A Fairy-Tale Wonderland

The streets were clear in the early morning, and we soon left the city center behind. Before long, a flash of white light flickered outside, and the carriage came to a stop.

When I stepped down, I found that everything around me had changed. The plants were strange and bizarre, and the beautiful tulips grew taller than I was.

The clouds were adorable, and the animals scampering all over the ground weren't the least bit afraid of me. A clear little stream rushed over pretty stones with a burbling sound, just like something out of a fairy tale.

I was completely bewildered. We'd been in the city center just moments ago, so how had Silver City disappeared from sight?

I was about to ask Lux, but I couldn't find her anywhere. Angel was the only one standing obediently in place. Were they playing hide-and-seek? I couldn't help but laugh helplessly.

I followed the little stream at an easy pace, taking in the beautiful scenery along the way. Compared with the immediate impact of other beautiful sights, this fairy-tale wonderland felt gentler, soft and dreamy, and utterly relaxing.

I searched every likely hiding place, but couldn't find Lux. I saw plenty of pretty butterflies—more precisely, little fairies that looked like butterflies. They circled around me, chattering:

"Look, another stranger has come!"

"Have you seen any other strangers?"

"We can't tell you! Go ask Mr. Mole!"

Looks like I'd have to keep searching. Mr. Mole had to be somewhere in the soft earth. I left the stream and headed elsewhere, but before I'd gone far, a vine tripped me. Then I heard it laughing at me:

"Hahaha! I finally tripped someone! You're really clumsy."

Even plants could talk. Did everything in this fairy-tale world have a personality of its own?

I was just getting up when I spotted Mr. Mole, snoozing nearby. A huge leaf covered him, and I wouldn't have seen him if I hadn't fallen. I supposed that was a blessing in disguise.

All that noise hadn't woken him. It seemed there was no danger here, which was why the animals weren't on alert. Feeling reassured, I walked over. Good grief, Mr. Mole was enormous—about the size of a house cat!

I reached out and poked his huge body. He rolled over but didn't wake, so I poked him again. And again. Finally, after the third poke, he opened his eyes.

"Who disturbed my nap?"

"Sorry to bother you, Mr. Mole. Have you seen a human girl about my age?"

"A human girl? Yes, I saw one. She woke me up not long ago. You humans are awful!"

"Do you know where she went?"

"Why do you keep talking to yourself? I said you humans are awful. Didn't you hear me? You can't even say you're sorry—"

Mr. Mole hadn't finished when he suddenly looked terrified. He hurriedly burrowed into the ground and fled. I turned around and saw a huge tabby cat. All right, it was bigger than a tiger, but it definitely looked like a cat.

I'd thought there was no danger here, but then I ran into a feline. Worse, it seemed to have no personality of its own. It ignored everything I said and charged at me. I ran for my life, but the faster I ran, the harder it chased me.

Was this what it felt like for a mouse to meet a cat? I couldn't outrun it or fight it. All I could do was despair and hope for a miracle. And the miracle I was hoping for was Lux appearing at once. She'd brought me here, so she had to know how to deal with this tabby!

"Lux, where are you?"

I shouted as I ran, but my strength was fading fast. I thought I'd gone beyond my limits. Unless their life depended on it, nobody could run this fast for this long.

Lux didn't answer. I couldn't run another step. Strangely, though, the tabby never pounced on me during the chase.

Whenever it was about to catch me, it slowed down, then waited until I'd gotten some distance away before chasing after me again. It seemed all felines enjoyed this kind of wicked game: tormenting their prey until the end.

I decided to stop running. Whatever happened, happened! I lay on the ground, gasping for breath. The trees around me were like bonsai, strange-looking and very short.

When I stopped, the tabby stopped too. It crouched beside me, licking its paws and washing its face. It looked relaxed, but I knew that if I ran, it would be on my heels in an instant.

After a while, when it saw I wasn't moving, the tabby spoke. So it could talk too:

"Why did you stop running? You've had plenty of time to catch your breath by now, haven't you?"

→

"What's the point of running? I can't outrun you anyway. Once you've had your fun, you'll eat me."

"I never planned to eat you. Chasing you could have been malicious—or it could have been love at first sight."

The tabby's words left me baffled. As I tried to make sense of them, I suddenly saw it transform into a human: long golden hair, snow-white skin. It was Lux!

"Lux? How did it turn out to be you? You scared me half to death."

"I was playing a little game with you, hahaha! What do you think of the scenery here?"

"It's beautiful, like a fairy-tale wonderland."

"I'm glad you like it. You're leaving for the Dauntless Vanguard Legion tomorrow. Think of this as my parting gift."

"Thanks. But where is this place?"

"I don't know either. I can't come here on my own. Only Angel can bring me in. Maybe this is her home."

We wandered around aimlessly for a while, admiring the strange sights together. Before we knew it, we'd returned to where Angel was waiting, bringing our marvelous journey to an end.

I didn't know why Lux had done all this. Maybe she really did like me, but I couldn't return her feelings. I loved Fiora, and nothing could change that.

The skies had been clear for days, but it started raining on the day of my departure. Fortunately, it was only a light rain and wouldn't keep us from traveling.

My family all came out to see me off. Fiora was the only one who didn't. That was probably for the best; it would've been hard to leave after saying goodbye to her.

We'd agreed to meet at Silver City's east gate. When I arrived, Garen and more than a dozen attendants were already there. Lux was standing nearby too.

"You're late," Garen said, then set off at the head of the group.

"Brother, take care! And make sure you look after Leivo!"

Garen waved without answering. I said a quick goodbye to Lux, then followed him.

Three days and nights later, we arrived at the Dauntless Vanguard's camp near the eastern mountain range. Tents stretched for dozens of miles, countless banners stood planted across the grounds, and soldiers in silver-white armor shouted back and forth. The legion's fame was well deserved!

During my first week there, I received no training at all. Instead, I was often given jobs like carrying food and cleaning, which left me very disgruntled.

I was supposed to be the savior spoken of by the Sage. How could I spend all my time doing logistics? I went to argue with the captain, hoping to be assigned a different job.

The captain didn't look pleased when he heard my request. "You think logistics work isn't important?"

"It is, but I think I should be getting proper training so I can fight in the future. Sage Tabor said I would save Demacia."

"There are many ways to save a country. You don't necessarily have to fight. Keeping everyone supplied with food, and making sure their weapons, armor, and horses are always in good condition, isn't easy. Don't let Sage Tabor's words go to your head. It's good for a new recruit to have passion and ideals, but passion without thought can lead a person to their grave."

After hearing the captain out, I realized how shortsighted I'd been. I hurriedly apologized and returned to the tent, working even harder than before. Still, a week later, I was reassigned to a combat unit.

My new captain was named Alvin. He was very kind to everyone, never yelled at anyone, and certainly never hit anyone. He was especially considerate toward me, and everyone listened to him. I suppose that was what it meant to lead by example, I thought.

The first two months of training were grueling. I often ended up too exhausted to get back on my feet, so the captain reduced my workload. By the third month, I could more or less keep up with everyone else. My whole body had grown sturdier, and because I was still young, I'd gotten quite a bit taller too.

We trained and grew stronger, and six months passed in a flash. I had grown into a real soldier.

What discouraged me was that I'd written Fiora quite a few letters during that time, but hadn't received a single reply. Lux, on the other hand, had written to me several times. Along with her encouragement, she told me about all sorts of everyday things.

It was the eighth month, the beginning of summer. The eastern mountain range was lush with trees, and the wild grass at its foot was growing like mad.

According to Sage Tabor's prophecy, we would clash with the Noxian army when the plants were lush. They'd been making threatening moves last year but hadn't mobilized. Would they attack this year?

As I wondered, I received an urgent summons from Garen.