"Yay! We're finally here!"
Kenneth saw how Fay suddenly flew happily, then shifted his vision to find a wooden house near the river that led to a large waterfall in the Audoran Forest. The wooden house was neither too big nor too small. But for some reason, Kenneth felt that the place was much more comfortable to live in than his royal palace.
"Come on, Kenneth! Let's check out your new house!"
"Alright, alright. You don't have to pull me, Fay."
Kenneth said that but didn't try to free himself from Fay, who tried to pull his hand impatiently. Kenneth set foot in the wooden house. After Kenneth opened the unlocked door, his eyes automatically started wandering around to stare at the contents of the house. The more Kenneth looked, the more confused Kenneth was about the wooden house. The prince couldn't help but feel strange when he saw that the wooden house seemed to be made for humans to live in.
"Fay, was this wooden house owned by a human before?"
"Huh? You are the first human Lelitia allowed to live in Audoran Forest, Kenneth. Then, about this house... Lelitia suddenly wanted to build this house dozens of years ago."
"She suddenly wanted to build a house on the riverbank? Has she lived here before?" Kenneth asked again. Previously, Kenneth had been so sure that there was not a single piece of furniture that had been used in the house. That meant that Lelitia had never used those items, even though she was the one who brought them there. Kenneth suspected that Lelitia had built the house for someone else. However, as soon as he heard that he was the first human allowed to live in Audoran Forest, his heart started beating erratically again.
Kenneth didn't want to think that Lelitia knew about his arrival and had volunteered to prepare whatever he needed.
"Lelitia often visits this house. It's just that... her expression is always sad every time she comes here. I never understood why Lelitia needed to build this strange house. She lives in the Tree of Life but still needed to build this strange house so far away from where the rest of us live."
"Well, thanks to that, you were able to have a place to live in Audoran Forest, right?"
Fay was completely unaware that an elf who built a house that looked like a human's house was strange and only understood the good side of it. Kenneth also didn't want to suspect Fay. The prince just took a deep breath and then agreed with Fay's words with resignation.
"Yes. I thank you for your kindness," said Kenneth. The prince had just put his bag on the wooden table in the house when his expression immediately turned serious again.
BOOM!
Not only Kenneth, but Fay also immediately looked a little surprised when she heard the sound of the explosion that could be heard all the way to Kenneth's new residence. The two of them immediately went outside to find the source of the explosion. However, since the area around Kenneth was filled with lush trees, Kenneth could only let Fay fly higher to check what was really going on.
BOOM!
Kenneth's brows furrowed even deeper when he heard the sound of the second explosion. His mind began to become chaotic because he was afraid that his brothers had managed to find this place. The feeling of unease grew as time went on, especially when Kenneth witnessed how the explosion had affected the peace in the place.
The trees that were originally fine began to move around each other, even if there was no wind in the place. They seemed to want to show their unease by moving their branches. The magical beasts that were originally eating and playing quietly also began to run in various directions in panic. It was clear that the deepest part of the Audoran Forest had never been attacked from the outside before.
"Kenneth, I see that there is a big fight going on in the outer part of the Audoran Forest! I can tell that the explosion just now came from Kegan! Right now, he must be fighting the group of evil humans who attacked me before!"
Kenneth did not want to ask who Kegan Fay was referring to. But in general, he could already understand that the explosion happened because the princes had started their fight. Kenneth unconsciously started to clench his fists again. Kenneth should have been happy because he didn't have to fight the people who guarded Audoran Forest to get to where he was now. But after Kenneth got to know Fay and knew Audoran Forest better, Kenneth became more convinced that Audoran Forest should not be damaged any more than this.
"Ah! Kegan's energy is starting to fade, Kenneth!"
As part of the elemental fairies, Fay could sense when one of them was in danger. Fay panicked even more after realizing that Kegan's energy was almost gone after unleashing such a powerful attack. The wind fairy wanted to immediately go to save Kegan. But before she could fly away, Kenneth immediately stopped her again.
"Let me come with you, Fay!"
Fay was unsure about asking Kenneth to go, especially when their opponents were humans. But the serious look in Kenneth's eyes made Fay want to trust the human. Fay bit her lip tightly before she finally made her decision.
"Then, we have to move quickly, Kenneth!"
Kenneth was relieved that Fay did not reject his request and immediately went into the wooden house to get his sword. Kenneth had hesitated to leave his bag in the wooden house. But after thinking for a while, he finally left his bag there.
Just as Fay had decided to trust him, Kenneth also wanted to trust the wind fairy.
"Hold my hand, Kenneth."
As soon as Kenneth came back outside, Fay immediately asked him to hold the fairy's hand. Kenneth held Fay's small hand without any hesitation. In the next moment, a surprised expression was written on Kenneth's face as his body began to rise thanks to Fay's wind magic.
"Kenneth, hold my hand if you don't want to fall!"
Kenneth's body began to rise higher and higher until he finally stopped rising when he passed the height of the trees in Audoran Forest. Kenneth stared in amazement at the view that was visible from the sky. But his mind returned to focus when he saw an empty field that Kenneth was sure had never existed.
"Is that the remains of the explosion earlier?" Kenneth asked Fay. The wind fairy nodded. "We'll go to that place now," she replied before starting to fly quickly.
Maybe because Kenneth was holding Fay's hand when he flew, Kenneth didn't feel any instability, even if he suddenly flew so fast. The hand that Kenneth was holding right now might look so small and fragile. But when they held each other, Kenneth finally realized that Fay's grip made the prince feel like he was being held by a hand that was as big as his.
"This power..."
As soon as Kenneth and Fay started flying to go to the visible explosion site, another force of pressure made Kenneth unconsciously mutter the sentence. The force of pressure he felt felt a little familiar. However, as far as Kenneth could remember, he had never seen Leroy able to release this much power before.
Fay also seemed to feel the pressure of the force and began to look increasingly worried. Fay had tried to go as fast as she could. However, because Fay had to carry Kenneth with her wind magic, their current speed was the fastest she could do.
"Gaia, Kegan!"
Fortunately, not long after, the two of them could see a fairy carrying another fairy from a distance. Fay approached them together with Kenneth. And after realizing Fay's presence, Gaia also looked up to see Fay approaching her in a hurry.
Once they were close enough, Kenneth could tell that she was the foreign fairy he had just seen who had just been involved in a battle. Gaia also seemed surprised to see Fay coming after her with a human. However, once Gaia remembered Lelitia's words, the fairy finally decided not to treat Kenneth like an enemy.
"Fay, you take Kegan to a safe place. Right now, I have to go back to help Aqua."
"But-"
"Fay, they are not opponents you can handle! Just leave this to us and take Kegan to a safe place!"
Kenneth watched the argument and realized that Fay was worried about Gaia if the earth fairy went alone. Kenneth touched Fay's hand gently to get her attention. The prince gave her his best smile and hoped that Fay would feel more at ease after seeing the confidence he was trying to show.
"Don't worry, Fay. I will go with her to assist. Now, I'm sure your friend needs more urgent help. Therefore, can you trust us and help your friend?"
Gaia looked at Kenneth, who was trying to convince Fay, then fell silent without saying anything else. The earth fairy did not know what the human in front of her was planning by saying all that. However, after Gaia saw that Fay seemed a little persuaded by Kenneth's words, she finally gave in and tried to appear willing to cooperate with Kenneth in front of Fay.
"What he said is true. Can you just leave this matter to us, Fay?"
Persuasion by two people finally made Fay give in, so she immediately took Kegan who was already unconscious from Gaia's arms.
"Please be careful, both of you."
Gaia and Kenneth each nodded. The earth fairy was forced to come down because Kenneth couldn't fly without Fay's power. Then, after Fay left, Gaia finally spoke to Kenneth without looking directly at the prince.
"Come with me."
Gaia didn't care whether Kenneth could follow her or not and immediately left to catch up with Aqua.