Chapter 43
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Chapter 43
Ordinary people, when they acquired something precious, would typically carry it close to their chest or lock it away in a safe hidden deep within their homes.
Or perhaps entrust it to a bank.
But the denizens of the Underworld never did such things.
Because no one knew when death might come.
Anything kept on one's person could be taken the moment you fell, and any safe hidden in a house could be smashed open just as easily.
There was no legitimate banking system in the Underworld.
So if one possessed something precious they refused to lose even in death, the residents of the Underworld would employ every conceivable method imaginable to ensure no one could ever find it.
Chesa's method, for instance, was relatively simple and intuitive even by Underworld standards.
She kept her most important possessions within the Illusion Realm of the fairies—a place no one else could access.
The sacred relic, Rubeus's Spear, was also stored within that Illusion Realm.
Hata, on the other hand, would pour potions over the things she treasured, transforming their appearance entirely.
So Chesa knew only that Hata had used potions to disguise something—nothing more.
She had no idea what it was, where it was hidden, or how it was concealed.
As for Miya, from what I'd heard in passing, she had something to do with a carriage placed atop the shop's roof as her secret hiding place.
Though she'd let it slip to Chesa while drunk, so it was likely different by now.
This was the fundamental principle of the Underworld—hiding things in places connected to oneself yet utterly inaccessible to others.
'And here I was, searching the Basilian Mansion and the Castle so thoroughly, knowing none of this.'
No matter how hard I looked, I found no secret chambers, no hidden caches of any significance.
The only meaningful discovery was a report concerning the sorceress Lichesia.
But even that didn't feel like particularly important documentation.
It seemed Kieran had merely read it briefly and hidden it away from prying eyes.
'The truly important things must be hidden in the Black Forest.'
The Black Forest was a place only House of Basilian could freely enter.
With its sinister reputation, ordinary people wouldn't dare approach it, and those who occasionally ventured in kept strictly to the designated paths.
It was the perfect place for Kieran to conceal something.
Chesa embraced Hata and moved toward the Black Forest.
Vibrant flowers and butterflies—wholly out of place in such a dark woodland—scattered through the gloom.
Shimmering light flickered like fireflies, illuminating the surroundings before slowly fading away.
True to its name, the Black Forest remained dark even in broad daylight, with sunlight scarcely penetrating the canopy.
The damp, oppressive atmosphere of the forest weighed upon the spirit, casting a melancholy pall over anyone who merely stood still within it.
In a forest so thoroughly dark, Chesa's golden hair gleamed with an almost otherworldly radiance, making her a strikingly alien presence.
"This forest has such a dreadful feeling to it...."
Hata murmured from within Chesa's embrace.
"I know. We don't have much time, so let's investigate quickly and get out of here."
Chesa set Hata down at her feet.
Then, slowly, she drew forth her power.
As she spread both arms wide, hundreds of butterflies erupted into the air all at once.
And he slowly drew up his strength.
As I spread my arms wide open, hundreds of butterflies suddenly took flight all at once.
The Black Forest was filled with glittering butterflies—a sight of breathtaking splendor.
Perhaps since the Black Forest's very inception, it had never shone with such radiant brilliance.
Hundreds of butterflies darted swiftly in all directions.
They searched for what Chesa desired.
Along the trajectories of their flight, a soft luminescence bloomed.
Where the pale light pushed back the darkness, Chesa discovered something grotesque.
Hata approached first to examine it more closely.
With a sharp yelp, the puppy's fur bristled on end.
"These must be the monsters that dwell in the Black Forest!"
Hideously contorted black forms writhed within the forest's shadows.
They emanated such malevolent auras that they seemed ready to pounce and tear a person to shreds at any moment.
Yet for some reason, neither Chesa nor Hata attacked them.
They merely brushed past them slowly, as one might pass by trees or grass.
Chesa observed the monster passing beside her with keen attention.
It seemed Kieran had led the Knight Order into the Black Forest for the purpose of hunting these very creatures.
'If one were to kill such repulsive things in this dreary place, even a sound mind would fracture.'
No wonder Kieran's condition seemed peculiar after his time in the Black Forest.
I wondered if slaying monsters had taken a toll on his sanity.
'The air itself seems rather foul.'
Fortunately, since Chesa was a fairy and Hata a beastkin, they remained unaffected—though the stench was decidedly unpleasant.
But if a human lingered here for prolonged periods, they might well succumb to hallucinations and phantom sounds.
After observing the monsters for some time, a single butterfly fluttered toward Chesa.
It appeared to have discovered something.
Learning from the butterfly where it was, Chesa nodded.
"It's not far. Let's go."
"Yes! Shall I carry you?"
Hata eagerly lifted her front paws.
Then, belatedly, she realized she was now a puppy even smaller than baby Chesa.
"...Oh right. Hata is a puppy now."
Hata obediently followed behind Chesa.
Leading the way, Chesa trotted along as the butterfly guided her.
Chesa's pace slowed as she ran after the butterfly.
A landscape unfolded before her—one she could never have imagined encountering in the Black Forest.
Hata's eyes widened in astonishment.
"Wow...!"
It was a Flower Field overflowing with a dizzying profusion of blossoms.
Here, the trees did not block the sky, and warm sunlight fell unobstructed.
It was almost unbelievable that just beyond the boundary drawn by the light lay the gloomy forest.
At the very center of the Flower Field, where countless blooms swayed gently....
An empty coffin lay waiting.
"...."
Chesa hesitated for a moment, then stepped carefully through the flowers toward the coffin.
Hata followed close behind her.
The coffin was maintained with surprising cleanliness.
Left exposed like this in the open air, it should have been impossible to keep it free from contamination—clearly, magic had been woven into it to preserve its state.
Chesa peered inside the coffin.
From a distance, she had thought it empty, but drawing closer, she could see a fresh pink rose bouquet and something small resting side by side within.
A pair of rings.
A pair of rings—one for a man, one for a woman—appeared to be wedding bands.
Upon seeing the wedding rings, I suddenly understood whose coffin this was.
It must belong to the deceased Countess Basilian.
Chesa gazed intently at the rings and the bouquet.
They were remarkably romantic objects to find in the Black Forest, teeming with monsters as it was.
As she stared for some time, another butterfly arrived.
It fluttered around Chesa, revealing what it had discovered.
One butterfly perched on each tree encircling the Flower Field.
And the moment the butterflies seeped into the trees.
Letters written in light appeared across the dark bark.
Words had been carved into the wood by magic and hidden away.
Even though no one would ever come to this isolated Black Forest, they had hidden it once more.
It was truly the behavior of someone from the Underworld.
"Hata, let's divide it and read together."
Chesa and Hata divided the sections and began reading.
As Chesa read the softly glowing letters on the tree, her face hardened.
[The Illusion Realm is a unique mental domain reflecting a fairy's unconscious mind.
In the end, does no method exist to artificially create a fairy's Illusion Realm?]
[Attempted injection of fairy blood into male subjects—failed.
Female subjects showed reaction when injected with fairy blood, but the effects proved only temporary.
Appears related to the fact that fairies exist only in female forms.
Further research required.]
[Fairy bodies are immortal. Why can humans not achieve such immortality as fairies possess....]
All of it was a record of experimental results conducted on fairies.
As Chesa read through the text in a daze, a small sound escaped her lips.
"...Ah."
The dates inscribed on the tree were all similar.
All of them were records from hundreds of years ago.
Before Chesa was even born.
These were accounts of fairy experiments conducted in the distant past.
And those who had conducted experiments on fairies were....
[In the name of God.]
It was the Holy Empire.
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