Sugar Apple Fairytale - Volume 1 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

AN EVENING AT THE DOCTOR’S INN

The person who was about to close the gate was a middle-aged man. He was unsteady on his feet, with a shaggy beard and unkempt, graying hair. But Anne could sense intelligence in his face.

“Wait, wait, please! I beg you!”

When he noticed Anne’s and Jonas’s wagons rushing toward him, the man left the doors half-open and waited for them.

Anne brought her wagon to a stop when they reached the gate, and she got down from the driver’s seat.

She was impatient but didn’t forget to show proper respect.

“I’m sorry to bother you after dark like this. Are you the doctor who lives here?”

When he heard her question, the man nodded.

“That’s right,” he said.

“We’re travelers. We were planning to stay at the way station down the road tonight, but we were attacked by wasteland crows and got delayed. There’s no way we’ll make it there. Please, would you let us stay here just for tonight?”

Even though Doctor’s Inns were well-known, they were still private residences. The doctor could choose to turn away travelers.

Anne wanted to win the man’s sympathy.

The doctor peered through the dim light to study Anne’s carriage.

“It sure looks like you got attacked by crows, doesn’t it? There are plenty of marks on the sides of your wagon where they struck it. Good thing you managed to get away safely.”

Anne looked back at Challe, who was still sitting.

“It’s because he was with us. He’s a warrior fairy.”

The doctor followed her gaze and looked at Challe. “What a beautiful fairy,” he remarked. “You don’t see many like this very often. He’s a warrior fairy, you say? Not a pet?”

The doctor shuffled up to the driver’s seat of the wagon and stared at Challe. He stood still, gazing in fascination at the fairy.

Night had settled over the land, and they could hear the howls of wolves.

Anne was growing tired of waiting but did her best to endure it.

However—

“Are you going to stare at me all night, shaggy?”

Challe sounded fed up.

Anne went pale and nearly screamed at him.

Hyaaah—!! Challe—! How could you—?!!

She felt a rush of cold sweat.

Sure enough, the doctor’s hair and beard were the shaggiest she had ever seen. Challe was right; the man was shaggy.

But it would be a disaster if he made the doctor angry.

As if he had awoken from a dream, the doctor blinked several times. Then, he smiled bashfully and turned back toward Anne.

“Ah, sorry, sorry. When you live in a place like this, you don’t often get to appreciate genuine beauty. Anyway, you seem to have had quite a difficult time. Please feel free to stay. The charge is sixty bayn per person. If that’s all right, you can pull both wagons inside the walls.”

“Th-thank you!”

Anne wiped away her cold sweat and hung her head low with relief.

When they got the wagons through the gate, they saw that there was already another guest’s conveyance stowed inside.

Anne could see immediately that the lacquer on their carriage was high-quality work. It was old, but solidly constructed.

Jonas, who had parked nearby, came up beside Anne and said quietly, “Look, Anne. This carriage must belong to someone of high social standing. Someone of real importance, you know? That makes me nervous.”

“We’ve got to be on our best behavior, then. Especially Challe—I need him to be more careful about what he says…”

As they were heading toward the door to the house, Anne glared at Challe, who was walking beside her.

“Challe. I thought my heart was going to stop earlier when you called that man ‘shaggy.’”

Mithril, who was bouncing along behind Anne, chimed in to criticize the larger fairy.

“That’s right, that’s right! That guy wasn’t shaggy; we oughta call him rickety instead!”

“Exactly, he was rickety, not shaggy… Wait, wrooong!!”

Anne shouted at the pair.

“You can’t call him ‘shaggy’ or ‘rickety’! What will we do if you make him angry? We’ll get kicked out of here!”

Challe answered calmly, “I doubt this particular human would get angry over something so insignificant. I can tell just by looking at him. I’m quite confident about this, since I called all sorts of humans many horrible names back in the fairy marketplace.”

“We don’t need your strange sense of confidence! In any case, please stop calling him names!”

“It’s been my habit for many years, so I’m not sure I can make any promises,” Challe said flatly.

Anne slumped her shoulders in defeat.

There was nothing she could do but humble herself and apologize the best she could if her companion angered someone.

Anne opened the door and stepped inside the house.

Just inside was a spacious room with no partitions.

Along one wall was a medicine cabinet and a wooden bed that looked like it was used for treatment. On the opposite wall were three sets of tables and chairs of various materials and designs. It looked like the doctor’s infirmary was also the dining room.

The other guests were nowhere to be seen. Anne figured they were probably relaxing in their assigned rooms.

The doctor led Anne and the others to a door in the back of the hall.

Behind it was a corridor running perpendicular to the doorway. At one end of the hallway was a room that looked like a kitchen, while the one on the other end looked like a bathroom.

There were three additional doors on both sides of the hallway, which appeared to be rooms meant for guests.

Anne and Jonas were each given their own room.

There were two beds, and a tidy little curtain hanging over a small window. The space was modest but comfortable.

“Once you put your bags down and rest a bit, come to the dining room. I can serve you a simple soup,” the doctor said as he left.

Of course, they didn’t have any luggage. Anne was more concerned with her grumbling stomach. Jonas seemed similarly afflicted, as he came into Anne’s room complaining of hunger.

Before long, Anne and the others nonchalantly poked their heads into the dining room.

The doctor had set a large pot on one of the tables and was ladling soup into earthenware bowls.

At a different table, two young men were seated. They were facing each other, playing cards.

Jonas whispered to Anne, “Those must be the other guests. Though, they don’t look all that important.”

One of the men was tall and solidly built. His unkempt brown hair was carelessly arranged, and the shirt, pants, and jacket he was wearing weren’t extravagant, though they looked well fitted. However, there were flickers of something wild in his brown eyes that couldn’t be concealed, even by smartly tailored clothes.

The other man had a strange appearance. He had a lean, muscular body and tanned skin. His hair was pure white and his eyes gray. He gave the impression of a graceful, feline predator. He was probably from another country. He was dressed in a leather vest and pants, and sitting beside him was a gently curved sword.

Someone important traveling incognito and his bodyguard. That was Anne’s guess.

“Oh, here you are. Come this way, the soup’s ready,” the doctor called out when he noticed Anne’s party.

At the sound of the their host’s voice, the two young men turned toward the door through which Anne and the others were poking their heads.

“Come and sit here. I don’t know how good it is, but we’ve got plenty to go around. You can eat lots.”

“Thank you so much,” Anne answered amiably, and they all entered the dining room.

Anne and Jonas took a seat at the table where the doctor had placed the large pot. Once they were seated, Anne noticed that Challe, Mithril, and Cathy were standing far from the table.

“What’s wrong, you three? Hurry up and sit down.”

Anne called them over. When she did, the doctor and the other guests looked at her with surprise.

“Huh? What?”

Anne recoiled under their gazes, and Jonas whispered, “Anne, you know it’s not normal to eat meals with your fairies, right?!”

“But I do it…”

“It’s not how things are normally done! This may be an inn, but we’re still guests here, right? If you say that kind of thing in a public place, people will think you don’t know social etiquette.”

Jonas made it clear that Anne had done something that missed the mark as far as so-called social etiquette was concerned. But at the same time, she was angry. She didn’t see any reason to demean fairies like that.

“I don’t need to know that kind of etiquette. I don’t care. Listen, I want to eat with Challe and the others.”

Anne looked the doctor in the face.

“We’ve been eating together this whole journey. I want to continue doing that. If we can’t, then I just won’t eat at all.”

“I see. I don’t mind personally, but look, I’ve got other guests right now, too…”

Suddenly, a loud laugh rang out, drowning out the doctor’s mumbling.

“It’s no problem!! I don’t care, either!”

The laugh came from the man with brown hair. As he chortled, he waved one big hand in Anne’s direction.

“Hey, sweetheart, what’s your name?”

“Anne. Anne Halford.”

“I’m Hugh. Don’t worry about it, Anne. Tell your fairies to have a seat.”

“Thank you.”

Hugh’s informal manner and cheerful smile softened the atmosphere.

The fairies looked baffled, unsure of what they should do. Anne invited them to her table.

As she and the others began eating their soup, the young man who had called himself Hugh gathered up the playing cards. He then leaned over from the adjacent table and spoke to Anne.

“Where are you kids from? And where are you headed, traveling down a highway like this?”

“He’s—Jonas is from Knoxberry Village. I’ve never had a permanent place to live ever since I was born, so I can’t tell you where I’m from. We’re going to Lewiston.”

At that point, Jonas puffed up with pride and said somewhat boastfully, “We’re going to enter the Royal Candy Fair in Lewiston! We’re both candy crafters.”

“Ha! You’re candy crafters? But you’re really traveling in luxury for a couple of ordinary candy crafters. You’ve got two servant fairies, plus one pet fairy, huh?”

Hugh rose with a grin. He stood beside Challe and peered deliberately at his face.

“Hmm? This one looks expensive. Who owns this pretty pet?”

Challe had his hand on his soup bowl, quietly eating. Just for a second, his sharp eyes glanced over at Hugh, but thankfully, he didn’t say anything.

“I bought Challe. But he’s not a pet fairy; he’s a warrior fairy. He’s my bodyguard.”

“A warrior fairy? You’re pulling my leg. You don’t have to be embarrassed about it. It’s only natural for a girl your age to want to take a walk with a pretty fairy like him. Did you fall in love with him, Anne? Is that why you bought him?”

Anne could tell he was making fun of her. She flared up with embarrassment.

“It’s not like that!”

“Don’t get all bashful now. I can tell; you don’t have to lie like that.”

“I’m not lying!” Anne shouted in spite of herself.

Hugh looked amused, and his eyes flashed.

“All right then, how about you prove it?”

Hugh glanced over at the young man accompanying him and took one step back.

The other traveler, who so far had been quiet enough that he’d faded into the background, reacted to Hugh’s signal.

Suddenly, he grabbed the sword sitting beside him and unsheathed it in a single motion, kicking his chair away. He looked like a beast on the prowl readying itself to pounce. The blade streaked through the air toward Challe.

“Challe!”

Faster than Anne could shout his name, the warrior fairy leaped to his feet and jumped out of the way.

Before the second attack reached him, his silver sword appeared in his hand.

The man’s weapon swung down at full strength, and Challe’s caught the blow.

The blades collided, and the force of the impact sent a ripple through the air.

“Not bad,” the young man with the tan skin muttered, expressionless.

Challe smiled and whispered to his opponent, “You want to die?”

“Afraid I’m not that messed up.”

The sound of their swords grinding against each other echoed through the room. Their power was well matched, and neither could advance.

“I see. He really is a warrior fairy,” Hugh said with a smile, sounding amazed. “That’s enough, Salim. Put away your sword.”

The man whom Hugh had called Salim readily withdrew his blade.

Challe shrugged, dropped his fighting stance, and let his sword disappear.

Once Anne came to her senses, she rose without thinking and grabbed Hugh by the collar.

“What do you think you’re doing, you idiot?!” she demanded. “If you hurt my companion, I’ll make you pay!”

“Sorry, sorry, don’t get so upset. I just couldn’t believe that such a pretty fairy could really be a warrior. I wanted to test him, that’s all,” Hugh said without a hint of remorse.

“You think that excuses what you did?!”

“Come on, I’m apologizing here. To make it up to you, I’ll pay the lodging fee for the lot of you.”

“You can’t weasel your way out of… Wait… Huh? The lodging fee? …Really?”

The hand holding Hugh’s collar slackened.

The cost of Emma’s medical treatments over the past half a year had been considerable. Anne had also been unable to earn much money during that time. She had burned through all their savings and used what little she had left to purchase Challe.

The lodging fees would bankrupt her.

Consequently, Anne was incredibly grateful to hear Hugh’s offer.

“One, two, three…five people, at sixty bayn a head—that comes to three cress, yeah?” Hugh said. “That’s quite a sum. A bit too expensive for a simple apology.”

“What do you mean? It was your suggestion, wasn’t it?!”

“You got me there. But I feel like I’m losing out a little. I know, you said you two are candy crafters, right? Make me one piece of candy each. If you do that, I’ll pay the lodging fees for all five of you.”

“Huh?!”

“Something roughly palm-sized will do. At most, two candies of that size would cost about ten bayn, right? You’ll be spending ten bayn to earn three cress—not a bad return, is it?”

Anne had a feeling that Hugh was toying with them.

But the idea of not having to pay the lodging fee was an attractive one.

She turned and looked at Jonas. Jonas shrugged.

“I’ve got no objections, Anne.”

For some reason, Jonas looked delighted.

Anne turned back toward Hugh and said with a huff, “All right, fine. We’ll make you candy. And in exchange, you’d better pay up!”

“If you like, I could take a knee and swear an oath.”

“I don’t need it. Just be patient. Once we’re finished eating, we’ll make your candy.”

When they had finished their meal, Anne and Jonas went together to retrieve the silver sugar from Anne’s wagon.

Inside the cargo hold of the wagon, lined up along one of the walls, were five silver sugar barrels.

One was empty. Another was about two-thirds full of silver sugar. The remaining three were tightly packed, all the way up to the rims.

Entrants in the Royal Candy Fair in Lewiston present a single work of candy art for the festival.

Along with these, they must also submit three barrels of silver sugar.

This is because they are judged not only by the quality of their crafting but also by their skill at stabilizing and refining fine-quality silver sugar.

Refining silver sugar from sugar apples had been Anne’s job since she was ten years old.

“We can’t use these three barrels, but even after I make my entry for the candy fair out of the two-thirds-full barrel, I’ll have plenty left over. We could make ten palm-sized candies, and I’d still have more than enough,” Anne mumbled as she opened the lid on the barrel.

She scooped some silver sugar into a stone vessel and handed it to Jonas. She filled one more for herself, then exited the wagon.

“This is kind of exciting, huh?” Jonas chirped happily as they headed back to the house.

Anne was doubtful. “Why? I’ve got a feeling that this guy is making fun of us.”

“Even so, don’t you feel proud to show off your skills in front of other people?”

“I guess so.”

“I sure do. I’ve got confidence in my skills. Actually, keep this between us, but there’s a very good chance I’m going to get an endorsement to become the future maestro of the Radcliffe Workshop! The current maestro there saw some of my work… He’s a distant relative of mine, but apparently, he took a liking to me. Of course, in order to become maestro, I first have to become a Silver Sugar Master.”

There are three large factions of candy crafters.

The Mercury Workshop.

The Paige Workshop.

And the Radcliffe Workshop.

If a crafter isn’t affiliated with one of these factions, they may face difficulty obtaining sugar apples, the raw material that goes into making silver sugar. They might also have a hard time selling the candy they create.

That is why the majority of candy crafters are affiliated with one of the three factions.

Of course, the rival factions are in constant competition.

Anne’s mother, Emma, did not join any of them. She’d claimed she didn’t care for the factions’ way of doing things. She had struggled to obtain sugar apples and to sell her sugar candies.

Whenever Anne heard Jonas boasting, it made her realize that he lived in a different world, with a totally different set of values than her.

However, their aspiration to become Silver Sugar Masters seemed the same, though it might have been the only thing they shared in common.

“So you want to become a Silver Sugar Master too, huh, Jonas? Why don’t you enter this year’s Royal Candy Fair?”

“Well, I…I’ve entered twice, last year and the year before that, but I haven’t been able to become a Silver Sugar Master yet. I’m sitting out this year. I’m going to polish my skills a little more and go for it next year! For the sake of my future, I need to become a Silver Sugar Master. If I don’t, I can never lead the Radcliffe Workshop. And I can never work up to be a Silver Sugar Viscount.”

Anne’s eyebrows rose in surprise when she heard those words.

“Jonas, you want to become Viscount?”

The Silver Sugar Viscount is an individual chosen from among all the Silver Sugar Masters to work exclusively for the royal household.

The title is granted to that Silver Sugar Master and only them. It cannot be passed down through their bloodline.

All the candy-crafter factions must follow the orders of the Silver Sugar Viscount. Failing to do so is considered the same as disobeying a royal edict.

Becoming Viscount is a peak achievement for any candy crafter.

“I sure do! Actually, I know I’m going to make Viscount. I mean, the son of commoners becoming a noble? There’s no greater dream, is there? So, Anne—”

Suddenly, Jonas stopped walking. Anne stopped, too.

“So won’t you please marry me? I’m going to become a Silver Sugar Master and then Silver Sugar Viscount. I can promise you a happy life.”

The moon poked its face out from between two clouds. Anne could see Jonas’s expression clearly.

She should have been happy to hear those words, but she tried to imagine leading a happy life with the boy in front of her. The vision evaded her.

Even looking at Jonas’s handsome face and hearing his proposal didn’t stir her heart.

Rather than Jonas…

Suddenly, an image of Challe floated up in Anne’s mind. She felt even more flustered than usual when picturing his face.

“Sorry, Jonas. Let’s not talk about that right now.”

Anne hurried into the house and saw Hugh sitting at a table waiting for them. Across from him were two chairs set up side by side.

The fairies and Salim, along with the doctor, were gathered around like an audience.

“All right, you two, take a seat. I want you to make your candy right in front of me.”

There were bowls of water sitting on the table, one deep and one shallow for each of them. There were also two cutting boards that had been procured from the kitchen.

Looking at the items arranged before her, Anne frowned and sat down in one chair.

“You don’t need to add any color. And I’ll leave the decision of what to make up to you.”

“Before we start, can I ask you something?”

Anne stared into Hugh’s face from directly across the table.

“What is it?”

“Who are you? The way you arranged these tools…You couldn’t have done it unless you’re familiar with the process of making sugar candy. You wouldn’t happen to be a candy crafter, too? Are you entering the Royal Candy Fair?”

Hugh’s mouth curled into a suggestive smile. “If you want me to pay your lodging fees, hush and make candy, Anne.”

“…Well, whatever. As long as you’re paying.”

Anne poured some of the water that had been set out on the table into the stone bowl that held her sugar.

Jonas started in the same way.

They added cold water to their silver sugar and kneaded the resulting mixture. As they did, the sugar became like a soft clay.

Normally, Anne would add colored powders into the dough to produce a variety of shades. It was the usual method crafters took, as combining various powders could make gorgeous, multicolored works of candy art. But this time, she wouldn’t use any.

Anne transferred the claylike sugar dough to the cutting board and continued kneading.

Hugh hadn’t laid out any of the tools for forming the candy, so there was nothing to do but make it using only her fingers.

Silver sugar melts easily from heat. Crafters must work quickly, cooling their hands with water while handling it.

Anne chilled her fingers in the cold water that had been set out on the table.

It is said that the hand movements of candy crafters are akin to those of magicians. They move gently and smoothly.

What should I make?

Anne thought it over as she kneaded her sugar.

I wonder what Mama would make if she was here?

Anne figured that Emma would probably have made good use of the white color and created something white.

Emma had loved plants, so Anne settled on a white flower.

Once she made her choice, she recalled a flower shape that Emma often crafted.

Anne molded the flower petals with her fingertips, producing a great number. Then, she layered them to make the flower.

Jonas was molding a cat that could sit in the palm of his hand. It had a long, elegant tail and a lovely curving body. It was obvious he was trying to show off.

Hugh stared at their hands as they worked, a serious expression on his face.

Cathy looked at Jonas’s creation and marveled, “The things Master Jonas makes are truly incredible…”

It didn’t take all that long for them to complete their tasks.

Anne and Jonas stopped working and lifted their heads at the same time.

“You two finished?” Hugh asked.

Jonas nodded confidently and pointed to his cutting board.

“All done.”

“Me too.”

Anne also placed the results of her efforts on her cutting board.

Hugh pulled the two boards toward him.

He looked back and forth between them for a while, then chuckled quietly.

“You’re both pretty skilled. You don’t seem like novice crafters at all.”

Anne and Jonas looked at each other and smiled.

However, the very next moment, Hugh brought both his palms down and smashed their creations to bits.

“Ah!”

“What are you doing?!”

Anne and Jonas shouted.

Hugh stared at them with an unsparing expression.

“They were ugly, so I smashed them. Jonas, you’ve got nimble hands, but that’s all you have. It was well-made, but since you just wanted to show off your skills, that’s as far as you got. There was no creativity there. Anne, you did better than Jonas. But what was that? It was like you made an exact copy of something someone else already made. It was hollow; it had no spirit. I doubt eating something like that would draw in any good fortune or extend any fairy’s life span. If this is all you can do, becoming a Silver Sugar Master is an impossible dream for either of you.”

The lecture left both Anne and Jonas speechless.

Anne had a feeling that Hugh had hit the bull’s-eye in some respects. He had accurately vocalized the feelings of inferiority that gnawed at her when she thought about her own work, feelings that had always been there but she’d never been able to articulate.

Jonas must have been in the same boat. His expression was stiff.

“Well, I guess I’ll take these candy pieces with me. I can have them for a snack tomorrow.”

Hugh swept the broken pieces of candy into a bowl and stood up.

“All right, then, off to bed, I suppose. I’ve got an early morning tomorrow. Come, Salim. See you later, Anne, Jonas. That was amusing—a good way to kill some time.”

Hugh left the room with Salim.

The doctor was dumbfounded.

Cathy rushed over to the motionless Jonas. In her shrill voice, she cried, “What was that man trying to do?!” She hopped up on the table and stroked Jonas’s hand. “Master Jonas, don’t pay him any mind. You mustn’t take the words of such a strange, suspicious man seriously!”

“Is that so?” Jonas smiled bitterly and glanced over at Anne. “I’m sorry, Anne. I…I’m going to my room.”

“Me too… Good night!” Anne shouted.

She then took off running toward her own room.

She felt frustrated and intensely embarrassed.

“Hey, you! Challe Fenn Challe! Are you thinking of going back to the room?!”

After watching Anne run away, Challe let out a sigh. He then started walking slowly in the same direction. He was turning in as well. Mithril called out to his back in a horrified tone.

Challe turned around and answered, “I am.”

“Well, stop it!”

“What’s wrong with going to the room?”

“After what that guy said, Anne must be really hurt. She might be crying, you know? Or if we’re really unlucky, maybe she’s flown into a rage?! She’ll hate you if you just barge in like nothing happened!”

“I don’t really care.”

“We-well, I’m against it! I’m sleeping in the dining room tonight!”

“Do whatever you want.”

As he walked back to the room, Challe mused that Hugh’s appraisal had been spot-on.

Challe had felt the same way when he saw what Anne had made.

He thought that Anne herself probably agreed. That was why she was so hurt.

When he opened the door, the interior of the room was pitch-dark.

Anne had crawled into bed, covered herself from head to toe with her blanket, and curled up into a ball.

Challe sat down on the adjacent bed and gazed at the bundle of blankets.

Anne looked just like a bagworm.

Liz.

While staring at her, Challe suddenly remembered something.

When Liz was little…she also pouted and cried, and she often covered herself in her blanket and curled into a little ball. How old was she back then…? Maybe nine or ten? She stopped doing it after that.

He looked at the bagworm in front of him again.

This girl is fifteen?!

Even though Anne was fifteen years old, she could be terribly childish. The fact that she still acted that way was probably because, for years, she’d had a mother to protect her and give her a happy life.

When he pictured it, Challe felt like he was seeing the last embers of a dying fire. He found it kind of charming that Anne, who was always clamoring on about how grown-up she was, was acting like a child of ten. He chuckled to himself.

The moment he did, Anne sat up.

“What are you laughing at?! Is it that funny to see a person down in the dumps?!”

Her eyes were bright red and filled to the brim with tears. They glistened in the moonlight streaming through the window. She looked like she was trying hard not to let the tears overflow.

Holding back tears and biting her lip, she appeared all the more childish.

Challe knew it was wrong, but he snorted with laughter. He clapped one hand over his mouth.

“What?! Now you’re laughing in my face?! In any case, a scarecrow like me isn’t fit to be seen! I’m in here sobbing with grief, and you think my face looks funny. I’ve been mocked by people with beautiful faces like yours my whole life!” Anne shouted, then shoved her face back into her pillow.

Challe felt sorry for Anne. She seemed to be experiencing a lot of pain and turmoil. He himself felt very calm for some reason, though.

It was as if he had remembered something long buried.

Challe stood up and took a seat on the bed where Anne was lying.

That’s right, Liz had hair this color when I first met her, too. I had forgotten.

Without really thinking, Challe picked up a tuft of Anne’s hair that was spread out on the sheets.

“People won’t mock you forever. Humans are different from us. Humans are always changing. I bet that before three years have passed, you’ll turn out to be quite beautiful. Your hair will change color, too, into a light, beautiful golden blond. By then, no one will be calling you a scarecrow anymore. Your candy-crafting abilities will also develop. What Hugh said was not wrong, but you shouldn’t worry about it.”

Anne slowly, suspiciously lifted her face halfway off the pillow.

“I’m going to hone my skills at candy-making. I’m determined to get better. If I can get to where I’m going through hard work, I’ll find a way. But I don’t need you to comfort me with obvious lies about me becoming beautiful or whatever.”

“It’s not a lie. I know.”

Challe looked down at the tuft of hair resting on his palm.

“When I was born, the first creature who laid eyes on me was a human child. A five-year-old girl. Her hair was the same color as yours. It seems I was born because of that girl’s gaze.”

It was a memory from long ago. For some reason, Challe wanted to share it. Some part of him harbored a faint hope that by doing so, he might regain something he had lost.

Anne looked surprised when Challe started telling the story.

“The girl was named Elizabeth…Liz for short. She was the daughter of a noble family, and due to her special circumstances, she was brought up separate from the outside world. She was young and ignorant. Liz knew nothing about fairies, so she mistakenly imagined that I was her older brother. She took me back home with her and gave me shelter.”

Anne lifted her head from the pillow and sat up straight on the bed.

The lock of her hair slipped from Challe’s grasp.

He slowly closed his now-empty hand, staring at his fist.

“From that point on, we were always together. After fifteen years, Liz’s hair turned golden blond, her freckles faded, and she became a beautiful young woman. That’s how I know. You will also change like Liz did.”

“And then?”

Challe raised his head at Anne’s question.

“What happened to Liz? You said Liz was always with you. Why isn’t she here now?”

He cast his eyes back down.

The question made his chest hurt again, even though it had happened more than a hundred years earlier.

“She died… She was killed. The person who killed her was a human.”

Anne hung her head when she heard his words.

After a moment, Anne’s hand gently touched Challe’s clenched fist.

“I’m sorry…”

He didn’t understand why Anne was apologizing.

Perhaps she felt bad for making him share a sad memory.

Or perhaps it was an apology for the fact that she was a human, just like the one who had killed Liz.

But he could tell she had a kind heart.

Challe shook his head slightly and stood up. Anne’s hand slipped off his fist.

He had said too much.

“Go to sleep already, scarecrow,” Challe said quietly over his shoulder.

Memories are memories. No need to raise them.

When Anne awoke the following morning, Hugh had already departed. He had apparently left before dawn, but he had paid their lodging fees as promised.

Where on Earth did Hugh come from, I wonder?

But Anne didn’t dwell too deeply on the question.

The impact of what Hugh had said to her had already mostly dissipated.

More importantly, the fragment of Challe’s past that he had shared with her made a deep impression on Anne’s heart.

The party set out from the Doctor’s Inn. For three days, they traveled without any attacks from beasts or bandits.

During that time, Anne kept stealing glances at Challe’s face as he sat next to her.

The warrior fairy had insisted he could never become friends with a human.

But when Challe was born, he bonded with a human girl.

They had spent fifteen years together, he’d said. That was a long time—the same amount of time Anne had spent with her mother.

To Challe, that girl Liz had probably been like family. But she was snatched away from him by human hands. It made Anne’s heart ache to see the lonesome expression on Challe’s face, his eyes downcast.

Challe had bonded with a human originally, and then humans had frozen his heart.

I wish there was some magic spell to thaw it again.

That was all Anne thought about as her wagon trundled along, her eyes constantly drawn to Challe’s profile.

At the end of the seventh day after starting down the Bloody Highway, they arrived at a way station just as the evening sun was sinking in the sky.

They had made it two-thirds of the way down the road.

Anne closed the iron doors and breathed a sigh of relief.

If they traveled for three more days, they would be off the Bloody Highway.

Once they were safely inside the way station, Anne set about preparing dinner.

She ate a humble soup and an apple.

Jonas’s dinner was fancy, as always.

Along the way, Jonas began trying to share his food with Anne, but she had refused every offer. It was dangerous to get accustomed to luxury on a journey. Since one never knew what might happen while traveling, it was important to ration food carefully and to get used to eating very basic meals.

Jonas retired to his wagon with Cathy in tow.

Mithril had finally stopped clamoring on about repaying his debt to Anne. He now perched atop the driver’s seat all day as if he belonged there. At night, he gathered grass and made himself a little bed on top of the roof of the cargo hold, then slept there. That night as well, he diligently made his bed and was soon snoring away.

Anne still hadn’t struck upon a method of repayment that would satisfy Mithril. He was probably going to stick with her forever until she did. She was already used to Mithril’s shrill voice, and now that she was accustomed to it, his arrogance also seemed cute. It was odd.

Anne sat down near the fire with Challe and got ready to go to sleep.

Challe had set his apple on the palm of his hand and was eating it. The surface of the apple gradually wrinkled. It withered, then finally crumpled up into nothing and dissolved.

That was how fairies ate. No matter how many times Anne watched it, she still found it strange.

“It’s kind of chilly tonight, huh? We should expect it to get cold as autumn draws to a close. Aren’t you cold, Challe?”

“We don’t feel the cold like humans do.”

“Oh? That’s handy.”

The moment after she responded, Anne sneezed. It really was chilly.

Challe glanced over at the wagon where Jonas was sleeping and asked, “Why don’t you sleep inside your cargo hold? You ought to sleep somewhere warm, like that boy does.”

Anne pulled a blanket out from under the driver’s seat and shook her head as she carried it over to the fireside.

“I don’t know what Jonas uses his wagon for, but mine is a work area for making sugar candy. It’s a sacred space. I can’t sleep in a place like that. Mama and I never once slept inside the wagon. In winter, we went out of our way to find lodging elsewhere. Mama would always say, ‘Sugar candy is a sacred food. We mustn’t sully the places where it is made or the people who make it.’”

Staring into the fire, Challe responded, “She sounds like a good crafter, your mother.”

When he said that, Anne recalled Emma’s face. She felt extraordinarily lonely.

“Mm. Very good.”

Anne didn’t get much sleep that night.

I’m lonely.

Such feelings slowly rose to the surface of her heart again and again, like bubbles.

I wonder if Challe feels this way, too?

She tossed and turned, then looked over toward where Challe was lying.

He was just five or six steps away. She wished it was less.

Is he asleep? Or has he just got his eyes closed, thinking about something? I want to talk to him.

Anne extended her hand, driven by the impulse to touch his wing, which was spread out on the bed of grass.

She almost got up and reached for it but hesitated and stopped herself.

There’s no telling what he’ll say if I touch his wing while he’s sleeping.

Challe was likely to be furious if a human touched his precious remaining wing.

A spell to melt Challe’s heart…

Just then, she suddenly remembered the sugar candy.

She had promised to make him some, then completely forgotten about it when Mithril made his appearance.

Since she seemed unlikely to sleep anyway, Anne got up.

I’ll make the candy I promised him.

Maybe the sweet sugar candy would warm Challe’s heart just a little.

Anne opened the back doors to her cargo hold and stepped inside.

The light of the slightly-less-than-full moon streamed through the windows. Relying on it to see, Anne slid her hand softly over the cold stone worktable, touched the scales, and stroked the neatly arranged row of wooden spatulas.

Emma had been there. All the things that Emma had touched with her hands were waiting there quietly.

Thoughts of her mother came to her in the silence, threatening to make Anne lose her composure.

She shook her head and surveyed the barrels of silver sugar.

“We made candy for Hugh, but there should be plenty of silver sugar left. I bet I can make two or three pieces to give to Challe,” she mumbled as she opened the lid on one of the barrels.

“Huh?”

As far as Anne remembered, the barrel she opened had been more than half full of silver sugar.

But it was empty. She wondered whether she had mistakenly opened the wrong one.

With that thought, she opened the lid on the barrel she had thought was empty. There was nothing in that one, either.

“But…how?”

Anne was dumbfounded. Her heart beat faster.

One after another, she opened the remaining barrels. The three others were packed to the brim with sugar, just as she had left them.

But two out of the five were completely depleted.

The ingredient she needed to make her entry for the Royal Candy Fair was gone.