Chapter 412

Hmm-- Ash pondered for a moment, the girl's face remained serious, but she smiled inwardly.

What could it be? Perhaps a surprise or something else?

Ash found it strange, since her Fairy Eyes couldn't see through Novia at all.

"It is because of your recent deeds that I, the Winged Fairy Muryan, have come to sincerely and wholeheartedly follow you."

At that moment, Muryan, who had been hiding behind Novia, flapped her wings and came to Ash with a face full of excitement, looking just like a fan.

Ash smiled and hugged the little Fairy, then instantly froze in that position.

"Tonelico! It really is the legendary lord who often helps the Fairy! That's wonderful, that's fantastic! Please let me stay by your and Lady Novia's side and travel through Britain together! Forever!"

Well, to Ash, who possesses extremely high-level Fairy Eyes, it was immediately clear that the Winged Fairy was lying about the first half of her statement, and that the second half was actually true?!

The Fairy of Paradise wasn't doubting her Fairy Eyes, but she was still shocked when the facts were laid bare before her.

But she quickly understood the reason; it must have been caused by the way she addressed her in the second half of the sentence, "Lady Novia."

Ash's palms, which were holding Muryan, became slightly sweaty.

For some reason, she started to care.

Chapter 437 I'm glad you're my Teacher.

"Now! Tonelico!"

The white Raven Huginn hovered above Tonelico's head and called out loudly.

This is a Fairy village, a common sight in Britain, inhabited by hundreds of all sorts of Fairy.

The north wind froze the once beautiful land, leaving it barren. Tonelico, standing at the village entrance, seemed to separate the village from the outside world. The village, which had been carved out along the stream and was surrounded by dozens of pitch-black Mors, seemed to tangibly divide death and Protection in two.

The biting wind, sharp as a knife, blew mercilessly. No light could be seen, only enemies representing calamity. Yet, a warm and clear light emanated from behind the blonde girl. Standing upright, braving the aura of calamity, she took up her weapons, as if she were leaving a seed called 'hope' on the land of Britain. But in reality, she was leaving behind the title of 'evil villain and Witch's among the Fairy of Britain.

"Hurry up, Tonelico! I'm about to get caught! I don't want to get infected!"

As Muryan fluttered her wings among the Mors flock, she saw Tonelico standing and pondering which Magecraft to use, and immediately shouted out as well.

After all, Mors is one of the calamities that have existed in the Fairy Britain of Britain since the beginning of time. He was transformed from Fairy who lost his purpose and glory and thus became "meaningless". He is also the natural enemy of Fairy. Once he comes into contact with Fairy, he will attach himself to the Fairy and eventually turn the attached Fairy into Mors.

Because they cannot speak or hear external sounds, communication is also impossible.

"Quickly, almost there! I'm trying to remember... I'm trying to remember the story..."

It wasn't that Tonelico deliberately delaying; rather, she was genuinely thinking that although her Magecraft talent was extremely strong, the way she was using Magecraft now seemed somewhat subtle. For her, Magecraft was a 'story,' a means of condensing the content of a book and presenting it as a phenomenon.

Originally, this was a style she created herself in the Library of the Rain Country. Although Novia taught her magic in this way after becoming her Magecraft Teacher, there were many options for recreating the 'story' content.

Unlike the Fairy Britain, which has seen little change or cultural development, there are countless storybooks about major catastrophes in the Pan-Human History, such as the Ten Plagues, the Book of Revelation, and the Great Flood. However, aside from these overly mysterious catastrophes, there are also Book that introduce ordinary catastrophes.

However, the Od and necessities required for these things were somewhat troublesome, and for Tonelico at this moment, it was only a matter of reproducing the surface. In addition, she did not have the idea of destroying everything at once, so she recreated a fairy tale she had heard from Novia.

Rain, wash away the filth!

The first phase of the story unfolds around Tonelico.

The radiance of the True Magic circle slowly began to rotate, and the controlled, spiraling Od began to circle around Tonelico, following its original shape.

It was an incomparably beautiful blue light, and the Fairy had been fighting amongst themselves over clan identities and bullying weaker Fairy before Mors's attack looked on with longing at this sight.

But very quickly, the next second, they ignored Mors's threat and simultaneously picked up stones from the ground with both hands and threw them at Tonelico.

"These damned Fairy, later Muryan and Muninn will teach you a lesson, you heartless bastards, they'll give you a good beating first..."

Fokine, hovering above Tonelico's Huginn, refrained from uttering any vulgarities and could only wave his feathers to Tonelico, preventing her from being disturbed while casting her Magecraft and causing a backlash due to Od chaos. After all, these were not ordinary stones, but stones imbued with various kinds of Od by these Fairy.

Of course, Tonelico could actually feel the stones being thrown at her. She closed her eyes, took a breath, and gripped the Staff of Selection in her hands, while the True Magic circles around her shone brightly in rapid cycles.

The Staff of Selection, shimmering with blue gems, is a symbol of the Great Mother who created the world, obtained only by Fairy born in the Inner Sea of Stars and drifting to the surface. It is an incomparably noble and dazzling object.

It is the place where, as long as one obeys the mission of Paradise, one will eventually be transformed into a spirit of the Star Soul and arrive.

However, from the moment she was beloved in the Rain Country of Orkney, and from the moment she drifted to the incredibly gentle stone of the World Tree and was protected by her foster mother, foster father, and the Fairy of the Rain Country, the Fairy of Paradise had already abandoned the promised glory, simply because it was not of her own volition.

"Rain of atonement!"

The second phase of the story begins, and the magic Od that permeates the surrounding area of True Magic Circle begins to dance.

An overwhelming surge of Od washes over the world.

Gradually, the blue light that illuminated the girl dissipated, flowing into the distance and onto the earth, as if giving the world visible light, illuminating the light of the Mors, bringing compassion and love, while revealing the beautiful outline of the world, as if leaving a cold reflection on the merciless earth.

Although the girl seems to be the 'protagonist' of the story, she stands there with a heavy figure as if burdened by endless Evil.

This is a fairy tale called 'The Happy Prince' that the Fairy of Paradise heard from Novia, written by an author named Wilde.

After dealing with the Mors, Tonelico and didn't turn to look at the Fairy still throwing stones at her. Instead, she ran to Muryan, picked her up, and left, because she could hear the Fairy's inner thoughts echoing again and again.

Sometimes near, sometimes far; sometimes near, sometimes far.

Throwing stones at oneself during battle is only a minor inconvenience, because in addition to Flesh damage, their methods of inflicting mental harm are countless. Tonelico want to hear about it, nor did he want to continue listening, so he left.

She still harbors the idea of building the Republic, and she still hopes that the Fairy, like the Rain Clan, actually feel guilty. Even though the Fairy are rejecting her now, she still wants to work hard for it.

"Tonelico, is this your purpose and meaning?"

Muryan felt that she was an extremely simple Fairy, or rather, the Crowd was very simple.

As long as they follow interesting things and purposes, find methods, and take action regardless of everything, the Fairy are always repeating this process. Muryan herself is no exception; she only followed the two of them because she wanted to achieve that 'unimaginable development' with Novia.

She decided to do this because it gave her interest and purpose.

It's that simple.

But this Tonelico different. She couldn't quite put her finger on why, but she just had this feeling.

Tonelico gazed blankly ahead at a certain spot and smiled wryly:

"... Actually, I don't know what I'm doing right now. I'm just optimistically convinced that my actions are definitely correct."

"That's right, that's Huginn. I also think Tonelico's approach is correct, and the master thinks so too. After all, those who can describe their love in the Smallpox don't actually love deeply, just like flames that can only be described—they're not truly intense!"

"I see."

Really? You really don't know?

Muryan rested her hand, which was supporting her cheek, on Tonelico's shoulder.

"Then I hope Tonelico fight to the very end, I mean it."

The little Fairy muttered to itself, then turned its head away with a bored expression.

She recalled the expression on the Fairy girl's face when she was surrounded by the Mors. It was as if she, not the fairy girl, was the one who had been driven to the brink of despair—wide eyes, clenched teeth, trembling all over... It was truly incomprehensible.

The Winged Fairy thought about it honestly, but then changed the subject.

"By the way, has the Healing Magecraft I commissioned you to Blessing for me, Tonelli, been activated yet?"

"Yes, it's already started..."

Tonelico paused, then asked the little Fairy with a slightly puzzled look, "Muryan, what is the purpose of your Healing Magecraft that can repair torn wings? Shouldn't Winged Fairy's wings have strong defensive capabilities?"

Although he knew that Muryan's main purpose in coming with him was to come to Novia, after spending some time with her, Tonelico able to accept her. After all, compared to the Fairy who were hostile to her, Muryan was already quite good.

Upon hearing this, Muryan moved her purple eyes, which shimmered with an eerie light, and revealed a sweet smile.

"It's a secret."

Upon hearing this, Huginn, who was standing on Tonelico's shoulder, coughed twice and then rushed to Muryan's side.

"Um, Miss Tonelico, Muryan and I are going to call the fisherman back. You may go back now."

To be honest, Huginn had no idea that this previously arrogant Muryan had a hobby of converting pain into pleasure. Now, even choking wasn't enough; it seemed she wanted to tear off his wings now...

She didn't understand it, but she was deeply shocked.

But since we're colleagues now, I can only reluctantly accept it. Anyway, Mr. Novia hasn't said anything about it, so it doesn't matter.

A short while later, the two arrived in front of Novia, who was sitting there as usual, luring people in with their 'Waiting for a Willing Bite' act. Perhaps she was already used to it, because when Novia saw them, she got up, but instead of following them as before, she said:

"Since we already have Muryan, let Muryan go in my place for now. Huginn and Muninn should be used to it by now."

"Oh, sir, why? Could it be Muninn my method isn't working? Actually, I can learn it..."

With Huginn pressing down on her head, Muninn managed to squeeze out these words in a muffled voice.

"Shut up, you useless piece of trash! We'll just report to the master. What master in the world personally goes to the scene? Huh?!"

But just as the two Raven were talking, Novia looked at Muryan with a helpless expression.

"... I don't care about this, but can you really tolerate it? Isn't this a bit reckless?"

"I can only accept this from you."

Muryan took out a small medicine bottle, turned around, and slowly poured it on her back. The area where her body and wings were connected exuded a rich, intense liquid aura. At the same time, she turned to face Novia, bowed her head, and patted her small neck as a gesture of acknowledgment.

"Huh!?"

The process will be omitted for now, but the final result was that Muryan knelt on both knees, and even though she was in unspeakable pain, she still spoke calmly.

"... It's over so quickly?"

For Muryan, who is Perfection and has obsessive-compulsive disorder about cleanliness, she actually loathes everything, including herself.

Therefore, she expected his Violence, not his so-called gentleness, and she did not want him to be too Perfection, since that would fundamentally overturn the purpose and meaning of the existence of 'Muryan'.

Only in this way can one blur the boundaries of one's own mind and place oneself on the fundamental principle, that is, the weak submit to the strong.

Therefore, the strong are naturally expected to be ruthless and cruel towards the weaknesses of the weak, which is also a form of 'cleaning' pressure.

In other words, if this boundary cannot be blurred, Muryan might first commit suicide due to the inner paradox and conflict, and the pain she endures.

After witnessing this scene, the two Raven stared at each other for a moment before heading back to the Fairy village with Muryan Tonelico deliver a big gift to them.

However, Novia, who had done this to Muryan, kept pressing her forehead and sighing slightly on her way back to see Tonelico.

"Sigh, what a worrying personality and nature of hers..."

Ash is one, and so is Muryan. Does this mean all Fairy are extremes?

But one thing is certain: at the very least, she is still much better than other Fairy.

On a quiet afternoon, amidst the monotonous mountains, Novia enjoyed this moment of leisure as she followed the road to the place where the others lived.

Ash was not surprised by Novia's sudden return. He remained leaning against the tree, gazing at the sky, while Novia leaned against the other side of the tree.

The two sat with their backs against the tree, not exchanging a word, just gazing quietly at the sky. All around them was a lush green grassland, with almost no tall trees obstructing the view, so the view was very open, and whenever a breeze blew by, the tender new green leaves would ripple.

"You've come early today; it feels like it's been months since I've done that."

Suddenly, Ash spoke up.

"After all, with Huginn and Muninn around, there's no need for them to always be by your side. Allowing your apprentice to develop freely is also one of Teacher's responsibilities."

"It seems so."

Ash narrowed his eyes slightly. "In that case, how about we talk about our memories?"

"Um..."

Novia thought for a moment, "You mean the time you deliberately became Witch? It seemed quite interesting."

Compared to Ash, who is now constantly resolving the calamities of the Fairy village, Ash when he was first brought to the Britain mainland by Novia was perhaps not yet able to adjust his mindset, so his actions were much more Violence than they are now.

"I hate all Fairy except the 'Rain Clan.' Although I will act to eliminate conflict in Britain, that doesn't mean I want Fairy to be happy. If they want my help, they must pay a price greater than their lives."

That's what they say, but at most they can only scare people with a few Magecraft. After all, it wasn't long before the Fairy of Paradise, with her innate sense of justice, fairness, and strong will, suppressed these negative emotions. Novia felt a little sorry for her.

"... You probably haven't saved this using any methods, have you?"

"This..."

Novia crossed her arms and pondered for a moment, then smiled. "I don't think so."

Why should it be "should"?

"Because the story of the Witch Ash is not over yet, and as I've already said, since you're so persistent, I can only outwardly agree while inwardly disagreeing."

To Ash, Novia's tone sounded like she was joking.

But the next moment, the Fairy of Paradise suddenly showed a nostalgic expression, quietly lowered her eyelids, and said as if talking to herself.

"... Why can't they be like the great families of the Rain Clan?"

"Actually, this kind of thing can happen. After all, if you go too far, the person being protected might forget the meaning of the protection."