A lot had happened in the Kingdom of Liones recently.
The king fell gravely ill, the Holy Knights massively expanded their armaments, and then the capital actually turned into a battlefield.
Fortunately, the fighting ended quickly. The "gravely ill" king reappeared and declared the two Great Holy Knights to be traitors to the kingdom, while the former criminals, the Seven Deadly Sins, had become the heroes who saved it.
The king also announced he would confer honors upon the Seven Deadly Sins.
But Charles couldn't care less. He and Ban had already asked Meliodas for leave to head to the new Fairy King's Forest.
There were many reasons Charles and Ban left early.
For one, Charles had long promised Ban he'd resurrect Elaine. If not for helping Elizabeth deal with the rebellion in the capital, Ban would've dragged Charles off long ago.
Also, Charles really had no interest in an investiture ceremony. A medal meant nothing to him.
Another reason was Merlin. Over the past few days she'd been poking around, extracting quite a bit of information about Charles from the others. No one would believe she didn't have some kind of agenda.
While Charles was sure she wouldn't get anything critical, he genuinely worried that if he didn't put distance between them, he'd end up falling out with her.
After all, who can stand someone constantly at your elbow, scheming how to use you?
If it came to that, Charles would have to be ready to fight Escanor down the line.
And the last reason was that the investiture meant nothing to Charles, while the mood in the capital was getting weirder by the day.
During the rebellion, Dreyfus and Hendrickson had scattered a number of uncontrollable knight orders to the kingdom's borders.
Now that the rebellion had been quelled, those forces had been recalled to the capital.
But the Holy Knights as a group… how to put it… after being in high places for so long, they tended to lose their grip on themselves.
That was exactly why the two Great Holy Knights' revolt went so smoothly.
And that lack of perspective quickly showed in the Holy Knights recalled to the capital.
The Seven Deadly Sins, once dire criminals, suddenly becoming heroes—most of the Holy Knights weren't buying it.
"Ahem, if I'd been there, I'd have beaten the two Great Holy Knights with ease"—plenty of people were thinking along those lines.
There was a real "no true heroes around, so punks get famous" vibe.
Of course, such petty thoughts are laughable, but they do cause trouble.
Even Charles got dragged into it—Holy Knights picking fights with him in the street.
Given all that, there was no way he was sticking around the capital.
So Ban, Charles, and Stella rode Chongming toward the Fairy King's Forest, and King came along as well.
The Fairy King's Forest had always been the fairies' domain.
Three thousand years ago, the fairies and giants stood with humans on the Goddess Clan's side against the Demon Clan.
In that war, the fairies suffered devastating losses, and after a human backstab, were left with only a handful of survivors.
In the end, it wasn't the powerful fairies and giants who came to dominate Britannia, but humans.
Even so, under the protection of the Sacred Tree the fairies worshipped, they preserved one last territory—the Fairy King's Forest.
The strongest fairy chosen by the Sacred Tree—the Fairy King—would guard the forest, the Sacred Tree, the Fountain of Youth, and the entire fairy race.
But when the Fairy King, Harlequin, abandoned his duty to pursue his dearest friend, a Red Demon that had somehow slipped the seal attacked the forest.
Without the Fairy King's protection, the forest was reduced to scorched earth, and the saint who guarded the Fountain of Youth died as a result.
Saint Elaine entrusted everything to Ban. With the Fountain of Youth granting him immortality, Ban slew the Red Demon and then used his own blood to water the Sacred Tree's seed, cultivating it anew.
Thus Ban created the new Fairy King's Forest.
Chongming circled in midair. This was the spot Ban had indicated, the site of the new Fairy King's Forest.
Crouching on Chongming's back, Charles said, "Mm, a very clever concealment technique—but Ban, this level isn't really in your wheelhouse, is it?"
At a glance, the land below was just an ordinary stretch of wilderness, but in truth, the whole area was covered by a concealment spell.
It didn't have much defensive capability, but techniques that could cover an area this large were rare.
Pinning it on Ban would be asking too much.
Ban groused, "Kinda sounds like you're looking down on me. But you're not wrong—this is the tree's power."
As he spoke, a thick mist rose from nowhere, enveloping them.
It dissipated as strangely as it appeared—almost in a blink, the view cleared.
What appeared before them was a vibrant forest, lush and green, with a stout tree in the center crowned in pink blossoms.
Tears welled in King's eyes. "That little tree really does carry the magic of the great tree from the Fairy King's Forest. The forest is truly alive!"
Charles could also feel the life-suffused magic from the tree, and he understood what King was feeling.
Ten years ago, he'd returned to his homeland to find the Fairy King's Forest already reduced to ash. His despair then had been so deep; now, the joy of getting it back was just as intense.
As for that "little tree" that was over twenty meters tall… well, what else would you expect from fairies, the race that commanded the world's natural power?
No sooner had the forest revealed itself than Charles spotted three figures flying in midair.
The fairies of Britannia looked like the classic image—petite, with insect-like wings on their backs.
They weren't all the legendarily beautiful types, though; at least these three didn't give that impression.
"Xisika, Ende, Meili—it's you!"
King recognized them at once and flew over, delighted.
In contrast, the three wore looks of disgust.
"It's the traitor Harlequin!"
"If you hadn't left seven hundred years ago, Lady Elaine wouldn't have…!"
"What did you come back for!"
Each spoke harsher than the last. If they weren't airborne, they'd probably be scooping up rocks to throw at him.
Charles frowned. To be honest, he hadn't had a good impression of the fairies since they arrived.
Yes, as Fairy King, King had failed his duty, and the forest was destroyed.
That was a sin he couldn't dodge. But when the others condemned him, shouldn't they also examine what they themselves had done?
In the end, King didn't exactly enjoy any perks of being Fairy King. If anything, it was the fairies who owed a debt to the one who had guarded their forest all this time.
King hadn't protected the Fairy King's Forest—but what about these fairies who only knew how to hide behind others?
King bore the Sin of Sloth; by the looks of it, the entire fairy race was a slothful lot.
(End of Chapter)
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