Ankoku Kishi Monogatari ~Yuusha wo Taosu Tameni Maou ni Shoukansaremashita~

Chapter 146: Country of Promised Eternal Youth

◆Sansho Village Girl, Wendy

My mother was telling me a bedtime story, the story of a boy who was guided by a little fairy to a country of eternal youth.

If such a country existed, I’d like to go there.

Why did I see this dream I wonder?

Maybe because I remembered my big sis Nana who got taken away.

I didn't want to become an adult.

Because scary people wouldn't take me away if I stayed a kid.

I opened my eyes.

I looked at the outside scenery from my window.

I had never seen the blue sky again ever since I was brought into Sanshos village.

In this region, the sky remained dark even during the day and became even darker during the night.

The cold wind blowing from the northern sea hit the mountain and brought snow to this village.

Alas, those weren't the biggest problems we had on our hands.

I rose from my bed.

My little brothers, who slept in the same room as me, were still sleeping. I should wake them up.

Without big sis Nana, I, as the eldest one, had to become their mother figure.

Alas, there was something I had to do before waking them up.

I changed my clothes and went outside to make some preparations.

「Big sis Wendy…」

Michal, who slept in the same bed as me, suddenly called out to me.

Michal was 4 years old. He was a spoiled boy who always liked to sleep in the same bed as me.

Alas, it was about time for him to learn how to sleep by himself.

I was 12 years old this year.

The time for them to take me away was just around the corner.

「Sorry Michal. I'm going to the usual place, so please go back to sleep.」

I soothed Michal.

He was a boy, after all, he had to learn how to stand on his own.

Michal sulked a bit alas, he still agreed, that's just his usual sulking.

I left and went to a certain place.

It was a dilapidated and deserted house.

There was a secret flower garden in this place.

Since this land was filled with miasma, beautiful flowers hardly grew in this land.

Alas, this place was the only exception, flowers only grew in this place.

It seems someone was growing flowers in this place years before I was brought to this land.

Currently, I am the only one taking care of this flower field.

The one who took care of the flower field before me was big sis Nana.

According to her, these flowers had a strong resistance against miasma, that is why they didn't need special care to grow in this place.

Alas, it was something like a daily routine for me to go see this flower field every morning.

I went into the deserted house.

The roof had already been broken, the same went for the floor, revealing the soil beneath it.

Small, purple flowers were blooming on that barren ground.

Looking at these flowers became one of my hobbies.

I wanted to become stronger like these flowers.

At that moment, I noticed that something was amiss.

「W-Who's there?」

I noticed that someone else had entered this house.

Upon a closer look, I saw someone lying down on the floor.

Are they one of the scary adults?

But, that person didn't give the same air as those scary adults.

When I approached the sleeping person, I discovered that the person was a man.

It was a face that I had never seen before, different from the face of those scary adults.

And then, I moved my gaze from his face.

The reason was that something was moving right above his chest.

At first, I mistook it for some beautiful cloth. Alas, that didn't seem to be the case since it moved on its own.

Since I was curious about the man's identity, I sat beside him, gazing at the thing on his chest.

It was a tiny human with butterfly wings on her back.

Her azure-colored butterfly wings that glowed in the darkness looked really beautiful.

The thing that I mistook as beautiful clothes turned out to be wings.

「Eh, wait a minute? Is she a fairy?」

She did look like a fairy, the tiny human that was mentioned in the bedtime story.

The fairy was sleeping comfortably on the human's chest.

Yeah, no doubt about it, she was a fairy.

My heart raced upon realizing that fact.

Why was there a fairy in this place?

I was filled with complex emotions.

It was something that I had never felt ever since I was brought to this land.

Then I looked at the man.

He was a handsome, black-haired man. Upon a closer look, I realized that he rivaled even the ruler of this village in terms of appearance.

Maybe because of his exhaustion, the man was sleeping soundly like a corpse.

Who's this man I wonder?

He didn't seem to be an adult from this village.

Maybe he wasn't a friend of the adults of this village either. I mean, if he was their friend, he wouldn't sleep in this place.

This man was clearly led by this fairy to this place from outside of this village.

That must be how he ended up drifting in this village.

It must be the beginning of some sort of tale.

If possible, I wanted him to take me into that tale too.

Thus my hand reached out to the man.

「U~hn.」

Then the fairy let out a groan.

As I looked at her, the fairy woke up while rubbing her eyes.

And then, her gaze met mine.

「NO WAY, A HUMAN?! H-HOW COULD I FAIL TO DETECT HER PRESENCE?! KUROKI-SAMA! PLEASE WAKE UP, KUROKI-SAMA! WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY!」

The fairy looked at me in panic.

And started to rouse the man.

I also got flustered upon realizing that.

At this rate, we were going to be found out. I had to hide them from the adults.

I noticed that fact immediately.

That's why I had to calm her down.

「Wait! Calm down, please! I won't do anything to you!」

The fairy looked at me with suspicion the moment I said so.

「Hu~mph! Humans who say those words can't be trusted at a~ll! I'll kill you right here with magic!」

Said the fairy as she pointed her hands at me.

「Wait, Tibel…」

When I looked at the direction where that voice came from, I saw that the man had already woken up.

The man propped himself a bit as he shook his head.

「Please don't force yourself Kuroki-sama~, you didn’t get enough rest ye~t.」

The fairy spoke with worry.

It seems the man was in bad condition.

His face was pale.

But, it seems he was fully conscious.

He looked at both me and the fairy with a gentle look in his eyes.

「Don't worry, Tibel. She's not a bad girl. I mean, you couldn't detect her presence until she was this close.」

Said the man as he patted the fairy's head.

The fairy called Tibel seemed to become more anxious.

「But, Kuroki-sama…」

「I believe in your power, that's why I know that she's not dangerous.」

And then, he looked at me.

「Sorry for entering your flower garden without permission…」

The man apologized to me.

I shook my head in a hurry.

「Uhm, I don't mind really.」

I'm sure that big sis and the others would give the same answer as me in this situation.

「I see, thank you. If possible, I want you to overlook me just this once, but…」

The man called Kuroki sent a pleading gaze at me.

「Yes! Don't worry about it! I won't tell any soul about you!」

I nodded vigorously.

Both the man and the fairy looked as if they didn't expect this kind of reply.

「Uhm, my name is Wendy! Feel free to use this place until you recover!」

===

◆Goddess of Wisdom and Victory; Rena

Land of Aremania.

It was located in the north of Ruvania, the region under the control of Zarxis.

Alphos and co were currently standing by in the sky of that region.

I came from Elios and boarded Alphos' flying ship.

「Welcome, Rena-sama.」

The one who welcomed me was Alphos' attendant, Heasis.

The person who looked like a woman at a glance alas, the person was a genuine man.

「I came to see the situation, how's Alphos doing?」

Heasis made a troubled face when I asked that question.

「Alphos-sama is…」

I heaved a sigh upon seeing Heasis' expression.

「So it's just the usual thing. I'll get in then.」

I entered the flying ship.

Upon entering Alphos' room, I saw him sitting half-naked in bed.

It seems he quickly wore some clothes after hearing that I came.

An unknown woman was sleeping beside him. She might be a woman he picked up from somewhere.

And from the scattered clothes on the floor, she might be a princess from somewhere.

「Heya, Rena. Have you come by yourself since you're worried about me?」

Alphos spoke lightly.

Surely, I was worried.

But the one I was worried about wasn't Alphos.

「Yeah, I'm worried. I heard that the angels that you dispatched to Modegal have returned. How's the situation?」

Alphos touched his chin, pondering for a while when I asked that question.

「Yeah, they returned. Everyone was safe and sound. But, something about their report is bothering me. They say that they were saved by the Dark Knight when they were about to escape. And for some reason, no one chased after them. Which makes things even more suspicious.」

I almost lost my cool the moment I heard that.

You're such an idiot, Kuroki. You should’ve just abandoned Alphos' subordinates.

I came to this place because I thought that this might happen.

I knew from Kuna that Kuroki was injured in that fight.

That's why I had to save him.

That's why I should force Alphos to move.

「Wait, no pursuers? Meaning that Zarxis didn't send anyone to chase after the angels. If that's the case, the Dark Knight might have gotten more important information than us. That might be the reason why Zarxis focused on finding the Dark Knight. Alphos.」

Maybe he'll make his move If I say this, maybe not.

My brother, Alphos, was a whimsical person.

「I'll move, of course, Rena. In addition to infiltrating Modegal, we have many insiders in Ruvania. I'm aware of the gist of the situation.」

「Eh? Is that so?」

That was a surprise.

「At least trust me a bit, Rena. It's not like I'm always fooling around.」

My bad. I thought that all you did was play around. My bad, Alphos.

Alphos then explained the situation.

The angels that infiltrated weren’t the most important spies, the truly important ones were the large number of human spies.

Though some people might die, the information would be passed on as long as they were not completely annihilated.

「I see. Does that mean you managed to get precious information?」

「That's a bit of a tricky situation. Some of our spies got caught by Zalbuth and became his spies instead.」

I knew about the church of maggots that worshiped Zalbuth.

This church was quite notorious among humans.

The reason was that the one they worshiped was akin to a walking disaster who spread the plague wherever he went.

The plague caused many people to die, and their rotten corpses would become a nursery for maggots.

Most people who were infected by the plague died. However, the rare survivors of the plague would become new believers and spread the plague even further.

Some of Alphos' subordinates became their victims.

「Hm~… So, did they manage to get important information?」

「No, that's not what I'm talking about, Rena. I mean, now that the Dark Knight is injured, it means that no one is caring for the Silver Girl. This is my chance.」

「EH?! IT CAN'T BE, ALPHOS?! ARE YOU BY CHANCE?!」

Could it be that he was going to kill the weakened Kuroki?

If that's the case, I had to stop him at all costs.

「Indeed. If the Dark Knight dies, I shall comfort her. Now let's go visit the Silver Princess.」

I almost tripped on my feet upon hearing Alphos' last remark.

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