The Seirens, who had basically given up on thinking, helped the "clever" humans catch fish, occupy islands, and survive on them at their request... They were too easy to use, like a handy tool you just can't put down.
And as everyone knows, there is a famous saying among the Seirens: To work is to lose.
So, when the Seirens who were being bossed around suddenly realized they had no time to play in the sea or sunbathe on the beach—and had to be in a fixed place at a fixed time to do a fixed task—they naturally ran away.
When these stubborn, simple-minded... I mean, intellectually "unrefined" children set their minds on something, nothing can change them.
Following their instincts, they won't do anything that goes against them. That was when the Seiren Queen of the time announced the severance of the alliance—unilaterally, just as they had unilaterally formed it.
I couldn't help but laugh.
But according to news from my sisters in Avant Heim and my own investigations, after a thousand years, the current human queen seems to be seeking to re-establish the alliance and has made many preparations.
A thousand years is enough for the simpletons in the sea to forget the past. Their curiosity about the world outside has been rekindled, and they have to choose to communicate with the land again—after all, the Seirens are an all-female race.
These empty-headed beings always find a way to drive themselves to the brink of extinction. But I don't care. Whether the humans and Seirens can rekindle their romance is none of my business.
I just wanted to walk through this city, the capital of humanity.
The idle thoughts in my head were just seasoning for my peace. All the humans who saw me—a Flügel who only existed in stories—were amazed by my delicate features, my hair, and my wings. They were also surprised by my behavior.
A Flügel walking on the ground.
Literally walking. Even with beautiful wings and the ability to fly using magic, I was walking down the street step by step. Even though the capital's streets are constantly swept, my boots still got dirty.
Many humans noticed the anomaly. But by the time the panicked guards called the current human queen, I had vanished.
I have no interest in her name, nor do I plan to meet her.
Short-lived, fickle, and prone to sudden self-destruction... I have no intention of wasting time learning more about a race that doesn't cherish its own existence and might kill itself off at any moment. I only need to take a long nap, and these beings will have reached the end of their lives.
My interaction with humanity was limited to that man, and it stopped with him... that's enough.
I insist on this.
I only walk through human cities occasionally when I'm free... and that's enough.
Truly enough.
I'll have an iced tea.
Leaving an uncomfortably large amount of human coins behind, I silently took a cup of tea from a stall in the market.
The bitterness and fragrance of the tea were even more refreshing when mixed with fruit-juice ice.
I don't know when it started, but I found myself hating the sky—that might be too harsh; more accurately, I hate the thing you see whenever you look up.
It is a grand sight that all races and lives in this world, now called Disboard, can see by merely looking up. Grand, magnificent, romantic, and incredibly sacred. Every adjective related to reverence can be applied to it.
A palace built of countless red petals. You can smell its fragrance even at the most distant edges of the world. It is located at the very top of the world, in the blue sky, a place mortals can never reach.
Perhaps there are places on this round planet where the palace isn't visible, but there are long ribbons extending from its base... also composed of countless petals.
The ancient name is long forgotten and no one cares. When lucky people happen to meet that boy-like One True God and dare to ask about the palace or the petals, the great Old Zeus smiles and says:
"That palace? I'm just looking after it~. It's not convenient to tell you about it~. But these petals... let's call them 'Think'~"
"Haha, not bad. Think, the Think-flower. She'd be happy if she knew, wouldn't she? Hahahaha~"
And so, the One True God with heterochromatic eyes and an ambiguous gender vanished amidst laughter. The people left behind only had his wild laughter and the name he gave in their ears.
Countless lives, since they were small, have yearned to reach that legendary palace. Legend says it holds countless treasures and secrets known only to Old Zeuss.
It is said to belong to a Old Zeus even older than the one who established the rules of Disboard. This god was powerful, ancient, kinder and warmer than light. From the birth of the world, this god looked upon all things with benevolence, but ultimately chose self-exile, saddened and weary because the races harmed each other—at least, that's what the elders say.
There are many other legends, but they all have the same ending: from then until now, in three thousand years, no one has reached that palace.
But I can.
Honestly, I'd rather I couldn't.
If I could, I wouldn't go there at all, I wouldn't even look at it.
But for a race with wings that can fly at will, that's a bit too much to ask.
After staying in Avant Heim for over a hundred years, I was finally dragged out of the city by Azril. The overwhelming red flowers across the mountains really made my blood pressure rise. It took a long time to get used to it.