After meeting Finn and finding out that even a human could be kind, Fae decided to believe in humans for one last time.
In the morning, Finn woke up first and went to wake up Fae.
But once he looked at her, he noticed that she was crying in her sleep.
She was only a child after all, and to go through what she had gone through could break even an adult, so Finn decided to wake her up and comfort her.
"Fae."
He lightly shook her, and she opened her wet eyes.
Looking at Finn through her tears, she jumped on him, hugging him. He held her while moving his hand up and down her back.
"It's alright, you are safe now."
Finn kept whispering to her, letting her cry on his shoulder.
After a few minutes, she left Finn's embrace and wiped her tears.
"I am a big girl, and big girls don't cry!"
She proudly proclaimed, and Finn patted her head with a smile.
"Yep, you sure are, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. But if you ever feel hurt by the world and you need a shoulder to cry on, then I am always here for you, Fae."
To live through her brother's death, then to see her teacher die right in front of her, just to be locked up as a prisoner and sold like livestock.
To experience all of that and still be able to smile, Fae was a very strong person.
She didn't answer Finn with words and only nodded her head, glad that she had found someone who cared for her that much.
"Okay, you should change your clothes, and we will go to the Elvish continent after we eat breakfast."
"Yes, big brother."
Hearing the word breakfast, her eyes sparkled, and then Fae sat down on her bed and waited.
"…Fae?"
Confused Finn looked at her, not knowing why she was still looking at him and not getting ready.
"I am waiting."
"I can see that, but I don't understand why."
Scratching the back of his head, Finn was still clueless as to why she was waiting.
"Big brother has to take care of me!"
Fae pouted, and one of her cheeks became filled with air, making her look extremely adorable.
"I do? Fae, why do I have the feeling that you are becoming more spoiled by the day?"
Finn chuckled and shook his head.
"If big brother doesn't take care of me, then I will hate him!"
"Okay Fae. I am sorry."
Finn immediately gave up and started brushing her hair.
To use such a powerful sentence against him, Fae was learning what to say to get Finn to do what she wanted.
Once her hair were brushed, Finn stood up, but Fae grabbed his shirt.
"Now dress!"
When Fae lived in the palace, she always had maids dressing her up, so she expectantly looked at Finn, hoping that he would dress her up.
"…Fae, you can dress yourself. Didn't you say that you are a big girl?"
"But... So big brother hates me..."
She squeezed the bedsheets, and tears started appearing in her eyes.
"I don't hate you at all, Fae! It's just... Haaa... Alright, anything for my Fae..."
Finn would have normally hated being ordered around, but seeing the cute Fae act sad made his heart hurt, so he decided to spoil her just for today.
After helping her get dressed and putting her pajamas into his inventory, they went to have breakfast.
Fae was holding Finn's hand while skipping to the dining room, and her previous crocodile tears were nowhere to be found anymore.
This time Finn didn't forget to wear his mask in the hallway, and after they arrived in the dining room, they both sat down, and he took it off.
There were already dishes on the table, and all of them had a high nutritional value because Finn had ordered the chef to make a hearty breakfast.
"Brother Finn. Why do you wear a mask? You are handsome, so you should show your face off!"
While putting stuff on her plate, Fae asked about something she had been wondering about.
"Thank you, Fae, but what if I get a girlfriend and I won't have any time to spend with you?"
Smirking, Finn answered.
"NO! Brother Finn is not allowed to have a girlfriend!"
Fae slammed her tiny hands on the table, which made a soft thud, and Finn chuckled at how she was acting.
He had not told her that he was dating Sophie yet, but he did plan to tell her someday.
For now, though, he just liked to tease Fae by mentioning his future girlfriend.
"But I need a girlfriend, Fae. Otherwise, I will stay alone forever. Just like you will find a boyfriend one day too, and then you will forget about me."
Wiping away his nonexistent tears, Finn knew damn well that if someone wanted to date Fae, he would have to get his approval first.
"…"
When Fae heard that, she started pouting while looking at Finn with furrowed eyebrows.
But that only made Finn smile more because she looked like a bunny that had its carrot stolen away from it.
"...Then Fae will marry brother Finn!"
"PFFFTT!"
Finn spat out the water he was drinking when he heard Fae talk like she had just gotten a genius idea.
So he had to spend the next hour explaining to Fae that he wouldn't be marrying her, but he had to say it in the nicest way possible so that she wouldn't start crying.
"...So, I am too young for big brother."
"That's right, Fae."
Finn nodded his head, happy that Fae finally understood what the problem was.
"Then when I grow up, it will be okay!"
But he was quickly corrected when he heard Fae come up with another one of her genius ideas.
"…No, Fae, you missed the point. When you grow up, I will also grow up."
"So... we can grow up together!"
"That's not… We will talk about this later."
He tried his best, but talking to Fae was like telling a wall to move, so he gave up and finished his breakfast.
Once he was done eating, he covered Fae up with his coat and held her in his arms because he didn't want people to find out that she was the elf princess lest the entire Elvish continent start waging a war against his "humble" gang.
He then paid for two tickets for a luxurious ship, and they soon set sail.
Finn and Fae had to stay in their room during the sail because Fae was too eye-catching and Finn was too terrifying for the other passengers who were also traveling from Leviathan to the Elvish continent.
Imagine yourself as a civilian who finally managed to save up for a ship ticket to escape from the horrible gangs in your city, and as soon as you get on your ship, you find out that the most powerful gang boss is sailing with you.
Finn didn't want that to happen, so he just remained in his room, which was pretty spacious because he bought the first-class ticket.
"Fae, we have to talk about something."
Finn suddenly started a conversation, and Fae, who was watching the waves outside the window, turned to look at him.
"Yes, big brother?"
"When we arrive on the Elvish continent, the other elves will most likely want to kill me, so I want you to tell them that I am not an evil person."
He looked at her with a very serious gaze.
"Kill you? But why would they want to kill big brother?"
Fae adorably tilted her head to the side in confusion.
"Because they know about you getting kidnapped, and if I bring you back, they will assume I am a bad person, and they will want to kill me."
Explaining the reason, Finn smiled, hoping that Fae would understand.
"I see... Then I will protect my big brother!"
Fae stood up on her bed and puffed out her chest, as if telling Finn to leave it to her.
This made Finn chuckl and he started petting her head.
"Thank you, Fae. I feel safe knowing that you will protect me."
He looked at Fae with a gentle smile as he stroked her hair.
---
They had spent a full day on the sea before finally arriving on the Elvish continent, and as soon as they got off the ship, they started looking around.
Tall buildings made out of light blue stone were everywhere Finn looked.
The harbor was pretty big, and so there were many elves out on the streets. Some were buying food for lunch, and some were just walking around with their families.
The ship stopped at the same harbor where Fae's teacher had previously died. This brought Fae some bad memories, but once she squeezed Finn's hand, she calmed down again.
"Now we need to travel to Eliglade, so we should probably buy a carriage."
Finn was looking around to see a carriage, but there were none around him.
"Carriage? We don't have that."
Fae looked at him in confusion while tilting her head.
"Oh right. I forgot. The elves enjoy taking walks, so they banned the use of carriages."
Shaking his head, Finn looked down at the ground.
"Yep, so let's go!"
Fae was looking forward to their trip, but Finn knew that it was at least a two-hour walk to the capital city from the harbor.
So, before they departed, Finn bought some water and food for the trip because, knowing Fae, she would most likely get hungry or thirsty during the short trip.
He also hid Fae's face with his mask while they were in the harbor because he would rather not explain himself to the people there and then explain himself to the people in the capital city as well.
The chances are that they might not believe him, and if he only tried to explain himself once, he was more likely to succeed.
So, after buying the supplies, they started walking to the city.
They encountered a lot of wildlife on the way there, but nothing dangerous because the city guards regularly killed the monsters.
Finn didn't meet any humans because, after the crown prince's death, humans weren't allowed to go inside Elvish cities.
Humans could only move around the harbor, which was a nice place by itself, but they would never get to see the true Elvish culture.
Finn hoped that Fae's family would invite him into the city because the item he wanted was inside the capital city of the Elvish continent.
After walking for an hour, Fae started tugging on Finn's shirt.
"Brother Finn! I am hungry and thirsty."
"I knew it…"
Finn pulled out the supplies he had bought in the harbor and gave them to Fae.
She happily ate and drank until she was fully satisfied.
"I am ready to continue!"
Fae started walking energetically again, while Finn quickly put the other supplies into his inventory and followed after her.
Suddenly, she turned to look at Finn.
"By the way, big brother. I am a princess!"
"…"
If Finn didn't already know this, he might have felt his veins burst while thinking, "And you are only telling me this now?"
But he knew already, so he just acted shocked to make sure that Fae wouldn't suspect anything.
They then walked through the thick forest while Fae kept describing her home, which was the royal palace, and they soon arrived near the city gates.
The city gates were made from white stone, and they had vines growing around them. Next to the gates stood two guards clad in silver armor that guarded them from any uninvited guests.
"Hey! I saved princess Fae and brought her back!"
Finn shouted at the guards near the city gate and waved his hand as he continued walking closer.
Fae wasn't wearing a mask, so when the guards saw her silver hair that only members of the royal family had, they immediately recognized her and blew animal horns to signal the king.
FWOOOOOOOOO
Once the horns sounded throughout the city, two people quickly arrived in a floating carriage made out of vines.
That was the fastest form of transport that the royal family had.
Getting out of the carriage were two elves: a man with silver hair and a woman with golden hair.
The man was extremely handsome, and he had a golden crown on his head. The female was breathtakingly beautiful, and she wore a silver tiara.
"MOM! DAD!"
Fae rushed to hug her parents, who returned her hug.
"Fae, we missed you so much!"
"Fae, we are so sorry for what you had to go through!"
They were already aware of the fact that Fae had been kidnapped by humans, but they didn't know how she managed to get back.
Looking up, they saw Finn standing there, and they immediately assumed that he was Fae's kidnapper, who had come to beg them for mercy after discovering her true identity.
Fae released herself from her parents' hug and quickly began to explain.
"Mom! Dad! This is-"
SWISH
But before she could complete her sentence, a sword flew through the air and cut Finn's body in half.
Finn quickly felt the pain of being cut while he was cursing Fae's father in his head.
'Fuck. I knew those short-fused, blockheaded elves would kill me without even listening to my explanation first... So, this is the power of the strongest elf. I didn't even see his movement...'
[You have completed the quest Coming back home]
[You have died]
THUD
Finn's body fell on the grass and disappeared into blue light particles.
He would lose a level and respawn nearby, but Fae didn't know that.
She thought that her father had just killed the person who had saved her from slavery.
Her new, kind big brother, who would take care of her and never scold her even when she was acting spoilt, was now gone, with not even his body remaining.
While looking at the place where Finn had stood, with her small mouth still open, like she was in the middle of talking, she remembered the conversation she had with Finn on the ship.
["Kill you? But why would they want to kill brother Finn?"]
["Because they know about you getting kidnapped, and if I bring you back, they will assume I am a bad person, and they will want to kill me."]
["I see... Then I will protect my big brother!"]
["Thank you, Fae. I feel safe knowing that you will protect me."]
She remembered his gentle smile as he stroked her hair while telling her that he believed her.
The fact that she promised to protect him, and he even relied on her, but she failed to save him from her father's blade made her feel like her heart was being torn apart.
"…Big… brother…"
With tear-filled eyes and a voice choked with shock and sadness, Fae tried calling out to Finn, but she didn't receive a response.
Fae had gone through a lot in her life.
She had already lost two people who were very important to her, and now, with tears streaming down her cheeks, she had lost a third.