Chapter 5
So that’s how it is.
“So that fairy… is this body’s mother…”
I glanced at the demon, then shifted my gaze back to the fairies.
Still, the fact they had been raising me for a year without abandoning me meant the fairy mother hadn’t made a completely insane choice.
The fairies continued whispering among themselves, scanning my small body with wary eyes.
“Is that even true?”
“The baby doesn’t look too bad…”
“Well, there’s no reason for a demon to carry a baby around like that, right? They abandon their own children all the time.”
Before their chatter grew louder, the elder fairy raised a hand, signaling them to quiet down.
“May we take a look at the child for a moment?”
The demon looked down at me briefly, then—with an expression that clearly said she wasn’t pleased—handed me over to the elder.
The moment I was transferred into the elder’s arms, the fairies gathered around me.
“Name is Larié. The father seems to be human, and it was the mother who summoned me. She passed away soon after.”
A soft sigh spread among the fairies.
“How tragic…”
“To leave such a cute child behind and die. Was she already old?”
“I don’t know her age, but if she called me that frequently and for that long, unless her mana was infinite, she wouldn’t have survived no matter how long-lived she was.”
The fairies turned their gazes toward the demon, as if saying, “So it was you.”
The demon replied with a slightly awkward, sulky expression.
“How was I supposed to know? I thought it was my father bothering me again.”
The fairies looked at her as if she were utterly shameless.
But our demon wasn’t the type to be shaken by such looks.
“Ah, then who told you to chase that poor fairy child out of your territory? If anything, they probably had nowhere else to go or they wouldn’t have called me.”
“If they left for the human world, being expelled from the fairy realm is only natural. And we’re not even from this domain of fairies!”
“Isn’t that a rather outdated way of thinking? Under Woodro’s god, aren’t all children equal?”
“How dare a demon speak the name of our father!”
“Just stating facts.”
While the shameless demon and the fairies bickered, the elder simply looked down at me in silence.
“G-goo…”
I hadn’t done anything, but I felt like I should apologize. My tongue wouldn’t move properly, yet I still managed to force out an apology.
The elder blinked in mild surprise, then smiled warmly.
“Child. There is nothing for you to apologize for.”
Her expression was so gentle that something inside me stirred strangely.
“You have done nothing wrong. Poor, wounded child… You’ve endured so much for so long, haven’t you?”
“Huh?”
The demon, who had been arguing with the fairies, looked at the elder in confusion.
“So small… and yet you endured it well. Truly admirable. It’s alright now. Everything will be alright… in time.”
“What are you talking about?”
For some reason, I couldn’t speak. No words came out at all.
She sounds like she knows about my repeated reincarnations… Can fairies see something?
I didn’t understand why she was saying that, but for some reason I felt embarrassed, sad, and relieved all at once—an oddly complicated emotion.
The elder gently stroked my forehead, cheeks, eyes, and head, then held me close and patted me softly as she spoke again.
“Now then. What is it you desire from us?”
“What was that earlier supposed to mean?”
“That is not something I can freely speak of. Ask your god.”
“So you’re just politely telling me to die and find out?”
“We do not speak lightly of life and death.”
She only smiled serenely.
The demon, after staring at her for a moment, seemed to give up on getting an answer.
“There’s only one thing I want. Fairies receive a blessing the moment they are born, correct?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
“Then grant it to that child as well.”
“That is impossible. Never in history have we acknowledged a human-fairy hybrid as a fairy child.”
“Then it’s time to throw away those outdated rules. Half or not, fairy blood is fairy blood. Just bless her.”
Seriously, why are you casually breaking all their rules, you reckless demon?
So that’s why she’s a demon.
I clicked my tongue inwardly and leaned into the elder’s arms.
“The child’s mother willingly renounced being a fairy. Therefore, a fairy blessing…”
“Her mother renounced it, not the child. How do you know what she’ll choose later? Human or fairy?”
At that, one fairy shouted in exasperation.
“But with human blood, she can’t become a fairy!”
“Who knows? Maybe she’s the first hybrid who can. Why block all the possible paths a child might have?”
It was nonsense—but strangely persuasive.
Persuasive, yet still nonsense.
She was infuriatingly shameless.
She was like that even when beating people up.
So that’s just her personality, I guess.
The fairies were momentarily speechless before regaining themselves.
“But—her father is human! She might want to become human instead!”
“Then give her options. And who knows, maybe she didn’t part with her father on good terms. She might grow up hating humans once she learns the truth.”
Unfortunately, wrong, demon.
I already distrust humans a lot.
The world is something you live in alone.
Frankly, I didn’t even feel like I had a father.
In all my lives, a “father” had never been useful, and in this life we separated when I was too young to remember anything.
More importantly…
“Do whatever you want with my blood for research.”
…or things like that.
“Use me for your plans if you want, or don’t tell me the truth.”
…or that.
“Just don’t betray me.”
That’s what my mother in this body had said.
Which meant—the human called my father had done all of those things.
Used fairy blood for research, exploited plans, lied, bound my mother with sealing magic, even cheated.
Yeah, my distrust is only going to get worse.
There was truly nothing good to see in him.
Honestly, it was a relief I no longer had anything to do with him.
Meanwhile, the fairies whispered among themselves.
“So… come to think of it… if she left the child with a demon instead of her husband…”
“She must’ve died… or been betrayed and cursed. I’d bet on the latter.”
“That’s usually the fate of fairies who follow humans…”
Hearing that, the demon looked pleased and glanced at the elder, who looked troubled.
“No matter what, this is not something we can decide lightly…”
“The child isn’t growing. She’s over a year old. If she’s this small because she didn’t receive a blessing, then what? Are you going to take responsibility if she doesn’t grow?”
For the record, I was growing normally.
So… they invaded fairy territory because I wasn’t growing?
That impatient demon had caused all this chaos over just one year.
Someone please teach this demon basic human growth standards!
But surprisingly, the fairies weren’t much different.
“Over a year? That’s too small.”
“Right? Even for a human hybrid…”
So much for interspecies common sense.
Am I the only one who has to give up here? Hahaha.
“Human babies are normally…”
Normally?
Elder, why did you stop talking?
Nothing is more annoying than someone who starts speaking and then trails off.
I stared at her.
“Ah… u…”
I wanted her to finish, but my mouth wouldn’t form the words.
That demon doesn’t even know I’m growing normally.
As if hearing my thoughts, the elder simply looked down at me quietly.
Then she said:
“All is according to divine providence.”
And kissed my forehead.
She held me close and gently patted me.
“Just so you know, granting a fairy blessing will not make this child grow rapidly as you might expect.”
“Elder!”
The fairies stirred at her words.
“Why not?”
“That is simply this child’s growth rate.”
The fairies tried to argue with her, and the demon seemed to be thinking.
I was internally delighted—Finally, she said it!—but my body was already drifting into sleep.
Her arms were too warm. Just being patted made me drowsy.
No, I can’t fall asleep. I need to watch whether that demon causes trouble or not.
I tried hard to keep my eyes open.
I have to keep watching…
But once sleep came, I couldn’t resist it.
Listening to their voices fade into discussion, I eventually slipped into a deep dream.
After that day—when the demon invaded the fairy realm and returned with a fairy blessing—she began measuring my height every single day.
And every time, she made the same troubled face.
“Seriously… how is this happening? At this rate, how is she supposed to survive in this harsh world?”
Talking nonsense about a one-year-old baby.
Sometimes she even stood by my crib while I slept, watching me like she was monitoring my growth.
I woke up once in the middle of the night and nearly died of shock.
After I yelled “eek!” at her a few times, she finally stopped doing it.
I don’t know what her problem is.
At this point, I started wondering how fast demons were supposed to grow.
“Try walking.”
That was manageable, though still unsettling.
“Good. Now try running up to here.”
At that point, I seriously wanted to hit her once.
