As soon as Jack returned to their party's temporary base, an anxious fairy welcomed him. At first, she sighed in relief but then turned completely livid as she saw the bloodied wingless protector.
"Y-you! What did you do?!" She screamed, her voice trembling.
"We fought, and I won. Anyway, here you go. Make the medicine ASAP!" Jack handed a few Lunar Blossoms over while shrugging.
"A-alright…" She busied herself, still shaking.
Now that he was in a safe spot, he could finally check his rewards for his earlier victory.
[Congratulation on defeating the fairy protector!]
[Obtained Translucent Fairy Wings!]
[Obtained Wind Necklace!]
[Acquired Parkour F]
[+110 XP!]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Breezy Wind Necklace!
Rank E
IF Wind Affinity 10
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Attribute] +7 SPI
[Trait] +Boost Wind (All)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Wow, who knew that repeatedly jumping over furniture would give him such a skill. It would increase his speed in terrain with obstacles.
As for the necklace, he would need to learn wind magic if he wanted to use it. Good thing that he was in the fairy village: full of potential teachers.
In the background, the fairy was already squashing, extracting, and mixing the ingredients. Before long, she was done, bringing back plenty of blue shiny potion vials.
— Obtained Elixir to Cure Fairies! —
There were enough doses of it to fix all the ones in the village. Now all that remained was to disseminate it all over.
"How will you force them to drink it?"She asked, concerned.
"How? I'll just throw it at them. That should do the trick!"
"There's no way that will work!" She exclaimed but he remained unfazed.
"Why not?" He shrugged.
¯_(ツ)_/¯
In theory, it should be fine for a few reasons:
1. Fairies tended to fly in groups.
2. They would often fly at the same height
3. They wouldn't shut up either! This meant that their mouths would be open…
Jack went out to test his method, armed to the teeth with vials. He treated the whole thing as if a water balloon fight as he dashed toward the nearest group of fairies.
He timed his throw perfectly, creating a shimmering blue cloud that enveloped the fairy pack. A second later, they were still charging at him, anger in their eyes, but no red!!
"Stop, I come in peace!" Jack shouted.
They all froze, flabbergasted. Not because of his raised hands, or even because of the meaning, but because of the words themselves.
"Human, you speak our language?! How?!" They showed incredible disbelief, many glancing at him with suspicion.
"Well, you see, here's what happened…."
Jack quickly filled them in on the situation. He told them about the upheaval in the forest and how their eyes looked the same as the crazed beasts.
"R-really?! It's all true?! How frightening!! I'll help!!" The first fairy caving in produced a chain reaction with all the sane ones volunteering.
[Successfully enlisted the fairies!]
What followed was simple.
The cured fairies would bait their brethren over while Jack would throw vials at them. The more they did it and the more allies they had too!
It took about an hour for everything to be over. The fire was extinguished, the fairies were back to their senses, and they were eagerly celebrating.
"We're alive?! Yay!"
"This human saved everyone! Hurrah!"
"The Fairy Village is still standing! Hehehe!"
Standing….everything was half-burnt! Then again, this would be easy to regrow with magic. This could be considered a victory for sure.
The little things sure were happy, so happy that they kept babbling non-stop. With every sentence, he learned more about this place.
It ranged from favorite fruit (grapes) to their hobbies (sky-racing) and even their general history. They kept comparing him to a guy called Lancer who had been a friend long ago.
They also kept circling around him in joy, examining him from head to toe. At this moment, he felt like a rare animal. At least they agreed that he was handsome…
The unending chattering was finally interrupted by a fairy that flew over at incredible speed.
"Whaaaa! I can't believe you did it so fast! Were my elixirs that great?!" The friendly fairy had pride painted on her tiny face.
"Yep, more than helpful. I'll call you next time this happens." Jack gave her a thumb up that sent her shivering.
"I'd rather it never happens again and…oh god!" She gasped as she noticed someone.
The defeated fairy protector was walking over, with her tiny head hung low. She was oozing despair, gloominess, and acceptance of her fate.
The random fairies instantly started gossiping.
"Protector?! Is she alright?"
"Why is she walking? That's so shameful!"
"Ah! Look at her wings. They're gone! That's horrible!"
Their gazes were filled with shock, fear, disgust, and pity. The protector could sense it all as she reached the crowd and nodded at it listlessly.
"As you can see, I have lost my wings. Henceforth I am no longer fit to protect this village, and will resign from my position." She didn't mention Jack's involvement at all.
"So you're already giving up? That sure is quick." He casually commented.
She was just about to reply when a newcomer appeared. This new fairy had a haughty look as she flew right above the defeated fairy before spitting on her face!
"Lost your wings? You totally deserve it for failing your job! Look at all the destruction you caused!" She pointed toward the ashes but wasn't done yet as she looked at the crowd.
"I say we should banish this….thing. After all, this is the Fairy Village, and a fairy without wings isn't a fairy!" The snobbish fairy thundered.
"She's right!"
"But that's the protector!"
"Banishing is a bit too strong, no?"
The random ones seemed confused as to what to do. They all started bickering. They agreed that the protector was done for, but kicking her was a bit too extreme.
"All of you, there's no need to argue. Since she's wingless, she can go live with the humans!" The snobbish fairy turned toward Jack. "You agree too, right hero?"
He hadn't even seen her during the quest, yet there she was. She sure was quick to add banishment to injury!
"Are you sure you want me to give my opinion?" Jack meaningfully inquired.
"Yes! Just know that a fairy without wings cannot use magic. You agree that a magical village is a bad place for her now, right?" She enthusiastically asked.
"Is that true about the wings part?" Jack questioned as if truly curious.
"Of course, human!" The snobbish fairy confidently replied.
Jack had known many arrogant bitches in the past, but this one sure was obnoxious. Banish the one that had defended them once she had outlived her utility?
What irked him wasn't the actual deed but the self-righteousness. It was sickening.
"Oh, I see. I totally agree now!" Jack gave a radiant smile, one that didn't fit with what he was about to do.
He sneakily approached the now gloating fairy and….
— Tearing Sound! —
— Acquired two snobbish fairy wings! —
Without her wings, the target plummeted to the ground, crashing. Her face was a mix of anguish, terror, and pure rage.
"W-what have you done?! How dare you?! Everyone, did you see that?! I'm ruined, ruined! I'll get you for this, I'll—"
Jack ignored the angry ramblings of the arrogant bitch as all the other fairies ran back in fear. He disregarded them too and went after the protector.
She was listlessly dragging her feet, slowly heading toward the village's exit.
He grabbed her, bringing her next to his face as he glanced at her curiously. She didn't even bother to resist his grip.
"You're just gonna leave? Aren't you angry at all?" He wondered.
"I was, but I'm not anymore. Getting back at her was unnecessary, for she is right. It's better if I leave them alone for now…." She sighed.
"You do know that fairies can use magic without their wings, right?" He gave her a mischievous grin.
"No, that's impossible. It's a known fact that…."
"It's a known fact that humans cannot learn the runic language." He winked.
That's when a shadow of life finally appeared in her green eyes. Was there still hope? Had it come from anyone else, she would have doubted….but this human was special.
"So, will you try?" He gently asked.
There was no trace of the ruthless monster that had invaded her palace and torn her wings. How could he look so innocent?! Then again, it didn't matter.
"I will!" she steeled her gaze.
"Good, because I want you to teach me wind magic." He shamelessly requested, even after all the harm he had done.
"Fine…" She sighed.
But while they had been calmly discussing, the other fairies had finally overcome their shock. Needless to say, they were not happy!
"You ripped her wings!"
"Monster!!!"
"Why?!"
The fairy crowd pointed accusatory fingers his way.
Mana was already swirling around their bodies as they prepared to go on the offensive. Any wrong move, and he would get reduced to pieces by countless deadly projectiles!
The wronged fairy was already coming over, hellbent on revenge. In her eyes, there was pure hatred, one that even his death wouldn't quench! Still, it would be a start.
"Oh god! Don't tell me he's the one that ripped the protector's wings too?! He's no hero. He's a fiend! Kill him, kill him, quick!!" The snobbish fairy urged her brethren.
The situation was now a magical fairy powder keg, one that was about to blow in his face. Yet, for some reason, Jack was still as relaxed as before.
He glanced at the maddened crowd:
"Why? Why, you ask? She's the one that attacked the village in the first place. Think about it, does anyone hate the protector as much as her? Jack "revealed".
"W-whaaat?!"