Neverland (2)
The mascot of the Saintess’s party, Lue Luinong, had performed numerous miracles throughout the story. She had turned a desolate flower garden into a blooming field and summoned rain clouds over regions plagued by long droughts. Mystery. A power granted solely to the races of the Divine Age. The Luinong, who had safeguarded that mystery within their paradise, were fairies capable of manifesting miracles. It was precisely because of this that Lue had supported the Saintess’s party by wielding her own mystery.
While pondering how to revive the vastly expanded marquisate, Edanant had devised a plan to summon the Luinong race from their paradise into the present world.
“Kyahaha!”
“Run away, it is!”
The Luinong who had crossed over to the human realm scampered across Hillidar County, giggling and laughing with delight. The sky stretched out like a canvas splashed with paint. The soft, moist earth. The endless green forest paths. Everything was new to them. And so every single thing the world had to offer filled the Luinong with wonder and fascination.
“Ah, no…!”
“The dry, crumbly soil has come back to life!”
Fallow fields whose fertility had been exhausted by years of continuous farming revived into rich, bountiful soil. The Luinong’s mystery had influenced the land indirectly, restoring its vitality. The same phenomenon occurred elsewhere. Crops that had been withering shot up vigorously the moment the fairies passed by. It felt as though everyone had been enchanted. They were witnessing miracles on the scale of creation itself.
The farmers of Hillidar County, who had been crushed by successive years of poor harvests, watched the Luinong darting about in every direction with eyes full of awe.
“Pointed ears and mystical appearances… Are they elves?”
“No way. Why would elves who live deep in the forests suddenly come to a count’s territory?”
The Luinong were a race little known to the world. It was only natural. Until now, the only Luinong anyone had ever heard of was the mascot of the Saintess’s party. They had to be fairies who governed abundance. The awestruck farmers began to revere the Luinong as angels dispatched by the Earth Mother to save their starving lands. Ever since the fairies appeared, barren ground had regained its life.
“Uwaaang!!”
While playing with the other Luinong, Norun Luinong heard a sharp cry. She spotted a small, frail human girl. The child had scraped her knee. She must have tripped over a rock while trying to follow the mysterious fairies.
Norun hurried over with quick, pitter-patter steps.
“Ahem! Norun Luinong has come to help this foolish human, it is!”
“Uwaaaang!!”
“C-cancel! Norun Luinong cancels the word ‘foolish,’ it is! So stop crying right now, it is!”
“…Hic.”
Norun, who had tried to act authoritative, immediately folded at the sound of the frightened sobs. The crying stopped at once. Norun let out a sigh of relief, then reached out with her soft little hands and gently patted the area around the girl’s injured knee. A bright glow appeared, and the wound closed as fresh skin grew over it.
“There, all better now, it is!”
“Thank you, Fairy Miss!”
“Ahem! Praise Norun Luinong even more, it is!”
“Okay!”
The wary glances that had been directed at the mysterious fairies brought by Edanant von Hohenberg, the Hohenberg family’s second son, vanished like foam on water. Instead, the Luinong were welcomed as fairies who would bring prosperity and abundance. Life returned to the ruined lands. Even the citizens’ faces regained their vitality.
The Luinong, who had unintentionally performed such feats the moment they stepped into the outside world, became the official mascots of the Hohenberg Marquisate. Their lively, adorable appearances had completely captured everyone’s hearts.
“Wow, cake, it is!”
“Pohanghang! We didn’t do anything all day, yet they’re giving us dessert, it is…!”
Countless desserts, including cheesecake, were offered to the Luinong. Humans really were fools. All the fairies had done was run around and play, yet they received a feast fit for kings. The Luinong stuffed their cheeks until they bulged like balloons and broke into wide, silly grins. They seemed utterly delighted by the tributes provided by the marquisate’s people.
“Ahem. It seems Lue’s friends have done excellent work.”
“Marquis.”
Otto, head of the Hohenberg family, had come down to the kitchen to praise the Luinong who had scattered their mystery across Hillidar County. A grand feast for the fairies was currently underway. It was quite noisy. Otto smiled warmly as he watched them.
If he had been the type of noble who clung to stiff etiquette, he would have severely scolded the gluttonous little fairies. But Otto treated the new members of his household with the same affection he showed his own children. As the family’s representative, he ought to offer the little workers a few words of encouragement first.
He cleared his throat.
The Luinong, who had been shoving cake into their mouths, all turned to look at him at once.
“Hieek!”
“It’s the bald man we only heard about in stories, it is!”
“The egg ghost! The evil ghost who plucks out the hair roots of good Luinong, it is!”
The Luinong, who had been focused on their sweet desserts, jumped up from their seats in utter horror. A bald man. A human lacking most of his hair roots. An egg ghost whose head contained nothing but desolation. Since the Luinong had only ever lived in paradise, this was their first encounter with baldness. After all, every Luinong possessed a child’s appearance and therefore had plentiful hair.
That was why they felt pure shock and terror at their first meeting with a bald person. It was as if they had witnessed something that wasn’t human at all.
“…….”
Those words were a bit too harsh. A bald man was still a person. Watching the Luinong panic and lose their minds, Otto could only wear a gloomy expression.
I informed Jeblinne that we had discovered the White Night Scepter in the Fairies’ Haven. Her face immediately filled with shock.
“The White Night Scepter…? Then does that mean Beatrice has been there?!”
We had brought every single Luinong out into the outside world, but had left the White Night Scepter exactly where it was. I wanted to tell Jeblinne first before deciding what to do with it. The Fairies’ Haven was an isolated paradise brimming with mystery. If word of it spread, there was a risk that Broyan’s sanctuary would be abused.
Returning the White Night Scepter to the Holy Empire would have been fine. After all, its original owner, Beatrice, had abandoned it there. My only real concern was the possibility of the Fairies’ Haven becoming known to the world.
“Hmmm… If the Holy Emperor and the cardinals find out, it will definitely cause trouble. A subspace where traces of the Age of Gods have been perfectly preserved… They would probably call its very existence blasphemous toward the Earth Mother and try to destroy it completely.”
“It’s a good thing we didn’t bring it out recklessly.”
The Earth Mother’s punishment for slaying the Demon King. How on earth should we handle it? Damn it. Another annoying problem had appeared.
If it were up to me, I would leave the Holy Empire’s holy relic abandoned in paradise forever. Beatrice had probably tried to hide the White Night Scepter completely. After all, she had left the completely isolated space of the paradise untouched.
“…Or maybe it’s the opposite,” Jeblinne said, shaking her head with a stiff expression.
Did she have some kind of hunch? She tapped her cheek a few times while thinking, then spoke.
“Maybe she hoped you would find it, Edan.”
“There’s no way that’s true.”
“The person closest to Lue is you, her protector. Beatrice must have known that Maximilian sent Lue to you.”
“…….”
Why? The root of all evil should have died already. Just what did Beatrice leave behind, and for what purpose? A heavy question coiled in my chest. Jeblinne’s words made some sense, but the evidence supporting them was too thin.
“Having a cozy chat with the Saintess…! Ahem. What were you talking about?”
The red dragon strode over after seeing me speak closely with the white dragon. It was Ludmila. She seemed displeased about something and deliberately interrupted our conversation. Behind her, the maids who had been cleaning began to whisper among themselves. Bedroom. Sensual novels… Just what were they gossiping about? My curiosity nearly made me turn to ask them.
“I was asking the Saintess whether missionary work in the marquisate is proceeding smoothly.”
“Spreading the Earth Mother’s benevolent teachings far and wide is the Saintess’s duty, after all.”
For now, I decided to keep the matter of the White Night Scepter secret from Ludmila. It wasn’t that I suspected her. It was simply because Beatrice’s true intentions had not yet been revealed.
“I would like you to spare me some of your time.”
“What is it, Your Highness?”
“Kuh! The Saintess doesn’t need to know!”
“Hmm. Hearing that only makes me more curious.”
According to the butler, Ludmila and Jeblinne had been quiet while I was away. Yet now the red dragon and white dragon were at each other’s throats again. As I watched them, I realized the cause of their fight. Unfortunately, that cause was me.
“His Majesty the Emperor is calling for you.”
“Pardon?”
The ruler of the empire, a man born with the temperament of an enraged bull. I broke into a cold sweat as I recalled the middle-aged man with his distinctive crescent mustache. I had once had an audience with Barbarossa when I requested a subjugation force to eliminate the demons and cultists that had infiltrated the imperial capital. He had glared at me back then as if he wanted to devour me whole.
What could he possibly want with me? With that thought in mind, I looked at Ludmila and then at Elizabetta, who was playing with the Luinong. Yeah. I could see why he would call me. How merciful of His Majesty to send an ‘invitation’ rather than an ‘arrest warrant.’
“His Majesty occasionally goes hunting with the central nobles. You have been invited to that honorable gathering in recognition of your recent achievements!”
“…Am I the prey, by any chance?”
Ludmila’s face flushed with excitement as she spoke, while I was overcome with dread.