—–
“But its true! The monsters were waiting for us to ambush us, we foolishly fell to their trap because we grew desperate…” Sighed Florie. “Queen Titania had said that we shouldn’t walk outside, but we didn’t obey her… Now we almost died.”
“Couldn’t you guys fly away when attacked? I am surprised you can get cornered when you got wings.” I asked, wondering if there couldn’t had been a way for them to escape anyways. I mean, they got big butterfly wings, right? Couldn’t they fly off? .
“Our wings can’t let us fly so high; we are not that light ourselves.”
“If we were smaller Fairies named Fae, perhaps, but our kin is larger so we can do more things, such as constructing and crafting!”
“The Fae are the small ones that can fly anywhere they want, but we can’t fly more than just a few meters above the ground, sustaining flight for so long all high in the sky makes us dizzy…”
“Also it is not our style to abandon our friend Buffalo!”
“Moooo!”
The Buffalo also had to say something it seems, agreeing with the fairies. They were adorable but had hearts of gold as well, to think they were willing to die with their animal friend… they’re a bit too na?ve, but they’re not called children of the forest for nothing I suppose it is part of the charm of fairies to be a bit na?ve, playful, and childish after all! Don’t worry, mommy Dryad will protect all of you adorable little cinnamon rolls!
“I see… Don’t worry, I will protect you guys from now on… I had just helped the Squirrel-kin deal with a disease related with the miasma, so is something similar happening to you guys?” I wondered. “If that’s the case, I can help you right away.”
“It is something similar, but Queen Titania is already working in a cure, she had been working for weeks since it appeared, but it seems that this disease has something special that cannot be easily healed even with potions made by our queen…” Sighed Florie.
“W-Wait, hold on a second. You said… Queen Titania?!” Asked Sporegon.
“So this forest is really the Forest where we originally came from? Where our lord found us too?!” Asked Magius.
“It has shrink a lot over the years… Just how long have we been dead?” Sighed Hunter.
“The Fairy Queen is a powerful Half-Spirit woman, that she can have an unlimited lifespan and live for thousands of years doesn’t seem far-fetched to me.” Said Sporegon. “This forest… it might truly be our original homeland! This also means the Kingdom of our Lord might not be so far away! I wonder if they’re alright?!”
“For now we shouldn’t concentrate into that, Sporegon, we are in front of the fairies.” Sighed Magius. “Calm down, later, we can request our lady about this. I am also rather interested in meeting with Lady Titania once more, she was a good-hearted woman.”
“Indeed, if we can meet her, we could ask her more about the changes in the world too.” Said Hunter.
The mushrooms began to speak about what was happening right now. Apparently this forest was the one where they also originated from! Just several thousands of years into the future, probably. Could this be the reason why the dungeon of the mushroom hero was located in here too? To think that the starter area for beginners had so many secrets and history…
“Erm, you guys…” I sighed, quickly snapping them out of their conversation, as they quickly nodded and even apologized. After that, we decided to follow Florie and her fairy friends to the village while the girl and the other fairies told me more about this disease.
“It is not a disease that directly kills, but Queen Titania said it was similar to a curse that weakened our magical power. We fairies live by our Mana, if our Mana weakens, we also grow weaker, infertile, and even lethargic and feverish. A few of our oldest members ended passing some time ago…” Sighed Florie.
“E-Eh? So soon? No…” I sighed.
This might had been my fault. Because I ended doing my own things for too long while having little time to play the game, I ended forgetting about the fairies for a long time… If I had been there earlier, maybe they wouldn’t had died! It is all my fault, all of it!
“I am sorry! I should had come here earlier, I am such a lazy and useless person…” I sighed.
“Eh? What are you talking about, Lady Planta? There’s nothing here that’s your fault, I am sure you were busy doing your own things, please don’t blame yourself.” Said Florie. “Although it was sad, their passing wasn’t painful, as they went back with nature and became flowers that slowly grow into trees.”
“Fairies… don’t die?” I wondered.
“When our mana is too low and we begin to weaken so much we might die soon, we fuse our souls and bodies into the forest’s ground, and we slowly merge with nature, becoming plants.”
“It is a ritual we do to always be there for those we love, protecting them as the embodiment of the forest.”
“We never truly die; we merely transform and join the rest of our ancestors.”
“Only Queen Titania is immortal, given the task to protect the forest and all of us… She’s the only one that cannot join us, an eternal guardian…”
“I see… This forest is much more… important than I ever thought. It is incredible that such a thing as you described is happening. All of your ancestors are here? They might be trees growing around as well…” I said in surprise, as I saw the forest with different eyes once more.
“A-And we have been… cutting trees…” Muttered Sporegon.
“Please forgive us!” Cried Magius.
“It wasn’t our intention!” Cried Hunter.
“Don’t worry, we simply don’t become a single tree. All trees in this forest are merged with the roots of the Tree of Beginnings, even if you cut one, it will regrow eventually as it still alive in the roots!”
—–
