Atelier Tanaka

Book 5: Chapter 2 (6)

Dark Continent (2nd)

Throughout your life, you’ll meet new people and those same people will eventually leave your life. This holds true even here on the Dark Continent. I must be getting more sentimental in my old age. My tears seem to fall much easier these days.

My surroundings remained the same; thickets of trees no matter where I look.

Gicho gicho, gekokoko. Sounds created by strange, unknown insects all around me. Occasionally, I’d hear the faint sound of rustling grass and a small animal would run out past my feet.

It’s been a while since I said goodbye to the herb goblin.

It was around a half hour later that I heard something other than the sound of bugs or rustling grass.

It was someone speaking.

“Hehehe, it’s a human.” “A human’s coming.” “Hehehe, hehehe.” “Look at its flat face.” “Flat faced human.” “Its skin is yellow.” “It really is yellow.” “A yellow human is here.” “Yellow human, yellow human.” Hehehe, flat and yellow.” “A flat yellow thing is coming.” “Hehehe, hehehe.” “A flat yellow thing is coming, a flat yellow thing is coming.”

Where are they? These people making fun of my flat yellow face.

I haven’t even seen them yet and they’ve already started bullying me.

“….”

I continued wandering around the area for a while before I noticed movement in the corner of my vision.

“Ah….”

“He found us.” “We’ve been discovered.” “Hehehe, hehehe.” “The flat yellow one found us.” “It finally found us.” “The flat yellow one is looking at me.” “Hehehe, it’s watching us.” “While we watch the flat yellow one.” “Hehehe, we’ve never seen a flat face with such a colour.”

Fairy.

They’re fairies.

They look like normal humans, but their bodies are tiny. They’re small creatures, totalling 30 centimetres in length. They had light green wings growing from their back that were so thin they appeared translucent. I was able to see the trees and other scenery faintly through their wings.

Their hair only came in two shades, gold or silver, but in both cases, the colour was so faint it almost appeared white. Their skin colour was so pure and white that the contrast of my yellow skin made theirs seem to almost glow. Japanese women would do anything for their skin.

An even more interesting characteristic was the fact that they were all women. Even more important, they’re all naked. Perhaps the fairy culture doesn’t believe in clothing. What strange creatures.

More than a dozen of them were gathered in the canopy of a tree.

“Ah, are you possibly Green Sylphs…?”

I need their wings. They can make fun of my flat yellow face all they want, but I won’t give up.

“The flat yellow one is talking to us.” “Hehehe, the flat yellow said something.” “The flat yellow one knows about Sylphs.” “Hehehe, hehehe.” “Flat yellow knows us.” “Hehehe, is the flat yellow one here to talk to Sylph?” “Does it want to talk?” “The flat yellow one is all by himself.”

They appear to understand why I’m here.

However, in order to successfully negotiate with them, I’ll need to approach this strategically.

The way they speak makes it hard for me to get a grasp on their personalities.

“Yes, I was hoping we could speak. If that’s okay with all of you, Sylph-san.”

“The flat yellow one wants to talk to us.” “It wants to talk, it wants to talk.” “Hehehe, is it the only flat yellow?” “It is the only one. It’s all alone.” “Hehehe, hehehe.” “There are no other flat yellows.” “It’s alone, all alone.” “It came to speak to the Sylph alone.” “Why would it do that? Why?”

The way they speak is simple, but are they as simple-minded as they sound?

I don’t sense any maliciousness in their voices, but they seem suspicious of me. I should try to ease their suspicions.

Especially considering, as they’ve said, I’m by myself while there are many of them.

“Actually, there is something I wished to ask of the Green Sylphs.”

“Something to ask.” “The lonely flat yellow one has a question.” “Hehehe, hehehe.” “What could the flat yellow need from us?” “Is it lonely?” “Hehehe, the flat yellow one is lonely.” “Lonely, lonely, the flat yellow one is all alone.” “Does the flat yellow one want the Sylphs to be its friend?”

I think the longer this goes on the worse it will be for me. If it was just one Sylph I think I’d be able to handle myself better, but with more than ten, one of them is more likely to lose patience with me.

“Yes. If you’re all okay with that, I’d like us to be friends.”

“Friends, it wants to be friends.” “The flat yellow one wants us to be its friends.” “Hehehe, you want us to be friends? Is that what you want?” “Does the flat yellow one really wish for us to be friends? Is it really a friend of the Sylph?” “Hehehe, hehehe.” “The flat yellow one is too big to enter our home.” “Where does the flat yellow one live?”

“My house is far from here. I’ve come here to find something I need. Might I say, your wings are incredibly beautiful. The faint green colour is pretty.”

“Uwa, uwa, the flat yellow one praised us.” “Hehehe, praise, praise from the flat yellow.” “Why does the flat yellow one stay on the ground? Tell me.” “Because the flat yellow one is a human, they don’t have wings.” “Strange, so strange. Why do humans not have wings?” “Hehehe, so strange.” “Humans have no wings, strange.”

I couldn’t help but think about their wings as they spoke.

The wings I need are the same ones that grow from their back. A pair of two beautiful thin green wings. It may be because it’s translucent, but they look fragile and easily ripped off if touched.

Would it hurt if I cut it off at the root? No, I can’t imagine it wouldn’t. Even if I immediately healed one and regrew its wing, I’d still feel bad hurting such a pretty creature.

So how do I go about collecting them?

“I wanted to know more about your wings. Can you regrow your wings?”

“Regrow? Do our wings regrow?” “I don’t know, I don’t know.” “Hehehe, how would I know?” “There was one that lost her wing before.” “What happened, what happened?” “A terrible elf pulled them off.” “Uwa, how scary, what a scary elf.” “Scary elf, scary elf.” Elves are scary.”

That sounds like Edita Sensei.

When I thought about how she came up with the recipe, I realized it had to be her.

Maybe it was a good idea to leave the Dark Elf behind.

As I thought about this, one of the Sylphs asked,

“Should we be scared of the flat yellow one?”

Then, everything happened at once.

As if operating on one mind, the Sylphs that had been flying around constantly since I noticed them, stopped all at once and turned their eyes toward me.

It was a little scary.

What’s with this eerie feeling I’m getting?

“Uh, no, I-I’m not an elf. Just a normal human….”

“Is the flat yellow one scared of the Sylphs?” “Why do you want to become a friend of the Sylphs?” “What do you get out of befriending the Sylphs?” “Why have you entered our forest?” “Humans aren’t that different from elves.” “The flat yellow one said it was looking for something.” “Tell us, tell us.” “What is it looking for?” “What is it, what is it?”

I’ve got a bad feeling.

Their intuition is just too good.

There’s no way a weak human would be able to make it to the Sylph village unharmed. I complimented their wings straight away. Unless these creatures are stupid, it should be pretty clear to them what I’m after. Especially, when Edita Sensei has been here ripping off wings in the past.

I failed before I even began.

“Humans are scary.” “Humans are scary.” “The flat yellow one is scary.” “Flat yellow is scary.” “What do we do when we’re scared?” “We run if we’re scared.” “We kill the thing that scares us.” “Which will it be for this human? Which one for the flat yellow?“ “Humans are weak.” “Humans are scared of us.” “That means the flat yellow one is weak.” “Flat yellow is weak, flat yellow is weak.”

They’ve come to a unanimous decision.

They speak in simple words but they’re actually smart.

I should check their status before this gets worse.

I’ll just pick a couple at random.

Their individual stats are slightly worse than the Hero of the West.

However, there are so many of them. More than a dozen. If they all attack me at once, they’ll rip through the clothing I’m wearing like paper. They’re more of a threat than the phoenix I fought yesterday.

This isn’t good.

That bird was by itself and I was able to get off a surprise attack. If all of these fairies attack at once, my invincible mode may not even be able to stand up against them.

As I felt a tingle run down my spine, the fairies began to speak.

“We should attack the flat yellow one.” “Beat it, crush it.” “Hehehe, what should we do with the flat yellow?” “It looks tasty; we should eat it!” “Eat the flat yellow one!” “Eat it and play with its remains!” “Hehehe, play with the flat yellow one’s remains.” “Play, play, time to play!”

The Sylphs attacked after the final one spoke.

They flew at me all at once as if I had disturbed a beehive.

“Tch….”

This is unbearable.

I could go on the offensive with a fireball. But they’re attacking me nonstop and if I were to let my guard down to attack and it missed, I’d be left wide open.

This fact made my next decision obvious.

“Stonewall!”

I set up walls three metres square in size all around me and above me.

This is the Stonewall Barrier™.

“The flat yellow disappeared.” “It’s hidden, hiding behind the walls.” “Hehehe, hehehe.” “We can’t play with the flat yellow if it hides behind walls.” “The wall is in the way, the wall is in the way.” “What should we do? If the wall is in the way, we can’t play.” “Hehehe, hehehe.” “I can’t see the flat yellow one.” “What should we do, what should we do?”

I could hear the voices outside my barrier arguing.

What should I do?

Do I just wait for them to get bored?

“Can we break the wall?” “Is it possible? Break the wall.” “Hehehe, hehehe.” “Let’s destroy the walls.” “Who will break it first?” “Contest, contest.” “”The first one to break through should get the first bite of the flat yellow one.” “Hehehe, the first to break is the first to feast.” “If you break through first you get to eat first.” “I want to eat it first.”

What an effective democracy.

If only it were that easy for us humans.

Then, I began to hear the sound of small explosions coming from the opposite side of the wall. Boom, boom, and the walls trembled in response. The Green Sylphs didn’t hesitate to start their assault.

I can’t tell exactly what these attacks are, but it’s safe to assume they’re using magic.

“….”

What should I do?

How long will my Stonewall hold out? I feel like it should be able to withstand dozens of magical attacks, but there are a dozen Green Sylphs out there.

I’m getting a little flustered.

“The walls are strong.” “Strong, so strong.” “The human still hides.” “Flat yellow is human but wall is too strong to be from a human.” “Humans are soft, squishy squishy.” “Why are its walls hard?” “Humans are soft.” “But the walls are hard.” “Magic doesn’t work.” “Why is the flat yellow human’s wall hard?”

Then, an idea flashed through my mind.

Can I shoot a fireball through the walls without being able to see it?

I don’t have any party members to worry about. Even if the flames get out of control, I have nothing to worry about. I was against hurting them before, but they’re trying to kill me and, given my current situation, I think my conscience will allow it.

Honestly, I should have done this at the start. Their cute appearance made me forget that they are creatures from the Dark Continent. This is what happens when I’m careless.

“…all right.”

I listened to hear where the majority of them were concentrated.

If I lower the wall even an inch, they’re likely to burst in. Once I’ve located their general position, I’ll concentrate on that position and release my magic. I pictured in my mind a miniscule Fireball that floated gently above my stone prison.

“Fireb–”

I prepared to release my magic with a slight shout.

“Kya! It’s Goggoru! Goggoru is here!” “Goggoru! Goggoru!” “Run, run away! The Goggoru is scary!” “Scarier than the human!” “Scarier than elves!” “Run from the Goggoru!” “Run, run away quickly!” “Run from the Goggoru!”

Just as I was about to release my attack, something changed outside.

The magic attacks from the fairies stopped and I could hear several scared voices. The rhythmic booms ceased all together.

To satisfy my curiosity, I lowered one side of the wall a few centimetres so I could see outside. Light rushed in and illuminated my stone cell. 

I looked through the gap and saw that the fairies had all disappeared and someone I recognized had taken their place.

“Ah….”

“….”

Our eyes met through the small gap.

It was a Goggoru, just like the fairies said.

It was the chocololi I had met days earlier when I first arrived on the Dark Continent.

***