Beside Lucian, the fairy whom Irina called Liliana tilted her head as she looked at him, seemingly trying to figure out what he meant.
The pair of delicate wings on her back, as thin as cicada wings, beat rapidly, allowing her to hover effortlessly in midair.
Ever since Lucian and Irina's conversation had caught her attention, she had abandoned her inspection of the Dragonkin Soldier and flown over instead.
Yet after hearing Lucian's request, Liliana didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she suddenly said something that seemed completely unrelated.
"There's a scent about you that feels very nostalgic."
"Besides the smell of ancient dragons... you also carry the scent of the elves."
Lucian blinked in confusion.
'Elves?'
He had only just met a fairy, and now elves had entered the conversation?
Were they the kind that lived in forests with pointed ears and beautiful appearances, who either absolutely hated, or absolutely loved, forming bonds with other races?
As far as Lucian could remember, there wasn't any relevant lore in Elden Ring.
Nor could he recall ever coming into contact with anything related to elves.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Before Lucian could make sense of it, Liliana disappeared.
Just... vanished.
Startled, Lucian instinctively looked around.
No matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find even a trace of her.
Left with no choice, he turned toward Irina.
"Is she always this... unpredictable?"
Seeing Liliana vanish without warning, Irina awkwardly looked away.
Faced with Lucian's question, she quietly nodded.
Lucian sighed.
"...Taking care of someone like her can't be easy."
Shaking her head, Irina softly defended the fairy.
"...She's actually pretty interesting."
No matter what, Lucian had now experienced firsthand just how impossible fairies were to predict.
They seemed to possess absolutely no logical pattern to their behavior.
They simply acted on whatever thought crossed their minds.
Rather like a cat.
Entirely impossible to anticipate.
The next moment, Liliana reappeared.
This time, she was carrying something in both hands.
It was a plant.
Looking at it, a nostalgic smile spread across her face.
"What a pleasant surprise."
"I thought these had disappeared too."
"Ever since I came back... everything has changed..."
The plant she held was Dewgem.
It was a succulent filled with the dew of night.
It glowed softly after dark and normally grew beside bodies of water.
Lucian had collected some back in the Land of Shadow, but he still had no idea what it actually was.
That wasn't the important part.
The important part was—
It should have been inside his storage disc.
Lucian's eyes widened.
'How did she do that?'
The storage disc was completely isolated from the outside world.
Its interior functioned similarly to a sealed prison.
Under normal circumstances, nothing could enter unless its owner voluntarily opened the seal.
And yet...
Liliana had casually walked in and back out as though no barrier existed at all.
Fairies really were astonishing creatures.
Their entire existence felt strangely out of place compared to every other lifeform in the Lands Between.
If Lucian had to describe them...
They felt more like comedic cartoon characters than inhabitants of this world.
Even more bizarre was the fact that everything Liliana had displayed so far should have made him extremely wary.
Yet instead of hostility, the strongest emotion he felt was mild annoyance at her trespassing.
It was as though he instinctively liked her.
Although she reminded him somewhat of a certain green fairy from a well-known fan game, he found himself utterly incapable of harboring thoughts like punching her in the stomach, or killing her.
Instead, he subconsciously regarded her as someone firmly aligned with Lawful Good, someone fundamentally incapable of malice.
Speed akin to teleportation.
The ability to move through space at will.
The power to erase her own presence.
Combined with the fact that her race had once participated in sealing an Outer God...
If another creature possessed all those abilities, Lucian would either eliminate it immediately or avoid it at all costs.
Yet somehow...
It was extraordinarily difficult to feel any ill will toward a fairy.
'...Or is that itself one of a fairy's abilities?'
Still, having once experienced Miquella's charm firsthand, Lucian could tell this wasn't the same thing.
Otherwise, he wouldn't even have noticed anything unusual in the first place.
There simply wasn't enough information available about fairies yet.
Remaining appropriately cautious, Lucian decided to continue learning about them.
After all, fairies currently represented the greatest hope for curing the Shamans.
Even if their powers ultimately proved useless for that purpose, he still needed to understand what they were and determine whether they posed any danger.
After all...
Liliana had already formed a contract with Irina.
There was no way Lucian could simply ignore that.
Watching the fairy quietly immersed in her own thoughts, Lucian decided to continue along the topic she herself had raised.
Looking at the Dewgem she held, he asked,
"Dewgem?"
"I've collected some before, but I never figured out what it actually is."
Liliana floated closer, holding the glowing plant up before his face.
"This was one of the materials fairies used for healing long, long ago."
"In those days, Dewgem grew everywhere beside beautiful, fertile waters."
"It was an extremely common plant."
"But ever since the seal was lifted, this is the first one I've seen."
"I thought they'd disappeared together with the elves."
Lucian's eyes immediately lit up.
Fairies can heal?
Perfect.
That was exactly why he'd wanted her help in the first place.
If this so-called elven healing art really worked, that would be even better.
"Fairies used Dewgem for healing?"
"Could you explain it in more detail?"
Floating proudly in the air, Liliana puffed out her tiny chest.
"Using Dewgem was one of several healing arts practiced by fairies long ago."
"Among every healing technique we possessed, it was one of the very best."
"Later, we taught that method to the elves as well."
"Under our guidance, the elves mastered it properly."
"It was a healing art capable of curing almost any injury."
Joy welled up inside Lucian.
Even if she was exaggerating a little, the technique had to be genuinely impressive.
Even if it turned out to be unsuitable for the Shamans, simply restoring an ancient healing art would already be worthwhile.
Besides, Lucian still believed his own idea, combining the Fairy Eyes with the analytical abilities of the Great Rune, was probably the more promising solution.
So he quickly returned the conversation to the matter at hand.
"As I said before..."
"I'd like to ask for your help."
"I want to borrow your power to try treating some injured people."
"Would you be willing to help?"
Hearing that, Liliana blinked.
Only then did she seem to remember that Lucian had asked her for a favor in the first place.
Since someone was injured, Liliana nodded without hesitation.
"Of course!"
"In the past, fairies were always helping all kinds of living creatures."
"So where are the injured people? Let me have a look."
Lucian hadn't expected her to agree so readily.
"They're currently in the land where I found the Dewgem."
"That place has now been completely cut off from the Lands Between. I'll take you there later."
After a brief pause, he continued,
"Their condition is... rather unusual, so let me explain it briefly."
"They were forcibly fused together with the flesh of another species, becoming one."
"And the foreign flesh fused into them is still alive alongside them."
"Because of that, ordinary healing methods are completely ineffective."
Hearing Lucian's description, Irina couldn't help but shudder.
What kind of horrific sight was that?
Just imagining it made her skin crawl.
Liliana, meanwhile, rested her chin in her hands. For the first time since meeting her, a troubled expression appeared on her face.
"I've never encountered anything like that before..."
"It's difficult to imagine, but if they've already fused together... then ordinary healing probably wouldn't be enough."
She had never treated a case like this.
After thinking quietly for a while, she finally spoke again.
"If it were long ago, I think I probably could have."
"Back then there were other healing arts available, and the elves could help as well."
"But... in the current age, those other methods can no longer be used for various reasons."
"All I can use now are the Elven Healing Arts and my own spiritual power."
Lucian wasn't surprised.
That kind of condition truly lay beyond the scope of normal healing.
If anything, the fact that ancient fairies had once possessed a way to cure the Shaman-like victims by themselves was far more astonishing.
"That's all right. I've already learned something from Irina that gave me an idea."
"If, as she described, fairies can distinguish the unique 'concept' belonging to each living being..."
"Then as long as you can tell them apart, I can use my own abilities to separate them."
Liliana visibly relaxed, her cheerful smile returning.
"A fairy's eyes can absolutely tell them apart!"
"Would you like to try?"
Without waiting for Lucian's reply, she pressed a hand against his forehead.
A mysterious power flowed toward him, waiting only for his permission before entering his eyes.
Lucian didn't hesitate.
He released his resistance and allowed Liliana's power to flow into him.
Instantly, the world before his eyes changed completely.
—
Then he immediately shut that vision off.
Covering his eyes with one hand, Lucian had no desire whatsoever to relive what he'd just experienced.
It turned out that a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree field of vision wasn't something a human accustomed to seeing through two eyes could adapt to in an instant.
The bizarre perspective overwhelmed him.
The fact that Irina had already adapted to it was honestly impressive.
Still, after personally witnessing what the fairy's vision was like, Lucian finally had his answer.
Looking back up, he nodded to the two girls.
"It'll work."
Even that brief glimpse through a fairy's eyes had shown him a path forward.
As long as Irina or Liliana assisted him, he could attempt the treatment.
Liliana beamed and circled happily around him.
"If they can be healed, that would be wonderful!"
After settling the Dragonkin Soldier into his new home, Lucian returned to Stormveil Castle with Irina and Liliana.
Standing on the bridge wasn't exactly the best place for a conversation.
Besides, Lucian still wanted to learn more about fairies.
They weren't ordinary creatures.
By this point, not only had written records vanished, but even the legends surrounding them had faded into history.
Seated in the reception hall, Lucian quietly listened as Liliana spoke about her people.
"We fairies are a race born from life itself."
"We already existed in the Lands Between before the Crucible ever appeared."
Liliana struggled to set down her teacup.
Even the smallest cup available was enormous compared to her tiny body.
Lucian raised an eyebrow.
He hadn't expected fairies to possess such ancient origins.
They had existed before the Crucible appeared and before life diversified.
Then again, perhaps it wasn't that surprising.
After all, the Ancient Dragons had already existed before the Crucible.
One more primordial race wasn't exactly impossible.
Floating comfortably into the air, Liliana continued.
"Unlike all of you, whose lives were born from the Crucible, we are born from the consciousness of living beings."
"In other words... we're born from your hearts."
"So in different ages, fairies take different forms."
"Besides looking like this, there have also been Fairy Dragons, and even Fairy Cats!"
"Oh, and by the way, my favorite era was when the Ancient Dragons ruled the world."
"Back then, we Fairy Dragons had graceful, streamlined bodies and brilliantly colored scales. We were absolutely elegant!"
Seeing Liliana's thoughts drifting further and further off-topic, Irina hurriedly coughed twice, stopping her before she could spend the entire conversation reminiscing about that era.
She smiled helplessly.
It was obvious how much Liliana genuinely loved that form.
Lucian didn't mind her wandering train of thought.
If anything, it only provided him with more information.
Fairies truly were extraordinary beings.
If they were born from the consciousness of living creatures, then perhaps it made sense that people found it so difficult to harbor hostility toward them.
After a moment, Lucian asked the question that interested him most.
"Then... do you know the blue-clad fairy who once aided the Blind Swordsman in sealing away an Outer God?"
The moment Lucian mentioned one of her own kind, delight spread across Liliana's face.
"Ah! You mean Aelia!"
"So she successfully passed on her legacy and fulfilled her mission. That's wonderful!"
"In that case, I need to work even harder too."
Lucian glanced at her thoughtfully.
The "legacy" she mentioned was most likely the Flowing Sword style.
The fairy had bestowed the Flowing Sword upon the Blind Swordsman, allowing him to seal away the ancient god of Rot.
Was sealing Outer Gods the mission entrusted to fairies?
Curious, Lucian asked,
"Then you also carry a legacy, and a mission to seal away a certain god?"
Liliana nodded without hesitation.
"That's right."
"My purpose for existing is to completely seal away the Frenzied Flame."
Resting her cheeks in both hands, she pouted.
"But after I broke my own seal and finally found Irina as the one to inherit my legacy..."
"...I discovered that the Frenzied Flame is now almost impossible to find anywhere in the Lands Between."