First Summoned Fairy, Sonic

"I've got something to say."

"Huh? What is it?"

"Please speak, Master."

I called every member of the party together and looked at them with a grave expression.

"I got a feeling."

"A feeling? What kind?"

"I think I can summon a fairy right now."

"What? Really?!"

"...Is that truly so?"

"Whoa! Does that mean I'm getting a junior?"

"Congratulations, Lord Alan."

The moment I said I thought I could summon a fairy, the whole room lit up. Unlike me — who could pull a fairy whenever I wanted as long as I had the Gems — the Masters of this world needed heaven's own luck on their side. When that luck arrived, the conviction that a summoning was possible settled over you like a physical weight. Nobody doubted a word I'd said.

So why does Aquaril look like that?

Everyone else was busy congratulating me, but Aquaril's face had gone dark. She was forcing a smile, yet the corners of her eyes drooped all the same.

"How soon do you think you can do it?"

"Right now."

"What? Then let's summon one this instant!"

Kanisia, in complete contrast to Aquaril, was practically vibrating with excitement. I had no intention of putting it off anyway. I nodded and opened my status window.

I had charged a generous ten thousand Gems for this day. Burning through a hundred million Gold had stung, but more than six billion still lay dormant in my inventory.

Activate the Fairy Master trait.

Three thousand Gems vanished, and the Fairy Master trait flipped from inactive to active. Fuck. Twenty-one points' worth of stats, gone into thin air.

The thought left a sour taste, but a man was allowed to buy himself a present every now and then, wasn't he? This was a gift to myself — for every ounce of hell I had crawled through in that other world.

FAIRY SUMMOOOOOON!!!!!

Shaaaaaaaaa—!

"Whoa!"

"Oh my god!"

"....."

The instant I roared the command inside my head, a serpent sigil — my mark — bloomed across the floor, and ribbons of light began to whirl above it like a gathering storm.

Wow...

This was my first fairy summoning in this world. I stood there with my mouth open, drinking in the beauty of it.

Shaaaaaaaaa—!

The light that had been scattering in every direction drew inward, condensing at the heart of the sigil, and the gathered radiance took on the shape of a person.

...Huh?

A ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bright, bouncing melody rang in my ears at the same moment.

This is... Fairy Masters?

I knew that music. It was the BGM that played every single time you summoned a fairy in Fairy Masters.

The light faded, and a notification window unfurled before my eyes — along with a breathtaking woman of silver hair.

...Who?

I stared at the notification, eyes wide.

"...Sonic?"

The name of my first summoned fairy was Sonic.

"Sonic, you said?"

It was a name I knew far too well. Of course it was.

The first fairy my main Fairy Masters account — Gibung-i — had ever summoned was Sonic. She had been my first pull and, from that day forward, the one fairy who had never once surrendered her place as the ace of my starting roster. A once-in-a-generation monster.

The moment I summoned her, I knew she was no ordinary fairy. I posted her status window on the community boards with a little bait thread — hey, is this any good? — and watched hundreds of downvotes roll in, along with a flood of ugly, jealous comments telling me to delete the character and start over.

A slender frame standing at five foot six. Silver hair that fell just past her shoulders. Lips as red as cherries. A high-bridged nose. A face that carried a peculiar, almost otherworldly coldness.

Every last detail was identical to the in-game illustration I remembered.

And that was not all that matched.

...Her status window.

Three traits at level one, and two of them were Special-grade. Whether it was because she had been summoned at a high star rank or not, her stats were absurdly high for a fairy who had only just arrived in the world.

Holy shit...!

Sonic's status window was identical to the one in my memory, down to the last number.

"....."

A moment later, Sonic opened her eyes. Irises the same silver as her hair caught the light. The boundary of those irises was so faint they might have been mistaken for the unsettling blankness of white eyes — yet Sonic's gaze held nothing but mystery.

"Wow... she's beautiful..."

"What a cute girl."

"....."

"....."

Sonic swept a curious look across the party members staring at her, then her eyes found mine. She knew, by instinct, that I was the Master who had called her here.

A face as cold as a wind-scoured winter thawed, as if a warm spring had arrived. Sonic broke into a radiant smile and bowed her head to me in greeting.

"It is good to see you again, Master. I am Sonic. Thank you for summoning me. In this life ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as well, I shall strike down every enemy that stands in your way."

"W-what the hell is this..."

A fairy summoning I had started out of a thirst for hymens and blood. It had just turned the inside of my skull into a wreck.

The instant Sonic finished speaking, I shouted at everyone to stay put, grabbed her hand, and hauled her upstairs to my room.

Slam—!

I shut the door hard and turned to face her.

"You... what the hell are you?"

This world carried the setting of Fairy Masters — the game I had been hopelessly addicted to in my previous life — over in its entirety. The NPCs who had appeared in that story were alive here, building lives of their own. So yes: if the world of Fairy Masters had been transplanted wholesale, then the fairies I had summoned back then could exist here too.

But the first words out of her mouth, the moment she found me, were not words a newly summoned fairy could possibly have spoken. She had talked as if — as if she already knew who I was.

Good to see me again? In this life as well?

Her words kept looping through my head. It felt like a bomb had gone off behind my eyes.

"You... you know me?"

"Yes, I do. You are the Master who summoned me, are you not?"

"That's not what I mean and you know it!"

"Master. What has you so unsettled?"

"...What?"

Sonic smiled, and her voice did not waver.

"Then and now, I am a fairy loyal to you, Master. That other world or this one — it makes no difference to me. What matters to me is you, and nothing else. I am simply grateful that you called me here before ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Karina, or Ophelia, or Nirato, or Centriel."

"....."

The names she listed drove the last nail in. Karina. Ophelia. Nirato. Centriel. Every one of them had been a first-string fairy on my main account.

"D-does that even make sense?"

"And why should it not? You yourself died, Master, and were born anew. Did you not?"

"Ah. Well. That's true."

Her words settled the chaos in my chest, if only a little. She was right. Me dying and waking up in this world had been absurd to begin with. Set against what I had already lived through, the Sonic I had known from a game appearing here as a summoned fairy was not that special.

"...No, it is special! I mean, come on. Weren't you all just scraps of data?!"

"...That hurts, Master. Scraps of data, of all things. I, and the other girls, are living beings."

"Ah — sorry. Did that sting? It's just a figure of speech. I never actually thought of you as scraps of data."

"Hehe. It is quite all right."

The moment her face fell, I rushed to apologize. She rewarded me with a brilliant smile. Hah... damn, she was gorgeous.

"Master."

"Yeah?"

"I know your mind is in turmoil right now. To be honest, I find this situation no less bewildering. But Master — you are my Master, and I am your fairy. That has not changed. There is no need to make it more complicated than it is."

One step. Another. Another. She closed the distance and drew me into her arms.

With that, Sonic looked up at me and slowly sank to her knees. Then she pressed her lips to the top of my foot.

Something in my chest went clear with a pop. She was right. There was nothing to overthink. Whether a fairy I used to raise had appeared in the flesh or not was beside the point.

What mattered was what I had to do in this world — and what I wanted to do. And to reach those goals, I needed fairies.

"Stand up, Sonic."

"Yes, Master."

She rose at my word. I looked down at her. She looked up at me.

I reached out and touched her cheek — white as snow. Soft. Warm.

"Never thought I'd actually get to touch you."

"Hehe."

Sonic lifted a hand and laid it over the back of mine as I stroked her cheek.

"I feel the same. I can scarcely believe that I can see you — and touch you — for real."

"....."

"....."

Sonic and I looked at each other. And then, without either of us deciding to move first, we pulled one another close and kissed as if the world were ending.