Lilia, in the midst of enjoying a slice of cake, had her eyes widened by my sudden request. Kaneff, who was sharing the dessert with her, mirrored her perplexed expression with a furrowed brow.
âWhat is this all of a sudden? What trouble did you get into again?â
âItâs not thatâŠ?â
I explained the dire situation with the missing fairies and shared what Speranza had told me, venting a hint of frustration.
Lilia grew more concerned as she grasped the gravity of the situation.
âAh! All the fairies are gone? Then itâs a big problem for the strawberry field.â
âSo we have to find the fairies quickly. The fairies wouldnât have left the strawberry field voluntarily. They might have been forced to leave due to unavoidable circumstances.â
âThen letâs go save them quickly! Iâll help you with anything!â
While Lilia fired up, Kaneff, still skeptical, interjected.
âWait a minute! So are you guys going to the Vision world?â
âWe have to do something. This is our only lead,â I replied.
âYouâre not going to take Speranza with you, are you?â
For a moment, the atmosphere became chilly as if a winter wind blew.
The incident where Speranza collapsed in the Vision world had been a great shock not only to me but also to all the farm members. It was quite natural to have this atmosphere just by the indirect mention of that incident.
After careful consideration, I answered the question.
âOf course not. Speranza gave us this clue, but weâre not going to take her to the Vision world. No matter how urgent the fairiesâ situation is, I canât put Speranza in danger.â
As if he liked my firm attitude, Kaneff nodded his head and relaxed his expression a little.
âHow about me?â
âI donât mind you going.â
ââŠâŠâ
âWhat? Even if I tell you not to go, youâll find a way to go.â
âIâm a bit disappointedâ.
âDisappointed! Donât interrupt me when I eat the cake. Go away!â
Soon, Lia and Ashmir came into the living room holding a piece of cake and warm tea. And Speranza followed closely behind them.
âEveryone, youâve been through a lot in the cold. Have some food and warm tea here.â
âHere you go, Shiyeon.â
âThank you, Lia, Ashmir.â
Alfred and Urki also received warm tea, relieving the cold from their bodies.
I was feeding a cake to Speranza, who sat next to me, and Lia, who read the atmosphere of the living room, approached me.
âBy the way, is something wrong?â she asked.
âOh, well, thatâsâŠâ
I briefly explained the disappearance of the fairies to Lia and Ashmir, who were not in the living room.
âOh, my! Are all the fairies really gone? Thatâs a big deal.â
Lia showed a surprised reaction similar to mine. Although Ashmir didnât show a big change in emotion, her eyes sparkled with a little light, showing her interest.
âSo, I have to go to Vision world. I donât know how Speranza found the trace of Gyuri, but now thatâs the only clue.â
âI want to go too, Papa!â
âSperanza canât go.â
âI want to see Gyuri too. â
âGyuri will come with Papa. Speranza will wait here.â
âPapaaaa~ Papaaaa~!â
Speranza shook my arm, trying to act cute. If it was normal, I would have been swayed by Speranzaâs cuteness, but this time I firmly shook my head.
âAwwâŠâ
When her cuteness didnât work, Speranza pouted and made both cheeks bulge.
Even though I felt sorry for her, I couldnât help it.
âSenior, shall I come with you?â
âIâll come with you, too, Senior Sihyeon.â
Alfred and Urki said one after another that they would come with me.
âYou guys take a little rest. You kept walking for a while looking around for the fairies.â
âI am okay, senior Sihyeon.â
âIâm fine, too.â
âIâm not okay⊠your ears and nose are still red. Besides, thereâs no need for too many people to go. Two of you should take some rest.â
I comforted the two who looked regretful, telling them to rest more.
âThen, would it be okay if I come instead?â
âAshmir?â
âI want to visit the place called Vision world. Iâll help with anything. Please allow me to follow. â
There was a sense of unwavering persistence in Ashmirâs expressionless face. It seemed like she would continue to request it until I accepted her request.
There was no need for a lot of people anyway.
I couldnât think of any particular reason to refuse the help. I had no choice but to nod.
âUhâŠokay. Ashmir, please come with us.â
âIâll get ready right away.â
Lilia took out the dimensional portal device, and since she had already made all the necessary preparations, the setup was completed faster than expected.
The three of us were heading to the Vision world: me, Lilia, and Ashmir.
It would have been more reassuring if Andras was hereâŠ
Right now, Andras was on a date with Amy. If there was an emergency, he would rush to help immediately, but I didnât want to disturb their recently heated relationship.
-Wurrrrrr âŠâŠ
-Paaah!
The portal hummed to life, and I quickly bid farewell to those who came to see me off.
âIâll be back soon. Please take care of Speranza for me.â
âDonât worry, Shiyeon.â
Once through the portal, the landscape shifted in an instant, and we found ourselves in a familiar area that resembled the farm.
âSihyeon. Is thisâŠ?â Ashmir murmured with astonishment.
She looked around, scrutinizing the surroundings in detail, and squatted on the ground to examine the flowers.
âShe must be amazed by Vision world.â
âLetâs leave Ashmir alone and find GyuriâŠâ
Before I could start searching, from a distance, something small flew quickly toward me.
âSihyeon~~~ Popiiiii!â
Whoosh!
Before I could react, a little fairy rushed into my face. It was so fast that I felt dizzy from the shock.
âUgh!! Why did you come so late, Popi!â
âUh⊠Gyu⊠Gyuri?â
The small fairy, with her orange hair, held onto my face and made a complaining noise.
âDo you know how long I have been waiting for you, Popi!?â
âWhat happened, Gyuri? Why are you here? What about the other fairies?â
âAwwwwwwwwwww!â
âWait a minute, Gyuri.â
I tried to calm her down, but the fairyâs agitation did not subside easily. In the midst of the chaos, someone else appeared.
âAre you finally here?â
âMaster Bellion!â
âThat little girl was talking so much. If you didnât come today, I would have gone crazy.â
Bellion shuddered and looked blue to the point where his beard trembled. Perhaps he was quite bothered by Gyuri.
âBellion?â
âOh, Ashmir, do you know Master?â
Ashmir looked at Bellion and said with an incredulous look.
âWasnât he the one who was active with the Demon named âKaelâ during the war of dimensions?â
âThatâs right. You know about my Master?â
âThe history of dimensional war is considered important by all the Angels and learned. I know that he has shown tremendous performance beyond Demonsâ limits.â
âHaha! I donât know who it is, but you learned about me properly.â
Bellion nodded with a satisfied smile.
âBy the way, Sihyeon. How did he end up here?â
âItâs such a long and complicated story that Iâll explain it to you later. I have a more important thing to do now.â
âHuh! Itâs been a while since you came here, but you donât seem to care about your Master.â
âOh, no. Itâs because itâs really urgent. Please be patient, Master.â
This time, I hurriedly soothed Bellion and looked at Gyuri again. The little fairy stood on my palm in a demure manner.
Tears were still in her eyes, but the intense emotions seemed to have subsided a lot.
âGyuri, are you okay now?â
NOD.
âThe fairies in the strawberry field suddenly disappeared, so everyone is worried. What the hell happened?â
Gyuri sniffed and stuttered open her mouth.
âSniff! They left⊠Sniff⊠No, they were taken away, Popi!â
âWho took them away?â
â····· The queen, Popi!
âQueen? Are you talking about the queen you told me about last time?â
âThatâs right, Popi!â
I suspected it for a while, wondering if it was possible, but the queen really seemed to be the culprit who took the fairies.
âBut why did the queen suddenly take all the fairies? Did you guys do anything wrong?â
âI donât know. Popi! Suddenly everyone was dragged by the queenâs power, Popi!â
âUhâŠâ
The reason isâŠ
They were all taken away without knowingâŠ
For some reason, it felt like things were getting more complicated, and Lilia, who was listening to the story next to me, suddenly stepped in and asked.
âThen what about you? How did you stay here without being dragged?â
âThe queenâs ability is absolute, so I have to be dragged, Popi! But I resisted until the end because I thought I would never be able to come back here if I were dragged like that, Popi!â
Gyuri continued with a gloomy expression.
âI wanted to help my friends somehow, but everyone got dragged away, Popi! And when I opened my eyes I was here, Popi!â
To sum up, the queen took all the fairies.
Gyuri resisted the Queenâs call until the end and came to Vision world.
I asked Gyuri with a hint of hope.
âMaybe there was a misunderstanding? Over time, the other fairies may return.â
âNo, Popi! If the queen dragged you like this, it would be hard to come back, Popi!â
âHmmâŠ?â
It didnât seem to be an easy situation to solve either.
If Gyuri had not remained like this, I would have never known the whereabouts of the other fairies forever.
I patted Gyuriâs small back with gratitude and comfort.
âWhat should we do now, Sihyeon?â
ââŠâŠ.â
Gyuri, who was in the palm of my hand, waved her wings and flew in front of my face. And she asked with a desperate look on her face, putting her hands together.
âPlease help, Popi! Sihyeon is the only one who can bring my friends who have been dragged, Popi!â