Aberrant Fairy Instincts

The identity of the creature lying among the sunflowers was a little girl.

Well, girls were the sort of beings that could drop out of the blue sky anyway. Yeah, running into one in a flower field like this was totally normal.

Messy hair, puffy eyelids. Judging by her size, maybe seven or eight years old? Could be even younger.

Her bare knees were bruised black and blue. Her dress was so filthy you couldn't tell its original color, plastered with broken twigs and dry leaves in places. Beneath the torn fabric, her delicate skin was caked with long-dried scabs.

She was covered in wounds and exhausted. And having just woken up, she didn't seem to have a grasp on the situation yet.

Then she spotted me and blinked in a dazed expression.

Blue eyes.

First, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠jab the eyes—vital spots. She'd scream, flail her arms. But with her vision attacked, she couldn't land a proper hit. Dodge calmly, find the next opening...

Next?

...

The moment I recognized the aberration, I retraced my twisted thoughts.

Sure, I'd massacred small animals to survive, but at my core, I was still human.

Humans don't kill humans. I am human.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I repeated the hastily crafted trigger phrase, beating down the corrupting instincts clouding my mind and locking them deep in my subconscious.

With my cooled reason at my side, I pondered.

Until just now, I'd been plotting ways to kill this child. Yesterday's me wouldn't have hesitated or even considered it.

This was blatantly abnormal. So I suspected.

What was the difference between yesterday's me and today's?

"...".

The answer was simple.

I'd killed living things. Rats, bugs, small birds—a ton of them.

To evolve, I needed levels. To level up, I needed to kill more.

I'd swung my fork without a second thought.

And until now, I'd believed it was perfectly rational.

...Annoying.

You don't notice the abnormality until you become aware of it. You can't suspect until doubt arises.

If this was what fairy traits meant—these instincts—and they grew stronger with every kill...

Then even if I kept evolving until I reached human size...

The one standing there wouldn't be me. It'd be a monster, a murderer.

...Guess I need to think of a solution.

Stopping the hunt entirely was impossible.

Unless there was another way to level up, hunting small animals was my only option right now.

But to keep my humanity, I should at least hold back on this mindless, inefficient slaughter.

For now, stick to mutants.

And anything threatening me, like that wolf pack from before. That should put some restraint on indiscriminate ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠overhunting.

Sorting my thoughts, I turned my attention back to the girl in front of me.

Separate from my personal near-miss with attacking her—humans were something to be wary of.

What if she was the one who trapped me in that glass jar?

So I didn't lower the fork tip pointed at her.

The longer ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I stared at her, the more she stared back.

Whether she realized she'd almost become my EXP or not, she just sat there demurely with that dumb look.

It was almost like I should ask if she was my master or something.

Of course, I didn't say it aloud. Anyway.

"…Neráïda?"

No point talking if we couldn't communicate.

"Óchi, aftó eínai óniro…?"

Wasn't it standard isekai protocol to install a language pack? Staring blankly at her mouth as she spoke some unheard-of language...

A status window popped up right on cue.

...Why's the success rate like that?

0.2 percent? One success per 500 tries? Even mobile gacha games had better odds.

Well, still. The penalty for failure seemed to just be mana loss. No reason not to try.

Analysis.

I activated the skill immediately.

Some elementary-school notebook game script flashed by.

「…Veroníkē Bártes Tárka, that's my name.」

Suddenly, I started understanding what she was saying.

「If you're not a fairy—if it's not rude—could I ask who you are…?」

I could vaguely comprehend it in my head, but her pronunciation stayed the same.

Like conversing with a native through a simultaneous interpreter.

Veroníkē. "…Veronica?"

"Y-yes…! Veronica, that's me…!"

I'd just mimicked one word from her mouth, but she seemed to think we could communicate now.

"Veronica's your name? Then Bártes? Tárka? What's that? A family name? Are you nobility?"

"…Pardon?"

As expected.

I could unilaterally understand Veronica now, but she had no clue what I was saying.

Well, not like there's no workaround.

I recalled the word she'd 'pronounced' for fairy.

"Uh, so… neráïda? Like that?"

"F-fairy? Are you really a fairy?"

"Naí."

Well, if she'd asked if I was a Fairy, that might be tricky, but my current race was Fairy. A nod with the 'yes' word lit up her face.

"Th-then…!"

She clasped her hands at her chest, eyes gleaming intensely as she started to say something—

"Grrrrr…."

A beast's growl echoed from all sides.

"…Fairy."

...Surrounded.

Gray fur flickered between sunflower stems. Veronica sensed the ominous air too, wiping her excitement as she scanned around cautiously.

Gray Dire Wolf, my old nemesis.

Locking eyes with its yellow pupils glaring through the stems twisted my lips into a grin. The very one I'd headbanged with while trapped in that glass bottle.

Doesn't look much different from yesterday.

Creatures that don't evolve might as well be dead. If it'd become something like a Gray Flying Dire Wolf, maybe, but a wolf that couldn't fly was harmless to me.

Plus, unlike yesterday, I'd evolved into a Fairy with full stamina reserves. This situation was no issue for me.

...But Veronica escaping? Tough.

She was barely eight, body already wrecked. Who knew what she'd been through.

Her outrunning that pack alive was near impossible.

I could draw some aggro... but one Dire Wolf maybe. Tying down the whole pack alone? No way.

I didn't want to watch her get torn apart.

However.

Evolved or not, I was still a fragile fairy with just a fork.

I couldn't do anything for her.

A stranger I'd met less than ten minutes ago. Logically, ditch her quick and bail before I got dragged in.

That was rational.

Yeah.

...But boring.

As Blaise Pascal said, 'The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.'

Human emotions and convictions hold their own logic and validity, even without rational basis.

In short: I just hated seeing those wolf bastards thrive.

As I pondered how to screw over the pack—

"Gray Wolves and their superior species, the Dire Wolves."

Veronica stood beside me, dusting off her seat. Her expression was grave, unchildlike. In her hands, clasped at her chest, was the round pendant from her neck.

"Leave this to me."

"?"

"…I can buy enough time for you to escape, Fairy."

Stunned by her demeanor, before I could speak, she extended both hands with a soft smile.

Bwoooong—.

The pendant between her palms floated into the air.

Pzzt, pzzzzzt….

Something thread-like gathered around it.

A status for new skills appeared, but now wasn't the time.

I stared blankly at the bundle of small lightning surging in her tiny hands, like the inside of a plasma globe from a science exhibit.

Paaat!

"Grrr… Kyang!"

"Kyang! Kyang!"

The pack barked sharply, sensing the menace too late, lunging to stop her—but

Paat—!

Before the wolves bursting through the sunflowers reached her—

Veronica's lips parted. And at that instant—

Shwoooook!

"Kyaang!"

"Kyeng!"

From the ground beneath the wolves, a cluster of sunflowers bloomed wide open.