Chapter 53

A small tornado approached us, sweeping up fallen leaves and twigs from the ground as it came to attack.

“Ugh...!”

Fortunately, it wasn’t powerful enough to send people flying, but if Captain hadn’t held Kugaru and me, we might have been in danger. The tornado messed up my long hair, pulling it in all directions before disappearing.

The one-eyed knights also only had their hair and clothes disheveled.

Since we were fairies, it was only to this extent, but if the spirit itself had attacked, it would have been terrifying to think of the power it would have wielded.

The bird let out a shrill cry and sent another small tornado our way. However, when we all huddled together as before, it seemed to realize that this attack wouldn’t work, and this time the bird itself charged at us.

Its target was still Kugaru and me.

“Stop!”

As the bird flew at us with its talons to hurt us, I instinctively shouted and hid in Captain’s thick arms. But before its sharp claws could reach us, the one-eyed knights drove it away with their swords.

Still, there was hesitation in everyone’s attacks. The people of this world hold a reverent attitude toward spirits, so they might be hesitant to hurt a fairy, which is like a messenger of the spirit. It’s different from when Kugaru and I, who are spirits, attack the bird.

Moreover, everyone must have noticed that the bird was not acting normally. Even now, the bird kept diving at Kugaru and me like a madman, even after being driven away by swords. There didn’t seem to be any rationality in its eyes, which were swirling with dark and intense emotions.

“Why are you attacking Mira and the others!”

The one-eyed knight shouted, but the bird only continued to cry out in a state of confusion, not understanding. Our words probably weren’t reaching the bird or the spirit of the wind. Even as the bird’s feathers fell and it showed signs of fatigue, it showed no sign of stopping. It kept charging at Kugaru and me like a broken toy.

I began to feel a bit sorry for it. Where is the spirit of the wind now, and what is it thinking? Why isn’t it coming here?

If the spirit of the wind has some misunderstanding and hates us, I want to clear it up, but since I have never met the spirit of the wind, I can’t go to see it unless it comes to us. I can’t use the teleportation technique to go to the spirit’s location.

I raised my face and looked at the bird. There’s no point in talking to this bird, and it looks like it’s suffering from the repeated attacks. I want to free it somehow.

“There’s no choice but to take it down.”

To free a fairy dominated by the spirit of the wind, it has to be eliminated. The one-eyed knights, hearing my words, nodded and seemed to have made up their minds. They gripped their swords and faced the bird seriously. The bird, sensing the killing intent, took a step back and started to create wind, switching to a sudden gust attack like during the day.

When attacked from a distance like this, the knights’ swords can’t reach the bird. While dodging the flying firewood, everyone thought of a strategy to bring the bird down. I, of course, thought too. Then I came up with this idea: just like Kugaru spitting fire, I would blow out a blizzard from my mouth to freeze and bring down the bird. I haven’t been able to produce even a snowball in practice, but I’m confident that I perform well in the real thing.

While being held by Captain, I focused on the “spirit power” inside my body and tried to intensify it. I recalled the moment I created a fairy and condensed it, gathering it around my throat.

Good, good, my throat feels cold.

Feeling confident, I exhaled forcefully.

“Ah!”

But what came out of my mouth with a “pop” was a small white light orb, my fairy.

“No, that’s wrong, I made a mistake.”

I can’t afford to waste any more energy.

“Come back.”

In the roaring wind, the one-eyed knights were still trying to bring down the bird, so you need to return to my mouth quickly.

I tried to eat my fairy, but it was still as quick as ever and escaped. In the end, it was swept away by the bird’s gust and hit a tree trunk, disappearing with a “shun!”

It was a short life.

“...What was that just now?”

Asked by Captain, who saw everything, I didn’t answer. I wish he hadn’t seen it.

I gathered my strength again. This time, I clearly imagined a blizzard in my head. As my throat started to feel cold, my nose started to tickle. Maybe it was because of the dust and dirt raised by the wind.

I held back a sneeze and exhaled strongly. But this time, neither a blizzard nor a fairy came out. I could still feel a lump of power in my throat, but I couldn’t release it properly. I tried a few times, but it didn’t work. Eventually, I couldn’t hold back the tickling in my nose and sneezed.

“Kush!”

As soon as I sneezed, a small blizzard came out of my mouth. But it was too small to reach the bird, which was far away. It was even blown back by the bird’s wind and returned to me.

“Wah...!”

Snowflakes stuck to my face, blocking my vision. It’s cold!

I frantically wiped the snow off my face with my front paws. Captain, seeing my struggle, wiped my face and asked, “What have you been doing all this time?” I’m sorry.

While licking my cold nose, I checked the situation of the one-eyed knights. Before I started my solo wrestling, the bird was still perched on a high branch, creating wind, and the knights were unable to do anything about it.

“I’ll go!”

Kugaru jumped out of Captain’s arms and landed on the ground. Indeed, Kugaru might be able to climb that tree. Leopards are good at climbing trees. But even if Kugaru goes straight toward the bird, it will be attacked and can’t get close. The bird is only targeting Kugaru and me. It’s hard to approach quietly.

Then, I thought, why don’t I act as a decoy like during the day? While I draw the bird’s attention from the right, Kugaru can sneak around from the left.

“Hey, wait!”

Ignoring Captain’s stop, I ran to the ground, made eye contact with Kugaru, and started running.

Sure enough, the bird targeted me and launched an attack. It was probably a gust of wind, but it wouldn’t cause much damage, just enough to roll me over.

—But the bird launched a wind blade.

“Kyaa!”

The moment I saw the yellow-green, semi-transparent wind mass shaped like a boomerang, I pitifully cried and fell to the ground. Fortunately, the sharp wind passed over my ears. I saw the wind hit a tree behind me, leaving a mark as if it had been cut by a sword, and my face turned pale.

Oh, that was close...!

It’s unfair to suddenly launch such a dangerous attack. I was off guard. If I had known, I wouldn’t have left Captain’s arms!

Moreover, the bird, seeing this as an opportunity, continued to launch wind blades. It flapped its wings again and unleashed a cutting attack.

“...!”

I tried to move my trembling legs and barely avoided the attack, but the bird had already anticipated this and launched the next cutting attack. I was hit by the wind blade again where I had run to.

No! I can’t avoid this!

“Milfee!”

Kugaru shouted from the opposite side, but I couldn’t do anything and braced myself for the attack, closing my eyes tightly.

“Mil!”

At that moment, I heard a panicked voice and footsteps, and something suddenly covered me. The impact almost crushed me, but I immediately recognized it was a one-eyed knight by the smell. At the same time, I heard the sound of wind slicing through the air—

“...!”

The one-eyed knight gritted his teeth and held his breath. The arm holding me tightened.

“Sekigan no Kishi!?”

Trapped between the ground and the one-eyed knight, I turned my face backward and cried out. It was dark, but I could see the one-eyed knight’s pained expression.

“No...!”

I gasped and crawled out from under the one-eyed knight. The sight that met my eyes almost made me faint.

“Blood...”

The one-eyed knight had taken the wind blade on his back to protect me.

“Sekigan no Kishi!”

I panicked and stomped my feet uselessly, then licked the one-eyed knight, who had fallen face down on the ground, to keep him conscious.

“Grail!”

“Vice-captain!”

Everyone rushed to the one-eyed knight. The bird launched another attack, so the sub-captain and Kicks countered the wind blade with their swords, while Captain and Tina checked the one-eyed knight’s condition.

“I’m fine...”

Perhaps because I was so flustered, the one-eyed knight said, “It’s not a serious injury” and tried to get up, looking pained.

“Don’t move.”

“Don’t move!”

Captain said calmly, and I shouted in panic. There’s no way a wound like that is fine. No matter how tough the one-eyed knight is, he’s still human.

Captain quickly took off his cloak, bunched it up, and pressed it against the one-eyed knight’s back, but it seemed harder to stop the bleeding from the back than from the arms or legs.

“Ugh...”

Watching the one-eyed knight’s face contort in pain made me feel even worse.

“What can I do? It’s my fault, Sekigan no Kishi...”

My vision blurred, and a cold tear rolled down my cheek. When it hit the one-eyed knight’s cheek, it froze for a moment before melting and flowing down due to his body heat.

What can I do to help!?

What can I do for the injured one-eyed knight?

Then I thought of a way to freeze the wound and stop the bleeding. But my blizzard is still immature, and I’m not sure if it will work. I can’t afford to accidentally produce a fairy now.

(...Mother! Yes, I’ll ask Mother for help!)

Without hesitation, I tried to use the teleportation technique to go to Mother. My body should have turned into a blizzard and disappeared as usual, but—

“Huh?”

My body, which had started to disappear, returned to its original form. I tried again, but the result was the same. It felt as if there was an invisible wall between Mother and me, and I was being repelled and sent back.

This is the first time this has happened.

“Mother...?”

Somehow, it felt like the wall was created by Mother. It felt like she was rejecting me.

(Why?)

A sense of frustration that made me want to tear at my chest. Not being able to ask Mother for help in such an emergency!

“I’ll bring Father!”

Seeing Kugaru turn into flames and head for Father, I changed my mind.

“Sekigan no Kishi, I’ll be right back!”

Father can’t freeze wounds, but he can help the one-eyed knight. Using the teleportation technique, I was able to fly without any interference this time.

I have to hurry and bring Father.