Chapter 374: Temar’s Fourth Grave (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 374: Temar’s Fourth Grave (1)
It was a matter of trust.
The belief that her sister, Queen Ruet, would always make the right choice was what made Shil drop her sword.
Shil glared at the fallen blade and gritted her teeth. Crimson droplets of blood trickled down Ruet’s neck.
The fairies who had followed Shil also lowered their weapons, as if they had no other choice. The air grew thick with their collective disappointment in her.
Shil, my sister.
Shil did not answer, staring only at her discarded sword.
I know it will be difficult for you to accept, no matter how I explain it now. But I believe that one day, you will understand my choice. Now, go back.
Shil turned away.
As she began to leave, the other fairies followed suit, their movements heavy with resignation.
Sigh…
Ruet let out a long breath as she watched Shil and her kin disappear into the depths of the forest. It was a sigh mixed with both a troubled heart and a sense of relief.
Her relief did not stem from the fact that she had avoided being stabbed by her own sister and people.
“Fairy culture is truly adorable. To draw blades with the intent to kill a queen, only to turn back after a few words… Heh heh.”
A figure emerged from the shadows of the forest behind Ruet.
The person’s face was hidden beneath a deep hood, but the black robe bore the emblem of Runcandel’s Black Sword.
“Lokia.”
Ruet turned and spoke the person's name.
“Lokia Ganesto.”
She was one of Runcandel’s Ten Great Knights, a woman whose mastery of pure magic was unrivaled within the clan.
“In Runcandel—no, in the human world—such a thing would be unimaginable. Still, it’s a relief. If they had truly tried to harm you, I would have killed every last one of them.”
Lokia let out a snickering laugh as she spoke, causing Ruet’s brow to furrow.
“You find this amusing?”
“Yes, it’s amusing and cute. It felt like watching children play at war. You were quite impressive, Lady Ruet, standing perfectly still even as a blade touched your throat. Or was it because you trusted me that much?”
“Believe what you will.”
“To be honest, if that blade had gone even half a fingernail deeper, I planned to massacre them all instantly. I held back, in my own way, knowing that killing them would earn your hatred.”
Lokia continued with a bright smile.
“But earning your hatred is better than incurring our Patriarch’s wrath. From now on, don’t do anything this reckless without consulting him. If I hadn't volunteered to be your escort…”
“I never asked for an escort.”
“That’s exactly the problem. And that’s why I, being so perceptive, followed you. Anyway, if I hadn't been here and those rebellious fairies had actually stabbed you—and if the Patriarch had found out—it wouldn't have ended with just a few of them dying.”
“Temar is a good man.”
“Of course he is. But would he remain a good man after losing one of his own? The Patriarch of Runcandel isn't some soft-hearted fool. In my opinion, you just put the entire fairy race in danger. Just as your sister said.”
Ruet had no words to offer in rebuttal.
Lokia ruffled Ruet’s hair as if she found her endearing.
“Let’s head back. Oh, and as of today, you are the Head Butler of Runcandel. I have orders from the Patriarch to inform you.”
* * *
After that day, Shil and the fairies who followed her left the Primeval Forest.
And then, they were forgotten.
It began on March 4, 797, with five fairies disappearing from memory. Within a few short years, the existence of every fairy in the world had been forgotten.
It was because Runcandel had been defeated.
Even though they were forgotten, their physical forms remained, neither truly alive nor dead. They were dark, bizarre shapes, like shadows.
That was how the forgotten fairies appeared to others. However, no one noticed them, whether they walked in groups through the center of a crowded metropolis or passed through forests teeming with wild animals.
Nothing paid any mind to the fairies who had become like wraiths.
They were ignored like a meaningless passing breeze.
Even the fact that Shil and her followers moved together was merely a matter of instinct; they could not converse among themselves.
It was impossible for them to hear, read, or remember the speech and writing of those who were not forgotten.
The same applied to emotions. The forgotten fairies merely drifted through the hollow flow of time, existing as nothing more than a visible black haze.
That was what it meant to be forgotten. To exist yet not exist, unable to influence the world or communicate with anyone.
There could be no punishment more horrific.
The fairies, along with all those crushed by the power of Zipple, were paying a cruel price.
Oh.
In the midst of that seemingly eternal, meaningless time, Shil and the fairies heard a voice.
To hear a voice…
That perfectly natural phenomenon, which had been nothing special before they were forgotten, caused the eyes of the forgotten fairies to snap open for the first time.
Their eyes opened, they saw their own darkened forms, their consciousness returned, they understood the horrific situation they were in, and they shuddered at the sudden surge of despair.
They turned their heads toward the source of the voice that had said, “Oh”—the voice that had granted them this awareness.
What met their eyes was a woman, darker and more massive than their own shadow-like forms.
“Look at all these orphans.”
The woman looked at the fairies with great interest.
Though her face was obscured by darkness, the fairies could feel her smile.
And although they had never met her before, they knew her name.
“Heluram…” Shil spoke.
It was the name of a witch she had learned of while performing her duties of recording history as a fairy, long before being forgotten.
Heluram let out a satisfied laugh. As it continued, Shil and the fairies harbored a sliver of hope.
Someone recognizes us. Someone can help us exist again.
It was only natural for them to hold such hope, even if the person before them was the legendary witch who had brought countless catastrophes upon the world.
“How did you end up in such a state?”
“Zipple erased our existence from the world.”
“Do you feel wronged?”
“We do.”
“Why?”
“Because… we committed no crime.”
As Shil answered, a sense of shame washed over her.
She couldn't immediately recall the reason for it. She pondered for a moment and soon found the answer.
She had betrayed her sister and turned her back on her kin who fought against Zipple.
Facing that truth took her breath away. It felt as though it would have been better to remain forgotten, feeling nothing.
Heluram saw right through Shil’s inner thoughts. It seemed she knew the entire story of how Shil and the fairies came to be forgotten.
“An answer not even worth mocking.”
Despite her insulting words, Shil and the fairies could not argue.
They simply wanted to please her. They wanted to get on Heluram’s good side, to somehow exist in the world again. The shame of betraying their queen, the self-loathing of abandoning their kin—all of it could be forgotten, if only they could exist once more.
“Do you regret it?”
Shil and the fairies nodded.
“A moment ago you claimed innocence, and now you say you regret it. I’ve become curious about one thing.”
“What is it?”
“Surely, a similar moment will come again. At that time, what choice will shameless things like you make?”
Heluram locked eyes with Shil.
Mana and dark energy flowed from her hands. Spirit energy—the power known to be usable only by Shadow and his contractors—was among them. The mana and spirit energy intertwined, forming dozens of ribbons that enveloped the fairies.
“Ah, ah…!”
The forms of the fairies wrapped in the ribbons were changing.
Their bodies, which had turned black like shadows, regained their original colors, and the red hair unique to the fairy race flowed down their backs.
Shil and the fairies couldn't help but shed tears as they looked at each other. It felt as if they had returned to their whole selves after millions of years.
But before the tears could even hit the ground, the fairies had to experience their forms changing once more.
“What is this? No!”
“This can’t be!”
Their bodies were shrinking.
Their red hair fell out in miserable clumps, like the fur of a diseased animal, and their once-perfect faces twisted into hideous, monstrous visages. Their limbs warped grotesquely, and their voices became metallic rasps. Their appearance could not have been more hideous; they looked like corpses rotting away from a plague.
Then, the transformation paused.
“That is your true form.”
Heluram gave her brief assessment and waved her hand.
The ribbons began to move again, and the fairies’ forms changed one last time.
Their bodies shrank to the size of a child’s head, and tiny wings sprouted from their backs. Flit, flit. The wings made a dainty sound as they moved.
It was an appearance that most people would find adorable. The fairies, however, felt only humiliation.
“How amusing. ‘We are innocent.’ ‘We regret it.’ And on top of that, creatures filled with nothing but the desire to exist again are feeling a luxury like humiliation.”
“What have you done to us?!”
“I gave you a chance. A chance to exist in the world again.”
Heluram grabbed Shil and attached an especially large pair of wings to her back.
“From now on, you are their queen. When a moment similar to the one you regret arrives… I shall watch to see what choice you make.”
The moment of regret. The moment they betrayed their kin and failed to stand against Zipple. Heluram was curious what choice Shil and the fairies would make if such a situation ever arose again.
“It is a very difficult thing, to not forget a lesson.”
Heluram released Shil and added one last thing.
“Furthermore, you are now incomparably inferior to what you once were. You will have to think hard if you wish to survive. Go.”
The fairies did not dare to look at Heluram. As soon as her command was given, they turned and fluttered away.
Thus, they regained their existence and wandered the world.
Several more years passed before they found a home in the Wantaramo Forest.
By then, the fairies had forgotten most of their memories from when they were true fairies. They had only come to exist again through Heluram’s power; they had not truly recovered ‘themselves.’
It wasn't just their memories of being true fairies that they forgot.
Most of the fairies, excluding Shil—now known as Shilla—were even forgetting what Heluram had done and said to them.
They were bored.
A life that continued without purpose, meaning, or hope was a sequence of pure boredom. So, they found amusement in killing the humans who happened upon the forest. That was enough for them.
Only Shilla, as their queen, pondered their future.
Her pondering came to an end when a human came to the Wantaramo Forest to deliver a message from Solderet.