Sugar Apple Fairytale Vol 1 Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Reunion on the b.l.o.o.d.y Highway
There were no towns or villages along the b.l.o.o.d.y Highway. In total, it was
about 1200 caron in length.
Would they make it across safely?
Ann stole a glance at Shall‟s face as he sat beside her on the driver‟s seat.
It was a beautiful face. She‟d never seen a warrior fairy with such an elegant
appearance before. It made her uneasy.
She wondered if Shall would really be useful as a warrior fairy.
----Since I already bought him, I have no choice but to believe in him, but…
The Sugar Sculpture Festival was at the end of autumn, half a month from
now. It would take 9 more days to finish crossing the b.l.o.o.d.y highway. After
they arrived in the imperial capital of Lewiston, there would be 5 days left
until the festival to prepare. It would be cutting it close.
The next day, they left as the sun was just coming up.
They were still at the very beginning of the highway. The road was long, and
their time was limited.
Ann wanted to gain as much distance as possible during the relative safety of
daylight.
From time to time she saw black figures that looked like a pack of wolves on a
far off rocky outcropping. However, the wolves made no move to come
bearing down from the mountains. Up until just past noon, they progressed
favorably along the highway.
In just a few more hours, it would be sunset.
Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol. 1 - Ginzatous.h.i.+ to Kuro no Yousei.
  
  
The plan was to arrive at the rest stop where they would spend the second
night with time to spare.
Once they arrived there, they‟d have travelled 200 caron since entering the
highway.
That would make their journey 1/6th complete.
As they continued to plod along amongst the quiet and monotonous scenery,
Ann suddenly heard the sound of a horse neighing. At the same time, the high
pitched sound of iron clas.h.i.+ng together seemed to pierce through the air,
reaching her ears.
Startled, Ann tugged on the reins without thinking. As the cart slowly came to
a stop, she gazed out into the distance.
There was dust in the air on the road ahead of them.
At the center of the cloud of dust was a brand new box-shaped wagon. Since
the back of the wagon was facing towards them, Ann couldn‟t see the figure
on the driver‟s seat. She could, however, make out the sight of hands swinging
swords on the other side of the wagon.
There were 10 riders circling around the circ.u.mference of the wagon, making
strange, gleeful noises. They wore varying outfits, but each had a cloth tied
around his head, hiding his face. These were bandits who attacked travelers.
“This is bad!”
Ann grew pale. When one laid eyes on bandits, the only course of action was
to flee. She couldn‟t help the person who was being attacked right in front of
her. The outcome was certain.
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Travelers were all aware that this was the rule, and would not begrudge each
other for sticking to it.
In this case, it would be wise for Ann to flee into a rest stop. However, the rest
stop where they stayed the previous night was far behind them.
She looked around on both sides of the road to see if there was any place to
hide, but the area was a wasteland of tall gra.s.ses continuing on in all
directions. There weren‟t any tall groves of trees. There was no where to hide
the carriage.
Just as she came to this conclusion, two of the riders from the ring of bandits
stopped moving.
Seemingly having spotted Ann‟s carriage, they turned their horses in her
direction.
“Oh no, they‟re coming over here!!”
Letting out a cry, Ann gripped the sleeve of Shall, who sat next to her. That‟s
when she finally remembered.
“Ah-- you!! That‟s right, Shall!! You‟re a warrior fairy, aren‟t you?! Chase
away the bandits.”
Shall looked at Ann wearily.
“That‟s troublesome…”
“If you don‟t we‟re going to be killed! Please!!”
At this, Shall grabbed Ann‟s wrist and removed her hand from his sleeve.
Conversely, he took Ann‟s arm and pulled her roughly towards him.
“Shall?! Wh-what?!”
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Shall leaned in with his face close to hers, and whispered mockingly, “You‟re
not supposed to be requesting, but ordering, right?”
Even in this kind of situation, her gaze was drawn to Shall‟s eyes, drilling into
hers, and his long eyelashes. Furthermore, his voice sounded as sweet as a
lover‟s whisper.
“Wha-- Too close! Hold on, Shall, you‟re too close!! Get back! Anyways, go
already!”
Blood rushed to her cheeks. This was no time to be blus.h.i.+ng. But she couldn‟t
conceal her agitation.
“Your face is red.”
“A-a-a-anyways!! Please?!”
“This is amusing.”
Shall chuckled, making fun of her. This was undoubtedly hazing.
“Shall! Please, go!!”
“I‟m telling you to give me an order.”
“„An order‟?! Look, they‟re coming!!”
“„Go immediately. I‟ll tear your wing.‟ If you say that, I‟ll go right away.”
“What are you talking about!? Enough already, just go!”
She was stunned, and not used to using a fairy. For that reason, the fact that
she possessed his wing, which might as well have been his heart, flew right
out of her head.
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“Order it.”
She squeezed her eyes shut so that she couldn‟t see Shall‟s beautiful face.
Then…
“Go[1]! If you don‟t, I‟ll punch you!!”
For the time being, she tried ordering him, using every bit of violence she
could muster up.
At her order, Shall shrugged his shoulders.
“I guess that‟ll do… I‟ll go. As you wish, Milady Scarecrow.”
Letting go of Ann‟s arm, Shall leapt lightly down from the carriage.
Shall turned slowly and began to walk towards the riders that were coming
barreling towards them.
Gracefully extending his right arm out in front of his chest, Shall narrowed his
eyes as if he were smiling. The single wing on his back trembled slightly.
Then, the drooping wing slowly flapped open. Parts of it s.h.i.+mmered with
rainbow light, reflecting the sun. At this, from all around him s.h.i.+mmering
particles of light gathered towards his open palm. As Ann watched, the
particles of light condensed into a long, slender shape, forming a gleaming
silver sword.
----A sword?! He has an ability like that?! In that case, Shall really is…
----A warrior fairy.
Suddenly, Shall broke into a run.
Soundlessly, quieter than the wind, he ran, crouched low to the ground. 
Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol. 1 - Ginzatous.h.i.+ to Kuro no Yousei.
  
  
Running up to the bandits‟ horses in the blink of an eye, Shall swung his
sword at the legs of two of the horses.
With that single swing, he cut the front legs off both horses simultaneously.
The horses collapsed immediately, and the bandits were thrown to ground.
Without even pausing to confirm this, Shall turned to run towards the
remaining hors.e.m.e.n milling about.
The other bandits noticed Shall‟s presence and turned towards him. In an
instant, their horse‟s legs were cut out from under them, one after another.
Simultaneously, 5 horses collapsed.
The bandits handling the remaining 3 horses let out angry cries and slashed
out at Shall.
With a downward swing of his sword, Shall cut the arm off of a bandit. The
bandits‟ leader‟s face changed colors.
“Retreat!! Retreat!!”
As the leader shouted, he turned his horse toward the foot of the mountains.
The bandits who‟d been thrown to the ground scrambled after him. The man
whose arm had been cut off also, while moaning in pain, desperately set his
horse to a run.
The cloud of dust was briskly blown away by the wind.
A silence fell on the scene of 7 struggling horses with their legs cut off, and
the dead bodies of 3 bandits who‟d been been killed when they were thrown to
the ground.
Shall waved the sword lightly, shaking off the blood. Then, moving slowly, he
thrust the sword into the necks of the struggling horses one by one, until
finally they‟d all stopped breathing. 
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Ann‟s fingertips were cold, and she was trembling slightly.
She averted her gaze in order not to see the horses Shall had finished off.
Wounded that gravely, the horses couldn‟t be saved. Rather than letting them
suffer unnecessarily, it was more compa.s.sionate to kill them.
Although she knew that, she couldn‟t look directly at them.
After all, Ann had been the one to tell Shall to save her.
However, she hadn‟t thought that it would result in 7 horses and 3 people
being killed in the blink of an eye. With just one word from her 3 people,
bandits though they may have been, had died.
She felt shock and fear that this had been the result of her order.
----So this is what they call a Warrior Fairy…
While Ann remained for a long moment without moving, the driver got down
from the driver‟s seat of the box-shaped wagon in front of her.
Ann recognized who that driver was, and she couldn‟t believe her eyes.
“It can‟t be-- Jonas?!”
At the sound of Ann‟s voice, Jonas, who was in a daze, watching Shall deliver
the final blows to the horses, raised his head.
“...Eh?...Ann?”
When Shall had finished off all of the horses, he lowered the sword in his
hand. Just like when it had formed, the sword steadily turned into particles of
light and dispersed.
While doing her best not to look at the tragic scene of the dead bodies of the
horses and bandits, Ann moved the cart forward, avoiding the corpses. 
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When she pulled up even with Jonas‟s wagon, she stopped the horses.
Ann got down from the driver‟s seat and ran up to Jonas.
“What‟s going on, Jonas?!”
“Ann! Is he a fairy you‟re using?! So you‟re the one who saved me?! This
must also be fate! In any case, I‟m glad I was able to meet you. Since you left
half a day before me, I thought you‟d be far ahead by now.”
Seemingly excited, Jonas grabbed Ann‟s hands and gripped them with both of
his own, as if enveloping her hands with his.
“I made a detour to Redington… But, that‟s not the point. Jonas, what are you
doing in a place like this?”
“I came after you. It would be dangerous to let you travel by yourself. That‟s
why I persuaded my parents, readied a wagon, and followed you. I‟m going
with you.”
“Why?!”
“What do you mean, „why‟? There can only be one reason, right? You should
know how I feel about you.”
At his words, Ann was astounded.
“Eh?”
“I love you. I want to go with you.”
“Um… Jonas, I… I‟m really happy, but…”
Ann gently tugged her hands out of Jonas‟s grip. 
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“But I think you‟ve greatly misunderstood your own feelings, Jonas. After all,
no matter how you look at it, a person like you shouldn‟t be in love with a
person like me. There‟s just no way. I think you‟ve probably misunderstood
your sympathy towards me for love.”
Ann was very ordinary-looking, and she wasn‟t the type to act winsomely.
Even by her own reckoning, she was in short supply of womanly charm.
The truth was that although Jonas and Ann had spent the last 6 months
together, their relations.h.i.+p had been more like that of mere acquaintances than
that of friends.
And yet, Jonas had proposed to Ann, who‟d always felt an ambiguous sense of
distance between them.
She couldn‟t think of any other reason except that he felt sympathy towards
her because of her mother‟s death.
It was probably the case that Jonas felt excessively bad for her, to the point
where the difference between compa.s.sion and love became cloudy, and
misunderstood that he‟d fallen head over heals in love with her.
“It‟s not sympathy, I love you, Ann. Say, you‟re going to partic.i.p.ate in the
silver sugar festival in Lewiston, right? That‟s what you said. In that case, I‟ll
go too. I‟ll protect you and help you out, so that you can become a silver sugar
master.”
“Hold on. Just now you were attacked by bandits-- you can‟t protect yourself,
much less me, right?! Besides, you‟re the precious heir to a sugar candy shop,
and there‟s even the possibility you‟ll one day become the leader of the
Radcliffe guild, right?! I can‟t let a person like that come with me on a
dangerous journey, what if you were injured?! I wouldn‟t be able to face Mr.
and Mrs. Anders who were so kind to me.”
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“About the bandits, well… I let my guard down a little, but… I‟m a man, after
all, so it‟ll be okay.”
“I don‟t understand how „it will be okay‟ at all!!”
“I‟ll be okay. Really, it‟ll be okay. And, anyways, I have a sword.”
“Are you listening to anything I‟m saying?!”
“Besides, mother and father both approved of me going to Lewiston with you.”
“Mr. and Mrs. Anders agreed? That can‟t be… Anyways, you should head
back.”
“I can‟t turn back now. Heading back would be just as dangerous as going
forward.”
In his enthusiasm, Jonas was enflamed like a person with a fever. [2]
There was no doubt that Jonas genuinely was mistaking sympathy for love.
Nothing would give her more of a guilty conscience than letting Jonas get
killed because of these mistaken feelings.
“You can‟t. You absolutely have to go back.”
“Ann, don‟t say such cold things!”
Jonas laughed and gripped Ann‟s hand again.
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Ann was surprised and tried to pull her hand back, but he had a hold of it
firmly.
“I came here for your sake. Do you hate me? Aren‟t you happy?”
Under his gaze, she was fl.u.s.tered. His gentle smile would‟ve had the other
girls in the village floating on air.
“It‟s not that I hate you. But, but… How should I put it… That‟s not the
problem…”
Shall leaned against the wagon, looking up at the sky seemingly uninterested
in interrupting their conversation. However, he suddenly knit his brows and
pulled his back away from the wagon.
“Scarecrow. Let‟s quickly leave this place. Wolves will come, drawn in by the
scent of blood. Look up.”
Ann and Jonas looked up at the sky. The shadows of 3 black birds circled
above their heads.
“Wild Crows. They‟re the clean up crew of the wilderness. When they appear,
the wolves won‟t be far behind.”
Ann nodded quickly. She withdrew her hand from Jonas‟s, which had gone
limp.
“I understand. We‟ll depart immediately. Jonas, please, turn back now.”
“No, I‟m going with you.”
“Jonas, if you die your parents will cry, and the girls of the village will cry
even more. If you‟re gone, who will inherit the shop? You have a lot of things
that are important to you, don‟t you? They are what you should be protecting.”
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Ann put her whole heart into these words. But Jonas gazed unwaveringly back
at her.
“Even if you say I shouldn‟t, I‟m going. My parents have nothing to do with
this. The shop doesn‟t matter to me right now, either. All that matters to me at
this moment is my feelings for you.”
Jonas had a warm home. He had a family, and a shop that he would inherit in
the future. He had so many important things right there in his hands. His was
not an empty existence like Ann‟s, where there was not even one person who
would cry if she died. He was a human who, unlike Ann, had no need to go up
against such danger.
Even so, he made no attempt to appreciate the value of what he had.
Given this, Ann had just about run out of patience for Jonas‟s stubbornness.
“In any case, you aren‟t a person who should be acting so recklessly, Jonas.”
Ann turned her back to him, and quickly climbed up onto the driver‟s seat.
Shall was already seated on the driver‟s seat. Glancing sideways at Ann as she
applied the whip to the horses with an irritated expression on her face, Shall
grinned mockingly.
“So there‟s really a man who would come chasing after you? Not too bad, for
a child.”
“I‟m not a child! I‟m 15 years old-- an adult! Besides, Jonas and I aren‟t like
that. He‟s just feeling sympathy towards me. Though I still can‟t believe he
put himself in such danger out of compa.s.sion.”
Even while saying this, Ann paid attention to what was happening behind
them.
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Jonas had climbed up onto his own wagon, and was slowly moving it forward,
following after them. It seemed he really had no intention of returning to the
village.
In the first place, since he‟d already come this far along the highway, it was as
Jonas had said: it was just as dangerous to go back as to continue forward.
“What should I do…?” Ann whispered, and then said to Shall with a sigh,
“About the wagon behind us… For the time being, if something should
happen, will you go to help him?”
Ann didn‟t hate Jonas. On the contrary, she was fond of his gentle smile and
manner. Besides, she thought that someone who was so sympathetic towards
others as to mistake those feelings for love must be a good person.
It wasn‟t as if she could just abandon him.
“If you want me to do something, use my wing to order me.”
“You were being noisy earlier too, saying „Order me, Order me.‟ Why?”
“I have no intention of doing things other than what I‟m ordered to do.”
Basically, he was saying that he wouldn‟t do as she asked unless she
threatened him to the extent of saying ‟If you don‟t obey this order, I‟ll take
your life.‟ To put it another way, it meant that he would obey only an order
that extreme.
He intended to obstinately disobey frivolous orders like „Watch the horses for
a minute‟ and „Hand me that blanket.‟
To Ann, having to threaten to kill him in order to get him to hand her a blanket
was troublesome.
He was going to be a handful, she realized with a sigh.
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“I resolved last night that I will use you. However, I do not wish to give you
orders in such a fundamentally vile way. So, this is a request. From now on, as
well, I will start with a request. But if you say no, I‟ll change it to an order. As
you wish, I‟ll say „If you don‟t want to have your wing torn, do as I say.‟ I‟m
prepared to do it, if need be. But I will always start with a request.”
At these words, Shall stared fixedly at Ann.
“You really are a complete scarecrow-brain.”
“Shall, since earlier, you‟ve been using the chaotic situation to get away with
calling me „Scarecrow‟… But I‟m fine with it, now. Go ahead and call me
Scarecrow, I don‟t care.”
Ann wondered what she should do if something happened to Jonas. Because
thinking about it made her head hurt, she had no energy left to fend off Shall‟s
name-calling.
Ann stopped the wagon. As she did, Jonas pulled his wagon up next to hers,
and came to a stop as well. The two of them were looking up at the rest stop
that Ann had chosen as the place they‟d sleep on the 2nd night of their journey.
“So this is a rest stop? Tonight will be my first time using one.”
“This is your first time staying at a rest stop? Then what did you do last night?
“To be honest, until this afternoon I had a guard. There was a man on the
outskirts of Knoxberry village doing crude labor; I hired him to be my guard. 
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So last night I stopped the wagon by the side of the road and slept inside. He
did protect me for one night, but…”
“But?”
“It seems he saw where I hid the money inside the wagon. Before noon the
next day he held me at sword point while he stole the money and ran away.”
Jonas related this tale relatively nonchalantly. Either he was brave, or he was
an air-head. Ann‟s shoulders slumped with disappointment.
“That‟s unfortunate… But didn‟t you let your guard down a bit too much?”
“Yeah, you might be right... But, all‟s well that ends well. At least I got away
with my life. And thanks to that, I was able to meet up with you, Ann.”
It seemed that he had no idea of the danger of traveling.
If he was going to travel with her, she would have to instill that sense of
urgency in him or there would be trouble.
“Jonas, stay here tonight and turn back tomorrow, okay?”
“I‟m just going where I want to go. It‟s not as if I‟m following you, or
anything.”
“But, Jo—nas…”
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“Well, let‟s get going.”
Jonas winked and applied the whip to the horses. Ann clutched her forehead.
“Ahh… My head hurts…”
They drove the two wagons into the rest stop, and closed the iron gate.
Once they were inside the rest stop, Jonas parked his wagon near the wall, as
if holding back. Then he immediately disappeared into the back of the wagon.
It seemed he intended to sleep in there. Not parking his wagon near Ann‟s
seemed to be his way of insisting that he wasn‟t being clingy and following
Ann around.
Ann built a fire near the wagon. Then she put water, dried meat and vegetable
sc.r.a.ps into a pot, making a simple soup.
When it was done, she glanced over at Jonas‟s wagon.
Autumn though it may have been, at night the temperature dropped. Ann
didn‟t feel right about her and Shall being the only ones eating a hot meal.
Ann ladled some soup into a wooden bowl and approached Jonas‟s wagon.
She knocked lightly on the double doors at the back of the wagon.
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“Jonas, it‟s me. Open up.”
From inside there came some kind of rustling noise, and before long the doors
opened.
“Do you have some business here?”
The person who opened the doors was a young, female fairy about the size of
a human‟s palm. She clung to the handle, moving her single wing with all her
might.
The young, female fairy was Kathy, a labor fairy being used by the Anders
family. Her hair was so red it looked like it was on fire. She further raised her
standoffish, upturned nose and glared at Ann with large, upwards-slanted eyes.
“Kathy?! You were able to come with Jonas?”
“In the first place, I am Jonas-sama‟s personal labor fairy. It‟s only to be
expected.”
“Oh, really? And where is Jonas?”
“He is resting.”
“Then I‟ll just give you this soup to give to him. Would you tell him to eat it
once he wakes up?”
Looking at the bowl that Ann held out to her, Kathy sneered. 
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“Something as crude as this… It won‟t likely suit Jonas-sama‟s tastes.”
It was exactly the att.i.tude that servants working for n.o.bles sometimes got,
appropriating the mantle of their master‟s authority to look down on others.
Ann knit her brows.
“That may be the case at home, but on the road even this is something to be
grateful for.”
Kathy made an unpleasant face, but descended lightly to the floor and held out
both hands.
Fairies who‟d had one wing plucked off couldn‟t fly. They also couldn‟t stay
floating in mid-air, so Kathy had no choice but to descend to the ground to
take the bowl.
Ann crouched down, and pa.s.sed the bowl to her.
For Kathy, the bowl was big enough to be a bathtub. Holding the bowl in her
arms, Kathy wrinkled up her face.
“It stinks like animal fat. Even a fairy like me wouldn‟t like this.”
“Oh really… Sooo sorry for the imposition!”
Ann returned to the fire, fuming, and violently stirred the pot. 
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Shall was sitting leisurely, staring into the flames.
Taking a bowl in her hand, Ann ladled out Shall‟s portion of soup. Then she
thrust the bowl out at him wordlessly.
After gazing fixedly at the bowl in front of his eyes, Shall turned to Ann with
a mysterious expression on his face.
“This is…? What do you want me to do with it?”
Ann glared at Shall severely.
“Do you think I‟m giving this to you because I want you to say „Say „Ah~!‟‟
and feed me by hand?! Obviously this is your serving, right?! Was it wrong of
me to give you something like this?! Is this low-cla.s.s soup that reeks of
animal fat not suited to your tastes either?!”
At Ann‟s sudden outburst, Shall made a surprised face.
“What is it, all of a sudden? You practically have smoke coming out of your
ears.”
“Because I‟m just a scarecrow-brain! They are highly flammable, right?!”
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As if he‟d become unable to repress it any longer, Shall laughed slightly. Then,
with a gentle expression on his face, he stretched out his hand towards the
proffered bowl.
“That‟s some fire.”
“I feel as if I could burst into flame! I was just told by a fairy that a crude soup
like this isn‟t suited to the tastes of the high and mighty heir to a sugary candy
shop. Is this crude soup not good enough for you, either?!”
“It‟s not that there‟s anything wrong with the soup. I was just… surprised.”
Shall accepted the soup, and cupped the bowl with both hands.
“Surprised? At what? Perhaps at the fact that the soup looked incredibly bad,
or something…?”
“I was surprised that you served me before serving yourself.”
“Why? It‟s only natural that the person serving will give soup to others before
taking some for themselves, right? That‟s just good manners. Here, here‟s a
spoon.”
Ann went to give Shall a spoon to scoop the soup with, but then she noticed
that the soup in the bowl in his hands had already decreased by half.
“Shall, you haven‟t drunk from the bowl, right? Could it be that there‟s a hole
in it?”
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“I ate the soup.”
“You ate it?! How?!”
“We don‟t eat with our mouths. We hold our hands over the food, or touch it,
and absorb it that way.”
As she watched the bowl in Shall‟s hands, the surface of the soup rippled
slightly, and it steadily decreased in volume. It appeared as if the soup were
rapidly evaporating.
“Can you taste it?” Ann asked unconsciously, while staring fixedly at the
scene before her.
“No. Even if we eat food, we don‟t perceive any flavor.”
“All fairies are like that?! In that case, no matter what you eat, you can‟t enjoy
it, right?! You don‟t taste any flavor from any foods at all?”
“Just one. There‟s one food with a flavor we can perceive.”
“What it is?”
“Silver sugar. It‟s... sweet.”
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As if he‟d suddenly remembered something, Shall cast his eyes downward.
That expression was terribly lonely. It must have been a painful memory.
Until being put up for sale in the marketplace, what kinds of things had this
foul-mouthed fairy experienced? Just imagining it made her heart ache.
He‟d likely been born in nature and was living as he wished, when suddenly
he found himself being chased down, captured and sold.
What that must have felt like… Ann thought that if it were her, she‟d probably
seethe with resentment.
“Do you like silver sugar? Do you dislike it?”
“I don‟t hate it.”
“Then I‟ll make I‟ll make a sugar sculpture for you. I‟m a novice sugar
craftsman, you see.”
“You are?”
Shall looked at Ann sideways, skeptically. Ann puffed out her chest slightly.
“Listen and be amazed! My mother was a silver sugar master. As her daughter,
I‟ve been playing with silver sugar in place of play-dough since I first started
toddling. My skills are pretty impressive, if I do say so myself. Perhaps I‟ll
make a sculpture of gra.s.s in the moonlight that will suit you.” 
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Tasteless food couldn‟t be any fun. At that thought, Ann suddenly wanted to
make a sugar sculpture for him.
If Shall really was seething with resentment, perhaps the gentle sweetness of a
sugar sculpture might be able to soften his heart a bit.
Bewilderment flashed across Shall‟s face. Ann thought that that troubledlooking
expression of his was kind of cute.
Smiling, Ann stood and circled around to the back of her own wagon. Just as
she stretched out her hands toward the double doors on the back of the
wagon…
Cras.h.!.+ The sound of something falling over inside the wagon rang out through
the air, and the impact rocked the entire structure.
Ann leapt back instantaneously and let out a shriek.
“Shall!”
Flying back to Shall‟s side, Ann grabbed his sleeve.
“T-there‟s something inside the wagon! Go look. Please, go look!”
At this, Shall glanced at Ann.
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“Is that an order?”
“An order?”
“If I don‟t go and look, are you going to tear my wing?”
“I wasn‟t thinking of anything like that, but…”
“Then do it yourself.”
“Ahhh, you---!!”
Since brutality such as threatening to tear his wing was unpleasant to her, Ann
clearly couldn‟t order him.
Shall, seeing through these thoughts of hers, was telling her to “order” him.
From his mildly mocking expression, that much was apparent. He thoroughly
intended to do as little as possible.
She was a fool for thinking, even for a moment, that he was cute.
Ann‟s temper flared up, but thanks to that anger, her fear subsided.
“Fine! See if I don‟t go look!”
Ann hadn‟t been traveling all throughout the kingdom with her mother for the
last 15 years for nothing. 
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She had every intention of showing more nerve than just any 15 year old miss.
Taking up the fire poking stick, Ann went to stand in front of the wagon doors.
Ann held the fire poking stick at the ready in one hand. Slowly, she opened
the doors.
The inside of the wagon was quiet.
The ceiling of the wagon was high enough that a person could walk around
inside. On the walls on both sides, at a point near the ceiling, there were long,
thin windows to let in light. Because the moon was bright tonight, moonlight
came streaming in through these windows, illuminating the interior of the
wagon with faint light.
On top of the worktable that was stationed along one wall, there was a stone
slab upon which to kneed sugar candies, a wooden spatula and a set of scales.
Bottles of color flakes[3] extracted from various plants were lined up in a neat
row.
Five barrels were lined up along the opposite wall.
The interior of the wagon was the same as always.
“There‟s… nothing here?”
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Fearfully, fearfully Ann stuck her neck into the wagon and peered around. Just
then…
“Hey, you!!”
Together with the shrill voice, a small shadow hopped down from above the
work station.
“KYAAAAAAAAAA!!”
Letting out a shriek, Ann lashed out with the stick with all her might.
It connected marvelously with the shadow that came flying straight at her.
Given the force with which it was. .h.i.t, the shadow went flying right out of the
wagon and crashed into the back of Shall‟s head as he set near the fire.
After suddenly being attacked from behind, Shall turned around with the
corners of his eyes drawn up in alarm.
Shall grabbed the little shadow, which had fallen limply to the ground after the
impact, by its collar and picked it up.
“Is this your idea of a joke?!” he shouted at Ann.
She was also bewildered, and shouted back angrily, “I don‟t know what it is!!
It was in the back of the wagon!” 
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“This was…?”
Shall turned his gaze to the thing in his grasp. Then he knit his brows.
“Let me go, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Just who do you think I am?!” the little shadow
protested in a high-pitched voice.
The creature who kicked and struggled while being held up by his collar was a
blond fairy in the shape of a cherubic young man. There was a single wing on
his back. Strangely, another wing was wrapped around his neck like a scarf.
“Lemme go!!”
“So noisy.”
Shall let go suddenly.The little fairy fell to the ground, letting out a shriek.
“Tch. What a violent fellow. I‟m delicate, you know. Treat me more gently!”
He stood up, rubbing his behind. Ann approached timidly, then knelt and
peered down at the fairy. The fairy looked up at Ann with wide blue eyes. Ann
approached timidly, then knelt and peered down at the fairy. The fairy looked
up at Ann with wide blue eyes.
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“You were the one thras.h.i.+ng about inside the wagon, right?”
“I wasn‟t thras.h.i.+ng around. I was taking a nap, when this delicate me had a
nightmare and bolted awake. I just bolted awake a little too high, and crashed
into the ceiling, that‟s all…”
“Ah...You must have bolted up pretty high indeed… In any case, who are
you? When, and why did you get into my wagon?”
“My name is Mythrill Reed Pod[5]. I‟ve come to repay a favor to you.”
“Repay a favor?”
“Yesterday, you saved me. So I‟ve come to fulfill my obligation to you.”
Hearing this, Ann finally recognized him.
“Ah! It‟s you! The fairy who was being bullied by the fairy hunter in
Redington, that was you?”
At that time, he‟d been covered in mud and she hadn‟t gotten a good look at
his face. But if she remembered very, very carefully, that shrill voice of his
sounded familiar.
There was no doubt that the wing the fairy had wrapped around his neck was
the one that Ann had taken back from the fairy hunter.
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“That‟s right. I saw your wagon in Redington and slipped inside. It was all in
order to repay the favor to you. I was thinking that I could repay the favor
right away, but… I was exhausted from being worked to the bone by that idiot,
you see. I accidentally fell asleep, and… slept until now. But, thanks to that,
I‟m as good as new! Starting right now, I‟m going to marvelously repay the
favor I owe you!”
“But, at that time, didn‟t you say that you‟d never thank a human?”
“That‟s what I said. But it‟s a fact that you saved my life. I don‟t want to
become a compa.s.sionless creature like a human, so even though it‟s
unpleasant I‟ll repay the favor. I‟ll say this in advance, but even though I‟m
going to repay the favor, I‟ll die before I say thank you. Got it?!”
He stabbed out with his tiny index finger towards Ann. Being pointed at so
directly, Ann was bewildered.
“Uh, um… How should I put it… I didn‟t save you because I wanted you to
be beholden to me, or anything, so you don‟t need to repay the favor.
Especially if it‟s unpleasant to you, and you‟d rather die than say thank you,
and so on… When you put it like that, I‟m not sure whether you‟re grateful or
not...”
“You saved him? You‟re quite the bleeding heart, aren‟t you, Scarecrow?”
Shall said in disbelief.
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“Well, it‟s not as if I could just watch him be killed, could I? Um, you…
Mythrill, was it?”
“I‟m Mythrill Reed Pod. Don‟t shorten it!”
“Ah, s-sorry… In any case, Mythrill Reed Pod, I don‟t need you to repay the
favor.”
“As if I‟d let it go at that! Let me repay the favor!”
At his overblown haughtiness, Ann felt a sudden wave of exhaustion.
“Up until now, I‟ve not had much contact with fairies… I‟d thought that
they‟d be sweeter and more gallant. But that‟s completely wrong, isn‟t it?
Look at you, Shall, and Kathy… How did you all get so arrogant?”
“Anyways, let me repay the favor!”
“But there‟s really no need.”
“„No need‟? Give me a break! Even if I have to follow you to h.e.l.l and back, I
will get you to let me repay the favor.”
“What do mean „follow me to h.e.l.l‟?! That‟s too scary! When you put it like
that, I don‟t know if you‟re trying to repay a favor or get revenge! Why do I
have to be threatened?!” 
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“In any case, let me repay the favor. I‟m going to follow you around until I‟ve
repaid the favor.”
“Fine! I get it!! Then, I‟ll ask you to do me a favor. Um… Uh…”
Ann looked around at her surroundings searchingly, then suddenly snapped
her fingers.
“That‟s right! In that case, to repay the favor to me, will you please apply
some oil the axel of my wagon for me?”
“Don‟t treat me like an idiot! You really intend to have me do something lame
like that in exchange for saving my life?! Think of a more impressive favor!”
“An „impressive favor‟...? Like what?”
To Ann, who was cradling her head in her hands, Shall asked with a chilly
expression on his face, “Should I strangle him to death to make him be quiet?
I‟ll do it if you order me to.”
Given how obscenely noisy Mythrill was, it was impossible to tell from the
tone of Shall‟s voice whether he was joking or serious.
Hearing this, Mythrill shrieked defensively, “You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! What are you
saying about a fellow fairy?! Hmph. So you‟re an obsidian? You‟re just
looking down on me because I‟m a drop of water, right? Hey, human girl!”
“It‟s Ann.”
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“Ann. This guy you‟re using, he‟s a fairy-killer. Give him what he deserves in
one decisive swipe, just like you did with that fairy hunter!”
“But...Why are you giving me orders?”
“Because, it looks like he‟s going to strangle me to death.”
To Shall, who‟d uncharacteristically made such a direct offer, Ann moaned,
“Don‟t say such stupid things, when I went to all that trouble to save him. In
any case, you. Since you are free, I‟d like you to go wherever you like and live
happily.”
“You want me to go wherever I want?! Are you trying to chase me away?! I
won‟t go!!”
“That‟s not what I meant, but…...Somehow...I‟m really tired…I want to go to
sleep, already.”
This conversation with a shrieking Mythrill seemed like it would continue on
unresolved forever.
Ann was completely worn out, so she turned her back to Mythrill, got ready
for bed, and then curled up with her blanket.
“Sorry, Shall, I‟ll make your sugar sculpture tomorrow night. As an apology
for making you wait, I‟ll make it extraordinarily beautiful. If you want to eat a 
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sugar sculpture, don‟t try to steal your wing back just because I‟m sleeping,
okay?”
Regardless of whether or not Shall could be won over with a sugar sculpture,
Ann felt that it was a bit shameful to use something like that to set up her
defenses.
However, it was a pressing issue. It couldn‟t be helped, since she would be in
trouble if he took his wing back and disappeared.
“You won‟t need to worry about me taking it or not… I doubt we‟re going to
be able to sleep at all anyways,” Shall muttered gloomily.
“Hey, you guys!! Hey, don‟t go to sleep, don‟t go to sleep!!”
At the sound of Mythrill‟s voice, which seemed to stab straight into her ears,
Ann covered her ears with both hands.
“I wonder if I couldn‟t have you do me the favor of letting me sleep
tonight…?”
Ann was coming to thoroughly regret her good deed.
“Hey, hey, hey!! Don‟t you go to sleep too! Aren‟t you supposed to be my
comrade?!”
“If it‟s a noisy comrade like you, I don‟t need any.”
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Fed up with Mythrill Reed Pod, who was jumping about, Shall heaved a sigh
of frustration and laid down.
“Wh-wh-wh-what was that?! What was that----?!”
“You want to „repay the favor‟? Are you an idiot? The other person is a
human. Have you forgotten the pain of having your wing plucked off?”
Their wings were the most sensitive part of a fairy‟s body. The pain of having
their wings plucked off was the same as if their arms and legs had been ripped
off.
Being forced to endure that pain was enough to make them hate those
creatures known as humans.
But Mythrill snorted derisively.
“What are you saying-- As if I could ever forget such pain. That‟s why I‟ll
never thank a human, even if my life depends on it. But the person who took
my wing was not Ann. Ann got my wing back for me. Whether human or fairy,
bad people are bad. Good people are good. So, I will repay my debts to good
people. So, I will repay my debt to Ann, too! Let me, let me, let me repay the
favor!!!”
His way of thinking seemed to be somewhat warped, but in any case it was
clear that he was grateful to Ann from the bottom of his heart. 
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However, whatever else he may have been, Mythrill was extremely loud.
“Shut up!”
Raising his hand, Shall swatted Mythrill down as he jumped into the air.
Mythrill, who out a shriek as he fell, got back up and with his eyebrows drawn
up began to bounce around Shall‟s head with even greater agitation.
“I‟m opposed to violence!! You fairy-killer! You comrade-killer!!”
Fairies who‟d had one of their wings plucked off became unable to fly.
However, by beating their remaining wing and jumping with all their might,
they could easily jump over a human‟s head.
Making use of that jumping ability, Mythrill leapt about, making an eyesore of
himself.
Seeing how it had only increased his boisterousness, Shall realized that it
would be wiser not to make any further moves against Mythrill.
Ann, who lay curled up on her side covering her ears with her hands, knit her
brows in apparent annoyance.
It seemed Ann had saved this fairy, Mythrill Reed Pod.
She was such a naive girl, it astounded him. She was naive in her dealings
with Shall, as well. 
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Ann had served soup to Shall before taking any for herself. Furthermore, she‟d
said she would make him a sugar sculpture. She was treating him as if he were
a human.
On top of that, Ann wouldn‟t give Shall stern orders. Her orders didn‟t surpa.s.s
the level of requests. It was plain to see that Ann believed she was incapable
of hurting his wing. Shall couldn‟t perceive any determination in her decision
to use him.
Being asked to do something was different from being ordered to do it.
Which was why, honestly, he was bewildered. Should he obey her, or should
he ignore her?
Shall was loathe to obey when he hadn‟t even been ordered. However, Ann
was in possession of his wing. If Ann felt into a predicament, the damage
would extend to Shall‟s wing as well, which was a problem.
Because he was unsure what to do, he‟d chased away the bandits.
He absolutely had not done it to obey Ann‟s order. She was too naive for him
to obey.
Why was Ann so naive? Perhaps it was because she was lonely. She‟d been
searching for her mother in her dream, right? There was no way she could not
be lonely, travelling all alone. That‟s probably why she was kind even to
fairies. She was likely unconsciously seeking someone to ease her own
loneliness. 
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Tonight Mythrill was shrieking and raising a ruckus, and it didn‟t look like
he‟d get the chance to steal his wing from Ann.
----Well, I guess it doesn’t matter.
He wasn‟t really given any orders, so he didn‟t have to do much. All he had to
do was watch Ann constantly getting fl.u.s.tered, and laugh. She really was a
naive girl.
----The sugar sculptures made by that Scarecrow must surely be sweet[4].
The thought suddenly popped into his head.
// Chapter 2, END
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Notes:
[1]行けってば This is grammatically a command (in the imperative form) but
sounds more like an utterance of frustration than an actual order, but
apparently it was close enough for Shall.
[2] This simile makes more sense in j.a.panese, where the word for „enthusiasm‟
is made up of the characters for „fire‟ and „heart.‟
[3] 色粉 “Color Flakes” - These are a type of powdered food coloring that
Ann uses to add different colors to her sugar sculptures.
[4] The word for “naive,” 甘い, which Shall uses several times in this chapter
to describe Ann, also means “sweet,” which is how he uses it here. He‟s
a.s.suming that because she‟s so 甘い, her sugar sculptures must be as well.
[5] Reed is a kind of plant in English. I thought it was suitable for a fairy's
name.