Chapter 23: Run-in with the Pixies

Chapter 23:
Run-in with the Pixies

 

ABOUT A YEAR AGO, a hot spring was discovered in a mountain called Amora, which sat just south of town. Before that, no one had really gone there, as there were some clever monsters in the area. But once the royal family started visiting the springs, the place was never short of guests. They’d even built lodgings around it.

That said, it could still be dangerous, which was why Ms. Elena was giving us a lecture.

“Listen up, kids. This isn’t just a vacation, this is training.”

“We knoooow,” moaned one of the boys.

Ms. Elena faked a smile, walked over to him, and punched him right in the gut.

“Agh…”

“When I was a mercenary, I saw plenty of simpering fools like you. But they never got any jobs, do you know why?”

“No…”

“Because they were dead. So don’t get too full of yourself, and don’t let your guard down just because your opponent looks weak. Remember that, all of you. Now let’s get going.”

She was tough as ever—I hardly recognized her as the woman with whom I had the occasional, secret butt-related rendezvous. Even those idiot boys shaped up a little after that.

The springs were about a half day’s walk away, but there were a ton of us—more than twenty!—and that oddly made the hiking pretty fun. The real challenge would come when we got to the foot of the mountain.

“Listen up, kids. There are a lot of monsters up here, so I want you all to figure out how to fight together, understand?”

Ms. Elena didn’t give us much more than that to go on. I guess she wanted us to figure it out for ourselves. As if on cue, everyone gathered together and started talking strategy.

“Why don’t we all just fight with whatever we’re most skilled at?” suggested one of the boys.

Some of the other students nodded, but I wasn’t so sure. There were so many of us, it’d probably be chaos if we just went for it. And with all that magic flying around, there was bound to be some friendly fire. Before I could figure out how to word it, Emma spoke up.

“I think there’s a better approach. We need to form groups of people skilled at melee combat and position them around the magic users, who can provide support.”

She really knew how to talk to people.

“That makes sense,” said the boy. “There are a lot of trees and uneven surfaces, so we’ll probably be dealing with surprise attacks. I’m impressed Emma, you’re more than a pretty face!”

“Oh, don’t be silly.”

Emma flashed me a victory sign as she shrugged off the compliment. I smiled at her. Emma had read a lot of books on strategy and monsters, and now all her hard work was paying off. We organized two or three melee fighters up front and behind our group, but we still needed to watch our flanks.

“Where are you going, Emma?” I asked.

“I’m wherever you are, Noir!”

“So up front I guess?”

“Sounds good to me. Let’s go.”

Emma and I had more experience than everyone else in our class, so it made sense to put us in the direct path of any potential enemies.

“The footing’s pretty bad, so watch out.”

“Got it. By the way, what kind of monsters do you get here? I heard there were pixies or something?”

“Yeah, and there are spear lizards too.”

Apparently, the lizards worked in swarms, so we would have to be careful. Our lodgings for the night were right at the summit of Amora, and we’d almost certainly run into something on the climb. Still, after over an hour of hiking, we hadn’t encountered anything.

“I’m surprised it’s been so quiet,” I said.

“Yeah.”

“Look out! Don’t step there, Noir! Get back!”

“Huh? Ah!”

I jumped back instinctively and braced myself for whatever was coming, but nothing did. I turned to the student who had shouted the warning—a long-haired boy called Hjorth.

“Did you sense something?” I asked.

“He he he, Noir, I just saved your life.”

He picked up a stone and threw it. The second it hit the spot in front of me, the earth cracked, revealing a massive hole.

No way…it was a trap?

“Thank you, Hjorth.”

“Why are you thanking me?” he said. “Isn’t it right to save a comrade?”

Hjorth gave me a thumbs up and glanced back at the girls. A few of them looked a little put off by his posturing, but I was genuinely grateful. That pit was full of pointy spears. It’d be hard to take a fall like that and not get hurt.

“Thank you for saving Noir,” said Emma.

“E-Emma…i-it’s no big deal.”

Your tough guy attitude slipped a little there, Hjorth.

Worse, something was eating at me about this whole situation.

“Who would do something like this?”

“Maybe someone who doesn’t want us reaching the springs?”

“What, like another guest? Why would they bother? I think the pixies are our prime suspect.”

“But pixies are tiny!” said Emma. “They couldn’t dig a hole like that.”

She was right. Pixies were corrupted faeries. I’d never seen one, but all the stories said they could fit in the palm of your hand. While we pondered the situation, a girl’s voice came from above us.

“You know who knows the answer? I do!”

The person speaking had transparent wings and was absolutely bitty—no more than ten inches tall. She had light brown skin and silky hair. If she were human, she’d probably have looked about our age. She flew past our faces and everyone just stared at her, at a complete loss for words.

“Bad people dug that hole. Thieves.”

“And you are?”

“I’m a monster called a pixie, but don’t get the wrong idea! I promised the gods I’d be good.”

Was she trying to win us over? Admittedly, from her stature to her gestures, she was very cute. The other students seemed to agree.

“She’s adorable…”

“Yeah, but pixies trick humans, don’t they?”

“You’re really frustrating, you know,” said the pixie. “There are good pixies and bad pixies of course. Just like humans.”

She fluttered her eyelashes, and everyone apologized. These pixies were probably as smart as humans, if not smarter. It was probably a good idea to figure out what she could do.

 

Name: Pixie

Level: 5

Skills: Monster Puppetry

 

She wasn’t that strong, but that Monster Puppetry skill really got my attention. What was it for? A puppetry spell sounded pretty useful, but I had to wonder if a Level 5 pixie could manipulate anything stronger than herself. I tried to ask Ms. Elena, but she just looked away. I guess it was all part of the learning experience.

“Emma, guys, what do you think?” I asked.

“I think…we can trust her, just a little.”

“I think so, too. She doesn’t seem like she means any harm.”

“I believe her as well. I have heard that there are a lot of thieves in this area.”

Cuteness really did trump everything, didn’t it? I was about to tell everyone else about her Monster Puppetry skill, but before I could, the pixie made her move.

“I love you all! I love humans! You’re going to the hot springs, aren’t you? I’ll take you there,” she said, flying ahead of us.

We held our formation and followed.

“Hey, Noir, I’m glad she seems to be a good monster.”

“Yeah, me, too.”

It was true that not all monsters were evil. There were plenty that obeyed humans, or were even friendly toward them. I mean, just look at Tigerson. But this was a pixie—you know, cute, sweet, and corrupted—and I couldn’t let my guard down. If she tried to lead us off the main road, or if we encountered another monster and she claimed it was friendly, I would know she was up to no good.

“Hey, what should I call you?” she asked.

“My name’s Noir.”

“And you’re the leader of the group?”

“Of course not. Surely I look too weak to be the leader?”

“He he he he, maybe. By the way, Noir, wanna take a little detour? The thing is, I know a very secret spot, with a very, very secret hot spring.”

“A hot spring?!” said Hjorth.

I guess he was a big fan. Everyone else seemed to be murmuring in agreement.

“Doesn’t that sound dangerous?” I asked. “I mean, we’re going to a hot spring anyway, shouldn’t we just keep going?”

“Oh, what’s the big deal?” asked Hjorth. “I’ll know if there’s a trap, and I’ll tell you right away.”

“Yeah, but you can’t sense everything.”

“Then let’s take a vote,” said Hjorth.

When it came down to it, there were far more raised hands for taking the detour. Even Emma seemed like she was going to vote for it, but she held back on my behalf.

Sorry for ruining your fun.

“Then it’s settled,” said the pixie. “Follow me!”

“Let’s go, everybody!” Hjorth agreed.

He and the pixie took the lead, and I muttered to myself in frustration. I really hoped that I was wrong, and that all that was waiting for us at the end of this detour was, in actual fact, a secret hot spring. But I was starting to have some serious misgivings.