The Fairy Queen, slowly opening her eyes, smiled as she inhaled the scent of flowers wafting in from around her.
The fairies, who had been waiting for her to awaken, immediately surrounded her as soon as she opened her eyes, each proudly presenting the flowers they had brought, claiming their own superiority.
The Fairy Queen, used to such whining, soothed them by saying that all the flowers were beautiful, but then she heard a commotion from a distance and tilted her head.
“Did guests arrive from outside?”
Seeing the fairies praise them so enthusiastically, it seemed that the guests from outside must surely be heroes of great renown.
Now that I think about it, I heard recently that a party of heroes was coming from another forest. Could it be that these great heroes, chosen directly by the great god of destruction, have arrived?
“Everyone, I must ask. Are you playing pranks on them right now?”
Feeling the tremor in her lips, the Fairy Queen, after reluctantly offering praise to the fairies, hastily headed toward the source of the commotion.
These guests were the heroes chosen by the great god of destruction himself! We must not cause them any trouble!
The Fairy Queen, running with a desperate speed that was nearly unnatural, soon discovered the party of heroes caught up in the fairies' pranks.
“So this is how noble they must be for the great god of destruction to choose them personally.”
The praise that slipped from the Fairy Queen’s lips was filled with awe, flowing outward from the dream into the dark forest, spreading everywhere.
However, no one in the forest was there to listen to her ramblings.
The fairies, consumed by darkness, had long since lost their will, and the life that should have formed the forest could no longer sprout new growth on the withered earth. The energy of the dark god that filled the barrier only made the fairies obedient to their new master.
“...My lord.”
The Fairy Queen’s contented smile and call for someone went unheard.
Her last words would not reach the great archmage who would have heard them. Nor would they reach the young child who had appeared suddenly, willing to risk his life to fight for her.
“I am...”
Her restless tossing, repeating the happy dreams she had experienced hundreds, thousands of times, grew larger as time went on.
The fairies, who had lost their will and were entirely subservient to the Queen, sensed it.
The Queen’s dream would soon come to an end.
“Damn. Was it a mistake to approach the barrier myself?”
After relaying the information he had heard from the Fairy Queen, or rather, the fragment of the chicken coop, Erginos cursed.
“If the fragment has awakened and is interfering with the forest, it’s only a matter of time before she wakes up. There’s no time to waste.”
“Then we should strike the forest as soon as the magic is ready, right?”
Benedict, who had been listening with Erginos, asked, and Erginos shook his head.
“I would like to do that, but there’s a prior task. We need to enter before the barrier breaks and concentrate the energy of the dark god inside. Otherwise, the power of the dark god will spread to the world.”
“We can do that, right? With so many great minds here, it should be no problem.”
“The problem is that if someone unauthorized enters the barrier, there’s a high chance the Fairy Queen will wake up.”
If an uninvited person enters the barrier, the Fairy Queen will wake up, disturbed by the intrusion.
Then, the Fairy Queen, who has been gaining power inside the forest for a long time, will break the unstable barrier herself, and her existence will become a disaster that spreads across the world.
“Are you referring to those who Lucy has been searching for?”
“Exactly.”
“...So, the only ones who can enter are Lucy and her friends, those who have been to the barrier today.”
“Originally, I was planning to follow, but now that I know my presence would disturb the Queen’s sleep, I can’t do that.”
Erginos and Benedict’s gazes turned to me. There was anxiety in Erginos’ eyes.
He wasn’t sure if we could succeed with just us handling the most crucial part of the plan.
On the other hand, Benedict’s eyes showed, paradoxically, both worry and faith.
Though he was worried about whether me and my friends would be okay, he believed that if it were him, he would definitely create a miracle. Most likely because he had witnessed me performing miracles in the past.
“Lucy Allen.”
“What?”
“Do you think this is possible?”
After some contemplation, Erginos asked, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
Is this really something he’s asking in this situation?
“I knew you were lacking in common sense, but I didn’t know your head was this empty. Is this really the time for that kind of question?”
“I know the situation isn’t ideal, but...”
Ugh. Seriously, how much does he talk? Was he like this back when he was a companion to the hero? If he was, I would have probably wanted to punch him every single day.
As I was about to ask Grandpa something, I remembered that I had just imposed a harsh punishment on him for acting like a fool.
If I had known things would turn out like this, I would have delayed the punishment. Unfortunately, I guess I’ll have to handle it myself.
With a face full of irritation, I approached Erginos, ignoring his puzzled expression, and drove my fist into his stomach.
“That’s meaningless. My body is mimicking... Guh!?”
Erginos, clearly not expecting to be hit with a punch full of divine energy, was sent sprawling to the ground in agony.
“Didn’t I ask you to speak with a cute voice? You should be asking for a favor, not questioning me. Are you really that forgetful?”
Sitting on Erginos, who was now acting as my seat, I patted his trembling head, urging him to answer.
“You little brat!”
“Yes. Yes, I’m a little brat. And you’re the idiot who has to bow to that little brat.”
Erginos, who had been silenced by my mocking tone, finally seemed to make a decision, lifting his head.
“How much time did the Queen’s fragment say we have left?”
“If we trust the words of the rotting chicken coop lady, maybe a week at most?”
This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
“In that case, let’s set the preparation period to 5 days, and act on the 6th day. Benedict Allen, when will the troops be ready?”
“The summons are almost done. It should be perfectly organized in about three days.”
“Prepare immediately. We’ll do our best on this side as well.”
Laughing at Erginos, who was crawling on the ground while trying to act cool, I ignored his grumbling and called my friends together.
“Joey was called by Erginos. She has a mountain of things to learn.”
After confirming the status of everyone except Joey, who would be staying up all night to learn magic, I removed my outer clothes and demonstrated my new armor.
“Young lady, why... why that embarrassing armor?!”
Paybi’s face turned bright red as she hastily covered her nose with one hand and turned her head away.
“What are you thinking, Lucy Allen! Quickly put on your outer clothes!”
Arthur, who had been staring at me blankly for a moment, was now horrified and covered his eyes with both hands.
“So you’ve chosen this armor after all.”
Kal, who had seen this armor multiple times, placed his hand on his forehead.
“It’s a nice armor, but it looks like it’ll be too easy to cut.”
Frey, from a purely practical standpoint, voiced her concerns about the armor.
I had expected complaints when I first put on this armor.
Even so, the reason I wore this unconventional armor in the training grounds was because it was absolutely necessary.
“You damn perverts. Can’t you think about anything other than dirty things at times like this? It’s really terrifying that I have to walk around with these idiots as my teammates.”
“Exactly! You had a plan! Right? That’s the only reason you’d wear such an awful armor!”
“The reason? What do you mean?”
“It’s for training. To avoid being fooled by the fairies in the forest, I need to get used to this.”
If my guess was correct, the dungeon the Fairy Queen’s fragment had created for me was a smaller version of what would happen inside the barrier.
She had been trapped there for hundreds of years. There was no way she would create anything other than that.
Imagining how much creativity could come from a fragment of someone who had lived like a complete failure, I was confident my answer was the right one.
So, I had to prepare for the fairies’ seduction. If I didn’t, I might end up doing something stupid under their charm.
“No matter what kind of show those bugs inside the barrier put on, they won’t be prettier than me, right? So if I adapt to this, even if those bugs start causing a fuss, I’ll be able to look at them with pity.”
I had already confirmed the effects of the Fairy’s Dance during my battle with the First Order.
If I could withstand the allure that even the kingdom’s elite couldn’t resist, I wouldn’t fall for the fairies’ tricks.
“I’ll give plenty of rewards, so enjoy getting trampled on. Pathetic bugs.”
With a playful laugh, I spoke, and the three of them—except for Arthur, who was still sulking—nodded slowly.
Why is Arthur acting like such a loser again? We’re in a hurry.
Annoyed, I walked over to Arthur, who had his head down.
A red face. Blood dripping from his hand covering his mouth. Eyes lost and confused.
“Hmph.”
This is troublesome. We haven’t even properly started, and he’s already in this state. Oh well. I’ll have to give him a strong remedy.
“Pervert~! Disgusting~!”
Trying to provoke him to make him forget everything else, my choice was wrong.
Arthur, who had been smiling at me, suddenly wavered and then collapsed backward.