Chapter 85: Brocéliande -5-
Gareth reacted with his usual deadpan expression, but Artoria X Alter and Artoria X, who were sipping tea beside him, both flinched.
“How can this be? I knew her face looked far too much like ours!” exclaimed Artoria X.
“Should we break down that door right now and arrest her, brother?” asked Artoria X Alter.
But Kay raised a hand to hold them back.
“Wait. There’s no point in raising a racket here. There’s definitely an ulterior motive behind this 'Tonerico' character using an alias and being so friendly to us. For now, let’s play along and pretend we don’t know. After all, if your tail is too long, someone is bound to step on it.”
Kay drained his teacup completely. He didn’t care if it contained the deadliest fairy poison; he had already chewed his way through countless venomous beasts in the Abyssal Realm and built up a near-impenetrable resistance.
A moment later, Tonerico walked out of the room again.
“Now then, if you’ve neutralized all the poison, shall we set off? I’ll help you find your companions.”
Tonerico smiled gently, leaning on her staff as she stepped forward. Kay and his party followed quietly behind her.
“This gorge, the Valley of Despair, isn’t like an ordinary forest.”
They passed through a meadow of flowers and entered a ravine shrouded in thick fog. Tonerico spoke in a low voice.
“This place was once a sanctuary for various lake fairies, including the Rain Clan. Long ago, when the great fairy chieftain of the Rain Clan died, she became the fairy realm itself, eternally protecting the lake fairies.”
She swept the fog aside with her staff, and the mist parted to reveal gnarled, twisted trees and massive crystalline pillars.
“No outsider can enter easily. Even if someone does get in, they end up wandering forever in the fog, like that foreign king or knight we saw earlier. They lack both the qualification and the ability to set foot here. But…”
Tonerico glanced back, scanning Kay and the sisters.
“Only you special ones have been able to pierce this realm and enter. If you go back now to rescue the companions who fell outside the fog, you may never be able to return to the heart of this place.”
“...Great. Just what I needed. I’ve already had my hands full dealing with that whining Spanish king. Since our goal is to find the hostages anyway, it’d be faster if we dealt with Maduan ourselves, rescued them, and then met up outside.”
Kay completely gave up on finding Clarice.
“So, where is this problematic fairy, Maduan, hiding?”
Tonerico raised her staff, pointing to a massive cavern yawning at the far end of the gorge.
“There. She is a fairy beautiful enough to be called a forest spirit, but she was also far too emotional. She especially loved humans and traveled the human world extensively.”
According to Tonerico, Brocéliande Forest was connected to a namesake forest and lake across the sea in Brittany, and Maduan frequently visited the Gaul region via that lake.
“Then... she fell deeply in love with Laris.”
“Love? If she was in love, why kidnap Lidoine—the wife of another man? And the wife of a comrade, no less?” asked Artoria X Alter.
“She wanted to create a perfect garden where she could be with Laris forever. But that required immense mana and a sacrifice. Coincidentally, Lidoine—Laris's sister, who possessed outstanding mana and a faint fairy lineage—was the ideal offering.”
Kay sneered in disgust. “Crazy fairy bitch. Talking about love while snatching siblings as a set just to use the sister as a sacrifice.”
“But why go through all that trouble to create a garden? She could’ve just brought them into the forest to live, right?”
Tonerico’s steps faltered for a brief, microscopic moment.
She pressed her hat low and answered in a voice both lonely and cold.
“...Because soon, this world will become an environment where fairies can no longer remain in the living realm.”
“Cannot remain in the living realm? That means...”
“Yes. The mystery is fading. The True Ether in the atmosphere of this island is being depleted. Beings of the Age of Gods who fail to cross over to Avalon in time... will meet a miserable end, like Albion, who died digging through Britain in the past, or Tarsk, who lacked the mana to cross over.”
It was an unavoidable countdown to extinction for the fairies.
“Maduan, too, must eventually cross to Avalon. But an ordinary human like Laris could never withstand the environment of Avalon.”
“Avalon’s atmosphere. I know,” Kay nodded. It was a story he had heard until his ears bled from Scáthach in the Abyssal Realm.
“She said a normal human would die instantly from a single breath, their lungs bursting. Of course, exceptions exist—people like me who trained their bodies to the point of modification in the Abyssal Realm, fairy half-breeds like Gawain, or special cases like my sisters who carry the dragon factor.”
“Indeed. There are always exceptions. For example, a human like Sir Kay, who was loved so excessively by the Master of the Abyssal Realm that he was forced to become an outlier.”
Tonerico gave a peculiar smile and glanced sideways at Kay.
“But for Laris, it is impossible. That is why Maduan plans... to use Lidoine’s fairy bloodline and life force as a sacrifice to create a limited magic garden inside this cave—a pseudo-fairy realm where he can live with her forever. She intends to turn Lidoine herself into a fairy domain.”
The sisters' faces hardened at the gruesome truth.
“...How do you know such detailed information?” Artoria X asked, her hand drifting to her sword hilt with suspicion.
“Are you perhaps in league with this fairy, Maduan?”
“The lake fairies share that level of information among themselves,” Tonerico replied nonchalantly.
“However, among the lake fairies, Maduan’s mana was exceptionally strong... and we are not creatures who are unconditionally friendly to humans. We simply chose to stand by and watch her deviation.”
She tapped the ground with her staff and let out a sigh tinged with resentment.
“Humans brought the most dazzling prosperity to Britain, but they also ruined it most miserably. The Britons make excuses, blaming everything on the invasion of the Roman Empire... but from our perspective, the Britons who fell the forests and spill each other's blood are no different from the Romans. They are all just greedy. I don't know about the distant past, but the humans of today are already utterly corrupt.”
Within that lonely monologue lay the sorrow of a fairy who had watched the age of man, enduring endless betrayal and despair.
Because Kay knew she was Morgan, he could vaguely sense that these words weren't mere fairy complaints, but the bone-deep sincerity of a witch who had once desired to be the true King of Britain.
As they continued their conversation, the party soon arrived at the entrance of the massive cave leading to Maduan’s lair. An eerie, purple mana leaked from within.
“Now, we have arrived. How about taking one last break before we head inside?”
Tonerico suggested, perching on a rock.
“Sounds good. It’s about time for Mordred to have her meal anyway.”
Kay adjusted the baby sling and readily agreed.
He opened the Extra-dimensional Storage Box at his waist and pulled out a large lunchbox prepared at the castle.
“Everyone hungry? Let’s eat first.”
As the lid opened, the savory scent of oil and a sweet-and-salty sauce filled the air.
Today’s field rations were pork cutlet sandwiches: thick slices of black pork, fried crisp and tucked generously between pieces of bread.
“Ohhh! Fried food! Meat! Carbs! This is the perfect energy source permitted by the universe!”
Artoria X and Artoria X Alter cheered, grabbing the sandwiches and devouring them greedily.
“Here, Fou. You like meat too, so have some of this. This piece is especially thick.”
“Fou!”
Fou grabbed the piece of pork cutlet Kay tossed and began tearing into it with his forepaws.
Kay pulled out a milk bottle for Mordred, then held out one of the remaining sandwiches to Tonerico.
“Have one. You guided us here, so I can’t let you go hungry.”
Tonerico stared at the sandwich for a moment, then slowly shook her head.
“I am fine, thank you. I appreciate the thought. Fairies generally do not care for greasy foods or animal meats. To our palates, they are too coarse and heavy.”
“Really? The Caster at my place goes wild for grilled meat. You’re quite the picky eater.”
Kay clicked his tongue, but began rummaging through his storage pouch.
He sliced fresh lettuce, tomato, and cucumber, and instead of meat, he lightly grilled some fragrant mushrooms gathered from the forest to place between the bread.
Then, he drizzled a generous amount of a special dressing based on fresh fruit juice, whipping up a fresh vegetable and mushroom sandwich in an instant.
“Alright, how about this? A vegetarian sandwich with no meat at all.”
As Kay casually offered the sandwich, Tonerico’s eyes wavered slightly.
Most humans would find a fairy’s whims or refusals to be rude and would likely react with anger.
But this large man of a cook had naturally considered her finicky tastes and created a meal specifically for her on the spot.
“...”
Tonerico gazed down at the sandwich before carefully accepting it with both hands.
“...Thank you.”
She took a small bite. The crispness of the fresh vegetables, the aroma of the forest mushrooms, and the sweet-tangy sauce spread pleasantly through her mouth.
It was a kind and delicate flavor that perfectly suited even a fairy’s sensitive taste buds.
As she chewed, a faint, genuine smile—not the strange, cold one from before, but one like that of a young girl—passed over Tonerico’s lips.
Watching her, Kay found it somewhat unexpected. *Was the Morgan of the past really this kind of person?*
Recalling Queen Gloriana’s bittersweet story about how she was once a lake fairy loved by all, Kay felt a small flicker of pity for her.
It was a strangely meaningful, yet peaceful, moment of respite.
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