*The main character this time is Nadi-san from Seryuu City's "General Shop" and the elf store manager. This is their story.
"Mother, tell me about fairies."
"Again? Nadi-chan really likes that story."
"yes!"
Mother will tell me the story.
"When the fairy made a wish to the plants, a glowing mushroom sprang up around the stump, and a light door appeared as if to invite the girl."
"Ati, about the New Year's party tomorrow—"
"Moo! Father! Don't disturb the story!"
"I'm sorry, Nadi-chan.
Even though it's a good place, the story stopped because my father got in the way.
Adults always do.
It's all about themselves, and they don't care about the children.
"Hold on, Nadi. How far did we ...?"
"The door just appeared!"
"That's right. ――When a girl led by a fairy passed through a door of light, it was a paradise of mysterious creatures with glittering stars, 『Fairy Hill』."
"A beautiful place?"
"Yes.
"Amazing! Nadi wants to go live there too!"
"Ufufu, people can't live there."
"why?"
"People are too covered in worldly dirt to go there."
"Co-ve-ed red? Is red bad?" [ TR note: dirt 垢 and red 赤 are both pronounced Aka ]
"Was it too difficult for Nadi? Only those with a beautiful heart can open the door."
"What about Nadi?"
"Well, if Nadi-chan is a good girl, the door might open."
"Okay! Nadi, will be a good girl!"
"Ufufu, well then, let's go to bed soon. Tomorrow we'll have New Year's greetings early in the morning, so you should do your best to get up."
"I will do it!"
I couldn't sleep because my heart was pounding, but when I listened to my mother's lullaby, it was morning before I knew it.
Very strange.
◇
"Happy new year!"
"Oh, congratulations. Nadi is now able to give New Year's greetings. How old are you?"
"Five!"
When I greeted my grandfather, he praised me.
"Okay, okay, let's give out New Year's money."
"Thank you!"
There was a large copper coin as the New Year's gift.
Hehehe, he's rich.
Let's eat sweet starch syrup at the festival stalls.
"--that?"
"What's wrong, Nadi?"
"Who is that?"
In front of a big tree in the garden, there was a boy I had never seen before.
Her hair is the color of early summer leaves.
"A guest"
"customer?"
Even though it was about him, the boy wouldn't even look at me.
Somewhat frustrated, I walked in front of the boy.
"I am Nadi"
"Really"
--nothing.
It's unfair that you don't answer even though you're telling me your name.
"you are?"
"Yuya"
I got angry at the boy who didn't look at me.
Didn't you tell me to look at the other person when talking?"
"Un"
"Hey? What do you mean?"
The boy does not answer.
It seems to be troublesome.
"tell me!"
I grabbed the boy's arm and pulled him.
The hat he was wearing slipped, and his slightly pointed ears peeked out from between her bright green hair.
--I'm scared.
He is not human.
"Yah!"
I pushed the boy and ran away.
The worst first encounter I can imagine.
That was how I met the manager, Yusaratoya of Boruenan Forest.
◇
"That person."
When I turned eight, I met a boy again for the first time in three years.
He hasn't changed since we last saw him.
As always, he is staring up at the big tree in the garden.
"Have you ever met Master Yusaratoya?"
"Yeah, once before"
While replying to my father's question, I learned that the boy's name was "Yusaratoya".
My father stopped me when I was about to walk towards the boy.
I turned around in amazement.
"Yusaratoya-sama is a great person. Don't let your child's curiosity bother you."
"Is he a child too?"
He is older than my older sister, but he don't look like an adult.
"Hahahaha, he looks young, but he's older than me and my father."
"Father, and even grandfather?"
"that's right"
"It's a lie"
After all, your grandfather is over 70 years old this year, right?
It must be a joke of his father that he is older than his grandfather.
"It's true. Ask my father."
"Yeah! Grandfather will scold you!"
I went to my grandfather's place to scold my father for telling a lie that would soon be exposed, but he said the same thing as my father.
Adults sure like to make jokes.
"Hmm"
Let's ask him.
Even though I thought so, my grandfather flick me with his finger.
"Nadi, don't disturb Master Yusaratoya, okay?"
Dad also said that.
"Why? He is just looking up at the trees in the garden?"
Even as I protest, my grandfather just laughs.
"Yusaratoya-sama is doing his job at the lord's request. Even though he is in the middle of an important role that he must fulfill, he is helping us."
"As expected of Sage Trazayuya-sama's relatives, isn't it?"
Grandfather and father nodded at each other with a knowing look.
Somehow, I feel like I am lost .
I played with my cousin's children who came to invite me and played with beautiful shells in the hall.
◇
That evening--
"Mom, toilet"
Even if I shake my mother sleeping next to me, she won't wake up.
She smells like alcohol. She probably drank alcohol at the banquet at the recommendation of my fathers.
Moh.
I can't help but get angry.
I don't want my cousins to make fun of me for bed wetting.
I climbed out of the futon while steeling my heart.
"Moonlight is fine, so I will do it."
Looking up from the window, the sky was dark with clouds.
Every time I walk, the creaking sound makes me uneasy.
My grandfather's house is far from the toilet, and I'm afraid something will come out of the darkness on the way.
"-Hi"
I gasped.
Suddenly, light came in through the window facing the garden.
"What is this?"
Out of curiosity, I look out the window.
"Are the trees glowing?"
A big tree in the garden is shining.
It feels like it's glowing from within, rather than being lit by a bonfire or a torch.
I go out the back door into the garden.
It's kind of like a moth flying into a bonfire.
Even though I thought so, I couldn't win over my curiosity
"Uh, it looks like there are a lot of bugs stuck in there."
Beyond the well-arranged garden that can be seen from the corridor, the grass like a forest or a vacant lot was a place of shrubbery.
But the glowing tree grows beyond this grass fence.
"that is?"
After a while, I realized.
How can the grass grow so green?
It's winter now.
It was snowing just a little while ago.
However, there was no one to answer my questions, and I arrived at the other side of the grass fence in a confused mood.
『Open, ≪Fairy Gate≫』
There was that boy in front of the shining tree.
"... Um, it's Toya-kun."
When the boy puts his hand over the tree, something like a magic formation emerges, and the light from the tree gathers around the magic formation.
The light gathered like a ripples when a stone is dropped on the surface of the water.
"Ah!"
A boy jumped into the rippling water.
The rippling light is getting smaller.
Instinctively I ran.
◇
"Where are we?"
Beyond the ripples was the forest.
No, I'm in a nightmare.
I am scared.
The tree is warped.
Very scared.
The road is also crooked.
It's scary, scary.
Everything seems to cover me, trying to catch me.
scary scary scary
"What are you doing"
Someone grabbed my hand
It's that boy.
"Toya!"
I called his name, which I vaguely remembered.
"Wrong"
"what?"
"name"
"e?"
I think it was Toya somehow.
"Yuya"
The boy says sullenly.
I laughed a little when I saw that.
"—That is?"
The distorted forest has turned into a normal forest.
No, no.
Not normal. The grass growing on the ground emits a faint light, illuminating our feet.
The tips of the branches are also shining.
"-- Mysterious forest."
"Fairy Way"
"e?"
"Here"
The boy――Yuya points to the ground.
I guess that's the name of this place.
"Maybe--"
In the middle of my question, I was enveloped in the same white light as when I entered here.
◇
We were on the hill after the light cleared.
"Uwaaaaa"
I couldn't contain my joy at the sight in front of me and cried out.
"Noisy"
Yuuya is saying something next to me, but that kind of thing is for later.
Beautiful flowers bloom profusely on the hills, butterflies that spill glittering powder flutter in search of nectar, and mysterious creatures roam the hills.
"...Fairy Hill"
I muttered in a daze at the sight that was so beautiful.
"Huh? It's a human girl."
"Yuya, did you bring a little girl today?"
When I turned my gaze to the voice――
"-- Feather Fairy!"
Fairies with dragonfly and butterfly wings were flying in the sky.
"Yuya's friend?"
"Wrong"
"Eh, you can't get along with anyone, bro."
"Shut up"
Yuuya's winged fairies are throwing jabs at him.
"I feel sorry for you being so violent."
I pick up the feather fairy gently and protest it from Yuuya.
"Yeah, what the girl said."
"You have to be nice to us."
Feather fairies are somewhat familiar.
"Do you have candy?"
"Can I have dried fruit?"
"Sorry, I didn't bring anything."
"What?"
"I'm sorry"
When the feather fairies found out that I didn't have any presents, they disappeared in no time.
"Huh? Yuuya?"
Before I knew it, Yuuya was gone.
"Huh? It cannot be true? Youya? Youyaaaaaaaaaa!"
"Toddler, are you lost?"
"AAIEEEEEE"
A green-skinned girl was growing out of an old tree on a hill.
"A .... g-ghost?"
"Excuse me. I am a dryad. Spirits of trees and forests."
A girl—a dryad emerges from an old tree.
"Ha, are you naked?"
I want to let you wear something, but right now I'm only wearing underwear and thin sleepwear.
If I knew it's gonna be something like this, I would have wearred one of my cardigans.
"Hmm? Don't worry. I don't care about being naked."
"B-but, a girl naked!"
"Then how about this?"
The dryad snapped her fingers, and the vines that appeared out of nowhere hid her body like clothes.
"Yeah, okay. So, uh-"
"If you're looking for Yuya, he is having a difficult discussion with the elders of Borgeheim."
A dryad told me where Yuya was.
"Borueheim?"
"A clan of gnomes"
The dryad wasn't the one who answered my question.
They were little men who crawled out of holes in the ground.
"This is a special sacred place in Borgeheim."
"If it's true, it's not a place for a human girl to enter."
"Sorry, I didn't know I wasn't allowed in."
I apologized immediately.
"Do not worry"
"Yes, we don't mind"
"The one who brought you here is Yusaratoya of Boruenan Forest."
Yusaratoya, yes, Yuya's real name was like that.
"Enjoy the new moon festival until Yusaratoya-sama returns."
"Yes, it's inferior to the summer and winter solstice festivals, but the new moon festival is also fun."
"Yeah, the summer solstice and winter solstice festivals are special, but the new moon festival is second to none."
The small men said so and guided me to the center of the festival.
Gnomes, Leprechauns, Pans, Spriggans, Fairies, Pixies, and other fairies dance in a circle.
I was also invited by a small uncle――Gnome-san and others to dance with me.
It is fun.
I didn't know the choreography, but before I knew it, I was dancing to the joyful rhythm played by the brownies.
Fun. So fun.
When I get tired of dancing, I drink milk with honey that the brownie aunt puts for me. It is sweet and delicious.
The biscuits, crackers, and loaves of bread are also sweet and delicious.
It's like a picture book paradise that my mother told me about.
I've laughed more than I've ever laughed in my life, and I've talked so much that my jaw hurts.
I want to live here like this.
"It's fine if you finish it."
That's true?
"You don't have to go home, do you?"
Yeah, I, want to stay――.
"- Nadi!"
I hear a voice calling me as if through a dream.
"Wake up!"
There was Yuya's face in front of me.
"--e?"
"Are you okay?"
"Are you feeling sick?"
From behind Yuuya, small uncles are peering in.
" Succubus nightmare was playing a prank.
There was a bluish-purple horse next to Yuya that looked like a stuffed animal.
I look down like a scolded child.
"Huh? Where are we?"
I suddenly became frightened.
"Sleep"
Yuuya gently whispered as he hugged me in a panic.
"Nadi, get up"
When I woke up, I was lying in my bed.
"Maybe--"
――It was all a dream?
Must be.
It was fun.
Get up and take off my sleepwear.
"that?"
There's a petal I've never seen before.
I picked up the petals and ran towards the big tree in the garden.
"Nadi! Why are you dressed like that!"
My mother scolded me for running out in my underwear, and after changing my clothes properly, I went out into the garden.
As expected, Yuya was standing in front of a tree in the garden.
"Yuya, this!"
I hold up the petals and call to Yuuya.
" Flower petals? "
"Yesterday wasn't a dream, was it?"
"Hmm"
Yuya nodded.
It wasn't a dream after all!
"Please take me again."
"Refuse"
"Eh, Yuuya, please."
Yuuya's attitude is curt even if I ask.
I tried clinging to it for a while, but my grandfather found out and scolded me for my overly friendly attitude.
Yuya disappeared the next day, but he comes to Seryuu City every few months.
When I turned nine, I started having Yuya teach me as part of my studies.
It was around this time that I started calling Yuuya Sensei.
Yuuya-sensei, who seemed to be bored because his role was finished, generously shared his knowledge with me.
In between classes, I asked Yuuya-sensei what his role was, but he curtly said "secret" and wouldn't tell me.
He promised to tell me when I grow up, so I want to become an adult as soon as possible.
When I grow up, let's run a shop together with Yuuya-sensei.
If you're with sensei, any shop will be fun.
He looks blunt but is a kind sensei to everyone, so I think he can do anything.
"Sensei, what about 'General shop'?"
"troublesome"
"I will take care of the trouble."
"Really?"
As usual, he is tackiturn, but I want him to rely on me someday.
And I want to be able to call you "Yuya" in a different way from when I was a kid.