Fairy (4)
Fairy (4)
You grew after a single nap.
Lee Ji-yeon slipped her hands under my armpits and lifted me into the air, a fascinated expression on her face.
My body, dangling in her grip, had grown a little lankier than before I fell asleep.
It was still a child's body, but in the brief hour or two of slumber, I had noticeably grown.
- Well, fairies naturally mature quickly... and my circumstances are different.
Fairies did mature quickly.
Hadn't Seo-yul herself grown close to adulthood in just two years?
Strictly speaking, my soul wasn't newly born. For me, recovery or reconstruction was a better description than simple growth.
'Maybe I could even end up taller...'
I'd long resigned myself to my height, but now the possibility wasn't entirely absent.
After all, most of the other Lee Ha-yuls I'd encountered so far had been imposing in stature.
Setting aside the 1st Iteration, who had a small frame similar to mine.
The 2nd Iteration was a towering giant, standing over two meters tall.
The 5th Iteration was a mage but built like a slab of muscle, the 10th Iteration was tall and solidly built from head to toe.
The 8th Iteration was the same.
Perhaps because he handled a bow requiring immense strength, he possessed a physique that was more than robust—dense and hard as a statue.
The iterations are the possibilities of my body.
Even though I currently exist as a spirit body, it means my potential for growth is limitless.
Of course, at this point I have no complaints about my frame.
In fact, there are advantages to tucking neatly into someone's arms, but a trace of longing for a bigger build still lingers.
"Wouldn't it be best to just give up on that?"
- ?
Lee Ji-yeon mercilessly trampled the hope that had bloomed so gently. Shock rippled across my face.
- That's so mean.
"Honestly, I can't picture a big version of you, junior."
- Even meaner...
My cheeks puffed out like a blowfish.
Lee Ji-yeon chuckled, gathered me into her arms, and began to bounce me soothingly.
"There, there... Ah, now that I think about it, are you sure you should be awake already? You only slept two hours at most. How about getting some more rest?"
- Hmph. I slept soundly before you arrived, Lee Ji-yeon, so I'm fine for now.
As I bounced up and down, a strange sense of comfort spread through me.
I tucked in my pouting lips and looked up at Lee Ji-yeon. She tilted her head slightly.
"What's the matter?"
- Before I go back to sleep, there's something I need to check. Could you put me down just for a moment?
"No."
Her gentle smile vanished, replaced by a look of finality.
.
.
.
In the end, I was permitted to act only on the condition that I remained cradled in Lee Ji-yeon's arms.
It seemed that after this latest incident, my credibility hadn't just hit zero—it had been buried underground.
Recovering that shattered trust would require a long time and genuine effort.
And with the invasion still ongoing, the prospect of restoring trust over the next few years felt extremely remote...
Imagining that somewhat distant future, I turned my head.
- Kariade, do you know exactly how many children are assembled here?
"Including myself, 439."
Kariade, trailing behind Lee Ji-yeon and me, answered immediately.
439.
It was a number that felt large from one angle, yet small from another.
The latter—as the total population of a species—seemed rather low.
"Not all fairies have gathered on this land. While clusters of several hundred are rare, a far greater number of fairies are likely scattered across the world."
- Inside the barriers of their Fairy Trees, I assume?
"That is correct."
Reading my expression, Kariade elaborated.
"A whole Fairy Tree can only sprout under a King's touch, but that does not mean other fairies are wholly incapable of growing Fairy Trees of their own."
A Fairy Tree serves to fend off external foes and stabilize the inner environment.
In other words, if they can nurture a Tree just enough to generate a barrier, fairies can form a settlement at the very least.
'I did see plenty of fairy villages like that in the original story.'
The children in the Siyoram Dungeon had also been living in a village of their own.
It was much the same here.
A colossal Fairy Tree planted at the heart of the Sea of Trees.
Around it, spaced at intervals, nearly thirty Fairy Trees had taken root.
This place was too large to be called a mere village, but the point was that a fairy village following this structure was perfectly feasible.
'My long-term task will be to gather all those children into one place.'
It wasn't impossible.
The part I needed to figure out was how to go about it.
Roaming the world at random, using Observation to track down every child individually was, of course, possible—but it was inefficient and risked missing some, which was a problem.
'Hm...'
An approach did surface in my mind.
Fairies and Fairy Trees are connected.
In a way, it was obvious.
Fairies are born from Fairy Trees and raised by them, and Fairy Trees exist for the sole purpose of nurturing fairies.
One more line could be drawn from there.
'The Fairy Trees are also connected to each other.'
It wasn't a deep connection. The greater the distance and the more obstacles between them, the fainter the link became.
Still, the fact that the connection existed was the key.
If one had the skill, they could latch onto that link, designate a coordinate, and bridge it.
In short, to establish a Gate.
Using the Fairy Trees as a medium would allow for a more convenient and tighter connection.
'Still... at present, I can't do it.'
Even manifesting the basics of an Authority was a burden in my current condition.
And on top of that, my body... my soul itself was still in tatters.
Since pushing too hard could trigger any number of unforeseen changes, I couldn't recklessly attempt it.
...Above all, if Lee Ji-yeon caught me, there was no telling what she might do to me...
"We're approaching the outer edge of the barrier."
As Lee Ji-yeon steadily walked forward, a dense fog suddenly blanketed our surroundings.
Perception obstruction, disorientation, sensory dulling, qi-sense confusion, path manipulation...
The mana infused in the mist was producing a host of phenomena.
It was the natural barrier generated by the Fairy Trees.
From the outside, it obscured the barrier's presence and diverted intruders elsewhere; if anyone forced their way in, they would simply become lost in a maze.
- Fwoosh...!
Kariade's wings and my own scattered light.
Simultaneously, the fog obstructing our path parted to the left and right, opening a way forward.
Lee Ji-yeon walked along that path, then flicked her gaze sideways.
- Grruuuegh...
Within the pale fog.
An undead sprawled on the ground was weakly convulsing.
Crrrack! Thick roots burst through the undead's belly, coiled around the withered corpse, and dragged it back beneath the earth.
That was the fate of an intruder who lost their way inside the maze.
Lee Ji-yeon, wearing an unreadable expression, resumed her stride.
- Whooom...
Before long, the fog cut off and we stepped out into a wide plain.
"Oh?"
Lee Ji-yeon cocked her head. Her green eyes, which read the earth's information through her legs, blinked rapidly.
"...The coverage has expanded, hasn't it? When I came in here before, it hadn't devoured the entire forest yet."
- The Fairy Trees have absorbed my mana and evolved in response. It looks like they swallowed the whole forest into their sphere of influence in the process.
"Aha."
- Will the expanded coverage cause any problems?
"Even if it spreads a bit farther from here, it's still the zone allotted to the fairies, so don't worry."
- Sigh... that's a relief.
"Well, if it did spill over a little, I'd just assign you extra space, so it's fine."
- Grrrrowl...!
Lee Ji-yeon shrugged indifferently, then turned her head in one direction.
At the end of her gaze, several undead were lowering their stances and baring their fangs.
"This area is somewhat deep in... but for there to be this many undead..."
Lee Ji-yeon's brows drew together. At that, I wriggled and tapped her shoulder lightly.
- Just a moment.
"Hm?"
Lee Ji-yeon blinked.
She hadn't made any overt move, but I could sense her Taesan power writhing, ready to tear the undead to shreds.
- I'll deal with those first─
"You'll do what now?"
- Hrk...
At my request, Lee Ji-yeon's eyes instantly chilled.
I froze up for a second, then glanced at her warily while shaking my head from side to side.
- No, no! I'm not saying I'll latch onto them and fight...! I'll use mana from a distance... sort of...
"......"
- Without leaving your arms, Lee Ji-yeon...
"...Haah, fine."
Only after piling on a heap of conditions did I barely manage to secure her permission.
I suddenly found myself wondering if all this fuss was really necessary for dealing with a few low-grade undead... but I suppose there's nothing to be done now.
"Here, like this."
Lee Ji-yeon turned my body around, shifting her hold so that she was practically embracing me from behind.
- Kraaaaang...!
At that instant, the undead all charged at once.
Their speed was faster than their apparent Rank would suggest.
The moment Lee Ji-yeon's eyebrows slanted, I gave a lazy flick of my fingers with a deadpan face.
The pure white mana clinging to my fingertip rippled and stretched out into a long line. Like a supple whip, the mana swept across the undead.
- Shrrrack!
Chunks of dismembered undead scattered down with a wet patter. Semi-putrefied blood soaked the ground.
Right then, I whipped my head around. Kariade, who had been charging jet-black energy in her hand, flinched.
- ......
"...Hrrm."
Glancing at me, Kariade gave an awkward cough and stealthily dispersed the energy.
I pouted slightly and turned back around, extending my mana outward to sift through the undead remains.
- Crunch... thud, kra-krack...
Being low-grade undead, the corpses were far from intact.
It wasn't a pleasant sight I'd care to keep near me, but just in case, I rummaged through them with mana and sharpened my qi sense to a razor's edge.
I absorbed the lingering mana in the corpses and performed an analysis with Precision Observation.
* * *
The undead are beings incapable of containing true vitality.
They are puppets—vessels shattered and crudely glued back together, driven by artificially infused thought residues and life force.
In other words, the undead are beings defined by the absence of Vitality Energy.
They are not entities composed of some special energy specifically called Death Energy.
However, a similar type of yin energy does frequently influence them.
- Skreeeee...!
A low, eerie sound—like claws dragging across a steel plate—reverberated through the air.
A noise that disturbed both mind and body. Grim, murky mana quivered faintly and seeped into the life forms that had met their end somewhere within this region.
The Death Vein.
A location that the Taesan family had designated as an area of critical importance.
One reason was that it was an optimal site for training in necromancy, but the other was that it was a perilous place where anyone who crept inside recklessly could lose their life.
- Thump...
At the center of the Death Vein, Lee Ji-ah, who had been seated directly on the bare ground, opened her eyes.
All the ambient noise that arose within the Death Vein had long since become so familiar that it no longer grated on her nerves, but this alien pulse defied any attempt to grow accustomed to it.
"What is it?"
- Thump-thump...
A heart pulsed, signaling intent.
Impatience, bewilderment, fury, hatred, desperation...
Given that it was not her own will, the sensation was profoundly disagreeable.
Lee Ji-ah looked down with an apathetic gaze at the object in her hand.
A fragment, murky and dark like a patch of shadow.
Even here, where everything around was dim, the darkness of this fragment plainly stood out.
Judged by appearance alone, there was nothing special about it, but Lee Ji-ah could feel the sinister aura it emanated.
A Tower Fragment.
"Earth Dragon, you who are already half-exiled—do you truly believe yourself capable?"
To be precise, a fragment of a broken Tower.
Lee Ji-ah stroked the fragment with an expressionless face.