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

Episode 8 – Peter Pan (2)

“Ha ha ha! How is it? Fun, right? You never imagined this, did you!? Flying in the sky is amazing, isn’t it!?”

Flying in the sky with Peter Pan was a strange sensation. It felt like floating in a dream, soaring through the air was refreshing yet also made me anxious about suddenly falling. Captain Hook’s ship already looked like a tiny dot.

Peter Pan laughed brightly, enjoying himself, and Tinker Bell giggled beside him.

“Consider it an honor to be chosen by Peter Pan. We’re heading to a place overflowing with dreams and hope!”

“Haha, truly an honor.”

I forced a smile and replied. In the original story, Peter Pan also lured Wendy to fly to Neverland. When you think about it, it’s really scary. Just believing the words of a kid who suddenly appeared and flying into the sky without any safety measures.

Peter Pan gave a satisfied smile at my reaction.

“You’ll be even more surprised when we arrive! Look, that’s Neverland ahead!”

In the direction Peter Pan pointed, a small island floating above the clouds came into view. Seeing a sky island that seemed straight out of a cartoon made my heart swell. The lower part of the sky island was also covered in sparkling magical dust like Peter Pan, making it look like it would shine like stars at night.

Now I understand why Captain Hook couldn’t go looking for Wendy. It was up in the sky from the beginning, so even if he wanted to, he couldn’t.

Following Peter Pan’s guidance, we safely entered Neverland. From above, the center of the island looked like a castle made of toys, and around it were houses that seemed to be made of boxes or clay, like something a child would make in art class.

Very awkward and low-quality buildings. In front of the castle, there were children waving at Peter Pan with bright smiles. We gently descended towards the children and landed on the ground.

“Peter Pan! You’re back!”

“We missed you so much!”

“Our hero, Peter Pan! The king of Neverland!”

The children’s words were somewhat awkward, but Peter Pan, whether he didn’t know or pretended not to, shrugged his shoulders and looked at me with a gaze that said, “This is who I am.” Seeing Peter Pan’s smug face made me feel annoyed, but I held it in for now. Just wait a little longer. I’ll show you what a real troublemaker is.

“Hehe. Have you all been well?”

“Yes! We’ve all been waiting for you, Peter Pan!”

“We’ve been listening to our mom!”

Mom? Come to think of it, in the original story, Peter Pan also asked Wendy to be their mom. I quickly rolled my eyes to find the child who might play the role of mom. A particularly tall girl among the children. A girl with striking red hair and freckles was smiling kindly.

Is that girl Wendy?

“Yes, the children have been waiting for you quietly without causing trouble.”

The girl I expected to be the mom said in a gentle tone.

“Hahaha! Well done! You should always listen to your mother. Hmm hmm!”

Peter Pan patted the children’s heads, praising them. There were about 20 children here, by my rough estimate. I was puzzled by the much smaller number than I had expected. It had been 20 years since Captain Hook’s daughter was kidnapped, and from Ariel’s testimony, it could be inferred that children were consistently kidnapped. If these were all the inhabitants of Neverland, the numbers didn’t add up.

Peter Pan turned to me, spreading his arms wide with a triumphant expression.

“This is Neverland! A country for children! A place where you can enjoy yourself freely without growing up! Here, you can do whatever you want! Forever!”

I grinned at his words.

“Can I really do whatever I want?”

“Of course! This is a fantasy land where children can play freely!”

Peter Pan nodded with his arms crossed. Then he turned to the girl who played the role of mother and spoke.

“We have a new member, so we should have a party, right? Is the delicious food ready, Mom?”

“Y-yes! I worked hard to make it for the new member!”

The girl glanced at me with a somewhat anxious face.

“Great! Then it’s party time! Hahahaha! At the party, everyone will introduce themselves and properly welcome the new member!”

Peter Pan excitedly ran into the castle, and the children followed, laughing. Tinker Bell watched them from beside me before going inside.

Was it just my imagination? Tinker Bell’s gaze at the children’s backs was as cold as ice.

When I entered the castle, I was shocked.

“What is this?”

The interior was not what I had imagined a castle to be. Instead of a grand and luxurious interior, it was a cramped space about the size of a small church, with just a long table placed in the middle. Toys were scattered haphazardly around.

Is this supposed to be a castle? Now I see why it only looked like a castle from the outside; it was made by stringing boxes together to forcibly make it look like a castle. Even that seemed like it would collapse with a single push. It wasn’t a castle wall, but boxes. The exterior and interior were both the worst.

Peter Pan sat at the head of the table like a corporate chairman, with a solemn expression, while the children sat in a row, waiting for me to arrive.

Living in such poor conditions. I shook my head internally as I took my seat.

There were various dishes on the table. The reason I referred to them as various dishes was because I couldn’t tell what they were, so I called them that for convenience. A charred black lump. On the green soup, there was a layer of grease floating that looked like it would make me vomit if I took a bite, and the roast chicken, which seemed to be the main dish, was so mushy it looked like melted ice cream.

“How is it? Looks delicious, right? Hahaha! Everyone must be drooling, but hold on! First, it’s time for introductions!”

Peter Pan excitedly shrugged his shoulders. And I wanted to shove all this terrible food into Peter Pan’s mouth. How could anyone eat this? If I ate it, I’d probably get food poisoning and spend days in the bathroom.

The first to introduce himself was Peter Pan.

“As you know, I am the greatest king of Neverland! Peter Pan! And next to me is my partner, Tinker Bell!”

The children clapped and cheered, and I pretended to clap along.

“And here is Cassandra, the mother! She’s everyone’s mother! You know you have to listen to your mother, right?”

Peter Pan then introduced the freckled girl next to him. It wasn’t Wendy, but Cassandra. I thought things were going smoothly, but I was disappointed.

But I didn’t understand why Peter Pan was introducing everyone during the introduction time. Peter Pan jumped up from his seat and started bouncing around, introducing each child one by one.

“Here’s Jenny! Pico! Edlyn! Jason! And…”

He was just doing whatever he wanted. I silently listened to Peter Pan introduce everyone.

When I heard the last child’s name, I felt something was wrong. Wendy wasn’t there. Was she somewhere else?

While I was lost in thought, it was my turn.

“Lastly, the new member is… um… what’s your name?”

I couldn’t help but laugh inwardly. This cheeky kid definitely knew my name and would have introduced me himself if he did.

“I’m Siyu. Nice to meet you all. I look forward to getting along.”

“That’s right! Siyu! Our new member, everyone, welcome!”

At Peter Pan’s words, the children’s hands worked hard to give a round of applause.

“Nice to meet you, Siyu!”

“Let’s get along well from now on!”

“A new family member! This is great!”

Peter Pan watched the scene with satisfaction before sitting back down.

“Alright, everyone, let’s eat deliciously!”

As soon as he finished speaking, he hurriedly stuffed food into his mouth. It was doubtful how he could eat so well. On the other hand, the children had faces that showed they were eating reluctantly. Every time they took a bite, they grimaced or covered their mouths to prevent the food from coming out.

“Chomp chomp, it’s delicious! Mom’s cooking skills are really amazing! Chomp chomp! You should eat too, Siyu! Chomp chomp!”

The sound of his chomping was already making me lose my appetite, and it made it even worse. And Cassandra, who was called mom, was barely touching the food.

I scooped up a piece of chicken with my spoon and sniffed it.

The moment I did, a terrible stench, like vomit mixed with urine, hit my nose and shook my stomach. I barely managed to hold back the urge to vomit.

I tried to be patient, but it was no use. Deciding to move up my plan, I immediately threw down my spoon.

And I screamed.

“I’m not eating!!!!”

My sudden outburst froze the atmosphere. The children stared at Peter Pan with their jaws dropped and eyes filled with fear.

Peter Pan was so surprised that the food he had in his mouth fell onto the plate.

“You, you? What did you just say?”

“Hey! Are you crazy? You’re saying you won’t eat the food mom made!”

Tinker Bell shouted angrily, and I, with an annoyed expression, put my feet up on the table.

“Oh~ what are you saying. Say it again? I said I don’t want to eat! Isn’t it my choice whether I eat or not? Peter Pan, what’s a child’s privilege? Isn’t it being able to do anything freely? Without responsibility? Where I come from, it’s normal for children to refuse to eat if they don’t want to, but I guess it’s not like that here?”