[194] 6. Ilhwa's Liquor (3)
"Lady Peope! Please forgive us! If you add Rena's and my reductions together, it's only eighty years. I dragged my sister in by force. So at least spare my sister's punishment!"
"What's wrong with forty years? You won't live more than sixty at best anyway. Five years is more than enough time to do what you want, isn't it?"
What determines biological traits is lifespan. Fairies possess reason like humans, but having lived for ages, their mindset is completely different.
A fairy's life gives them ample time to atone for mistakes. Because of that they're not stubborn and they're frank, but they have no way of understanding how someone with a limited lifespan feels.
It's like a human not knowing how precious one hour is to a mayfly.
From Peope's point of view—she'd only been alive a year—death was a word you'd only bother with a thousand years from now.
Kanya's mother fell forward onto the floor. They'd known the newly assigned magistrate was inexperienced, but nobody had dreamed she'd hand down such a brutal ruling.
"Lady Peope, you are an enforcer of the Law. Yet no one in the fairy realm has ever imposed such a harsh punishment. I myself received only twenty years. Please change your mind."
"What? Are you looking down on me because I'm only a year old? Don't underestimate me! An enforcer of the Law has the authority to sentence up to fifty years of lifespan. Are you defying my inherent authority?"
"If you truly made that ruling, give us a reason we can accept."
"Hmph, fine! I'll put it plainly! Kanya and Rena's unauthorized departure from Heaven is a twenty-year cut! And the other twenty years are for bringing heresy into Heaven! Happy now?"
Peope pointed at Shirone and the others. She hadn't received a report that a heresy had entered, but she'd seen them with her own eyes here, so she judged herself authorized to rule.
"Lady Peope! These people are not heretics! The boy here is a Nephilim."
"A—Nephilim?"
Peope stared at Shirone.
Is he really a Nephilim?
Heir of angels. One who is free from the Law. The primal knowledge granted at birth flickered through her mind.
Fairies aren't arbiters of the Law; they can only punish within the defined statutes. In truth, no punishment could be imposed on a Nephilim.
Still, Peope didn't back down.
As the youngest of the 72 ranks among forty-eight thousand fairies, she recalled the daily verbal abuse from senior sisters. If she failed to assert her authority here and went home humiliated, she'd be mocked until the next youngest was born.
"It still doesn't change the crime! I'll let the Nephilim go! But not everyone here is a Nephilim! So the charge of bringing heresy stands!"
Kanya's mother raised her head and protested.
"They're not Nephilim but companions of a Nephilim. Branding them heretics violates the Law."
"Shut up! A subject dares lecture an enforcer of the Law about the Law! I carry out Ra's will. To oppose me is to oppose the god!"
"Wait."
When Shirone rose from his knees, Peope crossed her arms and looked him over.
Fighting a Nephilim wasn't wise, but however powerful a Nephilim might be, he had no right to interfere with the execution of the Law.
"What? If you obstruct the execution, I won't forgive you."
"No—I'm just trying to clear up a misunderstanding. We weren't brought here by that girl. We simply followed her. If that's true, you can't punish that girl, can you?"
"Followed? What do you mean?"
"I happened to find that girl outside Heaven. The door was open, so I went in. I'm free from the Law, so I can go wherever I want. I only barged into this house for dinner. So those two sisters did nothing wrong."
"Who'd fall for such a lie?"
"Then prove it. Show evidence that I'm lying."
Heaven's mechanical systems could detect tiny variables, but they couldn't read emotions.
The system would verify that Shirone and the others had entered with Kanya, but it couldn't determine the nuance of their relationship. All of this was possible because Shirone was a Nephilim.
Peope's eyes darted about.
She had to find another way. If word spread that she'd been fooled by human words, she'd be ridiculed for a thousand years.
"Fine. Then I'll restore twenty years to Kanya and Rena's lifespans. I will also permit the Nephilim's entry. But the rest are clearly heretics who deny the Law, so I'll cut their lifespans. You—start by telling me your name."
Peope pointed at Arin.
Of course Arin did not answer.
Whether by strict causality or not, the power that grants or cuts lifespan apparently required a name. Arin wasn't foolish enough to let her name be openly written on a death roster.
"No way. Why should I tell you my name?"
"You really are—! Such vulgar heretics, you don't understand the fear of fairies!"
Shirone scowled.
What do you think a human life is worth? You'll die someday too.
"I'm a fairy. You can't compare with a human life! Besides, I've only lived one year! I have so much—so much—life left."
Shirone snorted.
The future remains the future because it will always come. That's why we respect those who came before and mourn them when they pass.
Peope seemed incapable of grasping that the concept of the future is immutable.
No—she probably hadn't even thought about it.
She said she was one year old. Compared to a human one-year-old, her immaturity was obvious.
Peope put her hand on her hip and said, "Ah, so that's your attitude? For the crime of withholding your name, you will be judged by those above me. And because Kanya and Rena hid blasphemous heretics, I'll add another thirty years—both of them will have fifty years cut from their lifespans!"
Kanya's family collapsed.
Fifty years meant that once the Law was executed, Kanya would die.
The actual enforcement of lifespan reductions was handled by the highest of the 72 ranks, so she wouldn't die instantly, but once the report went up, it would be processed within hours.
Peope, who had been evaluating her own ruling, turned as if exhausted from another hard day's work.
"That's the ruling. I'll be going then."
Peope's flight toward the door stopped.
Rian and Tess blocked her path. Shirone and Amy flanked her.
"Hmph, you think you can overpower me? Me, a fairy?"
"Not impossible. Think of it like catching a sparrow."
"Is that so? Then try it."
Peope widened her eyes.
Rian's face contorted as she gripped the greatsword's hilt. A strange force twisted her arm. Tess, unaware of what was happening, grabbed Rian's shoulder and felt the same pain.
"Hoho! If you don't move fast, something will snap."
The fairies' single-concept-chain ability resembled heterodox ritual in many ways. They expand a concept and wield it like magic.
Peope was born of the Spiral and could dominate anything to do with twisting. Even Rian, whose strength rivaled a Skima user, had trouble resisting.
But as their bodies began obeying their brains' commands fully, their limbs moved little by little. Rian swung the greatsword and the Spiral's hold broke—Peope staggered.
Tess seized the opening and drove her sabre forward.
Peope leapt into the air to evade and looked at her in disbelief.
Skima. A giant's technique.
Fairies and giants are the two pillars that support this world. In Law they're equal, but each privately believes itself superior. Being bested by a giant's technique was an affront to pride.
"These are for real!"
Peope moved so fast she left afterimages.
Rian and Tess's paths overlapped and left a gap in their motion.
Seizing that instant, Peope channeled Spiral power into the door. The iron center curled clockwise, a hinge snapped, and the door fell away.
"Hohoho! Fools! Then—goodbye!"
As Peope surged out, she sensed something wrong. For some reason her speed was slowing.
When Shirone closed from the front, she shot up to the ceiling, but even that was sluggish.
By the time she realized time itself was flowing more slowly, she was already in Shirone's grip.
Shirone released Slow and held Peope up before him. Caught, she looked dazed.
"How are you affecting time?"
Controlling time is a light magic. There was no light in the room that could amplify such a spell.
Primal knowledge flashed through Peope's mind. Nephilim are heirs of angels. And angels… are masters of light.
"This is—!"
Peope's face fell. She struggled to break free, but Shirone's strength held.
No—the problem was the fairies' lack of muscle.
Fairies specialize in spirit power; their physical strength ranks lowest among the Laws.
"Let go! I said let go!"
Peope's struggles did nothing.
She clenched her teeth and cast a spell. The moment Spiral power infused her, Shirone tightened his grip.
Peope's eyes widened and she let out a gasp as the air in her stomach escaped.
"Haaack! Stop! My stomach's going to burst!"
"Restore Kanya and her family's lifespans to what they were."
Peope's tear-streaked face went cold.
"Hmph! Blackmail? Useless. I report upward, but I do not carry out the execution. You attacked an enforcer of the Law, so even if you are a Nephilim you won't escape unscathed. You'd better let me go."
"Blackmail? I could kill you."
If she couldn't be swayed, Kanya would die. He couldn't claim to bear no responsibility for that.
He tightened his grip and Peope's face went pale. Still, she would not abandon the pride of an enforcer.
"K—kill me. I'm not scared at all."
The more he pressed, the stronger he felt her heartbeat.
She was a fragile creature. He could almost crush her without meaning to.
She was afraid.
"Not afraid? Then why are you trembling?"
Taunted, Peope flared her eyes fiercely.
"The annihilation of existence is terrifying to anyone! Knowing that and still choosing death—don't compare me to pathetic humans like you!"
"Then die."
"Kill me! I said kill me! I can die anytime!"
Shirone hoisted Peope up. If he slammed her onto the floor, she would die instantly.
Peope trembled more violently. Just imagining a small corpse with ruptured organs made him sick.
She burst into a lamenting wail.
She'd lived one year and was leaving. Her dream of becoming the top of the 72 ranks of fairies ended today.
Tears ran down Peope's hands and Shirone frowned.
How is one supposed to accept a world that even dominates intrinsic value?
"You fear it and yet choose death? Why? Why can't you think any other way?"
"Hmph! You humans wouldn't understand! But I will say nothing! I will not yield to a human as an enforcer of the Law!"
"Fine. If you've given up on life, you're effectively already dead, so I'll take your life easily."
Peope's face was smudged with tears.
She wanted mercy. But if he announced he'd kill her while holding power over life and death, what could she possibly answer?
Should she kneel and beg? An enforcer of the Law submitting to subjects was unimaginable.
"Go on! Kill me! Just do it now!"
"But if you beg to be spared, I'll spare you."