Johnzalles Jod-bang-maeng-i!!!!
With Park Chiyou's magical power, the previously nameless fairy was now resting peacefully inside the basket. When Jinwoo asked how it was doing, Park Chiyou let out a light sigh before answering.
“It’s fine now. After sleeping soundly, it should have no trouble with daily activities.”
“That’s a relief.”
“By the way, could you explain what exactly happened here?”
“Understood.”
After that, Jinwoo explained everything he had experienced to Park Chiyou. Having heard the entire story, Park Chiyou’s eyes widened in shock as she spoke.
“A robot? And it even erected a barrier?”
“Yes. The moment I entered that place, all the people disappeared.”
Normally, when a special incident occurred that the police could not handle, magical girls were immediately dispatched to resolve it. Since they rotated through this sort of hero work, it was unlikely a magical girl would be absent when trouble arose.
“Could that barrier have been…”
It was said the robot had set up the barrier. That might explain why no magical girl had detected the incident. Yet what Park Chiyou found hardest to believe was something else entirely.
“But you truly… contracted with a fairy?”
A magical girl. Contracting with a fairy meant exactly that. Normally it required awakening first. That awakening occurred when mana surged from the womb possessed by women. Yet Jinwoo had no womb. He was not even female—he was male. And he had contracted with a fairy? He had even transformed into a magical girl?
As if to answer her questions, Jinwoo showed her the ring on his finger.
“Hmm? This is…!”
Park Chiyou was visibly startled. The transformation artifacts magical girls normally equipped to contract with fairies were all produced directly by the Fairy Empire. The manufacturing process infused them with the fairies’ unique mana, so that power should be detectable within the artifact. Yet inside this ring’s gem lay an overwhelming amount of alien energy.
At least a faint trace of fairy mana could be sensed within it—most likely from the fairy currently lying in the basket.
“This is an energy I have never seen before. Jinwoo, did the fairy explain anything about this ring to you?”
“I didn’t get a proper explanation either.”
“I see. Still… this is clearly no ordinary artifact.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. An unusual power emanates from within it. To the point it feels downright unpleasant…”
What exactly was this ring? Why had the fairy been chased by the Heavenly Machines? Could it be connected to this ring? Jinwoo guessed lightly.
“Mmm… mmm! Delicious… boobs… feels so good… boobs… mmm…”
Meanwhile, the fairy was sleeping quite comfortably. It was even muttering incomprehensible sleep-talk.
Suddenly its face twisted as if trapped in a nightmare, and it began to groan.
“Mmm… ugh!! Ah… no! I… am a male! That’s not… a place to put it in.”
Then—
“AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”
The fairy jolted awake from its nightmare, eyes bulging as it screamed.
“KYAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”
Park Chiyou, who had been watching quietly, was so startled by the jump scare that she reflexively slapped the fairy’s cheek.
THWACK!!
“GUUUUURK!!”
Boing! Boing-boing-boing!!
She had controlled her strength, but the surprised slap sent the fairy bouncing around like a rubber ball before it spectacularly landed back inside the basket. This was straight out of a Tom and Jerry cartoon.
“Cough… cough!! I… I don’t have a hobby… of getting hit…”
“FAAAAAIIIRYYYY!!”
“Oh dear! I’m sorry, sweetie!”
Once again the fairy had to receive Park Chiyou’s healing magic. Some time later, after the treatment was complete, it finally opened its eyes.
“Uhahahahaha!! I’m back, baby!!!”
“This is the guy who was dying just a little while ago,” Jinwoo remarked from the side.
The fairy planted both hands on its hips and shouted.
“Aiiight! Shut your mouth! Anyway, I’m alive, so that’s what matters!! I’ll specially forgive you!!”
Meanwhile, Jinwoo took a quick look at the fairy’s status window.
LV. 44
Name: Johnzalles Jod-bang-maeng-i
Gender: Male (M)
Strength: 14 Agility: 14 Stamina: 14
Mana: 14 Charisma: 10
Detailed Information: Crown Prince of the Fairy Empire and first in line to the imperial throne. Also a renowned combat magician within the empire thanks to his genius talent for magic.
Looking at those numbers, Jinwoo finally understood why the fairy had been acting so arrogantly. The creature seemed quite pleased that its wounds had healed; its high tension continued without pause.
“First! Allow me to introduce myself!! I’m sure you’ve all been veeeery curious about my name for a while now!”
“Rather than that, I’d appreciate an explanation about the ring on my hand first.”
“Uhahahaha! Then I shall tell you! My name is!!!”
“I said explain the ring first.”
“Goddamn it, fuck!! Are you really my partner?! You’re not even a little curious about me?!”
“The ring is simply more—”
Completely ignoring Jinwoo’s words, the fairy launched into a grandiose self-introduction.
“Listen well, humans! My name is Johnzalles Jod-bang-maeng-i!! I am none other than the great Crown Prince of the glorious Fairy Empire!! Worship me! Umhahahahahat!!”
At that point Jinwoo asked again.
“So about the ring…”
“You son of a bitch!!!”
“My, what a foul-mouthed fairy. It was a joke, so calm down.”
“Hiss! Hiss!! You really wanna piss me off?! Huh?! I am the Crown Prince! The Crown Prince of the Fairy Empire!!! Normally a guy like you wouldn’t even be allowed to speak to me!”
Jinwoo, displeased by the fairy’s attitude, repeated himself.
“About the ring…”
“UWAAAAK!! I’m sorry!! So please! Please!!!”
“All right, I understand.”
Once the situation had calmed slightly, Park Chiyou turned to the self-proclaimed crown prince.
“Are you truly the crown prince?”
“That is correct. The proof is right here!”
So saying, Johnzalles showed them his rear. There, the emblem of the Fairy Empire was clearly visible. Or rather, the fur had fallen out in exactly that shape.
Jinwoo spoke without thinking.
“That’s… hair loss…”
“It is not!!!”
After the fairy’s sharp denial, Park Chiyou sighed and continued.
“Indeed, that is the hair-loss symptom that appears only on members of the royal family.”
“I told you it’s not hair loss!!”
“Anyway, it is clear evidence, so we shall believe it.”
Jinwoo turned to Park Chiyou.
“But Mother, couldn’t they simply shave the fur to fake it?”
“No, that is impossible. Fairies do not lose their fur. Above all, that very fur is their greatest armor.”
In the distant past, before magical girls existed, the fairies had been forced to fight the angels themselves. What protected their bodies from the angels’ powerful attacks was precisely that fur. It could not be cut by ordinary blades, nor would it fall out. It even adjusted its own thickness automatically with the seasons in place of molting.
For a fairy’s fur to fall out meant only one thing: the royal hair-loss that marked true nobility.
“Then why did you come to the human world?”
“Heh heh! Excellent question! I shall answer.”
Sitting cross-legged on the table, he continued his explanation.
Long ago, the angels had launched a project to counter the magical girls. Its goal was none other than the creation of artificial magical girls—angel-made magical girls designed to oppose those produced by the Fairy Empire. What they had developed for that purpose was called the Chronicle Series.
“So this ring is one of that series?”
Correct. While they had learned that the Chronicle Series was under development, they still did not know exactly how many had been produced… or how far the project had advanced. The only one whose existence and location had been confirmed was the Chronicle Ring currently on Jinwoo’s finger.
Johnzalles had led soldiers on a covert mission into the heavenly realm. After his subordinates’ sacrifices, he had stolen the Chronicle Ring, only to be pursued by the Heavenly Machines. After a desperate, blood-soaked chase, he had no choice but to cross over to the human world through a gate.
“Why didn’t you return to the fairy realm?”
The reason was simple. The moment the angels detected his presence, they had sealed the gate leading there. With nowhere else to go, the human world had been his only option.
Park Chiyou added an explanation for Jinwoo.
“Keep in mind that when entities from the heavenly realm cross into another world, their power weakens. The stronger they are, the greater the reduction.”
Johnzalles picked up from her explanation.
“That phenomenon is known as World Power. It applies not only when coming from the heavenly realm, but also when they enter the human world.”
“Do fairies weaken when they enter the heavenly realm as well?”
“Correct. And the same applies here…”
That was why angels and fairies had spent so long locked in a stalemate, unable to inflict truly fatal damage on each other. The great variable that changed everything was the magical girl. When a fairy’s mana combined with the power of an awakened girl, the resulting magical girl became immune to World Power. The Heavenly Machines appeared to have been created specifically to counter such beings.
“In any case, I hurled myself into the human world to shake off any pursuing angels.”
Yet a Heavenly Machine unaffected by World Power had chased him down. The final one had been the entity Jinwoo encountered.
At that point a question occurred to Jinwoo.
“Exactly how was this Chronicle Series created?”
The crown prince Johnzalles Jod-bang-maeng-i let out a long sigh before answering.
“The Chronicle Series was made from… none other than…”
The Fragment of God.