Chapter 194
Chapter 194
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 194
Chapter Title: The Art of Anecdote (3)
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“Lady Feope! Please forgive us! Between Rena and me, that’s a reduction of eighty years from our lives. I’m the one who forced my sister into this. So please, at least lessen her punishment!”
“What’s forty years? You’re only going to live for sixty at most anyway, aren’t you? Five years should be enough time to do all the things you want.”
The defining biological characteristic is lifespan. Fairies, like humans, possessed reason, but their long lives gave them a completely different way of thinking.
In a fairy’s life, there is always enough time to correct one’s mistakes. Thus, they were honest and free of stubbornness, but they could not possibly understand the feelings of humans, whose lifespans were limited.
Just as no human knows how precious a single hour is to a mayfly.
For Feope, who had only been alive for a year, death was a word one might only think about a thousand years in the future.
Kanya’s mother fell prostrate on the floor. She knew the newly appointed administrator was inept, but she had never dreamed they would deliver such a disastrous sentence.
“Lady Feope, you are an enforcer of the Law. But no one in the fairy world has ever given such a harsh punishment. Even I only received twenty years. Please, reconsider.”
“What? Are you looking down on me just because I’m only one year old? I know what I need to know! An enforcer of the Law has the authority to sentence someone to a reduction of up to fifty years. Are you defying my inherent authority?”
“If you have truly passed such a sentence, please give us a reason we can accept.”
“Hmph, fine! Then I’ll put it this way! For Kanya and Rena’s unauthorized departure from Heaven, a twenty-year reduction in lifespan! And the remaining twenty years are for the crime of bringing in heretics! You can’t complain about that, can you?”
Feope said, pointing at Shirone’s group. She hadn’t received a report about heretics entering, but since she had seen it with her own eyes upon arriving, there was no problem in passing judgment.
“Lady Feope! These people are not heretics! The boy here is a Nephilim.”
“A… a Nephilim?”
Feope stared intently at Shirone.
*Is he really a Nephilim?*
Descendant of an angel. One free from the Law. The source knowledge granted at birth flashed through her mind.
Fairies were not regulators of the Law, so they could only punish crimes according to established statutes. Therefore, it was true that they could not inflict any punishment on a Nephilim.
Even so, Feope did not back down.
As the youngest of the 72 classes and 48,000 fairies, she recalled the daily verbal abuse from her senior sisters. If she failed to establish her authority here and returned, she would be a laughingstock until the next youngest was born.
“Even so, the crime doesn’t change! I’ll let the Nephilim slide! But not all of them are Nephilim! Therefore, I will still punish the crime of bringing in heretics!”
Kanya’s mother lifted her head and retorted.
“They may not be Nephilim, but they are the Nephilim’s companions. Accusing them of heresy is against the Law.”
“Silence! How dare a mere subject lecture an enforcer about the Law! I am carrying out the will of Ra. To oppose me is to oppose a god!”
“Wait a minute.”
As Shirone, who had been kneeling, stood up, Feope crossed her arms and turned to him.
Fighting a Nephilim was not a good idea, but even a Nephilim had no authority to interfere with the execution of the Law.
“What is it? If you’re trying to interfere, I won’t forgive you.”
“No, I’m just correcting a misunderstanding. We weren’t brought here by that girl. We just followed her. If that’s the case, you can’t punish her, can you?”
“What are you talking about? Followed her?”
“I happened to find that girl outside of Heaven. She opened the gate, so I just followed her in. I’m free from the Law, so I can go anywhere. Then I barged into this house to get some dinner. Therefore, these two sisters have done nothing wrong.”
“Who do you think would fall for such a lie?”
“Then prove it. Show me proof that I’m lying.”
The mecha system within Heaven could detect any small variable, but it couldn’t read emotions.
Vast amounts of data verified the situation of Shirone’s group entering with Kanya, but it was impossible to grasp their relationship. This was all happening because Shirone was a Nephilim.
Feope’s eyes darted back and forth.
She had to find another way. If rumors spread that she was outsmarted by a human’s words, she’d be a laughingstock for a thousand years.
“Fine. In that case, I will restore twenty years of Kanya and Rena’s lifespans. And I will permit the Nephilim’s entry. However, the rest are clearly heretics who defy the Law, so I will reduce their lifespans. You there, you first. State your name.”
Feope said, pointing at Arin.
Of course, Arin didn’t answer.
She didn’t know the exact cause and effect, but it seemed a name was necessary for the ability to affect one’s lifespan. Arin wasn’t foolish enough to let her name be brazenly written in a death register.
“I don’t want to. Why should I tell you my name?”
“You people! You’re just vulgar heretics who don’t know the terror of fairies!”
Shirone spoke with a displeased expression.
“What do you think a person’s life is? You’re going to die someday too, you know.”
“I’m a fairy. You can’t compare me to a human! Besides, I’ve only lived for a year! My life has a long, long, long way to go before it ends.”
Shirone scoffed.
The future is the future because it eventually arrives. That is why one respects those who lived before and mourns them when they pass.
Feope didn’t seem to realize that the concept of the future was an indestructible, immutable property.
No, she had probably never even thought about it.
She said she was one year old. Comparing that to a one-year-old human, he could guess how immature she was.
Feope placed her hands on her hips and said.
“Alright, so you want to play it this way? For the crime of not revealing your names, you will be judged by those higher than me. And for the crime of hiding impious heretics, Kanya and Rena will have another thirty years added, for a total of fifty years of lifespan reduction for both of them!”
Kanya’s family was devastated.
Fifty years… the moment the Law was executed, Kanya would die.
The actual execution of the sentence was carried out by the highest of the 72 fairy classes, so she wouldn’t die immediately, but it was a certainty that once the report went up, it would be processed within a few hours.
Feope, having assessed her own verdict, turned around as if she had completed another difficult task for the day.
“With this, the verdict is concluded. Now, I’ll be on my way.”
Feope’s flight toward the door came to a halt.
Rian and Tess were blocking the door. Shirone and Amy surrounded her from both sides.
“Hmm, trying to subdue me with force? Me, a fairy?”
“It’s not impossible. We just have to think of it as catching a sparrow.”
“Is that so? Then go ahead and try.”
Feope’s eyes widened.
At that, Rian’s face, his hand on the hilt of his greatsword, contorted. A strange force was at work, twisting his arm. Tess, unaware of the situation, grabbed Rian’s shoulder and felt the same pain.
“Ho ho! If you don’t get out of the way soon, it’s going to break.”
The abilities of fairies, who were single-concept beings, had much in common with irregular formulas. They expanded a concept and used it like magic.
Feope was born from a spiral and thus could control everything related to twisting. Even for Rian, whose physical strength was comparable to a Schema user, it was difficult to endure.
However, as his body began to execute his brain’s commands at 100 percent efficiency, his body slowly started to move. When he swung his greatsword, the spiral force shattered, and Feope staggered.
Tess aimed for the opening and thrust her saber.
Feope, who flew up into the air to evade, looked at her in disbelief.
Schema. It was the technique of the giants.
Fairies and giants were the two pillars that sustained this world. Thus, they were equals under the Law, but deep down, each believed they were superior. Therefore, to be pushed back by a giant’s technique in any situation was a blow to one’s pride.
“You people, really!”
Feope moved so fast she could draw pictures with her afterimages.
Rian’s and Tess’s paths of movement overlapped, creating a void in their motions.
Seizing that moment, Feope unleashed her spiral force on the door. The center of the iron door crumpled clockwise, and with a crack of the hinges, the door fell off.
“Hohoho! Fools! Well then, goodbye!”
As Feope surged toward the outside, she felt something strange. For some reason, her speed was decreasing.
When Shirone approached from the front, she flew up to the ceiling, but even that was slow.
By the time she realized time was flowing slowly, she was already caught in Shirone’s grasp.
Shirone released the slow effect and held Feope up before his eyes. Her captured face was dazed.
“How can you control time?”
Controlling time was light magic. But there was no light in the room to amplify the magic with.
Source knowledge flashed through Feope’s mind. Nephilim were the descendants of angels. And angels… were masters of light.
‘This is…!’
Feope was on the verge of tears. She struggled to get away, but Shirone’s physical strength was greater.
No, it was that fairies’ physical strength was weak.
The muscular strength of fairies, who specialized in mental power, was the lowest among all under the Law.
“Let go! Let me go!”
Feope’s struggles didn’t even tickle.
Then, she clenched her teeth and cast her magic. The moment the spiral force manifested, Shirone squeezed his hand.
Feope’s eyes widened, and the air in her stomach burst out of her mouth.
“Haaak! Stop! My stomach is going to burst!”
“Return the family’s lifespans to what they were.”
Feope’s tearful face turned cold.
“Hmph! Trying to threaten me? It’s useless. I’m the one who reports to my superiors, but I’m not the one who carries out the sentence. You attacked an enforcer of the Law, so even if you’re a Nephilim, you won’t get away with this. You’d better let me go quickly.”
“Threaten? I could kill you.”
If he couldn’t change Feope’s mind, Kanya would die. He couldn’t say he bore no responsibility for that.
As he applied pressure with his hand, Feope’s complexion turned pale. Even so, she didn’t abandon her pride as an enforcer.
“K-kill me. I’m not scared at all.”
The more he squeezed Feope, the stronger he felt her pulse.
She was a fragile creature. One he felt he could crush for sport.
She was afraid.
“Not scared? Then why are you trembling?”
Mocked, Feope glared fiercely.
“The annihilation of one’s existence is fearsome for anyone! I’m choosing death even knowing that! Don’t compare me to pathetic humans like you!”
“Then die.”
“Kill me! I said, kill me! I’m ready to die!”
Shirone lifted Feope up. If he slammed her on the floor, it would be instant death.
Feope’s trembling intensified. Just imagining her small corpse with its guts spilled out was unpleasant.
Feope burst into sorrowful tears.
To die after living only one year. Her dream of becoming the number one of the 72 fairy classes was ending today.
As Feope’s tears streamed down the back of his hand, Shirone grimaced.
How was he supposed to accept this world, where even fundamental values were controlled?
“You choose death even though you’re afraid? Why? Why can you only think that way?”
“Hmph! A human like you would never understand! But I won’t say a word! As an enforcer of the Law, I will not yield to a human!”
“Alright. If you’ve given up on life, you’re as good as dead anyway, so I’ll take your life without any trouble.”
Feope’s face was a mess of tears.
She wanted to be saved. But when someone held the power of life and death in their hands and said they would kill her, what was she supposed to say?
Was she supposed to kneel and beg? An enforcer of the Law submitting to a subject was something that could never happen.
“Fine! Kill me! Just kill me already!”
“But if you ask me to save you, I will.”