Chapter 4: The Fairy, the Wolf, the Spider, and the Fox
For now, as they had exchanged greetings, Kitsune tried pulling up his body, which was still as damaged as ever. He leaned himself against a tree to stand up and held his side as he searched for the remnants of the knife. Regardless of the sort of world this was, even if a knife’s broken, a blade’s still a blade. He thought that a chance to use it may present itself sooner or later.
The fairy looking down on him from the sky tilted her head to the side and approached him.
“Hey, hey, Kitsune-san, are you hurt?”
“Yeah, kinda… a few of my ribs have probably snapped… then there’s the blow I took to the back, I guess.”
“Hmm… then I’ll heal it!”
“Eh?”
On the fairy’s proposal, Kitsune turned his eyes towards her. She began spinning in a circle around him while both of her arms remained pointed at his body; thereupon, the flash of light that had accompanied her when she first appeared burst out of her hands, enveloping him.
Kitsune tried to put up some resistance to the unfamiliar phenomenon, but the damage inflicted on him was too great, so he couldn’t move properly. But the effect came about soon enough.
“This is… my wounds are healing?”
The cuts and bruises plaguing his body were disappearing, bit by bit. The blow to his back, and the broken ribs, slowly reverted to normal along with the pain.
It didn’t take the boy very long to understand that the light was 『Magic』. ‘As expected of another world,’ he thought as he entrusted his body to it.
“…… Yep, that should do it!”
The fairy clapped her hands together and formed a smile as she spoke. At the same time, the light faded, and Kitsune had experienced a full recovery. He tried twisting his body and jumping as a test, but he felt no difficulty in those actions. If it’s like this, then he probably wouldn’t be done in by that pa.s.sing beast too quickly.
“… So, who are you, and where are you from?”
“Me? Let’s see… no idea~! Ahaha.”
On Kitsune’s question, the fairy spun and laughed.
Unable to understand what, ‘I don’t know’ was supposed to mean, Kitsune tilted his head. Seeing him like that, the fairy folded her arms and opened her mouth.
“Well, you see, I was just born right now! From that mask.”
“Mask…?”
What the Fairy pointed to was the fox mask on his head. Upon removing it, and looking it over, Kitsune only became even more confused.
The reason being that that mask was something sent here alongside him from his own world. From the point of view of this world, it was a real 『Otherworldly Item』. No matter how much of a fantasy world this was, with fairies and magic, and what not, his former world was a one of concrete science without such things. There’s no way the very incarnation of fantasy, a fairy, could be born from it.
But this world’s concept of a fairy wasn’t related to such differences in worlds.
“Well, you see, with fairies, there are different types… if you do the most basic division, there are two large groups!”
The fairy thrust out her small hand in a peace sign. As he grumbled to himself about how this sounded like it would take a while, he conceded to listen to the explanation of the fairy with the appearance of Shinozaki Shiori.
“The larger one is the fairies born from nature, called the Natural Variety, apparently! There are many different categories in the Natural Variety, but I don’t know the specifics!”
“Is that something you should be proud of?”
At the fairy who stuck her chest out and overflowed with confidence as she confessed her own ignorance, Kitsune could do nothing but offer a Tsukkomi. But without minding that, she continued on with her exposition. About the one she was a part of, the second variant of fairy.
“I’m part of the other type. A fairy born from human feelings! We’re called the Ideological Variety, and we’re not that common in this world! Just seeing one of us over your life is supposed to be super lucky! That’s why Kitsune-san is a lucky boy! Good job!”
“Yeah… right.”
According to her, the majority of this world’s fairies were of the Natural Variety. Regardless of the variety, while there were individual differences, they generally looked like small humans with wings. As such, the two Varieties were difficult to tell apart by appearance alone.
In this world, the number of Ideological Fairies numbered less than a few dozen. In Kitsune’s former world, they would be something of an endangered species. These girls were born of a human’s strong feelings, or more specifically, items that have received strong feelings, and therefore, they usually possess strong powers.
However, the amount of emotion necessary for an Ideological to be born is absurd, and unless they’re strong enough for one to bet their life on, nothing will be born. For that reason, their numbers are scarce.
On the other hand, the Natural Variety can be born as long as nature exists. No, it’s more that there are as many Natural Fairies as there are nature. As such, they can exist in large numbers. In exchange, unlike the other type, they generally don’t have that much power. It can be said that the Ideological are the 『Quality』, and the Natural are the 『Quant.i.ty』.
Natural Fairies have no lifespan. If nature were to die out, then they would die, but as long as even a little remained, there would be no death for them.
But Ideological Fairies were different. They had no set lifespan, but if the intermediary through which they were born were to be destroyed, they would die. Therefore, it was rare for them to separate from that item.
“To summarize, if that mask breaks, I’ll disappear, so I’ll follow Kitsune-san!”
“Ah, I see.”
The explanation over, the fairy said that with a bright smile, and Kitsune nodded easily.
Hearing the explanation on Ideological Fairies, he felt it rea.s.suring that one who possessed great power was to be his ally, but as long as he didn’t know where exactly he was, it didn’t change the fact that he was abandoned in the middle of nowhere in an unfamiliar world. He didn’t know what it was he should do.
First, he wanted to meet a human he could talk with, but since coming to the world, the only things he’d met so far were a polar bear level monster, and a fairy. It left him quite uneasy.
“… For now, I guess we’ll keep moving forward. Um… what’s your name?”
“None!”
“… None?”
“I was just born, you know? I’m a baby, you know? There’s no way I have a name!”
Kitsune pondered to himself just how this fairy could be so blatantly hopeless, as he stared off into the distance towards another day. But her words were sound. There was no way a freshly born baby would have a name.
(TL: This is pretty much a saying that means he’s staring out in a fit of escapism.)
“If it’s necessary, then it’s alright if Kitsune-san gives me a name.”
“… Well, it’s inconvenient if you don’t have one. Let’s see, something a bit otherworldly… let’s go with Finia.”
“Nice sound to it! What’s it from?”
“Just kinda felt like it.”
“Wah, so my name was one you just kinda felt… I like it!”
The fairy… no, Finia, broke into another smile after a short period of despondence. It seems she was the possessor of quite the brash personality. That part of her slightly resembled Shinozaki Shiori, causing Kitsune to give a slight smile.
He got himself back together, and began to move towards his original goal, the acquisition of life’s necessities, once more. With the mask on his head again, and the fairy Finia perched on his right shoulder, he walked forward with a faint smile on his face.
“By the way, Finia-chan, was that thing you used to heal my injuries magic?”
While thinking of how nice it was to have someone to talk to, he tried asking. He had just experienced Fairies, Beasts, and other fantasy-esque factors, so he wanted to secure a means to protect his own body.
“That’s right! Healing Magic! Usually you nead a spell incantation to use magic, but Ideological Fairies can use it without! Hehe!”
“Hmm… can I do something like that too?”
“The output likely changes based on the person, but as long as you have Mana, you can probably do it, you know?”
Hearing that, Kitsune asked whether there was a means to check if he had Mana, but Finia didn’t know. It seems she had the sense to use magic from the moment she was born, so she had no idea how to use magic in itself. It was like a human knowing how to move their hands.
“Yeah… Hey, Finia-chan, could you go up into the sky to see if there’s a river or village around?”
“No problem!”
Understanding that he wasn’t going to become able to use magic anytime soon, he put the matter aside.
So, he put Finia’s wings to use. If there was a river, then he would be in luck. A village, even more so.
“So!? Was there anything!?”
Kitsune raised his voice to the fairy who had risen quite high. There was the chance the beast would find out his location, but he wanted to get the information from the sky quickly.
Finia spun in the air as she descended. Lowering her back onto Kitsune’s shoulder, she smiled as she pointed in a direction.
“It was quite far, but I saw a large town! There’s a river on the way too!”
“Thanks for the good news, Finia-chan.”
“Yep!”
That information was the best news to the boy. The fact that there was a river was one thing, but the large town was good luck. If it was that big, then there would definitely be people, and he would be able to gather some necessary otherworldly information.
With somewhat lighter steps, he proceeded in the direction of Finia’s finger. Some monster may have heard his voice, so it was best to change locations swiftly.
“Even so… will j.a.panese work in another world?”
“I doubt it.”
“Eh? Even when I can talk with you just fine?”
“I’m, you know, that. I was born from j.a.panese goods! In a sense, I’m a new breed of fairy, right? Something like that.”
Eh… a troubled expression came up. But, well, the fact that a human settlement was there was much more rea.s.suring than being in a forest when he didn’t know when he would die. Anyways, moving forward was important.
“By the way, Finia-chan, about how far is far?”
“Based on your world, about 30km, I guess?”
“That’s a distance to distance one’s spirit…”
He stared out towards a brighter future again. If he kept walking without rest, he would probably reach it in a day or two, but as a frail high school boy, Kitsune didn’t have such stamina. Finia could probably fly there, but she decided to follow him.
After walking for a while, Kitsune found a different beast from before in front of him. Rather than a beast, this one looked like a bug. Its appearance was that of a spider, whose height exceeded 2m. Honestly, he didn’t want to have to deal with it. If possible, he wanted to pa.s.s peacefully.
Luckily, spiders didn’t use their sense of smell to catch prey. While it had eight eyes, as long as he hid and stayed a distance, there wouldn’t be a problem.
“Uwah… It’s creepy.”
“Kitsune-san’s also creepy, right? You’ve finally found a comrade!”
“You casually throw out some heart-stabbing words, don’t you? And wait, Finia-chan, you have knowledge from my world?”
“I have memory from when you first got that mask! You always held it close, so I remember quite a bit! Like how your notes were turned to charcoal during cla.s.s, and how your chair went missing, only to be found destroyed, and how your shoulder was accidentally punched by a pa.s.serby with splendid timing!”
“I see…”
He could have gotten off without an explanation of his own world, but should he feel happy that he didn’t have to waste time explaining anything himself, or feel conflicted that someone with Shiori’s face was happily divulging the contents of his bullying? It was a peculiar feeling.
“For now… let’s try sneaking past that spider.”
“Yay, it’s like hide-and-seek!”
They hid in the thickets as Kitsune waited for the spider to pa.s.s by. He gazed at its movements as he concentrated as not to make a sound.
But there was one tapping his shoulder.
“Shh… quiet.”
Kitsune turned his attention from the large spider, and spoke to the one behind him. But without minding his words, it kept tapping him.
“What are y… eh~…”
As he turned his head, he found the wolf from before behind him. In the front, the spider, and behind, the wolf. It truly was a desperate pinch. And wait, he was lucky to have gotten off with nothing but his shoulder tapped so far.
“Finia-chan.”
“What?”
“Can you defeat this wolf-san?”
“I more or less specialize in offensive magic, dude.”
“You were that sort of character?”
Finia was messing around, so Kitsune tsukkomied while his inner thoughts were in turmoil. She smiled as she raised her small hands at the wolf, and in the next instant…
“Grah!?”
… The wolf was blown away. From Kitsune’s point of view, it looked like Finia’s hands let off a flash for a moment, and the wolf was sent flying by it. He had no idea of exactly what had happened.
“Fufu… do you wanna know what I just did?”
“Yes, I want to know.”
“I sent him off with light magic!”
“Uwah, just as I thought.”
But she couldn’t be any more reliable. He felt it a little shameful to depend on the small existence 1/10 his size, but if she was going to protect him when he didn’t have any power of his own, he didn’t have the time to mind his own appearance.
“GISHAAAAAAAH!”
The light didn’t go unnoticed by the spider. The wolf still appeared to be able to move, so they were in quite a tight spot. Kitsune looked back and forth between the two monsters, and let out a sigh. So this is what it means to be stuck between a rock and a hard place. He offered a carefree thought, even in this situation.
“Good grief, this is the worst. For now, come at me! Finia-chan’ll take you guys on!”
And like that, Kitsune let out some shameful provocations.