The Fairy Taken Away

If "Ms. Neelim" were still here, she would definitely rush over and yell at Yunus, this "good person who can sing," for calling her a fairy.

But nothing happened after Yunus finished speaking.

The room was empty, as if the little guy hiding under Iver's hair had never been there.

"Why is that?"

Yunus was dumbfounded.

"Because you have too much gloom on you, you drove Lady Neelim away."

Iver's lips curled up slightly, making a joke with a hint of mockery and malice.

"...Really?"

"—It's obviously fake."

Sherlock's indifferent voice came from outside the door. "Open the door."

Iver went over, opened the door, and let him in.

Yunus's smile appeared somewhat forced and tense, before he resumed his previous smooth chanting tone. "Respected Mr. Sherlock, I have a question..."

"—You want to know when I arrived."

Sherlock interrupted Yunus abruptly, skipping the long pleasantries. "I haven't been here long, but I've already heard what I needed to hear."

"... In that case, it's truly a pity; the wine has already been drunk up..."

"—I've known your identity for a long time, Your His Highness the Prince. Iver told me. Yes, I knew from the very beginning. I will stand with Her Majesty the Queen —whichever Queen it may be. That's why I'm very angry with your attitude."

Like a player who quickly skips a dialogue, Sherlock swiftly responds to the questions Yunus hasn't yet raised.

Seeing Yunus speechless, Sherlock tilted his head slightly and calmly said, "Any more questions?"

Although he appeared calm and rational, Iver sensed that he was somewhat angry.

"I think..."

So Iver pulled Sherlock to a place to sit down, and said with a smile, "What Mr. Yunus is probably curious about is... how you realized the problem."

"... Do you want me to praise you, Iver?"

"Why don't you tell me?"

"Naturally, it was the Secret Knowledge you told me—the knowledge about fairies."

Sherlock chuckled, no longer looking at Yunus, but turning to look at Iver: "What they were saying in Eagle Cape Village."

"... Eagle Cape Village."

Yunus murmured, "Eagle Cape Village in Mubay County?"

"I guess you met Anastasia around there."

Iver, standing next to Sherlock, glanced at him and declared directly, "Moreover, she is all alone."

"That's true... What exactly is going on?" Only Yunus was still unclear about the situation.

"That brings us to the habits of fairies," Sherlock replied, not deliberately ignoring her. "Have you ever heard of the Fairy Forest?"

"... Fairy Forest?"

"Okay, I guess you haven't heard of it. Simply put, if a clean path with few fallen leaves suddenly appears in those deep, dark, dense forests, it means that this is Fairy Forest —it will open a tunnel to the Fairy Kingdom from time to time."

Sherlock responded.

Yunus frowned. "Of course I know about the ' Land of Joy '! It's the fairytale wonderland that bards dream of! But there are clearly fallen leaves here..."

"—That's because it's not time for it to open yet. The Sacred Number of the Twin Mirrors is two, and the passage to the Fairy Kingdom usually opens at two in the morning."

The person who answered was Iver.

He looked at Sherlock and smiled, "You noticed it too, so you did."

"I certainly know, because I am a witness. But you—how did you find out?"

Sherlock countered with a question.

Iver replied, "Because Miss Neelim is too young."

"... Wait, wait, I don't understand. Is there something wrong with Miss Neelim? Or is she Anastasia?"

Yunus was somewhat confused.

Sherlock raised an eyebrow and continued with the clue, "You've met Miss Neelim before?"

"Of course not! I only saw it for the first time today too..."

"But she said she came to see you."

"But... oh..."

Yunus was speaking when he suddenly realized something and stopped abruptly.

Sherlock said, "Underage fairies must live in the Fairy Country. Fairies don't have the ability to teleport. And that melancholy folk song—the one you sang while playing the piano last night—if you Grand Minister, I think she came to find you because of this song."

Yunus was silent for a moment. "This is... a new song I wrote after coming to the Theocracy. Last night wasn't the first time I sang it, but the first time was only a week ago..."

Iver tapped on the back of Sherlock's chair, drawing their attention.

He chuckled and said, "How ironic. As a renowned bard, the first song of ' Happy Yunus ' that attracted the fairies was a sad, homesick nursery rhyme."

"Perhaps it's because only in this song did he truly speak his mind."

Sherlock commented.

"In short, the fact that Miss Neelim is here proves one thing."

Iver replied, "The entrance to the Fairy Kingdom is nearby."

"As a bard, you should know a lot about fairies. Only those invited by fairies can see the invisible passage in the Dense Forest and thus enter the Fairy Forest. But it is also possible that fairies go to the Material Realm on their own initiative to abduct those innocent, lively, good-looking, and talented Children."

At this point, Iver said meaningfully, "And if these Children went into the Fairy Forest and played with the fairies..."

"... then, you'll forget about time."

Yunus muttered to himself, then continued.

A look of realization flashed in his eyes, clearly indicating that he had understood. "I remember, those Children who went into the Fairy Country... when they returned, their former playmates might have become old people, or even died of old age."

Sherlock nodded. "That's right, it's a painful thing for humans. Especially after you come out of the Fairy Country, you find that you don't know anyone around you. All the things you've learned are completely useless in the new era; the elders you used to rely on have all turned to dust; your former companions are still friends you parted ways with not long ago, but to them you are already a stranger."

"There is no place for them in the new world. No talent, no family, no friends, no home... all alone, wandering in the wilderness. They might even forget human language, or become so accustomed to the fairy-tale world of the Fairy Kingdom that they lose the ability to survive in the Material Realm..."

"For them, death is a kind of relief. And a better choice is to give up their human identity and become fairies."

"... Become a fairy?"

Yunus opened his eyes wide.

Could Neelim be... Miss Anastasia?

"I know what you're thinking, but unfortunately—it's probably not. Or rather, it might be... but it doesn't matter whether it is or not."

Iver ruthlessly interrupted Yunus's thoughts, "You have too high a standard for fairies."

"Fairies are indeed innocent and naive beings, even willing to sacrifice their own lives for happiness... Do you think it's possible for a human to become a true fairy? To fairies, human souls are simply too boring."

"In fact, the fairy's transformation magic is closer to the transformation ritual of the Child of the Moon."

"As long as humans live in the Fairy Kingdom and eat fairy food for a long time, they will gradually lose their human characteristics. If they are afraid and determined to go home immediately, they will probably only disappear for a few years or a dozen years; if they listen to the advice to stay and continue to stay here, it may only take forty or fifty years."

"If they are allowed to stay and dine with the fairies... then it will be almost impossible for them to go back. Because these children have eaten the fairies' dinner and have already forgotten human language. If they continue to stay here, they will lose their common sense, completely forget their parents and families, and thus no longer want to go home. Then they will lose their rich human emotions, and in the very end, they will forget all their human memories as well."

"By this point, can they still be considered the original humans? Even the color and shape of their souls are different now."

"But that only applies to humans. Staying in the Fairy Kingdom for too long means death. So..."

Iver said meaningfully, "And what about the elves?"

Elves have a sense of time that is five to seven times greater than that of humans.

Even if a leap can traverse fifty years of separation, for an elf... it's only equivalent to less than ten years.

—And within these "short fifty years", all of the elves' stats have been frozen.

Even if they lost Elven Language, relearning the language wouldn't be a terrible thing for the long-lived Elven children. After all, their parents and friends were still alive, and the world hadn't changed much.

Even losing emotions isn't a huge problem—it just happens to prevent the amber from solidifying. The intense influence of the Path of Beauty can also prevent the influence of the Path of Twilight... This is called fighting poison with poison.

"—Look back now."

Iver said meaningfully, "The mage Maxim clearly loves his daughter very much. That hairband that says ' Anastasia, may you be well' is his handiwork. It must have been made by Maxim himself..."

"Such a man, when we mentioned Anastasia, showed no sadness for her departure, nor any pride in her going to the Great Tree. No matter how I tried to steer the conversation, he didn't talk about any stories from Anastasia's childhood—did he really not miss Anastasia at all?"

"Or to put it another way, Mr. Yunus. When you gave him this headband, did he show a complicated, nostalgic expression?"

"...No."

Yunus slowly shook his head. "He quickly handed me the headband and then told me... Anastasia had died more than twenty years ago, but I only met her a few years ago. And Mr. Maxim also told me that she had never been to Avalon... because she had become a tree when she was very young."

"—Yes, this is the key."

Sherlock squinted and interjected.