Chapter 41: Fiona’s Choice
–Chapter 41–
Title>> Fiona’s Choice
The search and rummaging by the fairies continued under Fiona’s silent supervision, the fairies worked with surprising discipline.
Nothing escaped their attention. And every pouch Xavier carried was opened.
The single weapon he had was carefully removed before being passed to another fairy for inspection.
Even the torn Dread Cloak wasn’t spared a second look before being folded aside.
Xavier remained seated where he was throughout the entire process.
The Healing Pill was quietly doing its work inside his body, and had eased the soreness in and out of his body to almost full health.
[+50Hp]
[180/210]
Not that the increased HP mattered much.
There were still enough spears and drawn bows pointed in his direction to remind him exactly how poor an idea resisting would be.
Besides, if these people truly intended to kill him, they had already missed several better opportunities.
Amongst them, one of the younger female fairies eventually crouched in front of him. Her light-pink eyes searching around his body.
And unlike the others, her curiosity seemed far stronger than her caution.
She frowned thoughtfully as she continued patting around his waist, seemingly convinced she’d missed something.
Xavier watched her for a second.
Then another.
"..."
His expression slowly became complicated, it didn’t change, it just twisted slightly.
’...Don’t.’
The fairy reached lower and lower.
Xavier’s eyelid twitched, his brows thinned into a straight line.
’Please don’t.’ his internal voice begged in a whisper.
Completely oblivious to the growing horror on Xavier’s face, the pink-eyed fairy reached one final time.
Then...
Her hand froze like she saw Medusa.
"...It’s..."
The words barely left her mouth before...
Smack!
The pregnant fairy from earlier planted a clean slap on the back of her head.
"Idiot!"
"That’s not a weapon!"
The younger fairy quickly rubbed the back of her head with a small wince.
"I-I know that..."
Another slap immediately followed as she affirmed the pregnant fairy’s words.
Smack!
"Then stop grabbing it! You Moron"
"..."
"..."
For one unbelievably awkward second...
Nobody present knew anywhere else to look.
One of the male guards suddenly became fascinated by a nearby tree’s rough bark.
Another started inspecting the feathers on his own arrows as though he’d only just discovered they were there.
A pair of female fairies quickly looked away. Faces burning like overheated coals.
"Hmph," Another older fairy in copper armor coughed into her fist. Alongside another, that stared very, very hard at Xavier’s boots as if she wanted to bore a hole in them.
Even the pregnant fairy who’d done the smacking seemed to remember, a little too late, that she’d looked for a little longer than her correction suggested.
Fiona on the other hand, simply closed her eyes..
Xavier looked at the sky for a long moment. And pondered something immensely profound to his situation.
’Can you just take me back? Cliff..!’
***
The awkward silence didn’t last too long though.
The younger fairy lowered her head, still rubbing the sore spot behind it.
"I said I already knew...," she retorted in a familiar tone.
"You clearly didn’t," the pregnant fairy squinted her eyes almost like saying. Don’t make this worse, you idiot.
"I only touched it because it was..." The pink-eyed fairy stopped herself just before finishing the sentence.
The pregnant fairy narrowed her eyes further.
"...Because it was what?"
"..."
"...Big."
Smack!
"Owww!"
"You really finished the sentence, you idiot"
The younger fairy pouted, her wings fluttering indignantly behind her.
"But it was..."
She caught the pregnant fairy raising her hand again and immediately corrected herself.
"...Never mind."
Only then did Xavier finally lose it.
Not his composure. But his battle against the corners of his mouth.
He looked away, pressing his lips together as hard as he could.
This was, without question, one of the strangest situations he’d found himself in since entering Arillion.
And considering he’d just escaped a sniper by throwing himself off a cliff...
That was saying a lot.
The atmosphere around the garden quietly changed.
The suffocating tension that had existed since Xavier opened his eyes slowly dissolved into something far more ordinary.
Some of the younger fairies quietly giggled. A few of the older ones sighed in exasperation.
Even several of the male fairies no longer looked quite as rigid as before. Their hold on their spears loosening ever so slightly.
And for the first time since arriving, Xavier felt like he wasn’t just surrounded by soldiers but actual people.
Afterward, Fiona finally opened her eyes again. And took a quick and calm glance at the fairies and Xavier.
And that was all it took.
The tiny ripples of laughter disappeared almost immediately.
"Finish with it."
There wasn’t the slightest change in her tone. Yet every fairy quietly returned to what they had been doing.
The search resumed without another fuss.
A few moments later, the results spoke for themselves.
"There are no concealed weapons or hidden tools."
"Or poisons," a denser voice added.
Another fairy gave Xavier one final pat around his waistline before stepping back.
"...Nothing unusual."
The report was simple but it left a few unanswered questions for fairies present.
There was nothing on him that explained how he’d crossed into the hidden village.
Nothing that explained why a dragon had fallen off a cliff and landed here.
Lastly, there was nothing that definitely made him any easier to understand.
Fiona looked at Xavier for a long while. Her mind working through all the possibilities.
The report from the search answered nothing.
He was still an outsider who had somehow crossed into her heritage. A village that had remained hidden for generations.
Also he still carried the scent of a dragon. And despite everything...he had neither threatened nor begged them since opening his eyes.
She couldn’t trust him and probably wouldn’t ever try to.
But...she couldn’t justify killing him either. It was better to see if he could be useful than just been great at spotting weaknesses.
It was a dangerous and unexpected choice to make but after a long silence, Fiona’s rosy red lips finally spoke.
"Take him."
She didn’t need to explain herself or discuss with anyone.
The surrounding fairies acknowledged her decision and immediately sprung into action.
Two spear bearers moved to Xavier’s left. Another two quietly took position behind him while one of the archers drifted ahead of the group.
They didn’t necessarily try to intimidate him. If Xavier could place a word on it. It was simply how they handled uncertainty.
Xavier slowly planted one foot beneath himself before standing.
The Healing Pill had repaired enough damage for his body to cooperate without too much of an issue.
He brushed several blades of grass from the torn Flayer’s Vest before glancing toward Fiona.
She was already walking away. Not even borthering to check whether he followed or not.
She simply expected it.
"..."
’Confident.’
Or perhaps...
She simply knew he didn’t have a better option.
--End of Chapter--