Chapter 35: Chapter 27: A fairy buried in the snow.

Echoes of Fire and Shadows

Chapter 27: A fairy buried in the snow.

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I was sitting on a bench in the middle of the plaza with Harold and Klein. My dad was standing nearby examining the letter that I had received from Eliana.

I was lucky that I had found Dad since he was about to head out to hunt monsters in the vicinity of the village along with some of our neighbors who used to be adventurers.

"Hmm… But to suddenly change the date of the tournament by several months… This smells a bit fishy." My dad was talking to himself.

"Is it really that unheard of for that to happen?" I asked him with a curious expression on my face.

"Aye." He nodded as he reread the letter for the third time today.

"Do you think that woman is trying to mess up with you again?" Harold asked while frowning. He didn't have a lot of good memories of the visit of the two royals.

"I doubt it. There's simply no way Eliana could be that dumb… After all, we know that she and the royal family are in a vulnerable position after the deaths of the other songs. It would be tremendously stupid for her to try to mess up with my dad, plain and simple." I answered Harold's question.

My parents have told me very clearly that if Eliana tries to pull something harmful against me or my sisters, they will beat her to a pulp, no questions asked.

I'm not worried about something like that happening since there's still that little countermeasure I included in our deal all those years ago.

Though, I can't deny that a small part of me would like to see my mom and dad showing their full power...

My dad simply nodded in agreement while I was lost in thought.

"I don't think it really matters whether it is a scheme or not. You have to go to the capital either way, right? So what's the problem with going a couple of months earlier?" Klein said nonchalantly. "And besides, there's nothing Mr. Fred can't handle. He's the strongest man alive after all." Klein showed clear admiration for my dad.

"Sigh… Again with that, kid? I told you to just call me Fred." My dad looked at Klein with clear frustration on his face.

For some reason, there's nothing that my dad hates more than being called 'Mr. Fred'. He refuses to talk about why, but he has explicitly told me many times that he hates to be called that. 

Even when Auntie is teasing him, she doesn't call him that.

"Sorry…" Klein apologized to my dad.

"Sigh… It's fine. Just call me Fred and you're forgiven." My dad let out a sigh and smiled at him. "In any case, I guess it is as you say, Klein. For now, let's focus on making our preparations for the trip." He folded Eliana's letter and placed it in his pocket.

My dad then walked over to me and started to ruffle my hair.

"But what if she's really planning something!? You'll never know what people like her are thinking!" Harold suddenly got a bit agitated.

"That's something for US grownups to worry about." My dad said to Harold. He didn't look worried at all. "You don't need to worry about this kiddo, in fact, your only worry should be to not show off TOO much at the tournament." My dad encouragingly patted my shoulder.

"I'll try my best." I said with an innocent smile on my face.

"Well, if you win the tournament, maybe, just maybe, I'll let you win against me someday! Hahaha!" My dad started laughing very loudly, making all of the snow fall from the roofs.

Both Harold and Klein ended up covering their ears due to how loud my dad was…

"I don't need that! I'll beat you fair and square someday!" I said with annoyance and frustration.

Sigh… If you think my loss streak against Auntie is big (106 losses, 0 draws, and 0 wins), you'd be pretty surprised about my loss streak against my dad.

Ever since that fateful morning when I found him training by himself outside the house and he started teaching me, we have fought more than 750 times. As you can imagine, every single one of those battles has ended with my defeat…

I have tried many complex strategies as well as simply facing him head-on, both of which have been a total failure so far. Even with magic, I still can't even manage to leave a scratch on him…

His Unique Skill is truly the stupidest and most cheat-like thing I have ever seen!

On top of that, he can deflect magic with his muscles!? How the fuck is it even possible for him to do that!? Even Auntie uses a barrier to block magic!

I know he's the strongest man alive, but damn! It is so frustrating to not be able to even scratch him!

"Sure thing, kid." My dad smiled at me, in both an encouraging yet teasing manner.

"You're not taking me seriously again…" I couldn't help but frown.

"Hahaha! Kid, you still have plenty of time before taking your old man's place at the top." He laughed again as he ruffled my hair vigorously, totally ruining my hair… "However, even then, I won't give up my place at the top that easily!" He suddenly stopped ruffling my hair and crossed his arms. A confident smile had appeared on his face.

"You won't be so confident when I try to do…-" I started muttering to myself.

I have been reading about several swordsmanship styles from this world in order to defeat him and my Auntie.

I've even been mixing those styles with what little I know from a few swordsmanship styles and even some martial arts from Earth.

There's a little bit of the style my bio father from this world was teaching me, but it is not much. I was still a novice after all, so I just included what I could remember about the basics of that style.

Everything has been written down in my secret strategy book!

I'm sure that dad won't be laughing when I start pulling some of the moves I thought of and wrote down in my book…

I wonder how he will react when I pull something like Ultra Inst*nct on him?

Well… Even though I say that… It is still difficult to execute moves from a book when you've never seen them in real life…

Sigh... They make it look so easy in anime, movies, and TV shows...

Because of the unexpected difficulty of those moves, I have been taking some time to train by myself in secret in order to develop this new style of mine. I have a secret hideout and everything! In that place, my secret strategy book is safely stashed away.

"What did you say, kid? I couldn't hear you." My dad asked with a curious expression.

"I said that you should enjoy your place at the top while you can." I smiled confidently at him.

It might seem like it, but my dad doesn't really like to brag and tease me as Auntie does. He does it because he knows it is the easiest way to motivate me…

Sigh… Unfortunately, my auntie and my dad are right about that. That is truly the most effective method to motivate me.

I'm obviously not proud of that fact, but it is what it is.

"Heh. Save that energy for the tournament." My dad patted my head one last time before turning around to leave. "Harold, care about coming to the stables with me? The wagons are in serious need of maintenance." My dad motioned for my father-in-law to come with him.

"Umm… Fred, why aren't you, I don't know... More worried about this situation!? You all could be walking into a trap, you know!?" It seemed like the visit of Eliana had left Harold a bit traumatized.

"And you're worrying too much even though you are not coming with us…" My dad scratched the back of his neck and looked at Harold with a blank expression. "Worst case scenario, we'll just destroy the city. Does that put you at ease?" My dad said casually.

Come again…?

I couldn't help but stare at my dad wide-eyed… Harold and Klein were both looking at my dad with concern. Their rabbit ears suddenly stiffened.

"Fred, are you serious…?" Harold spoke with some difficulties.

"Of course not! It was just a joke." My dad replied in a very nonchalant manner.

Oh, thank Lia…

"Well, let's get going. There's a lot of stuff I'll need to prepare before the trip." My father then turned around and started walking away.

The three of us simply saw him leaving in the direction of the stables.

"You know, sometimes your dad can be a bit…" Harold looked at me in the eyes while smiling wryly. "Sigh… Nevermind that. I think I should get going then." He looked visibly tired.

Harold simply stood up, and gave us a nod before leaving to follow after my dad.

"You think your dad was serious about destroying the city?" Klein asked.

"Of course not." I shook my head in denial.

Actually, I don't know for sure whether he was kidding or not… My dad is the kind of serious man who always follows up with whatever he says…

Let's just hope that he was actually kidding this time…

"I guess it is fine then. Not much of a funny joke though." Klein nodded to himself. "But, you know? I'm a bit envious of you… I also want to go to the capital… To be able to experience the rich history of one of the oldest cities in the continent..." Klein was dejected.

"Then why don't you just come with us?" I asked him. "I don't think my parents would be against it." I patted his shoulder.

"You think so!?" Klein shot up from his seat, completely filled with enthusiasm.

In case it isn't clear yet, Klein is a massive history nerd and likes reading books even more than I do. All the books he has in his room are about the known history as well as the myth and legends of the Empire.

"Of course. I mean, I was going to invite you and Mia either way." I smiled at him.

It is only natural that I would invite Mia, after all, who doesn't want to show off in front of the one they like? Also, since Klein is my best friend, it is a given that I would invite him too.

For some reason, while I was lost in thought again, I suddenly noticed Klein kneeling and praying in front of me.

"Such a blessing in disguise… Julius, my brother, I know my sister is extremely clumsy, way too clingy, and even really annoying at times, but I'll be forever grateful to you for marrying her... You truly are a saint!" He spoke with admiration. "I have to pack my stuff for the trip! Thank you so much!" He shot up from the ground and made a run for his house, leaving me unable to say anything back to him.

Sheesh… He says that he is nothing like his sister, but he is exactly like her when he's excited. 

I smiled as I saw Klein's rabbit ears fade into the distance. I had been suddenly left alone.

"A saint huh…" I smiled wryly as I adjusted the bright red scarf around my neck.

The scarf had been a gift from Liliana, Luna, and Mia. They gave it to me during the last Snowgiving a few months ago.

Ah… I guess I should explain what Snowgiving is…

To put it simply, this world didn't have anything comparable to Christmas and I was feeling pretty homesick on my first winter (technically seventh) in this world. Because of that, I decided to mix both Thanksgiving and Christmas together, and BOOM! Snowgiving was born!

I told everyone about it and it quickly became popular in our small village. The first gifts were pretty minimalistic but useful. Things like clothing, boots, and toys were the most popular things that year.

We even had a banquet with all of our new neighbors as a way to get to know them better.

The festivity has really helped me feel better about my homesickness. I definitely had a blast at our first party!

I didn't change the traditions a lot, but it was basically impossible to find a turkey or a pine tree… 

We ended up roasting an enormous bird the size of a small car called 'Rutram Ganek' and using a common tree from the forest... The decorations had to be jewels and other precious stones since Christmas decorations were obviously not a thing here. I also made some decorations with my own hands to decorate the tree.

My mother in particular loved the festivity, so she has helped me to make even more ornaments for our parties and has really gotten into decorating the house weeks before it is Snowgiving.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting the festivity to become as popular as it is now. I'm just happy because it makes me feel closer to Earth and the important people I left behind.

"I guess it is a good time to go to my hideout since I have nothing better to do." I muttered to myself while feeling nostalgic.

I quickly got up from the bench and followed the cobblestone road to the west towards the exit of our village.

I immediately reached a clearing with a signboard with the words 'WELCOME TO MARENNA' all written in red painting.

From here, I could simply follow the road and I would eventually reach the highway and the grasslands of the Empire, or I could either go to the right or to the left and go deeper into the forest.

I went to the right after going a few steps after the signboard, following a small set of clues I had left to reach my hideout in order to not get lost. Most of those clues were a few diagonal cuts on the trees or a couple of rocks piled in odd ways.

I already knew the way like the back of my hand, but I still followed the clues since getting lost in this forest would definitely be not good at all.

I walked as if I was just taking a pleasant and relaxing stroll through the forest. The heavy and deep snow in front of me was moving on its own, making a small trail for me to travel comfortably.

Magic is truly amazing, isn't it?

At this pace, I would reach my hideout in just a few moments. However, I had to stop myself after I saw something that caught my attention.

"What is that…?" I was a bit dumbfounded.

A pair of diminutive legs were sticking out of the snow. Those legs were twitching repeatedly, so I was sure those legs didn't belong to a lost toy…

I quickly drew out my sword just in case this was a trap… After all, Mimics are a thing in this world.

I quickly removed the snow around the pair of legs using my magic. A miniature person with long blue-colored butterfly wings was suddenly revealed after the snow was removed.

That miniature person is a fairy. The fairy was barely 30cm tall… They could easily fit into my hand. The fairy had short white hair, was wearing a dress that barely reached their knees, and even had small pointy ears similar to an elf's. The dress seemed to be made out of leaves and the fairy was barefooted. It was more than clear that this fairy was female. She was shivering...

While keeping my guard up, I focused my gaze on the tiny being. A mechanical voice resounded in my head at that moment…

<SYSTEM: Name: Unknown. / Race: Forest Fairy. / Gender: Female. / Statistics: Unknown. Skills: Unknown. / Description: A seemingly common Fairy. / Current Status: Unconscious - Hungry.> The system told me a few vague details about the small fairy.

"Phew… She's not a Mimic…" I let out a sigh of relief as my sword returned back to its sheath. "That being said, I can help the fairy without any worry." I nodded to myself before walking towards the fairy and picking them up from the cold snow.

Thanks to one of the skills I learned in the past years, I was certain that this wasn't a trap, even with the vague information. 

I was able to learn [Appraisal] a year ago, after hundreds of hours of studying and countless attempts to get the skill. It is currently on Level 3. As its name implies the skill analyses the target and gives the user important information about said target. As it is now, it only gives me vague information or things that I could notice on my own with further examination.

The skill works with the knowledge the user already has, so the only way to effectively use and level up this skill is to study a lot, something which I already do.

You are reading story Echoes of Fire and Shadows at novel35.com

"[Appraisal] didn't display hypothermia or anything like it, so this should be easy." I nodded to myself as I felt how cold the body of the diminutive body of the fairy was.

I gathered a bit of my mana in my hand and raised my body temperature so my hand would feel hot, but not enough to wake her up.

I closed my hand and held her gently. It almost felt like I was tugging her away so she could have a pleasant nap.

While I was busy, being slightly amused by the sight in front of me, the little fairy suddenly wrapped her arms and legs tightly around my fingers. She was pressing herself against my hand hard, almost as if she wanted to steal my warmth.

I simply smiled at the sight.

"Ehehe… So warm…" She had a very cute high-pitched voice. She was rubbing her cheek against one of my fingers.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to give her some of my snacks when she wakes up. I do hope she knows how to keep a secret though..." I started walking again towards my secret hideout with the tiny fairy in tow.

Just a few meters away from where I found the fairy, there was the entrance of my hideout. I cleared the snow with my magic, revealing an enormous rock with the drawing of a horizontal right arrow (->) on top of it... It was a rune.

I placed my free hand on top of the rock and fed a bit of my mana to the rune. That activated the effect I had given to it which made the rock move to the right, revealing a hole underneath, big enough for a skinny adult to fall into.

Without any hesitation, I jumped into the hole. The rock was going to return to its original place in just a few moments.

Instead of landing upright, I landed on my butt and started to slide across a slope of smooth and polished rock.

I apologized in my mind to the fairy for the bumpy ride.

After a full minute of sliding down, I finally arrived at my actual hideout. The place where I did my experiments with magic and practiced my skills with weapons in secret... A huge open space underground that used to be a really small cave. 

To give you some perspective, the place looked incredibly similar to the underground training grounds that a certain shopkeeper had underneath his store in that anime about grim reapers. Everything minus the artificial sky, of course… The ceiling was rock solid.

Hehehe! See what I did there?

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Moving on!

The temperature here almost made it seem like it was spring or the early summer. There was no need for coats here. Everything was well-illuminated thanks to several strategically placed runes and magic circles which absorbed mana from the environment. Truly, this place is a wonder of magical engineering, if I do say so myself as its builder.

I built this place mostly by using Earth Magic. I used several building techniques I learned when we were building the village and quite a few Grade 4 spells to prevent this place from falling apart.

Columns are nice and all, but who needs them when you can use runes to reinforce the ceiling and make it stay in place?

Even though I say that there are a few columns here and there, just in case… I don't wanna get buried alive after all.

The distance between the floor and the ceiling is about five meters, give or take. The main area is about 100 meters wide and 90 meters long. So it is a pretty big training room!

It did take me the better part of eight months of hard work to build this place up though...

But the things that one can do with runes and magic circles are truly amazing! Maybe someday I can make an actual computer or magical A.I! 

Anyhow, I quickly made my way to a small opening in the corner of the room. There was a small workshop set up there.

As soon as I arrived, I was welcomed by countless drawings hanging on the walls from prototypes of things from Earth and my secret technique book on top of my wooden desk.

I immediately pulled out my chair, sat down, and tried to put the tiny fairy on the table so I could take off my coat, the keyword being 'tried'...

Her arms and legs were tightly wrapped around my fingers… She wasn't going to let them go any time soon…

It didn't matter what I tried, she was completely glued to my hand...

"Ummm… Aren't you hungry? I'll give you some food if you let go of me." I started poking her cheek with my pinky as a last-ditch effort.

Her eyes were opened almost at the speed of light. She was looking at me with a very serious expression. Her eyes were light blue-colored and very pretty.

"You'll give me food!?" She asked.

I was a bit taken aback by how quickly she had woken up and by how she didn't care that she was holding hostage the hand of a total stranger…

"Only if you let go of me." I pointed at my hand.

"Ah…" She suddenly looked at my hand, then back at my eyes then back at my hand, and so on and on.

She was like that for a good thirty seconds. Her grasp on my hand was still as tight as before.

"Are you a human? Why are you so deep into the forest? I thought humies were scared of coming close to this place…" She had a look of childish and innocent curiosity on her face.

"Yes, and the reason I'm here is that I live here." I smiled while looking at the curious fairy.

"Is that so...? This is the first time I hear about humans living in this forest..." She tilted her head for a few moments. She still looked a bit confused.

After an eternity, she finally let go of my hand...

She began to repeatedly fly in loops around me as if she was trying to inspect me. Her butterfly-like wings were fluttering rapidly.

I was very amused by her actions as well as genuinely amazed by seeing her fly. While looking at her flying around me, I reached out for a rectangular-shaped metallic box under my table and opened it.

Yep, you guessed it. That box is a mini-fridge. Of course, I hadn't forgotten about my deal with her.

The mini-fridge is nothing special, to be honest. It is just a huge metallic box with a few runes and magic circles that make it work as a fridge.

It is really surprising that no one in this world has come up with something like this… Lia even confirmed that no one had even considered something like this.

In other words, they weren't thinking outside the BOX. That pun was totally intended.

In any case, I asked Lia once why she, the Goddess of Knowledge, hadn't spread knowledge from Earth to make the lives of the people of this world better?

She had three simple reasons: 

1) She didn't want to give any of Agmos' minions more tools to use against her. 

Something which is plenty enough reason for me.

2) The people here are not ready for quite a few things from there.

Again, that is fair enough. There are quite a few dangerous technologies that the people here shouldn't learn about

Like nukes for example...

And finally, 3) she would prefer for this world's society to develop by itself and to intervene as little as possible.

That is another good reason in my opinion. She had told me in the past that Melius, Lia, and the other gods on our side only wanted to see how society would develop.

After hearing her reasons, I then asked her if it wasn't bad that I was making things like my soap or this very same fridge, and surprisingly, she said no.

Lia told me that as long as I didn't introduce anything dangerous without consulting her, then it would be alright for me to make things from Earth.

So as long I don't teach the people here how to make guns, bombs, or nukes, everything should be dandy.

While I was thinking about some unimportant things, I pulled a small cup with some milk as well as a small plate with some cookies for her.

The fairy stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the food. She was hovering in the air, her stomach growling and roaring like a wild beast. She didn't care about that in the slightest, she was simply staring at the cookies as if her life depended on it.

"Just wait for a bit, I'll warm them for you." I said to her before she could launch herself towards the cookies.

I held both the cup and the plate and started heating them using magic from the Fire Element. It was a simple spell that required very little mana to use.

"Ooooh~! You're pretty good at using Fire Magic!" She seemed genuinely amazed by what I was doing.

"Just a little." I chuckled in response thanks to her honest admiration.

I continued to use magic until I was sure that the milk and the cookies were warm but not enough for the fairy to burn her tongue.

"Here you go." I placed the cup and the plate on top of the table and smiled at the small fairy.

Without saying a word, the fairy simply flew to the table and landed right in front of the cookies. She looked at them timidly, before walking closer to the plate.

"Thanks! Let's dig in!" She was suddenly beaming with excitement as she broke down one of the cookies into a more manageable size.

She dipped the diminutive piece of cookie she had in her hands into the warm milk almost immediately and then took it to her tiny mouth.

Her small cheeks were so full that she looked almost like a squirrel. She was munching with glee.

"Delicious! This is sooooo goood! They are even better than honey!" She suddenly looked at me, her eyes were basically sparkling while she had an overjoyed smile on her face.

The cookies are nothing out of this world. They are simple butter cookies with quite a bit of sugar since everyone in our family has a bit of a sweet tooth… 

"I'm glad that you liked the cookies I made." Her sincere admiration was making me feel a bit embarrassed.

"You made them!?" She was flabbergasted.

The tiny fairy suddenly took off from the table and started flying around me again, this time even faster than before.  After a few seconds of being subjected to her inquisitive gaze, she stopped right in front of me.

She was just a few centimeters shy of my face. I could clearly see on her face that she had made up her mind about something.

"It is decided… You'll be my humie from now on!" She flew closer and hugged my nose…

I didn't even react since I was so used to being hugged suddenly by my sisters or Mia.

"You don't even know my name though." I smiled bitterly.

"I don't need to!" She replied gleefully.

One of my favorite books from this world is called The Forest of the Fairies. In there, its author, who is the only known person who has been to the place where these tiny beings live, tells us about their way of life, what they do to entertain themselves, and several descriptions of their home.

Just like in the fables on Earth, the Fairies here are playful and whimsical individuals and they are rarely seen by common people unless they want the people to see them.

I know my reaction to the fairy was pretty underwhelming, but remember, I have met literal gods, so…

Anyway, the author also talks about a particular tradition of the fairies. The author said that when a person helps a fairy in need, the person becomes theirs. Not in a sense of property, but more in a sense of companionship. 

The fairy will follow the person forever to ensure that they are safe and to take care of them as a way to repay the kindness of that person. It is said that they will also follow you to their afterlife and even onto your next lives, but I don't really know if that is true.

Of course, as I said before, fairies are very whimsical by nature, so even if you help one of them, they might not become your companion.

I was not intending for this to happen when I helped her, though… The contents of the book came to my mind just a few moments ago.

But you know? I don't particularly mind. She's really adorable. I think everyone will like her, my sisters, in particular, will definitely be ecstatic about this since they also love that book and fairies for that matter.

Though, I am curious about why she was in that amusing position when I found her…

"My name is Julius. What's your name?" I smiled.

The fairy suddenly flew back to where she was a few moments ago so I could take a good look at her.

"I'm Leaf! Now we aren't strangers anymore! Hehehe!" She smiled from ear to ear before giggling.

She then flew at an incredible speed towards my face, crashing against it... She was hugging my cheek now…

"Are you sure you want to follow me forever? I'm a pretty boring guy." I said to her while patting her head with my finger.

"I don't care! You're my humie! And don't worry, I'm plenty of fun so I'll be fun on your part too!" She was beaming with excitement.

"Well, that's a relief then." I grinned. "Though, I'm curious about what happened to you. Why were you buried in the snow?" I asked Leaf with increasing curiosity.

"Ah… Umm… That's…" The previously excited fairy now sounded completely embarrassed.

"Why don't we eat first and then we can talk about it? How does that sound?" Noticing how she felt, I tried to make her feel comfortable before making her talk about her past.

"Okay! I want to eat more of your delicious cookies!" She stopped hugging my cheek and flew back to the table.

The two of us simply decided to eat some delicious cookies while making small talk to get to know each other. I had suddenly gotten a fairy as an eternal companion…

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Chapter 27: A fairy buried in the snow.

END

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