Chapter 131

Henes unfolded the bed, sat the child down on it, and dried her hair one more time with a towel before turning to Jun-sang, who was preparing a meal in the kitchen.

“Could you summon a Wind Elemental for me?”

“Alright.”

After Jun-sang summoned the Wind Elemental, Henes used the spirit to dry the child’s hair and then her own. Seeing this, the child summoned the Wind Elemental they could control and directed a breeze toward Henes. It might have seemed like a trivial gesture, but seeing the child try to repay her kindness, Henes stroked the child’s hair, just as Jun-sang had done to her, and said, “Thank you for helping. You’re a good child.”

The child didn’t know the meaning of ‘good,’ but she easily understood that it was a compliment. After her hair was dry, Henes used a comb to tidy the child’s unruly hair and then took out a few of her own clothes from the closet to dress her.

“Hmm…”

But she wasn’t as pleased with the result as she had hoped. After being washed and dried with the wind, the child’s hair started to spring up wildly like a coil. Even the clothes she had chosen, thinking they would suit her, didn’t seem to fit the child’s image. This was probably an expected outcome, since it was the first time she had ever tried to dress or style someone.

While she was still focused on the child, unable to even get dressed herself, Jun-sang came out of the kitchen with a few dishes and set them on the table.

“Come and eat.”

“Yes!”

Feeling a little disappointed, Henes took the child and sat down at the table. The menu for today was beef seaweed soup with white rice, meatballs, and pickled vegetables. Jun-sang frowned at the mismatched combination, but Henes smiled brightly at him and said, “Wow, it looks delicious. Thank you for the food.”

“You’re welcome.”

Henes put a spoon in the child’s hand and taught her how to eat. The child seemed to be quite smart, as she was able to use the spoon well after Henes showed her a few times. The child, who had been acting cautiously, discreetly observing Jun-sang as if he were difficult to approach, widened her eyes when she took a spoonful of rice mixed with seaweed soup.

“Is it tasty?”

The child nodded at Henes’s question.

“Here, try this too.”

“…”

When Henes cut a meatball into a small piece and placed it on the spoon, the child frowned for a moment at the unfamiliar smell but then slowly put it in her mouth. The child’s eyes widened again.

“How is it? Is it good?”

The child nodded frantically. Seeing her with meatball sauce on her face and her blue eyes sparkling, Henes couldn’t help but tremble and express her emotion with her whole body.

“Aww, how can you be so cute?”

“…”

Jun-sang watched them and smiled quietly, then said to Henes, “Stop that and eat. It’s getting cold.”

“Okay.”

The pickled vegetables—onions, radishes, and cucumbers—weren’t very popular, but after a satisfactory meal, Henes jumped up and said, “I’ll clean up, so you go wash up.”

“Alright.”

Jun-sang left the table for Henes to clean, went into the bathroom, took a quick shower, and came back out. He saw Henes and the child sleeping soundly on the bed, hugging each other.

He sat down at the table, had a cup of tea, and watched them quietly when he heard a commotion outside and Mia-ra’s voice.

“I’m here! I’m here!”

Jun-sang quickly got up and said toward the door, “Quiet.”

Mia-ra’s reply came from outside. “Okay, quietly.”

When Jun-sang opened the door, Mia-ra, who was flying with her hands over her mouth, and the older fairy Unia-ran, who was visibly larger than the other fairies, appeared.

“The children are sleeping, so come in quietly.”

“Okay…”

The two fairies carefully came inside and sat on the edge of the table. Jun-sang first addressed Mia-ra. “Did you find anything?”

Mia-ra quickly replied, “Yes! But… no one had much information except for Unia-ran, so I brought her with me.”

“I see.”

Jun-sang nodded and took out a piece of the chocolate bar he had given Mia-ra earlier and handed it to her. “Good job. Take this and eat it.”

“Thank you!”

Mia-ra flew up, holding the chocolate bar to her chest, not giving Unia-ran a chance to reach for it, and disappeared into the cupboard.

“Tsk.” Unia-ran clicked her tongue at the sight, then turned to Jun-sang with a gentle smile and said, “Do you want to know about the Spirit Gate?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm… someone of your caliber is like one of our own, so it’s fine. In truth… it’s not such a big secret anyway.”

Unia-ran spoke in a calm manner, then continued, “Speaking of which… that tea smells quite nice. May I have a sip?”

‘Of course.’ No matter how demure she tried to be, her true nature as a gluttonous fairy didn’t seem to change.

Jun-sang gave a wry smile, prepared a small teacup of green tea for her, and a piece of sweet red bean jelly to go with it. Unia-ran took a sip of the warm green tea through a straw, then ate a piece of the red bean jelly and let out a strange humming sound, shivering slightly.

“My goodness… how can this… Aaaaah…”

“…”

It seemed his attempt at a more traditional combination, given the age difference from the other fairies, had worked splendidly. Unia-ran finally patted her bulging stomach and spoke after finishing the entire cup of green tea and the red bean jelly.

“Aaah… that was a truly satisfying meal. I don’t know how I can repay this kindness.”

Jun-sang sighed inwardly at her words, which seemed to have completely forgotten the purpose of her visit. Thinking that it was a hundred times better to leave this kind of work to Henes than to do it himself, Jun-sang began, “The Spirit Gate…”

But before Jun-sang could finish his sentence, Unia-ran clapped her hands as if she had just remembered. “Oh! How could I forget? I came here because of that. The snacks were so delicious that I completely forgot. Ohhohoho!”

“…”

Unia-ran fussed like that, then immediately began to explain the Spirit Gate.

“The Spirit Gate isn’t something that has a physical form.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s definitely a passage to travel between the Spirit Realm and the Fairy Realm, but it doesn’t have the shape of a typical gate. It seems those people digging here didn’t know that.”

“I see.”

As Jun-sang nodded, Unia-ran added, “First… a few conditions are needed to open the Spirit Gate.”

“What are they?”

“A space overflowing with vitality, and a fairy’s life force to act as a catalyst. Those are the two conditions.”

“Hmm…” The conditions felt too abstract, so Jun-sang frowned. Unia-ran quickly added an explanation. “A space overflowing with vitality means the forest. Those foolish people didn’t know this and cut down all the innocent trees. How foolish it is to think the Spirit Gate would be inside a cave like that.”

“Then… can the Spirit Gate not be opened here again?” Jun-sang asked, and Unia-ran shook her head.

“That’s not it. It’s just that gathering and sustaining the forest’s vitality requires something with a strong life force… and since they cut down the ancient trees that were here, it’s just a pain to find something else to replace it.”

Jun-sang easily understood Unia-ran’s words. “I see. Then what about the fairy’s life force?”

“That…” Unia-ran looked around carefully, as if about to reveal a secret, and spoke in a quiet voice. “This is a secret, so you must keep it.”

Since she was willing to tell him so easily, it didn’t seem like a very important secret, but Jun-sang played along. “Don’t worry.”

Then Unia-ran whispered, “In a way, a fairy’s life force might be the most important factor in opening the Spirit Gate. But gathering the necessary life force is never easy. That’s why in the past, bad mages would kidnap fairies to force open the Spirit Gate. It’s a truly terrible story, isn’t it?”

Jun-sang, feeling that her preamble was too long, nodded with a somewhat half-hearted attitude and said, “So?”

But Unia-ran, undeterred by Jun-sang’s attitude, continued her role as a secret-teller. “You already know that Fairy Powder is essentially a materialized form of a fairy’s life force, right?”

It was a topic he didn’t want to think about, but Jun-sang played along again. “I suppose.”

“But to open the Spirit Gate, you need a more powerful catalyst than Fairy Powder. And that is!”

“That is?”

“A Fairy Stone.”

“…”

Jun-sang had a bad feeling. But Unia-ran, ignoring his mood, continued with a serious expression.

“A little way from the village, there’s a bathhouse that fairies have used for a long time. If you look closely at the floor, you’ll find Fairy Stones that have been condensed over time and solidified by the forest’s vitality. You need at least three such stones to open the Spirit Gate.”

“…”

Why did bad feelings always come true? Jun-sang unconsciously raised his hand and covered his forehead. He felt his situation was hopeless—having to clean a fairy bathhouse.

But Unia-ran, ignoring Jun-sang’s reaction, said again, “By the way… do you have any more of this? No matter how much I eat, I don’t feel full. Oh my, it would be a problem if I get fatter.”

“…”

Looking at her, Jun-sang realized something. ‘Why should I have to go look for it myself?’

“Unia-ran.”

“Yes?”

“Go find it.”

“Find what?”

“The Fairy Stone.”

“…”

Unia-ran’s expression hardened, and she laughed awkwardly. “Ohhoho, what a joke…” But she soon closed her mouth, captivated by the sight of the sweet red bean jelly wrapped in gold foil in Jun-sang’s hand.

“One Fairy Stone for one red bean jelly.”

“Hmm…”

Unia-ran frowned, thought for a moment, and then subtly held up two fingers. “Two, would two not be enough?”

“…”

But when Jun-sang just stared at her without a word, Unia-ran quickly added an explanation. “W-well… we’re small, and you might not know this, but it’s a lot of work…”

Jun-sang nodded at her words and replied, “One and a half.”

Unia-ran then shouted as if she had been waiting for that. “One and a half! Don’t forget! One and a half!”

“Alright.”

As Jun-sang nodded, Unia-ran, with a speed that didn’t match her large size, flew out of the Container House.