Many different races live in the Village of the Great Tree.
We’ve been together for a long time now, yet there are still things that manage to surprise me.
Take the High Ogre race, for instance.
They serve as the maids for the Village Head's Mansion—and indeed, the entire village—but I recently came across a strange sight. Two of them had their faces inches apart, their horns locked as they rubbed them together.
"What are they doing?" I asked Ann, seeking an explanation.
"They are fighting," she replied.
Fighting? But they both had smiles on their faces.
"It is a fight. From that position, the first one to look away loses."
I see. I don't necessarily want to encourage fighting, but I suppose it's better than letting resentment bottle up. It wasn’t as if they were hitting each other, and it seemed like a style of conflict that reached a clean conclusion.
"By the way," Ann added, "when a match is particularly heated, they can stay in that state for about three days."
Three days?
"Does it look like this one will last?"
"Given the current atmosphere... it won't be ending anytime soon."
Hmm. If they were anywhere else, I would have left them be, but doing this in the dining hall was a nuisance. It wasn't exactly the kind of thing I wanted to show the children, either.
I asked Ann to mediate.
Ann's approach was nothing if not direct. She walked straight between the two maids as they glared at each other with fixed smiles, physically blowing them apart to force an end to the match. When the two attempted to protest, she squared up and locked horns with them one by one.
Neither of them lasted even five seconds against her. That was the end of that.
Both of them returned to their work immediately, but I couldn't help but wonder. Didn't they feel any lingering frustration?
"Lingering frustration? I’ve never felt such a thing. Since I have never lost, you see," Ann said.
Right. Ann wasn't exactly a helpful reference point for that. I decided I would check in on the other two later.
Elsewhere, the kittens, Aegis, and Hitoe were all sleeping together in a tangled heap. It was an adorable sight, except for the fact that they were piled on top of Kuro’s belly while he was trying to rest. I could feel a "please help me" vibe radiating from him.
I wanted to help, but I wasn't sure how. If Kuro really wanted to, he could easily stand up even if I were the one sleeping on him. The only reason he remained pinned down was his refusal to wake the sleeping kittens, Aegis, and Hitoe.
Could I rescue Kuro without waking the little ones? As I stood there pondering the problem, one of Zabuton’s children descended from the ceiling, trailing a line of silk. It stopped at eye level and raised a leg in a "leave it to me" gesture.
What was it planning?
The spiderling climbed back up to a ceiling beam and moved directly over Kuro. Then, it lowered itself again.
Wait, was it actually going to...?
Zabuton’s child gently secured Aegis. It was a perfect maneuver. But could the spiderling actually lift him?
To my surprise, it did! It actually hauled him up. Those little guys were incredibly strong. And Aegis... stayed completely asleep. Perfect.
After depositing Aegis onto a cushion next to Kuro, the spiderling descended once more. Its next target was Hitoe. However, the moment the spiderling landed on her, Hitoe’s eyes snapped open. She stared up at the spiderling with a sleepy, confused gaze.
The spiderling beat a hasty retreat. Well, it couldn't be helped. It had done a valiant job just getting Aegis off.
I decided to see if I could handle the rest. I reached out to move the kitten Miel, but Yuki stepped in from the side and let out a single, sharp bark. Startled, the kittens and Hitoe scrambled off Kuro’s belly and fled.
That was a bit rough, I thought, but then Yuki immediately claimed the vacant space by resting her head on Kuro’s stomach.
Ah. So that was her spot all along.
I continued to sense a "help me" atmosphere from Kuro, though. Maybe he needed to use the outhouse? Well, he’d have to endure it a while longer, or he’d risk making Yuki angry.
As a side note, Aegis had woken up briefly at Yuki’s bark, but he simply went right back to sleep where he was. He certainly had nerves of steel.
Lately, the fairies have been expanding their range of activity. Even though they sleep in the flower field on the north side of the village, they’ve started showing up in the mansion and the residential area during the day.
Their favorite spot seemed to be the ranch area. They enjoyed frolicking around the cows’ tails, though they frequently got smacked by them for their trouble. I wondered if they were alright, but they seemed tough enough.
For now, they were harmless, so I planned to leave them be—with a few conditions. I told them to stay out of private spaces like the outhouse or the bath. I also told them that while my mansion was one thing, they were to stay out of other people’s houses entirely.
Furthermore, the food storage was strictly off-limits. It wasn't that I thought they were malicious, but I’d heard stories from Lu about the kinds of pranks fairies were known for. Turning potatoes into stones, putting sand into the wheat flour... that sort of thing.
I didn't necessarily believe every prank in the world was the work of fairies, but I had absolutely no intention of laughing off any mischief involving my fields or our food supply.
"Do you understand?" I asked them. "I'm not saying 'don't do it' as a challenge. I mean absolutely do not do it. I'm counting on you."
The next day.
I was inspecting the field, thinking it was nearly time for harvest, when I noticed something wrong. It was what some might call a crop circle. The wheat had been flattened to create a picture. A very poorly drawn picture.
They say that when people reach a certain level of anger, they simply start laughing. My face was fixed in a grin.
There were very few beings capable of pulling off such a stunt while evading the watchful eyes of the spiderlings and Kuro’s children who guarded the fields.
Sorry, but the fairies were my prime suspects.
I marched over to the flower field. About fifty fairies were gathered there, along with ten who had matured into small humanoid forms. At the center of the group stood a beautiful woman. She was tall, with wings on her back—not feathered wings like the Angel Race, but wings of light.
My intuition flared. She was the Fairy Queen. And she was the culprit.
I decided to verify, just in case.
"Are you the one who messed with the field?"
"Hm? Is that any way to address 'Ware'? You are quite rude, aren't you?"
My hand reached out and clamped onto the Fairy Queen’s head in an iron claw.
"Are you the one who messed with the field?"
"Wait—ow, ow, ow! It hurts! It hurts!"
"Are you the one who messed with the field?"
Was this a heavy-handed interrogation? Perhaps. But when I thought of the poor wheat, this didn't feel like nearly enough.
The fairies who had been in the village before the Queen arrived fluttered over. What was it? Ah, so they had tried to stop her?
"Thank you," I said to them. "I'm sorry for doubting you all."
So this one really was the culprit. Good to know.
"N-No! Stop! It’s gonna break! My head is gonna break!"