Sugar Apple Fairytale - Volume 1 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

REUNION ON THE BLOODY HIGHWAY

There are no villages or towns along the Bloody Highway, which spans about twelve hundred karons.

Anne wondered whether she would be able to traverse it safely.

She glanced at Challe, who sat next to her on the wagon.

He had a beautiful face. She had never seen such an elegant warrior fairy before, and that worried her.

She wondered if Challe would actually be useful as a warrior.

Now that I’ve purchased him, all I can do is trust him, but…

The Royal Candy Fair was only half a month away. It would take them nine days to cross the Bloody Highway.

Once they arrived in Lewiston, Anne would have five days to prepare before the candy fair commence. It was going to be close.

They had set off at dawn but had just barely started down the highway. They still had a long way to go, and their time was limited.

Anne wanted to get as much distance behind them as possible during the day, when it was still relatively safe.

From time to time, she identified black shapes that looked like packs of wolves up on distant crags, but they showed no signs of coming down from the mountains.

The pair made fine progress down the road until early afternoon.

It was a few hours until sunset.

Anne expected them to reach the next way station, where she had decided to spend the second night, with time to spare.

When they got there, they would be two hundred karons from the start of the highway, one-sixth of the way through their journey.

As the wagon cruised on through the quiet, monotonous scenery, the sound of horses whinnying suddenly filled Anne’s ears. At the same time, the high-pitched clang of steel striking steel pierced the air.

Startled, Anne yanked on the reins. As the wagon slowed to a stop, she looked toward the source of the commotion.

Just ahead on the road, there was a big cloud of dust.

In the center of it was a brand-new boxy wagon. Its back was to Anne, so she couldn’t spot the driver. She could, however, just make out a hand wielding a sword on the other side of it.

Surrounding the carriage were ten men on horses, riding round and round in circles, whooping and hollering loudly. They were all dressed differently, but each had a bit of cloth tied around their head, concealing their identity. They were bandits targeting travelers.

“Oh no!”

The blood drained from Anne’s face. She knew that if she encountered bandits, just escaping would be considered a victory. She shouldn’t even try to help whoever was already under attack. She could see the outcome with her own eyes.

All travelers understood that rule and did not resent one another for following it.

In this situation, the most sensible thing for her to do would be to take refuge in a way station. But the way station where they’d spent the previous night was far behind them.

Anne looked on either side of the road for a place to hide, but the surrounding area was filled with only empty fields of long grasses. There were no tall trees nearby and nowhere to hide a whole wagon.

As she was looking around, two of the riders in the ring of bandits stopped circling.

They seemed to have noticed Anne’s wagon and turned their horses’ heads toward her.

“Oh no, they’re coming this way!!”

Anne shrieked and grabbed at Challe’s sleeve. She then finally remembered something.

“H-hey, you!! Listen, Challe! You are a warrior fairy, right? Drive those bandits away!”

Challe looked at Anne wearily. “What a pain…”

“We’re in danger! Please!!”

As she pleaded with him, Challe grabbed Anne’s wrist and pulled her hand off his sleeve. Instead, he snatched her arm and jerked her toward him.

“Challe?! Wh-what?”

Challe brought his face close to hers and coaxed, “Don’t ask me to do it. You’re supposed to command me, right?”

Despite the situation, Anne’s gaze was drawn to the long lashes framing Challe’s eyes as he peered into hers. His voice was oddly sensual.

“Uh, too close! Hey, you’re too close, Challe!! Back up! Just go fight!”

Blood rushed to Anne’s face. It was no time to be blushing, but she couldn’t hide her agitation.

“Your face is red.”

“J-j-j-just go, please!”

“How amusing.” Challe chuckled condescendingly. Without a doubt, he was toying with her.

“Challe! Go now, please!”

“I told you, you’ve got to order me.”

“Order you?! Look, they’re coming!”

“Go now, or I’ll tear your wing. If you command me like that, I’ll go at once.”

“What are you talking about?! It doesn’t matter—just go!”

Anne was frightened, and she wasn’t used to commanding fairies. She totally forgot that she was in possession of Challe’s wing, his very life.

“Command me.”

Anne squeezed her eyes shut so she couldn’t see Challe’s beautiful face. And then______ “I said go! If you don’t go, I’ll hit you!!”

She issued the most violent order she could muster.

When he heard it, Challe shrugged.

“Well…all right, then. Here I go. As you command, mistress scarecrow.”

Challe let go of Anne’s arm and jumped down lightly from the wagon.

He walked slowly toward the approaching horsemen.

He casually stretched the palm of his right hand out in front of his chest and narrowed his eyes, almost like he was smiling. The single wing on his back shuddered slightly. The wilted wing unfurled slowly. One section of it caught the sunlight and shone an assortment of colors.

From all around Challe, sparkling beads of light started streaming toward his open palm.

Before Anne’s eyes, the beads of light condensed, forming a long, thin shape that turned into a sword that radiated a silvery gleam.

A sword…?! He can do that?! Then Challe really is—

Challe gripped the newly formed blade. He held it down at his side.

—a warrior fairy!

Suddenly, Challe broke into a run.

He was quieter than the wind, not making a single sound as he raced with his body low to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, he was within reach of the approaching horses and swung his sword at their legs.

In a single stroke, he simultaneously lopped off both of the horses’ front legs. When their mounts suddenly collapsed, the two bandits were thrown violently to the ground.

Without even watching his first two targets fall, Challe dashed over to the rest of the riders.

The other bandits noticed Challe, but no sooner had they turned to look in his direction than the swordsman lopped off their horses’ legs, too, one after another. Five more horses fell to the ground.

There were three bandits left on horseback. They shouted angrily and slashed at Challe.

One of them swung a sword down at him, and Challe lopped off his assailant’s whole arm.

Their leader blanched. “Retreat!! Retreat!!” he shouted, turning his horse back toward the foothills.

The bandits who had been thrown to the ground stumbled after him. Even the man who’d lost his arm spurred his horse with a desperate expression on his face, groaning as he retreated.

The cloud of dust quickly blew away, revealing the seven writhing horses with their legs severed, as well as the three corpses of bandits who’d died on impact when their mounts went down. The air was deadly silent.

Challe nimbly twirled his sword, shaking off the blood. Then, he deliberately thrust his blade into each of the struggling horses’ necks, ending their lives one after another.

Anne’s fingers felt cold and were trembling slightly.

She averted her eyes, trying not to look at the horses that Challe had put out of their misery. Given the severity of their injuries, there was no way to save them. It was much more compassionate to kill them than allow them to suffer needlessly.

Even though she understood that, Anne still couldn’t bring herself to look at them directly.

Indeed, Anne had been the one who’d insisted Challe help the people in the other wagon.

But she had never expected her command would result in the deaths of seven horses and three humans, all in the blink of an eye. A single word from her, and three men were dead, bandits though they were.

Anne was filled with surprise and fear at the thought that her orders could bring about such results.

So this is a warrior fairy…

While she was momentarily frozen in place, the driver of the boxy wagon ahead of her got down from his seat.

Anne recognized the other driver, making her doubt her own eyes.

“It can’t be… Jonas?!”

Jonas stood in a daze as he watched Challe put the horses down, and at the sound of Anne’s voice, he looked up.

“……Huh? ……Anne?”

Once he’d finished killing all the horses, Challe held his sword by his side. Just like when he’d formed the blade, it gradually turned into beads of light and dispersed.

Anne quickly drove her wagon forward, steering around the bodies of the horses and bandits who’d been mercilessly slaughtered. She tried to look at them as little as possible.

When her wagon was in line with Jonas’s, she pulled to a stop.

Anne hopped out of the driver’s seat and rushed to Jonas.

“What are you doing here, Jonas?!”

“Anne! Is he your warrior fairy?! Then that means you’re the one who saved me?! Ah! This must be fate! Anyway, I’m glad I found you! You set out half a day before me, so I thought you’d be much farther along.”

Jonas seemed excited, and he grasped both of Anne’s hands tightly in his.

“I stopped by Redington, so… Wait, that doesn’t matter. Why are you in a place like this, Jonas?”

“I followed you. It’s dangerous to let you travel alone, so I persuaded my parents, readied a carriage, and followed you. I’m going with you.”

“Why?!”

“Why…? I only need one reason. You must know how I feel about you.”

Anne was stunned by his words.

“Huh?”

“I love you, Anne. I want to go with you.”

“Um…Jonas… I’m very happy to hear that, but…”

Anne gently pulled her hands from his grip and moved away.

“But, Jonas, I think you’re badly mistaken when it comes to your feelings for me. Surely, you can’t have fallen for me. There’s just no way. I think you’re confusing the pity you feel toward me with love.”

Anne’s appearance was quite plain, and she didn’t go out of her way to be charming.

She had never thought of herself as appealing.

In fact, although Jonas and Anne had spent half a year in close quarters, their relationship was still more distant than even a simple friendship.

Yet Jonas had proposed to marry her, despite the distance between them.

Anne could think of no reason why he would do that, except out of pity for a girl who had just lost her mother.

She was sure Jonas must have felt sorry for her and confused that feeling for love, mistakenly concluding that he was head over heels for her.

“It’s not pity. I love you, Anne. Say, you’re taking part in the Royal Candy Fair in Lewiston, right? You told me you were. In that case, I’m going, too. I’ll protect and support you so you can become a Silver Sugar Master.”

“Wait. You were attacked by bandits just a moment ago; you can’t possibly protect me, can you?! Besides, aren’t you heir to your family’s candy store? And isn’t there a possibility of you becoming the maestro of the Radcliffe Workshop?! I can’t let someone important like you accompany me on such a dangerous journey. What if you get hurt? I’d never be able to face the Anders family, and after they took care of me, too.”

“The bandits were, well… I let my guard down a little. I’m a man; I’ll be fine.”

“What are you basing that on?!”

“It’s fine. I’ll be fine. I have a sword, too.”

“Hey, are you listening to me?”

“Besides, Mother and Father agreed I should accompany you to Lewiston.”

“The Anders agreed to that? I doubt it. Anyway, go home.”

“I can’t turn back now. The danger is the same, whether I turn around or continue.”

In his ardor, Jonas sounded frantic, like someone delirious with fever.

Anne was certain he had completely misinterpreted his feelings.

She knew her conscience would never rest easy if she ended up leading poor, lovestruck Jonas to his death.

“No way. You have to go back.”

“Anne, don’t be so cold. Come on.”

Jonas smiled and gripped Anne’s hand again.

It startled her, and though she tried to pull away, he kept a firm grip on her.

“I came for you. Do you hate me? Are you not happy?”

Anne was flummoxed by his gaze. All the girls back in the village were crazy about his kind, smiling face.

“I don’t hate you. But—but listen. How do I put this? That’s not the issue…”

Challe didn’t seem inclined to interrupt Anne and Jonas’s exchange. He had been leaning against the back of the wagon the whole time, looking up at the sky. However, he suddenly scowled and stood up straight.

“Scarecrow. Let’s get moving quickly. The wolves will be here once they catch the scent of blood. Look up.”

Anne and Jonas looked up at the sky. The silhouettes of three black birds circled overhead.

“Crows. The cleaners of the wastelands. Once they appear, the wolves aren’t far behind.”

Anne nodded quickly. Jonas’s grip slackened, and she pulled her own hand back from his.

“Got it. We’ll depart immediately. Jonas, please turn back from here.”

“No. I’m going.”

“Listen, Jonas. If you die, your parents will be very sad, and the village girls will cry buckets. If you’re not around, who will inherit your shop? There are a lot of things in this world that matter to you, aren’t there? You have to protect that,” Anne said kindly.

Jonas stared directly back at her. “I’m going, even if you tell me not to. My parents have nothing to do with this. The shop, too—it’s irrelevant to me right now. The only thing that’s important to me at the moment are my feelings for you.”

Jonas had a warm home to go back to. He had two parents and even a shop to inherit. He carried a lot of important expectations on his shoulders. He wasn’t an orphan like Anne, without a single soul to cry over him if he died. There was no need for him to face the same dangers.

Despite all that, he didn’t seem to understand the value of everything he had.

Anne was at a complete loss in the face of Jonas’s obstinacy.

“At any rate, you’re not someone who ought to be taking such risks.”

Anne turned her back on him and quickly climbed up into the driver’s seat of her wagon.

Challe was already sitting there. He looked sidelong at Anne’s worried expression as she spurred the horse on.

Challe smirked.

“So you’ve got boys chasing after you? Not bad for a little girl.”

“I am not a little girl! I am fifteen. An adult! And besides, it’s not like that with Jonas. He just feels sorry for me, that’s all. I can’t believe he’s going to put himself in danger for that.”

As she spoke, Anne’s attention was drawn to what was happening behind her.

Jonas boarded his own wagon and set off slowly, following Anne and Challe. It didn’t seem like he planned to return home.

After all, now that he was on the highway, it was as Jonas had said: He would face the same danger whether he turned back or continued.

“What am I gonna do…?” Anne grumbled. She then mumbled a few words to Challe. “That wagon behind us… Would you please go help him out if anything happens?”

Anne did not hate Jonas. On the contrary, she liked his kind smile and amiable manner. Plus, she thought he must be a good person if he had so much sympathy for someone that he confused it for love.

She couldn’t just abandon him.

“If you want to make me do something, you’ll have to give me an order. After all, you’ve got my wing.”

“You were trying to get me to order you around earlier, too. Why are you so persistent about that?”

“I don’t intend to do a single thing unless I’ve been ordered to.”

In short, Challe was saying he wouldn’t lift a finger unless Anne threatened to take his life if he failed to follow her orders. Put it another way, he would only obey her if she resorted to threats.

He was resolved to not follow any trivial commands, such as Look after the horse for a minute or Grab that blanket.

Anne didn’t like the idea of having to threaten to kill him just to get him to hand her a blanket.

She sighed at the fact that he was so hard to handle.

“Last night, I resolved to put you to use, Challe. But when it comes down to it, I don’t want to order you around in such a nasty way. So I’m going to ask. For the time being, I’m going to keep asking you instead. But if you tell me no, my requests will turn into orders. If it’s what you’d like, I’ll order you to do my bidding unless you want your wing to be torn to bits. I’m prepared to do that. But I’m going to ask nicely first.”

Challe listened to Anne’s words, staring at her unblinkingly.

“You really are a strange scarecrow.”

“Challe, you choose the worst moments to call me a scarecrow, you know? …Well, whatever, it’s fine… I can be a scarecrow.”

Anne wondered what she ought to do if anything should happen to Jonas. Just thinking about that seemed like it would give her a headache, though, and she lacked the energy to come up with a reply to Challe’s scarecrow remark.

Anne stopped her wagon. When she did, Jonas pulled to a stop alongside her as well.

The two of them were looking up at the way station where Anne had decided to spend the second night of her journey.

“So this is a way station, huh? I’ve never actually stayed in one before tonight.”

“It’s your first time? Then what did you do last night?”

“Actually, I had guards accompanying me up until this afternoon. There were some men working rough jobs on the outskirts of Knoxberry Village, and I asked them to escort me. So last night, I parked the carriage on the side of the road and slept in the cargo hold. The guards protected me all night, but…”

“But?”

“Apparently, they realized I had money hidden somewhere in the carriage. Just before noon today, they turned their swords on me, stole the money, and ran off.”

Jonas was fairly nonchalant as he related this. He was either braver than he looked or really laid-back.

Anne’s shoulders slumped.

“That is unfortunate, but…aren’t you going too easy on the guards?”

“Well, probably, yeah. But as long as things work out in the end, everything’s fine. They spared my life, after all. And because of that, I was able to run into you!”

Jonas didn’t seem to have the slightest idea about the dangers of traveling.

Anne knew she would be in trouble if she didn’t instill some sense in him, especially if he was planning to tag along with her.

“Jonas. After we stay here tonight, you have to turn back tomorrow, okay?”

“I’m just going where I want to go! I’m not necessarily following you.”

“Now see here. Jonas—”

“Come on, let’s go.”

Jonas winked and spurred his horse on. Anne put her hand on her forehead.

“Aah…my head hurts…”

Anne and Jonas drove their wagons into the way station and shut the iron door behind them.

Once they were inside, Jonas discretely pulled his wagon over alongside the wall. Then, he immediately went inside the boxy cargo hold. It looked like he planned to sleep there. The fact that he didn’t park close to Anne’s wagon seemed like his way of asserting his independence.

Anne made a fire beside her wagon. She then poured water into a pot and added dried meat and scraps of vegetables to make a simple soup. When it was done, she glanced over at Jonas’s wagon.

Because it was autumn, the temperature did drop at night. She felt awkward about being the only one with something hot to eat.

Anne put some soup in a wooden bowl and walked over to the back of Jonas’s wagon.

She knocked gently on the doors.

“Jonas? It’s me, open up.”

She heard some kind of rustling from inside, and before long, one of the doors opened.

“Do you need something?”

The one who’d opened it was a female fairy about the size of Anne’s palm. Her single wing fluttered strenuously as she clung to the door handle.

This was Cathy, a worker fairy employed by the Anders family. She had flaming-red hair. She lifted her primly raised nose even higher into the air and glared at Anne with her big, upturned eyes.

“Cathy?! You came with Jonas?”

“I have always been Master Jonas’s personal fairy servant. Of course I came.”

“Is that so? Then where is Jonas?”

“The master is resting.”

“Well then, I’ll hand this over to you. Can you tell him to eat the soup when he wakes up?”

Cathy looked at Anne’s extended arm and smirked.

“Such crude fare. I doubt Master Jonas will eat it.”

Cathy was the very image of a servant working for a high-ranking master, the kind who wore the mantle of her master’s authority and misused it to look down on others. Anne frowned.

“That may be true at home, but we should be grateful for even simple food when we’re on the road.”

Cathy made a disgusted face, but she descended lightly to the floor and held out both hands.

Fairies who have had one wing removed cannot truly fly. It is impossible for them to hover in midair. Consequently, Cathy had no option but to drop to the floor to take the bowl.

Anne leaned over and passed it to her.

To Cathy, the soup bowl was as big as a washbasin. Her face twisted into a grimace as she grabbed hold of it.

“It stinks like animal grease. Even a fairy like me wouldn’t touch it!”

“Ohhh, sooo sorry! Guess I shouldn’t have bothered!”

Fuming, Anne walked back to the fireside and violently stirred the contents of the pot.

Challe was sitting there, idly staring into the flames.

Anne picked up another bowl and poured some soup for Challe. She then wordlessly held the bowl out to him.

Challe stared unblinkingly at the soup before him before regarding Anne curiously.

“What am I supposed to do with this…?”

Anne glared back at him furiously.

“Do you think I’m handing you this because I want you to spoon-feed it to me?! It’s your portion, Challe—obviously! Am I so wrong for giving you some?! Or does this greasy pauper’s soup also offend your palate?!”

Challe looked surprised by Anne’s flare-up.

“What’s wrong with you all of a sudden? It’s like your head is on fire or something.”

“And I guess it’ll burn well, since I’ve got the head of scarecrow!”

Challe couldn’t suppress his laughter. Then, with a mellow expression, he stretched out his hand for the bowl being offered to him.

“Looks like someone’s quite fired up.”

“I’m angry. A fairy just told me that humble soup like this isn’t good enough for the precious heir to a candy shop. Do you hate a meager meal like this, too?!”

“I wasn’t rejecting your soup. I was just…surprised.”

Challe accepted the bowl and held it in both hands.

“Surprised? By what? I guess because it looked disgusting or something…?”

“I was surprised that you offered soup to me before serving yourself.”

“Why? It’s only proper for the person serving the meal to feed everyone before serving herself, right? It’s a matter of good manners. Here’s your spoon.”

Anne was about to hand Challe a utensil for his soup, but she noticed the portion had already decreased by half.

“Challe, you haven’t taken a bite yet, have you? Is there a hole in your bowl, maybe?”

“I ate it.”

“You ate it?! How?!”

“Fairies don’t eat with our mouths. We hold food in our hands or just touch it, then we absorb it.”

As Anne stared at the bowl in Challe’s hands, the liquid surface of the soup gradually lowered, undulating slightly. It looked like it was rapidly evaporating.

“Can you…taste it?” Anne asked reflexively as she stared at the disappearing broth.

“No. Even if I eat something, I can’t taste it.”

“So fairies can’t taste anything at all?! That means that no matter what you eat, you have no way of enjoying it?”

“There is one thing we can taste. Just one.”

“What?”

“Silver sugar… It’s sweet.”

Challe cast his eyes downward, as if lost in a memory. His expression looked terribly lonely. Anne thought that whatever he was remembering must have been painful.

She wondered what sort of life this sarcastic fairy had led before he was enslaved and put up for sale at the market.

Her heart hurt to imagine it.

Born in nature to live a carefree life, only to be flushed out, hunted down, and then sold. How would that feel? Anne imagined that if such a thing had happened to her, the anger and resentment would have hardened her heart.

“Do you like silver sugar or hate it?”

“I don’t hate it.”

“Then I’ll make some candy for you! I am a budding candy crafter, you know!”

“You are?”

Challe gave Anne a doubtful sidelong glance. She puffed out her chest a little.

“You don’t know the half of it! My mother was a Silver Sugar Master. As her daughter, I’ve been making things out of silver sugar since I was a toddler. I’m quite skilled, if I do say so myself. I think I’ll make a candy in the shape of a moonflower. That would suit you.”

Anne figured it probably wasn’t any fun eating food you couldn’t taste. The thought filled her with a desire to make something for him.

If Challe’s heart had grown cold, the gentle sweetness of sugar candy might soften it just a little.

A look of confusion passed over Challe’s face. She found his vexed expression somewhat endearing.

Anne stood up with a smile and walked around to the rear of her own wagon. The moment she placed her hands on the two doors there—

Bang! She heard the sound of something ricocheting around inside the carriage, and the whole vehicle shook violently.

Anne jumped away at once and shrieked, “Challe!”

She leaped back to Challe’s side, grabbing at his sleeve.

“S-something is inside the carriage! Go look. Take a look, please!”

Challe glanced over at Anne.

“Is that an order?”

“O-order?”

“Will you tear up my wing if I don’t?”

“I wasn’t planning to, but—”

“Do it yourself, then.”

“Aaah, you’re the worst!!”

Anne hated the vulgarity of threatening to tear Challe’s wing. It made it difficult for her to order him around.

Challe saw right through Anne and insisted that she command him. That much was clear from the contemptuous look on his face. He planned to resist until the very end.

Anne felt like a fool for pitying him even for a second.

She had lost her cool, and her anger made her feel less afraid.

“Fine! I’ll check it out!”

Anne had spent fifteen years traveling the kingdom with nobody but her mother, and she was sure she had more courage than the average fifteen-year-old girl.

She picked up a piece of unused firewood and approached the doors to the cargo hold.

Wielding the stick in one hand, she slowly opened one door.

Inside the wagon, it was quiet.

The interior of the boxy wagon was tall enough for a person to stand and walk around. High windows near the ceiling on each side let in bright moonlight, faintly illuminating the hold.

Set against one the walls was a workbench. Atop it was a stone slab used for kneading sugar candy, a wooden spatula, and a scale, and lined up in an orderly row were vials of coloring powder extracted from various plants.

On the opposite side, five casks stood against the wall.

The interior of the carriage looked the same as always.

“There’s…nothing here?”

Anne timidly stuck her head inside and looked around. The moment she did—

“Hey, you!!”

With a high-pitched yell, a small silhouette leaped out at her from underneath the workbench.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

Anne screamed and swung the stick as hard as she could.

She landed a direct hit on the thing speeding toward her.

The force of the strike sent it flying right out the doors of the wagon, where it crashed into the back of Challe’s head as he sat by the fire.

Challe turned to face his attacker with a scowl. He picked up the little figure that had plopped to the ground behind him after the impact.

Gripping the projectile tightly, he shouted angrily at Anne, “You hit me! What is this?!”

Anne was just as confused and shouted right back, “I don’t know!! It was inside the carriage!”

“It’s…?”

Challe turned his attention to the thing he was holding. Then he frowned.

“Let go of me, you big jerk!! Who do you take me for?!” the little silhouette protested in a high-pitched voice.

The figure kicking and struggling against Challe’s grip on the scruff of his neck was a sweet-looking young male fairy with silver hair. He had only one wing on his back. Strangely, he had the other wing wrapped around his neck like a scarf.

“Let me go!”

“Shut up.”

Challe released him, and the small fairy crashed to the ground with a shout.

“Tch. Reckless jerk. I’m delicate; you ought to treat me more gently.”

Rubbing his backside, the little fairy stood up.

Anne approached him cautiously and knelt, peering down at the newcomer.

The fairy looked up at Anne with big, round blue eyes.

“So you were the one making a fuss in the carriage?”

“I wasn’t making a fuss. I dozed off and had a bad dream. I’m very sensitive, so it sent me flying. I flew too high and bumped into the ceiling, that’s all.”

“Uh-huh…you really flew up hard… At any rate, who are you? When did you get into my wagon and why?”

“I am Mithril Lid Pod, and I came to return a favor.”

“Return a favor?”

“From yesterday. You saved me. So I’ve come to repay my debt.”

When he said that, Anne finally recognized him.

“Oh! It’s you! The one the fairy hunter in Redington was picking on?”

During their first encounter, he had been covered in mud, so she hadn’t seen much of his face. Thinking back carefully, though, she did recognize his shrill voice.

She had no doubt that the wing around the fairy’s neck was the same one she had retrieved from the fairy hunter.

“That’s right. I spotted your carriage in Redington and snuck onboard so I could pay you back for everything. I thought I could do it right away, but, well…that big moron in Redington worked me hard and wore me out. I fell asleep by mistake. I’ve been sleeping until just now. But thanks to that, I’ve got plenty of energy! I’m going to pay you back in full, starting immediately!”

“But back then, didn’t you tell me you weren’t going to say thanks to a human?”

“Sure did! But it’s a fact that you saved me. I’m not a heartless creature like you humans, so I’m going to repay you, even if I don’t want to. Let me just say this: I’ll repay the favor, but I’ll never say thanks as long as I live! Got it?”

The fairy thrust his little pointer finger sternly at Anne, who was bewildered.

“Umm…I don’t know what to say. I didn’t help you because I expected repayment, so I don’t really need you to do that. Especially if you’re doing it reluctantly and never thanking me as long as you live… I can’t tell whether you’re grateful or not…”

“You helped him? You’re a real busybody, scarecrow.” Challe sounded annoyed.

“Anyway, I couldn’t just stand by and let you die. Um, you said your name is Mithril?”

“My name is Mithril Lid Pod. Don’t shorten it!”

“Ah, s-sorry. Mithril Lid Pod. In any case, you don’t have to repay me, so—”

“Out of the question! Let me do it!”

The fairy’s incredible haughtiness made Anne feel suddenly exhausted.

“Maybe it’s because I haven’t had much contact with fairies up until now…but I thought they were more noble and charming. I was completely wrong, wasn’t I? Between you, and Challe, and Cathy…why are you all so stuck-up?”

“Come on, let me return the favor!”

“But I told you, there’s really no need.”

“No need? Don’t be ridiculous! Even if I have to follow you to the depths of hell, I’ll make it happen!”

“What’s this about hell?! That’s so scary! I can’t tell whether you’re out to pay me back or get revenge! Why are you threatening me?!”

“Just let me repay the favor I owe you. Until I do that, I’m tagging along.”

“Fine! Fine, I get it!! All right, I’ll take you up on it! Let’s see, umm…”

Anne looked around at her surroundings, then clapped her hands loudly.

“Got it! As repayment, would you please oil the axles of my wagon?”

“Don’t make light of me! Are you really gonna make me do something so dull as that in return for saving my very life?! You need to think of something way more amazing!!”

“An amazing repayment…like what?”

Anne held her head in her hands.

With a cold expression, Challe asked, “Want me to strangle him to death and shut him up? If you order me to, I’ll do it.”

Mithril was being very loud, but Challe’s tone was so harsh that Anne couldn’t tell if he was serious or joking.

When he heard Challe’s threat, Mithril launched a ferocious counterattack.

“Why, you!! How dare you say that about a fellow fairy?! Hmph! You must be made of obsidian. Are you looking down on me because I come from a water droplet? Hey, hey, human girl!”

“Anne.”

“Anne. This guy under your control is a fairy killer. You need to give him a wallop, just like a fairy hunter would!”

“Wha…? Why are you ordering me around? Who are you?”

“Come on, let’s strangle him.”

Anne groaned at Challe’s strangely forceful proposition.

“Don’t say stupid things like that after I went out of my way to rescue you. Anyway, look. You’re free, so I want you to go wherever you like and live happily ever after.”

“Go where I like?! Are you trying to get rid of me?! Well, I won’t go!”

“That’s not what I meant, but… I’m just…so tired… I’m going to sleep…”

The conversation with the rambunctious Mithril seemed like it could go on forever without reaching a conclusion.

Anne wearily turned her back on him and got ready for bed, wrapping herself in her blanket.

“Sorry, Challe…I’ll make you some sugar candy tomorrow night. By way of apology for the wait, I’ll make it something super pretty. If you want to eat candy, don’t steal your wing back while I’m asleep, okay?”

Whether or not Challe was actually enticed by the promise of candy, Anne felt pathetic relying on threats like that.

But it was a practical matter. If he reclaimed his wing and disappeared, she would be in real trouble, so there was no way around it.

“I wouldn’t worry about that… I doubt you’ll be falling asleep anytime soon,” Challe grumbled gloomily.

“Hey, you two!! Hey, don’t sleep, no sleeping—!!”

Anne covered her ears with her hands, trying to block out Mithril’s piercing voice.

“I don’t think he’s going to let us get any sleep tonight…”

She deeply regretted her own benevolence.

“Hey, hey, hey! Don’t you go to sleep, too!! We’re supposed to be friends!”

“I don’t need any friends as annoying as you.”

Challe lay down with a sigh. He was totally fed up with Mithril Lid Pod, who was still bouncing around.

“Wh-wh-what was that? What did you say—?”

“Payback? Are you stupid? She’s a human. Have you forgotten the pain when your wing was taken?”

The wings are the most sensitive part of a fairy’s body. The pain of having one plucked off is akin to losing a limb.

Being put through that agony is more than enough to make most fairies hate humans.

But Mithril snorted. “What are you talking about? I’ll never forget that pain. That’s why I’ll never say thank you to a human as long as I live. But Anne wasn’t the one who took my wing. Anne got it back for me. Whether human or fairy, good people are good, and bad people are bad, and I’m going to repay favors to any good ones. That’s why I’m going to repay Anne! I’m gonna pay-pay-pay her back!”

Mithril seemed to have some unusual ideas regarding the notion of payback, but at any rate, it was clear he was truly grateful to Anne from the bottom of his heart.

Regardless, he was still very noisy.

“Will you shut up?!”

Challe raised his hand, and the moment Mithril jumped into the air, Challe slapped him back down.

Mithril let out a screech as he crashed to the ground. He stared daggers at Challe, then started bouncing around next to Challe’s head, even more agitated than before.

“No more violence!! You fairy killer! Killer of your own kind!!”

Fairies who have had one wing removed lose their ability to truly fly. But by flapping the remaining wing and jumping, they can just about reach the height of a human head. Mithril used his wing to help him bounce around Challe, making himself even more of a nuisance.

Striking Mithril had only added to the clamor. Challe realized it would be wiser not to raise his hand against the smaller fairy again.

Anne, who was lying down with her hands over her ears, scowled hard in annoyance.

Anne had apparently saved this fairy, Mithril Lid Pod.

She was so softhearted, it was astounding. She was even soft on Challe.

Anne had served him soup before serving herself. What’s more, she had offered to make him sugar candy. She was treating him just like she would another human.

On top of all that, Anne wasn’t giving Challe stern orders. Hers were more like requests. He could clearly see she didn’t want to damage his wing. She had none of the resolve required to set him to work.

Being ordered around was different than being asked to do things.

So Challe was frankly perplexed. He didn’t know whether he should obey her or ignore her.

He resented the idea of obeying her without being forced to do so. But Anne was still in possession of Challe’s wing. If she got into any trouble, his wing might also suffer damage.

After some deliberation, he had ultimately driven the bandits away.

By no means had he been following Anne’s commands when he did. She was far too lenient for them to even be considered orders.

Challe wondered why Anne was so softhearted. Perhaps because she was lonely? She was a young girl who called out for her mother in her dreams. Of course she would get lonely, traveling all by herself. Perhaps she was unconsciously searching for someone who could alleviate her isolation.

With Mithril clamoring around, Challe didn’t think he would have a chance of stealing his wing from Anne that night.

Well, I don’t mind.

Challe was hardly being given any commands, which was more comfortable for him anyway. He didn’t have to do anything but smile and watch Anne get flustered. She truly was a sweet little girl.

A sudden thought popped into his mind.

The sugar candy the scarecrow makes must be very sweet indeed.