Taesung (3)
Justice That Wants to Be Broken
Side Story
This story takes place before the world was destroyed.
Fairies are truly mysterious.
They have appearances resembling humans.
Yet they are only about the size of a human palm.
And they even have translucent, glittering wings like those of butterflies.
Truly mysterious.
"What are you thinking about, Icarus?"
The Fairy King asked me.
"Oh, I was just thinking about how beautiful you all are."
"Thanks for the compliment. That doesn't mean I'll give you any more blessings, though."
"Haha, of course. Ah, Saintess, please grant them the World Tree's sacred power."
"Don't worry. I was planning to grant it even if you didn't ask."
In exchange for giving the fairies the Saintess's sacred power, we received things like blessings and relics.
Of course, they said they would use them for national defense, but why should I care?
As a doctor of fairy studies, I didn't mind as long as I could continue researching these beautiful and mysterious fairies.
—Kzzzt.
I heard the sound of static.
There was blood on my body.
A gigantic monster was devouring the Saintess.
"I'm hungry... I'm still hungry!!!!!"
—BOOM!!!! BOOM!!!!!
The monster slammed its fists into the ground, sending debris flying.
In the process, the Saintess's corpse, which it had been holding in its mouth, was flung far away and crashed into a tree.
"Kyaaah!!"
The fairies screamed in panic and fluttered away on their tiny wings.
But I knew.
"No way... It can't be..."
Something deep within my instincts was telling me that the monster standing before me was the very fairy I had spent years researching.
How had things come to this?
This was the nightmare I had brought about.
"Dr. Icarus!!!!!"
"Ah, yes."
The loud voice startled me out of my daze, and I hurriedly responded.
And then...
—Smack!!!
He slapped me hard across the face.
"Ow..."
"Pay attention! Your job is to bring back blessings and relics!!!"
"I just wanted to research the fairies..."
"That's only the excuse you're giving on the surface!!!!"
—Bam.
He slammed his fist against the wall.
"We're at war right now... Why do you think we became a great power?"
"Because of humans blessed by the fairies and the relics we obtained from them."
"Exactly!!! But our enemy is attacking our territory with scientific technology powerful enough to crush all of that!!"
"Ah... So?"
"So?! If we're being overwhelmed by their technology, shouldn't we overwhelm them with even more relics and blessings?! With that precious blessing you received!"
The blessing I had received was called Fairy's Love.
It was a simple blessing that caused the fairies to favor me.
It was true that, thanks to it, my success rate in negotiations had increased considerably.
But even with more blessings and relics than before, there simply weren't enough of them to turn the tide of the current war.
After being lectured like that, I left his office.
"I see you got scolded again."
A gentle woman's voice came from behind me.
"Oh?! Good to see you, Ellis!"
"Don't call me Ellis so casually. I'm the Saintess."
"So what brings you here?"
"I came ahead of time because I thought he would hit you again. It wouldn't do to go see your wife with a handprint on your cheek."
"Haha, thanks. Then could you heal it for me?"
As soon as I said that, the Saintess placed her hand against my cheek.
A mysterious yellow light appeared, and the mark left by the slap gradually faded away.
"Wow, that's amazing as always!! If I ever get the time, I'd really like to write a detailed paper on the relationship between fairies and Saintesses."
"I'll consider it once the war is over."
"Thanks. Even saying that means a lot, Ellis."
With that, I continued on my way.
—Creak.
I opened the door.
"Honey!! You're back!"
I greeted her with the brightest smile I could manage.
"You're home? Are you okay today?"
"Of course I'm okay!!"
"Didn't your superiors give you a hard time?"
"Who would dare lay a hand on such a capable doctor as me?"
With that, I quickly changed the subject.
"I went to the Fairy Forest this time..."
"Oh? Go on. What did you bring back this time?"
"I got a relic!!"
"What kind of relic?"
She asked curiously.
"Glasses that let you see souls."
"See souls?"
"Yeah. They let you see through everything except living creatures! They're perfect for combat because even if the enemy is hiding, you can still pinpoint their location."
"Then you can't see clothes since they're not alive, right? So aren't those basically glasses for seeing people naked?"
"Huh?"
Sometimes, she would say the most random, bewildering, and creative things to me.
But I loved her for that.
I loved her.
I loved Mercury.
"Cough."
Mercury coughed up blood.
I hurriedly pressed the emergency call button.
It wasn't long before the nurses arrived and treated her.
She was suffering from a terminal illness.
If there was any way to save her, I would use it.
So... I wished someone would tell me what that way was.
I returned to my room.
I sat down and turned on my computer.
Slowly, I began rereading the papers I had written in the past.
Papers about fairies...
My childhood friend, Mercury, had been suffering from an illness for as long as I could remember.
That was why I began researching fairies, wondering if their mysterious power might be capable of curing her.
Of course, discovering the beauty of fairies had also played a part.
So I continued reading through my old papers.
"Hm...?"
Something was strange.
This was a paper I had abandoned while writing it.
Yet parts of it had been filled in that I had never written.
[A Theoretical Study on the Human Applications of World Tree-Based Resources]
I had abandoned the paper because tampering with the World Tree, which the fairies treasured above all else, carried too great a risk.
Now I read the version completed by someone whose identity I didn't know.
"Huh..."
It was astonishing.
The quality was incredible.
The energy contained within the World Tree...
The other author who had written this paper had named it Ether.
The paper went into great detail about the possible applications of Ether.
It could be used to develop all kinds of weapons.
But that wasn't what caught my attention.
[How to Create an Enhanced Human by Injecting Ether]
According to the paper, becoming an Enhanced Human could cure every illness a person had suffered from before the transformation.
Could this cure Mercury?
But could it really cure an illness even the Saintess couldn't treat?
And yet, the more I read, the more my doubts disappeared.
"It's possible..."
I hadn't conducted the experiment, but theoretically, it was possible.
The paper even contained details based on experiments that had apparently already been carried out, and my knowledge as a doctor told me the same thing.
This was real.
So I had to put it into practice.
"What exactly are you saying, Dr. Icarus?"
"It's time to switch the roles of the superior and the subordinate."
"You mean you want to go to war with the fairies?"
"Yes. The energy within the World Tree could completely change the course of this war."
"Let's call in the other doctors and have them examine this paper written by Dr. Icarus."
The paper came to be known as my work.
I didn't care.
As long as we could obtain the energy of the World Tree...
The other doctors also agreed that it was feasible, and so the war began.
The war ended very quickly.
The fairies were tiny creatures with virtually no destructive power.
They could bestow blessings, but they could not receive blessings themselves.
They could give away relics, but they couldn't use those relics themselves.
They were nothing more than immortal beings.
And that meant they were nothing more than immortal chunks of meat.
We extracted a tremendous amount of Ether from the World Tree.
Eventually, we entered into a peace treaty with the fairies.
As the person in charge of diplomacy, I faced the Fairy King.
"How could you, Sir Icarus... do this to us..."
"I'm sorry, Fairy King..."
"Can we not return to the peaceful days we once had...?"
"I'm afraid we can't go back anymore."
Of course, it would never be a fair peace treaty.
And so, we obtained a new source of energy.
Ether.
But the government had no interest in Enhanced Humans.
Since blessed humans were too weak for warfare in this new era, it was only natural that Ether-based weapons became the focus of everyone's attention.
And then...
"Ms. Mercury will probably die within a month... No matter how much we treat her, the result will be the same. It would be best to begin the discharge procedures..."
Mercury was going to die soon...
Then...
I would conduct the Enhanced Human experiment myself.
I purified and researched the Ether, then injected it into Mercury.
The result was...
"Mercury... Are you walking on your own two feet right now?"
"Yeah... I'm walking... I can walk."
Mercury, whose illness had progressed to the point where she couldn't even walk anymore, was able to stand and walk again.
But if anyone discovered that Mercury was an Enhanced Human...
She would become a government test subject.
That's why I became an Enhanced Human myself.
I injected purified Ether into my own body.
"There's fire coming from Dr. Icarus's body..."
"It's the result of the Enhanced Human experiment."
Superhuman strength and the ability to ignite his own body—something impossible for an ordinary human.
To the people at the top, the results were extraordinary.
It became the spark that would change the course of the war.
I slowly opened her door.
"Hm? Icarus, what's wrong?"
"I just wanted to see if you were okay."
"Hehe. Of course I'm okay. Look at these muscles."
She barely had any muscles, yet watching her proudly flex her frail body was actually adorable.
"I came here to talk about something important today..."
"What? Are you going to the Fairy Forest again and won't be able to see me for a long time?"
"It's true that I won't be able to see you for a long time... but it's not the Fairy Forest."
"Then what is it? Are you cheating on me?"
"No!! Sorry for shouting."
"It's okay. Come on, tell me."
I took a deep breath and spoke.
"I'm being sent to war."
"What?"
"Apparently, they plan to use me as the first successful product of the Enhanced Human Project and as a symbol to raise the army's morale... So..."
—Hug.
"You don't have to be sorry... Go and come back safely. I'll be waiting for you..."
"Thank you."
"Thank you."
Those were the only words I could manage.
And I would never forget the sound of her heartbeat when she held me.
—BOOM!!!!
The deafening sound of explosions.
The terrified cries of soldiers.
The acrid air... the lights of machines glowing through the fog.
That was my first impression of the battlefield.
"Men!! This is Dr. Icarus, the nation's first successful Enhanced Human!!! He is the man who will change the course of this battlefield!!!"
An officer-looking man pointed at me as he made the announcement.
But the soldiers' reactions were...
Distrustful eyes.
They had failed to accomplish anything even with the fairies' blessings and relics. What use could the first Enhanced Human possibly be?
And with the robots closing in, the soldiers were consumed by tears and fear, convinced they might die at any moment.
"Dr. Icarus... Step forward."
"Yes."
I stepped out of the trench.
—Rat-a-tat-tat!!!!
Gunfire rang out.
But...
"Burn."
I raised the heat within my body.
The bullets fired at me melted before they could ever reach me.
Then I stretched out my hand and shouted.
"[Return to Ashes]"
Thousands of robots melted away in an instant, consumed by flames.
What remained on the battlefield was...
Melted metal.
Scorching heat.
And Dr. Icarus standing in the middle of it all.
And inside the trenches, the soldiers stared at Icarus with expressions impossible to put into words.
I thought to myself.
What if our opponents hadn't been robots, but fellow humans?
The thought alone terrified me.
I had to win this war.
Then I could see Mercury again.
Several months passed.
As time went on, several more Enhanced Humans like me were created.
A dedicated Enhanced Human unit was formed, and together, we continued advancing while destroying the robots.
"If the war ends, what is the one thing you'd most like to do?"
Saintess Ellis asked.
Everyone thought about it for a while before answering.
"Hmm... I want to raise a cat. They're cute."
"I want to teach my son how to ride a bicycle... If I don't, who will?"
Some wishes were that ordinary.
"I'm going to cross this entire continent on my finest motorcycle!!"
Karman, sporting his distinctive pompadour, shouted.
"I want to become a priest. And I want to run a large orphanage so that no child ever has to go hungry."
"Hey!!! Then what am I supposed to say about my wish?! You're making me embarrassed!!"
Karman became flustered and embarrassed by Otto's wish to devote himself to children.
"What about you, Doctor? What do you want to do? I'm curious."
Karman asked me.
"Hmm... I want to be with my wife..."
"No, not something like that! Tell us a bigger wish!"
"Should I? I want to have a child. A son."
"Oh!!! What's that supposed to mean?"
"Quiet down. The doctor is embarrassed too."
Everyone laughed together.
"But what about Rocoroco? Aren't you going to answer?"
"It's obvious. That guy Rocoroco is probably going to say something he wants to eat."
"Hey, that's not something you should say to a shy guy."
Amid the commotion, I walked over to Rocoroco.
"So, Rocoroco, what do you want to do when the war ends?"
"I... I..."
Rocoroco tried to continue, his voice trembling.
"Sniff..."
Unable to hold it in any longer, Rocoroco burst into tears.
—Hug.
"It's okay... The war will be over soon, so just hold on a little longer."
I hugged Rocoroco as I said that.
"I... I want to eat the apple pie my father used to make..."
"Ahaha!! So it really was going to be about food after all."
I patted Rocoroco on the back.
"Don't worry. You'll be able to eat it again soon."
"You think so?"
"Then... if you don't mind, could I have some of your father's apple pie too?"
"...Yes! Of course! Let's all eat it together!!"
Rocoroco answered energetically.
—Kzzzt.
The radio crackled.
{Everyone, move in.}
An order came through the radio.
"Rocoroco, I'm counting on you."
"Yes!! I'll be a sturdy shield."
As he said that, Rocoroco's body grew larger and began transforming into steel.
"Rocoroco will advance first. Saintess and I will follow behind him. The rest of you provide cover."
With that, we advanced toward the enemy trenches.
—Bang! Bang!!! Bang!!
Laser beams flew toward us, but their firepower wasn't enough to break through Rocoroco's steel body.
"Ellie... No, Saintess. Just in case, heal Rocoroco."
"Understood."
We drew closer to the enemy trenches, and I stepped out in front of Rocoroco and unleashed my ability.
"[Return to Ashes]"
Everyone was consumed by flames and vanished.
The sensation of burning was different this time.
The smell of burning squid.
An unfamiliar smell.
Then I looked across the battlefield again.
They weren't robots.
They were people.
"Doctor... this is... Urgh..."
Rocoroco trembled and vomited.
Rationally speaking, this meant the enemy had run out of robots and had begun sending their own citizens into the war. It meant the enemy was weakening.
But emotionally...
It meant I had killed a person for the first time.
And it meant I would be killing many more people from now on...
I forced myself to endure the pain in my chest, turning the thought over and over in my mind as I continued advancing.
