Side Story Sakura POV: Pink Lightning (3)

Behind a very proud-looking Hai stands a miniature fortress built into the trees. Thick stone walls are linked together between the enormous mammoth trunks. The small dwellings that used to sit atop the tree branches are replaced by various shining stones and bizarre wooden mechanisms. The once sparse village is now bustling with several hundred fairies, all focused on the task at hand. The dimly lit wonderland now appears as an endless light show like a well-decorated house on Christmas Eve. Many a shining face and blissful smile have been replaced by cool determination.

"Oh my!"

"Wow!" Sakura shouts. All the existential dread from earlier is easily washed away. "It's beautiful!"

"Thanks, we've been working really hard." Hai beams.

"What is all this?" Shinobu asks skeptically.

"This is our last line of defense." Hai dons a stern expression as she explains. "We can use our spells while protected behind these walls, and the entire area is covered in traps to thin their numbers."

"What are those things up in the trees?"

"Those are magic weapons. We took them from the nearby dungeon. They can store spells to be used at a later time or fire arrows automatically when an enemy approaches."

"That sounds dangerous. What if it shoots at the wrong person?"

"I'd be lying if I said we got it right on our first try. Fortunately, Inari can fix any mistakes in the magic circle construction, so they're all perfectly safe to us."

"How does it work?"

"They actually target any creature with mana above a certain size. Inari has to go in and manually prevent them from shooting at specific mana signatures like you all or Jezabel."

"Mana signatures?" Shinobu tilts her head in confusion.

"I don't know much about it, but apparently, every living creature has a slightly different mana. It's not something we would notice, but Inari can do it easily." While they are talking, Sakura waves her hand in front of a mounted crossbow.

"Sakura, be careful!" Shinobu warns.

"Look! It's fine. They don't shoot at us." Shinobu cautiously maintains her distance while pondering.

"You said you took them from the dungeon, but we never found anything like that."

"We always remove them whenever the goblins construct any new ones."

"The goblins can make these?!"

"Well, they're normally not this sophisticated, but yes. The Dungeon Master can gain knowledge from the world trees using the Dungeon Core. It's not much, but they can make rudimentary defenses like hidden explosives or automatic crossbows. Given enough time, they can carve out a massive complex of interlocking weapons, so it's best not to let them get to that point."

"Is the Dungeon Master always a Goblin?"

"Not necessarily. The goblins are easily damaged by sunlight, so they tend to stick to caves and only move around at night. Given how quickly their population increases, they're always looking for new dwellings. They are attracted to the mana released by the Dungeon Cores and are often the first to find them. Even if they don't find it first, they can remove the authority from any lower level monster that happened to stumble upon it before them."

"If they can only move around at night, then why did we run into a squad of goblins during the day?"

"With the dense foliage overhead, they can travel during the day largely unhindered. This is one of the reasons they stay in the forest. Given how low they are on the food chain, they wouldn't even try to survive in the forest without that benefit."

"I guess we should be thanking you then. The dungeon would have been much more dangerous if you didn't clear it out."

"No need to thank us, we would have had to do it anyway," Hai replies with a sparkling smile. The whole village shines in her eyes. Her warm energy causes both the girls to smile along with her. Caught up in the mood, Shinobu offers her services.

"Is there anything we can do to help?"

"I don't think so," Hai replies as she scratches her head. "Oh, actually, can you bring us some more pure mana stones? Inari is making more fairies as fast as she can, but we're limited by our supply of stones."

"Mhmm, sure! We'll bring some next time we come to the forest."

"Thanks, you two are life savers." Hai flutters about excitedly. "Well, we really should be getting back to work. Do you need an escort back to town?"

"No, we'll manage. Thanks anyway."

"No, Thank you! Be sure to visit again real soon!"

"Will do."

"Bye!" Hai waves both her arms over her head as the kids disappear into the trees. Once they're out of sight, all the emotion drops from her face. "Now that that's taken care of…."

Hai floats down to inspect the new equipment.

"Fascinating. Where do humans come up with these ideas?" She circles the finely crafted metal while running her fingers around its design. "They truly are terrifying. I can see why leader treats them with so much respect. Even with all our preparations, I can't help but feel woefully outmatched."

An unusual scowl finds its place on the face of the green-haired fairy. Unprecedented worry tears her apart from the inside.

"We'll have to give our all to get stronger in what little time we have left. Lala!" Her protege quickly flies over at her command. "Gather everything here and move it to the center of the fortress. Leader will be back soon to explain how it's used."

"Understood." Lala begins moving to carry out her orders but suddenly hesitates. "Um… Can't we ask Woohee? She's been watching the humans train regularly."

"Excellent. Remove her from her post and gather all the information you can."

"Right away." Lala gathers a small group of fairies and instructs them to move the weight lifting equipment before heading over to the manufacturing area. Woohee, being both young and air-headed, can only be given the most menial of tasks. At the moment, she's perpetually grinding ingredients to be used for the creation of magic tools. As she approaches Woohee, she notices the dark shadows that have formed under the young fairy's eyes and the many wounds accruing upon her hands. Woohee's hair is disheveled, and she's been resigned to wearing only leaves again. Her cheery demeanor is buried under mountains of stress.

"Woohee!"

"Yes! Woohee is grinding as fast as she can!" Woohee's pace increases to a near manic degree. The memory of past punishments has been burned into her flesh. Any drop in productivity can potentially cost lives and is treated as such. She has wandered off or gotten distracted on several occasions, resulting in being disciplined in front of the whole village. The last several weeks have steadily reduced her to a nervous wreck.

"I can see that, be careful not to spill anything." Lala holds back her desire to comfort her comrade and calmly offers some advice.

"Yes! Woohee won't drop anything!"

"I know you won't, but we actually need your help with something else."

"Woohee can grind even faster! Woohee won't make any more mistakes!" Her pace quickens even more as she struggles to display her value. The pressure overflows as tears flow freely down her face. Much of the ingredients are being flung from the mortar she's using, but Lala ignores that for the moment.

"You didn't do anything wrong. We just need your help with something." Woohee stops and looks up at her senior.

"Really?" Her eyes sparkle with a dull light of hope.

"Yes, really. Why don't you get something to eat and meet me at the center of the fortress once you're done."

"Okay! Woohee will eat faster than ever!"

"Don't make yourself sick!" Lala warns the young fairy, but she's already flown away before she can finish speaking. "This is all for the best, right?"

Lala questions the cold air in front of her before slowly flying to complete her next task.

"I hope those human children don't get wrapped up in this with us."

"Ahchoo!"

"Sakura, are you alright?" Shinobu asks as the two jog through the forest.

"I'm fine. I think someone was talking about me."

"That's just a superstition." Shinobu giggles.

"Let's get back to town as soon as we can." Sakura smiles.

"Right!"