NEIGH!
When the coachman pulled the reins, the horse gave a long cry.
The cargo wagon gradually slowed.
After the wagon came to a complete stop, the coachman looked back.
“I’ll let you off, but it’s still another day by wagon to the city.”
The wagons leaving Root Village did not move according to a set schedule.
They used the old-fashioned method of departing once enough people and tolls had gathered.
If one was lucky, wagons departed twice in a day, but conversely, it was common for them not to move for days on end.
That seemed to be why he was reluctant to drop a passenger off just anywhere.
The coachman’s concern continued.
“Far as I know, there aren’t any homes nearby. The only thing here is......”
I raised my palm and cut the coachman off.
Whatever he said, I was getting off.
“It’s fine. I’m going to be lucky.”
“Good grief, stubborn as anything.”
The coachman shook his head a couple of times.
After giving him an appropriate grin, I hopped down from the wagon.
“Giddyap!”
The cargo wagon began moving again.
Leaving behind the sound of horse hooves quickly growing distant, I stretched my back.
“Ugh. Even sitting is torture.”
I had been in a wooden wagon for two full days.
Since the rattling impacts traveled straight through, there was not a single part of my body that did not ache.
“Has the wagon gone?”
Wer poked his head out of the bag and yawned.
His toothless mouth opened wide, then closed.
He smacked his lips, looked around, and grumbled.
“You really are getting off. I thought you were in a hurry to reach the city.”
A desolate field.
Only traces of cultivated farmland remained.
Nameless grasses swayed in the chill wind.
Beyond the horizon, I saw trees showing off sharp, bare branches that seemed to pierce the sky.
“Lord Wer, do you know that forest?”
“Let me see...... That is the Wind Fairy Forest.”
Wer’s eyes narrowed.
“Surely you are not planning to have the fairies serve you dinner?”
I was planning to receive something, even if it was not a meal.
Four-Tail Grass, said to grow while drinking in intense wishes.
It was a material for the Elixir of Luck.
It was more than worth slowing my steps toward the city.
Because Four-Tail Grass could only be obtained in the fairy forest.
“Well, it’d be nice if I could get a meal while I’m at it.”
“Wind fairies would never reveal themselves before a human they are seeing for the first time.”
Wer shook his head and clicked his tongue.
“And here I thought I would eat rich meat for the first time in ages once we reached the city. Hmph.”
“Even if it isn’t a luxurious meal, couldn’t a benefactor at least get enough to fill his stomach?”
“A benefactor?”
“I heard a rumor.”
There was no way the affairs of fairies shut away in a forest would spread through human society.
It was simply information I knew because I had written it with my own hand.
“I heard something happened in the Wind Forest. They say even the young fairies are wasting away.”
Wer, who had been trapped in a cave for so long, did not doubt my words.
His face rapidly darkened.
“But Ritak, can you solve something that even the fairies have been unable to resolve?”
“We have to go there first before I can solve anything.”
When I tapped his shell, Wer suddenly lifted his head and nodded firmly.
Some of the gloom had faded from him.
“Let’s move before it gets dark.”
The sun had already passed overhead, and the shadow that had clung tightly to my feet was gradually lengthening.
I adjusted my bag and began moving with vigorous steps.
***
By the time I entered the edge of the forest, the sky had turned red.
Wer examined the bare branches and shook his head.
“Goodness! It seems they have all died.”
Well.
Beneath the dark tree roots, green leaves were piled thickly.
This was not a matter that could simply be called death.
More importantly, I felt like I was going to die first.
THUNK!
I braced my palm against a rough, dry tree trunk and caught my breath.
“Haah, haaah. I didn’t think the forest would be this far......”
“Tsk, tsk. For a young fellow to be so exhausted after walking a little. How about building up your stamina?”
I agreed.
Ritak’s body was far too weak.
‘Still, hearing that from a guy who napped in my bag the whole way is subtly irritating.’
In any case, from here on, I needed Wer.
As if he knew that well, he fluttered up and looked ahead.
“The fairies have played a trick. This body shall guide the way.”
A faint light flowed from Wer’s body.
That light shot widely forward, swept through the forest, and advanced even into places I could not see.
Wer, who had been looking ahead with narrowed eyes, snorted softly.
“This way will do.”
Wer began moving ahead without hesitation.
I followed behind without complaint.
Since he had checked, there should be no chance of getting lost.
If one use of a helper character was as a shield, another was their ability as a guide.
‘Wind Forest especially needs Wer’s ability.’
There were invisible veils in this forest.
They were powers spread out to ensure that no one could set foot in the fairy village carelessly.
If someone walked without knowing the way and touched a veil, they would be teleported to an entirely different direction, to a place where another veil in the forest existed.
It was a forest where people often wandered for a long while, only to end up back at the entrance they had come through.
But with a guide, one could avoid the veils.
“What a troublesome power.”
Wer repeatedly changed direction while moving along just fine.
As a result, we were able to pass through the forest before even the last strand of sunset disappeared.
“Now! We have arrived. This is the wind fairy village.”
It was a field where narrow roads, about the width of a wrist, spread out like tree branches.
Along the roads stood compact houses that looked barely knee-high, scattered here and there to form a village.
‘Feels like I’ve become Gulliver.’
I carefully placed my foot on the road.
Then, the lights that had been sparsely leaking through the windows hurriedly went out.
In an instant, the village sank into darkness.
Wer turned in the air and looked at me.
“As expected, we are not welcomed.”
“You expected that, didn’t you?”
I shrugged lightly.
Wer floated in the air.
“Then have you thought about what to do next? Each house has a fairly sturdy defensive formation, so it will be difficult to force one open and enter.”
“I’m not planning to force one open.”
Forcing open a house and entering was trespassing, was it not?
If I was unlucky, it meant things could turn into a situation where we all killed one another.
I had absolutely no intention of causing trouble in the fairy village.
What I wanted was a friendly relationship.
‘If I solve their problem, I should be able to maintain a good relationship.’
The fairy village was troubled by the forest’s abnormal change and the sickness of the young fairies.
Most of them avoided humans, but there would surely be one who came to ask for help.
“They won’t just leave a human who made it all the way to the village alone. Let’s wait a little.”
There was no need to wait long.
Because I felt a strong gaze from beyond a small window.
BANG!
Sure enough, a small door flung open with force.
“That’s enough now. I would rather ask an outsider for advice! He must possess knowledge different from ours.”
A body that looked barely the length of my palm.
Every time the blue wings fluttered, light-blue hair rippled like waves.
Their round, cute face was so pale that it was pitiful.
‘There it is.’
The event I had been waiting for had triggered.
The fairy grabbed the hem of my clothes with tiny hands.
At that moment, a majestic voice spread through the entire forest.
“Neras! Step away from the human at once and return to your dwelling. No matter how few places there are to seek help, we cannot cling to a human.”
The fairy called Neras clenched their fists.
My gown crumpled inside those small hands.
“No! I can’t stay still any longer. If I go back, then what? Can you save my younger sibling, Elder?”
“Then conversely, do you believe a human can save a fairy?”
“That is......”
Neras’s gaze wavered.
As though unwilling to miss that opening, the majestic voice spoke in a pressing tone.
“Humans are a race that naturally think only of their own gain and deceive others. Remember why we have cut off exchange with humans for hundreds of years.”
The words were full of prejudice.
Without meaning to, I let out a short breath.
“You know, that feels pretty unpleasant for the human listening.”
“......This is not your place to interfere.”
“Really? From where I’m standing, you’re the one interfering in matters between this fairy and me.”
As I continued to confront the voice, Neras gripped my clothes tightly again.
Then they shouted as though driven to the edge.
“We have shut ourselves inside the village, and in the end, we have not been able to solve anything until now!”
What came back was the sound of a tongue clicking.
The majestic voice gradually faded.
“Young fairies only come to their senses after they are deceived by humans......”
The pressure that had been crushing the air disappeared in an instant.
As breathing became easier, Neras slid downward.
“Whoa.”
Even if their body was light, they would be hurt if they fell to the ground.
I lightly caught Neras’s ribbon with my index finger.
“For now, I roughly understand the situation. Something strange has happened to the forest, and your younger sibling is sick, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. I was so desperate to show my sibling even to a doctor outside the village that I committed such discourtesy......”
A doctor outside the village meant a human.
Wind fairies and humans differed even in their physical structures.
Even so, they must have been desperate enough to clutch at any straw.
“I can make medicine. Maybe I can help.”
“Th-thank......”
As Neras answered in a trembling voice, their eyes had already grown watery.
The moment they nodded, large droplets fell from their black eyes.
‘No. I haven’t even done anything yet.’
Their cheeks grew wet in an instant.
It seemed the emotions piled inside them were that great.
The fairy’s face was too small for me to touch carelessly.
In the end, I simply looked out at the darkened forest.
‘That voice doesn’t seem like it’ll interfere now.’
Had it said Neras would only come to their senses after being deceived by a human?
Perhaps it intended to wait and see what Neras did for now.
For me, that was convenient.
“Now that the meddling old fogey is gone, shall we proceed?”
“Old... fogey?”
“Ah.”
I awkwardly scratched my cheek.
It did not seem like a phrase that would work in a fantasy world.
“It’s just something humans say. More importantly, I’d like to hear the details.”
Neras suddenly came to their senses and covered their mouth.
“I’m sorry. This may take a while, so let’s go to my dwelling first.”
I followed the fairy, but I could not enter the house.
Because it was a tiny house, like a doll’s castle.
While I awkwardly settled down in the backyard, the fairy brought out cookies the size of fingernails.
“My introduction is late. I am Neras.”
“I’m Ritak. This is Lord Wer.”
Neras struggled to make a small smile, then began calmly explaining what had happened to the forest and the village.
The beginning of the strange phenomenon was a peculiar tree.
They said that if they closed their eyes and opened them, flowers sprouted on its branches; by the next day, the flowers had fallen; by evening, its leaves were lush; and after three days, it had become bare.
Trees like that gradually increased, and the entire forest rapidly repeated growth and rest.
Now, it was dying black.
Wer, who had been listening quietly, widened his eyes.
“I thought all the trees in the forest had died. Are you saying flowers truly bloom by tomorrow?”
“It has already been repeating for a month. The forest is one thing, but something even more serious has happened.”
Neras’s brows drooped.
“Starting with my younger sibling, the young fairies began collapsing with illness. They said they were dizzy and had headaches, and then they could not get up.”
“What treatment did you attempt?”
“We shared energy with them and brewed grass said to be good for headaches, but there has been no improvement.”
Wer clicked his tongue, then looked at me.
Neras also turned their head after Wer.
Their gazes naturally gathered on me.
They were asking whether I could solve it.
Of course, I knew the answer.
“Hmm.”
I cleared my throat once.
“It’s an oversaturation phenomenon. Rather, the problem is that there’s too much energy.”