Fall Fairies.
'Fairies have classifications too.'
Spring, summer, fall, winter.
Fairies symbolizing the four seasons.
Broadly speaking, they were all the same fairies, but just as humans distinguish one another by race and nation, there were some differences among them.
The fairies Yuder and Cordelia had met before were fall fairies, and to the winter fairies—no, precisely to the Winter Fairy Queen—they were beings of considerable significance.
"Did Lorelai give this to you?"
The Fall Fairy Queen, who had said she liked handsome men more than pretty girls.
"That is correct. She bestowed it upon me, saying it was a reward for gracing her banquet."
It had actually been received as a reward for repelling the Bicorn, but Yuder deliberately concealed that fact.
'Because here, we didn't really do anything except entertain them.'
And of course, he didn't leave out Moonlight either.
"This Holy Staff was also bestowed on us by Lady Lorelai."
When Yuder spoke softly and winked, Cordelia quickly raised the Moonlight she had taken out beforehand.
"Even Moonlight?"
"She said she treats her guests properly...... We also thought it was excessive, but since she bestowed it upon us, we received it gratefully."
At Yuder's answer, the Winter Fairy Queen—Gerd—wore a complicated expression.
Because she felt she had to do at least as much as Lorelai had done.
Because otherwise, she somehow felt like she would be losing.
'A fairy is a fairy, after all.'
They were a race best described as cute, lovable little rascals—in other words, children.
"Hmm, hmmm."
After mulling it over for a moment, Fairy Queen Gerd clenched a fist as if she had made up her mind and said,
"The winter fairies cannot be outdone by the fall fairies."
"That is only natural. Seeing you in person like this...... truly...... No, that would be discourteous to both Lady Lorelai and Lady Gerd."
When Yuder deliberately started to speak and then stopped, various emotions flickered in Gerd's blue eyes.
"Why do you stop? What were you going to say?"
"That is......."
"That is?"
"Because you seem more beautiful than Lady Lorelai....... Surely your generosity must be even more beautiful as well."
At Yuder's blatantly transparent flattery, Cordelia quickly lowered her head to hide her expression.
'Why is the embarrassment always my share?!'
No, forget that—it was way too obvious!
But it was effective.
The Fairy Queen was still a fairy, after all. Yuder's blatantly obvious compliment made her cheeks redden, and she beamed.
"Right? I'm a little prettier than Lorelai, aren't I? Hehehe."
Gerd fidgeted happily with both hands, then composed herself, cleared her throat with exaggerated dignity, and said,
"Ahem. I saw how much you delighted my children. So I shall bestow a reward on you as well, just as Lorelai did."
"Thank you."
"Thank you."
When Yuder and Cordelia quickly offered their respects, Gerd, now looking satisfied, clapped her hands.
"Bring the Fairy's Bond."
In that moment, Yuder and Cordelia looked at each other, and the two exchanged the same look.
'Bingo!'
'Seriously?!'
Both were exclamations.
Because Fairy's Bond was an item worthy of that.
Unlike Fairy's Footsteps, it had no immediate effect and could not itself be compared to an S-rank item.
But considering its future potential, it was effectively one of the three ultimate items obtainable from fairies.
'A bracelet that can hold the blessings of the fairies of all four seasons.'
Originally, the blessings bestowed by fairies did not last very long.
You could think of them as temporary sticker tattoos.
But if you stored a blessing in the Fairy's Bond, the story changed.
Not only did the blessing become much stronger, but both its duration and the number of times it could be used increased dramatically.
'But the real deal is when you collect all the blessings.'
If you collected all the blessings of the four seasons fairies, you could activate a special blessing called the 'Great Blessing of the Four Seasons,' and if you added the blessings of the wind, water, earth, and fire four-element fairies on top of that, you could create the 'Fairy King's Blessing,' one of the strongest blessings in Hero Legend 2.
'If you collect them all, it's completely broken.'
Even the Great Blessing of the Four Seasons alone had tremendously powerful effects.
The one who received the Blessing of the Four Seasons could not only freely wield the powers of the four seasons fairies, but was also recognized by the world itself as one of the fairies and could enjoy various privileges.
'The slight problem is that without a blessing stored in it, it's just a silver bracelet, but anyway, we just have to collect them.'
The real problem, rather, was who between Yuder and Cordelia would have the Fairy's Bond.
Because it was an item extremely useful to both of them.
But thankfully, Gerd even eliminated that worry.
"You two seem like a well-matched pair. It would look good if you wore them together."
They were, quite literally, matching couple bracelets.
Bright smiles blossomed on Yuder and Cordelia's faces as they looked down at the beautifully crafted pair of silver bracelets.
"Hahaha."
"Hohoho."
Because they were truly, purely happy.
Seeing them, Gerd raised her chin proudly, then asked in a careful voice that sounded almost like she was talking to herself,
"I'm every bit as good as Lorelai, right?"
"Of course not."
"Thank you so much."
Yuder and Cordelia answered instantly, without a moment's hesitation.
Gerd, now in an even better mood, said,
"I shall store the Winter's Blessing in them, so hold out the arm wearing the bracelet."
Once again, Yuder and Cordelia immediately obeyed.
The Winter's Blessing bestowed by the Winter Fairy Queen.
Perhaps because it was stored in the Fairy's Bond, they already felt as if they had gained resistance to all cold.
"Now then, let us talk. How did you two come to enter this deep place?"
Fall Fairies and Winter Fairies alike were intensely curious about outsiders.
Yuder answered without hiding anything that they were on their way to Frost Anvil because of the Sunflower Herb.
"Ah...... I see. I do hope you find the Sunflower Herb. Then you can hold your fiancée, and carry her on your back, and also...... what was it?"
"I will even leap over walls for her."
"Yes, you can do that. Cheer up, pretty child. Your husband will surely obtain the Sunflower Herb and nurse you back to health."
"Uh... yes. I'm... looking forward to it. Hoho."
Cordelia wondered what on earth they were even talking about, but for the moment she answered with a smile.
"Hmm, good. If you are going to Frost Anvil, I think I can help you a little more."
Gerd, who had even nodded once as if she had made up her mind, spoke to the Fairy Knight beside her, who had been equally absorbed in the story.
"Ada, go and bring the Fairy's Feather."
"Understood, Your Majesty."
When the Fairy Knight offered her respects and withdrew, Gerd turned back to Yuder and Cordelia and said,
"Do you know of the Fairy's Feather?"
'Yes, of course I know.'
But contrary to what he was thinking, Yuder feigned ignorance, and Gerd smiled as she explained.
"The Fairy's Feather is a mysterious item that lets you cross space. I can send you straight to Frost Anvil with it."
"Wow, really?"
Cordelia chimed in at just the right moment, and Gerd nodded.
"Really. The ancient dwarves who built Frost Anvil and we Winter Fairies were once very close. The dwarves gave us magical coordinates that let us enter Frost Anvil directly whenever we wanted to visit."
In truth, it had been a way to keep some control over fairies who might otherwise pop up anywhere at any time, but no harm done.
Yuder decided to quietly accept what was given rather than raising unnecessary objections.
However, there was a slight problem.
"Your Majesty, only one feather remains."
At the Fairy Knight's words, Gerd frowned slightly.
Because the Fairy's Feather was a single-use item, and one had to be used per person.
"Hmm... well, it should still be fine. We can use a workaround."
"A workaround?"
Cordelia asked curiously. It was an item that required one per person, so what kind of workaround could there possibly be?
"It's simple. Use it while holding each other tightly."
"What?"
"Then the two of you will move together."
Gerd smiled as if asking whether that wasn't a truly simple solution, and Cordelia turned to look at Yuder.
And Yuder said,
"Hmm, well, nothing we can do."
"Your smile looks kind of lecherous?"
"It's not like that! I'd rather have one feather per person too, you know?"
When they whispered to each other in small voices, Gerd smiled as if pleased, then looked back at the Fairy Knight and said,
"Tell the children to gather. We must send off our guests."
"Understood, Your Majesty."
Immediately after the Fairy Knight answered, space seemed to ripple, and before they knew it, Yuder and Cordelia were standing at the center of the banquet hall, surrounded by dozens of fairies.
"They're gonna hug! A hug!"
"Free hug?"
"Bear hug."
"What are these crazy kids saying? It's hug, hug. Love hug."
The Winter Fairies chattered among themselves as they each raised their usual recording devices, and Gerd said with a broad smile,
"Children of humans, I wish that you obtain what you desire at Frost Anvil. Be happy."
"Be happy!"
"Live well!"
What connection could there possibly be between teleporting to Frost Anvil and becoming happy?
Amid the Winter Fairies' continuing cheers, Cordelia looked utterly miserable and said to Yuder,
"Let's go quickly."
"Yeah."
Because Yuder was also starting to get embarrassed.
"Should I? Or you?"
"Me."
Cordelia understood immediately. She took a deep breath, crossed her arms in an X over her chest, and stood stiffly while Yuder embraced her with painful awkwardness.
"Whoa!"
"Kiss! Kiss!"
"Kiss!"
This was too much.
Yuder hastily activated the Fairy's Feather, and the two crossed space.
* * *
Frost Anvil.
One of the seven cities of the great kingdom built by the ancient dwarves.
"Huff, huff."
"Hoo, hoo."
After arriving in the dim interior, the two caught their breath, then looked up at each other at almost the same moment.
"Fairies."
With a sigh, the two immediately pulled apart, took another deep breath, and quickly set to work.
Cordelia lit up the darkness with magical light, and Yuder took out the map of Frost Anvil he had prepared in advance.
"Frost Anvil?"
"Seems like the interior. Cordelia, can you shine some light over there?"
"Here?"
"Yeah, there."
When she brought the light to where Yuder pointed, large letters were engraved into the wall.
"It's ancient dwarf script. Yoogle Translator, what does it say?"
"Yoogle Translator?"
"Would you prefer Grub Translator?"
"......Yoogle is better. Anyway, give me a second. Let me grope around in my memory."
"Saying you'll 'grope around' makes you sound like a pervert."
"......Let me look through my memory."
Yuder, who quickly corrected himself, closed his eyes and unfolded his memory palace.
No matter how good Yuder's memory was, it was impossible for him to recall everything instantly.
A few minutes later.
Having reconstructed the ancient dwarf script from memory, Yuder said,
"Frost Anvil. 1st Floor. Lobby."
"Oh, it really is the interior."
"It seems to be the room right across from the entrance. That's fortunate, since getting past the entrance isn't easy."
Frost Anvil was an underground city built by the ancient dwarves.
The only entrance was the 'Great Gate,' and since the entrance itself was large and sturdy, and also a place where all kinds of monsters gathered, it was not easy to pass through.
'We're lucky.'
Thanks to the Winter Fairies, they had easily bypassed one major obstacle.
"It's cold even with the Winter's Blessing activated."
"It's basically a freezer. Pull your collar tighter and let's head out right away. For today, let's move to the 1st floor rest area and then rest."
The real exploration—full of monsters, traps, and worse—only began on the second underground floor.
Cordelia, who nodded at Yuder's suggestion, made the magical light a little brighter, and the two stepped forward side by side.
And at the same time, in a completely different place.
The executives of the Devil's Hand were gathering in one place.