The Great Madness (3)

I narrowed my eyes at the overwhelming presence of the Bicorn’s telepathic message. ‘──Is this telepathy?’

The words Bicorn spat out sounded like nothing more than horse whinnies to every other race except me. Even though she had clearly projected her thoughts, the rest of the party members were tilting their heads in confusion. Still, the fact that this Bicorn had suddenly sent her thoughts directly to us was the important part.

‘She must have slipped into the rune link Veronica set up.’

It wasn’t strange that there was a rune connection between Veronica and this Bicorn—Adelaide, if I remembered her name correctly. If they knew each other, it made sense they might have left a mental line open, like exchanging numbers. But jumping into our line and speaking to me was an entirely different matter.

This was basically like a third party breaking into an SNS chat room protected by a password. It was impossible without considerable magical skill.

Maybe it was because Veronica’s answer had been surprisingly dry despite her earlier proud boasting about her husband. Even though Adelaide knew nothing about the Prophet’s missed prophecy, she seemed to have roughly sensed the direction things were heading. She really did give off the aura of a god, somehow detached from the mundane world in both behavior and ability.

Adelaide turned smoothly, as if she had grown accustomed to moving in her horse form. Veronica looked at us and spoke.

“Of course, babe. Take your time catching up.”

Her pouty reply sounded like she was about to puff out her cheeks. It wasn’t very Veronica-like, but it was cute, so I let it slide. When I nodded, Adelaide swished her tail.

“Yes!”

At Adelaide’s words, a single foal bounded forward. It was a mysterious Bicorn with golden fur and a white horn—features no ordinary horse could possess. In foal form, she looked much younger than Veronica. She genuinely appeared to be no more than a month old.

──Swish, swish.

Elka waved her forelegs in front of us, apparently thinking we couldn’t understand her speech. It seemed to mean “follow me.” We trailed after the tiny foal leading the way.

──Glance.

The Bicorn called Elka kept looking back at me as she walked. At first I thought she was checking if we were keeping up, but upon closer inspection, there was a strange longing in her eyes.

‘Does she know I’m the one who broke the curse?’

As a Bicorn, Elka must have sensed the immense ancient divine mana I carried. If she knew about the Prophet’s prophecy, that reaction was inevitable. It was like a child born with an incurable disease looking at the doctor who could cure her.

I used to be a veterinary student back on Earth, but I never imagined my old life would come to mind in a situation like this. I scratched my cheek.

“Whoa…… Senior? The golden foal is surprisingly cute too♡”

Larilura, who loved pretty much every animal, whispered to me, completely enchanted by the adorable sight. Well, baby animals of any species tend to be cute. Calves and foals both turn out to be unexpectedly adorable when you look at them.

【Hiiing.】

Elka let out a whinny once we descended a cliff-like slope. Since I couldn’t translate it, she must have just made a random noise. She had probably given up on conversation, figuring we wouldn’t understand anyway.

“It’s beautiful……”

Franc’s eyes widened at the sight of the spring we arrived at. Dana and Larilura didn’t say anything, but they seemed to agree. The spring truly was that stunning.

IT was a jewel-like blue spring surrounded by a lush carpet of flowers and grass. The whole place was decorated like some emperor’s private garden, leaving my jaw on the floor. In one corner was an empty patch where no grass grew—probably where Adelaide lay down to rest.

And in that space, there was already a guest waiting ahead of us.

<Huh?>

A kid who looked like a stunted middle-schooler with wings on her back was fluttering around. She flinched violently when we appeared, clearly startled. She was about the size of a Flying Green Jaemin. A child-like otherworldly being with translucent wings. She was a Fairy—one of the races in the Romania region that interacted especially little with humans.

<Waaah! Humans! It’s humans!>

The Fairy tending the flowers flew straight toward us the moment she saw us, showing zero wariness. I nearly had a heart attack as my military-era PTSD of Tinkerbell moths swarming me resurfaced, and I stumbled backward. Fuck, this sanctuary really does have ridiculously oversized Bicorns and Fairies. Is this Jurassic Park or what? Are we finally getting a goddamn King Dragon in this fucking isekai story? My heart’s pounding like crazy.

Or maybe Fairy folk were naturally this big. I had no idea.

<What, what? Golden One, you brought more lost kids from the forest again? You’re gonna get scolded by Two-Horn.>

【Hiiing.】

Another meaningless whinny. From the tone, it probably meant something like “Yeah, sure.” The Fairy seemed to know she couldn’t actually talk with Bicorns, so she didn’t look bothered. It was the kind of one-sided chatter you’d give to the neighbor’s dog without expecting a reply.

Because of that, the Fairy only half-paid attention while waving at us.

<Hello, humans! I’m Ann Miriam!>

<Yep, yep! But human! How did you guys get in here? Did she bring you?>

<No. We have a Bicorn acquaintance who guided us here.>

Maybe the rumor that Fairies don’t interact much with humans was bullshit. This one’s attitude was practically capybara-level friendly.

<You have a Bicorn friend? Same as me!>

Ann exaggeratedly pretended to be shocked.

<Human, human! Have you met the big boss Two-Horn who lives here? Did you know? The only Bicorns living here are Golden One and Two-Horn? Other animals get kicked out if Two-Horn doesn’t allow them! So this is the first time humans have ever come in! If you don’t want to get scolded by Two-Horn, be careful!>

Why does this kid talk so much? I finally understood why the little Bicorn named Elka had given up trying to communicate with other races. If someone who couldn’t even understand you kept chattering nonstop in your ear, you’d get sick of it too.

So I decided to take control of the conversation first.

<Ann? How did you come to be here? There should be a barrier around the sanctuary, right?>

<Just call me Ann! I got hurt while playing in the forest, and Golden One brought me here and shared some medicinal herbs! What’s a sanctuary?>

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

From the way she talked, she probably knew almost nothing about the Bicorns’ circumstances. Well, how many people in this world would know that Bicorns were once ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠part of the divine race?

I brushed it off as nothing and changed the subject.

<Anyway, since I owe them, I’m repaying the favor by decorating this spring! Our kind is really good at growing plants!>

<Of course! Oh, but you can’t just pick the flowers, okay? His Majesty told us to be careful around humans! He said you people take all the flowers and herbs!>

<That’s usually true, but we’re not like that.>

I said it with a straight face.

‘I think I get why Fairies don’t interact much with humans.’

If a living plant nutrient like a Fairy caught the eye of our perverted world, what would happen? Capitalism wouldn’t work on forest-dwellers anyway. Slavery is legal in Romania, and illegal slaves exist in the shadows. Who knows—maybe in some Romanian mansion basement, picture goblins—no, herb Fairies—are being forced to grow ingredients for drugs or potions.

Sob. Sorry, humanity.

<Ann. Could you take a look at my weapon for a moment?>

Ah, well, sorry is sorry, but business is business. I handed my mithril spear to the flying middle-schooler Fairy. Since Aura application had been added to my goals, I was worried whether the spear shaft that repelled other people’s mana would affect that achievement.

<What is it, what is it? Gimme!>

Ann took the spear without hesitation and her eyes widened.

<Whoa! Whoa! What is this? A divine tree?>

<No. It somehow developed the trait of reacting only to my mana, but I was told it’s a branch from some kind of tree monster.>

Ann flew around in every direction while holding the spear and tilted her head.

<Ah, no? The wood feels ordinary. Isn’t this mana corruption? You said it only reacts to your mana? Are you actually an incredibly powerful mage?>

<Hmm. You know how water or earth mana often seeps into trees? That happens all the time! But for fire or someone else’s mana to permeate it, you need a huu~uge amount of mana or incredible skill.>

Fire mana, huh. Her words made me think of the Burning Branch. Wasn’t that the tree that grew in the space where the fragment of that Asgard-must-die-man’s weapon—Surtr or whatever—was embedded? It seemed my spear had caused a similar mana corruption. There had been a similar case closer than I thought.

Ann stroked the spear shaft like she was petting a baby.

<Human. This child really likes you. So you should feed it your mana often.>

<……The spear likes me?>

<Yeah! Even plants have veee~ry faint hearts, you know!>

<Is this that thing where praising them makes them grow better?>

<Eh? How did you know? That’s right! That’s how our kind helps plants grow well!>

Goddamn, pseudoscience really transcends time and space. The science knowledge sleeping in my neurons tried to flare up, but I held it back. In this fucking magical isekai world, Earth common sense was less reliable than a wiki. Looking at this wiki-Fairy’s confident expression, it seemed this was common sense here. If I puffed out my chest and argued, then demonstrated it myself, I’d only end up embarrassed.

‘Whatever, I’ll just do as she says.’

I turned on self-hypnosis mode. When raising plants, you’re supposed to praise them so they grow well, right? This is just common sense. It’s not like I’m losing anything, so I can test it later. Feeding the spear mana isn’t hard anyway.

<But human? Be honest—you’ve been pretty rough with this kid normally, right?>

<……I took care of it as much as anyone else? I cleaned the shaft and sharpened the blade.>

<That’s not enough! No, more importantly, if you only pamper the mithril, how do you think this child feels! She’s become like a baby nightingale that hasn’t eaten for a week!>

I’d appreciate it if she’d stop using analogies that even a veterinary school dropout couldn’t follow. Ann completely ignored my stunned face and rubbed her cheek against the spear shaft.

<Hmmm…… It seems something nice happened to her recently, but after finally escaping being just a tool and regaining her vitality, she hasn’t received love from her owner? Oh, more importantly, what’s this child’s name?>

<What?! You didn’t even name her?! Oh my god, I can’t believe it! You plant abuser!! Don’t you feel sorry for this child?!>

Oh dear, fuck. I’ve reached the point where I’m getting called a plant abuser. Ann’s face turned bright red as she shrieked.

Seelie Court and helping her bloom her talent there!>

“Nooo~ Stealing is bad~♡”

Larilura used threads of Puppetry to snag Ann’s feet and yanked her back. The Fairy was stopped mid-flight like a bird on a leash.

<Grr! L-let go! I’m taking this child! I can make her happier than a villain like you!>

She’s filming her own morning drama. I firmly retrieved the mithril spear. The Fairy’s eyes welled up with tears as if her own child had been taken, making me feel like the bad guy. To help Ann let go of her lingering attachment, I turned the spear into a bracelet and slipped it onto my wrist. Anyway, I had learned that there was a way to strengthen my weapon. That was enough.

I fiddled with the spear shaft.

‘……If she said something good happened recently, she must mean when I wrapped it in the mana of Beast Regression.’

That was the only thing that came to mind. To think it grows just by feeding it MP without any money or reinforcement stones—what a benevolent reinforcement system! From the perspective of someone who had adapted to K-RPG standards, I could only feel moved.

……It won’t explode if the reinforcement fails, right?

──Thud, thud.

While I was worrying about what would happen if it broke again, I heard heavy footsteps. I recognized this ultra-heavy hoofbeat. When I turned around, a giant Bicorn with a shoulder height of five meters was approaching. Even on second look, she looked like she could fight a T-Rex and win. She seemed like she could go toe-to-toe with the divine horse I saw in my dreams back then.

“It’s nothing. No big deal.”

Since she called me Guide, it seemed she had already heard the whole story. Adelaide’s eyes curved like crescent moons.

Veronica clung to my arm and smiled proudly. She looked exactly like a young bride bragging to her old classmates that her husband’s after-tax salary was 700. So cute I wanted to bite her.

Adelaide murmured with great interest, then lay down on the grassless clearing.

What the hell is “true aptitude” now? I blinked, feeling like I was about to encounter an unexpected development in the place I came to hear information about Hoenir. Adelaide looked at me, swept the ground with her tail, and laughed.

……She wants me to break the curse of something that size? I looked up at the Bicorn’s broad back, which easily exceeded two meters even while sitting, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and let out a sigh.

Fuck, this is gonna feel like washing Optimus Prime.