Chapter 350: Methinks the Two of You Have A Very Different Regard of Each Other
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Seeing as his students showed no intention of jumping down the edge, what more could Baiyi do? He had no choice but to cross the bridge with his students, arriving at the Fairy Kingdom.
After completing the last few customs doc.u.ments, the group arrived at the city closest to the border — a place called Leaos, which was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with fairies. Legends had it that no fairies were ever born ugly, and Baiyi and his group now knew this to be true. They all looked unnaturally beautiful; even the male fairies looked as pretty as the females. Even when a fairy and a human are having an argument about the price of a product — to the point that they are almost maniacal, with spittle flying from their mouths — the fairy would still look outstanding and graceful.
‘Sigh… Being so beautiful is similar to winning the lottery; one whose rewards are the best things life has to offer,’ Baiyi thought, with a sighed, and he turned around to see his female students ogling every male fairy in the vicinity. ‘Gee. Aren’t they too young to be enslaved by physical beauty? Perhaps I should pay even more attention to them so that they do not get fooled by the beautiful eyes of nefarious male fairies.’
“Alright, alright. You all should pay more attention to the architecture, instead,” Baiyi said, beginning a lecture in a bid to divert their attention. “You see, the buildings you see here, which were built by fairies, are inspired by nature. So instead of looking grand and defiant, they delight in achieving elegant harmony with their buildings. For example, pay attention to this delicate fretwork that adorns their buildings; these are the products of intense craftsmans.h.i.+p and dedication to arts by fairy blacksmiths, exemplifying a laudable spirit all artisans should aspire to. This is nothing like j.a.panese manufacturers… hey?! Are any of you even listening to me?”
The students were not paying attention at all; this made Baiyi feel pretty bad and embarra.s.sed. He silently admitted that there was nothing he could do to s.h.i.+ft their attention, for now, so he decided to allow them to get used to the unnatural beauties around them.
Nota the fairy was the first female student to regain her composure, which may very well have been because she was just as beautiful as the other fairies around them. The other girls, on the other hand, were still lost in their daze.
“Mentor?” Nota started. “I remember reading from the books that fairies are cultured and refind people, but why do these fairies look s—so…”
She was having trouble finding a less disparaging adjective, so Baiyi finished her sentence. “Self-serving?”
Nota nodded slowly, embarra.s.sed about speaking of her people in such a way. However, Baiyi was nothing like her; he would not hesitate to lambast others if they warranted it.
“Well, in the beginning, fairies were just as the books described them: haughty, proud, antisocial, and self-isolated. However, no civilization would expand if they isolated themselves from other species because of pride. For other species, this made it easier for them to treat fairies with extreme hostility, even going as far as to declare war on them. This made the fairies quickly realize that communication and humility were important.”
“Being pragmatic allows you achieve a lot in life, you know? If this was not the case, the fairies would have long since become objects of stress release for others. After all, humans crave beauty so much that they could do whatever it took to possess it, no matter how brutal the means, right?”
Although Nota did not understand what Baiyi meant by ‘objects of stress release’, she did understand that it was a euphemism for something really horrible.
Therefore, she nodded and sadly replied, “I bet… I bet fairies that resemble those in the books should be even more beautiful, right?”
“Hmm, maybe?” Baiyi answered. “Besides, some members of the race who are more traditional still exist, you know. The self-serving fairies we see here are just a subgroup of the entire fairy society. There are a few who oppose the abandonment of their traditional ways of life, and because of this, they could only accept a small degree of secularization. Traditionalist fairies like these are not accustomed to urban life, so they live in their own rural commune, where nature remains untouched.”
“Will we get to see them?” Nota turned to look at Baiyi with s.h.i.+ny, puppy eyes, making her hidden request hard to reject.
“Of course. Let’s make that our first agenda. Let us proceed to visit the fairy settlements in order to learn and experience their culture,” Baiyi replied and led his students to a carriage service provider nearby.
These traditionalist fairies lived in the most remote part of the forest, but it was still easy to find a convenient means of transportation to get there; they even had road signs in place so that no one would get lost. Seeing as even these traditionalist fairies were being provided with basic amenities, one could tell that the ruling fairies had not abandoned them, despite their differing opinions.
As for the traditionalist fairies, although they advocated for the preservation of their traditional culture, they were not stupid enough to reject the basic amenities that modern technological advancements provided.
Baiyi hired the largest coach the carriage service had, and its coachman was a handsome young fairy. The handsome fairy glanced at his new customers, and surprisingly, his eyes did not lit up when he spotted Mia and the female students; however, when saw Zak.u.m the fox, his interest was piqued. He clapped Biayi on the shoulder like an old friend and said, “That’s a huge, handsome dog you have there, bro—”
“Careful! It bites!” Baiyi exclaimed and pushed the coachman aside, helping him narrowly dodge the fox’s gigantic teeth, which had been coming straight for him.
It seemed Zak.u.m the fox had completely immersed itself in the task Baiyi a.s.signed it earlier: guarding the Aegis Mansion. Although Baiyi was not sure if this was the case, he was sure that the fox had developed a few bad habits.
“W-w-whoa! Th-that’s a mean dog! It u-understood what I said?” The coachman stammered in fright, s.h.i.+vering at the near-fatal experience he just had.
After he said that, a speech bubble made from mana appeared over the fox’s head, and words of reply appeared inside it: “f**k you!”
‘When did you learn how to cuss? Hmm… you probably learned from everyone who got bitten by you, right?’ Baiyi thought. He looked at the coachman and gave him a kind reminder, saying, “It’s a lot smarter than you think. Maybe you should get back to work?”
With that, the coachman got into the driver’s seat of the coach.
Baiyi had always been very generous with the monetary tips he gave out, and this time was no different. The coachman received a generous tip, which caused him to grin broadly and steer the six cobs harnessed to the coach towards the outskirts of the city.
The interior of the carriage was wide and s.p.a.cious, so the students could lie around if they wished to. Getting this level of comfort was why Baiyi had hired the largest and most comfortable coach for their trip.
However, the journey was a restless one. The coach was not fast, and the scenery outside their window seemed repet.i.tive; after all, they were moving through a forest. After some time had pa.s.sed, most of the students no longer bothered looking out the coach’s windows; instead, they looked to Baiyi for some stories, which was something they did whenever they were bored.
Mia was already accustomed to this. As soon as she got bored, she kicked off her shows, and laid on the seat, with her head in his lap, waiting for him to start.
Baiyi poked Mia’s cheeks, and the little girl chuckled in response. “What do you want to hear this time?”
Tisdale was quick to answer. “Duh, I wanna hear stories about heroes!”
“Mmhmm! Can I hear about Saint Joel? I’ve always wanted to hear about how the two of you met!” Laeticia added.
‘You sure you wanna know about him in detail? I guarantee you that once I’ve finished, you’ll never dare wear black stockings in front of me anymore,’ Baiyi thought.
Then, Baiyi suddenly thought of something. “Since we’re heading to the settlement of some fairies, let me tell you the story about a fairy who has a little connection with the location we’re heading to!”
If they were going to the Fairy Walker’s hometown, then maybe he ought to tell the kids the story of his cheap wife.
This was the tale of a carefree girl who started out as a bit of a prankster in her village, wreaking havoc whenever she saw fit. The students were easily taken by the girl’s carefree att.i.tude, and they felt a little jealous of the freedom she had. After all, the students had not grown up with pet unicorns or bears to pull pranks on.
As the story progressed, a dark tone began to grow within it. The carefree and benevolent young fairy seemed to have been forced to bear a heavy burden, and despite doing everything in her power to stand strong, fate was cruel to her.
By the time Baiyi reached the climax of his story, the atmosphere within the coach was heavy. The carefree fairy had fled her own village to another village, where she pretended to be a witch so that she will be left alone. However, some kids in the new village still came to her home and pleaded with her to teach them archery.
In the end, however, misfortune befell that village. A group of mercenaries accidentally located the village and decided to do harm to the villagers. The carefree fairy killed this group with a toy bow and some leaves, but more arrived later on; this time, they numbered even more than before. Left with no other way to protect the villagers, the cheerful fairy was forced to pull the strings of her Caudillo Flower Bow once more.
Even before she used it, she already nursed the feeling that misfortune would befall her if she was ever to use the bow again, and she was right. Before she could fire off the arrow she had loaded onto the bow, she found herself in an endless void of darkness, standing in front of Baiyi.
Without her protection, everyone in the carriage could imagine the terrible fate that befell the people of that little village.
Back then, after viewing her memories, Baiyi felt something tear at his heartstrings. However, the Fairy Walker seemed optimistic about the outcome. “Hey! Maybe the village was spared from all that. Those mercenaries may have been scared off by my feat with the toy bow, you know!”
Her words only made Baiyi sadder, though.
“Poor big sister Fairy! Why would someone so kind and optimistic suffer such a fate?” This prompted Mia, who was saddened by the story, to whisper, “Mr. Hope, if we ever meet carefree fairy again, can we help her?”
‘Little Mia may be docile and kind, but the fairy you speak off has never liked you; in fact, she has even plotted to become your stepmother!’ Baiyi muttered in his mind.