Honestly, Riezel truly could not understand why, after suffering such treatment, Aesc still insisted on saving Britain and saving the fairies.
From the time she had been Viviane in the Year 4000 of the Fairy Calendar to now, Year 400 of the Fairy Calendar, a full 3600 years had passed in between.
For a whole 3600 years, she had managed to keep fighting against the threat brought by the Calamity while constantly being persecuted, and even saved the very fairies who persecuted her.
In Riezel’s eyes, this was something that could no longer be described as simply being a good person.
Aesc clearly was not just some naive good person either, or she would not have come to distrust, grow wary of, or even come to hate the fairies.
Yet even so, she still insisted on saving Britain.
Riezel truly could not understand what this Fairy of Paradise was thinking.
Of course, that was only how he felt.
If he only considered it rationally, it was still possible to find reasons for Aesc to persist like this.
For example, she had spent her early childhood happily in Orkney, showered with affection by the Rain Clan, and had set her heart on building a beautiful fairy-tale kingdom. Even after the Rain Clan was destroyed, that ideal did not disappear, so she continued to save Britain again and again.
Or, the reason she managed to escape the destruction of the Rain Clan was not without cause. Under the influence of that cause, she became obsessed with Britain, determined to save this country, which was also understandable.
However, those were just objective reasons.
As far as Riezel was concerned, no matter how great the reasons were, after going through so much suffering and seeing the true face of the fairies, Aesc should have learned her lesson and understood that the fairies of Faerie Britain were incurable, right?
’Isn’t this just a case of refusing to turn dark when it’s time to turn dark, and insisting on turning dark when it’s not?’
In any case, from Riezel’s perspective, Aesc should have turned dark long ago.
Instead, even after coming to hate the fairies, she still insisted on saving them against her own will, all for the sake of this so-called Britain.
Because of that, Riezel rarely said a few more words.
"Doing things as indecisively as you do, sooner or later you’ll get yourself killed, or even get those around you killed."
Riezel’s voice slowly reached Aesc’s ears.
"When that time comes, you’ll want to regret it, but it will already be too late."
After hearing these words, Aesc remained silent for a very long time.
Only after a long while did she suddenly laugh, a laugh full of irony.
"Hehe, that doesn’t sound like something you’d say, when you always call Morgan a witch."
Aesc actually said this before continuing.
"According to what you said before, Queen Morgan is a heartless witch who only rules Britain and never saves the fairies, which is why the Mirror Clan sees her as a false king, and wants the new savior to defeat her and crown themselves the true king, isn’t it?"
"But judging from what you’re saying and your attitude now, you seem more like a companion of the witch you always talk about than of the future savior. You both think fairies aren’t worth saving."
"If that’s the case, why did you become companions with Artoria Caster and fight against Morgan, whose ideals are the same as yours?"
Aesc’s words were quite pointed, but the reasoning was sound.
Riezel’s way of thinking was actually much closer to Morgan’s than to Artoria’s.
For him to consider Morgan, who shared the same view of fairies as himself, a witch, and even stand against her, was indeed a contradiction and hard to understand.
To this, Riezel only wanted to say—
"I call her a witch not because I disagree with how she deals with things, but just to protest the fact that she kidnapped me without a damn word, almost taking advantage of loopholes to make me lose my ability to resist and become her husband."
Riezel spoke his true feelings with a completely calm expression.
"As for fighting against her, that’s not for Britain, or for those fairies who aren’t worth saving. Honestly, I don’t give a damn about them. I just want to settle things with her, that’s all."
"And as for considering Artoria a companion, it’s also not because I want to save the fairies or Britain. It’s just that I think an idiot like her shouldn’t be controlled by this so-called mission of Paradise, like you."
"If she really thinks the fairies of Britain are worth saving in the future, I’ll respect her choice, but I won’t help her with it. At most, I’ll lend a hand if her life is in danger."
Having said this, Riezel looked at Aesc again.
"You are a Fairy of Paradise, so you should be able to tell if I’m lying or not with the Fairy Eyes, right?"
"In that case, I’m telling you now."
"Actually, I don’t hate Morgan."
"Of course, that doesn’t mean I accept her as my wife."
After leaving these words behind, Riezel’s strides grew larger, stepping past Aesc and heading deeper into the forest.
Only Aesc was left, standing still as she watched Riezel’s back ahead of her, her eyes flickering with who knows what in her mind.
===
After walking through the forest for about half an hour, Riezel and Aesc arrived at the heart of the woods.
Here, there was a clearing—or more precisely, a campsite—where someone had already set up camp.
Surrounding the area, a bounded field had been arranged to keep wild beasts and demon beasts away. It was clear at a glance that this was a resting place chosen by Aesc during her activities nearby.
When Riezel and Aesc reached the campsite, the first thing that caught their eyes was a burning campfire, before a loud and impatient voice reached their ears.
"Ah! Aesc! You’re finally here!"
Making such a big fuss was a fairy, fidgeting in front of the campfire.
She was extremely small, so small that even a ten-year-old child would be taller than her, looking just like a little girl of four or five who had run out to play.
’So this is a Wing Clan Fairy?’
Riezel recognized her fairy clan almost at a glance.
Although he had never actually seen one until now, this type of fairy was undoubtedly from the Wing Clan.
"I’m back, Totorot."
Aesc replied with a smile to the fairy girl who had run over, then turned to Riezel beside her and gave a brief introduction.
"Well, this is one of my companions, Totorot of the Wing Clan. Don’t be fooled by her small size or the fact that she’s from the Wing Clan, a fairy clan generally known for being weak in battle. In fact, she’s very strong."
Riezel certainly knew that.
Because this Wing Clan Fairy named Totorot was actually the first Fairy Knight.
Her strength might not match that of special individuals like Gawain or Lancelot, but compared to Baobhan Sith, who was originally Fairy Knight Tristan, she was definitely much stronger.
"Hm?"
Only now did the fairy named Totorot notice that there was someone else at Aesc’s side, which caused her to immediately let out a surprised sound.
"Who are you?"
Hearing Totorot’s question, Aesc was just about to introduce Riezel, but Riezel spoke up first.
"Don’t mind me, I’m just a passerby here."
Riezel’s calm words made Aesc close her mouth.
She more or less understood why Riezel had used magecraft to make a cloak and hide his appearance before coming here.
Clearly, he did not want too many people to know what he looked like or even know of his existence, to avoid influencing future events.
However, while Aesc thought this, she did not realize that Riezel simply did not want to reveal his identity in front of another person present—the person who was now sitting by the campfire and slowly stood up.
Upon closer look, it was actually a warrior clad in heavy armor from head to toe.
He was broad and stout, with thick limbs, but quite short in stature—anyone could tell at a glance that he was an Earth Clan Fairy.
As it happened, Riezel knew this fairy and had even met him once in the future.
"He is Black Knight. Like Totorot, he’s one of my companions."
Aesc immediately introduced him.
"...Just call me Black Knight."
Black Knight looked at Riezel, sizing him up warily, and only after that, perhaps for Aesc’s sake, did he give Riezel a nod.
Although his attitude could not be called friendly, it was not outright rude either, which surprised Riezel somewhat.
It was only natural.
In the future, this Black Knight was notorious for his rough manner, after all.
He even dared to shout at Artoria, who was both a savior like Aesc and looked exactly like her, and his attitude when asking about his sword was extremely blunt and aggressive.
Yes, this Black Knight was actually Ector, the blacksmith called Grandpa by Artoria, who ran a blacksmith workshop on the coast near the village of Tintagel.
Long ago, he had known Aesc, who was also a savior like Artoria, and became one of her companions, setting out with her on a journey to save Britain and fighting at her side for nearly 2,000 years.
It was also because of that Ector so thoroughly disliked fairies since he knew how much Aesc had suffered at their hands.
And that was also why, when everyone hated Artoria, a Fairy of Paradise, although Ector was gruff, he became the only one to accept her.
Riezel wanted to wear a cloak and hide his appearance precisely because Ector in the future clearly did not know him, so it was best for him to conceal his identity in front of this fairy to avoid altering the future.
For that reason, Riezel had even put away Hermit, which had drawn Ector’s attention the first time they met, back into the storage space of the Dimensional Magic Cube.
Now, Riezel carried no weapons on him at all and was truly empty-handed.
At this moment, Aesc spoke up again.
"Besides Totorot and Black Knight, I have another companion."
"He is Grimr the Sage, the one who once taught me magecraft, but he isn’t a fairy—he’s a special being called a Heroic Spirit."
"He is not here right now, so you don’t have to worry about him."
Back in the Year 2,000 of the Fairy Calendar, Aesc had summoned a wise god from Norse mythology by her own ability and let him possess the body of a young fairy, accompanying her on her journey and training.
He was Grimr the Sage, who was practically a teacher to Aesc.
First Fairy Knight, Totorot.
Black Knight, Ector.
Grimr the Sage.
Needless to say, these three were Aesc’s companions, the ones who assisted the savior in her journey.
===
[A bonus Chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
[Support me and read next Chapters early at: /VALRRR]