Dodododododo……
What’s that sound, you ask?
It’s the sound of the waterfall that’s in front of my eyes.
This place is the high upstream of the previously mentioned river.
The time is late at night.
It’s a beautiful moonlit night with a full moon out.
A smallish waterfall of about 10 meters tall is sparkling as it’s illuminated by the moonlight.
However, it seems that’s not the only thing that’s sparkling.
From the other side of the waterfall――From the cavity that is hidden by the flow of the waterfall, a faint light is leaking out.
By using ♭ (Physik) and π (Aqua), I deflect the curtain of the waterfall a bit and slide into the cave.
The cave is less than 2 meters tall.
For an adult, this should be a place that has a feeling of restriction.
My current self is not even 1 meter tall, so I proceed deeper in without minding it.
This cave appears to be a limestone cave.
This s.p.a.ce, where a few stalact.i.tes are standing in a row, is pleasantly cool.
It’s not just this cave, the air temperature has fallen a bit lately.
It seems that the time when I regained my reincarnated consciousness was somewhere in the summer.
With the coming and going to the fortress and the waiting period before we set out to the Second Village, all-in-all about 50 days have pa.s.sed.
Therefore, the season is soon nearing autumn.
From the fact that the summer wasn’t that hot, it’s probably safe to a.s.sume that the lat.i.tude here is around the same as Europe’s.
There is a possibility that the winter will be quite cold.
While thinking along these lines, I head towards the source of the faint light.
That being said, it’s not a long distance.
The length of the cave should be about 10 meters.
Since it’s pitch black and I’m fumbling, it feels much longer, but it should be about that long.
There was a small room at the end of the cave.
Its size is about as big, that if a few adults were to stand in it, it would feel cramped.
In the middle of that room, there is a light shining from above, and there is a lot of white clover-like flowers glowing there.
Also, in front of it, there are a few letters that are similar to that cryptogram.
――I already know the method used to decipher it.
As for the process, it’s not that difficult once you understand it.
First, we replace the pictograms with the corresponding modern magic letters.
As usual, I memorized the correspondence chart, so I can finish this in no time.
Next, we remove the combinations that can’t be composited for magic.
A good example is ∨ (Spread-diffusion) and ル (Conset-converge).
This impossible combination is used as punctuation.
And then finally――we exchange the vowels.
The answer to ‘what do you mean by that’ is to exchange for example 卜(Flame) with its opposite attribute π(Aqua).
And also its reverse, exchange π(Aqua) with 卜(Flame).
We exchange λ(Wind) and Ω(Gaia) by the same logic.
With this, we gained the unciphered text(normal text) from the cryptogram.
By this process, it has come to light that the rumored pictograph in Marquekt Common Language is 「Midnight of the full moon, behind the waterfall」.
And the pictograph in front of me――「Beyond this point, Fairy Village」
With just the first cryptogram I couldn’t set aside my doubt that my interpretation was stretching it, but since I could decipher this pictograph with the same method there is no problem.
I’ve successfully managed to decipher the code left by the fairies.
“It was hard……”
It took me an entire half day before the exchanging of vowels occurred to me.
Since most of the time, if you exchange the vowel(=Four Basic Elements), the spell can still activate.
At one place I realized that the combination I removed as impossible would work if I changed the attribute, so then I tried the other elements in a near round-robin fashion.
As a result, I realized that the simple rule of exchanging the attributes with their opposite would most likely work.
And then, when I succeeded with the deciphering, it was around sundown.
The full moon was tonight, so I hurriedly slipped out of the village chief’s house and came to the upstream of the river, where a waterfall would most likely be.
“Beyond this point…..but where?”
The scene of the light hitting the flowers is truly fairytale-like, but this here is the cave’s dead end and I can’t see any paths that would proceed beyond.
I looked at the flowers for no particular reason, then at the source of light that illuminated the flowers――I looked up.
In that instant――my body was engulfed in a strange sensation.
A flower covered plains continued on as far as I could see.
Seemingly to the end of the earth, the surface, winding like a benchland or carpet, filled with many kinds of flowers.
And there were――
“Ufufu…..” “Ahaha…..”
Many somethings that were slightly bigger than a b.u.t.terfly were flying around.
I strain my eyes, half-convinced of their ident.i.ty.
These beings, that are emitting various colored light from their bodies, are about the size of those something-or-another dolls from my previous world, and they are human shaped.
Wings that resemble those of the dragonfly and also the b.u.t.terfly.
Clothes that look like upside down flower petals.
Pastel colored hair.
They are no matter how you look at them――
“Fairies!”
“Kya-!” “Hyaa-!”
I involuntarily exclaimed, so the fairies suddenly distanced themselves from me.
“It’s a human!” “A human!”
“Weeell….first in 10 years?” “First in a 100 years!”
The fairies were watching and crowding around me at a distance, but at the end,
“――Human-san?” “――Are you?”
Two fairies fly close to me.
These two look exactly the same, huh.
The one in the right side from my point of view has her hair tied up on the left and the left one has it on the right.
Are they twins or something?
Their eyes were sparkling with hard to contain curiosity.
“Um, yeah….that’s right.”
“How did you get here!?” “Get here~?”
“By deciphering the code on the ground, that was allegedly left by fairies.”
As I was saying that, I started to have a feeling that something was amiss.
But, I didn’t immediately realize what was wrong.
“Ehh-!? You deciphered that code!? Ammaazing!” “Amazing~!”
“Nah, not really that…”
I act humble while scratching my head.
“Taking that prank seriously and deciphering it, you really have a lot of free time!” “A lot of free time~!”
“Shutup! Hey, that was really a prank!?”
It took an entire day to decipher that!
“…..then you didn’t have any business with the one that managed to decipher it?”
“Business~?” “Business-?”
The twin fairies both tilt their heads.
It’s vexing that I’ve found that a bit cute.
“Ah, that’s right!” “That’s right-!”
The twin fairies clap their hands together with a pop.
“”When humans come, Big Sister told us to bring them to her!””
…….And thus, I was guided by the twin fairies and we went to the place of that so-called 「Big Sister」.
There I finally noticed the unusual phenomenon that happened to me.
“…..I’ve become a bit bigger?”
It’s hard to notice since there are only fairies nearby, but my originally 3 years old-like body became that of a first grader in elementary school.
My p.r.o.nunciation also improved, so the bones and muscles of my face have also probably changed.
“Because this is the Fairy Village” “Fairy Village~”
According to their explanation, this place called Fairy Village is a half-material and half-spirit world.
“Humans get younger” “and also get older~”
“Hhnn”
By this logic, it wouldn’t be strange if me with my 30 years old soul would get even bigger, but it looks like maybe the body has more influence over it.
…..Or perhaps, because all that baby talk in the last 8 month has caused my mind to regress into a child……
While I was thinking about that, we reached our destination.
It was a log-house on top of a gentle slope.
Not a fairy-sized one, but a proper human-sized one.
The twin fairies vigorously rammed the door of that log-house.
Baan!
“”Big sister! It’s a guest!””
I wonder what happened, but in short the fairies are too small and it’s hard to open the door.
“Thank you, Secel, Secela”
It seems those were the names of the twin fairies.
Inside the log-house, there was a fairy, about the same size as Secel & Secela.
Leaving aside the half-transparent swallowtail b.u.t.terfly patterned wings, she had an unexpected blond drill twin-tail hairstyle.
Her facial features give off a dignified ojou-sama feeling.
“…..cute”
“Wh-, c- , cu-…..!?”
I unintentionally whispered it, and the twin-tailed fairy blushed at me.
“Big Sister is shyー” “Is shy~”
“Aah, you’re noisy! I will talk with the human so the two of you go away!”
“Big Sister got angry!” “Got angry~!”
Secel and Secela left while smiling and screaming ‘kya~’.
I let out an unintentional sigh of relief.
To tell the truth, it’s hard to keep company with someone that high-spirited as those two…..
“Please excuse them, they mean no harm.”
Said the Twin-tail-san
“Aah, no… I think they are good kids.”
“Indeed. There are no bad kids in this village.”
Saying that, Twin-tail-san has proudly puffed up her chest.
“――I will formally introduce myself. My name is Melby. This Tetelutia Fairy Village’s Fairy Chief.”
So she is the leader here.
That why it was 「Big Sister」.
“My name is Ka……no, Edgar Chrebl”
I almost said my name from my previous world, but I hurriedly corrected myself.
“I see. It looks like a very lovely human has come to us. ….hey, wait a minute”
The formally Twin-tail-san, Melby inspected every part of my body from the top of my head to my toes while fluttering around me.
After finishing her inspection, Melby said with knitted eyebrows.
“It looks like……an inexplicable human has come”
I don’t what she could have seen, but Melby has said this.
I also got curious, so I secretly use [Appraise] on Melby.
《Melby（From Tetelutia Fairy Village, Fairy Chief――◆＃％［＜□……》
Huh?
“….Hey, you have some nerve to sneakily try and peak at a lady’s secrets?”
I was found out!?
“Well, humans probably won’t be able to notice it, but against a fairy such as myself, that degree of concealment will be found out.”
“No, well, that was…..”
To the pale looking me that was looking for excuses, she said,
“Nevermind. It doesn’t look like you had any bad intentions anyway.”
Saying that, Melby disappeared to the back of the log-house.
I waited perhaps 5 minutes.
From the back, Melby was unsteadily flying this way, holding a tea-cup.
“He-,Here….tea.”
“You shouldn’t have.”
“Just obediently accept people’s kindness!”
“Y-,yes”
In front of the puffing Melby, I obediently drink from the tea.
“….delicious”
If I were to compare it to the previous world, it would be a taste similar to rosehip tea with added honey.
“I see. I’m glad.”
Saying that, Melby smiled sweetly.
After that, I accidently made her melancholic.
“My Master liked that tea. There were no visitors lately, so there were no opportunities to serve it.”
“Your Master?”
“The one who created us fairies was our Master, a Pioneer Elf. The fairies in other villages were also created by different Pioneer Elves.”
Then the description in 『Abaddon Magic Compilation』 was right.
“Where is your Master?”
“………..”
Melby’s face darkens and she casts down her eyes.
“Ah, no, I’m sorry. I asked something bad.”
“No, don’t worry about it. …..Rather than that, Edgar, why did you come to this village?”
It feels like she forcefully changed the subject, but I decided to go along with it.
“I deciphered the code left by fairies. So, when I went to the back of the waterfall at midnight on a full moon there was something shining there, and then before I noticed I was here.”
“Hnnn. You deciphered that one, huh.”
Melby stares at my face with great interest.
Yeah, she is cute.
“And also, I’ve come to confirm the rumors from the village.”
“Rumors?”
“I would like you to hear me out without getting angry…..”
“Okay. What is it?”
“….There was a child disappearance case in Riverette Village, you see. Some villagers are making a racket about how it may be the work of fairies.”
“What’s with that!? There is no way that’s true!”
Melby hit the table with a ‘Bam!’ and jumped up.
…..but you said you wouldn’t get angry.
“Th-that’s why I said don’t get angry. I heard that fairies are virtuous existences, so I thought the rumors were suspicious.”
“Wh-what would fairies even do with human children after kidnapping them anyway!”
“Uhm, well…..eat them?”
“We won’t eat them! How rude!”
Melby seems really angry.
….yeah, really that’s what I thought would be the case.
“That code was near the place that kid disappeared from. So then, it looks like they suspected they were related.”
“We leave that code around the forest at fixed intervals. I ask the fairies that go to play in the forest to leave them.”
“Why are you doing something like that?”
“…..that is….”
For some reason, Melby stopped speaking.
According to 『Abbadon Magic Compilation』 fairies can’t lie.
That’s why, that means if there is something that is hard to talk about, Melby can’t make something up and dodge the question.
“But, it’s true. There is nothing to gain for fairies from kidnapping children. To begin with, we are not built in a way that we would be able to…….”
Mn.
It’s not the 3 rules of robotics, but since fairies were created by Pioneer Elves, it’s perhaps obvious that there would be such restrictions.
“Well, it’s difficult to trust us if we just simply ask you to. So, until we are cleared of your suspicions you should stay in this village. If you want to see some places I will also show you around.”
“I’m not suspecting you, so it’s alright.”
“No. If there are other humans that are suspicious then stay and look around.”
“But as you can see I’m a child. If I stay overnight on my own, what would mom and the others say.”
“….Now that you mention it you are a child, huh. I had a feeling like I was talking to an about 30 years old adult.”
Gulp.
“If you are worried about the time I don’t think there is a problem. Since the flow of time in the Fairy Village is one tenth of the outside world.”
So if I stay a whole day even, only 2.4 hours would pa.s.s outside.
It’s like the Palace of the Dragon King.
“Do I also get older by that much?”
“You don’t. Since this is a half-spirit world. It’s like you are leaving your body behind on the other side.”
“Isn’t the other half material?”
“That’s true, but for the material substance, the outside time applies. A traveler that visited here before said that.”
Then that means maybe only the mind is on fast-forward or overclocked?
But, at any rate, this is a rare opportunity.
There is no way I would just go home without doing anything when there is a fairy right in front of me.
“….If you insist that much, I will stay for a while.”
When I said that, Melby’s face suddenly lit up.
“Really!? Then, there will be a party today!”
Saying that, Melby left the room while humming in a good mood.
…..They wouldn’t just use the suspicions as an excuse, only to use me to liven up the party, would they?
Well, if can frolic around with fairies I wouldn’t really say no to that.
――At night.
The fairy’s party was over and I was lying down on a bed in the log-house.
Of course, because of [No Fatigue] I won’t be sleeping, but I can’t really raise my magic skills in the house of a fairy either.
Also, there is something on my mind.
This log-house is clearly for human use.
Or rather than human use, it was probably for the Pioneer Elf.
However, there is no Pioneer Elf here.
Since they say they are an ancient race, perhaps they have already perished, but from looking at Melby, I have a feeling that’s not the case.
When Melby says 「My Master」, the emotion in her words is not the cherishing of memories of a deceased Master.
Most likely, that 「Master」 is still alive.
However, she can’t meet me.
The fairies are cheerful without limit, but once the topic of 「Master」 comes up, everyone becomes gloomy.
Of course, there must be some circ.u.mstances to that.
So as someone that just happened to come by, I don’t want to poke my nose in it.
Thankfully, from what the fairies were saying, there was no possibility that their 「Master」 would secretly go around Riverette Village and kidnap villagers.
So there is no place for an outsider like me to b.u.t.t in….. or there shouldn’t be.
However, Melby really looks like she is burdened with something.
It feels like she is breaking under the pressure of the chief’s position and her own sense of responsibility.
In my previous life, when I was working as an office worker, one my junior girls was in that state.
After that, she felt responsible for a mistake in her work and left the company, I heard nothing about her after that.
It’s not like I was responsible for that or anything, but I felt guilty that I didn’t lend her a helping hand.
Secel and Secela also.
“Please help Big Sister cheer up” “Cheer up!”
They said.
――Tomorrow, let’s try asking Melby.
I was thinking that, but I couldn’t calm down while lying there.
I hate my body that doesn’t get sleepy at times like these.
Quietly, I get up from the bed and leave the house while being careful not to wake up Melby, who should be sleeping somewhere in the house.
So I start taking a slow walk in the Fairy Village that is faintly bright even after the sun went down.
The flowery plains are continuing to no end, but the fairies only live centered around the log-house it seems.
On the outskirts of that, I’ve found an old looking temple-like building.
That being said, there is no roof and the walls have also collapsed, so calling it a ruin would be more accurate.
There was a staircase leading down inside there.
Beside the staircase entrance, there is lid-like wooden board that was pushed to the side.
And from the end of the staircase, there was bluish-white light leaking that was inviting me.
That grabbed my attention so I went down the stairs.
Beyond the stairs, it was a limestone cavern.
I went a few meters forwards in the limestone cavern――
“What…. is this?”
There was a giant crystal looking thing.
But not just an ordinary crystal.
Inside the crystal, there was someone imprisoned.
Silver colored long hair, skin so fair it’s almost transparent, graceful bodyline. And also,
――Long ears with pointed tips.
“――Pioneer Elf?”
I reflexively used [Appraise] on that person.
Alfecia Vilat Maeterlinck（《7 Pillars of Pioneer Elves〈Sage of the Forest〉》《The One who Mastered the Way of Magic》《Sleeping Princess》)
77 years old (1118 years has pa.s.sed since frozen in time)
Pioneer Elf
DemiG.o.d (An existence that has become a half-G.o.d due the powerful blessings given by the G.o.ds)
Status Frozen in time
Level 92
HP 179/179
MP 4519/325061 (25061+300000)
Skills
•Mythical Cla.s.s
[Imitation Genesis] – (Creates a minuscule universe.)
[Four Great Magicks] 4
[Magical Creature Creation] 9 (MAX)
+[Undo] – (A mistake during the manufacturing process can be made non-existent, but only one step.)
•Legendary Cla.s.s
[Telepathic Communication] 6
[Spirit Magic] 9 (MAX)
[s.p.a.ce-Time Magic] 9 (MAX)
[Dimension Magic] 5
[Dimensional Magical Tool Creation] 9 (MAX)
[a.n.a.lysis] 9 (MAX)
[Database] –
[Free Chanting] 7
[Mind Unity] 7
•Master cla.s.s
[Magical Tool Creation] 9 (MAX)
[s.p.a.ce Magic] 9 (MAX)
[Mental Toughness] 9 (MAX)
[Solfège] 9 (MAX)
・
・
・
《Blessing of a G.o.d of Virtue+5》(The blessing of the G.o.d of Production, Yo Delun. Maximum supplement to the acquisition and learning speed of skills related to production. World Creation related skills unlocked. Skill [Undo] is added.)
《Blessing of a G.o.d of Virtue+2》(The blessing of the G.o.d of Magic, Attiera. Medium supplement to the acquisition and learning speed of skills related to magic. Enormous amount of MP added.)
Wha-……
What, the h.e.l.l is this?
“――So you’ve seen it.”
My body twitched from the voice that called out to me from behind me.
“――That’s right. This is our Master.”
When I turned around, Melby was there with a sad smile on her face.