Hmm.
I finally get some time to rest, right?
I stood in the middle of the room they had given me and looked around.
It was simple enough. Nothing particularly impressive about it, especially compared to the palace itself. A bed, a table, a few chairs, and a small room connected to what appeared to be a private washroom.
Still, before doing anything else, I checked everything.
The walls.
The furniture.
The windows.
Even underneath the bed.
I wasn't sure what I was expecting to find. An assassin hiding under the mattress, perhaps?
After everything that had happened recently, I wouldn't have been surprised.
But I found nothing.
No hidden weapon.
No strange spell.
No suspicious presence.
Nothing.
Only after making sure of that did I finally relax enough to take a bath.
The water was...
Cold?
I couldn't really tell.
Fairy water probably had some strange property that I didn't understand. Whatever the case, when I came out of the bath, I felt colder than before.
I sat down for a moment and stared at the ceiling.
What should I do now?
Rest?
Sleep?
Explore?
The last one won almost immediately.
There was something I wanted to know.
The library.
If this realm had existed for this long, there had to be records. Histories. Legends. Maybe even information about the previous Creators who had come here.
So I decided to go.
I opened the door.
Sadlar wasn't standing outside.
That was strange.
Wasn't he supposed to be our guide?
Before I could think about it too much, I noticed someone approaching from the hallway.
A maid.
She wore a perfectly maintained uniform, her posture straight and her movements controlled. There was nothing hurried about her walk.
But her eyes were sharp.
Very sharp.
They landed on me.
She stopped.
For several seconds, she simply stared.
Then she began walking toward me.
My instincts immediately became alert.
Who was she?
An assassin?
Someone sent by the people who had already tried to kill me?
My hand slowly moved toward the sword at my waist.
If she moved even slightly wrong, I would strike.
She stopped a few steps away.
Then, unexpectedly, she bowed.
It wasn't a casual bow.
There was something strangely majestic about it.
"Are you perhaps Zaraf?"
I hesitated.
"...Yes?"
She raised her head.
"I am Narashi. I am the personal maid of Princess Bell."
Bell?
My guard immediately dropped by half.
Bell sent her?
My expression probably changed because Narashi continued watching me carefully.
"My princess sends her regards."
She extended one hand.
A small object rested in her palm.
"She also sent you this as thanks."
I stared at it.
"A seed?"
"Indeed."
She held it up.
"This is a Kakiku seed. Place it into boiled water, and it will become one of our famous drinks."
I looked at the seed.
Then at her.
Then back at the seed.
"Bell gave me this?"
Narashi's eyes narrowed.
I realized my mistake a second too late.
"I don't think Bell is the type of person who would give something like that."
Silence.
Damn it.
Why did I say that?
I should have just accepted it.
Narashi stared at me for another few seconds before sighing.
"Well."
She lowered the seed.
"You passed."
"Huh?"
"I was told that you were close to Princess Bell."
Her expression became slightly more serious.
"But I wanted to know exactly how close."
Another test?
Seriously?
I'd already had enough tests since entering this realm.
I sighed.
"And if I had failed?"
Her eyes suddenly became cold.
"I would never allow you to meet her again."
My expression froze.
"She is my princess. I will not allow someone with bad intentions to approach her."
"Bad intentions?!"
She ignored my protest.
"Fortunately, you seem to understand what kind of person she is. More importantly, you genuinely care about her."
She paused.
"So you passed."
Then she smiled faintly.
"And your reward is that I will allow you to meet her."
My face brightened.
Really?
I could finally meet Bell.
I had wanted to see her anyway. I even had something I wanted to ask her.
But then Narashi continued.
"Of course, that means during the announcement ceremony."
...
My smile disappeared.
I stared at her.
She stared back.
Somehow, I felt like I had been tricked.
"Okay."
I turned around.
"We'll meet another day."
I took several steps.
Then stopped.
I slowly looked back.
"By the way..."
Narashi raised an eyebrow.
"Where's the library?"
She gave me directions.
I thanked her and walked away.
Behind me, I could almost feel her gaze.
She start thinking,
"At first, I thought Princess Bell becoming friends with him was dangerous.But after meeting him..."
A pause.
"He really does care about her...And he's kind of handsome."
"Wait. What am I thinking?! I need to return to the princess."
I was halfway toward the library when two familiar figures suddenly appeared in front of me.
Gray.
And Alysa.
I stopped.
"Huh?"
Gray crossed his arms.
"Where are you going?"
I blinked.
"Somewhere."
"Didn't we make a plan to meet later?"
...
Oh.
Right.
We did.
I had completely forgotten.
"Haha..."
Gray's eyes narrowed.
"You're forgetting already?"
"I'm going to the library."
I walked past them.
"So go have fun."
A hand suddenly grabbed the back of my clothes.
I stopped.
Gray pulled me backward.
"Not you becoming a nerd."
"What?"
"You're coming with us."
"Why?"
"Because we made a plan."
I looked at Alysa.
She nodded enthusiastically.
"Come on!"
I sighed.
I had apparently lost the right to make my own decisions.
Then Sadlar appeared.
At least now we knew where we were going.
The moment we stepped outside the palace grounds, Alysa released a huge breath.
"We're finally out!"
I looked at her.
"You didn't like the palace?"
She turned toward the streets ahead.
Her bright green eyes seemed to reflect everything around us.
"I don't like shiny places."
She smiled.
"But I like bright people."
I looked at her.
She continued.
"Inside the palace, everyone was so tense. Everyone was watching their words. We had to behave properly all the time."
She spread her arms slightly.
"I like places where I can feel free. Where nobody stops me from being myself."
Free.
The word felt strangely distant.
I had spent so much time worrying about how my actions reflected on the Creators that I wasn't sure when I had last felt completely free myself.
Maybe that was simply what happened when you became an adult.
Or perhaps I was just making excuses.
Gray looked at Alysa.
"Free? But you seemed pretty comfortable talking to the king."
Alysa's face immediately reddened.
"I wasn't!"
"You were."
"I was nervous!"
"You definitely weren't acting nervous."
"I said I was!"
Gray gave her a sideways glance.
"I heard you."
Alysa puffed her cheeks.
I couldn't help but smile.
It was nice.
For a moment, there were no assassins.
No Death Givers.
Just three Creators walking through a city.
Maybe this was what normal felt like.
Lural was far larger than I expected.
The streets were crowded.
Fairies moved everywhere.
Some flew above the roads while others walked between buildings. Shops lined the streets, their signs decorated with strange symbols I couldn't read.
And there were more people than I expected.
"Why are there so many fairies?"
Sadlar answered calmly.
"The tournament."
He pointed toward the crowds.
"Fairies from different parts of the realm are coming to Lural to register for the Exil Tree Tournament."
"Register?"
I looked at him.
"But we haven't registered."
"You don't need to."
He smiled.
"You are already registered."
"What?"
"Princess Nashira approved your participation herself."
Princess Nashira.
The second princess.
I stored that information away.
Then another question came to mind.
"What is the situation with the royal family?"
Sadlar's expression changed.
Only slightly.
But I noticed.
"I am not permitted to discuss matters concerning the royal family."
The answer was polite.
Firm.
And final.
Interesting.
That was the first time he had directly refused one of my questions.
So there really were boundaries.
I decided not to push him.
Not yet.
We continued through the city without hiding our appearances.
And the reactions were... interesting.
Some fairies stared at us openly.
Others whispered.
A few looked excited.
Others looked suspicious.
Being a Creator here was apparently enough to make people curious.
Eventually, Sadlar took us to a restaurant.
I was suspicious at first.
Maybe he had brought us somewhere convenient to kill us.
But no poison appeared.
No assassin appeared.
And the food was incredible.
They called the dish something like...
Klursh?
I didn't remember.
Whatever it was, it tasted good enough that I decided forgetting the name wasn't important.
Afterward, Gray and Alysa left briefly to find a washroom.
I stayed outside.
I watched the crowds.
Fairies coming and going.
Children running between adults.
Merchants calling out to customers.
People preparing for the tournament.
Then something caught my eye.
A statue stood in the center of the city.
A woman.
She was beautiful.
Her body was posed strangely, almost ceremonially.
One hand was raised toward the sky.
And in that hand was a crystal.
Blue and white.
It glowed softly even beneath the daylight.
But there was something about it.
The crystal felt different.
Not like ordinary decoration.
I stared at it.
Who was she?
An old fairy suddenly stopped beside me.
He followed my gaze.
"Curious about her?"
I looked at him.
"Yes."
I pointed toward the statue.
"Who is she?"
The old fairy looked at the statue.
His expression changed.
Sorrow.
Regret.
Something deeper that I couldn't understand.
Then he spoke.
"She is your goddess."
I froze.
"My... what?"
"She is our goddess."
I looked at the statue again.
A goddess?
The old fairy smiled faintly.
"Our ancestor."
I frowned.
"The first fairy."
That surprised me.
So the fairies worshipped their ancestor?
I looked around.
The statue was spotless.
Not a single speck of dirt.
It was obvious that someone cleaned it constantly.
"Her name?"
"Eirael."
The old man's eyes shone as he looked at her.
"Eirael."
I repeated the name silently.
So this was the first fairy.
Their ancestor.
Their goddess.
I wondered what she had done to become so important.
Maybe Bell would know.
I should ask her later.
But I didn't need to dig into some old legend right now.
There were more immediate problems to deal with.
I looked at the statue one last time.
Then turned away.
"Interesting."
That was all.
When Gray and Alysa returned with Sadlar, they immediately noticed the statue.
"Who is she?" Alysa asked.
I glanced back.
"The old fairy said she's an ancient legend."
"That's it?"
"That's all I know."
Gray looked like he wanted to ask more.
But I had already started walking.
"Let's go."
The statue remained behind us.
Silent.
Watching over the city.
We continued exploring Lural.
Sadlar was surprisingly enthusiastic whenever he talked about the city.
He explained several places to us, pointed out important buildings, and occasionally became so excited that I wondered if he had forgotten he was supposed to be our guide.
Then someone stepped into our path.
A young fairy.
He was dressed in expensive-looking clothes covered with enough decoration to make my eyes hurt.
Noble.
Definitely a noble.
Beside him stood another young fairy.
His attendant, perhaps.
The noble stared at us.
"So..."
He smiled.
"I finally meet the Creators I've been hearing about."
Gray looked at him.
"But I haven't heard about you."
The noble's smile twitched.
His face reddened.
"You—"
Gray simply walked past him.
The noble's expression became furious.
"Fly as much as you want while the palace protects you!"
He pointed at us.
"But in the Exil Tree, we'll be the Wayfinders!"
He sneered.
"You should go back to your Imaginary World, kids!"
I stopped.
Narrow-minded.
That was the first impression I got.
Alysa didn't even seem interested.
Gray ignored him.
Which somehow made the noble even angrier.
"You bastard!"
He drew his sword.
Then charged.
Before either Gray or I could react—
A figure appeared behind him.
A tall fairy.
He grabbed the noble by the back of his clothes.
Then threw him aside.
The movement was so clean that I barely understood what had happened.
The noble crashed onto the ground.
The tall fairy didn't even look impressed.
"Fighting before the tournament is prohibited."
His voice was cold.
He walked away.
Just like that.
I stared after him.
Who was that?
Sadlar immediately spoke.
"We should go."
Around us, fairies were beginning to gather.
So we left.
I looked back once.
The noble's attendant was helping him up.
The boy shoved him away angrily.
I frowned.
An attendant wasn't something you should treat like that.
Fine.
I'll remember him.
If we meet again in the Exil Tree...
I'll teach him a lesson.
And then—
Time passed.
The day of the announcement ceremony finally arrived.