Vol 1 Chapter 1 (2/2)

The languid light of the afternoon sun danced along his eyelashes Just by

looking at hi pleasurable that sent shi+vers up

her spine

----How beautiful…

As she gazed at hi eyelashes, the fairy suddenly

raised his face

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

Their eyes azed directly at Ann

As if he were thinking so, the fairy briefly knit his brows But then,

seeht you looked

faot it-- you look just like a scarecrow”

And just like that, apparently having lost all interest, he once again averted his

gaze away from Ann

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

“H-how rude… Saying such things about a girl blosso in the peak of her

youth…!”

At the fairy‟s utterance to himself, Ann‟s hands unconsciously clenched into

fists

“There‟s noton there…” the fairy shot back, still

turned away from her

“What a horrible thing to say---!?”

The person selling this rude fairy was an elderly fairy merchant He was next

to the tent, sarette When he saw Ann with her eyebrows drawn

up in anger, the fairy ain!”

“Sorry, young lady This product of mine has a foul mouth on him He

harasses all the humans who pass by, no matter who they are Pay him no

mind and continue on your way”

“I do mind! It‟s really not any of my business, but you‟ll never be able to sell

a pet fairy with such a foul

hio already?!”

“He‟s not a pet fairy He‟s a warrior fairy”

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

Ann‟s eyes widened It seemed that this was the tent she‟d been told about, the

one that sold warrior fairies

Still, she couldn‟t believe it

“A warrior fairy?! That can‟t be? No matter how you look at it, he‟s more fit

to be sold as a pet fairy I‟ve seen warrior fairies before They were huge, and

tough as rocks”

“This is also a warrior fairy He‟s an excellent specimen; they say 3 fairy

hunters died hunting him”

With an openly doubtful expression, Ann crossed her arms

“The oji-san I talked to earlier did say that you were selling a “low quality

product” Aren‟t you just calling this foul-mouthed pet fairy a warrior fairy so

that you can sell him?”

“For fairyI wouldn‟t lie”

Ann returned her gaze to the fairy

The fairy was looking at Ann again He was s faintly, as if he found

so funny

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

It was a fearless expression He certainly didn‟t look like an obedient fairy He

had an air about hi, but that still didn‟t mean

that he looked strong enough to be useful as a warrior fairy

“I want a warrior fairy, but… Do you have any others besides him?”

At her question, the fairy merchant shook his head

“Warrior fairies are tricky to handle You can‟t deal with more than one at a

time He‟s the only one I have for sale Just so you know, I‟m the only one in

this fairy o to Libonpool, 60 Caron

north of here, there‟s one other fairy merchant who sells warrior fairies”

“If I have to make a detour to Libonpool, I won‟t ar

sculpture festival,” Annon her thumbnail

“Hey, scarecrow”

Suddenly, the fairy opened his lared at him

“By “scarecrow” do you happen to mean me, the lovely 15 year old maiden

before whom even flowers hide their faces in shame?!”

“Who else is there here besides you? Stop dilly-dallying and buy me”

For a moment, Ann was completely stunned

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

“Buy me… I-is that an order…?”

The fairya surprised face, clutched his belly and

laughed heartily

“This is great! This is the first time I‟ve ever heard him tell anyone to buy him

Did you fall in love with this young lady at first sight or so? How

about it, ive you

a huge deal and let you have him for 100 Cres If not for that foul mouth of his,

I‟d sell hi to spend 300 Cres to

buy him as a pet fairy”

“That would be if he didn‟t have such a foul mouth~~”

But the aested was indeed cheap

Warrior fairies and pet fairies were rare, and so they were expensive 100 Cres

was equal to 1 gold coin For a warrior fairy, it was an unprecedentedly low

price

“Hey, you If you‟re telling me to buy you, does that mean you have faith in

your abilities as a warrior fairy?”

At this, the fairy looked up at Ann with a glint in his eyes

“What do you want me to do?”

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

“Guard duty I will be traveling to Lewiston alone I want you to protect me

on the way there”

The fairy smiled confidently

“That‟s nothing I‟ll even give you a kiss as a free bonus”

“I don‟t need such an overbearing bonus! Especially for my precious first kiss,

it would be a shame to have it stolen away like that”

“Such a child”

“Well excusea child!”

Of course she would have preferred a more serious and obedient warrior fairy

if it were possible But she didn‟t have time to make a detour all the way to

Libonpool Ann made her decision

----It can’t be helped!! So he’s got a foul mouth, so what? I can’t afford to be

picky

She took a he out of the pocket of her dress She opened it and took out

the only gold cointhe copper coins

“Ojii-san, I‟ll buy this fairy”

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

“Hehe, so you gave in after all, eh, miss?”

The hed When Ann held out the gold

coin, the fairy merchant examined it carefully and accepted it Then he

re around his neck

“Alright, then, let‟s confir”

The fairyand took out what looked like

a transparent cloth folded up to around the size of a hu

hold of the tip, he shook it once and the folded up ite

about as long as Ann was tall appeared before her eyes

The half-transparent wing, which reflected rainbows of light according to the

condition of the lighting, was so beautiful that she was hesitant to touch it

Although it had been folded up, there were no wrinkles or lines like a cloth

would have When she reached out her hand and tightly touched it, it felt like

silk The save her the shi+vers

“This is his wing?”

“That‟s right I‟ll prove it to you”

As he said this, the fairyat the tip and somewhere

in theit out Immediately, the fairy under the

tent groaned

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

The fairy see himself, and his whole body stiffened He was

gritting his teeth

“Stop!! I get it already, so stop!!”

At Ann‟s words, the fairy

The fairy‟s body went liround When he

raised his head, he glared balefully at the fairy merchant

The fairyand handed the

bag to Ann

“Hang this around your neck and keep it on you at all times No matter what

you do, be careful If this bag leaves your hands, there‟s no telling what the

fairy will do to you I had an acquaintance as killed by his oarrior

fairy after it took its wing back Warrior fairies are ferocious That‟s precisely

why they‟re sold as warrior fairies If they get their wing back, they aren‟t

content to just run away It‟s likely that they‟ll kill their master”

“But what should I do when I got to bed? Won‟t I be taken by surprise while

I‟?”

“When you go to bed,inside your clothes and hold

onto it while you sleep”

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

“With that I‟ll be okay?”

“Just think about it This person is holding your heart in the palm of their

hands Even if you succeeded in killing theht be able to crush your

heart in the ile So

they‟re frightened and can‟t act rashly Having their wings daed is a fear

that appeals to a fairy‟s deepest instincts You sa much pain he was in

just now, didn‟t you?”

Certainly, after seeing how he suffered she could understand why fairies

couldn‟t easily strike out at their masters

After actually feeling what it was like to use fear and pain to control another

person, her depression about using a fairy only increased

“Just be careful Especially of this one Up until now, every time it looked like

heout insults and nastiness that you‟d

never i at his face, and in the end

he scared away all the customers and remained unpurchased And yet, this

time he was the one who told you to buy him I don‟t know if he‟s just that

damn fickle or what, but whatever the case, this is a miracle”

“Is he really that troublesome?!”

“Are you going to change yourhim, after all?”

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

Ann though a minute, but then shook her head

“I don‟t have tio to Libonpool I‟ll buy him”

“In that case, it‟s fine Be careful with that wing Make sure he never gets the

chance to take it from you”

When Ann nodded, the fairythe chain around

the fairy‟s ankle

The fairy gave a thin smile, as sharp as a blade, and whispered to the fairy

merchant, “Just you wait One day, I‟ll come to kill you”

“Oh, isn‟t that nice I‟ll be looking forward to it”

Lightly parrying the threatening farewell, the fairy merchant removed the

chain

The fairy stood up He was tall His wing, shi+ with rainbow colors in

the sunlight, extended to his knees

“So, I guess I‟ve purchased you Please treat me kindly”

As she said this, the fairy sly

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

“The state of your finances old coin, eh,

Scarecrow?”

“Don‟t call me scarecrow! I‟m Ann!”

Listening to this exchange between Ann and the fairy, the fairy merchant

made an uneasy face

“Miss, do you really think you can handle him?”

“She can handle ht, Scarecrow?” the fairy in question answered

Being looked down at by a face that see fun of her, Ann

yelled once again, “It‟s Ann! Ann Halford! Next time you call me Scarecrow,

I‟ punch!”

“I guess she‟ll be alright?”

Ann snorted and, while glaring at the fairy, replied vehemently to the fairy

dealer‟s ht, you,

come with me”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Say, what is your na beside her on the

driver‟s seat of the cart as she applied the whip to the horses

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

The fairy crossed his legs long-sufferingly, crossed his arms, and leaned back

against the backrest of the driver‟s seat You could say he was lounging

Between the fairy and Ann, who handled the horses fussily, the fairy seemed a

hundred tie

The fairy glanced over at Ann as if it were a huge bother

“Why do you ask?”

“Because, I don‟t knohat to call you, right?”

“You can call me Tom or Sam, or another of those names that you humans are

fond of”

Generally, when using a fairy, the ive it a name But Ann

didn‟t like this, because she felt it was hu

your real name

“If it were me, I‟d want to be called by my real name Aren‟t you the same? I

don‟t want to just give you so you that So

tell me your name”

“I don‟t care what you call ive me

whatever name you want and call me that”

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

The fairy turned away Ann peered at the side of his face and said, “Then I

guess I‟ll call you „Crow‟?”

As expected, the fairy looked at Ann with an extremely unpleasant expression

“In exchange for being called Scarecrow?”

“That‟s right, Crow-san”

The fairy knit his eyebrows Then, after a moment of silence, he said

reluctantly, “Shall Fen Shall”

“That‟s your name?”

At her question, he nodded Ann smiled

“What a pretty name Much nicer than Crow Which part of „Shall Fen Shall‟

is your name and which part is your family name?”

“The whole thing is my name There‟s no separation between personal and

family names like in human names”

“Oh, really? But „Shall Fen Shall‟ is too long… So I‟ll just call you Shall Is

that okay?”

“I said you should call me however you like, didn‟t I? You are my master”

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

“I guess that‟s true…”

Hearing it directly fro she

was happy about Her sense of guilt at having bought a fairy to use as a slave

becaer

Under Ann‟s guidance, the cart pulled out of Redington and proceeded

towards the bloody highway

The fields of wheat ripe for the harvest disappeared, giving way on both sides

of the road to sparse forest

Feeling that they were close to the bloody highway, Ann opened her mouth

“I bought you to serve asI promise you

When we‟ve crossed the bloody highway and arrived safely in Lewiston, I‟ll

return your wing to you”

Hearing this, Shall looked at Ann with distrust

“You‟re saying you‟ll free me?”

“That‟s right”

At this, Shall made a surprised face for a moment, but then immediately let

out a stifled laugh from deep in his throat

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

“You‟re going to let a fairy that you spent a gold coin on go? Are there really

such naive humans?”

“„Naive‟ is a rude way to put it I just think that fairies and humans can be

friends I don‟t like using a person that I ht be able to become friends with

I bought you because I needed a reliable guard immediately and had no other

options But if I don‟t have to, I don‟t want to use fairies Of course, selling

you to some other hu

to you That‟s why, if possible, while we‟re journeying together I‟d like us to

be like regular friends”

“Friends? There‟s no e could be friends”

Ann sighed at his cold words

“That may be so, but… This is just my and mama‟s ideal But with ideals, as

with drea you have them, if no one makes them into a

reality, they‟ll always just be an ideal So I‟ to make it a reality”

“I guess we‟ll see the proof of whether or not you‟re really that much of a

scarecrow-brain once we arrive in Lewiston”

“Didn‟t I tell you not to call me Scarecrow?!”

The palhtly intercepted it

Ann chewed on her lower lip, vexed

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

“Why did you tell me to buy you, if you think I‟m such an idiot? If it were me,

I‟d definitely not want to be used by soe idiot”

“Humans are all the same In that case, it‟s easier for me if my master is a

blockhead You just seeest blockhead I‟ve seen in the past

few years”

“For sohly

depressed…”

Ann understood why Shall had gone unsold for so long

If he was this nasty about being her guard, hoould he be when it came to

actually protecting her?

The wind ruffling the lace on the hem of her dress suddenly became colder

Ann noticed that a wild, rocky highway spread out before her This was the

bloody highway The cart slowly entered the highway

The wheels rolled over the stones, and the tall cart swayed left and right with

the vibration

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

The sky was clear, but the air was cold The vicinity of the bloody highway

was surrounded by highdown from

the h places

The wasteland of dried grass extended as far as the eye could see

There were occasional, straggling trees, but it was obvious at first glance that

the soil was depleted

Along the bloody highway, there weren‟t any towns or villages However, the

rulers of each of the territories the highway traversed maintained the part of

the highway that passed through their own territory

Although the highas “maintained,” that didn‟t mean that they captured

the robbers or drove aild beasts There were only 2 things the territorial

rulers did

First, they trimmed once a year so that plants wouldn‟t encroach on the

highway

Second, they built simple fortresses, called “Rest stops,” where travelers could

spend the night

The bloody highas dangerous, but it functioned as a highway thanks to

the territorial rulers perfor these two services

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

Ann had detailed dom Because they were

indispensable for traveling, Emma had especially treasured these maps She

regularly updated thein new information

Taking out the detailed dom, Ann checked

the location of the closest rest stop As the sun began to sink, they hurried

towards the rest stop, and they were able to make it by the time the sun had set

The rest stop was h stone walls There was no

roof The gate was a drawbridge-type iron door operated using chains The

interior was overgroeeds, and wide enough to easily fit 5 wagons

Basically, travelers could run inside the walls for protection from robbers and

wild beasts

Ann drove the cart into the rest stop surrounded by trees Then she closed the

iron door

Ann was tired fro rattled all day by the cart for the first time in half a

year She decided to go to sleep early

She took out two tanned leather mats and two blankets that were stored under

the driver‟s seat Ann spread one set out next to the cart, to use herself Then

she handed the other set to Shall

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

“Chose for yourself where you want to sleep Spread this out and use it to lay

on And this is for dinner I‟m sorry it‟s not much, but we can‟t afford luxury

on the road”

She then handed Shall a cup full of grape wine and an apple

Taking the rest of their journey into consideration, she‟d decided to be thrifty

with their dinner

Ann covered herself with the blanket, bit into the apple, and within moments

she‟d devoured it coulped down

the wine The cold bitterness soon turned to warmth as it moved into her

sto her ears heat up a bit

Shall spread out his mat a short distance away from Ann‟s, sat down and

covered his lap with the blanket Holding the cup of wine in one hand, he

gazed up at the moon

There was a full ht of the moon illuminated Shall‟s face

Bathed in ance was further polished It was like a

jeith dew and glily

The wing on his back also shi+ned a gentle, transparent light green color

It appeared that, unlike the one that was plucked off, the wing on Shall‟s back

changed color and lu on his mood

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

Are the wings on fairies’ backs warm? Or are they cold?

She was suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to touch it and see

“Fairies‟ wings sure are beautiful Is it okay for me to touch it?”

While asking, she reached out her hand At this, Shall‟s wing trembled,

rippled slightly, then beat upon the grass two, three times

As Ann snatched back her hand with a gasp, Shall glared at her with sharp

eyes

“Don‟t touchin your hands, the rest is mine”

In the face of this cold fury, Ann re

And that, to a fairy, their wings were as precious as their life

“I‟htless of me”

She apologized sincerely, and, while exa Shall‟s face in profile,

gripped the string to the leather pouch that hung down the front of her chest

A fairy‟s wings were the source of their life force, like a heart was to a human

Using a fairy involved holding another person‟s heart in the palm of your hand,

and threatening to crush it if they didn‟t do as you said

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

That hat Ann was doing From a fairy‟s point of view, it must have

seemed like the act of a demon

Ann sighed softly

----I hate this

Perhaps she could get Shall to do as she asked without acting like that

If, for example, she were able to make friends with him? In that case, there

would be no need to use hiet

hiree to help her of his own free will

“Hey, Shall… I have a proposal for you…”

Ann lifted her head a bit

“I said so this afternoon too, but why don‟t we try being friends?”

“Are you an idiot?”

Answering brusquely[7], Shall turned his face away

Ann laid her head down on the blanket, depressed

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

----It’s probably no use, right away But I have the feeling that if I’m sincere

towards him, some day he’ll come to understand At any rate, I wonder what

he’s thinking about while looking at the moon His eyes are so beautiful…

Her eyelids grew heavy, and Ann dozed off to sleep

In the coan to dream

As always, the setting was that of ca out

Ann rapped up in a blanket, and E about busily,

co in and out of the cart

Seeing Eht before her eyes, Ann felt a sense of relief At the same

ti hot traced a line down her cheeks

“There, there, Ann What‟s wrong? Does it hurt somewhere?”

“That‟s not it I had a bad dream A bad dream that you died, mama”

“That‟s silly Having a drea well I‟ll

check and see if you have a fever”

Eers were long and

slender, and always cool That was because she cooled her fingertips in water

when handling silver sugar, which melted easily

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

Those fingers were unbearably precious, and so about them seemed

fleeting Without thinking, Ann gripped the cool fingers

“Mao away!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the sound of her own voice shouting this, Ann aith a start

She realized that she‟d been drearipped

were real Shall‟s face was so close that she could feel his breath His black

hair seemed about to touch Ann‟s cheek

“W-what?!”

She pushed away the fingers she‟d been gripping and leapt up

----Don’t tellabout

before?!

Shall smiled wryly and rose That smile was chilly

It slowly dawned on her that Shall did not appear to have the proposed “bonus”

on his mind

----What on Earth was Shall doing…? Just noas touching my neck…

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

“Just now you were touching my neck…”

That‟s when Ann noticed that the leather string hanging around her neck was

sticking out fro was the one from

which the bag containing Shall‟s wing hung

“Shall Don‟t tell ?”

“I alot it,” he said with no trace of reluctance

“You really did try to steal it?! That‟s horrible…”

“What is?”

“I said so, didn‟t I? That I wanted to be friends with you And yet, you…”

Ann really wanted to be friends with Shall And yet, she felt that those

feelings had been betrayed, and thatAnn‟s eyes, Shall

laughed ly

“You want to be friends? You‟re holding the other person‟s life in the palm of

your hand, and you say you want to be friends??”

At these words, Ann was taken aback

“I was purchased by you I‟ used by you It‟s not possible for us to be

friends”

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

If Ann wanted to make her ideal into a reality, she would have to return his

wing to hi for his help That

was the only way

But, to be honest, she was afraid to return his wing That‟s why Ann asked

hi his life in her hands Even she knew that it

was asking too iven their

current relationshi+p

As long as she possessed his wing, she was his master

Shall had merely done as only natural for a fairy and tried to take back

his wing from his master

Thinking that she‟d been “betrayed” and getting sad and so on was barking up

the wrong tree

The truth was that Ann was siuard down

“I really am an idiot, huh?”

She sighed lightly Ann had been doing nothingto make

herself feel better by thinking “It would be fine if ere be friends” She

realized no selfish and stupid she‟d been

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

“I have to go to Lewiston I can‟t afford to take any dangerous chances such as

returning your wing to you and then asking you to protect et to

Lewiston That‟s why, even though I‟d decided in my heart to use you, a part

ofthat I wanted to be a friend… was stupid of me”

Ann closed her eyes and took a deep breath Then she opened her eyes again

“I said I would return your wing to you if you helped et to Lewiston

safely Did you try to steal your wing back because you can‟t believe me even

if I give youused by a

human even for a short period of time is so hateful? Either way, it‟s fine From

now on, I won‟t let et it”

She looked up at the expressionless fairy He didn‟t answer

“While we‟re on the subject, I‟ll still keep my promise When we reach

Lewiston, I will give you back your wing After that, I‟ll ask you again

whether or not we can be friends Until then, I am your master”

Shall gave a derisive snort and turned his back to her It seeic that

there was only one wing on his back, reflecting the light of the moon

Looking up at the night sky, he said to himself “The moon sure is beautiful”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

----I screwed up

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Vol 1 - Ginzatoushi+ to Kuro no Yousei

Even with his eyes turned towards the moon, Shall Fen Shall are of

Ann‟s presence as she lay behind him She radiated nervousness The