I Thought It Was a Fairy Tale but the Genre Is Strange

Duel

The village square. Under the moonlight, our duel arena was set. Children, who had no idea what was happening, stood on either side holding torches, and Cassandra was tied to a wooden pillar with a fierce expression.

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why is mom tied up like that?”

The children whispered, trying to grasp the situation with their eyes and minds.

Peter Pan looked at the full moon in the sky and smiled unpleasantly.

“Listen up, everyone! The traitors here challenged me today!”

“What does defiance have to do with betrayal?”

At my words, Peter Pan glared at me.

“Ahem! Anyway, these traitors are really bad guys! They even killed Tinker Bell and tried to use the magic powder that only the king can use!”

“T-Tinker Bell is dead?”

“Oh my goodness.”

“Wait. Magic powder? They tried to use it, not steal it?”

The children’s pupils dilated. Stupid Peter Pan probably didn’t realize what he was babbling about. Saying they tried to use the magic powder means they know how to produce it.

A different light flickered in the eyes of the children who had been wallowing in despair and resignation. It was the light of hope they had long forgotten.

Peter Pan, displeased with the children’s reaction, frowned and shouted.

“Everyone quiet! The king is speaking! To continue, the audacious Siu, who betrayed us as soon as he came in today, even challenged my position as king! I won’t back down! I will fight the despicable traitor without using the magic powder! How about that? Isn’t it awesome!?”

What a shameless liar. The children forced smiles and applauded the boasting Peter Pan.

“Your vocabulary level is pathetic. How old are you, and your vocabulary is still like that?”

“S-Shut up! What’s wrong with my vocabulary! Hmph, talking like an old geezer!”

“Scratch?”

“What?”

I chuckled and continued.

“Did my words scratch your insides, you coward pretending to be young? How long are you going to drag this out?”

“Fine. It starts now!”

Finally, the moment had come. I confirmed that the leather pouch containing the magic powder was not on his waist. Cracking my knuckles, I moved forward, thinking about how to teach him a lesson.

“Peter Pan, why don’t you want to grow up?”

“Hmph, that’s because it’s boring! When you become an adult, you have to take responsibility, do this, do that, it’s all annoying. I’m going to play freely as a child forever!”

“Isn’t there a contradiction in that statement?”

“What?”

Peter Pan genuinely seemed not to understand the meaning of the word “contradiction.”

“So, your words and actions are different. What is the position of a king? A king is a position of responsibility. You foolish brat. It’s a position with immense responsibility to lead the people and the country. But you say you don’t want to take responsibility, yet you’re acting like you want to be a king who must take responsibility. You even created the role of a mother. A mother who has to take responsibility and raise children.”

“Hmph! Talking like an old geezer~ I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You pretend not to know. You don’t want to take responsibility, but you want to feel the power and comfort that the position of a king and the existence of a mother give you. But do you know this?”

I reached Peter Pan. Facing Peter Pan who was glaring at me.

“There are plenty of adults like that. You’re just like those cowardly adults who don’t want to take responsibility. Not a child!”

I swung my fist towards Peter Pan’s face. Honestly, I was just a novice who hadn’t fought much, but I didn’t think I would lose to an ordinary kid without magic powder.

Whoosh.

“Huh?”

Strange. I was sure I aimed at Peter Pan’s face and was confident I would hit, but strangely my fist cut through the air.

“Puh-hah! Acting all high and mighty alone, but you couldn’t hit anything, huh?”

An annoying voice came from below. Below? I lowered my head. There, a giant crocodile with a greenish hue had its jaws wide open.

“Now it’s my turn?”

“Damn it!”

I quickly stepped back. Snap! The crocodile’s jaws narrowly missed my arm.

“Too bad~ Next time I’ll definitely hit~”

“Fix your tone, you bratty crocodile.”

Damn, I was stupid! How could I not think of this? Captain Hook said he lost an arm to Peter Pan. In the original story, he lost it to a crocodile. So, that means Peter Pan transformed into a crocodile and bit off Captain Hook’s arm.

Who would have imagined that Peter Pan could transform into a crocodile! And not just any crocodile, but a fully grown one much bigger than me. One bite and it could tear off my leg or arm or anything!

“Eek! It’s out! Peter Pan’s magic!”

“That’s the form of the crocodile he transforms into when he’s really angry!”

The children screamed in horror. They should have warned me about this earlier.

I quickly put some distance between myself and the crocodile. What should I do? My original plan was to provoke the prideful Peter Pan, take the throne, banish him, and help everyone escape. But now, it’s all gone up in smoke.

How can a bare-handed teenager fight that giant crocodile? Look at that thick skin. If I punch it, my hand will definitely hurt. And climbing on top to choke it? I doubt my arms could even wrap around that thick neck.

The only fortunate thing is that, due to its massive size, it’s slower than I expected.

“Running away, are you? You said you wanted a duel, but now you’re fleeing?”

“We agreed to fight fair and square! Transforming into a crocodile is cheating!”

“Well, if you don’t like it, you transform too~ We only agreed not to use magic powder~ Stupid~”

Peter Pan approached me, clashing his teeth together. The sound was rhythmic, like a ticking clock.

Think. In my current state, there’s no way I can beat that crocodile Peter Pan. To defeat him, I need to!

“What are you doing now?”

“What do you think? Using tools like a human. Stupid beast.”

I grabbed a torch from a nearby child and thrust it towards Peter Pan’s face. He sneered but didn’t approach easily, probably because of the torch’s heat.

“So, what are you going to do? Just stand there doing nothing?”

“Well, neither can you.”

Let’s buy some time. Think fast, Siyu. Can I kill the crocodile with a torch? No. Unless I pour oil on its body, this small torch won’t do much. If it decides to charge, it’s over.

Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

The sound of teeth clacking at regular intervals like a clock is driving me crazy!

“If you don’t attack, I’ll come at you!”

Peter Pan’s crocodile opened its mouth wide, showing off its sharp teeth, and ran with its short legs. I thought, “Whatever,” and threw the torch into its mouth.

Peter Pan was startled by the suddenly flying torch and tried to turn his head, but he couldn’t control his body properly and reflexively bit the torch and turned his head.

“Ah, hot!!”

Peter Pan shed a tear and hastily spat out the torch. His tongue was swollen and red. Well, at least I can’t kill him, but I can cause him pain!

I reached out to grab the other kids’ torches. Now is the chance to burn him all over while he’s disoriented!

But this time, the torch didn’t reach my hand. The kids, who had been terrified of Peter Pan for a long time, anticipated my actions and turned their bodies to pull the torches away from me.

“I can’t give you the torch!”

I’m going crazy!

“Don’t you all want to escape from Peter Pan’s grasp? I can do it!”

“N-no way! If I help you, Peter Pan will drag me away, and I’ll never come back!”

“No, if I win, that won’t happen! What, uh! Yeah! I’m the Black Reaper!”

“The Black Reaper?”

The kids’ eyes changed at the word “Reaper.” The kid in front of me hesitated and flinched with the torch in his hand.

“Too late, huh?”

Suddenly, my view changed rapidly. From top to bottom. Yes, I was falling. Something thick and hard hit my ankle.

Thud.

A stinging pain shot through my palms and knees. The large tail of the crocodile that had tripped me quickly swept across the floor. Peter Pan, overcoming the pain of his swollen tongue, stood in front of me.

The scene on the floor that I saw as I fell was the crocodile wagging its tail and drooling from its mouth. The giant shadow of the crocodile loomed over my head.

“Hahaha! The people are on my side! Because I am the king! Siyu! You are finished now! The Black Reaper is nothing~ I’ll eat half of you and turn the other half into magic powder! Crunch crunch, I’ll chew you up!”

“Oh, no.”

I thought as I looked at the crocodile mouth of Peter Pan that had reached right in front of me.

Is this a bad ending?