IBDFSML Chapter 51

"…Huh?"

I blankly looked up at Sion.

He, too, stared down at me with a startled expression.

It was because I had reverted back into my tiny fangirl fairy form.

"I think… I've turned back again?"

"…It seems so."

Sion let out something like a quiet sigh of relief.

"Hm."

I glanced over my body.

Sadly, I was once again stuck with the stubby limbs of a chibi-like three-heads-tall figure and fairy wings… exactly as I'd been before I transformed into a human.

"Hmm… Looks like the transformation wears off after a certain amount of time."

I flapped my wings experimentally, circled once around Sion, and then landed on his shoulder.

"Yap."

Sion, who had been silently watching my form, finally spoke.

"Since I need to regain some energy before we leave, it's probably better for you to stay like that for easier movement."

"Mm, got it."

With that, Sion closed his eyes, focusing solely on recovering his strength.

I quietly studied his face as the color slowly returned to it.

Looking up at him like this, I realized how different the height difference felt compared to just a little while ago.

'Come to think of it…'

My mind wandered back to that earlier moment.

'…What was with that strange heartbeat?'

It was the first time I'd ever felt something like that.

As though my heart had skipped a beat and then leapt on its own, completely out of sync with my will.

'Hmm… It definitely happened right before the skill wore off. Could it have been because of the physical change?'

It seemed likely that it was just some side effect from shifting back from human form into fangirl fairy form. Otherwise, it really didn't make sense.

'Because normally, in a situation where your heart suddenly races like that…'

It would usually be when the heroine realizes her romantic feelings for the male lead.

I immediately shook my head furiously.

"Ehh, no way. Doesn't apply to me. Nope, nope."

This wasn't some heroine story, nor a villainess tale, nor even an extra's transmigration story.

I was a fangirl fairy.

A being who must absolutely, unconditionally support and help her favorite sub male lead in his destined love.

I slapped my own cheek.

'Yeah, that's right! I'm a fangirl fairy! My very reason for existing is to fangirl! I could never dare harbor selfish feelings that would taint this pure, loyal devotion to my favorite! No way, no how!'

I brushed off that unidentifiable fluttering as nothing more than an unavoidable side effect of transformation.

And to reassert my resolve, I slapped my cheeks twice more.

Just then, Sion, lying beside me, suddenly asked,

"What are you doing?"

"Uh, nothing much."

"Is self-punishment your hobby?"

It seemed odd to him that I had been muttering to myself so seriously while smacking my own cheeks.

I cupped my burning face with both hands and replied.

"This isn't self-punishment. It's… more like an act of growth."

"Growth?"

"Mm-hm. A kind of self-reflection to become a better fangirl fairy for you, Sion."

"……"

At my words, Sion's eyes flickered ever so slightly. For a brief moment, something like unrest lingered in those gray-blue irises.

"…Lin, you-"

He started to say something, lips parting… but then shut his mouth again.

With a quiet sigh, as if brushing away complicated thoughts, he muttered.

"…It's nothing."

"Huh? What is it, what is it?"

"…Nothing."

As though telling me not to press further, Sion stood and brushed the snow from his clothes.

"Oh, are we leaving already?"

"The sun's been up for a while. It's best we get going."

"Are we heading back to the ravine?"

"No. With an avalanche that big, the Tagas's nest should be completely ruined, so there's no need. We'll regroup at the spot where the rift first opened."

"Ah, I see."

He meant the place where they had left Genevia and the stranded victim before heading to the canyon.

Before stepping out of the crevice, Sion glanced at me perched on his shoulder and asked.

"…Are you planning to stay sitting there while we travel?"

"Huh?"

With a tone that was curt yet oddly hesitant, he added.

"If you're sensitive to the cold, you should probably take better care to keep warm."

"…Eh?"

I tilted my head, staring at him in puzzlement.

Sion touched his chin briefly, sighed, then without another word reached out, picked me up, and slipped me gently inside his collar.

"…!"

Thanks to his aura, Sion's body, once icy like frozen steel, radiated a steady, soothing warmth.

"Whoa, so warm and cozy!"

I exclaimed as if I'd just stepped into an outdoor hot spring in the middle of winter. Sion let out a small laugh.

"That's good, then."

"…!"

It was the first time in a long while that I'd seen him smile.

Strictly speaking, it was debatable whether it could be called a smile at all, but still.

The way his face and eyes softened as he looked down at me was undeniably gentle.

Thump.

I pressed a hand against my chest.

'Ugh, there it goes again.'

Apparently, I needed to build up some resistance to Sion's smile.

***

Once we exited the rocky crevice, the blizzard had died down, revealing a calmer snowy plain under a wide, clear blue sky.

We retraced our steps, following the traces left by the avalanche.

After climbing for quite some time.

"Oh, there they are!"

In the distance, we spotted two figures sitting on a massive tree stump.

It was Genevia and the stranded traveler.

"Hey~! Genevia!"

I waved both arms energetically.

I had worried a little that Genevia might have been swept away by the avalanche too, but thankfully, she looked perfectly safe.

"Ms. Lin!"

Genevia jumped to her feet the moment she spotted us.

"You're both safe!"

"Yup! You're not hurt anywhere, right?"

"Yes. Thanks to this man… Mr. Hans, I was able to escape the avalanche safely."

She glanced at the stranded traveler crouching beside her. His messy hair and thick beard were dusted with clumps of snow, showing just how much he'd endured.

"Some of the avalanche reached this area too, it was really dangerous. But Mr. Hans carried me up into a tree, so I managed to take shelter. I'm truly grateful, Mr. Hans."

"…Avalanche. Dangerous. Scary."

I looked back and forth between Genevia's grateful gaze and the stranded man standing blankly beside her.

'Tch. To think in such a crisis like this, it wasn't Sion who saved the heroine, but some random extra. What a wasted chance to earn favor points.'

The only relief was that the one who saved her wasn't just anyone, but this particular man, Hans.

'If I recall correctly, he's married.'

Even if the plot had already veered far off from the original, there was no way the story would turn into some messy drama where the heroine ends up with a married man.

Which meant the chances of Genevia developing any romantic feelings for him were effectively zero.

I squinted at the stranded traveler and called out.

"Hey, Hans."

He glanced at me, then slowly walked over.

"Fairy. Young Lord. Returned. Safe."

"……"

In that short span of time, he'd even memorized how to address both me and Sion.

Hans stood before us, staring intently at the two of us.

Wary that he might suddenly try reaching for me again, I quickly ducked deeper into Sion's clothes.

"Shoo, go away."

"Sparkle, sparkle. Pretty."

"Shoo, shoo."

Meanwhile, Sion checked on their condition.

"Neither of you are injured?"

"Yes, we're fine. Mr. Hans as well."

"Then let's get moving."

But before Sion even finished speaking.

"Young Lord! Ms. Lin!"

"Phew, you're both safe~."

Garen and Diene appeared.

"Ohh, Garen! Diene!"

I waved both arms excitedly.

Both of them looked battered, as if they'd fought a war with the avalanche itself, but thankfully, neither seemed seriously injured.

"We saw you two swept away right before our eyes. We tried to chase after you, but the snowstorm was too strong, clinging to the rocks was all we could manage. It's such a relief you're safe."

Shaking the snow out from between his armor and robes, Garen let out a sigh of relief.

Diene, standing beside him, added with a sly grin.

"Not sure if you heard, but Garen was practically shouting your name loud enough to shake the whole canyon."

"…I wasn't that bad."

Looking embarrassed, Garen scratched the back of his neck with a cough, while Diene laughed heartily at his expense.

Still, compared to before the expedition, their gazes and attitudes toward each other had become warmer, softer.

Between the battle against the demonic beast and this avalanche, it seemed that sharing hardships had rekindled something between them.

'Well, well, isn't this atmosphere looking rosy.'

I watched them with narrowed eyes.

'Why is it that the expedition romance is only blooming in all the wrong places?'

Casting a glance at the distant Sion and Genevia, I let out a quiet sigh.

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