Chapter 129: The Unusual Flower Fairy

George touched his chin, wearing an expression that said, “I guessed right,” and said, “So that little fellow’s name is Lijana. Mr. Val, you knew it all along but didn’t tell us.”

“Anyway, having that little fellow around doesn’t do any harm, so there’s no need to worry. Usually, she stays in the various flower beds in the Manor courtyard, and at night she goes to rest on the plane tree in the yard.” Mr. Val waved his hand quite casually, replying as if he didn’t take it seriously.

George, sensing there was a story behind Knight Val’s words, became interested: “How long has she been with us?”

“Speaking of which, Lijana has been in the Manor for two or three years now! I reported this matter to Lord Viscount before. Although the Lord didn’t say it explicitly, he tacitly approved of her existence.” Knight Val stroked the mustache above his lips, pretending to think seriously before answering.

Hearing this, George couldn’t help but complain: “So after all this time, only we few young people were kept in the dark.”

Feeling wrongly accused, Knight Val hurriedly explained: “This matter is known only to me and Lord Viscount! Perhaps Head Maid Sarah knows part of it too! Although she probably doesn’t know the specific details.”

“Aren’t Flower Fairies supposed to love pranks the most? She’s lived here for two or three years, how could only a few people know! Who took the blame for all those usual pranks!” George’s expression was already very obvious. That was, if he wasn’t given a clear explanation, it wouldn’t be easy to make him believe this answer.

‘Don’t let your imagination run wild! Even if you do, don’t go around talking nonsense!’ Having made up his mind, Knight Val extended his right hand in front of George. He curled his four fingers, leaving only his index finger to wave in front of George as he spoke: “George, this is where your understanding is wrong. Although Flower Fairies are usually seen as complete troublemakers by non-Fey Creatures, they are doing what they believe is right and beneficial.”

“After all, all travelers and Adventurers can benefit from sufficient sleep, and when they wake up, they should be physically energetic and surrounded by beautiful things. Guided by this ethic, Flower Fairies use their singing to put travelers to sleep. Then they remove the armor, weapons, and equipment of these unlucky fellows and pile them aside.”

“Most importantly, Flower Fairies won’t steal these things because, for them, doing so is improper. Once they have stripped the traveler’s equipment, they dress him in clothes woven from leaves and put flower garlands on him. Afterward, they leave the traveler in this idyllic environment to wake up on his own.”

Shocked—this was a shock George had never experienced before! He had never considered what meaning the behavior of Flower Fairies actually held. George, feeling his mind was a bit messy, reached out and said: “Wait, you mean they hypnotize travelers and Adventurers in the wild and then strip off their clothes and equipment. Then they just let those people stay naked in the wild? Won’t that kill people?”

Knight Val clearly seized the moment to continue explaining: “What you said isn’t wrong. Although the Flower Fairies’ methods are weird and naive, there is no subjective malice. But in fact, travelers quickly realize that the real trouble doesn’t come from these Flower Fairies, but from other dangerous creatures wandering in the area. Predators and outlaws obviously won’t let go of this easy opportunity left by the Flower Fairies. So, the reputation of Flower Fairies suffers as a result.”

‘It seems that although I’ve tried my best to improve, the way of thinking from before I crossed over still influences me! After all, that world only had Humans as one kind of intelligent being, but this world has many intelligent beings. It’s inevitable to make mistakes according to the original way of thinking, but a way of thinking formed over many years can’t be changed overnight. But I really haven’t heard this explanation before!’ George thought this in his heart and chose part of it to say out loud: “Is there really such a saying? There’s no record of this in the books I’ve read!”

“Of course, the people writing these books are either scholars, Clergy from various Churches, or those old pedants in the Mage Towers. The former care about what influence these Flower Fairies have on people living in the same area. Then there is how to deal with this situation. And those Mages care about the source, effects, and related mechanisms of the Flower Fairies’ spell-like abilities.” Saying this, Knight Val paused for a moment to build suspense.

After taking a breath, he continued: “They have absolutely no interest in the living habits and cognitive thoughts of these little fellows. The content I know was heard from a Druid friend I know. However, judging by the level of the few Druids responsible for agriculture in the Territory, it’s not very likely they know this knowledge.”

“Is that so? Does the content recorded in books differ greatly depending on the compiler?” Saying this, George lowered his head, touched his chin, and fell into deep thought. ‘I always felt it was strange before, but I only noticed that the books in this world have no systematic and standardized classification, yet I didn’t pay too much attention to it. Now it seems the chaos inside is much more serious than I imagined.’

‘Most of the geographical records are written based on travel notes and hearsay. Research materials are even more scattered; only books on various languages and scripts have some order. Like the influence of Flower Fairies on Humans and how to deal with them mentioned earlier, before crossing over, that would basically belong to the content of strange news or wilderness survival manuals.’

‘As for living habits and cognitive thoughts, one belongs to the category of biology, or perhaps partly belongs to the humanities. After all, this is also a kind of intelligent being; before crossing over, it would probably be more like a certain ethnic minority! And the research on spell-like abilities, in the previous world, one couldn’t find a suitable example. But it is somewhat similar to bioengineering…’

Regarding George’s action of lowering his head in thought, and the uncertain expression on his face that was sometimes relaxed and sometimes twisted, Knight Val really watched with great interest! He was also thinking in his mind, ‘I didn’t expect those words just now to make this little fellow think of something again. Only someone good at thinking like this has the possibility to step onto the Path of Questioning the Heart so quickly!’

‘After all, in the midst of thinking, it is possible to burst out with such sparks of inspiration, and thinking about one’s own life also helps him contact his true heart faster. But sometimes thinking too much is not good! If it makes him have new doubts about his future path, that would be troublesome.’

‘Although this situation is very rare, it’s not unheard of. If he just has to walk the Path of Questioning the Heart again, that’s still okay. But if this problem occurs after he becomes a Formal Knight, that would be really big trouble, and it might even cost him his life! Although I’ve seen a lot, this is the first time I’ve encountered such a kid who is a bit too smart. As his Knight mentor, I really don’t have much confidence on how to deal with this problem. I still have to find time to talk to Lord Viscount about this issue; after all, the father knows the child best.’

‘But the expression in front of him really looks a bit like what a child should be like! This child acts like an old pedant all day long, which really makes people feel very awkward!’

In fact, Knight Val’s worry was probably a bit unfounded. Or rather, placed on other Squires in this world, such worry would not be superfluous. But the source of George’s thinking and concepts was the Immortal Dao, a concept rooted in his Soul through two worlds and two lives.

It was one of the greatest bonds between this life and the previous one, and it wasn’t that easily influenced. Similarly, the Immortal Dao was ethereal and free, which laid the foundation for his Knight path in this life—Freedom. George would not be confused about this path itself, or he might have thoughts on the details of what kind of freedom it was, but this absolutely did not affect the big picture. Besides, the System was still there! It could reflect the changes in George’s own abilities at any time! If there was any situation that was difficult to grasp, George could also know in time and deal with it.

‘It seems that I need to pay more attention when reading literature in the future. As for the System’s classification of normative documents, this matter seems to have a thousand threads, and I definitely can’t intervene. But I can formulate corresponding standards to see if I can go to the Bokabu Temple to exchange for something, similar to how I went to the Temple of the Lord of Justice for the Court system.’

‘However, in this era where paper is expensive and printing technology is lacking, books are inherently scarce and expensive. It’s really hard to say what value the revision of book classification rules would have in the eyes of the other party. From this aspect, it seems we should speed up the research on papermaking. What exactly is the reason that makes the methods that worked in that original world not work here!’

‘Forget it, this isn’t something I’m good at anyway; let those Craftsmen experiment more. Like the 666 pesticide in Tianchao before, wasn’t it the result of testing 666 formulas before and after!’ Since tasting the sweetness from the previous transaction with the Temple of the Lord of Justice, George also started to care about these aspects. So just now, reminded by Knight Val, George, thinking of the content regarding books, started to scheme about trading with the Bokabu Temple again.

Looking at Knight Val’s playful expression as he watched him, George, who had just recovered from his thoughts, crossed his arms and asked in annoyance: “I say, Mr. Val, you said so much just now but didn’t get to the point at all! Are you deliberately showing off your extensive knowledge in front of me?”

Being retorted by George like this, Knight Val also felt a bit embarrassed. Heaven knows, in Knight Val’s heart, he really wasn’t showing off intentionally. Of course, even if he was, he would absolutely never admit it. He saw him use his right index finger to scratch his face twice and said: “Weren’t you asking about the Flower Fairies’ pranks?”

‘So you were speaking up for those little fellows just now? I really didn’t expect Knight Val to be so universally loving! Or maybe this is just an excuse to cover up your showing off.’ Thinking this in his heart, George looked Knight Val up and down with a strange look.

Unable to stand George’s weird look and expression, Knight Val gave George a light slap on the head. Of course, the force here was very light, not at all like the “crack” sound when he gave Hiren a knock on the head.

Knowing that Knight Val didn’t want to talk about that topic anymore, George also understood the principle of enough is enough. Taking a small verbal advantage was enough; there was no need to be annoying by clinging to it: “Okay! I do want to know, since Flower Fairies have this kind of hobby, why haven’t the people in the Manor discovered her existence for three or four years. Even if her illusions are good, even if she doesn’t strip people’s clothes, just hypnotizing people to make them sleep would cause the servants to suspect!”

“If we don’t tell them the truth, and this kind of thing happens often, it will definitely make the servants in our Manor panic.”

“If you mean that aspect, then I’ll just say it directly. Lijana is different from other Flower Fairies. Her cognition is still quite similar to that of Humans, so the situation you were worried about simply didn’t happen. As for Head Maid Sarah, Lord Viscount will arrange for her to regularly put crushed coarse sugar on a small saucer in the yard to feed Lijana. You know, usually relying solely on the nectar of the plants in the Manor is not enough to feed her. Let alone in the winter when the vegetation withers.” Knight Val shrugged his shoulders and gave the answer without any ambiguity.

However, this answer was a bit beyond George’s expectation: “Is that so? There are actually Flower Fairies with habits different from their tribe?”

“Lijana is no ordinary Flower Fairy! Ordinary Flower Fairies don’t know illusions. In the forest, their small size and ability to hide make it difficult for people to discover them, not because of illusions. Lijana used to follow a certain Druid, but when she followed him to Karada, she flew around excitedly and accidentally got separated from him, and then got lost and ended up in our Manor.” Knight Val revealed the story behind it.

‘What a confused Flower Fairy!’ Thinking of this, the corners of George’s mouth began to curl up slightly: “You really know quite clearly! Does this mean you can communicate with her?”

“Of course! If I didn’t understand clearly, it would be terrible if she was a magically modified Flower Fairy. What if someone deliberately arranged for her to ambush in the Manor? I couldn’t possibly let Lord Viscount keep a potential threat in the Manor!” Knight Val paused for a moment and then continued, “Besides, although Sylvan isn’t widely spread, it’s not difficult to learn if you want to. It’s just that the learning process is quite strenuous. If you are interested, I can teach you too, tuition-free.”

Sylvan refers to the language used by Dryads and Pixies, etc. Usually, in addition to these creatures, Druids who need to deal with them frequently also know more or less of this language. However, strangely, Sylvan also uses Elvish script for writing, but Elves in most cases do not speak this language. In other words, Sylvan is to Elves a bit like the relationship between the common language of Tianchao and local dialects.

Regarding Knight Val’s proposal to teach Sylvan, George very rationally realized that this was offering courtesy for nothing—definitely up to no good. He immediately asked back: “I have a feeling Mr. Val, you are plotting some bad idea?”

“Heh! Heh! Actually, it’s nothing, but our human vocal organs are somewhat different from those of Flower Fairies, so when starting to learn, you need to hold water in your mouth to practice pronunciation.” Knight Val actually said his purpose very frankly.

‘So he wants others to experience the suffering and embarrassment he went through again?’ Understanding the situation, George politely refused, and at the same time, to prevent Knight Val from getting interested, he diverted the trouble elsewhere, “Then forget it! I’ll pass on that. But I think Hiren, as your Heir, should learn all your skills!”

Hiren, who was strolling in the Outer City of Karada, suddenly shivered. Then he said to himself: “The sun is so hot, why do I suddenly feel cold! It must be an illusion, definitely an illusion.”

Seeing that George had said it so decisively, Knight Val asked back on another topic: “By the way, you haven’t answered my initial question yet! Tell me, how did you discover Lijana! I remember you don’t have a Magic Item like True Sight on you!”

George answered as a matter of course: “Of course I saw her directly!”

“Saw her directly? That’s impossible. With Lijana’s timid personality, she wouldn’t undo the illusion on herself!” Knight Val said, touching his chin with some doubt.

George pointed at the brooch on Knight Val’s sleeve and asked: “I didn’t expect Mr. Val, your sleeve pin is actually a Magic Item!”

Seeing this situation, Knight Val thought for a moment and understood the reason: “Your eyes can actually see the Spirit Light of spells! So you saw through Lijana’s illusion too. Is this the result of yesterday’s meditation?”

“Yes! I didn’t expect such a result either. I originally thought it was just an improvement in the spiritual aspect.” George’s answer was not very detailed, but he didn’t lie either.

“Indeed, things where the spirit affects the material are the most difficult to figure out. The same method will yield very different final results for everyone! But this time you really got lucky to get such a useful ability. Should we celebrate?” Saying this, Knight Val made a gesture of treating someone.

George protested in annoyance: “Mr. Val, as an elder, how can you have the nerve to ask me, a child, to treat you?”