Chapter 193: The Fairy’s Sword (2)
Once again, I was outside the forest, vomiting. Fortunately, since I had already emptied my stomach earlier, there was nothing left to throw up except a bit of nausea.
"You brought it already?"
The fairies clapped excitedly as they saw the Fairy’s Sword in my hand. Meanwhile, I was struggling with a mix of exhaustion, motion sickness from the teleportation, and the thought that if the Fairy Queen could solve everything this easily, why did we even need to go through all that trouble?
I gripped the Fairy’s Sword tightly.
It didn’t feel like a weapon but rather like a living being, resting peacefully in my hand. Out of curiosity, I ran my finger along the blade, but it didn’t cut me.
‘Is this just a ceremonial sword?’
My expression wasn’t the best due to the lingering nausea, but I figured the unfeeling Fairy Queen wouldn’t care about my state, so I didn’t bother steadying myself before handing her the sword.
As I held out the Fairy’s Sword with both hands, the translucent Queen closed her eyes briefly, then began to regain color.
Her veil, layered with countless flower petals, shimmered as her light green hair cascaded gently over it.
Like the other fairies, she had rainbow-colored butterfly wings, but hers were far more elegant. Unlike theirs, which merely refracted mana in the air, her wings revealed glimpses of numerous dimensions beyond.
The sight was incomprehensible to the human brain. My mind instinctively rejected it, resulting in a sharp headache. It was a reminder that excessive knowledge could be dangerous.
Professor Pandel once joked that if a god ever descended in full presence, or if one were to directly gaze upon a divine fragment, a human’s mind would burn out instantly. Seeing this now, I realized that was no joke.
However, the Fairy Queen hadn’t manifested her full presence to overwhelm me. Instead, she quickly folded her wings, relieving me of the strain as she fully descended into this realm.
"A place that can be reached from anywhere, a place that can go anywhere. Welcome to the Fairy’s Forest, Guardian Knight of Gold Dragon Seyra."
The Fairy Queen’s gentle smile was so enchanting that it could captivate anyone, regardless of her size. Yet, her very existence gave me a splitting headache, and merely looking at her face made my stomach churn.
‘She’s not even ugly, she’s breathtakingly beautiful… but she’s making my head hurt? This feels unfair.’
"Fufu... We’ll talk soon. First, I must speak with our guest."
She gently patted the heads of the three fairies who had rushed to her side before turning her attention back to the Fairy’s Sword in her hands.
When I held it, it was barely above the size of a shortsword. But in the Fairy Queen’s grasp, it had transformed into a massive greatsword, taller than she was.
"You recovered it wonderfully."
"I didn’t do much. Laz was the one who actually retrieved it."
Honesty was important when giving credit, so I made sure to be truthful.
"That was because you were fated to retrieve this sword. Had I only sent Laz, she would have failed and returned empty-handed."
I still felt like I hadn’t really done anything, though.
"In the distant future, you were meant to recover this sword from the one who stole it and seal it back in the lake. You have merely fulfilled that destiny sooner than expected. Your effort brought this fate to fruition, so you need not be so modest."
Even after hearing that, I still felt like I’d barely contributed. But if she wanted to see it that way, I wasn’t going to argue against praise.
"And because your destiny was accelerated, 102 lives have been saved. You should be proud, Ban."
"102 lives...? What do you mean?"
"I cannot tell you just yet. Of course, even if those lives had been lost, it might not have mattered to you. But... I believe it would have weighed on your heart."
Despite lacking wings, the Fairy Queen floated gracefully, positioning herself in front of my chest.
"Just like how you have never forgotten the girl you failed to protect."
She gently placed a hand on my chest, as if soothing an old wound. Then, she closed her eyes and unfurled her wings once more.
"This meeting ends here. Thank you again for protecting the Fairy’s Sword."
"What will you do now, Your Majesty..."
“We must seal this sword once more, ensuring that it is never used again, that it never brings forth bloodshed and hatred.”
With those words, the Fairy Queen spread her transcendent wings and began to fade into the distant reaches of the world.
Her final words were chillingly ominous:
[So that it may never again be forcibly wielded in blood and vengeance.]
Like mist dissipating into the forest, the Fairy Queen vanished into thin air.
"Ah, the Queen is gone."
"She must be going back to sleep."
Following the fairies, I approached the lake’s shore, where I saw the Fairy’s Sword resting calmly upon the altar in the depths of the water.
"If it’s just left in the lake , won’t someone be able to steal it easily?"
While it might be inaccessible to the fairies, who couldn’t afford to get their wings wet, I could easily dive in and retrieve it.
"I don’t think so. Want to try?"
Taking Maggie’s suggestion as a challenge, I removed my shirt and dove into the lake. I swam towards the altar where I had seen the sword, but the moment I reached out for it, my hand grasped nothing.
'Wait... is the sword really on the altar?'
The warmth and reality I had sensed earlier were gone, leaving behind a faint, hazy illusion as if it were merely a painted image. No matter how many times I reached out, I couldn’t touch the Fairy’s Sword.
After multiple failed attempts, I surfaced and began drying myself off. As I did, the fairies huddled close, pressing their warm bodies against me as they began to explain.
"That sword isn’t just sitting in the water. It’s inside the Queen’s personal space."
"The reason it appears here is so that those who truly need it can find it. The Queen left behind this image as a marker."
"So you can’t retrieve it just by diving in. We can’t even touch it unless the Queen allows us to."
'If that’s the case, then how did the thief manage to steal it?'
Finding the thief wasn’t my mission—retrieving the Fairy’s Sword had been the objective. But how had someone managed to bypass the Fairy Queen’s space and take the sword?
'Well... figuring that out is the job of mages and scholars. As a knight, my job is just to track down the thief and retrieve what was stolen.'
To ease the mental strain from my earlier encounter with the Fairy Queen, I closed my eyes and leaned back, taking a short rest by the lakeside.
Now that the mist covering the Misty Forest had lifted, I could return to the kingdom’s borders with the fairies’ guidance, so I wasn’t too worried.
"Now that I think about it..."
As the fairies fluttered their wings to dry my damp skin, I recalled the reward they had mentioned before... and how it was supposed to involve their bodies.
It wasn’t just a matter of size—it was physically impossible. My glans alone was thicker than their entire bodies. Even if I wanted to try, I couldn’t even get the tip in. Instead, my cock just bounced off their thighs as if rejecting the very idea of entry.
If my tip were shaped like a sharp spear instead of being round and blunt, maybe it would have been possible... but in that case, it wouldn’t be sex—it would be assault, or even murder.
"So... how should we give you your reward?"
Viola’s quiet but dangerous words carried an expectation, but unfortunately, there was no way I could fulfill it under these conditions.
If they were just a little bigger—perhaps around the Fairy Queen’s size—then it might have been difficult but still possible. But right now, even my fingers barely seemed like they could fit inside them, making it hard to feel motivated.
"Is the Queen particularly large?"
"The Queen? She’s taller than us."
Even so, she was at least three times bigger than Laz, who was now fluttering before my eyes.
'Compared to humans, she’s still small, but... at that size, it might actually be possible.'
"So, if the Queen were involved, would it be possible to... put it in?"
Viola asked her question hesitantly.
Even if the Fairy Queen was larger than the other fairies, she was still smaller than Shuru. Unless she was exceptionally flexible, it would still be a tight fit.
But at least it would be more feasible than the current situation, where I couldn’t even attempt it.
As I pondered, Viola suddenly scooped up some lake water with her hands and drank it.
Moments later, her body began to grow, while her butterfly wings shrank in proportion.
"You... you can grow bigger?"
"Then why do you stay in this small form?"
"Because it’s easier to fly this way! If we get too big, we can’t support our weight with our wings anymore."
It made sense. Their small bodies and lightweight frames allowed them to fly with butterfly wings. If they grew larger, flight would become difficult.
'But still... growing just by drinking water?'
Even more baffling was the fact that she hadn’t actually consumed that much water. It was just a tiny sip, yet her body had expanded multiple times its size, completely defying the laws of physics.
As her body expanded, the leaf-made clothes she wore fell away, leaving her completely naked. With her now wingless body exposed, Viola hesitantly covered her chest with her hands before looking at me with a hopeful gaze.
Maggie stared at me expectantly, while Laz tried to feign indifference but was clearly sneaking glances at my reaction.
Carefully considering the situation, I gave my answer.
"Let’s give it a try.”