"But honestly, I didn't expect you to give your own book to Baobhan Sith."
The next day, as they once again set out southeast toward Britannia, Shiomi, walking ahead, spoke casually with Aesc.
"I think it's fine to give it to her," Aesc replied with a shake of her head. "It's something I no longer use anyway. Isn't it better to let it serve its purpose in more capable hands?"
"Why?" Shiomi asked.
"Huh?" Aesc blinked, not quite following his intent.
"Is it because Baobhan Sith is the only fairy who's shown you kindness and gratitude? Or is it that, over this time, you've found yourselves unexpectedly compatible—as companions, or even as teacher and student?" Shiomi clarified.
Aesc tapped her chin in thought. "Hmm… I suppose it's a bit of both. Maybe I've been around you too long, Tenkei. I've absorbed some of your values. When Baobhan Sith came to me, seeking knowledge, it felt… familiar."
"Her curiosity does resemble yours," Shiomi agreed. "If she weren't a lower-ranking fairy—if her position within the clan were stronger—perhaps she'd carry herself with more confidence."
Aesc lowered her gaze slightly. "And it's also a precaution."
"A precaution?"
"Given how things are progressing, Britannia will soon form a new clan alliance. Beyond the Fang Clan, there's also Mab's 'Clan of the King.' Once the island finds peace, Baobhan Sith and Totorot will part ways with us and begin their own journeys." Aesc's voice softened, audible only to Shiomi. "I'm preparing for that moment."
Shiomi paused for a moment, then glanced back at Baobhan Sith, who was animatedly sharing the Spell Tome with Totorot.
"In theory, with our guidance, even after all the wars, it's possible for the six clans to unite—at least in name—and build a peaceful, co-governed Faerie Britain," Shiomi said, shaking his head. "But… the clans are fairies, not humans."
"Are you saying we can never put down our burden? That we must forever remain as the counterbalance and guardians of the fairy clans, bound to Britannia itself?" Aesc sighed quietly.
Her earlier words had only been a vision. The two-thousand-year pilgrimage hadn't been meaningless—she had long since understood the true nature of Britannia's fairies.
In times of crisis, facing an external threat or a millennial catastrophe, one could hope the fairies might unite for survival. But once peace returned, when the centennial disasters no longer endangered most of them, they would simply revert to their fickle, blood-soaked ways.
"Before that, we must uncover the truth of Britannia's history," Shiomi said. "The remains of Cernunnos beneath the Great Hollow are undoubtedly the source of the island's calamity. But why did Cernunnos harbor such wrath toward Britannia—why did his resentment take root as its curse…"
"So that's why we're heading southeast—to the lands where no fairy clans remain?" Aesc connected it to the route Shiomi had planned.
They had even postponed their journey to Oxford, setting aside the plan to ring the final Pilgrim's Bell.
Aesc didn't know what might happen once all the bells were rung. The only thing she was certain of was that after striking the first five, the scales in her heart—balancing Shiomi against her "mission"—had begun to sway. She had exhausted her emotions trying to keep that fragile balance.
The essence of a Paradise Fairy on one side, and the role of his wife on the other.
The equilibrium between the two had grown perilously thin.
Truthfully, Aesc didn't want to ring the final bell. As long as she was with him, that childish dream would surely come true. She couldn't let the mission outweigh him.
"Some fairies who didn't wish to live within the clans left with humans, breaking away entirely. In the southeastern lands ungoverned by any fairy clan, they built their own settlements."
Among them were even fairies capable of creating humans—but they never flourished, never expanded into clans as the northern fairies had.
What they lacked was a strong leader like Mab.
Their strength was fragile—weak enough to be crushed at any moment. That was the only reason the southern clans allowed their existence. Most of the time, those settlements were treated as resource depots, places to plunder or force into trading supplies—and even humans.
"What is it you want to confirm, Tenkei?" Aesc asked.
"Mab's northern fairies have shown Britannia another way to perceive the value of 'humans,'" Shiomi replied. "In these southeastern villages, the ratio of fairies to humans is roughly two to eight. In other words, they're essentially human settlements maintained through the protection of a few fairies."
Aesc's pupils contracted sharply, her expression filled with shock and unease.
"You mean… some fairies, influenced by this war, might see villages with many humans as threats—and decide to eliminate them themselves?"
The war's shadow had barely lifted. How could fairies already…?
No—it was precisely because the war had just ended.
The southern fairies had always been the ones on the defensive. In the end, it was only because the northern fairies withdrew that they were spared from annihilation. Their thirst for blood had not been satisfied by war. They would inevitably seek to fill that void elsewhere.
And this would also serve as an outlet for their rage—the rage of having been beaten down by human soldiers.
"No. It's already begun."
Standing atop the hill, Shiomi raised his hand and pointed toward a village in the southeast.
The village was burning. Even from this distance, they could see fairies rampaging through the flames, slaughtering indiscriminately—neither humans nor fairies were spared. Several other villages in the area were suffering the same fate.
At this rate, none of the remaining settlements would survive. Britannia was only so large. Sooner or later, there would be nowhere left to run.
"What will you do?" Aesc asked quietly, trying to read Shiomi's intentions.
She could feel that ever since leaving the Great Hollow, something within him had solidified—something he had yet to say aloud.
Behind them, Baobhan Sith and Totorot had also noticed the distant fire. Their chatter stopped, and tension filled the air as they waited for Shiomi's command.
"That village is already lost. But in a way, that's convenient—it saves us the trouble of deciding which targets to strike."
Shiomi lifted his arm high.
Mana surged upward, interfering with the sky itself. Clouds thickened and rolled together; thunder crackled across the heavens. The air grew heavy as vast mana gathered directly above the burning village.
By the time the fairies realized this storm was no natural occurrence, divine lightning had already fallen—obliterating them and turning their bodies into dust amidst the smoldering ruins.
...
[History]
In the autumn of Fairy Year 2000, shortly after the end of the "Summer War," a faction of the Wind Clan and Fang Clan launched attacks and massacres against human villages in southeastern Britannia.
This sudden and senseless slaughter met with a punishment worthy of divine wrath.
Afterward, the Sage and the Savior descended upon the surviving villages, becoming protectors of both the humans and fairies there. The small, struggling settlements gradually merged over time.
That was the origin of the city later known as Londinium—the stronghold of the human army that would come to be called the "Knights of the Round Table."