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“Uh… Am I a fairy?”
“huh!”
The little girl’s eyes were filled with anticipation, as if she truly believed I was a fairy.
I didn’t want to disappoint her, but I couldn’t lie, so I told her the truth.
“I’m sorry. I’m not a fairy.”
“Lie!”
“Uh, I’m telling you the truth…”
“The scent of a fairy comes from you, Mister.”
Other children began to show interest in me because of the girl’s confident voice.
“Huh? He really smells like a real fairy.”
“I can smell it on that man too.”
“Me too! Me too!”
The children quickly gathered around me. The children here didn’t seem to be wary of strangers and approached me without hesitation.
“What, what?!”
Before I knew it, the children of the shadow clan were clinging to my arms, back, shoulders, and legs.
I was worried they might get hurt, so I stood still and found myself surrounded by the kids.
The party watched me with amusement, and the village woman who brought the children also smiled happily.
-Crush Rustle.
“Eh?! It’s annoying, Popi!”
Gyuri, who was hiding in my pocket, suddenly popped out, unable to withstand the pressure from the children.
“Wow! It’s a real fairy!”
“Fairy! Fairy!”
The children immediately turned their attention to Gyuri, their eyes shining with excitement. Feeling uneasy, Gyuri quickly flew away.
“Kyaa! Don’t come any closer, Popi!”
“It flies.”
“Fairy, don’t run away.”
A chase between Gyuri and the children began in the room. The children of the shadow clan were particularly agile in their movements.
Thanks to Gyuri’s distraction, I was able to escape from the swarm of children and enjoy some freedom.
However, the first girl who approached me was still in my arms.
“Hmm. Aren’t you going after the fairy?”
I pointed to Gyuri and asked the girl, who responded with a bashful smile.
“I prefer being with you, Mister.”
Oh my goodness, how adorable!
The girl’s gesture was so adorable that it reminded me of Speranza on the farm.
I gently patted the girl’s hair with a melting expression. I then quickly searched my bag for a candy that I brought as a snack.
“Do you want to try this?”
“Huh?”
“It’s a sweet and delicious candy.”
I peeled off the transparent wrapping paper of the red candy, and offered it to the girl. She accepted the candy without hesitation and ate it.
– CHEW, CHEW.
The girl savored the candy, her chubby cheeks moving as she chewed.
“How is it? It’s good, right?”
“Mmm, it’s delicious.”
As the sweetness hit her tongue, her eyes widened and she began bouncing up and down in excitement.
I couldn’t help but smile at how adorable she was, expressing her joy with her whole body.
Tap, Tap.
“Huh?”
Feeling someone pulling my arm, I turned my head to see one of the children who had followed Gyuri staring at us dumbfoundedly. Specifically, she was looking at the happy expression of the girl.
“Do you want some candy, too?”
Nod!
I searched through my bag for another candy and, like before, unwrapped it and put it in the child’s mouth. The child’s face lit up with happiness, just like the first girl’s.
Soon, more children noticed the candy and began gathering around me. Gyuri, who had been chased, was finally able to rest.
‘Uh. There should be plenty of leftover candies, right?’
I worried about what to do if there weren’t enough candies for all the children, but thankfully, there were just enough for everyone.
As I handed out the candies, I began to feel like I was more of a caretaker for these children than a guest in the village. Just then, Bardan and Terzan entered the room together.
The woman who had brought the children politely greeted them before gathering the children and leaving the room.
As they left, some of the children expressed regret at parting with me.
The girl in my arms looked like she was about to cry. I promised to play with them again later and sent them on their way, receiving a grateful look from the woman who had brought them.
Bardan and Terzan looked at me curiously.
“You seem to be really good with kids.”
“Hahaha, I have a daughter myself and I love children.”
“I see. It’s probably because outsiders rarely visit this village that the children are so curious. If they’re bothering you, I can apologize on their behalf.”
“It’s okay. The kids were so cute.”
Bardan had a faint smile on his lips, seeming to have enjoyed watching me with the children. Terzan, however, looked disgruntled and sulky as she spoke, “Why are you the only one who’s popular?”
“What?”
“Children don’t come to me very often. I want to play with them, but why don’t they come to me?”
The entire party, including myself, and even Bardan seemed to know why, yet no one dared to vocalize it except for Locus.
“You don’t know that. It’s because you’re sc… …Ugh!”
However, he quickly shut his mouth, relieving the rest of us.
After some disturbance, Bardan and Terzan settled in front of us. The first person to open his mouth was Bardan.
“I’ve heard about the reason you came to the Forest of Silence. You want to find the entrance to the fairy world?”
“Yes.”
“That’s right, Popi!”
Bardan looked at me and Gyuri alternately for a while and continued talking again.
“Have you heard about the relationship between the Shadow Clan and the Fairy Queen?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“It’s not that complicated. Our ancestors hid in the Forest of Silence for some reason and were able to settle here with the help of the Fairy Queen. To repay the favor we received, we voluntarily guard the entrance to the Fairy World.”
As he spoke about the history between the shadow clan and the fairy queen, I listened attentively, nodding calmly, while Andras looked intrigued, as if he had never heard of it before.
“Actually, even if we didn’t guard it, no one could reach the entrance to the Fairy World. It’s located in the deepest, most difficult-to-find part of the Forest of Silence.”
In the end, it sounded like saying that you can never go to the entrance to the fairy world without the permission of the shadow clan.
I waited for Bardan’s next words with a slightly stiff face.
“Originally, the proposal to take you to the entrance of the Fairy World would have been rejected outright, no matter who you are or what you offer.”
“Uh…”
“But I’m considering it now because there’s a part of the story that I’m worried about.”
Bardan asked with a very serious face.
“Is it true that the fairy world may be in danger?”
Andras answered the question on my behalf. He expressed his thoughts on several grounds, as he had previously explained to Terzan.
Bardan’s face became more serious after hearing the explanation.
“In fact, we’ve been noticing strange changes for some time now. One of them is that the fairies that were occasionally seen in the Forest of Silence have completely disappeared. Feeling uneasy, our scouts searched deep into the forest but found no signs of the fairies.”
No signs?
Even in the forest of silence, all the fairies seem to have disappeared, as they had disappeared from the strawberry field.
“There is a little bit of anxiety among the villagers. This has never been the case since we settled in the forest of silence.”
There was a deep sense of sadness in his voice.
“Unfortunately, even though we know the way to the entrance of the Fairy World, we can’t pass through it. So even if we were nervous, we had no choice but to wait.”
“That’s when we came to the village?”
“That’s right.”
Bardan asked, staring straight at me.
“Sihyeon, I sense a special energy from you. An energy that I can only feel from fairies. Can you pass through the entrance to the Fairy World?”
I couldn’t answer immediately. I came looking for the entrance to the fairy world, but I wasn’t sure if I could get through it.
Gyuri suddenly stepped forward in front of me.
“SIHYEON can do it, Popi!”
“Huh? Can I really go through the entrance?”
“You have our blessings, Popi!”
Bardan looked surprised at Gyuri’s confident answer, and soon nodded.
“As expected, you’re not an ordinary person.”
“I was the one who brought him here.”
Terzan gave Bardan a smug look.
“SIHYEON, are you going to go to the fairy world?”
“Well, I don’t know what I can do, but I’ll try to do my best.”
“Alright. We’ll help Sihyeon get to the entrance of the Fairy World.”
“Really?”
“Of course. We’ll gather all the talented people in the village to ensure a safe journey.”
“Thank you so much for your help!”
When things went much better than I thought, I called for joy in my heart. The faces of the party have also become more comfortable.
TAP.
“I’ll help you to the end, too.”
Terzan tapped me on the shoulder with an expression that told me to trust only her.
“Thank you, Terzan. I’ll pay you back for this.”
“COUGH.”
Bardan gave a small cough and focused his attention, looking at us who were all happy because things went well
“Hmm, but there’s something I haven’t told you yet.”
“What’s that?”
He opened his mouth with a heavy expression contrary to the atmosphere.
“There’s a big problem in guiding Sihyeon to the entrance of the Fairy World.”
“A big problem?”
“As I mentioned earlier, strange phenomena have been occurring in this forest, and one of them is related to guiding everyone to the entrance of the Fairy World.”
“…?”
“I don’t know exactly why, but a demon beast has been guarding the entrance to the Fairy World for some time.”
Bardan added in a slightly trembling voice.
“It’s a very powerful demon beast that even scares experienced scouts.”
(To be Continued)