Chapter 216 – Volume 44 – The World of Grown-Up Girls (1)
“I am one of the people who entered Neverland quite early. Actually, among the adults, you look a little older, don’t you?”
“Ah.”
“Surprisingly, the rules of Neverland established by Petra are still the same. Nothing has changed.”
“…A traitor who becomes an adult will be punished.”
“Yeah, and that rule was the biggest problem.”
However, it is said that Petra at that time was not overwhelmingly stronger than the other children like now.
Petra was still in the early stages of running Neverland, so Rachel, who had no special powers, could barely escape even as an adult.
Since then, Rachel has had a completely different idea of her Petra, and she is said to have stood against her.
“Then, how did you become an adult? She said she was originally a child.”
“At the time, I wanted to make delicious sweets. So I made snacks for everyone in Neverland.”
“No way…”
“You must have been similar, but in the end, this Neverland prevents you from becoming an adult. It’s because you won’t be able to achieve your dream with Marchen.”
“But, rather than a dream, it’s your usual behavior, so you’re getting closer to your dream without restraint.”
“Right.”
Lily herself became an adult for similar reasons, so Rachel’s story did not sound like someone else’s.
Neverland’s imperfect system doesn’t stop even vague dreams like that.
And then, even if you don’t want to, you become an adult.
“So after barely surviving, I had a lot of thoughts. The captain I trusted and followed was actually such a monster. If there are more guys like me, if the captain is much stronger, I might really die.”
「…」
The girl who became an adult decided to stop the girl who did not become an adult.
Children who are experiencing similar experiences so that innocent adults are no longer hurt…
No, they saved the adults, and it is said that one by one it has become what it is now.
“Everyone is being fooled. Petra doesn’t care about you at all in the first place.”
Petra said she hated children who left her alone and grew up.
She had something she didn’t have, and that distanced her from herself.
She wanted to soothe the lonely and forlorn mind that engulfed her.
“That’s why we make Neverland and keep bringing people in. Living with guys who really don’t grow up like me. To forget loneliness.”
“It’s pitiful, but even so, I can’t accept it. Just because she becomes an adult, she takes out her own anger even to death.”
“Right. Maybe these guys were a bit surprised after seeing the real thing. Especially your sister.”
“…Because my sister is a grown-up.”
And since Wendy is holding the center of Neverland right now.
When Wendy starts to suspect Petra, her children will be very shaken.
“Has this ever happened?”
“Sometimes, there are guys who go back together because of similar incidents. We helped.”
“Ah…”
“To begin with, becoming an adult itself isn’t something that happens often. There is always at least one, but there are very few cases where there are many.”
“Then…”
It was said that most of these adults now were saved one by one from other gatherings.
So how many children have come to Neverland so far?
Lily was a little taken aback.
“The reason you grew up is because you resemble her older sister, right?”
“Yes… I want to suppress it, but I want to act like an older sister.”
“Um, that’s good. You don’t have to suppress it anymore. Enjoy it.”
“Ah…”
“Ah, before that.”
Rachel went outside for a while, saying that there is something similar to a ceremony for adults here.
Then the other adults next to me laughed and told me to prepare for a surprise.
Lily, who didn’t understand the situation, was panicking, but she was a little surprised when she saw Rachel coming back inside.
“That, what is that?”
“It’s a fairy’s thread.”
“Line…?”
“It’s made by combining threads to make cotton. If you look closely, it’s a very thin thread.”
What Rachel brought was a ball of cotton much larger than a human head.
The only peculiar thing is that she came in with the cotton ball attached to a wooden stick.
But what the hell does that cotton have to do with the ceremony?
“Eating all of this by myself is our Shinto ceremony.”
“Yes Yes? This!?”
Suddenly she saw Riel, who was taken aback by being told to eat cotton, and the others next to her giggled.
Lily thinks this is a scary place, and she tries to find a way to say no.
Everyone seemed to expect her to eat cotton, so she asked with her mouth that in the end she was forced to be a fairy’s thread.
“Uh…?”
As soon as it entered her mouth, her fairy threads melted away.
The intense sweetness began to fill Lily’s mouth.
Lily realizes that what she thought was cotton was actually a dessert that looked like that.
Everyone knew this, and they noticed that she was enjoying herself being embarrassed.
“Puhaha, yes, that expression is really funny.”
“What are you going to say? You cried because you didn’t want to eat.”
“Kuhmm, what are you talking about in front of the rookie?”
“What do you think?”
“Puuuuuhhhhh, everyone is mischievous. It’s delicious.”
“Fufu, I’m glad if you’re satisfied.”
“…It would be fun to have a snack like that.”
Perhaps because of its large size, there was a dreamlike feeling as if biting into a cloud.
And since she is such a responsive Lily, she ate with a very happy expression, so I was envious.
“Okay, now you’re a grown-up too. Let’s do well in the future.”
“Yeah!”
And her joining Lily has been a tremendous help to her grown-ups.
To the extent that they wanted Wendy right away, adults wanted someone like that kind of mother.
Because it was Lily who was trying to be like her Wendy, so she became her replacement to some extent.
“Like this?”
“You’re good. Yes, if you do it that way, you will be able to proceed with the Marchen while avoiding attacks more reliably.”
Also, unlike Petra, who didn’t say anything about the Marchen battle, Rachel taught Lily how to fight through her proper practice.
Lily wants to be like not only her older sister Wendy, but also Rachel, who saved her.
With a desire to resemble only the strengths of the two, she spent time polishing and polishing Märchen.
“That’s how it happened.”
“If what you’re saying is true, I can’t understand Petra’s thoughts.”
“Sister…”
“Of course, under the assumption that everything is true. Rachel could have lied.”
And after things had calmed down somewhat, Lily went to see her Wendy and she apologized for being blunt and unwilling to talk earlier.
The sisters who have regained their relationship tell each other what they have heard and experienced.
She talked about what to do next.
“If what you’re saying is true, I can’t keep raising Petra’s hand.”
“You don’t want to become an adult, do you? Then, in the end, we need Petra and Neverland.”
“If it’s really Petra doing something wrong. I don’t want to achieve it until I close my eyes. Even though I still believe in Petra.”
“It’s difficult.”
Although she felt that, having heard the whole story right away, she had to raise Rachel’s hand.
Even so, it was difficult to give up the life she had experienced as a child with Petra.
Wendy was genuinely happy that she could live her whole life as a child.
“Wendy…”
And after that, the story continued to focus on Wendy.
She seriously says it shouldn’t be this way and she talks to Petra.
By persuading her, she wanted to make Neverland a little better.
“After all, you look like an adult and say the same thing. I got stained by Rachel.”
「That’s not it. For the sake of a better Neverland…”
“Are you going to betray me too?”
“…Petra?”
However, after seeing Wendy’s serious thought and thought over the decision she made, all Petra said was that she was a traitor too.
In the end, Wendy realizes that all Petra wants is an easy friend to make sure she doesn’t feel betrayed, and that she doesn’t have a proper respectful relationship.
“Then, are you going to kill me too?”
“…I’m still going to convince you. I haven’t become an adult, so I think I still have a chance.”
However, I tried to carefully judge whether Petra or Wendy had any lingering attachments.
Wendy saw her last hope in that figure.
“It would be good if that happened. But it wasn’t that easy, so that’s what we’ve been doing all this time.”
And Wendy even confirmed that Rachel’s words weren’t lies.
She came to Rachel in person, and she counseled together what to do.
However, perhaps because Rachel had lived with Petra for a long time, she thought quite negatively about Wendy’s plan to change Petra.
“I can help. But, don’t expect too much.”
“Thank you.”
Contrary to what her Petra thinks, Wendy’s grown-ups aren’t traitors.
Explain that she is a victim of Neverland’s incomplete system.
She wanted to reconcile Petra with the grown-ups, letting her know that just because she happened to be an adult, she didn’t have to kill her.
“What is this?”
「Petra, listen to me for now. It wasn’t that everyone did it on purpose, but by chance because of Neverland’s system…”
“Yeah, I must have been too soft. In the end, even Wendy, whom I trusted, betrayed me.”
“I didn’t betray you… I’m sorry!?”
So Wendy believed that Petra would change and she went ahead with it, but Petra wasn’t willing to accept that change.
She immediately pulled out her own card and began attacking Wendy, her traitor.
