Chapter 85

"Damn, Tiara still does unpredictable things, doesn't she?"

"Keith, you're done for if you say that."

"Hold it, I don't want to hear it from Feris."

After Tiara Rose and Clayre left the room, Keith sighed. Feris teased him, but from an outsider's perspective, all three of them might be quite similar.

Akari, who had quietly observed the entire scene, was excited about what was about to happen.

"Lady Aqua, you're going to take the stronghold and bless the Marine Forest, right?"

"Yeah... Why are you here, Akari?"

"Of course, if it's a big event in the Marine Forest, I have to come! And I just happened to meet Lady Tiara, so it was lucky I came here."

Seeing Akari's smug face, everyone secretly thought it was troublesome.

"But you're going to cover the entire Marine Forest, right? That sounds tough."

"I'll do it. I care about this country too."

"...Lady Aqua."

Moving from one end of the territory to the other would take more than a few days. The fairy kings can use teleportation, but Aquasteed cannot. In that sense, she is at a significant disadvantage.

Akari put her finger to her lips and thought, "Hmm."

Akari loves all the characters from the sequel, including the fairy kings. Although she was mainly focused on Aquasteed, she also wanted everyone to win.

Seeing Akari's troubled expression, everyone became anxious about what she was planning, but it turned out to be a baseless worry for Aquasteed.

"I'm still rooting for Lady Aqua this time! After all, she's the husband of my best friend!!"

"A, ah...?"

"Don't worry, leave it to me. I may look like a side character, but I'm the heroine, you know."

Akari thumped her chest and knelt before Aquasteed, clasping her hands in prayer. This is the sacred power of prayer that only the heroine can use.

"! Akari, what are you planning to do!!"

"Shut up. This is the first time I'm praying seriously, so it's rare."

Smiling, Akari began to recite the prayer.

"O magic of Lapis within me, convert your power and bestow it upon this one temporarily."

"――!!"

Akari's prayer turned into magic, which was then converted into Aquasteed's power. A faint light enveloped Aquasteed, transforming into a new power that she could use for a short time.

"Good, it worked. I've lent Lady Aqua my teleportation power. With this, I don't think she'll fall behind the fairy kings."

"Is it even possible to transfer teleportation power...?"

"It was a gamble whether it would succeed."

Akari smiled and made a peace sign.

"Come on, do your best to become the queen, Lady Aqua! I'm looking forward to the new Marine Forest that you and Lady Tiara will create."

Smiling, Akari saw the three off.

◇ ◇ ◇

Clayre chased after Tiara Rose.

Keith moved to secure his stronghold.

Aquasteed also set out alone to become the Queen of the Starry Sky.

"First, I need to find the shape of the blessing and infuse it with my power... right?"

Everything is a new experience, and the confusion is significant. Moreover, Keith and the others are not new to this stronghold-taking; they have experience from the past, putting Aquasteed at a significant disadvantage.

The first place Aquasteed went to was a hill that overlooks the castle. It is popular as a tourist spot, with various flowers blooming in different seasons.

The night wind that gently caressed her cheeks might be the sky fairies cheering for her.

"The stronghold of the Marine Forest, huh."

As a large country, the territory of the Marine Forest is enormous, spanning about 7 million square kilometers. To put it in perspective, it's slightly smaller than Australia.

The territory is divided into square grids with vertical and horizontal lines, each consisting of ten lines.

Even divided, the territory remains vast.

"I need to be efficient, or it will be tough."

The victory condition for Aquasteed to become the Queen of the Starry Sky is to secure more strongholds than Feris currently holds, thereby proving that she is superior to Feris as a queen.

Well, let's get moving.

The moment Aquasteed thought this, the atmosphere of the Marine Forest trembled, and she felt the power of the forest.

—Lord Keith must have secured a stronghold!

"I need to find the fairy's blessing quickly..."

The blessing takes the same shape as something that exists in nature. It could be a flower, a fruit, a coral, or a falling leaf. To find it, one must love the fairies and be loved by them.

One way to do this is to ask the fairies directly where the blessing is located.

Aquasteed looked around and found three sky fairies frolicking. She immediately asked them where the blessing was.

"Can you tell me where the blessing is here?"

"Aqua! "

"About the blessing, what should we do? Is that it? Should we tell her?"

The fairies seemed to know the location of the blessing and began discussing whether they should tell Aquasteed.

"If you need something in return, I'll prepare it. Please tell me."

When Aquasteed offered to help, the fairies' eyes sparkled.

"Something in return! Then, help us take care of the trees now!"

"Take care of the trees?"

Immediately, many sky fairies gathered and dragged Aquasteed to a small forest at the foot of the hill. As she observed the fairies, a strong wind suddenly blew.

"...!?"

"Yay!"

The fairies were excited as leaves danced around them. It turned out that "taking care of the trees" meant using the wind to blow away fallen leaves.

Most fallen leaves are left on the ground, but if animals need a nest, the fairies help them create one.

"I didn't know sky fairies did this..."

"You didn't know. Fairies always watch over the Marine Forest like this."

Indeed, while they sometimes cause strong winds, it's usually for a purpose, the fairies laughed. Aquasteed, who didn't know this, felt happy to learn a new aspect of the fairies.

"Thank you for letting me know about you."

The fairies smiled shyly, and a leaf that had been blown high into the sky by the strong wind gently landed in Aquasteed's outstretched palm.

"This is..."

"It's a blessing from us!"

"Good luck!"

"Thank you, I appreciate it."

The fairies waved to Aquasteed and flew off into the sky.

However, she was relieved to have somehow obtained the fairy's blessing in this place. By infusing the leaf with her magic, this area would become her stronghold.

—It's reassuring to have the fairies' cooperation.

"I'm especially happy to be able to bless this land with the fairies."

Aquasteed slowly infused the leaf with her magic. It looked ordinary at first, but as she infused it, the leaf changed color to a clear blue.

Aquasteed's magic, which she had received from the sky fairies and Clayre since childhood, is very pure and, when colored, takes on a clear sky color.

The leaf, now infused with magic, shimmered and floated in the air.

This state will be maintained until the outcome of the stronghold-taking is decided. Afterward, it will merge with the earth and become a source of nourishment for the Marine Forest.

"Alright, next. Since the neighboring area is a forest, it's better to approach from the opposite direction..."

By doing this, the stronghold Keith obtained would be sandwiched between Aquasteed's strongholds and become hers.

She immediately put her plan into action and used teleportation to move to a new location.

◇ ◇ ◇

Aquasteed moved to the north.

This place, far from the castle, is rarely visited and has not been much affected by human activity. It is home to many forest fairies due to the presence of mines.

There are not many tall trees, and the main vegetation is grass and flowers.

The mines have few plants, and the rocks are exposed. Surrounded by mines, it is difficult to reach this place without walking.

"There are many resources here."

If possible, she would like to develop the country without touching this area.

"Wow, there are people in such a place!"

"You are... forest fairies. I thought you rarely show yourselves, but you mostly live in remote areas like this?"

"Yeah, we often live where there are no people because we want to take care of the forest!"

The forest fairies welcomed Aquasteed with cheerful laughter.

"I came here to find the fairies' blessing. What do you usually do here?"

"Here, we always look for gems. This way, this way!"

"We collect gems, and the kings use them to make rings!"

—Ring materials?

Aquasteed recalled that when she created the ring for Tiara Rose, she didn't gather the necessary materials.

She never imagined that the gems collected by the fairies in another place were the materials for the ring.

When Aquasteed entered the mine with the forest fairies, it was a gemstone mining field. The fairies were collecting and polishing the gems with plant leaves.

The passages were a bit narrow for a human like Aquasteed, but not for the small fairies.

"This is... amazing."

Despite being in a mine, the gems' shine made it anything but dark. It was almost blindingly bright.

A fairy handed a gem to Aquasteed.

"This is lapis lazuli. The deep blue is very beautiful."

"Take it and follow me."

The forest fairy led the way deeper into the mine. The passage became narrower, and the ceiling so low that she had to crouch to walk.

She began to worry that it would become too narrow to proceed.

"Forest fairy, how much further are we going?"

"We're there!"

With a flourish, the forest fairy spread her arms and flew out to a small cavern with a spring. The sound of water splashing revealed the presence of sea fairies.

"!"

"We brought new gems!"

"Got it, we'll take them."

In the spring, several sea fairies were playing in the water or diligently shaping the gems with water pressure. Aquasteed never imagined that two types of fairies would be working together here.

—There's still so much I don't know about this country, even though I've lived here for a long time.

"Do I just give you this gem?"

"Yes, please."

Aquasteed handed over the lapis lazuli, and the sea fairy happily accepted it. She then tossed it lightly, and while it was in the air, she enveloped it in water and polished it.

The forest fairies collected the gems, polished them, and the sea fairies finished the job.

The beautifully cut lapis lazuli fell into the spring with a plop.

"! This spring is..."

"Isn't it beautiful?"

The water was not very deep, so the bottom was clearly visible. The clear water revealed countless gems.

The surface of the water reflected the shine of rubies, sapphires, and emeralds, creating a rainbow of colors. The sight was so mystical that Aquasteed could only gasp in awe.

The gems in this spring are used as materials when the kings create something.

"The ring I created was made from materials from here. Thank you, forest fairies and sea fairies. I was able to create a wonderful ring and give it to Tiara."

"That's great."

"We're happy if Tiara is happy!"

The forest fairy smiled happily, and the sea fairy retrieved a gem from the bottom of the spring.

"Since you made me happy, I'll give you this."

"This is a blessing... Thank you, I'll make a good country."

"Okay."

Aquasteed secured her second stronghold, and the one in between, which belonged to Keith, also became hers. Now, she had three strongholds.