85 Part 2

“You didn’t know, did you? We fairies have always been looking after Marineforest this way.”

The strong wind blowing as such certainly was mischievous, but essentially it served a purpose, the fairies explained while laughing. Aquasteed was delighted to know a new side to the fairies he never knew before.

“Thank you for appreciating us.”

While the fairy was smiling bashfully, a leaf that had been blown by the strong wind high up into the sky came floating down. As if it was slowly drawing a circle, the leaf landed on Aquasteed’s outstretched palm.

“This is ….”

“Blessing from us —.”

“Do your best, okay —.”

“Thank you, I’m very grateful.”

The fairies waved Aquasteed goodbye and flew away into the sky.

However, Aquasteed felt relieved because somehow he managed to acquire the fairies’ blessing of this land. By casting his magical power into the blessed leaf, he would acquire this land as his encampment.

— It feels reassuring to have the fairies cooperate.

“Above all, I’m happy to be able to collaborate with the fairies in blessing this land.”

Aquasteed slowly cast his magical power into the leaf. Although it appeared normal at first glance, the leaf slowly transitioned into translucent pale blue as his magical power flowed in.

His magical power grew from the blessing of the sky fairies and Crail since childhood. If made very clear, it could give out the color of a distant transparent sky.

The leaf was glistening and floating in the air as it absorbed his magical power.

That state had to be maintained throughout the process of taking the fairy kings’ encampments until victory or defeat had been decided. When finished, it would penetrate the ground and become food for Marineforest.

“Okay, next. Precisely adjacent is the forest territory. It may be better to sandwich it from farther in the opposite direction ….”

By doing so, the encampment that Keith had acquired would be sandwiched in between and thus turning the ownership to Aquasteed.

For the plan to be executed immediately, he used transference to move into the desired position.

◇　◇　◇

Aquasteed moved to the north grid.

It’s a land far removed from the royal castle, where no one would normally go and pristine from human touch. Many forest fairies live there due to the abundant mines.

There weren’t many tall trees, mainly grass and wildflowers.

Bare rocks were left exposed to the weather since it was barren around the mines. This place would be difficult to access due to the surrounding mines, unless by foot.

“This place seems to have a lot of resources.”

He thought it would be better to develop the country without exploiting this land if possible.

“Wow, there’s a human in this kind of place!”

“Are you guys … the forest fairies? I thought you don’t usually show your existence. Do you guys often live in such a remote area?”

“Yep. We want to take care of the forest, so we often live in places where there are no humans!”

While cackling, the forest fairies welcomed Aquasteed.

“I came here in search for the fairies’ blessing. What do you always do around here?”

“We always look for gemstones here. Over here.”

“Using the collected gemstones, the kings would make rings for us —!”

— Raw materials for rings?

Speaking of which, the ring of the Starry Sky king that Aquasteed created as a gift for Tiararose certainly wouldn’t be complete without these raw materials.

It was unthinkable that those gemstones were collected by the fairies from elsewhere and turned into raw materials.

Upon entering the mine with the forest fairies, a quarry with gemstones on one side greeted Aquasteed’s entrance. The forest fairies harvested the gemstones, and then buffed them with plant leaves until they were polished.

For humans like Aquasteed, the passage was a little too narrow. However, it was not a problem for the tiny fairies.

“This is … amazing.”

Even though it was inside the mine, it wasn’t dark at all because the gemstones were shining. Rather, it was dazzlingly bright.

The fairy handed the harvested gemstone to Aquasteed.

“Is this Lapis Lazuli? The deep blue color is very beautiful.”

“Take that and come along —.”

Aquasteed followed the fairy further into the mine. However … the passage became narrower and the ceiling became lower, to the extent where he had to crouch to squeeze along.

This path would be impassable if it got narrower than this, Aquasteed displayed some impatience.

“Forest fairy, how much farther we going?”

“We’re here –-!”

Ta-dah! The forest fairy skipped with open hands to present a hollowed area with a spewing fountain. Along with the sound of gushing water, the face of a sea fairy appeared.

“!”

“We brought a new gemstone —.”

“Okay, I’ll take it.”

In the fountain, there were several other sea fairies.

They looked so comfortable playing in the water and worked hard to trim the gemstone with the water pressure. It was so extraordinary to find two different kinds of fairies working together here.

— This is the country I have been living in, but there are so many things yet to be discovered.

“Is it all right to hand over this gemstone?”

“Yes, give it.”

Aquasteed handed the Lapis Lazuli over to the sea fairy, who gladly received it. Then, the gemstone was lightly tossed into the air. While still in midair, it was enveloped by water, and as such, the surface was trimmed and polished.

The forest fairies collected and buffed the gemstone, while the sea fairies did the finishing.

The Lapis Lazuli that had been splendidly cut, splashed into the fountain.

“This fountain is …?!”

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

The bottom of the fountain was clearly visible since the water level was quite shallow. Under the limpid water, there were countless gemstones.

The surface of the water sparkled with seven colors from the refracted brilliance of rubies, sapphires, and emeralds. Aquasteed could only gasp at such a mystical sight.

These gemstones resting at the bottom of the fountain were to become the raw materials for the kings’ creations.

“The material for the ring I created came from here, didn’t it? Thank you, forest fairies and sea fairies. I was able to create something wonderful as a gift for Tiara.”

“That’s great.”

“I’m glad if Tiara is happy —.”

The forest fairy was happily laughing, while a sea fairy took out a gemstone from the bottom of the fountain.

“I’m happy, so here you go.”

“Could this be a blessing …? Thank you, I will try to build a good country.”

“Yep.”

Aquasteed had acquired the second encampment. Keith’s encampment that was sandwiched in between had become his as well. With this, Aquasteed had acquired three encampments.

—

Proofread by Rondo