The Fairy Kingdom drifting diary. Year thirty.
At last, this day had come.
Thirty years had finally passed since the day I was swept into the Fairy Kingdom by a sudden changeling, kidnapped on the spot, turned into a slave of the Gnome, and bound to the forge!
The day when a human slave in this Fairy Kingdom reached the end of his lifespan, and the master set him free because he was no longer useful!
"Heh-heh-heh... And with that Gnome bastard’s certificate too, I’m safe, safe, completely safe...!!"
The conditions for freedom had already been satisfied long ago.
After begging and begging that Gnome, I had even gotten a certificate stamped with the queen’s seal. With this, at the very least, there was no reason for me to be seized without question if I went somewhere else.....!!
"All right, my things are packed too...... Maybe I should say goodbye before I go."
My luggage was mostly just a bag-sized amount of belongings: the mors pounds I had carefully saved up over the past few years, a few pieces of jewelry I had made before, some water and bread, and spare clothes.
And thirty years might be a short time by fairy standards, but they were still coworkers I had spent thirty years with. At the very least, it would be right to say goodbye before leaving.
"Yeah, that would be right, but......"
I lifted my head and looked toward the door of the room. A fairy was standing there. Land. The foreman, or something close to the leader, of this forge.
He was rather strict and irritable, but his skill as a craftsman was, at the very least in this forge, right at the peak. He loved working to death, and among the stories I told, he especially liked the ones related to iron. A born craftsman, through and through. I was pretty sure he was said to be a low-ranking fairy, and yet he had lived for several hundred years.....
"So what on earth brings you here to see me, Land?"
So he was not the kind of fairy who would bother coming to find me at a time like this, after all the work was done.
"............"
With an atmosphere somehow different from usual, a shadow cast over his face, Land simply stood there and looked at me without saying anything.
"...Hey. You didn’t come here to say something? Why are you just standing there like that?"
Feeling the strange mood, I asked again naturally.
...A bad feeling flickered through me, but he was still a coworker I had spent thirty years with. He wouldn’t do anything strange.
".......Nakamura."
"Yeah. What is it?"
"......I heard you’re leaving the forge. Why?"
After keeping his mouth shut for a long moment, Land finally spoke. I felt a glint from the hammer in his hand.
"...Didn’t Capris tell you? I want to see more new things. I don’t want to stay stuck in this forge in Norwich forever. I want to go north, or to Oxford, or places like that."
"Oxford’s business trip season is coming soon. This cycle is a little late, but wait until then. As for the north... I don’t know yet, but someday we might be able to go on a business trip there. So you don’t need to leave the forge. You’re still an inexperienced craftsman... there’s still more to learn here... right?"
It grew ominous. Unsettling. As if suppressing something, he tried to persuade me with a drawn-out, sticky tone. ...Land’s right hand was fiddling with the hammer. ...No way. Surely not.....
"............."
"............No answer, then. You mean you’re leaving because there’s nothing more to learn here...?"
He stopped toying with the hammer, lifted his lowered face, and looked straight at me. He wanted an answer. ...Fine, I’ll give you one. No matter what, he wouldn’t hurt a coworker he had worked with for thirty years, right?
"...No, of course I’m inexperienced compared to all of you. The masterpieces I could make, you could probably make without breaking a sweat, and there’s still plenty I need to learn."
"Then...!"
Land’s face visibly brightened. He looked like a child eagerly waiting for the answer he wanted. Sorry, but that wasn’t what you were hoping for.
"But I don’t intend to stay in the forge for my whole life. I want to see more of this Fairy Kingdom, so I’ll probably stop by again someday, but I don’t want to be tied down here. So I’m leaving."
When I finished speaking, Land’s face, which had been full of expectation, darkened again. He glared at me with a face as shadowed as if a cloud had passed over it, then clenched the hammer tightly.
".......I see. ...Then if I crush your legs, you won’t be able to go anywhere!!"
"You crazy bastard!!!!"
Boom!!!!!!
He immediately brought the hammer down toward my legs, but because I quickly jumped backward, Land’s hammer only smashed the floor for nothing..... Or rather, there’s a hole all the way down to the floor below? How hard did he hit that thing.....!!
"Hey, you insane freak....!!! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!!"
But that was one thing and this was another.....!! That lunatic actually did it!!! At a coworker he had worked with for thirty years, no less!! Damn it, what the hell is wrong with that bastard....!!! Has he lost his mind?!!!
Huff, damn it. First, I backed my body away and thrust one foot toward the broken floor. This, if it came to it.....!!
"Hm...? If I crush your legs, you can’t leave the forge, can you...? Don’t worry. I’ll leave you the hands and eyes you need as a craftsman..... Just stay still.......!!!"
"Damn it, you’re not making any sense!!!"
Boom!!
Muttering in a gloomy voice, Land this time threw the hammer, and I reacted by throwing myself toward the hole that had been smashed through to the floor below.
"Khah, cough...!!"
My body rolled and crashed down onto the debris on the floor. Maybe because I had forced my way through as I fell, it felt like I had scratches all over me. Damn it, and it hurts like hell too. Did something unlucky get stuck in my back...!!
"No, more importantly.....!!"
Right now, I had to get up and run. Even if I had fallen straight down from the room, it was only the first and second floors. No matter how broad Land’s body was horizontally, meaning he couldn’t come down through the hole like I did, he would be down soon enough.
"Haa, huff!!"
So I forced my body up, grabbed the bag I had somehow not let go of, and headed for the front entrance of the lodging. I had to get out first. This place only had one door, even if there were windows. So if I got outside and blocked the door, I could at least buy a little time........
"Hey, look over there!!"
"It’s Nakamura!! He’s injured!!"
"What happened? Come here, I’ll treat you! The first-aid kit is here for now!!"
"Then I’ll go get a doctor! Of course, you need to get better quickly!!!"
"So come here quickly!! You almost got into real trouble!! Don’t worry! Trust us!!!"
" " " "So come to us already!!!! Hurry!!! Now!!!!!" " " "
.........From outside the front door, I could hear the fairies’ voices.
One by one, they were so clear I could tell who each one belonged to. They were the guys from the forge. They had come swarming over in a crowd.
Their voices were pleasant. They were trying to reassure me, to comfort me. It was the kind of sound I wanted to believe. They had gathered here sincerely, for my sake.
Ah, I wanted to turn the doorknob right now, trust the coworkers I had spent thirty years with, feel relieved, and get out of here before Land could come after me. I wanted to feel safe. I wanted to trust them.
.......But the faces of the guys visible through the window were not like that. Their faces were dark as if shadowed over, faint madness leaked from their eyes, and from their mouths spilled words of deception and pretense, enough to spray with spit.
......Just like Land a moment ago, my survival instinct told me that they, too, were the kind of people who would hurt me under the pretense of doing it for my own good.
So,
"Damn it!!!!!!"
I decided to trust my instincts. The front was dangerous. Those guys were no longer the coworkers I knew.....!!!
"Nakamura’s running away!!!"
"Catch him!! We have to treat him quickly!!"
"Don’t let him get away anywhere!! Don’t let him leave!!"
"Don’t run!! It’s safe here!!! You’re still inexperienced!!"
" " " "You’re staying here for the rest of your life!!!!!! Don’t go anywhere!!!" " " "
"Like hell I am, you maniacs!!!!!"
Damn it, are you all insane...!! No, all of you are insane!!! Damn it, why the hell did it come to this?!!!
Shit, calm down, calm down, Nakamura...!!! There’s no door on the other side, but there is a window, so if I swing this bag and smash the window, then......!!!!!
"Nakamuraaa... where are you going...? The door is over there!!"
And at that moment, Land’s voice came from right beside me. Damn it, I’m done for. He’s about to throw the hammer aga...
"Duck, Nakamura!!!!"
Crash!!
"Kyaaaaah?!!!!!!"
At that instant, along with someone’s shout and the sound of glass shattering, something flew in and struck Land squarely.
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