The Fairy and the Lost Child in the Forest
The pitiful scream that tore through the thickly fogged forest never reached its end.
"P-please, spare m—!!!"
"Shut up."
-Schlick.
A single, concise white line slashed through the air. Following its afterimage, a fountain of bright red blood erupted from the man's neck like a geyser.
-Shuuuush.
The headless body groped at the empty air for a moment before collapsing to the ground like a discarded sack.
A crimson pool slowly spread across the damp dirt. Without bothering to shake the blood from my blade, I counted the corpses with cold indifference.
"...Twenty-nine. Thirty."
Already, more than thirty decapitated bodies lay scattered along the path I had taken.
"Haa..."
Irritation welled up, and I unconsciously furrowed my brow.
It had been half a shichen since I first set foot in this Mimok Hwanlim, the Labyrinth of Illusory Trees. Yet instead of finding a guide, I had wasted precious time slicing through wave after wave of bandits.
Damn it. At this rate, the sun's going to set.
I had thought that pretending to be a lost, helpless beauty would make them escort me straight to their chieftain. But every encounter played out in the exact opposite way I had imagined.
"Why the hell doesn't a single one of these bastards think about delivering me nicely to their leader?!"
-Kyahaha! Look at this! A flower blooming in this gloomy forest!?
-Before we hand her over to the acting chieftain, how about we have a little taste first? He'll never know if we clean up after ourselves!
Every single one of them got horny on sight, throwing rules and caution to the wind. I had no choice but to skip the conversation entirely and draw my sword, lopping off their heads.
I know better than anyone how men's eyes roll the second they see a pretty woman. I used to be the same, after all.
But knowing it and experiencing it were two entirely different things. I never expected it to be this bad.
After becoming a woman, being the direct target of that sticky, filthy lust made their leering gazes feel like centipedes crawling across my skin. The revulsion was so intense it raised goosebumps all over me.
Ugh, this is annoying. Should I just wipe them all out?
As my plan unraveled, frustration began to boil in my chest. Maybe I should drop this tiresome act, tear through everything in my path, and charge straight in?
I seriously considered a frontal assault for a moment, then shook my head.
No. With this cursed fog, I'd definitely get lost.
The mist of the Mimok Hwanlim stole away one's senses.
A natural labyrinth that twisted direction and swallowed sound. Without a guide who had memorized the paths through years of living here, even a supreme expert would wander in circles for days before collapsing from exhaustion and dying an ignoble death.
-Drip. Drip.
With my blood-dripping sword hanging loosely, I cooled my head with cold reason.
Change of plans. The next one I meet... I'll keep him alive.
My decision was swift.
"The next bastard I run into, I'll spare just one."
Whether I severed his tendons, chopped off a limb, or used bone and muscle separation techniques, I would force him to talk and make him guide me. It left a bad taste in my mouth to let someone who tried to lay filthy hands on me live, but it couldn't be helped. For the greater cause, trivial emotions had to be set aside. As long as he was breathing, he'd make an excellent compass. I'd just have to cripple him first.
-Rustle.
The moment I finished my thoughts, a rustling sound came from the bushes behind me.
Here it comes.
I immediately steadied my breathing and adjusted my grip on the sword hilt. Lifting something without crushing it actually required more finesse, so I had to hold back as much as possible.
With the resolve to cut off a limb or two—just enough to keep him from dying—and use him as a guide, I turned around.
"Kuhehehe!! It's a woman! There's a real woman here!"
The scene that unfolded before my eyes was so grotesque it made my eyeballs want to rot.
The man had already half-pulled down his pants, exposing his hideous, dangling thing while drooling from eyes filled with madness. Far from being afraid of the sword I had drawn, he panted with excitement and charged straight at me!!!
"Come here, pretty one! This big brother will show you paradise! Kuhuhuhu!"
"You fucking—!!!"
-Whoosh.
My right hand, driven by murderous intent from that filthy sight, moved on its own.
"Huh...?"
Before the bloodshot eyes could even blink, an invisible sword strike swept over his entire body like a net—
-Slaaaaaash!
The instant the sword swung, not only his neck, but his arms, legs, and even that dangling manhood lost all shape as they were shredded into pieces and rained onto the ground.
"Damn it! My hand moved first!"
As I clutched my head in front of the finely minced chunks of flesh and let out a groan, I sensed another presence behind the tree where the meat lump had emerged from.
"What the hell is hiding back there now?!"
My mind, already scarred by the previous horror, snapped. I drew my sword in irritation and instantly closed in behind the tree.
"Die, you bastard!!!"
-Swish!
The lightning-fast strike came down.
But just before the sword tip could rip out his throat, the face I saw up close made me urgently halt the blade right in front of his nose.
"H-hic...!"
"Huh?"
Crouched between the tree roots and trembling like a leaf was a small boy who didn't even look old enough to have reached the age of fifteen.
Hmm?
His face, hands, and feet were covered in grime from not having washed in a long time. The clothes he wore were nothing but tattered rags of hemp.
Yet even beneath that filthy appearance, his innate noble bearing could not be hidden.
Beneath the dirt-stained cheeks was fair white skin and sharp, intelligent eyes. His nose bridge was elegantly straight, the kind of face that, once he grew into it, would become a peach blossom calamity capable of stealing many women's hearts.
What? He's just a kid. And a ridiculously good-looking one at that.
I withdrew the killing intent I had drawn taut and lowered the sword I had stopped right before his nose.
"Who are you?"
"H-huh...?"
At my words, the boy looked up at me with those big eyes brimming with tears, like a puppy caught in the rain.
"Are you... a fairy who descended from the heavens, Sister?!"
"Pfft."
His naive and innocent question made me burst into laughter. At my feet lay the freshly butchered corpse, and my clothes were soaked in blood, yet he called me a fairy.
Honestly, men are all the same.
It reminded me of the kid named So-chil I had met on the Yeongpa Ferry.
The moment he saw this face, he had called me a fairy and lost his mind too. It seemed that no matter how young and inexperienced, boys became completely helpless in front of a beauty.
"Heh heh. Well, you're half right, I suppose."
With an amused reply, I elegantly flicked the sticky blood from my blade into the air.
-Splatter.
Red droplets scattered across the ground in a diagonal line. I sheathed my now-clean sword and asked the trembling boy.
"So, who are you? You don't look like a bandit. Why are you in a place like—"
"Uwaaaaah!"
Before I could finish, the boy burst into tears and flung himself at my waist.
-Cling!
"Fairy! Please save me! Uwaaaaah!"
"W-what?! Let go!"
I panicked and tried to pry him off, but the tiny body stuck to my waist like a leech. I had no idea where such strength came from.
This is driving me insane!
I had never liked children in either of my lives, and having a boy cling to me so defenselessly was an unprecedented event across both my past and present. He was desperately holding on, rubbing his tear-and-snot-covered face all over my clothes while wailing. I had no idea what to do with him.
"Alright, alright! Stop! Just get off and talk! You're ruining my clothes!"
"Huuuuhng... uuuuhuuuuh..."
"I swear I'm going to lose my mind!!!"
After clinging to me and sobbing for a long while, the boy finally exhausted himself and calmed down enough to let go.
"Sniff... hic. Fairy, I have committed a great discourtesy. I'm sorry for showing you such an unsightly sight..."
Still sniffling, he sat down neatly in a formal posture before me and bowed deeply with impeccable manners.
Despite his filthy appearance, his polite demeanor suggested he had been raised with proper etiquette.
"Ah, no. It's... fine."
Hiding my bewilderment with a cough, I repeated my earlier question.
"You don't look like a bandit. Who are you?"
The boy wiped his eyes roughly with his sleeve, cleared his throat, and answered in a clear voice.
"Ahem. My name is Yeon So-ha."
"Yeon So-ha?"
I rolled the name around in my mouth, but it didn't ring any bells. It seemed I had never met him in my previous life.
"Yes. I am the third son of the Cheon-un Merchant Group."
"...?!"
At his following words, even I couldn't help but be shocked.
The Cheon-un Merchant Group?
One of the top five among the Ten Great Merchant Groups of the world. They dominated logistics between Jiangnan and Jiangbei and even did business with prestigious clans like the Namgung family.
How did the young master of such a powerful family end up trapped in a bandit den in the mountains?
Perhaps sensing the question in my eyes, Yeon So-ha spoke with a bitter expression.
"It was three months ago. While heading to Anhui, our caravan was ambushed by bandits in this forest."
"You must have had escorts."
A caravan from the Cheon-un Merchant Group would have been guarded by first-rate escorts. No matter how powerful Cheonmok Heokpungchae was, they shouldn't have been able to overwhelm such a force.
"Yes. Normally, our escorts would never have fallen to mere bandits, but..."
Yeon So-ha's body trembled slightly.
He swallowed dryly and continued with eyes full of fear.
"There was a monstrous expert among them."
"A monstrous expert?"
"Yes. A warrior dressed in dark crimson robes. It took him only a single strike. Our head escort couldn't even scream before his head flew off..."
The boy's pupils were clouded with deep terror.
"Because of that one man, our entire guard was annihilated. I was captured without resistance and dragged all the way here."
"Hmm."
The head escort of a prestigious security agency would have been at least a peak expert with plenty of experience in the jianghu. To take such a person's head in a single strike? Even the chieftains of the notorious Green Forest Ten Tyrants couldn't reach that level. Someone with that kind of martial prowess had no reason to stoop to banditry.
Wait. Dark crimson robes...
A fleeting image crossed my mind.
The chilling gaze I had met in the darkness while I was thrown like baggage in the mountain prison in my previous life. The blood-red eyes of that unidentified stranger flashed before me.
Right... That guy was there.
Noticing the change in my eyes, Yeon So-ha cautiously continued.
"Normally, the merchant group should have paid my ransom long ago and secured my release. However, an internal conflict broke out among the bandits..."
"So the negotiations fell through."
"Yes. A sudden rebellion ousted the original chieftain, and the vice-chieftain took his place—"
"Ah, I know that part. No need to explain from there."
I waved my hand, cutting him off. Since I had heard the story directly from the person involved in my previous life, I didn't need to hear it again.
"So what have you been doing until now?"
"...I've been working as an errand boy for the bandits."
Yeon So-ha's nose turned red with embarrassment.
"Their accounting was a complete mess, so I've been surviving by fixing their ledgers and doing odd jobs. Today, that damn bastard dragged me out to fan him while he napped..."
-Whoosh.
As he spoke, Yeon So-ha suddenly stood up as if remembering something.
He strode over to the corpse of the bandit I had just butchered and began stomping on the shredded remains with a fierce glare.
-Thud! Thud!
"You son of a bitch! You filthy bastard!!!"
After venting his rage with kicks, he spat on the mangled flesh with a refreshed expression and burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! I told you you'd get your just deserts one day! Serves you right!"
Clenching his fists and panting, the boy shouted.
"The heavens were watching and sent our fairy to punish you! Rot in hell, you dog!"
"Hmm?"
I thought he was just a crybaby scholar, but he actually has quite the temper.
His venomous display secretly pleased me. I crossed my arms and let out an amused snort. Yeon So-ha, who had been stomping on the remains, flinched and turned to look at me.
"S-sorry. He was the one who tormented me the most..."
The fierce spirit he had shown while shouting in rage vanished. His face turned beet red again.
"Heh heh. No need to apologize. He was a perverted bastard who deserved to die."
"Ah...!"
At my refreshing answer, Yeon So-ha's eyes widened, then he smiled brightly in relief.
"You said you've been held here for three months, right?"
"Yes, that's correct..."
"Then do you know the way up to the bandit fortress?"
The moment he heard my question, confidence filled his eyes.
"Yes. I know it exactly. I never forget a path or a number once I've seen it."
"Oh?"
Photographic memory. As expected of the bloodline from a great merchant house—exceptionally sharp intellect. I was inwardly impressed and about to smile in satisfaction when a dark shadow suddenly crossed his clear face.
"But... why are you going to the fortress? There are truly terrifying people there... Shouldn't we run away while we still can...?"
"There's someone I need to save."
I tapped the hilt of the sword at my waist and grinned.
"Don't worry. Just guide me there. I'll take care of cutting their throats myself."
"......"
The boy fell silent for a moment. His trembling eyes darted back and forth between my bloodstained sword and my face.
-Swish.
When he finally lifted his head, the fear in his eyes had been replaced by firm resolve.
"Then I'll guide you!"
Yeon So-ha wiped away the tears at the corners of his eyes and declared with a solemn expression.
"I know your martial arts are peerlessly powerful, Fairy, but I am also a man who can do his part!"
"Pfft. A man, you say?"
"Yes! Even if I lack strength, I have a good head! I'll make up for whatever you lack!"
The sight of the small boy clenching his tiny fists and thumping his narrow chest was so spirited that I barely held back my laughter and reached out.
"Alright. You're quite reliable."
"Ah, w-wait...!"
-Stroke. Stroke.
I slowly ran my hand through his messy hair and gave him a small smile.
"Good. Then lead the way. The sun will set soon. I'll protect you from now on, so don't worry and just stay right behind me."
"......!!"
The moment I finished speaking, Yeon So-ha's face flushed bright red like a ripe persimmon. His ears turned scarlet as he opened and closed his mouth before stammering.
"Y-yes! Leave it to me! S-Sister!"
"Sister?"
It was a bit strange that he suddenly changed from calling me "Fairy" to "Sister," but I simply tilted my head and let it pass. "Sister" was probably more familiar and easier to say than "Fairy."
"Alright. Let's go."
"Yes, Sister!"
Yeon So-ha kept stealing shy glances at my face before finally putting on a determined expression and walking bravely into the fog.
