Chapter 272
The Frozen Fairy Land
Sherlock stopped, pressing his temple with a throbbing headache.
Eivass, walking ahead of him, sensed this immediately. He also stopped and turned back, “Is everything alright, Sherlock?”
“I’m fine.”
Sherlock’s voice was cold, “I think it’s because this body is too short… For the same distance, you can walk briskly, but I have to trot just to keep up. It’s tiring… I feel a vein throbbing in my forehead.”
Eivass chuckled upon hearing this.
However, he didn’t say anything caring like “Then I’ll walk slower.” He just casually remarked, “Maybe you’re thirsty. After all, we haven’t had much to drink this afternoon.”
With that, he took a flask from his embrace and threw it to Sherlock.
Sherlock, dressed as a newsboy, caught the flask and poured it into his mouth without hesitation.
Then he spat it out.
“…Are you crazy!”
Amidst Eivass’s booming laughter at his successful prank, Sherlock angrily re-tightened the lid of the “flask,” “I’m only thirteen or fourteen years old, and you’re giving me alcohol?”
And it was strong liquor.
Sherlock could taste it after one sip; it was over forty-proof Church whiskey.
The amber liquid had a unique and rich toasted aroma, like roasted wheat. At the same time, there was a faint, lingering fruity sweetness, leaving a rich fragrance in his mouth after a sip.
However, Sherlock had low alcohol tolerance. He usually needed to dilute it with water, or add some lemon juice and honey water.
Eivass, on the other hand, slowly took back the bottle and handed Sherlock an almost identical flask, “I never told you this was water.”
“I trusted you!”
“Don’t be silly. You were just letting your guard down because there was someone you knew with you.”
Eivass said frankly, “If someone turned into me and fed you poison, would you drink it without hesitation? Perhaps if you paused for a second or two, you would have realized something was wrong. But you drank it down too quickly – do you think I would be happy about your death? ‘Oh, my friend Sherlock died because he trusted me, how happy I am’… Do you like that kind of sentiment?”
“…Tsk.”
Sherlock clicked his tongue, unsure of what to say for a moment.
Although he was very unhappy, rationally, Eivass’s words made sense. He was even more upset because he couldn’t refute them.
He could only honestly drink the water and accept Eivass’s lesson.
“But it’s truly strange.”
Seeing Sherlock’s disgruntled expression, Eivass, who had already mastered Sherlock’s user manual, spoke up, “We flew around Eagle Cape Village twice on Gryphons, and we still couldn’t find it.”
They had previously followed Haina’s instructions and headed south from Windpipe Town… They even flew all the way to Alder Town, but still couldn’t find Eagle Cape Village.
Eivass, unwilling to give up, had the two Gryphon aunts fly low on their return – but still, they couldn’t find it.
Finally, they dismounted their Gryphons in Windpipe Town and asked around. Only then did they learn that Eagle Cape Village was indeed nearby. With the enthusiastic guidance of a local resident, they finally found the forest path.
“There are two possibilities. Either a powerful barrier that conceals something… or the Fairy Forest.”
Sherlock’s attention was indeed diverted by Eivass’s words.
He looked at the path in the dense forest and said sternly, “Do you know about the Fairy Forest?”
Eivass nodded. Lily and the Gryphon Liz looked over curiously.
Sherlock ignored Eivass and gazed at the two ladies, earnestly explaining, “Whether it’s Avalon, Star Antinomy, or Iris Flower, in those rural areas with dense forests, there’s a common legend that children easily go missing in the forest. That legend refers to the ‘Fairy Forest.’
“In dense forests where you can’t see the end and there are no high points to survey from, if a harmonious path suddenly appears where there was nothing before… then it’s highly likely to be a Fairy Forest. Some Fey live there.
“Only those invited by the Fey can enter the Fairy Forest – usually innocent, lively, and healthy children, or young people with simple and passionate personalities. One of the necessary conditions is good looks, and another is talent, such as singing or dancing.
“After entering the Fairy Forest, these people will play with the Fey. During this time, they often forget about time and their appearance remains unchanged… Whenever they want to leave, they will be taught something by the Fey and kept for a while longer. When they finally leave, they will discover that an unknown amount of time has passed outside.”
“…Isn’t that good?”
Lily asked with some doubt, “Isn’t that a form of extended lifespan?”
Sherlock said seriously, “Those are some good-tempered Fey. There are also other, malevolent Fey, who will forcibly keep children there, turning them into new Fey; to ‘increase their friends,’ they will even take the initiative to abduct or steal children.
“Children stolen in this way, even if they are rescued before turning into Fey, often lose the ability to speak human languages. Therefore, the Fairy Forest is very dangerous – whether the inhabitants are good Fey or bad Fey.
“The simplest way to identify a Fairy Forest is by the light source. If the sun is very bright, but there is no light whatsoever in the depths of the forest, and no animals emerge from it, then this path likely leads to the Fairy Forest.”
Sherlock said, pointing ahead, “For example, here— look.”
The straight path disappeared into the distance.
The surrounding trees seemed to part willingly, leaving a clean dirt road.
“It’s already mid-December. There should be fallen leaves and dead branches everywhere, but that dirt road is spotless. The fallen leaves are neatly arranged on both sides of the road, as if someone had cleaned it.”
Sherlock narrowed his eyes and calmly analyzed, “Just by looking at it, you know something is definitely wrong, right?”
Lily lowered her head in shame.
Despite being an Extraordinary of the Path Adaptation, the highest proportion of her spiritual senses was danger perception. Yet, standing here, she only felt a faint sense of incongruity, with no hint of a crisis.
But she couldn’t understand it.
Did Miss Haina live in the Fairy Land?
However, Fey were beings of the Path of Beauty.
If this was indeed the Fairy Land, how could Haina, who originated from here, lack any adaptability to the Path of Beauty?
“In conclusion, we need to be prepared to meet Fey.”
Eivass narrowed his eyes, gazing into the dark, unknown space at the end of the forest path, and shared some very obscure and rare knowledge with the two: “In fact, ‘Fey’ is a rather unfriendly term for the Fey themselves; it’s a form of insult. Just as calling a ‘Child of the Moon’ a Vampire is a direct insult, referring to Fey as ‘Fey’ can provoke their hostility.
“Compared to the Children of the Moon, Fey have simpler minds. This means they say what they think and do what they say. Even the slightest dissatisfaction will not be suppressed but will be expressed directly.
“The correct designation is ‘Our Benevolent Neighbors’ or ‘Joyful Beings’… Remember that.”
“But,” Lily was still confused, “Eagle Cape Village isn’t necessarily the Fairy Land…”
Little Sherlock sighed.
“Don’t you understand yet, Miss Lily?”
He earnestly emitted a young voice, “What Eivass means is… he’d rather there be Fey living inside.”
With that, they stepped completely into the darkness and crossed the mountain.
After a brief silence, a light pierced the darkness. Bustling sounds of revelry came through the shadows.
The brilliant golden sunset hung in the sky, illuminating the entire village and casting long shadows. People came and went, laughter and joy filled the air, and they were at ease.
—Eagle Cape Village at twilight was like a frozen painting.
As if it had been this beautiful from a long time ago, and as if this moment could last for a very, very long time to come.
