Chapter 40

Translated by Tracy

Edited by Addis

 

Time flies when holidays run

---

After Dea left, Feisha was left to blankly stare at the other faerie’s soft and curvaceous body. The faerie could feel his gaze even from across the room, shuffling uncomfortably on the spot. “What are you staring at?”

“Nothing,” Feisha responded absentmindedly, gaze still firmly planted on her chest. “Just savouring this sweet scene for as long as I can.”

………

The faerie passed him the empty fruit puree bowl. “Your nose is bleeding.”

---

The second time Dea visited, it was to the sight of Feisha’s pallid complexion as he laid on the bed.

“What happened to you?” questioned Dea quizzically. Why did Feisha look like he’d taken another lap around the Forest of Deception after all the healing spells?

Feisha’s eyes fluttered open, weakly raising a hand in greeting. “Dea…”

“I’m here.”

“You’ll have to…go on…without me…”

“…”

Feisha quietly sobbed to himself. “Looks like I couldn’t avoid fate after all. To think I’ve come this far from the freshly-promoted, dashing young man whose plans led customers to their doom whilst I made small talk elsewhere.”

“…”

“I mean- whose plans led customers to their bankruptcy! Bankruptcy. Nostalgic we slaves of time may be as we look back on the golden periods of the past, it must remain that way lest we allow memories to become more and cloud our view of the future.”

“…”

“Do not condemn yourself so, sweet Dea, for I too have had a hand in this undoing of mine. You may overlook the identity of he who brought me into this world in the first place. You may overlook all the strings I’ve helped you pull so that you may stand victoriously in this place today. But to overlook the true danger of the Forest of Deception and neglect to inform me as you have done…ah well. To be punished for charitable deeds of the heart, thus is life.”

Dea turned to the other faerie. “What’s wrong with him?”

“He had a nosebleed,” she answered.

“…”

Feisha slammed a fist down onto the bed. “Why don’t you tell him how much blood I lost?”

“A bowl.”

Dea took a while to respond. “Just from his nose?!”

“And his mouth.”

There was a pause in which Dea struggled to make sense of the situation. That’s not a nosebleed anymore, that’s just vomiting blood.

“But it’s more saliva than blood,” she continued.

“…”

“I have no strength left in me,” groaned Feisha. “It looks like I’m going to have to remain here for a little longer.”

“What are you going to do?” asked Dea.

“Ask for leave,” Feisha said, hiding his face in his hands. “I’m really worried about Noah’s Ark and want nothing more than to return immediately to work, but while my spirit is willing my flesh is still weak. Serves me right for being a fragile human. You know that we sometimes kick the bucket from some microorganisms, unlike you guys.” Who cares about penalties when you can’t even take the money away with you? Isefel can dish out as many penalties as he wants.

“There is a type of fruit that replenishes blood,” Dea replied, unflustered.

The faerie world definitely wouldn’t have any human blood for a potential transfusion, but this solution came out of left field. “Um, shouldn’t that kind of stuff only be available inside games?”

“A big patch of discoloured skin will appear on your back after consumption. Other than heating up while sleeping, I promise that it won’t impact on your daily life at all.”

“…”

“You’ll also feel less fatigued.”

“…”

“It’s free.”

“…”

“Bring the fruit,” Dea said to the other faerie. She nodded, not even hesitating as she walked towards the door. This fruit was evidently not a bluff.

“Wait!” Feisha yelled, sitting up suddenly.

The two faeries stared at him in anticipation.

“I’ve decided; I’m just going to go home like this.” He raised his face to the ceiling, expression melancholic. “It’s only through this act of pure selflessness that I can show my passion for this job. For this group. For Noah’s Ark!”

“Tell Shamal to meet us at the gate in ten minutes,” said Dea to the other faerie.

“Wait, who’s Shamal? Also, don’t you think this is all progressing a little too fast?”

“That’s why you’re leaving before anything else happens,” Dea muttered.

………

“Look, even inmates deserve a chance to get broken out of jail by their family and friends before getting sent to the chopping block. You’re being a little bit too harsh here.”

“Dea’s amorous side is for my eyes alone. I see no use for your extended stay, human,” Almedande said as he made his grand entrance. Dea’s eyebrows twitched slightly as Almedande shamelessly embraced him, but otherwise showed no signs of displeasure.

“Well, Your Majesty,” Feisha chuckled politely, jumping off the bed, “I was actually thinking of giving Dea here a few tips so that your relationship may prevail against the odds.”

Almedande raised an eyebrow. “That’s quite interesting; might you have any experience in this field?”

………

Feisha fiddled with his shirt, pouting.

---

With Almedande’s presence, it didn’t take long for Feisha to be escorted out of the castle gates. There, the warhorses of Hell stood unyieldingly against the harsh sunlight that reflected off their glossy, black skin. The carriage and its occupant instantly seemed extremely insignificant at the side of these majestic creatures.

“Whoa, are we taking this carriage back?” Needless to say, Feisha was overjoyed at the chance to do something he had literally dreamt about since he first saw it.

“Yes,” responded Almedande.

A faerie climbed out of the carriage. “Thanks to you, I was also granted permission to ride this carriage, haha.”

“Who are you?” asked Feisha. He looked to be a little younger than Locktini, cute in a baby-faced kind of way that almost resembled a small animal.

“My name is Shamal. I’m replacing Dea as the representative of the faerie world at Noah’s Ark as per my lord brother’s request. Dea’s staying behind with him, you see.”

Feisha glanced over at Dea. His face was blank as usual, but no matter how much he tried there was no way to disguise the gentleness in his eyes.

Sigh. They say that girls all ditch family for their spouse, but looks like dudes do the same thing.

Something suddenly occurred to Feisha. “Hold on- you called His Majesty your lord brother, which means…”

“He’s the third prince of the faerie world,” Dea answered.

………

“Exactly how big is your family?” Feisha asked Shamal. Princes are just popping up out of nowhere one after the other.

“There are three of us; my eldest brother, my second brother and me.”

“Speaking of which, I haven’t seen Locktini…I mean, His Highness since I woke up. All things considered, we were allies who suffered together in the end. It’s a bit late now, but perhaps I could be granted a chance to say goodbye before I leave…?”

“He is currently under house arrest for the near future. Nobody is permitted to see him,” Almedande said.

The image of Locktini suffering surfaced in Feisha’s mind. “He suffered quite a lot already in the forest, Your Majesty.”

“I know. That’s why he’s only under house arrest.”

Well, there was nothing Feisha could say to that. “Alright then, I guess it’s time for me to leave now?”

“Have a nice trip,” said Dea.

“Is there absolutely no way for me to stay any longer?” Feisha asked, unwilling to give in.

Dea smiled. “We look forward to your next visit.”

“What next time? I’ve already used up my annual leave.”

“What?” responded Dea, surprised. “Of course you can come again. You have three holiday leaves you can take each year; this was just one of them.”

“Huh? Three times?!”

“Of course. You just can’t use them all at once in case Noah’s Ark needs extra hands.”

………

Feisha’s mood instantly improved by 500% as he jumped onto the carriage, waving. “Alright then, let’s go!”

Dea waved back.

Just as the horses were about to take off, a holler halted them in their tracks. “Wait! Stop!”

Feisha smiled apologetically at the irritated couple. “Sorry, I forgot to ask – I had trouble breathing on the way here, is there a way to avoid that?”

“Difficulty breathing?” Dea mulled over it a little bit. “Perhaps it’s a problem that only humans have. What did you do on the way here?”

………

Feisha felt his face heat up at an astronomical rate. “I, um, held- held my breath. Yes, I held my breath.”

“Then hold your breath on the way back.”

“No!” Feisha’s outburst earned him a glare from Almedande. “Erm, I mean, I was lucky last time. And healthy. Whereas this time I’m suffering from blood loss and weak and feeble and what if I die?!”

“Do not worry,” Almedande responded blankly. “This carriage has a barrier cast onto it by Abaddon that shields its occupants from outside effects.”

“Has it been tested on humans?”

“Yes.”

Feisha sighed in relief. It wasn’t until the warhorses drew them into the sky when Almedande continued: “You.”

---

Travelling with Shamal was not a pleasant experience by any means. Now that he thought about it, Feisha didn’t really get on with any of the royal brothers.

The oldest one…it might be easier to ask for the reasons Feisha would get on well with him. None, that is. Same with the middle one. The youngest one was a chatterbox that would never shut up.

“Are you not at all tired from talking?” Feisha finally interrupted.

“Nope, not at all. In fact, I’m so excited I could die – I can’t believe I’m going to the legendary Noah’s Ark!” responded Shamal, giddily covering his face with shaking hands.

“Legendary…” It was a legend indeed. But… “I think you’re overreacting a tad bit.”

“Overreacting?” Shamal looked at him with wide eyes. “But there are so many of my idols living in Noah’s Ark!”

………

“Like?”

“Like Gin! Did you know that he’s the most powerful third-generation vampire? Apparently his power is second to that of Lord Cain’s alone.”

“…The Gin you speak of doesn’t exist in Noah’s Ark.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“You know the saying, “Never meet your heroes”?”

“Why?”

“Because all your hopes and dreams are bound to get crushed by reality.”

---

Translator’s notes

“Looks like I couldn’t avoid fate after all. […] it must remain that way lest we allow memories to become more and cloud our view of the future.”

obscure, hard-to-translate references: 275, tracy: 2

And here we have another weird-ass reference I just could not translate. This entire speech of Feisha’s (excluding the sentence on bankruptcy) is quoted straight from a poem called 念奴娇·赤壁怀古 niàn nú jiāo · chì bì huái gǔ, the subject of which is the Battle of Red Cliffs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Red_Cliffs). I pretty much just did a straight translation of the poem’s meaning.

One point to take notice of is “plans led customers to their doom”. In the poem, the speaker talks of his plans destroying enemy ships while he made small talk elsewhere; Feisha replaced the word ‘ships’ with ‘customers’, before backpedalling because it made him sound like a murderer.

“Tell Shamal to meet us at the gate in ten minutes.”

His name is 斯马尔 sī mǎ ěr. His English name comes from the ancient city of Uxmal (乌斯马尔 wū sī mǎ ěr), pronounced as “Oosh-mahl”. Thus, Shamal.

He looked to be a little younger than Locktini, cute in a baby-faced kind of way that almost resembled a small animal.

Rather than small animal, the raw said that he resembled a雪娃娃 xuě wáwá (lit. snow doll). I have no idea what a snow doll is, but when I searched 雪娃娃 on google it gave me loads of pictures of cute little animals, so.[/hide]