Arc 2 - Chapter 23: Two Sword Fairies (2/2)

"I didn't like Gal's father at all, I really didn't like him at all. The heartbreak I felt when the person I loved fell in love with Gal's father is unimaginable."

Nerissa began to tell her story with a melancholic timbre in her voice. Yurine hadn't asked her to do this, but she was curious about her story, so she kept listening instead of interrupting.

"And when she got pregnant by him, I started to hate him. In fact, I wanted him dead. Well... I was a young teenager at the time. I made a wish I shouldn't have made out of jealousy."

The guilt in her voice made Yurine's arms shiver and sank into her chest. Nerissa shook her and continued speaking.

"Unfortunately, the world granted my selfish wish and that man was killed by the Children of the Storm. Soon after, Gal's mother died in childbirth and I was left with Gal in my arms."

When she were telling a story from years ago, did that person come alive in her mind? Did she still remember every detail of that person's face? Or was she struggling to remember that person's face right now?

"Will I remember my mother's face?"

She didn't want to forget, she didn't want his mother to become a memory. She wanted to be with her again, to hold her hand again.

"He was the seed of the man I hated and was responsible for the death of the person I most cherished. Even today I find it difficult to express the complex feelings I have."

Nerissa stopped swing Yurine and sat on the swing next to her. Yurine moved her feet back and forth to keep swinging.

"I couldn't leave him alone, he might attract some demons and the Children of the Storm because of the power he radiated. I didn't know what to do, I was alone with a baby in my arms and if I didn't do something he wouldn't live long. That's when I realized something; I could make him name me, it was fitting. It's quite rare, isn't it?"

Yurine was a sword fairy herself, but she couldn't understand what Nerissa was talking about. She was talking about something she didn't know, so she didn't speak and kept listening.

"Even though I had to use a forbidden spell, I had to stop the baby from attracting enemies and I had to stand by it, it was a bit of a necessity. I had no other choice, so I used the spell."

As the clouds moved one by one in front of the sun, both the momentum of the swing and the light wind blew, the hair of the two fairies swaying in alignment rippled.

"The deal only ends when you reach the end of your life. You knew that, didn't you? You couldn't possibly not know that. You can't spend a lifetime hating, so the bond between Gal and me became a bond of love as he grew up. After all, I couldn't spend my whole life hating and longing."

When Nerissa's story was over, Yurine stopped the swing, dragging her feet on the floor. If Yu were here she would be angry with him, saying that she would melt the soles of her shoes.

"I think you should give Mr. Valarfin a chance. I think I understand human emotions, that boy cares about you."

"I never desired this."

"For us, deals are important, and turning this deal into a happy life is the best thing you can do. And you didn't seem so unhappy when you were together."

"I didn't make a deal with him. I wanted to live my happy life with my mother."

Yurine couldn't have a happy life until she got what she wanted. She did not want to live that happy life without her mother.

"As you grow up, your feelings will fall into place. By the way, how old are you?"

"I turned three the other day."

"Hmm... So you were named when you were just formed. You're lucky, it took fifteen years after I was formed before I got a name."

Her mother had failed to give Yurine a name. Until that day in the Sigma Tower, they had tried and tried, but all attempts had failed.

So talking about names, or assuming that someone else had named her, only made Yurine sad.

"Let's play there for a while."

As the two children got up from the seesaw and made their way to the swings, Yurine gestured to the seesaw. Nerissa agreed, jumped off the swing and they went to the seesaw.

Nerissa was heavier than Yurine, but the slight push of their feet on the ground was still enough for them to lift and lower each other with ease. This prevented one side from always being on top and the other on the bottom.

"What do you do on your adventures?" Yurine asked after a short silence.

"I'm proud of my little Gal. He's a strong kid, so we get most of the big and fun tasks."

"Oh... That human can't do anything but talk. Last week there were cries for help coming from the forest next to the house we were staying at, but he didn't even move his ass."

Yurine first looked for something to keep the conversation going, but when she couldn't find anything, she decided to blame Yu again. She also wanted someone to tell her that she was right.

"Well... That doesn't sound like such a great story, but I can't say Mr. Valarfin is wrong."

"What do you mean you can't say it's UNFAIR!"

"Oii!"

Yurine pushed herself hard into the air as she screamed. As Yurine pushed herself, Nerissa's side of the seesaw descended quickly and Nerissa's hip separated from her seat as it hit the ground.

As Nerissa rubbed her sore thigh with her hand, Yurine got off the seesaw and rushed to her side.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It was a mistake!"

She could prevent her from feeling the pain with healing spell. She put her hand on Nerissa's thigh and started to cast a light spell to relieve the pain, but Nerissa immediately grabbed her hand and blocked the spell.

"It's okay, it's okay. It's okay, really." Nerissa smiled and sat back down. "You seem to be a very lively girl."

Yurine was red with embarrassment and couldn't look Nerissa in the face.

"But don't use magic everywhere, especially with light magic, you attract too much attention."

"I understand, I apologize."

"So let's try to balance this time."

Yurine took her own place and a balancing act began so that neither side touched the ground. Nerissa put her weight slightly in front and Yurine behind her.

"We're doing it," Yurine said. Her serious focus on such a small game seemed both funny and sweet.

When their balance would get out of balance and one side would come close to the ground, the side closer to the ground would immediately lean forward and the side going up would put its weight behind it.

"You still haven't told me how you went on your adventures," Yurine said. They had managed to find a perfect balance, both of them standing on equal ground.

"Big adventures are usually international, so we often go to neighboring countries. We hunted a vampire in the Storm Kingdom, for example, and then we went to İlonya to hunt a dragon."

"I guess I can only imagine such things for now."

Rie was a powerful mage and could also wield a sword. Depending on her size, hunting dragons alone might have been too much even for her, but with a group of a few people, they too could go dragon hunting.

Rie could even fight vampires. She remembered now that in Mora, a little girl named Emily had seen Rie fight a werewolf and Rie had easily defeated her opponent.

Later, when she was with his mother, they fought a demon. That was the first and last time she saw Rie's eyes so full of anger and hatred. She didn't hesitate for a moment when she killed the demon.

"When we were in the Mora with someone else, we fought a demon." She felt guilty for referring to her mother as someone else.

"With someone else? I always thought you were with Mr. Valarfin."

"No way. It was just a chance meeting him."

Could this really be called luck? According to the story Yu had come here from a different world. It was only in his first hours when the path he was walking on collapsed, he fell down and was killed by Rie.

At the end of this incredible story, the word unlucky sounded like it was made for Yu.

But he continued after the end, thanks to the greatness of her mother. It was a terrible twist of fate that Yu's continuation of his story meant Rie's death.

"He was lucky to have met a supreme being like me," she mumbled.

"Did you say something?"

"It's nothing, I just mumbled to myself."

She was still angry at Yu for her mother's death. She blamed him and thought that without him her mother would have lived.

But after the time he spent with Yu, she couldn't say that she hated him. In fact, she had called Yu a 'murderer' a few times, but she doubted that she could say such things now.

In a strange way, she was angry with herself for not being able to express her anger towards him at times like this.

"Hmph, that idiot..." Yurine mumbled again and then she realized something. Galahad and Yu from Nerissa's story seemed similar.

The woman Nerissa loved died when Galahad was born, and the woman Yurine loved died when Yu was reborn. They were stories that started similarly.

"WAIT A MINUTE! IS IT END UP SIMILAR?! WILL I LOVE HIM?!"

When Yurine pushed herself up again, the balance in the middle disappeared and the seesaw collapsed on the side where Nerissa was sitting.

Fortunately, Nerissa was prepared this time. She put her feet on the ground before her seat touched the ground, so she was able to stay in the air when the seesaw touched the ground.

"I knew this would come twice, you really are a lively girl."

Nerissa looked at Yurine with a polite smile. Yurine was even more embarrassed that the same thing had happened twice.

"Shall we go now? The time Mr. Valarfin gave you might be up before we get back. He'll be really worried if you're late... Hmm? Why are you smiling?"

"Wha! I didn't smile!"

"You smiled when I said he'd be worried, I saw it with my own eyes."

"You must have seen it wrong. Why should I be happy that he's thinking of me?!"

"You say it yourself, it makes you happy that he thinks about you."

"Ow! Enough!"

Yurine hugged her teddy bear tighter and stepped in front of Nerissa, trying not to show her flushed face.

"Watch out Yurine!"

Yurine was walking fast when she suddenly bumped into a man. When she landed on her buttocks, Nerissa rushed over and got between her and the man she had hit, lifting Yurine off the ground.

"I finally found you."