From Now On, This Place Is Occupied by Fairies (1)
From Now On, This Place Is Occupied by Fairies (1)
- We have completed subjugation up to the Central Region of the Reverse Side. We are currently conducting stabilization work alongside the spirits.
[You've already cleared the Central Region?]
My wings fluttered gently at the surprising news.
Terramor nodded, carefully concealing a proud expression.
- Yes. With the forces you granted us being so tremendous, we were able to make rapid progress without overextending ourselves.
I had roughly divided the Reverse Side into three sectors.
The Inner Core, where fairy trees had been planted and direct environmental cultivation was giving birth to infant spirits.
The Central Region, where environmental cultivation was gradually progressing and Terramor was leading spirits to subjugate monsters.
And the Outskirts, which still retained the original appearance of the old Reverse Side.
The territory expands the farther you go from the Inner Core toward the Outskirts.
The Inner Core perhaps occupies only one-tenth of the entire Reverse Side. Even generously including the Central Region would make it three-tenths at most. The Outskirts account for the remaining seven-tenths.
In that brief span of time, Terramor had already wiped out the remaining monster seeds in the Central Region and was even proceeding with stabilization work.
[That's truly remarkable.]
At my admiration, Terramor's lips twitched ever so slightly before bowing his head in a show of humility.
- All of it is thanks to the grace bestowed by Your Majesty.
[You were already exceptional even before the blessing, Terramor.]
I smiled gently and shook my head.
The grace Terramor spoke of was the blessing I bestowed upon the spirits as the Fairy King.
It was an ability manifested by fully awakening the essence of the soul in the Taesan Territory. At that time, the mid-level spirits who were on the verge of ascension all rose to become upper spirits after receiving the blessing.
Naturally, Terramor also achieved progress after receiving the blessing.
[Terramor, you can't really be considered an ordinary upper spirit anymore.]
Even among upper spirits, there are disparities.
Terramor had already been an outstanding individual even among upper spirits before receiving the blessing. After receiving it, he stood head and shoulders above even his fellow upper spirits.
- Your words are too generous, Your Majesty.
[Thanks to that, I can trust Terramor and leave the Reverse Side empty. You're truly reliable.]
- Urgh, ahem... Your Majesty's grace is a virtue vast as the heavens...
At the repeated praise, Terramor's gaze fixed blankly on the ground.
I giggled softly at the hint of embarrassment coloring his downcast face.
[It's just deserved praise, so why are you getting embarrassed?]
- ...Your Majesty, you are uniquely mischievous toward me.
In the end, Terramor raised the white flag, relaxing his tense shoulders as he glanced sideways at me.
I laughed softly and leaned my body against the root of the fairy tree.
[The Birth Festival starts today, remember? I wish for you to pause your duties and take some time to rest.]
"If it is Your Majesty's command, I shall gladly comply."
[I was asking for Terramor's own wishes... Mm... Alright, I'll make it my instruction for you to rest comfortably for a few days. There will surely be many children who wish to enjoy the festival too.]
- Yesssssss...!
- That's right, lately Terramor's been working us too hard!
- Total exploitative command... The exploitative commander's glaring at us!
The upper spirits gathered nearby in a cluster bobbed their heads.
Of course, the moment Terramor glared at them, they scattered in all directions with playful squeals.
- Ah.
In the spot where human-sized upper spirits had dispersed, tiny fairies who had been secretly mingling among them were suddenly left conspicuously exposed, blinking their eyes.
Most faces were familiar, but the children gathered to one side were unfamiliar.
They were fairies whom my Observation had located in dire straits and whom I had brought here in advance.
I tilted my head and showed a small smile.
[Hello? Did you come because you were bored?]
- Uh, uhh... Well, that is... Ahhh...! Don't puuush meee...!
As the fairy at the very front blushed bright red and hesitated, the fairy behind secretly pushed her back. The startled fairy fluttered her wings in a panic.
I chuckled at the adorable sight and extended my hand.
[Little one, it's alright. Come here.]
- Y-yes...
The fairy sheepishly crawled up onto my palm. As I gently stroked her hair with my index finger, the child who had been gauging my mood melted limp like ice cream on a summer day.
- Aah, haah...
[Did you come because you were curious about this thing called a festival?]
- Yeeees...
Having only just encountered the world, she seemed full of curiosity. Indeed, the children we rescued from Siyoram's dungeons had also been brimming with curiosity at first.
[Then you can go and have a look around.]
"Your Majesty, I have concerns about sending such young children to the outside world filled with humans."
Kariade cautiously spoke up.
"I do not anticipate that a dangerous incident will occur at Siyoram, but I earnestly request that they be accompanied by upper spirits as a precaution."
[Yes, I was thinking the same.]
I had no intention of sending only these young ones outside.
Since there were also plenty of upper spirits who wanted to see the Birth Festival, I planned to have them go together.
"Then I shall compile a list of the children who will be going around the festival..."
[What will Kariade do?]
At my question, the hand Kariade had been pressing to her own chest stopped abruptly.
"I... shall remain here to attend to my duties..."
[Go out and enjoy yourself, even if only for one day out of the five. You don't necessarily have to see the festival—just rest comfortably, even in a quiet place.]
Kariade, who had been wearing a troubled expression, eventually nodded at my insistence.
And truly, Kariade had been working too hard lately. With Kariade being the sole Fairy Grand Minister, she seemed to bear a great sense of duty.
'Still, once the fairy trees fully mature soon, more fairies will be born.'
Since special entities like fairy knights and fairy grand ministers would also be born, I hoped that would ease her burden somewhat.
[It's about time. I'll go on ahead, so please properly guide the children who wish to go and enjoy themselves.]
"Yes, Your Majesty."
- Understood.
And so, after concluding the brief state council, I turned away.
As I headed toward the root where the gate had opened, the people gathered before it turned their gazes toward me.
A-rin blinked upon seeing me and then, with a playful laugh, came charging at me.
"Wahh!"
"Eeek."
Just as I thought she was pouncing on me, hands suddenly slipped under my armpits and lifted me right up.
A-rin studied my widened eyes and grinned.
"Is the meeting all finished, My King?"
[You could have come right over when I arrived.]
"No, since the fairies and spirits were having such a serious meeting, I was waiting for a bit."
[Heehee.]
Smiling gently, A-rin gathered me into her embrace and kissed my cheek. I smiled softly and pecked her cheek back, and A-rin's eyes curved like crescent moons.
"I'd like to keep you in my arms, but... the saint beside us is giving me looks, so I'll let you go for now."
"Thanks so much for that."
Ha-sol was beside A-rin as well. The body scents of both of them wafted side by side and gently brushed my nose.
With my mood rapidly lifting, I pattered over to Ha-sol.
[Ha-sol, Ha-sol. You must have been bored waiting. I'm sorry.]
"...No. I wasn't bored."
I blinked.
Ha-sol was staring down at me with an ambiguous expression. A-rin, who had crossed her arms below her voluptuous chest, smirked.
"Didn't you see it before? Ha-yul is quite different when dealing with fairy and spirit children."
"Yes... I did see it before."
"Bweh?"
Letting out a deep sigh, Ha-sol gently cupped my cheeks.
My lips bunched together and protruded forward. A whirlwind of emotions swept through Ha-sol's eyes.
Giggling, A-rin sent a sound transmission to Ha-sol.
- Doesn't the gap from just a moment ago feel somewhat infuriating?
- ...That's crude.
[......]
Ha-sol's and my faces flushed red at the sound transmission I had inadvertently intercepted. Smirking, A-rin turned to look at me and tilted her head.
- Eavesdropping on this. Pervert.
- I'm not a pervert...
.
.
.
The Birth Festival schedule was no different from last year.
The opening ceremony was held on the first day, and various festival events were spread across the schedule into the second day.
On the third day, the Birth Festival Tower Entry would proceed.
At the earliest, that same evening—or by the fourth day if it ran late—the Tower event would conclude, and the closing ceremony would be held on the final fifth day.
- Murmur murmur.
After I had finished getting ready, as we headed to the Central Auditorium where the opening ceremony would take place, numerous gazes gathered upon us.
I no longer minded those glances from outsiders. But after staring at me to their fill, those gazes shifted to the person whose hand I was firmly holding.
"Hum hum, hummm..."
It was Seo-yul. Her flowing pure white hair swayed, and she was dressed in neat casual clothes instead of armor.
Along with the thought that she was truly beautiful—truly whose daughter was she—a small strand of worry floated up.
I hadn't applied perception obstruction to the beautiful Seo-yul.
Her existence and the fact that Seo-yul was a fairy knight and my daughter had already been revealed back at the Changhae family.
Now that there was no reason to hide Seo-yul's existence, I could walk along the path without perception obstruction, holding her hand tightly.
A rush of emotion at no longer needing to hide Seo-yul like an illegitimate child, mixed with a touch of concern that she might find strangers' stares uncomfortable. I gently squeezed her hand.
[Seo-yul, are you uncomfortable with all the staring by any chance? If it bothers you, be sure to tell me.]
"Not at all."
Unfazed by my worry, Seo-yul shook her head and interlocked her fingers with mine.
Turning to me, Seo-yul grinned and raised our interlocked hands, shaking them as if showing off.
"Why would the stares of others matter? Considering your status, Dad, there wouldn't be any fool who'd dare speak ill, and even if there were, I could just beat them up and they'd learn to behave."
[Seo-yul...! Fool, beat them up...! You mustn't use such rough language.]
My eyes widened at her rather menacing tone. When I let firmness fill my eyes and gently scolded her, Seo-yul pouted her lips slightly.
"I'm sorry for using rough language. But..."
[But?]
Seo-yul, who had been about to complain about something, blinked.
"Uh... No. Now that I think about it, Dad, you've never used rough language in front of me."
[Of course.]
No matter how foul-mouthed I might actually be, I never cursed in front of Seo-yul.
Parents are the mirror of their children. If I were to rattle off profanities in front of my child, what would my child learn from that?
"......"
"You heard that, Yeon-hwa? Ha-yul is the type to be strict about child-rearing in this regard, so you'll have to speak prettily from now on."
"Shouldn't you start by correcting that tone you use to tease other people?"
Following behind, Yeon-hwa and A-rin bickered back and forth. It was the same sight as last year.
I giggled quietly and felt the warmth of Seo-yul's hand clasped in mine.
* * *
"It's packed with people this year too~"
The street was teeming with people. Attila, who had stood on tiptoe to look beyond, stuck out her tongue.
"For a main road that's usually quiet to be this jam-packed, honestly. At this rate, aren't we gonna have to run up to the rooftop again like last year if we're late?"
"We might already be late."
"Giving up already, what bullshit."
Aiden, who had muttered apathetically, promptly turned his head away under Attila's sharp glare.
After shooting Aiden's face a glare, Attila suddenly looked down at her wrist.
A bracelet was fastened around her wrist. A bracelet of pale grey engraved with simple patterns. The corners of Attila's mouth twitched upward.
"Good, you wore it properly. Was worried you might actually show up without it."
"I'm not that hopeless."
"Sure, sure. I'll give you one point. But you do know if you lose it or break it, you're dead, right?"
"What if it breaks because a fight suddenly breaks out?"
"Then you come back alive and get killed by me instead."
"What a damn pain."
An utterly unreasonable policy.
But arguing back wouldn't change anything anyway.
- ...? ...? ...!
'What?'
Aiden, who had been grumbling only inside his head out of fear of spicy fists, turned his head at the faint commotion reaching his ears.
At the same time, a bright shape entered his eyes.
A human-like figure seemingly composed of vivid green mana and clear wind...
"A spirit?"
"An upper spirit."
Aiden didn't have a shred of spirit affinity, but that didn't mean he couldn't tell a spirit apart.
The rank of a spirit is divided into three stages. Among them, a spirit that has taken human form is an upper spirit—one that has achieved distinct ego and essence.
"Why is there an upper spirit here all of a sudden?"
"Since it's a festival, I guess someone told them to go out and enjoy themselves."
Whose contracted spirit could it be?
The question that suddenly came to mind didn't lead to certainty, but honestly, two strong candidates existed.
Either Liana Bellus, who had been appointed as the 2nd-year Ipha Class professor this year.
Or Lee Ha-yul.
'I heard he has a thousand upper spirits alone...'
Aiden clicked his tongue inwardly at that recalled piece of information.
A full thousand upper spirits.
Given that a single upper spirit is typically treated as on par with a pseudo-4th-rank monster, that essentially meant commanding one thousand 4th-rank monsters, no matter how you cut it.
Truly, utterly insane military power.
For Aiden, who had been one-shot at the dungeon entrance by the undead commanded by Lee Ha-yul in the last tournament, it was a rather complicated state of mind.
- ?
"Huh?"
That was the moment.
Between the strands of the passing spirit's green hair, some unknown head poked out and met his eyes.
A complexion brimming with vitality and bright, sparkling eyes.
A very tiny smallfolk. The moment he thought that, five-colored wings rustled softly, pushing through the green hair.
Aiden stared blankly, mouth agape.
"...A fairy?"
Not a spirit, but a fairy.
A rare species that, in his whole life wandering the gray zones, he had never even glimpsed the tail of those wings.
That kind of fairy had poked its head out from within an upper spirit's hair and made eye contact.
- Nod.
"Uh, uhh..."
The fairy, who blinked its eyes, gave a small bow of its head.
Aiden also absentmindedly bowed his head in greeting. When he raised his head, the spirit had already clacked away and disappeared into the crowd.
"...Did I just see that wrong?"
"I... saw it too?"
The flustered Attila also murmured haltingly.
It was the moment Attila's wish—to meet a fairy in a dusky, dreamlike forest—had been inadvertently fulfilled.
Attila witnessed over ten more fairies on that street that day.
* * *
[Birth Festival Review) Helped a Lost Kid Find Their Way and Got Candy From a Fairy][7563]