Chapter 10

### Third-Person Perspective: ○○

This is a side story. The casual conversations here are flavor text and do not affect the main plot.

---

In this village, there are fairies. Elsie was vaguely but firmly convinced of this.

Fairies. They are fragments of the moon. In fairy tales, they are small girls with wings, and in the nearby village of Meilman, they are small men with tattered clothes and long, unkempt hair. However, the only ones who truly believe in their existence are young children, and by the time they turn seven, most people deny their existence.

But Elsie, who was often scolded by her husband for being too dreamy, was a rare woman who continued to believe in fairies even as an adult. And as the saying goes, "birds of a feather flock together," the women who were close to her also half-believed and half-doubted but still believed.

---

The morning well meeting began as usual.

The well meeting is called such because it starts around the well, and in this small village, it was particularly prominent.

Drawing water in the morning is generally a woman's job. Husbands and small children go to the fields or tend to the livestock, and women bring water from the communal well while waiting for them. It was just a given.

As a result, the people who draw water at the well at their usual times are always the same, leading to the well meeting.

Of course, these meetings also take place in other places, such as under the eaves or in someone's home with light snacks. Gossip and current events are a source of enjoyment in a small village.

After placing the water buckets on the ground, they start talking without anyone initiating it.

Today, the meeting with Elsie and four other women had begun.

"Oh, was it your house yesterday?"

"Yes, yes. So, it might be a big hunt today. I'll share if there's any left."

Today's topic was that the spices at the house three doors down had run low.

Elsie had experienced this many times. At first, she thought it was just her imagination. But after it happened two or three times over a month, she finally felt something was off. By the time a year had passed since she first noticed, she was certain.

The salt was decreasing.

It wasn't a significant amount. Just a handful for a child. Even if she paid close attention, it was only a slight discrepancy. But it was definitely decreasing.

Normally, this would be a cause for alarm. In a small community, stealing is a betrayal of the whole, and theft itself is a serious crime. The information should be shared immediately, and measures taken.

But Elsie did not do that. It wasn't out of malice. She had seen something just before.

Her child, who had been wobbling and about to fall, stood up in an unnatural position and started walking without any issues.

She had only seen it once. It had nothing to do with the disappearance of the salt. One day, while doing other work, she noticed her son moving strangely.

It was strange enough to cause a commotion. But her son didn't seem uncomfortable; he was just laughing and having fun. This made Elsie hesitant to tell anyone around her.

Putting aside the right or wrong of not thinking deeply about the event, her child-centric thinking was a virtue as a mother. It was unrelated to the fortunate event that the entity that helped her son was not harmful.

The entity that helped her son. Elsie was certain of its existence.

She had a hunch, though not a clear one. When her son, Frau, was a baby, he sometimes laughed at nothing. She could hear his laughter from a room where he was supposed to be alone.

She hadn't thought much about it before. Children are like that. They laugh at the chirping of birds outside and cry at the shadow of clouds. Such feelings of joy and discomfort that adults can't understand. That's what she thought.

Indeed, that was correct. Frau wasn't laughing at fairies or talking to them. He was just laughing at the gentle breeze on his cheeks or the fun scenes he imagined on the ceiling.

But Elsie didn't think so.

According to old traditions, she thought the fairies were making her child laugh. No, she knew they didn't exist. But the girl inside her heart wished it were true. That wish dulled her adult judgment.

She wouldn't make a fuss. But if someone else spoke up, she would testify.

After the struggle between her adult, realistic judgment and her dreamy, childish wishes, that was Elsie's conclusion.

---

However, others soon noticed the disappearance of salt and spices. It didn't take long for this to become a rumor among the women.

But no one tried to make a fuss. Everyone had thought it was their imagination until someone mentioned it, and even after it was mentioned, it became a source of entertainment among the women.

Why? Because on the days when the salt disappeared, something good always happened.

It wasn't always the same. Sometimes the firewood lit quickly, a cool breeze blew during hot summer farm work, or the hunter husband had a big catch. The good luck varied.

Eventually, someone suggested it was the work of fairies.

In the Meilman region, fairies were believed to explore empty houses in search of food and clothes, steal a little food, and in return, help with livestock and housework.

Someone recalled that their child had lost clothes while playing in the water.

The child had taken off the clothes that were sticking to their skin and then lost them.

Of course, no one thought the fairies had stolen them. It was just that they had probably been carried away by the current. Everyone had suspected as much.

But connecting the disappearance of food and clothes, the rumor of fairies was born.

For the women, who were hungry for entertainment, this rumor was important. If they told their husbands, the truth would be investigated, and it would no longer be a rumor.

To protect their enjoyment, the secret was surprisingly well-kept.

Coincidentally, the time when the rumor was discussed was when the "fairy" was said to be taking a bath or training, which helped the rumor persist.

If the "fairy" had known about the rumor, it would have disappeared.

---

Of course, there was a price for keeping the secret. The daily provisions, which were already less than what they earned in the city, were being reduced, even if only slightly. This was certainly a regrettable matter.

But in exchange, the thrill of keeping a secret from their husbands. They desired this. It was easier to obtain than an affair and wouldn't cause significant harm if discovered. And the good luck that could serve as an excuse for hiding it was also present.

In their daily lives, they were intoxicated by the slight excitement it brought.

The saying "Only the husbands are unaware" applied not only to infidelity but to any secret in any world.

---

One day, a commotion occurred in the village.

A dead boar was found, and it had been killed by someone.

The villagers were alarmed, not by the boar's death but by the existence of something that could kill a boar in their village.

The men immediately formed a search party and went hunting in the mountains, but they found nothing.

The women were also afraid. They began to suspect that the culprit was the "fairy" they had been talking about.

Indeed, in some regions, there were terrifying fairies. There were legends of bird-like fairies that attached themselves to women with infants and stole their souls.

Elsie had heard this from a drunk traveler when she was a child, so she wasn't sure where it was from.

But the shared secret strengthened the group's bond and maintained it. From an outsider's perspective, it might seem foolish, but to the women, it was very important.

It wasn't confirmed that the boar was killed by fairies. Everyone tried to maintain the status quo and denied it brightly.

As a result, the incident did not lead to the exposure of the rumor but only added a sense of fear to the thrill of the secret.

The limit of their secret was still far off.

---

One day, in the winter when the existence of fairies had become a given among the women.

The New Year's festival was approaching, and the women were busy with preparations. Elsie was also involved in the preparations.

Her role this year was to prepare sugar candies. She had to shape the clay-like dough made from ground almonds and sugar into the shape of a cow. It was a task she had been doing since childhood, but she was not good at it.

She gathered the dough into a rough shape, cut it with scissors at the designated spots, twisted and stretched it, and shaped it with a spatula.

She remade and remixed the dough multiple times, sighing each time. It was supposed to be soft and delicious, but the process of remaking it made it taste bad, which she found truly regrettable.

But it was a celebratory item, and no one would care about the taste. She thought this as she continued to make them. The time spent taking care of children and remaking the candies made it difficult to meet the required number, but she didn't mind.

However, the number of candies had increased at some point. Was it the children's mischief or the fairies' mischief? Elsie couldn't tell, but she felt a little happy and continued to make the rest in a good mood.

I'll eat this one. She thought, and didn't forget to mark it.

---

After the New Year, during the seed-planting season, when the field work began.

At the simple dinner of bread and salted meat soup, Elsie's son said something that Elsie, and the village women, did not want to hear.

"Today, I made a new friend!"

Being able to casually report the day's events to their parents is a sign of a healthy family.

But the excited words of her son made Elsie's heart tremble.

Surely. The unpleasant thoughts that everyone had been dreading were about to come true. The collapse of the secret was inevitable; it was just a matter of time.

Elsie hadn't expected that her son would be the one to cause the collapse. But deep down, it made sense.

The good luck from the "fairy" seemed to be more related to Frau. Thinking back, the fairy had been playing with Frau since he was an infant. And the direct good luck that other families didn't hear about. Surely, Frau was the child closest to the fairy.

She wasn't angry with her son. But she felt a little emptiness and a sense of guilt for breaking the women's secret.

In reality, everyone would be disappointed but would soon forget and create new rumors. But that was something to be said after the fact. At that moment, Elsie's mind was filled with thoughts of apologizing to everyone.

Her husband frowned, showing his distrust.

It was a natural reaction. Elsie thought so too. Recently, there had been no talk of anyone moving in. The sudden appearance of an unknown child, or even if it was a child, was suspicious.

The detailed questioning of Frau that followed. Soon after, her husband went to report to the village elder, Siyum.

Leaving the village at night, in the dark, was a sign of the seriousness of the matter, which also troubled Elsie.

Secrets are always eventually exposed.

The secret shared by the women would be exposed that day.

---

With the sadness and the loss of enjoyment, Elsie quietly looked up at the moon. The light of the full moon shone through a break in the cloudy sky.

Thinking about it, the fairy had been in the village since Frau was a child, watching over and protecting him.

She couldn't do anything for the fairy.

Siyum, his good friend Kasoku, and Den-A. She had heard that they were all skilled explorers.

The small boy who had appeared. He would be found quickly. Elsie couldn't protect him. She couldn't help him, who had comforted everyone's boredom in recent years.

Rather, she should suggest luring him out and capturing him, for the village.

But she couldn't do that.

She couldn't repay the good fortune he had given her child with malice.

As a member of the village and a dreamy girl, her struggle continued.

---

But time waits for no one.

She couldn't do anything. She could only pray for the fairy's safety, feeling her powerlessness.

Please, escape without being found.

And make my son laugh again.

Perhaps her wish was heard.

The full moon, as if hiding the fairy, disappeared into the clouds.