It was around the time when the war against the Evil God was slowly escalating that the hero's party set foot in the Fairy Queen’s Forest.
As the situation became impossible to sustain with only human strength, the party sought help from other races, and one of the places they visited in the process was the Fairy Queen’s Forest.
“The Age of Myths was a far harsher world than you might think. A world where gods and humans coexisted means that the human touch was minimal on the land. Back then, the world was more vibrant and green than it is now. Even though I grew up in such a world, I was still in awe of the hidden beauty of the fairies' home in the midst of all the chaos.”
The home of the fairies, which once brought even the reclusive Erginos to marvel, was a sight of wonder that could brighten even the bleakest of places. Despite the wars, the forest still held a magical, awe-inspiring beauty.
“Fairies are born as children and die as children. The fairies who rarely visit their own forest approached us with kindness and played many pranks on us.”
Of course, "pranks" was an understatement. The fairies, who had rarely seen humans, created situations so dangerous that an ordinary human would have died multiple times over.
Luckily, since it was the hero's party that visited the forest, no one was harmed, but at the time, the party didn’t even consider the pranks to be acts of kindness.
Instead, they thought the fairies were rejecting them, and if they had to persuade them, they did so with the sense of duty to their mission, enduring the fairies’ pranks with their bodies as they ventured deeper into the forest.
“Then, as all sorts of phenomena around us suddenly vanished, a woman appeared from the sky.”
She introduced herself as the Queen of the Fairies, and after apologizing for the pranks, she healed the many minor wounds the party had received.
The Fairy Queen, who could be called the origin of all fairies, was a divine figure, and her powers were so awe-inspiring that even the great wizard Erginos was left speechless. However, he didn’t take a single glance at her powers.
To be more precise, he couldn’t look at them. From the moment the Fairy Queen appeared, Erginos couldn’t take his eyes off her smile.
“You fell for that old lady who smelled like a chicken coop? Your taste is quite unique.” “Chicken coop smell!? She had the purest smile of anyone in the world and was as merciful as the great god Aramadi!”
Despite Lucy’s jabs, Erginos couldn’t bear to hear his first and last love insulted. After a long outburst, he cleared his throat and continued.
“That was the problem. Blinded by love, I couldn’t see anything but her in the Fairy Queen’s Forest.”
Erginos was not the kind of person who would lose his ability to distinguish between personal feelings and duty because of love.
He recognized his feelings, but that didn’t mean he neglected his duty to fight the Evil God.
He understood how heavy the burden of his mission was, and he buried his personal desires deep inside.
However, when he was in the Fairy Queen’s Forest, when he was beside the Fairy Queen, listening to her pure voice, and seeing her laugh at even his boring stories, Erginos forgot his mission.
“When the influence of the Evil God appeared before my eyes, it was already too late. The forest, more beautiful than any place, was now tainted with the power of the Evil God. The fairies, who had lost their purity, were turning black and trying to stain others with the same darkness.”
Of course, Erginos didn’t just stand by, doing nothing while blaming himself. He was a man far removed from the word “resignation.”
To avoid the worst-case scenario, he tried to use every means available.
But...
“The situation was so dire that my desperate attempts seemed like child’s play.”
The battle between the god Aramadi and the Evil God Agra was raging, and in the land ravaged by numerous calamities, the followers of the Evil God were clashing with those of the righteous god, each fighting for dominance.
The hero's party had scattered across the land, leading different fronts.
Erginos had to overcome the calamity using only his own abilities.
“You must already know this, but I failed. At that time, I was too inadequate to push back the darkness that had swallowed the earth.”
Even though he was considered a genius who would remain unmatched for centuries, in the end, he was still human. Overcoming the Evil God, who had made the forest his domain, was impossible.
“When I realized that the situation was irreversible, I understood what the lesser evil was. If I didn’t act, the fairies, our allies, would soon side with the Evil God. Before that happened, I had to burn everything.”
If the forest, tainted by darkness, couldn’t be restored, it had to be burned down. There was no telling what kind of outcome would come from leaving the seeds of discord, so it was best to erase everything.
Erginos knew this. He understood it better than anyone.
But...
Even so, he chose the worst, not the lesser evil.
Instead of excluding the fairies, he decided to seal the Fairy Queen’s Forest.
“I wasn’t sure it would succeed. Even if the seal was successful, there was no guarantee it wouldn’t be broken by the Evil God. I can confidently say it was a mad decision.”
Fortunately, Erginos succeeded in sealing the forest. Without killing the fairies, he sent the forest into an eternal slumber, making it neither an enemy nor an ally.
“The first to fall into the slumber was the Queen, and beneath her, I swore that I would restore the forest to its original state. One day, I would awaken her eyes again.”
At that time, Erginos didn’t expect that the slumber would last for hundreds of years.
He believed that when the war between the Evil God and the righteous god ended, everything would return to normal. He trusted that the great Aramadi would grant them a miracle, and the Evil God’s treachery would flee in the face of the light.
“...But didn’t Erginos and his companions win the war against the Evil God?” Joy, who had been quietly listening, asked with confusion.
Erginos shook his head.
“If our war had ended in victory, there would be no such thing as dungeons in this world.”
“Then...?”
“We merely passed the burden on to future generations. We hoped that someone in the future would accomplish what we failed to do.”
Saying that, Erginos turned his gaze to Lucy, who let out a silent scoff.
It seemed she had known about this long ago. After all, that idiot Ruel wouldn’t have hidden his guilt from the one he cared about.
He was a man who was picky about both others and himself.
“After the war ended in a delicate result, neither a victory nor a defeat, all I could do was reinforce the seal. I hoped that one day, someone would grant them peace.”
Hundreds of years passed, and before Erginos stood a child carrying the miracle of the god.
“The request I have for you is this: help me, the sinner from the past, fade away and disappear without regret. If you do so, I will give you everything I have built up until now.”
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Erginos’ offer was so tempting that any wizard would risk everything to accept it.
The greatest genius in history, whose value had only risen over the centuries, possessed treasures that could make an empire’s king willing to sell his country to acquire them!
“If you think I’m going to suffer just for that, you’ve got another thing coming. Who would covet the assets of a virgin skeleton who’s been buried underground for hundreds of years? Pffft. Even with a mind full of flowers, there’s a limit to how far one can go.”
However, Lucy sneered at Erginos’ offer.
“After teaching your friend, I have a rough idea of the current state of modern wizards. The knowledge I possess is filled with things that can become visions even in this era. If I just show the wizards the outline of this knowledge, they’ll drool and flock to me.”
“Do you mean those socially awkward virgins would come after me? Ugh. That’s truly disgusting. Just imagining it makes my skin crawl. The idea of those smelly virgins having some deluded fantasy is even more irritating.”
Erginos, who hadn’t anticipated this response, trembled in confusion. Despite her outward appearance, Lucy was a deep and complex individual. He didn’t think she was dismissing his magical knowledge just because she didn’t recognize its value.
Even her friends, standing by her side, were equally shocked.
Then what was it? Why was she claiming his magic was worthless?
“Hey. Virgin skeleton wizard. In the end, you’re saying your wish can’t be fulfilled without me, right?”
“That’s...”
“No matter how much you puff up and act like you’re all that, you’re just a pathetic loser who can’t do anything without that little girl. You’re a nobody.”
Looking down at Erginos with a scornful smile, Lucy crossed her arms and raised her chin.
“You haven’t talked to anyone for so long that you’ve forgotten how to ask for help, huh? Well, let me tell you what you need to do.”
“...What do I need to do?”
“Yeah. You, the incompetent virgin who couldn’t protect love, purity, or anything else, should crawl on the ground and beg me to fulfill your wishes.”
Her complaints about his failed genius and ridiculous plans caught Erginos off guard.
He widened his eyes, then furrowed his brow.
Finally, he let out a hollow laugh and bowed his head deeply.
“Please. Help me disappear without regret.”
“Finally, you’ve figured out your place. This is why socially clueless losers are such a pain.”