The Wizard of Fairy Tale World

"Many years ago, when I was still young, White Kingdom was much better than it is now."

"The soldiers were far more polite, the streets were clean and orderly, and there weren't so many thieves running rampant. The king and his wife were deeply in love."

Old carpenter Geppetto sighed, lifting his chin, his eyes filled with nostalgia.

"Then, a few years ago, the king's original wife passed away, and he remarried a beautiful new queen.

"From that moment on, the king changed completely. He no longer cared about the kingdom's affairs and, at his new wife's urging, handed all power over to her—claiming it was a sign of his love.

"But the new queen knew nothing about governing. She only cared about building extravagant palaces and appointing her favored cronies to high-ranking military positions, throwing everything into chaos."

For the small kingdoms of the Western Continent, a ruler's governance could determine everything… Rhine thought.

This was exactly what the Sea Hag had reported.

To Rhine, the queen—despite her lack of political knowledge—was obsessed with ruling because she wanted to fulfill the Witch Coven's "membership requirement"—to either destroy or seize control of a kingdom.

"Just like how the Old Witch of Enderland interfered with Prince Eric's wedding, trying to use the Princess of Enderland to manipulate the prince and seize control of the Western Asia Kingdom! Even the attack on the Rose Kingdom was probably her idea!"

Rhine whispered his suspicions to Aurora.

Aurora growled under her breath:

"Ugh, the Witch Coven again! How many kingdoms have they ruined? How many families have they destroyed?"

Aurora would never forget—her greatest enemy, and that of the Rose Kingdom, was none other than the Coven's senior leader—Black Witch Maleficent!

"If I ever get the chance, I'll wipe out this whole organization! I'll beat every last one of those witches black and blue!" Aurora fumed.

Rhine thought to himself—that's just like you, Princess.

"Of course, not all witches are as idiotic as the queen. Aside from the Sea Hag and this fool, the other five members of the Witch Coven—even if they aren't all as powerful as Maleficent—are still formidable. Taking on the entire coven is far harder than just dealing with Maleficent alone. With your current strength, you're still far from ready."

Rhine reminded her.

"I know. But if I keep finding strong warriors and monsters to fight, I'll become stronger too!" Aurora clenched her fists.

Old Geppetto didn't understand their conversation, but what did it matter? Legends say that the words of magicians are always difficult to comprehend.

The old carpenter led Aurora and Rhine back to his shabby little home.

It was falling apart, with no decent furniture, a musty odor filling the air. The rickety wooden floor creaked under their steps, as if it might collapse at any moment.

Aurora, reflecting on what she had seen and heard, felt a strong empathy for this kingdom.

She thought to herself:

"The queen is definitely beyond redemption, and she's already our prisoner.

"But even if we kill her, that won't restore White Kingdom to how it once was. It might only enrage the king, making him act even more irrationally."

Rhine chuckled.

"You're getting smarter—you're starting to think like a future ruler.

"Your words still sound extreme, but you're considering the bigger picture now."

The silver-haired boy smiled again.

"I have a plan.

"I can restore White Kingdom to its former glory in the shortest time possible. No—even better than before!

"But it involves the unconscious queen and her Magic Mirror. To pull it off, I need to run a little experiment first."

At this point, Rhine couldn't help but admit—he was a good person. If he heard someone crying, he had to do something about it.

He also hoped that centuries from now, in the kingdoms he had helped, the name of Magician Rhine would still be spoken with admiration.

"Besides," Rhine continued, "if my plan works, the Witch Coven will permanently lose their Magic Mirror as an intelligence source, and instead, we'll be able to use it ourselves!"

To Rhine, a nearly omniscient Magic Mirror was too dangerous in the hands of the Witch Coven!

An enemy with accurate intelligence was far harder to deal with than one who was arrogant and ignorant.

Since a clash with the Witch Coven was inevitable in the future, why not seize their intelligence source first?

Even more importantly—Maleficent still had no idea.

She didn't know that the cursed Princess Aurora was growing into the dragon-slaying warrior who would one day kill her.

As long as the Queen and the Magic Mirror remained under the Witch Coven's control, Maleficent might discover the growing threat and move against Aurora and Rhine preemptively, possibly even summoning the other coven members for help.

At that point, with the enemy in the light and them in the dark, it would be a huge problem.

Since they were already involved in White Kingdom's affairs, Rhine decided to eliminate this danger in its cradle.

Aurora was stunned.

"Fix White Kingdom and make the Witch Coven's Magic Mirror work for us? Is that possible?"

Was the Teacher planning to steal the Magic Mirror while the queen was still unconscious?

Aurora suspected as much, but she also figured the mirror only obeyed the queen, so stealing it might be useless.

Teacher's plan definitely wouldn't be that simple.

Just then, a child's voice rang out:

"Daddy! Daddy, you're home! Did you bring Hunter Angus back?"

Hearing the voice, both Rhine and Aurora instinctively turned toward the dark corner where it came from.

"Not yet," Geppetto said, lighting a candle as he walked toward the corner.

"Angus was thrown into prison and is set to be executed next week. He hasn't done anything wrong!"

Under the flickering candlelight, Rhine and Aurora finally saw who was speaking.

No—it wasn't a person at all!

It was a block of wood.

A talking block of wood.

"A piece of wood… is talking?" Aurora was dumbfounded.

But in a continent filled with magic and supernatural creatures, it wasn't that surprising.

"This is my first time seeing a talking block of wood too. My neighbor, Master Cherry, gave it to me."

Geppetto sighed.

"I never had a biological son, only my adopted son, Angus. But Angus is always out hunting, so I rarely have him by my side.

"So, I kept this talking block of wood nearby. To me, it's like my own child."

"That's right! Daddy's right!" the wood said.

Geppetto then told the wood about everything that had happened—including how Rhine had saved him.

"Wow! You guys are amazing! Thank you for saving my dad!" the wood said.

This Pinocchio seemed a bit more well-behaved than the original.

Not as much of a troublemaker.

Is this what they mean when they say poverty breeds filial children? Rhine thought.

He could already tell—this wooden block would one day become Pinocchio.

Only… it hadn't been carved into a puppet yet.

Then, the wood spoke again:

"Daddy, since Hunter Angus is going to be hanged, that means I'm your only child now.

"You're the best carpenter in the kingdom! Why don't you carve me into a puppet?

"That way, I can move around, I can run everywhere, and I can be your son and walk the streets with you!"

Hearing this, Aurora got furious and scolded the wooden block:

"Why do you sound so happy? Don't talk about your brother's death like it's nothing!"

But then she reconsidered—maybe the wood didn't understand.

Old carpenter Geppetto also chimed in:

"What nonsense are you saying? This honorable magician here will surely rescue your brother Angus! He'll be fine."

Alright, Pinocchio was still a little troublemaker after all… Rhine took back his previous judgment.

"Besides," Geppetto added, "even if I carve you into a puppet, you still won't be able to move.

"You're just a lifeless block of wood—turning you into a puppet won't change that. If you could move after being carved, then you should already be able to move a little right now."

The wood burst into tears:

"Why? Why? Why is it like this?

"I want to be a real boy too, running around the streets—just like my brother, Hunter Angus!"

Watching the crying block of wood, Geppetto looked helpless.

"I can help you," Rhine suddenly said. "I can make you into a puppet that moves.

"Don't forget, I'm a magician."

As he raised his hand, emerald green light flowed from his palm, surging into the wood.

In mere moments, the wood became lively, able to bounce around and even roll on the ground. It still couldn't walk or run, but it was no longer just an ordinary block of wood.

This was a refined version of 'Life-Giving' magic, a new function Rhine had developed after years of research.

"Next, all Grandpa Geppetto needs to do is carve you into a puppet, and then you'll be able to move, walk, jump, and run—just like a real child," Rhine explained.

"Thank you! Thank you, great magician!" The wood, or rather, Pinocchio, shouted excitedly.

Old carpenter Geppetto was overjoyed as well.

"Alright, now it's time to deal with more important matters," Rhine said.

"You're going to break Hunter Angus out of prison, right?" Aurora asked.

"No, no—that would just make him a wanted fugitive. That's only the worst-case scenario," Rhine shrugged.

"If my plan works, it won't be long before the jailers receive a direct order from the queen herself—to release him."

Aurora was instantly confused.

Wasn't the queen still unconscious? She was still lying in the Seven Dwarves' cottage. How could she give orders in her sleep?

Rhine smiled faintly, took Aurora's hand, and their figures blurred—teleporting straight toward the royal palace.