The Fairy Cries
The Fairy Cries
The mist that had been guarding the fairy scattered in all directions.
I took the fairy and headed back home.
As I opened the door and entered, Hans shouted in surprise.
"H-Hyung, what are you doing bringing a fairy into the house!"
"Seriously."
I balled up my fist and knocked Hans on the head.
"This is all happening because you messed up."
"Even so, you should've just left her! Hyung! You know you're not supposed to touch fairies in this village! Ahhh, we're totally screwed now! Argh!"
Hans's head dropped low after getting hit by my fist.
"The way you talk, honestly."
"I-If the fairy goes berserk, the village will really be ruined, you know?! There's nothing we can do about it!"
Hans's voice rose.
"It's great that you catch monsters so we can eat meat every day, but this is really not okay. Fairies get more dangerous when they get attached to people. The more attached they get, the worse they act when they're ignored!"
"...."
It wasn't wrong.
Every village has its own customs.
And customs are written in blood.
As an outsider, I have no right to argue about things they've upheld for a long time.
Even back on Earth, in the distant past, didn't they sacrifice a person to bring peace to a village? In a world where monsters actually exist, that holds a bit more significance.
A world that can only be maintained by sacrificing a child deserves to be ruined.
'What was that manga again? If you're going to say something like that, I wish you'd look around the village first.'
There are children in the village, and families living happily.
Whether to kill them all, or follow the customs they established and sacrifice a child. It was a situation even worse than the Trolley Dilemma.
I don't want to be the one to pull that lever.
But the 10 years I spent struggling to survive gave me a lot of experience.
"First of all, if I hadn't calmed her down, the situation would have become even more dire."
"Huh?"
"And you're the one who shot that arrow."
Hans's mouth shut.
"The arrow you shot flew at the fairy. Who are you to blame anyone? The way you're blaming me for handling the situation is pathetic."
"Th-That's..."
"What about it?"
Hans's voice lowered.
His head bowed.
"Apologize."
"A-Apologize?"
"Yeah. The one who messed up first should apologize. If we leave it like this, who knows when the fairy's anger will explode? It'll be quite a sight if it happens when you inherit the position of village chief."
"Ugh..."
Hans bit his lip.
I turned to the fairy. The little girl hiding behind her umbrella peeked at me.
"What's your name?"
"...Huh?"
"I'm Dane. You?"
"Dane... I am..."
The fairy chewed over my words.
"Anna."
"Anna, huh."
Anna seemed happy to have her name called for the first time; she twisted her body and hid behind her umbrella.
"Anna, can Uncle ask you a favor?"
"A favor?"
"I want you to ask the spirit."
"...?"
The spirit came out from above the umbrella and separated me and Anna.
It was furious, ready to pour down a torrential rain at the slightest provocation, and tadaak, it had already started raining outside the house.
Outside the window, it had darkened before I knew it.
"Argh, we're doomed..."
Hans clutched his head and agonized.
"Don't be angry. It's safe here."
Anna pushed the umbrella aside and looked up at me.
Our eyes met.
Eyes wavering in indecision.
A gaze that had never done this before shifted from me to the spirit.
Her lips parted.
Soundless words.
Words sent to the spirit.
The spirit became sullen and returned to Anna's side, hovering around her.
The outside cleared up.
"...Wh-What was that just now?"
Hans grabbed the window frame and stared blankly outside.
"H-How did you do that?"
"Fortunately, she was born with talent."
"Well, she's a fairy."
Fairies know how to handle spirits, so spirits dwell by their side.
"If it were only at that level, you would've been out the moment you missed with that arrow."
"Out?"
"You should know that you survived thanks to Anna."
I grabbed Hans by the scruff of his neck and made him kneel in front of Anna.
"You have to say what you need to say first."
"Ah... Ugh..."
Hans opened and closed his mouth.
Soon, his head dropped.
He bent at the waist.
"...I'm sorry, Fairy-nim."
Hans apologized.
"I am truly sorry for startling you because of the arrow I shot."
"Ugh..."
Anna lifted her umbrella and peeked at Hans.
"I-It's, o-okay."
Feeling shy, she hid behind me.
Hans felt relieved and let out a deep sigh.
"Haa..."
I sighed too.
To think I came all the way out here just to babysit.
Should I have just opened an orphanage instead?
The next morning.
Village Chief Hams called for me.
The village chief's house was in the middle of the village.
It was a fairly decent-sized house; the structure of stone walls topped with a wooden roof was ordinary, but the pillar with the flag bestowed by the Lord fluttering on it showed the chief's status.
"Sit."
"Excuse me."
I sat across from Hams with the living room table between us.
"Do you know why I called you?"
"It must be because of the fairy problem."
"Clouds gathered this morning. Unnaturally so. That was a rain cloud summoned by a spirit. I've only seen it once in the past."
Hams lowered his voice and continued speaking in a high-handed manner.
"I heard you brought the fairy into your house?"
"Did Hans tell you?"
"When I pressed him about the rain clouds, he spilled it himself. It wasn't something that could be hidden in the first place, anyway. Don't scold the boy. Where is there a child who can win against their parents?"
"...."
In my common sense, it's usually the opposite, though.
Just as common sense isn't called common sense for nothing, even after spending 10 years in this world, these trivial bits of common sense just won't change no matter how much I try.
"But separate from that, Dane, I must warn you about what you've done."
Hams put his arms on the table and raised his index finger.
"The fairy is both a blessing and a disaster for the village. As an outsider, you might not know, but if you give that child affection and keep her by your side, the entire village will surely become a sea of water. It was like that in my grandfather's generation, and in the generation before that, too. Please don't ignore what our ancestors realized through their sacrifices."
Hams let out a dry cough and continued.
"Or do you want to be kicked out of the village?"
He was bluffing while trying to gauge my reaction.
Hams, whose only experience dealing with people was with villagers, the occasional Lord's minion passing through, and peddlers, couldn't manage his facial expressions.
He wasn't in a position to kick me out, and since he was captivated by the game I provided, he could never ostracize me from the village.
"I know you're an excellent hunter. Gold Rank, was it? It's a grateful thing that you catch monsters well. But if you break the village rules, I can tell the Lord right away and terminate the hunting ground contract. It's obvious who the Lord would care about, isn't it?"
Naturally, it was me.
He respects my opinion, which is more valuable in terms of rarity than a village that has paid taxes to the Lord's castle for hundreds of years.
My standing was completely different from a village chief who could be replaced at any time.
Even if the Lord was strict about rules, he was a person who calculated profit and loss thoroughly.
"We don't want to kick you out either. Just respect our wishes regarding the fairy problem. Then our village can welcome you, too. You wouldn't want to live while clutching an anxious burden, would you?"
10 years ago. There's a way of handling things I've learned since I first came to this world.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
In the city, at the guild, at the shop, respect the wishes of the people living there.
Because here, my common sense is abnormal. No one, including myself, knows what kind of word might cause discord.
'This has become troublesome.'
I wanted to live as peacefully as possible.
I hunt monsters as a hunter, and the villagers process the monsters.
Since I can meet the quota by catching just one or two monsters a week, I can live peacefully as long as I don't cause unnecessary friction with the villagers.
That's why I accepted the Lord's proposal and came to the hunting grounds.
But that peace includes the 'sacrifice of a child'.
It was extremely bothersome.
But since they say that's a self-destruct switch that would scorch the earth of the village, telling them to trust an outsider like me and leave the fairy to me lacked persuasiveness.
I need to bring something more plausible to persuade them.
"Tsk. Fine. I'll be careful."
"Phew... Thank you."
Hams's expression softened.
"It's good that you understand. I can tell at a glance that you're not a bad person. You didn't give the fairy affection out of any malice. Just know that it's that sensitive of an issue."
I stood up from my seat.
Someone's sacrifice leads to peace.
The common sense of this world that I've seen for 10 years was, as always, irrational.
The sky was clear.
I walked heavily toward home.
The hunter's house was on the outskirts of the village.
It was on the border touching the forest.
Even if the villagers ostracize and ignore me, it doesn't hinder my living.
I catch game and give it to the village, and the villagers give me meat. If I keep it strictly a business relationship, I can live reasonably well even if I ignore their customs.
'If I did that, marriage would go down the drain.'
Even if I brought a wife from outside, whether she would be a person of character who could accept the relationship with the villagers, unlike me, is no different from a gamble.
When I returned home, a familiar umbrella was sticking out from the corner of the house.
It was Anna.
Upon hearing my footsteps, the umbrella jolted.
Anna's expectant gaze turned toward me.
"...."
I shrugged my shoulders and went into the house.
Three days passed.
Rain came and went repeatedly.
Every time I went to and from the village, the villagers worried about me and said it would get better soon.
They said this fairy is good at managing her emotions, so if I ignore her, she'll recover quickly.
While going back and forth between the village and the house, Anna followed me and hid behind a tree. I pretended not to see the umbrella peeking out from behind the tree.
Even when our eyes met, I ignored her and turned away.
Even when she appeared right in front of me, I ignored her.
When I turned away from Anna's hand, which was flailing in the air, her hand trembled.
That's how the third day went.
During that time, I had to face the bewilderment, shock, and a sadness that seemed to understand something in her wide, round eyes.
Clunk.
I closed the house door and rubbed my brow.
"Haa..."
Is this right?
Do I have to live with this feeling in my heart?
Three days was enough time to agonize.
"...."
Just then, a sound was heard from outside the door.
Sniff.
A cry that seemed to be leaking out as if she were covering her mouth to suppress it seeped in from beyond the door.
Sniff. Sniff.
The more she tried to swallow it, the more it leaked out.
It's raining.
Drizzle.
The spirit was sad, just like Anna.
The spirit made it rain.
The sound of raindrops falling on the roof became increasingly dense.
'The village or the child.'
She really knows how to break my heart.
I thought I had gotten used to things like this, but it seems I'm not that kind of person after all.
Just as I grabbed the door. A small murmur mixed in with Anna's crying.
The sound of her talking to the spirit.
The sound of soothing it.
"...It's okay. Because it's okay."
Human words mixed in with the spirit's words.
The more she murmured, the drizzle turned into a light mist.
The mist scattered in the wind and disappeared.
The rain stopped.
The crying didn't stop.
"Sob..."
Only the sound of crying remained.
"...."
A sigh escapes me.
'I need preparation to persuade them.'
During that preparation period, Anna had to swallow her tears.
Hams's warning lingers in my ears.
Honestly, it was nonsense filled with bluffing, but to get along with the villagers, it's correct to follow the village chief's words.
To persuade them while keeping the village's customs, I need preparation, and if I prepare and persuade them, both I and the village will win-win...
Sniff.
I hear the sound of sniffling.
"Ah, dammit."
Gritting my teeth, I opened the door.