358 There Will Be Riots

Watching the old fairy's wrinkled face contort with rage, Baiyi realized that the truth behind this matter was far more damning than Grandfather Tree had let on. This was probably because he had long since abstained from the affairs of the world. However, if an old fairy like the Elder before them could be so livid, it was evident that the Fairy King had done something completely unacceptable.

At this point, the Elder began to elucidate the crux of this matter, supplying Baiyi with even more information about the current Fairy King than he already knew. The Fairy King had ascended the throne three hundred years ago, and he was now only five hundred years old. To a human, that would be the age of a very old man close to death, but to the fairies, this was the age at which at which one was said to be a youth at the prime of their lives.

When the Fairy King was younger, he traveled to Isythre and studied in human institutions for a long period of time. When his studies were over, he remained in the societies of humans for about ten years, learning about their strengths. When he returned to the Fairy Kingdom, with his competence, he easily bested the other competitors for the throne, becoming the current Fairy King. 

It did not take long before this young king was coined 'The Wise Mad King'. His skills at governing and other personal activities were top notch, so it did not take long for the Fairy Kingdom to usher in a new era of prosperity under his rule. The Fairy King commandeered the kingdom to victory in wars against dwarves and goblins. This allowed him to expand the Fairy Kingdom's land until it encompassed the entire Entire Tree Ocean. The king also involved himself in the affairs of the human government in Mars, and this allowed him to help a government — which he had control over — into power.

Hence, the twin realms, Mars and Marle, were completely under his control; an impressive feat, indeed.

However, he was not without his problems. For one, he was infamous for displaying a severe lack of ethics, his egregious ego, and his hubris. He had even made known his desire to assume the title 'Emperor', which was a way of stating that his achievements were more profound than the kings that came before him. This was a move only a pariah would make.

Despite his many achievements and skills, this move was enough to make the modest and reticent fairies look down on him, and that was why they had come up with that nickname for him.

Also, in the time he spent in the human territory, he picked up some vices that vile men were known for. For example, he was known for being extensively lustful, for he had a harem consisting of many beautiful female fairies of all ages. He was known for boasting and valued grandiose facades. Additionally, he enjoyed engaging in under-the-table deals, despicable schemes, and the vile politicking that humans were known for. 

At this point, he was more of a human than he was a fairy. One would find it hard to find in him the good characteristics that fairies possessed. This made the traditionalist and secular fairies disgusted with him. Although the Wise Mad King had made contributions almost as great as their previous kings, the fairies did not think that he could match the previous kings at anything.

After listening to the Elder say all this, Baiyi could only mutter that all these made the Fairy King seem exactly like a protagonist. To him, the only form of reasoning the Wise Mad King lacked were some profoundly Earth-like ideologies, as well as possessing a cognitive semblance to someone from earth. If the Fairy King had all these, Baiyi would have thought him to be the poster child of a dimension-traveling MC from Earth!

Soon, the Wise Mad King began to nurse ideas about the traditionalist fairies, perhaps because he wanted to gain power over them. He planned to round up representatives of all the traditionalist fairy communities and order them to abandon their customs, join the community of secular fairies, and hand over all the power they wielded to the kingdom.

Furthermore, when the Fairy King heard that the current Zephyr was beautiful and young, he sought to add her to his unimaginably large harem.

There was an ancient pact made between the traditionalist fairies and the first Fairy King, which stipulated that both sides had to respect each other and work towards the common goal of making the kingdom prosper. The traditionalist fairies were allowed to not take part in the kingdom's wars for conquest, but should the kingdom ever be attacked, they were to fight alongside their secular brethren.

Both sides had respected the pact for generations. The secular government never once tried to exert control over the traditionalist fairies, and the latter always joined the kingdom to defend its sovereignty.

Because of this, both sides had lived in harmony — until the Wise Mad King ascended the throne.

Regardless of his intentions — whether it be lust for beautiful fairies or desire to acquire the military power of the traditionalist fairies — the Wise Mad King's behavior was considered unacceptable. In their last meeting, the temperamental Elder of Eom Village had overturned the meeting table, in a fit of rage, causing quite a scene. The representatives of other traditionalist fairy settlements also refused to lend their support to the Wise Mad King, and because of this, the Fairy Kingdom was now more divided.

The Mad King's decision to spread the news about the Caudillo Butterfly bow, in a bid to disrupt the peace Eom Village enjoyed was nothing more than a warning, This was the danger and unpredictability posed by a mad tyrant, who held no regard for rules and common decency. He would do anything to achieve his goals, and what he would do next was anyone's guess.

The Elder's anger was not without reason.

"May I ask who the current Zephyr is?" Baiyi asked.

"Her name is Nydore Sidhe; she is the grandniece of my Boss Sylvia here. That's right; she is also your grandniece-in-law now. This year, she celebrated her birthday, marking 500 years of age. She's still a child! That contemptible Fairy King! Harboring filthy ideas about a mere child!" The Elder roared in fury.

"Looks like thing got personal after he attempted to touch a child from our clan. Don't you agree, darling?" the Fairy Walker said, nudging Baiyi with her elbow.

'Grandniece-in-law? It's probably too late to separate myself from all this, isn't it?' Baiyi thought quietly. All this made him queasy because he was unsure of the nature of the relationship he had with the Fairy Walker.

"Yea, I got it! Regardless of the schism between your people and the secular fairies, we shall not let our grandniece be given to that mad tyrant!" Baiyi said, echoing the Fairy Walker's sentiment.

The Elder smiled and nodded. "My thoughts exactly! The skirmish between us and the secular fairies belong to us alone, and we could solve it amongst ourselves; no problem! But, we can never drag children into the mix! Furthermore, we have to guard the legacy handed down to us from our ancestors. The Caudillo Butterfly bow must be kept away from their filthy hands!"

Baiyi nodded. From an objective and historical viewpoint, the Wise Mad King was, perhaps, correct, because it was better to centralize the powers of the traditionalist fairies, which will complement his own competence in governance. This would take the Fairy Kingdom to new and greater heights. The problem was, of course, his mean streak and his lack of patience.

Most of the people on earth know that heretics were worse than pagans. If a ruler wanted traditionalists to succumb to his rule, he would seek better ways to convince them. Because of this, Baiyi was sure that he could rule out the possibility of the Wise Mad King being a dimension-traveler; after all, there were more than enough case studies on how to handle divides between different classes of humans, so no one from Earth would have opted for the crude method used by the Wise Mad King.

"I must warn you, though; the Wise Mad King is very powerful. He has many capable fighters by his side. If you two want to help, I urge you to be cautious," the Elder warned.

"Heehee! This is one thing you should not worry about," the Fairy Walker confidently replied. "Whoever they throw at us would end up a bag of bones after my sweetie is done with them."

'Stop; you're embarrassing me,' Baiyi thought, with a quiet sigh. Then, a thought crossed his mind, and he asked, "Say, is there a massive diabolical cult here called Godsfall? The number of followers they have is massive, and their area of influence is vast."

He had just remembered that the Church's investigation report stated that Marle was where the cult had originated from.

"You know of Godsfall?" The Elder was surprised. "It's a religious movement that started very recently — about ten years ago. It thrived in the territory of the goblins, and it soon became their main religion. The movement is as powerful as that human religion —'God's Grace', I think — and it is popular with the secularist fairies. The Wise Mad King seems to be an avid follower as well, and he once wished to make it the national religion of the Fairy Kingdom. However, we, traditionalists, are not impressed by them, at all."

'I knew it.' Baiyi sighed. The reason why Godsfall continued to linger was not because of the Church's incompetence, but because of their inability. In places where the Church had very little influence, the cult thrived. Contrary to common belief, Godsfall was not just a group of small-time heretics; it was a massive religious ideology.

'And now, from the looks of it, the Wise Mad King and Godsfall are deeply connected. If I join the fray now, we are bound to engage each other, which would render our truce… Hohoho'

Just as Baiyi was thinking about the cult, they were thinking about him, too. Somewhere unknown, within the Basilica, the three mysterious figures had convened once again. 

The First Reverend turned to the Second Reverend and said, "Looks like Hope ran off to your place to play. Are you planning to sit out on an unbelievable stroke of fortune?"

The Second Reverend was silent for a while before he replied in his hoarse, mechanical voice, saying, "Making an appearance when the time is nigh... I doubt his intention is anything but one of hostility. Our call for a truce did not deceive him one bit."

"Please, not even a three-year-old would believe in that sort of truce. Do you think a true messenger of a god would have fallen for that? He has gone there only because of the will of the War God. What a powerful enemy…" The Third Reverend added.

"There are very little gray areas in the War God's response. He is against us! Very well..." The Second Reverend's tone was absolutely chilly. "It was only a matter of time before we faced off against each other anyway, so allow me to get rid of the War God's best weapon."