Pigeon coos and flutters As I handed out jelly candy to the Luinongs huddled together, I was off on a wild quest for the unknown!
And guess what?
I learned a ton of juicy gossip!
All about the Mysterious Race, the Luinongs, which was barely even mentioned in the original story.
“Luinongs never feel physical harm, so they’re basically immortal! Plus, they’re immune to poison and disease—bam!”
Disease and death.
The two things every living creature fears!
But the Luinongs? They brush it off as if they were born with blessings of immortality and immunity. And if they desperately request it from a “God,” they can get anything they want!
What on earth are these little critters?!
So I wandered around Fairies’ Paradise, plop, plop, with a deep abyss of questions swirling in my head.
Boink! Boink! Boink!
Every step I took sounded like I was stomping on little sponges.
When I turned, there they were, a whole bunch of Luinongs staring back at me.
As soon as I stopped, they just froze in place too!
“Why are you following me?”
I squinted at them suspiciously.
Looking terrified, the Luinongs kept trailing behind me, probably because of the jelly candy.
These colorful little girls laughed and squealed in delight.
“Looks like everyone’s got a crush on Edan!”
“…Like how kids go wild for junk food?”
Honestly, what were those Luinongs doing, ignoring the beautiful Princess, while they followed me like lost puppies? I shook my head at Rue’s comment.
Sighing, I gestured for them to back off.
Suddenly, the Luinongs who were lagging behind perked up and came closer, giggling.
“What’s so interesting to a foreigner?”
“They say they’ll tell you! So, better be thankful!”
Poke! Poke! If I prodded them a bit, they’d spill all the secrets!
They hadn’t even been asked yet, but these bold fairies seemed eager to chatter. They were definitely waiting for someone to take an interest in them.
“So when did Paradise even exist? You guys didn’t create it, did you?”
Surrounded by white crystals, Paradise resembled a grand ancient city but was totally untouched by human hands.
It looked as if nature had spontaneously crafted a home for the Luinongs.
Thick cedar trees filled the underground space. Giant mushrooms acted as comfy furniture, and soft green moss kept us warm.
The sight of the Luinongs darting around reminded me of a fairy tale scene.
If humans had touched it, would it have been this beautiful? The village of the Luinongs, cloaked in Pure White Mystery, was a perfect ideal crafted by nature.
“We don’t know either!”
“We can’t remember! Luinongs are all smart, but… we just don’t remember that!”
All the Luinongs tilted their heads in unison.
You’d think even a tiny clue would pop up, yet they all made the same confused faces as if on cue.
What could I expect from these innocent little goofballs? With a heavy sigh, I resigned myself to the fact.
“Hmph, hmpf…!”
“Hey, humans can’t just ignore Luinongs like that!”
When I blatantly disregarded them, the Luinongs protested, waving their both hands and pouting, “If you don’t apologize, we’ll be grumpy!”
Uh-oh. Getting them upset would be a total disaster…
After all, I did come all this way to persuade the Luinongs. I needed to keep the little ones sweetened up for my plan later.
“Alright, spill the beans on what you know. Even tiny details are fine! If it’s good, I’ll give you jelly candy.”
I pulled out some jelly candy from my pocket.
Just then, the Luinongs were bouncing up and down, reacting furiously.
I was only going to give it to one, mind you. Once I added that limit, their excitement skyrocketed.
“There are icicles hanging over there! Yellow, pink, green… and especially the green icicles, they’re the most popular!”
“Eh?! The Mushrooms in Nubo have the softest beds! As soon as you lie down, everyone just snore-sleeps into dreamland!”
I expected nothing less, but it was still just trivial stuff they were blabbering about.
Icicles that taste like fruit.
Luinongs using giant mushrooms as beds.
It sparked a little interest, but that was about it.
I should’ve asked about the being called “God” instead.
While I scratched the back of my head, I handed out jelly candy to the excited Luinongs.
“Nom nom! Let’s talk about that shining stick over in the corner!”
“It’s just a stick! If we say more, you might think we’re fools!”
“We were super shocked! We didn’t expect humans to come to Paradise again!”
“Only that pretty Princess who gave us jelly candy has been shining like it!”
The little Luinongs sat in a circle like little kindergarteners on a picnic, casually chatting and sucking on their jelly candy.
“What are they talking about?”
I also handed some jelly candy to Rue and listened closely to the Luinongs gossip.
“Has anyone else come to Paradise aside from us?”
“Yikes! We were surprised!”
When I poked my head over to ask, the Luinongs screamed in shock!
You’d think I stole something.
I stared them down, urging them to answer my question.
“Someone just walked into Paradise and left a stick behind.”
“A stick…?”
“A shiny stick like a shooting star! They left it and gave Luinongs some food!”
“…….”
A woman, as beautiful as Elizaveta.
And there was a brave man who followed her.
I had no clue when this happened.
The Luinongs only shared that humans visited from the outside world.
I felt a shock that pierced my insides.
What if there was evidence of “them” being here?
I eagerly questioned the Luinongs about where the stick was located, and they looked scared but gladly pointed me in the right direction.
“…Oh my gosh.”
We arrived at a place filled with frozen icicles, like a glacier-covered mountain. There, I could see a bright glow reflected off a crystal-clear sheet of ice.
A radiance as brilliant as sunlight.
It was definitely the Earth Mother’s Saintly Power.
In the center shining so brightly stood the “stick” the Luinongs had mentioned.
The Scepter of White Night.
The scepter, adorned with golden jewels and white ivory, was definitely a holy relic of the Holy Kingdom.
The punishment of the Earth Mother to eradicate immortality.
A holy weapon endowed to the second Saintess for a great mission.
Why was that just sitting here in Fairies’ Paradise?
The beautiful lady the Luinongs had seen was definitely Beatrice. She had briefly visited Paradise with her lost lovers.
Finally, I had found a clue!
As soon as I spotted the Saintly weapon, my heart raced like never before.
“That’s Beatrice’s staff, isn’t it?!”
Rue exclaimed when she arrived at the scene a bit late.
The Luinongs who guided us to the location stood there with their fur all spiked up, whispering,
“That stick seems super important!”
“We were just swinging it around ‘til yesterday…”
“I used it to hang my laundry! It gives off warm light, so it dries clothes well!”
The Scepter of White Night was a weapon meant to sever immortality granted by the Earth Mother.
The Saintess Party had used the Scepter of White Night to eliminate the Ruler of the demon realm, fulfilling a destiny that was thought impossible.
Naturally, the Holy Kingdom revered the Scepter of White Night as their highest holy relic, nothing could compare!
And now this sacred weapon was being used as a baseball bat and a laundry stick by Luinongs?
If only the Holy Lord and the Archbishops had seen this scene; they would’ve probably fainted! They might’ve resorted to smashing the little Luinongs’ heads with heavy Bibles.
This scepter… can’t be unknown to them.
It was the relic that Beatrice always cherished like a twin. She never let it out of her sight.
But why was her very symbol…?
I felt a throbbing headache coming on.
I swallowed hard and pressed my temple.
“Edan, are you alright?!”
“Of course! Just a little dizzy, that’s all.”
I contemplated retrieving the Scepter of White Night, but I decided to hold off for now.
There was no rush.
Fairies’ Paradise was completely isolated from the outside world!
That’s probably why Beatrice left the Scepter of White Night here. As long as it remained in Paradise, no one would discover it.
“For now, let’s leave the Scepter of White Night as it is. Whether they use it as a baseball bat or laundry stick… the owner left it behind and will return no more.”
With a sense of resignation, I finally turned away.
Then I took Rue’s hand.
“Our goal is to take the Luinongs from Paradise. Now, we need to figure out how to get them out of this closed-off world…”
Tempting them with snacks only goes so far.
I needed a sure-fire way to capture the Luinongs‘ hearts.
What could that possibly be?
It was time to brainstorm with Rue.
Like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, I led the Luinongs toward Elizaveta. I couldn’t help but wonder what the Princess was doing right now. I just hoped there wouldn’t be any mishaps.
Knowing the infamous Villainous Princess, Elizaveta, my mind was full of worries.
*
Upon returning from perusing the outskirts of the village with the Luinongs, identifying Elizaveta’s whereabouts was no problem. The cheeky fairies were definitely crammed around the Platinum Princess.
“Princess! Princess!”
“Don’t cling to me so much!”
Sure, we’ve heard of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but have we heard of a Villainous Princess and the Luinongs? I think not!
The beautiful blonde princess stood surrounded by cheering Luinongs.
What a bizarre situation!
Elizaveta wore a floral crown made from colorful flowers. The Luinongs probably gifted it to her. It was like she had trained them like pets—this Platinum Princess had mastered Luinongs like a pro!
“Gasp…! Is that a God?!”
As I gawked at such an unbelievable scene, Rue suddenly let out an exclamation of shock.
Her expression of disbelief was locked on Elizaveta.
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