Chapter 136

Chapter 136

Chapter 136 – Black Forest Fairy Tree

“It’s huge!”

“Yeah, it’s huge.”

Sylphy nodded her head to my words as we looked up at it.

The big tree rising at the far end of the Black Forest was huge anyway. I wondered how many meters high it was. I can’t be sure because I can’t see the tops of the branches and leaves, but I’d say it’s over 100 meters tall. The area where the branches protrude is also large. It’s probably more than the size of a baseball field.

Besides, the roots are amazing. Many of the roots overhanging the ground are more than one meter in diameter. These roots were further folded and intertwined, stretching across the ground. It was hard to get to the trunk.

“It’s a different kind of tree from the one at the village meeting place, isn’t it?”

“The leaves are different. But it’s a majestic sight… I can’t imagine how long it’s been standing here.”

When I looked up at the tree with Sylphy, a leaf fluttered down towards us, and Sylphy grabbed it dexterously.

“Hmm… that’s a leaf shape I’ve never seen before.”

“It’s pretty big. I’ll take this as a souvenir for Isla.”

“She might like it since she’s never seen something like this before.”

I took the leaf from Sylphy and looked at it. Well, it’s a shape I’ve never seen before, but it looks like a normal leaf. The shape of the leaf is… similar to a grape leaf, I guess. It looks like it’s sticking out in three directions. I’ll put it in my inventory for now.

・Black Forest Fairy Tree Leaf x 1

“I put it in my inventory, and now I know the name of the tree. It’s a fairy tree.”

“Fairy tree…? Are you sure?”

“Yeah, it says it’s a leaf from the Black Forest Fairy Tree, so I’m pretty sure that’s what it is. Are there fairies as well as spirits in this world?”

I’ve seen spirits many times when Sylphy uses spirit magic. It’s like a vaguely glowing sphere. I’m not sure what it is, but it seems that I have a constitution that allows me to be liked by spirits. In Elven lore, marebito like me are guided by spirits to come to this world, so maybe there’s a deeper connection.

“The fairy tree is said to be home to fairies, but… Kosuke doesn’t know anything about fairies, does he?”

“The only thing I can think of is that they’re little beings with wings who like to play tricks. I don’t know what they are like in this world.”

“You’re not wrong. Fairies look like little human beings with wings, some are as small as a human adult’s wrist to the tip of the middle finger, and some are not much bigger than a human child. It is said that they have the ability to disappear and can control powerful magical powers.”

“…Aren’t they strong?”

“They are strong. Fairies are basically innocent and cheerful beings, but they are said to be very dangerous when they get angry. Well, they rarely get angry enough to kill people, and when they do, it’s often just to get a nasty prank.”

“It’s scary… Does that mean we shouldn’t get too close?”

“Could it be that Grande knew this and flew away as soon as she landed nearby?”

“It’s possible.”

As soon as Grande carried us to this fairy tree, she said, “I remembered something urgent,” and immediately flew off somewhere. In fact, we were at a bit of a loss as to how we were going to meet up with her since she flew away before we could say anything.

Well, if we can’t meet up with her, we can walk slowly back to Elven village. In case of a dangerous night, we could stay in an underground shelter or a stilt house, and we have enough water and food. With Sylphy, there’s no shortage of self-defense capabilities, and I’m not helpless either. However, I’m not very good at it.

We were in no hurry at all because we knew we could handle it.

“Do you want to get closer?”

“Well, I’d like to get a closer look, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to get too close and provoke the fairies. I mean, it’s so big that if we get too close, we’ll just see it like a wall.”

“That’s true. Let’s go to a place with a better view… maybe climb up on top of that root and look at it.”

“Let’s do that.”

Sylphy and I worked together to climb over the roots of the fairy tree, which were several meters high and sat down on top of it. This is easy if I pile up woodblocks.

“The wind is pleasant. It’s even warmer than the spring.”

“Yes, it is. It’s a comfortable temperature. Speaking of which, I have been in this world for quite a while, huh?”

“There is a change of seasons. It’s autumn now. Winter will be here soon.”

“Winter… Is it going to get cold?”

“Yes. But it doesn’t often snow on the plains. Sometimes it snows at higher altitudes, such as in the mountains. It rarely gets cold enough in winter to cause frost.”

“I see; it’s quite warm. I used to live in a place where winters could get pretty cold. It was normal to get snow up to your knees, and if you didn’t turn on the heater, everything in the house would freeze.”

“That’s harsh… There will be a lot of people freezing to death in winter.”

“Nowadays, lifelines such as heaters and water systems are much more widespread, so there are fewer deaths, but there are still more than 1,000 people who freeze to death a year… But in spring, cherry blossoms bloom, and it’s beautiful.”

“Cherry blossoms bloom in spring… What kind of flowers are cherry blossoms and plums?”

“The cherry blossoms have pale pink flowers that bloom all over the tree. They are really pale pink, and they are called 'sakura color.” The blossoms are short-lived, and when they start to fall, they fall all at once. A strong wind blows the petals around like a snowstorm, and it is sometimes called a cherry blossom blizzard.”

“It must be very beautiful…”

“Yeah, it was beautiful.”

I remembered the scene, thinking inwardly that I would not be able to see it in this world. I remember the scene of the cherry blossom petals flying around.

Then, suddenly, a strong wind started blowing around the area.

“Mmm?”

“What is it?”

The wind seemed to be blowing around us, and the dead leaves blowing in the wind began to circle around us.

“It’s not a normal wind. Are they fairies?”

“Are they around…? Hmm?”

Something pink began to mix with the wind that was blowing around us. The number of them gradually increased, and they began to cover the vision of Sylphy and me like a blizzard.

“Cherry blossom blizzard…”

It was indeed a cherry blossom blizzard. The pale cherry blossom petals covered our entire field of vision, swirling and dancing.

“This is…? Is this the work of fairies?”

A strong feeling of nostalgia arose in me. I don’t have any family back home. But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel nostalgic. This world is still not the one I grew up in.

Tears spill from the corners of my eyes. It seems that I had shed tears without realizing it. The next moment, Sylphy stood up, her beautiful face twisted in anger, and threw a sharp look at the surroundings.

“Stop it. No matter how good your intentions are in doing this, I will not allow you to make Kosuke shed tears.”

Sylphy’s beautiful silver hair began to shimmer and move like a living being. At the same time, the cherry blossom blizzard stopped for a moment. No, they disappeared — the petals that were dancing and the wind that was making them dance vanished like an illusion. In fact, this was probably a kind of illusion.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s because the marebito wanted it.”

“That’s why I showed it to him.”

“But I didn’t expect it to be like that.”

“I’m sorry.”

I could hear many small voices around me. All the voices sounded sad and apologetic. They were probably the voices of fairies.

“It’s okay, Sylphy. I just got a little nostalgic and burst into tears.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes with my hand and tried to smile. Sylphy still showed a worried expression, but I nodded at her words.

“Yeah, it’s fine. Thank you for being angry for me. And thank you to everyone who is around. I was happy because I thought I’d never see it again.”

As I said this, a small voice came back from the surroundings.

“Are you sure?”

“You’re not upset?”

“Are you sad?”

“Yes, really! Those tears I shed were not sad tears; they were happy tears, tears of joy! You showed me something good. Thank you. Sylphy, you thought it was beautiful too, didn’t you?”

“Mmm… yes… it was indeed a beautiful sight.”

“Sylphy’s not mad at them anymore, right?”

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I asked with a smile as I tugged on the hem of her dress, and she smiled and sat down next to me on the root of the tree again. I’m glad she figured it out.

“Well… if Kosuke wasn’t crying because he was sad, then I guess my anger was out of line. I’m sorry, fairies.”

“So, will you please calm down?”

“You’re not mad at me anymore?”

“Yeah, I’m not angry anymore. Let’s make up.”

As Sylphy said this, several small figures appeared in the air as if they were oozing out of the landscape. They were small people with the appearance of fairies. They vary in size, but most of them seem to be about the size of my palm. On their backs were glowing wings, which they moved in small increments. The feathers seemed to be sprinkled with glittering particles.

“Oh, so this is a fairy… Yeah, it’s very typical. It’s really a fantasy.”

“I’ve never seen one up close like this before. I’ve seen them from a distance a few times when I was hunting in the forest.”

The fairies were surrounding us from a distance as if they were still cautious or worried about making me cry. All of them seemed to have the expression of an angry child.

“I’m not angry anymore, and neither is Sylphy. In fact, we are grateful to you for showing us such a beautiful thing. Now, let’s make up. How about some sweet treats as a token of our reconciliation?”

I said, taking out a basket of cookies from my inventory. The cookies were made with Harpy’s eggs, Minotaur’s milk and butter, flour from the fields I created, and sugar crafted from sugar cane.

“Here, Sylphy. Aamm.”

“Aamm?”

I shoved one of the cookies in her mouth, and then I brought one to my mouth as well. Some of the fairies may have never seen this kind of sweets before, so it would be better for us to try it first.

“It’s sweet, crunchy, and delicious. Don’t hesitate to try them.”

The fairies looked at each other as we presented the baskets to them and slowly approached us. When the fairy came up to the basket and looked at us, we smiled back.

The fairy picked up one of the cookies and tried to hold it up with both hands. However, it seemed to be too big for the fairy.

“Too big?”

“Too big, too big.”

“Which one?”

Once the basket was placed on the tree’s root, between Sylphy and me, I picked up one of the cookies and crushed it into smaller pieces. It would be a shame to break them into powder, so I made them small enough that even a small fairy could easily hold them.

“How about this?”

“Thank you!”

The fairy took one of the crushed cookies in her palm and bit into it with both hands.

“It’s crunchy and sweet and delicious!”

“I know, I know. There are a lot of them, so you can have some too. Come on, Sylphy.”

“Yeah.”

Sylphy also took one of the cookies, crushed it, and put it on her palm. Then the fairies started to gather. At first, many of them gathered at my hand, but when some of the fairies saw that there were too many to take from my hand, they began to take cookies from Sylphy’s hand, and then the other fairies who had been watching also began to take cookies from Sylphy’s hand.

“Delicious.”

“Crispy.”

“Sweet.”

“Don’t choke on them in a hurry.”

While laughing at the fairies who were gobbling up the cookies with sparkling eyes, I took out a wooden canteen of milk and a large plate from my inventory and poured the milk into the plate. The milk was, of course, the Minotaur’s milk. No, I often get it as a gift… I have a good amount of stock.

The fairy landed on the edge of the plate and sipped at the milk, perhaps because their mouths had become dry. They don’t seem to be particularly evasive or anything. Well, I didn’t say it was the Minotaur’s breast milk, and I don’t have to say anything.

After filling up on cookies and milk, the fairies climbed on my shoulders, knees, and head, singing songs and dancing in front of us. It was like a cat cafe, but a fairy cafe!

☆★☆

“See you later!”

“Bye.”

“Thank you.”

A group of fairies managed to lift a basket full of cookies and carry it away towards the fairy tree. As we listened to the fairies’ stories and conversely told them ours at their request, the sun was setting, and we decided to part ways.

“It was a great experience, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, it was. I don’t think many people have had that much contact with fairies.”

Sylphy and I stood up and patted each other on the body, dropping cookie scraps on the ground. The fairies were eating the cookies and listening to us. That’s the way it goes.

“Now… let’s build a shelter some distance away.”

“Let’s do that. I hope to meet up with Grande tomorrow.”

From what I heard, the fairies were apparently afraid of dragons and would not have shown themselves if they had been nearby. Grande must have thoughtfully left us here.

“Where would you like to go tomorrow?”

“Well, I guess. Grande’s homeland would be nice.”

“Well, I’m looking forward to it. It’s a little scary, though.”

“Certainly.”

While talking about this, we left the fairy tree.