. Diara and Rénin had the vistor bracketed, chatting happily to him with glowing, fangirlish eyes. Even Moire had emerged from the water, mostly. She was kneeling waist-deep near the shore, gazing up at him. Their enthusiasm for a mortal man was a stark contrast to Grandmother’s cold view of such beings. I guess having a mortal for a father …

. Diara rolled toward me on the other side, seemingly oblivious to the skin contact she created with the move. “I wouldn’t mind giving a massage, Your Highness.” My danger meter had instantly risen into the red zone. “Umm. I’m actually a strong healer, you know, so anything like sore muscles I can fix for myself.” That hand kept brushing …

. It was fully night-time when Serera dismissed me. Right away, a lesser fairy and the other half-fairy snagged my hands and pulled me to my feet. “Let’s go, Sister!” quoth the lesser fairy, a cutie with moss-colored hair and matching eyes. “You’re supposed to say ‘Your Highness’,” the silver-haired half-fairy remonstrated her. “Go where?” I asked, a bit perplexed. …

. Finally, Serera nodded and gestured for me to move closer to the unconscious fairy knight. I did so while muttering, “Wish I had my fan for this.” I put my hand out, palm forward, and intoned, “[Heal].” As gently as I could, I let the mana flow onto her, concentrating on her torso. The information about her condition flooded …

. Why was I running instead of fighting? I admit, it seemed cowardly, but this wasn’t a proper Knight’s duel anyway. She had ambushed me in stealth, clearly in the belief I couldn’t see her coming. And she had refused to declare her name. Besides, just like when I fought Aenëe, I seriously did not want to do injury to …

. A few more arrows came at me, including a Fire-mana-type enchanted arrow. It got through Durandal’s shield but missed me, rocketing past me as a streak of flame. But then the archers held their fire as their ally charged once more. Durandal had wanted to handle all shields and sword buffs, but he had conceded one item. We had …

. Relador is a loose confederation of cantons dominated by Fairie, the borderless ‘nation’ of fairies and their relatives like Kiki. Each canton has a mortal government, dominated by archmages, many of who are half-fairies themselves rather than true mortals, but the country as a whole has only a council with little power, no military, and only a tiny import …

. “Big Sis too slow!” I scowled at the bug. The little showoff was flying backwards in front of me, holding her arms as if her elbows were on the ground in front of her, propping her chin up with her tiny fists. I scowled and put a bit more speed in, but she just accelerated to keep pace ahead …

Tiana will have to wait for Volume 4 to figure it out. This volume is ending in the middle of an arc, and I suspect Volume 4 will mostly be filled with the rest of it. Once again, ’tis I, your storyteller Fushigi, Dear Readers! Volume 3 is complete with chapter 124. Thank you so much for sticking with me …

While the visitors breakfasted, Grandmother grew her wings and led me by air back to Durandal. She was hiding us as we flew, but I was still way uncomfortable. I mean, there was no getting around the fact that I was again flying naked in broad daylight! And this time, I knew there were eyes in the area! I am …