After the long, and frankly boring trek through the forest, we finally arrived home.

"Well everyone, welcome to the Hourai Commonwealth!"

"This is where you live?"

"There's so many...fairies..."

Leading the congression, Philia and Epione vocalized their first thoughts as our eastern settlement came into view.

While Philia's voice was filled with awe and wonder, Epione's had more trepidation in it.

Behind the two, all the tired travellers let out their own words, from exhausted relief to excitement. Both reactions were expected, considering how long the journey was. Little more than endless walking through a forest with nothing special happening.

Of course they were all tired of it.

"Wah!"

""Fluffies!""

All of the sudden, my vision became completely obscured by a multitude of colourful lights. Alicia and Fate raised their hands and waved them around as they became excited at the sight.

"You guys, I know you're excited but this is a bit much."

My whole body was being rubbed by a flurry of fluffy little balls as they pushed each other off of my to get their turn.

Frankly, some of the spots they rubbed against wasn't right. But at the same time, I could hardly blame them considering that these fluffballs's level of intelligence.

"Miss Scarlet? What's going on?"

"By any chance, are there spirits around?"

While Epione let out a surprised voice, it seemed like Philia had an idea what was going on.

"Yea. They've kinda got us surrounded."

"...Is that bad?"

I could hear some nervous feet shuffling beyond the sound of fluffballs rubbing against and bouncing off of each other.

"Depends. How bad would it be if I wasn't able to get home until tomorrow?"

"They like you that much huh Scarlet?"

Despite the situation I was in, I could practically hear the warm gaze Philia was giving me dripping in her voice.

"Orphne, can you go find some of the elders and tell them what's going on?"

"Aye aye! Zoom!"

While I couldn't see anything, the Doppler effect on the little fairy's voice made it clear that she was gone in an instant.

It was quite fortunate that within a day of giving her that cake after her punishment, she had returned entirely to normal. Though whether her punishment actually had an effect looking at things afterwards, I couldn't really tell yet.

I could only hope.

"My my. Look who has returned."

"Aurae? Is that you?"

"Of course. As you can...not see."

Of course.

"When all the spirits went rushing over, there really was only one reason I could think of, and it looks like I'm right."

"Can I get any help?"

"No."

"No?"

That was an oddly direct refusal. While I didn't really expect help from my fellow elder, such blunt refusal didn't sound very characteristic of her.

"You've been away so long, and didn't even say goodbye? And not even a treat to remember you by?!"

A very large part of me suspected that the latter bit was the bigger reason she was sounding upset.

"Fine. I'll make you some treats."

"Lots!"

"Huh?"

"Lots and lots of treats! To make up for all the time you were away!"

"Uh, sure. I got it. I'll make a feast. It'll just take a few days."

"Horray!"

And with that, without a trace of the anger she was just filled with, Aurae celebrated.

Of course, I couldn't see any of it. It wasn't like the little fluffballs failed to continuously obscure my field of view.

"Anyways, in the meantime, can you help everyone eat and rest?"

"Oh? Yea, sure. C'mon everyone!"

"Umm, are you sure? Is that fine Miss Scarlet?"

"Don't worry about her. She's used to this sort of thing."

"Like Philia said. This isn't exactly anything new for me."

Sadly, it was the truth. It was just that the fluffballs were more direct and numerous than anyone else.

With my reassurance given, everyone started to follow the little fairy elder, giving me words of thanks as they passed.

I on the other hand focused my attention to the fluffballs and started to distribute those mini mana treats I often gave them while keeping a close eye on Alicia and Fate. I had to make sure neither of them tried to bite any of the fluffballs, as things would end badly quite quickly.

These little guys didn't have the high levels and accompanying HP and MP pools that Claret did.

Any little mistake would be complete and irreversible.

 

Fortunately, by the time the cloud of fluffballs dispersed enough that I could start moving around again, there wasn't any indications of any unfortunate incidents.

My blood reserves had grown quite low though, between the month long journey and the last couple of hours. Refilling my blood jars would be needed the second I could spare some time for it.

But that time wasn't here yet.

Thanks to the efforts of Orphne and Aurae, there was a welcome party going on for the sake of all of our new immigrants.

While the kids certainly enjoyed it, the food itself was quite unbalanced, leaning heavily towards sweets.

Well, the adults enjoyed it as well, as sweets were a bit prohibitively expensive elsewhere. But it was clear that they quickly got sick of eating nothing but sweets. It was fortunate then that there were other foods being brought over by a few groups of fairies.

Though the expression on their faces showed that they weren't entirely happy with the fact that they weren't adding more sweets to people's plates.

As for where that extra food was coming from, I made my way towards the presences that hid themselves a small distance from where the feasts was being hosted.

"You guys aren't going to join in?"

"We thought it would be prudent if we waited until you could introduce us."

"T'would it not be best to scare those under you so."

"Unless if you wanna give them a scare. Bwahahahaha!"

"Ooh! Ooh! How about I rain hellfire from above! I've always wanted to rain hellfire!"

"Well, maybe some other time Geirskogul. Let's take it easy this time."

"Fiiiiine."

Before me was the remaining leaders of our nation. Aside from Harja, but I didn't expect her to come and greet our newest citizens in the first place. Maybe if I broke a few casks of liquor, but otherwise she didn't have enough of a reason to.

The others on the other hand were much more amicable to do personal greetings.

Though Elli was right in that it would be better if I went with them to do the introductions.

I lead the leaders of the dark races over to where the feast was being held. Behind them there were many others, but they kept their distance to avoid scaring anyone.

As we approached, several of the older members noticed us approaching.

At first we were greeted with smiles, but those quickly faded as their eyes took in the sight of those following behind me.

I supposed that it was fortunate that they didn't suddenly start screaming or anything, but the nervousness was palpable. The children on the other hand looked confused. It was nice to see evidence that children didn't carry any inherent bias thanks to their innocence. But even with that, they were taking queues from their elders, and their eyes flickered back and forth, unsure how to react.

On one hand, most of the adults they came to trust looked scared, but on the other, both myself and all the fairies were acting as if nothing was wrong.

And of course, that was because nothing WAS wrong. The people with me weren't a threat to anyone. At least anyone who was planning on becoming a part of the same nation they were a part of.

"Ah, Epione, Philia. Come over here!"

Once we came close to the middle of the feast, I spotted the two, who were effectively the representatives of the new immigrants.

"Miss Scarlet! Umm...these people are...?"

"I suppose that this is something we should trust you over?"

"Oh, yea. I know it's a bit of a surprise, but it's something everyone here is going to have to get used to."

"Yes, I suppose surprises is something you are quite good at, Scarlet."

I could only give Philia a wry smile for that sharp remark of hers. But the soft look she gave me suggested that she wasn't really mad or anything. Just a bit off balance.

"Everyone! I want you all to meet some of the leaders of the Hourai Commonwealth. First is..."

"Scarlet~! Where's the treats you promised me~!"

"Wah?! Aurae! You reek of booze!"

All of the sudden just as I was starting my speech, one of the fairy elders showed up, her face red as a cherry. She unsteadily held in her arms a flower blossom with a liquid reeking of alcohol dripping from one corner.

"Umm, anyways, Aurae here as you've all met, is one of the fairy elders. As for the others..."

I scanned around, only to be overcome with the strong desire to drop my face into the palm of my hands. Further down there was a group of fairies fighting each other over a large cake.

Literally.

There was balls of fire and speeding icicles flying around while a ring of drunk fairies jeered them on.

The rest of the fairy elders were mixed in those two groups.

"Well, I guess I can introduce them later. Over here are most of the rest of the important people of this country..."

"I hope you are merely being facetious dear Scarlet."

"I wonder what you might be talking about?"

My eyes immediately darted away at Elli's jibe, but there were things I had to do first.

"This here is the dokkalfar elder, Elli."

"A pleasure."

"And next is the demon elder, Frigg."

"Greetings."

"And over here is the titan elder, Alvaldi."

"Heya."

"And the one beside him is the imp chieftain, Geirskogul."

"Yo!"

"And aside from the rest of the fairy elders who are a bit indisposed right now, there's also the dragonkin chieftain, Harja, who is also indisposed."

"Indisposed, or intoxicated?"

"Does it make a difference for her?"

"Guess not."

Frankly, I suspected something similar as well, but wasn't going to say it out loud.

"Amazing."

"Right. You never cease to amaze, Scarlet."

"Umm, what now?"

Epione's eyes were filled with reverence for some reason while Philia was looking at me with warm eyes once again.

"You were the one who made peace between the fairies and all the dark races, weren't you?"

"Well, that's..."

Frankly the truth. At least when you simplified it to the limit.

"Dear Scarlet, it's something for you to be proud of."

"As overbearing as Elder Elli be, she does speak truth."

"Just take it as you get it, little girl!"

"Yea, yea!"

"You guys..."

I couldn't help but feel that things might have already started to approach the levels of boot licking. It didn't help the fact that my fellow leaders did nothing but encourage them.

"Mommy's amazing!"

"Amazing!"

"Geez, even you two?"

""Ehehe!""

I pulled my cute babies up and rubbed my cheeks against theirs.

"Oh yes, and let us not forget, that dear Scarlet is the final elder of our clans."

"One must not forget such an important detail."

"Now wait a sec!"

I had a bad feeling regarding where this was going.

"And since Elder Scarlet was the one to bring to us so many new members, I see no reason why she should not be the one to lead you all."

"Agreed."

"Hey, I got not problem with that."

"Yea, yea!"

And my bad feeling immediately bore fruit.

"Wait, but..."

"But what? While they can care for themselves, without someone to look up to and receive instructions from, chaos would likely ensue."

"And 'tis not like they are against such thought, are thee?"

"We, we all look up to Miss Scarlet. It would be an honour to be able to call ourselves her followers!"

"And I agree as well. The children love her already. It would be far better than for them to be suddenly told that someone else was their leader."

"You two...!"

I didn't exactly feel betrayed, or rather, the results were quite predictable, but even still...

"Oh, but maybe I should ask the others just in case."

"While I doubt they would disagree, that would be a good idea."

"Hey everybody! How do you feel about following under Miss Scarlet from now on?"

"Huh?! Wait a sec!"

But my words of protest was drowned beneath roaring cheers and clapping.

Maybe I should have expected it in the first place. It wasn't like I could just sit back and leave them all alone once I brought them over. I was basically the only person they knew over here, and none of them had particularly any known marketable skills in an environment that they had no idea what they could do to survive.

Effectively nothing would really have changed compared to staying where they were before if I didn't step in and take responsibility.

It was annoying due to the amount of work I saw before me, but it wasn't really like I had a choice.

I wouldn't make the same mistake I had before, and would follow through with the help I was giving.

At the very least I would give them all the support I could until they could all stand on their own two feet.

"Alright. Though it'll be difficult on my own."

"Of course. We are all friends here, Scarlet. We help our own."

Elli put her hand on my shoulder and squeezed it lightly.

"Some of them can sleep in my house, but it's not big enough for everyone."

Unfortunately problems regarding how to care for everyone cropped up immediately.

"Mages for thee from my own then. We can build sleeping quarters from the earth itself."

Frigg offered her help without any hesitation.

"We've got tons of furs they can sleep on. Your people are small, so it shouldn't take much from our stock."

Alvaldi followed her up with his own offer with a nod.

"Ooh, then food! We can hunt and gather if they can cook for themselves!"

Geirskogul thrust an arm up giving his own as well.

"But not only sweets. They are not like your kind, so they need meat and vegetables as well."

"Fiiiiine."

The little imp rolled his eyes at Elli's rebuke, but still looked eager to help.

"Hmm...it seems like all the immediate needs are covered already?"

"You shall cover moral support then."

The elderly dokkalfar jerked her head at her fellow elder, who in turn covered her mouth as she chuckled.

And with that, I, as well as Epione and Philia, thanked my fellow leaders before turning back to the feast.

The other leaders gave quick instructions to their subordinates before taking up plates of food and cups of liquor and joined in on the festivities, making sure to ingrain themselves with the newcomers.

Frankly, I was quite amazed at how well they did it. Maybe it was a testament to their long experience as leaders of their own communities, but they managed to assuage everyone's nervousness in short order and made all our new citizens feel welcome.

I doubted I could do anything like that without a preexisting rapport.

But putting my own feeling of inadequacies aside, it was good to see the smiles reappearing on everyone's faces.

"This place you brought us, it's beyond anything I could've imagined."

"That we can agree to. The fairies were one thing, but to see so many members of the dark races welcoming us with open arms?"

"They're good people. As long as you have the chance to talk to them, it's something anyone could know."

"That seems to be the case. But to think we'd have that chance. I'm grateful for everything you've done for us, Miss Scarlet, but this is beyond anything I could have imagined."

"To think I'd see peace between the dark and light races, even if it is isolated in this one place. I never thought I would ever see such a sight in my life."

Both Epione and Philia had complex expressions painted on their faces as a flurry of emotions must have been running through them.

"I suppose maybe you're the only one who could have done this."

"Should we say, as expected of the one known as Scarlet?"

"Seriously? You're going to bring that up?"

I furrowed my brows at Philia's remark as she gave me a snide grin.

But that expression of hers quickly loosened up.

"I don't know anything beyond the stories I grew up with, but I do think that rather than saying you've lived up to the name, you are actually overshadowing it at this point, Scarlet."

"I think so too. The stories are amazing, and hard to think that they're all talking about just one person. But seeing this, experiencing what you have done for people..."

Epione's eyes glazed over for a moment as her voice took on a melancholic tone before she looked me in the eye.

"I think quite a few of us think this, but I am proud to follow you, Miss Scarlet. To be a part, however small, of the history you are creating."

"History is something everyone makes together. It's not something just one person creates. This, all of this, is someone everyone created together. I didn't do this alone. I was part of it."

"I suppose that's true. But I wonder if all this would have happened if you weren't here?"

"Not exactly something we could find out. Maybe it would have?"

Though thinking about it, it probably wouldn't have. The moment the fairies and the dark races met, they would probably have come to blows. And that would likely have continued until one of them would have been forced to leave.

"Ah, don't forget! We fairies wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you Scarlet! It's really all thanks to you!"

"...I'm not going to give you any treats no matter how much you try to flatter me."

I glared at Orphne, who did the exact opposite of what I would've liked.

"Tch! Fine! I'll get some over there."

As I did my best to bore a hole into the little fairy's back with my eyes, a part of me wondered how long she was hanging nearby looking for an opportunity to try to get me to give her something.

"So, the fairies wouldn't have even met the dark races if it wasn't for you? I think you deserve even more credit than we originally thought."

"That's...that's so incredible."

Philia gave me another smirk while Epione's eyes flashed with what eerily looked like worship.

I really hoped that it wasn't worship. I didn't need a religion started because of me.