Surviving a Cruel Fairy Tale

31 – Act 2. Eternal Neverland – The maggot den (1)

The man who led us alternately looked at me and Little Red Riding Hood before opening his mouth.

“You don’t seem to be hurt anywhere, is there a party next to you?”

“Right.”

“You became a child after coming here?”

At that, he nodded, and he let out a dejected laugh, then patted me on the shoulder.

“It must have been a lot of hardship.”

“Who are you anyway?”

“Don’t look at me that way. I’m just a person who’s there to help even one more person from out of town like you.”

To be honest, it was hard to believe because I went through that situation just a moment ago.

The same goes for hunters in the forest before.

Until now, all the people who approached me with the faces of good people were wolves. It is difficult to tell at first glance whether it is a real sheep or a wolf in wool.

“Why?”

“Huh?”

“Isn’t there a reason to help people from abroad? After all, I just learned that nothing is as dangerous as a meaningless favor.”

And ask directly.

It wouldn’t be difficult to search while pretending to agree, but I didn’t want to go round and round like that.

“Why? Is it so strange that adults get together in a world like this?”

Even if you say it’s a world like this, it’s hard for me to understand.

Because less than an hour has passed since I came here. I was attacked by a shepherd boy, but I couldn’t figure out exactly what that meant.

A land where adults cannot exist.

I understand that, but I don’t know exactly what the sanctions are and what kind of ending adults will face in this land.

“Because I don’t know about Neverland yet.”

“Ah, I guess. If so, come to where we are. If you stay here anyway, you’ll be food for the crocodiles, right?”

Crocodile food?

Peter Pan’s fairy tale. If you recall the story of Neverland, you can infer the identity of the crocodile, but there is still a lack of information.

“…… Little Red Riding Hood.”

“I’m fine.”

I looked at her as if it wasn’t a matter for her to decide alone, but the person in charge of her nodded her head while holding onto the hem of my sleeve as if it was okay.

…… Cuffs?

Come to think of it, Little Red Riding Hood had been holding onto my sleeves for a while.

I don’t usually do this.

Because he suddenly became a child, Little Red Riding Hood might be feeling insecure too.

“Then can I ask for guidance?”

“Sure! We are here on earth for that.”

Ground?

I was a bit puzzled by the word, but then I understood what it meant when I saw the man opening the drain cover and gesturing.

Deep underground where you can’t see the bottom.

She first carried her on her back, thinking that it would be difficult for Little Red Riding Hood to come down her iron ladder, and then she followed him down for a long time.

There was a musty smell in the basement where I arrived.

After descending to what appeared to be an underground waterway, the man guided us and walked all the way to the deep end.

If.

I really hate to assume, but if this man is a wolf among sheep, can we escape from here?

Although the distance from the ground was quite deep underground, the path he traveled was like a maze.

I’m somehow memorizing the route we’ve traveled, but if we go any further here, it’ll be difficult to remember all of it while moving in a hurry.

But in spite of my worries, Little Red Riding Hood walked on the street in a daze, never letting go of the hem of his sleeve.

“Little Red Riding Hood.”

“Huh?”

“Are you going to hold on to my clothes?”

At that, she silently nodded her head.

If you just nod, you won’t know, even holding it tight as if you’re worried that you might be asked to let go.

“I want to hold on.”

“…… Okay?”

It’s a little embarrassing because I’ve never been approached like this before.

I wondered if he was anxious after becoming a child, but it was difficult to grasp his true intentions because his facial expression hadn’t changed much to say that.

Actually, giving up the sleeves wasn’t a problem, so I nodded and turned my gaze to the man walking in front of me.

“Has it come yet?”

“We have to walk a little longer. If the young lady is tired, she can rest for a while.”

Looking at her little red cape, she shook her head.

“It’s okay.”

“They say so.”

“Then it’s not long, so let’s walk a little longer.”

Putting her doubts and worries aside for a moment, she nodded and walked down the path beside the canal.

Come to think of it, what is the identity of this canal?

A gigantic scale at first sight.

The width of the canal was an enormous width that could have been 20M, if not less, but considering the scale of Neverland seen from the outside, it was unlikely that such a large-scale canal would be needed.

No matter how much you think about it, looking at the heterogeneous facility and thinking about the significance of its existence, it was only a matter of time before we arrived at our destination.

“Okay, now we have arrived.”

I could tell without listening to the man.

A place where the water from the canal seems to have gathered to form a huge puddle. Actually, it reminded me of a huge lake rather than a puddle.

“Let me introduce you. This is the land of abandoned adults in paradise. It’s a maggot hole full of bad jokes and rum.”

“A maggot burrow?”

“A proud fairy up there calls us maggots. Knowing that, the captain decided that this was a maggot den.”

I wonder if there’s a reason for that, but the title of captain makes it clear who controls this area.

The only captain in Neverland is Captain Hook, who is notorious for being a villain even in the world of fairy tales.

“Then are you the captain?”

“A sailor.”

I see.

To be honest, just hearing the name Captain Hook brings me anxiety, but there is an example of a hunter I saw in Little Red Riding Hood Forest.

A twisted and distorted world of fairy tales.

Everything that exists here exists in the background of the original fairy tale, but those who do not follow it.

Just as the hunter who saved Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother and killed the wolf in the fairy tale was a man-eating cannibal here, I couldn’t be sure that Captain Hook was a villain.

“Then what is the captain’s name?”

“Are you curious about that? Well, the captain has many names, but as a captain, he calls himself Hook.”

I am sure of what you asked just in case.

If he is Captain Hook, then naturally the fairy the children are talking about must be Tinker Bell.

If this is the case, then Peter Pan must exist somewhere.

Then what is the problem in this world?

A children’s paradise. Adults cannot exist on the ground, which seems to be the way of this world, but in the meantime, adults hide in underground canals.

Is this all there is to it?

It is certainly a heterogeneous structure, but it cannot be said that this alone has identified all the problems.

“Then can we meet Captain Hook?”

“Huh? I’m not sure about that either. The captain doesn’t meet visitors unless it’s a special occasion.”

After that, the man looked around and sighed.

“Looks like he went out drinking again. Would you like to wait here for a while? First of all, I’ll find out where you guys are staying.”

It was no big deal, I nodded, and then I took in the entire clearing of this huge canal, including the empty spot he had left.

Certainly the exact opposite of the ground, only adults can be seen.

If the children who stayed upstairs had pervasive smiles on their faces, on the contrary, the adults in this underground canal had overall gloomy expressions.

Neverland.

Divided into above ground and underground areas.

The underground where Captain Hook rules, and the ground where the children who might be Tinkerbell stay.

It doesn’t look serious compared to the forest where cannibals were prevalent right away, but on the contrary, it felt complicated because it was counterintuitive.

“Writer.”

“Huh?”

“My leg hurts.”

I was lost in her thoughts for a moment and couldn’t look at her.

After that, I walked quite a bit, so Little Red Riding Hood’s legs might hurt.

“Um… ….”

After thinking for a while, I sat down first because there was a chin that was comfortable to sit on, and then I tapped the seat next to her.

“Then let’s sit here.”

“Yes.”

But Little Red Riding Hood slumped down in a completely different place than I pointed out, and her body heat reached her thighs.

“…… Little Red Riding Hood?”

“Can’t we go here?”

“No, it’s not impossible… ….”

I usually have a light weight, but after becoming a child, it became even more so.

Even if you sit on your thighs, there won’t be any problems…….

“You don’t have to sit there.”

“I like this place.”

…… It’s also weird

There’s no way she would act like this if she was her usual.

Of course, it’s hard to use the word usual or ordinary because it’s not a relationship I’ve seen for a long time, but either way, she gave the impression of being bored and indifferent to everything.

Is this also the effect of being a child?

Not only the body becomes a child, but also the heart goes back to being a child?

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“…… Hmm.”

There are more things to worry about.

Captain Hook and Tinker Bell. And the fairy tale of Neverland related to Peter Pan is also a fairy tale, but so is the state of Little Red Riding Hood that has changed.

The most important thing is to stay here first and find a way to turn Little Red Riding Hood back into an adult.

After that, digging and exploring issues throughout this Neverland, correcting the fairy tale.

…… After the first fairy tale, this is the second time.

However, this fairy tale world was still difficult and complex.