Chapter 12 (continued)

The other little creatures saw that it had received a gold coin and waited obediently at the side, docile down to the tips of their fur. "Chirp."

Telingewei took out paper and a pen and smoothly wrote a short note.

Xie Juanhan had recently been learning the local script and could recognize simple words like "tomorrow," "visit," and "friend."

Telingewei turned to look at Xie Juanhan, who was leaning slightly to one side as he deciphered the words, and read the note aloud: "Once the fairies agree, we'll visit them tomorrow."

Xie Juanhan asked, "Are you coming too?"

Telingewei nodded. "If no one leads the way, they'll hide as soon as they spot a stranger."

With gold coins in their mouths, the little creatures soon took the note and pattered off to deliver it.

Xie Juanhan made plans with Telingewei to visit the fairies the next day.

The next morning, Xie Juanhan got up early.

Before the rosy dawn had faded, he brought two large bags of down feathers and met Telingewei in the woods.

The companion beasts were absent.

They couldn't get up and were sleeping soundly in the cave.

The two of them traveled through the forest toward the western side of Telingewei's territory.

They passed along a riverbank, crossed a hill, and went around a dense thicket.

They kept walking.

At last, they saw an open forest in the distance.

From halfway up a hillside, Xie Juanhan spotted a giant loom among the trees.

The loom was two or three stories tall, and its wooden frame blended almost seamlessly into the forest.

Xie Juanhan had never seen such a tall loom.

Lustrous fabric was stretched across the enormous wooden loom. In the sunlight, it looked like a cascade of tiny droplets hanging from the frame.

"The little fairies are over there," Telingewei said.

Xie Juanhan was just about to ask where when he noticed patches of color fluttering beside the loom.

He had thought they were colorful leaves.

When he looked closely, he realized they were tiny people.

They had to be the little fairies.

The little fairies wore their hair in braids woven with flowers, along with skirts and pants and aprons tied around their waists.

Everything from their braids to their shoes, even the aprons at their waists, was dyed in various colors.

They flitted around the loom, working diligently.

The little fairies' senses weren't as keen as the two dragons'.

Only when the two drew close did the little fairies notice them.

"Ah!"

One little fairy cried out and hurriedly ducked behind a branch, vanishing in an instant.

The other little fairies flying in the air turned to look, then let out little cries of their own and hurried to hide behind branches, under leaves, in bushes, and in all sorts of other places.

"Good morning," Telingewei called out. "It's me, the dragon from the mountaintop."

Hearing the somewhat familiar voice, the little fairies hesitantly peeked out.

They soon recognized Telingewei and became less nervous.

"Lord dragon," the little fairies greeted him one after another in their delicate voices.

"I had my companion beasts deliver a letter yesterday. This is my friend Xie Juanhan, a dragon from elsewhere. He wants to have some bedding made."

He spoke especially clearly, pronouncing even the tones precisely.

Among the fairies, one little fairy couldn't help exclaiming softly, "It's the lord silver dragon who flew through the sky that day!"

The little fairy's voice was delicate, but it sounded a little different from the others'.

Xie Juanhan looked over and saw that, although he too wore flower-woven braids, a skirt and pants, and an apron, he was a tiny male fairy.

The little male fairy noticed Xie Juanhan looking at him and shyly hid behind a leaf that had just sprouted that spring.

Xie Juanhan smiled.

Both shy and curious, the little male fairy kept watching him from behind the leaf.

Xie Juanhan explained why he had come and showed the little fairies the down feathers he had brought.

After examining the down, the little fairies looked visibly excited.

Some couldn't help flying about in midair.

"Peryton down!"

"It's all new down!"

"Oh, there's so much!"

The little fairy who said the last line opened a bag.

The down burst out with a puff and buried her.

She struggled out of the soft down and rubbed her temple, her face full of joy.

The little fairies seemed to love the down Xie Juanhan had brought.

They agreed to help him process it for just three level-two magic cores.

"It can make a mattress, a quilt, and a pillow."

The little fairies explained to Xie Juanhan in their delicate voices.

"But there's only enough down for a single-person mattress, quilt, and pillow."

Xie Juanhan softened his voice too. "That's fine. It's just for me."

The little fairies said, "Then we'll get started."

The little fairies flew around the loom, removed the fabric that had been there, and spread out a fresh bolt of soft, pale gold fabric.

Calling out "Heave-ho" as they worked, the little fairies folded the fabric in half and carried bundles of down to stuff between the two layers.

Then they held needles and sewed the down into a square compartment.

The little fairies with transparent wings flew back and forth through the woods like this, threading needles and working hard at their sewing.

As they worked, the fabric slowly grew puffy, like pieces of soft bread baked until fluffy.

A sweet fragrance really did drift through the air.

It was the distinctive scent given off by the down and fabric after the little fairies had treated them and the sun had warmed them.

It smelled a little like fresh autumn cotton, warmed through by the sun.

The scent made Xie Juanhan a little sleepy.

But as he watched, he soon noticed something amiss.

The down the little fairies had treated had not only become clean and dry, but had also gained a layer of light.

It definitely hadn't had that glow before.

Telingewei could tell what Xie Juanhan was thinking and explained quietly, "It's a special skill of the little fairies. They can bring out the properties of textile materials."

"The properties of textile materials?"

"They use magic power to bring out the magic power within the material itself."

Telingewei said, "Perytons grow soft down to keep their young warm. Their down isn't just warm and soft; it also contains a kind of love. Once that's brought out, whoever uses it will feel warmth, softness, and love too."

Using magic power to bring out a material's original properties?

Xie Juanhan turned to look, then picked up a few scraps of fabric from beneath the loom. "How do you do it?"

Telingewei wasn't quite sure. "By infusing every gap in the material with magic power?"

"Manipulation on a microscopic level?" Xie Juanhan tentatively fed Dragon Power into the fabric.

The two studied it side by side.

Telingewei said, "Maybe? It's a racial trait of the fairies. Forest fairies have a relatively strong affinity with materials. Ordinary magical creatures generally can't do it."

The fabric had been woven from some kind of animal hair.

Xie Juanhan's Dragon Power soon penetrated deep into the scales on the animal hair.

He pushed Dragon Power into the gaps between every scale, then smoothed them all into alignment.

As he worked, the fabric began to change color from the spot pinched between his fingers.

It was as though ice crystals were growing between Xie Juanhan's fingers.

In the blink of an eye, the grayish-white fabric turned a dazzling ice-crystal color.

It even became crystal clear.

Before Telingewei had finished speaking, the fabric in Xie Juanhan's hand had transformed completely.

Telingewei froze.

That easily?

Xie Juanhan glanced at Telingewei.

Then he picked up another scrap of fabric and, once again, effortlessly turned it into a sparkling piece of ice-crystal-colored cloth.

Telingewei silently picked up a scrap and tentatively tried to push Dragon Flame into the fabric as well.

He had only pushed a little into it.

The scrap rapidly turned black, then burst into flame, becoming a little fireball in his hand.

In the blink of an eye, the scrap burned away completely, leaving hardly any ash.

Only the faint smell of burning protein lingered in the air.

Telingewei said, "..."

Xie Juanhan said, "..."

The two dragons stared together at Telingewei's empty palm.

Xie Juanhan spoke up to comfort him. "A black dragon's Dragon Flame carries the power to destroy the world. That's bound to happen."

Telingewei said quietly, "Thank you."

Seeing how dejected he was, Xie Juanhan felt it would be awkward to keep looking at him. But the moment he looked away, he met a pair of sparkling eyes.

It was the little male fairy.

The little male fairy looked at the fabric in Xie Juanhan's hand, his eyes full of longing.

Xie Juanhan paused, then held out the fabric. "Want to take a look?"

The little male fairy reached out a finger to touch it, then quickly pulled back. "Oh!"

"It's cool!" the little male fairy said in his delicate voice, his eyes wide.

Xie Juanhan was just about to speak.

The fairies nearby noticed the commotion and swooped over all at once.

They all looked at Xie Juanhan with big, longing eyes.

Xie Juanhan had no choice but to hand them the scrap and let them take turns touching it.

The little fairies flapped their wings and held up the scrap to examine it in the sunlight.

The fabric had an iridescent, crystalline quality, and felt cool and smooth to the touch.

It was exceptionally beautiful.

And exceptionally comfortable.

The little fairies gazed at Xie Juanhan excitedly, wonder on their faces.

Surrounded by his companions, the little male fairy asked cautiously, "My lord, can you bring out the magic power in a large piece of fabric?"

Xie Juanhan corrected him. "I didn't bring out the fabric's magic power. I just pushed my Dragon Power into it."

The little male fairy asked, "Then can you treat a large piece of fabric?"

"How large?" Xie Juanhan said. "I'd have to see the fabric first."

"Please wait a moment!"

After answering, the little fairies all swooped into the woods together to fetch some fabric.