Iver: Then Come with Me

Upon seeing this, Iver's eyes widened slightly.

When he saw the elven harp, these clues finally connected in Iver's mind.

"... So that's how it is."

Iver murmured softly.

In the original history, Yunus was unable to contact Sherlock, so he handled Anastasia's matter himself.

But clearly, he ultimately messed things up.

One piece of evidence is that when players returned to the location with Yunus, they never saw Maxim and Grace again—perhaps they left, or perhaps they refused to open the door.

In short, Yunus leads the player to a tree, recounts his encounter with the "Maiden Ghost" there, and shows the player the "harp given to him by the ghost," hoping to get the player to see if there are any ghostly reactions. Ultimately, it's discovered that there is indeed no trace of the undead; what he saw was likely just an illusion or hallucination.

Unable to find an answer, Yunus played a nostalgic tune and sang a melancholy song.

After that quest, the player received a replica of the harp as a transmog for their main-hand weapon, the "Musical Instrument." Just as melee weapon transmog affects the sound effects of attacks, musical instrument transmog changes the timbre of skills. This harp's timbre is exceptionally clear and crisp, like the flow of cool spring water.

That violin, as it appears now, was made using Anastasia as its material.

... Clearly, Anastasia did not like being sent to the Fairy Kingdom by her parents.

Although that would prolong her life, such a precarious existence was far too painful. What meaning did a childhood that was merely about "surviving" and "enduring to adulthood" hold for Anastasia?

That's why she couldn't forget Yunus and wanted him to come to her house to find her.

With this incident as a pretext, Anastasia could use the excuse of "wanting to see Yunus again" to leave the Fairy Kingdom.

Upon re-entering the Material Realm, her Treeification Disease quickly flared up. Faster and more rapidly than Iver and her parents had anticipated—she was weary of this painful existence but didn't want to refuse her parents' good intentions. Therefore, she chose this method to end her life in the Material Realm.

As a final gift, she crafted a harp from her own tree trunk and presented it to Yunus.

However, because Maxim and Grace claimed that Anastasia was already dead, Yunus believed that the girl who flashed before his eyes was a ghost.

To avoid causing trouble for her parents, Anastasia did not reveal the whole truth, nor did she show Yunus her true form.

Yunus thus took the elven harp without any explanation, and was then resolutely turned away by Anastasia's grieving parents, thus "losing the possibility of continuing the investigation" and cutting off the subsequent questline.

Only Anastasia's parents knew what had happened.

But they probably didn't know that Anastasia's insistence on leaving the Fairy Kingdom wasn't just because she was rescued.

— Rather, it was because when she fell outside, she saw the "outside world" for a fleeting moment.

That experience made her Treeification Disease so severe; without it, Anastasia's mind wouldn't have become so chaotic.

After all, Anastasia had only lived at home and in the Fairy Kingdom since she was born, let alone going abroad... she had never even come into contact with outsiders all these years.

She had never seen people of other races, nor the cultures of other races and countries.

People who have never seen the sun since birth will not feel anxious about the lack of sunlight.

—In that unexpected event, she met Yunus.

Yunus probably wanted to comfort the frightened girl, so he tried to make Anastasia laugh.

Anastasia had just mentioned the griffins of Avalon, the desert and the springs... and for someone who hadn't left the Fairy Kingdom for decades, the only way she could know these things was because Yunus had told her these stories years ago.

From that moment on, the girl's heart soared to the heavens.

The land of the Fairy Kingdom can no longer bind her soul.

At this moment, just by looking at Yunus's trembling eyes, one can realize the shock and impact he was experiencing.

"... Anas, Miss Tasia."

Yunus's lips moved, but in the end he couldn't say anything and could only stammer out the other person's name.

He didn't know if he had done something wrong.

He watched Anastasia gradually turn into a tree. Rationally, he understood what was happening, but emotionally, his mind was a complete blank.

"Mr. Yunus..."

Unlike the hesitant Yunus.

Anastasia's voice gradually grew drowsy and low, yet she remained resolute and calm.

This girl, who by human standards is older than a long-lived elderly person, yet to the elves she is still too young to be considered an adult, already possesses a mature soul unknown even to her parents. "I know what you are worried about..."

"But you didn't do anything wrong..."

"I am very grateful to you."

The girl expressed her feelings in three breaths.

Yunus carefully carried the harp, took stiff steps, and slowly approached.

Maxim's previously scrutinizing and cold gaze gradually calmed and regained its warmth. It simply became sorrowful; he took off his glasses and silently wiped his eyes.

Clearly, he knew his daughter very well. Of course, it's also possible that he learned about this when he met Anastasia in the Fairy Kingdom a few years ago, and thus knew how things would end.

So when Yunus came to him, he received him very warmly; but when Yunus asked to see Anastasia, his attitude turned cold.

But clearly, neither the couple knew that Anastasia's Treeification Disease was already close to the critical point—as soon as she left the Fairy Kingdom, the final stage of tree-transformation would begin immediately.

If they knew about this, they definitely wouldn't let Anastasia leave the Fairy Kingdom.

However, Iver has a different opinion.

But Iver did not speak.

Sherlock, who had witnessed everything, calmly and almost coldly spoke up from the side, "I'm afraid Miss Anastasia has already crossed the line. She just wanted to wait for Mr. Yunus to arrive before giving him that gift and expressing her final gratitude."

"... She just didn't want to break her promise... she didn't want to break her word."

Iver shook his head and added softly.

This is probably why Anastasia immediately became close to Iver after hearing his story.

Clearly, her pure soul, which walks the Path of Dedication, had long wanted to do this.

But no one had ever taught her whether this was right or wrong. That's why she was caught in this dilemma.

She didn't just hear stories and feel kindness from Iver —she also received affirmation for her own bold ideas.

Under the silent gaze of the group, Anastasia, no longer suppressing her power, grew at a visible rate.

Having released all her stored power, she no longer felt pain, and her expression immediately became peaceful.

Clearly, she hadn't revealed her true form before. Even Madam Grace had only seen Anastasia under the illusion, and rarely had she seen her true form.

"... Did I do something wrong, Mr. Iver?"

Grace murmured.

Iver shook his head slightly. "No."

Undoubtedly, Grace and her husband were not wrong; they simply wanted their daughter to live a little longer in the Human World. Yunus was not wrong either; he was simply telling a bewildered and lonely little girl the stories she was curious about. Anastasia was not wrong either, because she did not want to simply live on, but was curious about the world she had never foreseen and would never encounter. The giant tree was certainly not wrong either, because in terms of life form, this was a kind of elevation— Anastasia would enter the Dream Realm earlier than her parents and obtain true immortality, which, from another perspective, was a kind of "early graduation."

"—No one is wrong."

"Iver replied."

"... But no one laughed."

The fairy Neelim held onto Iver's collar and whispered cautiously, "Why?"

For the fairy, the heavy and serious atmosphere before her seemed a little too painful.

"Because they don't know."

"They only know themselves, not others," Iver said softly.

"We do not know other people's past, their suffering, their abilities, or their desires."

"If you don't speak it out, no one will know how much pain the other person is already in..."

As he spoke, he suddenly stepped forward.

Anastasia and the others all turned their gazes toward them.

"Miss Anastasia," said Iver, "I have a better way. A way that requires no separation, no sleep, and no one will grieve for it..."

As he spoke, he pulled out a box of Tarot Card from his pocket that was much emptier than usual.

In that instant, Sherlock's expression changed.

He remembered something.

A few months ago, Iver had also demonstrated this mysterious skill to him...

Iver looked at the girl who had turned into a tree. "You only need to make a choice here... to ascend into the Dream Realm and fall into a deep sleep, until you are awakened by the song of the next ' Brave '."

"—Or perhaps you could follow me and see the world with your own eyes?"