A Journey Unwanted-Chapter 440 - 429: Of course we’ll go

[Realm: Álfheimr]

[Location: Quadling Country]

"A letter of invitation," Grimm said after a short moment as he finished scanning the contents of the parchment that had been sealed within the white envelope. His gauntleted fingers held the paper steady for only a heartbeat longer before lowering it slightly. "It appears to be formally written as well. And according to the signature..." he added, pausing briefly as if confirming what he had already read, "it comes directly from the Good Witch herself."

"The Good Witch?" the Cowardly Lion echoed immediately, his ears twitching as confusion spread plainly across his face. His brows furrowed, and his mouth parted slightly as he tried to make sense of the situation. "B-but why would she do that? I mean—why would she send you a letter like that?"

He looked between Grimm and the paper as if hoping one of them might reveal the missing piece of logic.

Puck had already drifted closer, her small body hovering beside Grimm’s armored arm as she leaned in to look over the letter herself. Her eyes moved quickly across the words.

"Maybe she’s already tired of trying to attack you," Puck suggested thoughtfully, tapping her chin as she read. "You know, like she decided it’s more trouble than it’s worth." Then she tilted her head slightly. "But actually, that might not be it," she admitted after a second, glancing back at Grimm. "She only attacked you, what... two times? That’s not really enough to count as someone getting bored."

Grimm did not respond.

Instead, the letter and its envelope suddenly ignited in his hand.

The flames appeared without warning—brief, but they consumed the parchment rapidly, curling the edges inward until the entire document blackened and crumbled into fine ash.

Within seconds, nothing remained.

The remnants drifted away on a breeze that passed through the rocky path, scattering the ashes into the air until they vanished entirely.

Puck quietly floated back a small distance, folding her small gauntleted hands behind her back as she watched the last flecks disappear. Her expression shifted into a thoughtful look.

"Maybe it’s a trap," she said eventually, her tone casual even as she raised the possibility. Then she shrugged lightly. "But we’re still going anyway, right?"

"Indeed," Grimm replied with a simple nod.

The Cowardly Lion looked between the two of them with increasing disbelief. His mouth opened slightly as though he intended to object. Then he hesitated, and the lion slowly closed his mouth again.

A small sigh escaped him as he reconsidered the idea.

He had half a mind to protest the decision outright—after all, walking directly into a potential trap seemed like an extraordinarily poor survival strategy. But the longer he thought about it, the more he realized that arguing would likely accomplish very little.

These two individuals were... unusual. And if he was being completely honest with himself, they did not seem particularly concerned with conventional caution. More importantly, he doubted they would listen to him even if he tried.

So he said nothing.

"Still," Puck murmured after a moment, her gaze drifting toward the direction of the distant castle far beyond the rocky hills, "I wonder what she actually wants from you." She folded her armored arms lightly. "Considering all you really did was beat up those Hammer-Heads, maybe she won’t be as hostile as before."

Grimm had already begun walking again, his armored steps steady as he proceeded forward along the path.

"Either possibility would be acceptable," he said calmly. "Both outcomes have their merits." He paused briefly. "Either way would make the situation interesting."

Puck drifted along beside him as they continued moving, while the Cowardly Lion reluctantly followed a few steps behind.

"I probably don’t need to remind you to stay on guard, do I?" Puck said after a moment, glancing sideways at Grimm.

Grimm answered evenly.

"You have already emphasized your point regarding the strength of a member of the Quaesitorum," he said. "Repeating the warning further only suggests that you are becoming fearful."

Puck clicked her tongue.

"Tsk. There’s a big difference between being scared and being cautious," she replied immediately, sounding slightly defensive. "You can take something seriously without panicking about it." She crossed her arms again. "But then again, I suppose someone like you—a big strong general who walks into danger without thinking twice—probably wouldn’t understand that distinction very well."

Grimm continued walking without hesitation.

"Indeed," he said simply. "I have never once known fear."

Puck slowly turned her head toward him, the fairy gave him a long, very dry stare.

"Uh huh," Puck replied after a moment, though the drawn-out tone made it clear she was not entirely convinced. She drifted along beside him, her small figure hovering at about the height of his armored shoulder now as she studied the man walking steadily along the rocky path. "So you’re telling me you’ve never been scared? Not even once in your entire life?"

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she waited for his answer.

"Fear," Grimm began calmly, his pace unchanged as his gaze remained forward, "was always considered unbecoming for a soldier."

The tone of his voice carried no pride or boasting. It was merely an established belief of a soldier, something he had time to develop no doubt.

"A mere soldier I may have been once," he continued after a moment, "but even so, I stood among the strongest of them. Strength carries certain expectations with it. When you are placed in that position, hesitation becomes a weakness others cannot afford."

He paused briefly.

"And the strong," he finished evenly, "have nothing to fear."

Puck gave a small huff at that.

"But the strong also aren’t invincible," she reminded him, her tone still idle. "You can be powerful and still get hurt. That’s kind of how reality works."

Even those at the pinnacle of power were not ’invincible’. There was always something that could tear you down, bring you back to reality.

And in that moment, you would have no choice but to acknowledge ’fear’ or even just agitation. After all, even the Gods could fall, and when that knowledge sat with you, ideas of power equating to absolute invincibility seemed silly.

Grimm’s helmet tilted slightly as if acknowledging the point Puck spoke.

"Perhaps," he conceded calmly. "But fear itself remains a worthless practice." As he spoke those words, his gaze shifted sideways and landed squarely on the Cowardly Lion.

The lion froze mid-step.

("W-why is he looking at me now!?") the lion panicked inwardly, his eyes widening slightly. ("D-does he expect me to say something!?") He immediately looked away as though pretending he had been examining a distant rock formation. ("I mean... the reason is obvious!") he continued thinking frantically. ("But still—why look at me when you say something like that!?") If fear was given a form, it would probably be the Cowardly Lion, a creature guided by fear for its own self-preservation. The lion knew it, so did the General and the fairy no doubt.

After a moment, Grimm’s attention returned to Puck.

The fairy had been watching the exchange carefully.

"I don’t know," she said eventually, her tone more thoughtful now as she folded her small armored arms loosely. "Fear seems pretty useful to me. I mean, it keeps people from doing really stupid things sometimes." She shrugged lightly. "And besides, it’s not like fear and caution are the same thing anyway."

Grimm gave a small hum of acknowledgment.

"Hm. It is somewhat curious, then," he noted, "that you claim to value caution while only exercising it in very minimal amounts."

Puck stopped drifting forward for a moment and simply stared at him.

"...I’m not entirely sure what that was supposed to mean," she said slowly. "So once again, I’m just going to assume that was meant as some kind of insult."

Her voice carried the familiar tone of someone who had already dealt with too many remarks from him before. It was justified; Grimm seemed to like to mouth off while acting snarky.

"No," Grimm replied simply. "It was merely an observation. An interesting aspect of your behavior."

Puck blinked, then she tilted her head slightly.

"Oh?" she said, her expression brightening with sudden amusement. "So that was actually a compliment?" A grin spread across her face. "Careful now," she added playfully. "If you keep saying nice things like that, you might make me blush." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Grimm did not even pause before responding.

"Then I retract it."

Puck stared at him for a moment.

"You’re no fun," she muttered, sticking her tongue out at the armored General as she resumed floating beside him. "But nice to see you can be nice more than once. Is this what they call an anomaly?"

"So, complimenting you causes you to act like an idiot. Noted," Grimm observed.

"Hmph, you won’t get me with that," Puck grinned smugly. "Besides, you just now admitted you complimented me."

"Tch."

"Heh, I think I’ll take this small victory and I’ll be sure to rub it in your face sometime." Puck stated smugly.