On the island of Britannia, wars and local skirmishes among the fairies shared one defining trait—an absence of any. The fundamental difference between fairies and humans, combined with their innate powers, allowed each clan to secure crushing victories even when outnumbered.
This was especially true when the clan had someone like a Sub-Bell, whose power was overwhelming. The Fang Clan was a prime example. Dividing their forces to flank and ambush the enemy was among the most common tactics seen across the Britannian battlefields.
Thus, Shiomi had fully expected the Northern Fairies to do the same. What surprised him was that they had managed to cross the complex eastern mountains and directly strike near the Earth Clan's territory—practically one of its rear bases—ambushing the army marching out from Norwich. It made Shiomi realize he might have underestimated their mobility.
"My deepest gratitude. If the Witch-sama and the Sage-sama hadn't arrived, I fear the Earth Clan's army, myself included, would have been wiped out in that ambush."
Once the two joined the fight, the tide turned immediately. The Northern Fairies were annihilated.
Rain from Aesc's downpour washed the battlefield clean, carrying the blood of fallen soldiers into the fields along the road. As he ordered the Earth Clan troops to regroup, the Black Knight Ector bowed to the two and expressed his thanks.
"It's fine. We only came because we worried you'd be ambushed on the road," Shiomi replied, glancing at the piled corpses of the Northern troops. "It worked out well enough."
"The Northern Fairies were fierce—more savage than the rumors claimed," Ector said, pulling an arrow from the mud. "We were marching when a rain of arrows hit us, killing many. Then it turned into close combat."
Shiomi rubbed his chin. "So they weakened the enemy from range before launching their assault..."
As an ambush tactic, it was nearly flawless. They must have drilled beforehand and chosen only their elite fighters.
"Since the Earth Clan's forces are intact," Aesc said, leaning against the all-terrain vehicle's handrail, "I ask that you reorganize immediately and move to the front lines. The Northern Fairies have already clashed with the Manchester garrison."
"No wonder they struck," Ector muttered, nodding firmly. He turned, bowed again to Shiomi, then went to rally the survivors and send a messenger back to Norwich for reinforcements.
Shiomi then noticed something strange—the bodies of the Northern Fairy soldiers were of varying sizes. He had known they were composed of fairies splintered from different clans, yet many of the corpses still seemed oddly human.
He approached one of them and removed the helmet covering its face. A human face stared up at him, eyes wide open in disbelief—unable to comprehend how their perfect ambush had failed.
Shiomi frowned and gently closed the man's eyes.
Noticing this, Aesc jumped down from the vehicle without hesitation. Gone was her usual saintly composure; instead, there was something raw and untamed about her presence.
"What's wrong?" asked Aesc.
"Humans," Shiomi replied, removing the helmets from seven or eight more soldiers clad in similar armor.
Before them appeared different faces, yet there was no doubt—they were all human.
"The Northern Fairies send humans into battle?" Aesc was clearly surprised.
Through his long travels, Shiomi had gained a broad understanding of humanity across Britannia. These short-lived humans did not arise naturally. They were creations of the fairies—mass-produced beings, much like industrial products.
Using methods akin to Magecraft, the fairies replicated and manufactured infants in factories. Once grown, these humans were sent out into the world and assigned to fairies qualified to possess them.
Those of higher quality were auctioned or traded. It wasn't even considered a secret.
Shiomi's current hypothesis was that the Star-Eater disaster had wiped out true humanity. After the birth of Faerie Britain, the fairies replicated humans to satisfy their desires and needs. Because the technique resembled that used for homunculi, their lifespan did not exceed thirty years.
After all, the Einzbern artificial humans did not even live past twenty. In that sense, the fairies' technology was actually more advanced.
Since humans were kept as valuable assets, the clans never allowed them onto the battlefield. Yet the Northern Fairies had done the opposite—arming humans and merging them with fairy soldiers to form mixed armies.
That the Northern Fairies possessed humans and the technology to replicate them was no secret.
"No, think back carefully to the battle just now, Aesc." Shiomi turned to her. "Weren't some of the soldiers in that ambush fighting with unusual bravery—almost as if they were uplifting the morale of the entire unit?"
Aesc tightened her grip on her wand. "My husband means... these human soldiers fought to the death for the Northern Fairies of their own will?"
"Could they have been brainwashed?" Baobhan Sith asked uneasily.
Some fairies excelled at psychic abilities, capable of mesmerizing weaker fairies with their gaze—and humans would be even more susceptible.
"No..." Aesc extended her hand and used Magecraft to examine the corpses of the human soldiers. "Even in death, there's no sign their minds were tampered with."
Totorot shifted uneasily. "What in the world did Mab do to make humans march into battle willingly—and fight to the death like that?"
"Whatever the reason, it proves Mab and the Northern Fairies have prepared thoroughly for this war." Shiomi looked toward the distant sky where the battlefield lay. "We must reach the front lines immediately. Otherwise, the Southern Fairies are doomed to lose."
"But the Fang Clan has already—"
"For the Northern Fairies, the only real threat among the Southern Fairies is Sub-Bell Wryneck," Shiomi said. "But what if Mab, the true descendant of the Northern Fairies, possesses strength equal to—or even greater than—a Sub-Bell's?"
In the Fairy War, the presence of powerful individuals could decide the entire course of battle.
"Then there's no time to waste. We must depart immediately and reach the front lines as soon as possible." Aesc Shiomi gripped Shiomi's arm tightly. "If the Southern Fairies are wiped out, everything we've done will be meaningless."
Shiomi nodded. "Yes."
Then Aesc and the others returned to the vehicle. Shiomi, stepping out last, turned to look at the bodies being dragged into the fields by the earth fairies for burial.
Mab might be a Sub-Bell's equal... but perhaps the true deciding factor in this war would be these short-lived humans.
A quiet voice within him whispered that thought.
...
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