"Haa???"
Kyouno froze, her face blank with confusion, as if she'd just heard something from another planet.
The vague question from the little girl left her completely dumbfounded.
"W-What did you just say?" she stammered, a bunch of question marks swirling in her mind.
"A... a fairy? What do you mean by that?"
The girl tilted her head at Kyouno's reaction
"Aren't you a fairy?"
Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper, like a gentle breeze brushing past.
"But... you look so much like a fairy… how could you not be?"
"W-Wait, hold on a second."
She stepped back slightly, hands flailing awkwardly.
"What are you even saying? Why on earth would I be... a fairy?!"
"Be... because..."
The little girl stammered, her voice soft and hesitant, as if she were struggling to put into words something deeply important.
"Just now… you used magic, didn't you?
Aren't fairies supposed to be celestial beings from the heavenly realm above, those who can summon rain, call the wind, command the elements… all those wondrous, miraculous powers?"
She looked intently, her voice growing firmer with conviction:
"Didn't you… just do exactly that?"
"And also… also..."
The little girl lowered her head again, her cheeks flushed a soft pink, her embarrassment showing clearly in every small gesture.
She hesitated, as if there was something difficult to say.
"Also?" Kyouno, noticing the hesitation, furrowed her brows and asked gently, curiosity flickering in her tone.
The girl lifted her head, her eyes shimmering, glowing as if she were gazing upon a masterpiece of divine beauty.
"And also… fairies are said to possess breathtaking beauty, right? The kind that could topple kingdoms, enchant entire worlds...
And you're just so... so... so beautiful! Someone as beautiful as you... you must be a fairy!"
"Uh… Huh…???"
Hearing the little girl's hesitant answer, Kyouno grew even more flustered.
Her mind—already buzzing from the day's chaos—now spiraled further into confusion.
Fairy? What even was that?
She had never heard of such a thing before.
However… if it was about "a heavenly realm"…
She did recall something like that—yes, something from the stories her mother used to tell when she was little.
"The heavenly realm... is a mystical world beyond this one.
A place high above the skies, untouched by mortal hands.
A realm where light dances with clouds,
where jade temples shimmer like a dream.
A surreal land—so beautiful it feels almost imaginary."
"And that place… is where the gods dwell.
Beings of immense power, entities beyond mortal comprehension.
Eternal spirits—
They are the very Ones who gave birth to the elemental forces of magic."
"They are noble, otherworldly, and wield the most supreme of arts:
Divine-Tier!—
The highest level known to our world.
So far beyond reach, no mage has ever attained it....."
If what the little girl just said really referred to that heavenly place…
Then this "fairy" she spoke of, could it actually mean… one of the gods?
Which would mean… this child thought she was a goddess?!
Seriously?!
She inwardly groaned.
Her magic, at best, was just somewhere between Novice and Adept Tiers.
Compared to Divine Tier... it was like comparing a candle to the sun.
And as for her looks…
Well, okay, she was a tiny bit vain. But it was true—
Her features were quite delicate, refined even.
Her mom and sister often doted on her, and the aunties in the village below loved to tease her with compliments.
But to be so beautiful that someone would mistake her for a god?
That was a stretch.
No, worse, it bordered on blasphemy.
Kyouno opened her mouth to protest.
After all, with all the stories her mother told, she did hold a certain reverence for the gods.
But… just as the words touched the edge of her tongue—she fell silent.
Because…
The little girl, was now looking up at her with eyes that shimmered like fallen stars in the night.
Eyes clear as glass, but brimming with a quiet yearning.A hope so tender… it ached to witness.
"So… in the end… you're not a fairy after all…?"
The words floated out like a whisper.
Soft as falling petals, yet carrying the chill of quiet sorrow.
In that voice, she heard something gentle, yet unbearably sad.
A faint disappointment.
A flicker of hope that had just begun to bloom, only to be swept away by the wind.
She hesitated for a moment, caught between the urge to play along with a child's imagination and the vague reverence she held for divine beings.
But in the end, she let out a soft sigh and gave in.
Oh well… surely the gods wouldn't mind such a trivial thing.... Right?
Assuming they even existed in the first place~
"Ah… um…" she stammered, scratching her cheek as her gaze drifted aside, trying to hide the faint fluster in her voice.
"Yeah, you guessed it right.
I… am a fairy."
"Re… Really?"
The little girl looked up, her eyes lighting up like the sky after a storm.
Those clear pupils gazed straight at Kyouno, pinning her in place.
They shimmered like a lake in early autumn, innocent and sincere.
Kyouno froze, an inexplicable feeling welling up inside her.
Just moments ago, those eyes had been weary, heavy with a sorrow that seemed to carry the weight of the world.
And yet now, they gleamed with a pure, childlike light.
She forced an awkward smile, trying to maintain her composure.
"Mm… haha, of course! I'm a real fairy, you know!"
Then she tilted her chin up slightly, brushing her hair back with a quick flick of her hand, trying to act confident even as her face flushed red.
"Not just that...I'm one of the most beautiful and powerful fairies there is!"
Inside Kyouno's mind at that moment:Crap…she has totally overdone it!
If the gods are real, she's so dead!!!
Still standing there with her hands on her hips and a smug, triumphant look on her face, Kyouno suddenly realized something strange—
Wait a minute… why was it so quiet?
She tilted her head and glanced back suspiciously—
And froze.
The little girl was still standing there, hands trembling slightly.
Her face was flushed red like freshly steamed rice, warm and radiating a shy, flustered heat.
And…
Two shimmering trails of tears, warm and silent, were slipping gently down her rosy cheeks.
"…A-Are you okay?"
Kyouno asked awkwardly, her expression full of bewilderment.
What's wrong with this kid now?
First she asks if Kyouno is some kind of fairy or whatever.
Then Kyouno plays along to shut her up—
And now she's crying?
Is everyone in this world weird or what?!
But before she could even think further,
She suddenly felt two small hands grasp her own.
"Eh…!"
She flinched slightly.
The little girl—Now her eyes, glistening like starlight, were staring straight at her.
No longer filled with awe—
But with something deeper.
A flicker of hope.
A quiet, desperate longing…
"A-Ano… Fairy sister…"
"Yes?"
Kyouno answered softly, brows furrowed ever so slightly.
"…Could you… take me to the heavenly realm?"
"..."
…HUH?!
Kyouno hadn't even had time to process the girl's last words when the child continued, her voice earnest—each word seeming to be wrung from the depths of her heart:
"Please, sister… Please…Could you take me to the heavenly realm with you?
I… I don't have anything… but I'll try my best to repay you with everything I can do.
So… please… I beg you… take me with you."
Faced with those pleading eyes that refused to fade, Kyouno grew even more flustered. Her heart stirred in a strange, unfamiliar way.
"Wait, wait… no need to be that desperate…
But… why do you want to go to the heavenly realm?"
The little girl hesitated, as if the words she wanted to say were caught in her throat. Her eyes fell to the ground, lips pressed tightly together.
A long silence passed before she finally whispered:
"Because… my mom is there.
In heaven…
I… I just want to see her again…So please, take me there… can't you?"
"…Um… what…?"
Kyouno froze again.
Her mother… is in heaven?
Wait… hold on…
Could it be.....Her mom's a fairy too?
"Your mom… is she a fairy too?" Kyouno blurted, confused.
The girl shook her head, and it struck Kyouno like a blow to the chest.
She lowered her gaze again, her eyes dim like a candle flickering in darkness.
Her already pale face turned even more ashen, and when she spoke, the words tumbled out, trembling and broken, drenched in the sound of silent weeping:
"My mother…She… she passed away… when I had just turned three…"
Kyouno, whose mind had already been running in overdrive all day, suddenly felt her breath catch in her chest at the girl's faltering voice, and at what she said.
Her mother… is gone?
This girl… has no mother?
Just like… her.
The tremble in that voice—when Kyouno looked at it—felt like a silent, stabbing pain.
A thorn, hidden deep, suddenly pierced straight through her heart.
.....