Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: Surviving the Sky Garden (6)
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Four hours had already passed since the start of the fourth trial, Making a Friend.
The sun, which had risen in the east, was now making its presence known directly overhead.
The time limit for this trial was 9 p.m., twelve hours from the start.
This meant that a third of the allotted time had already passed.
So, how many of the 121 examinees had passed the trial?
Ironically, the answer was… a mere nine.
To think that even after four hours, the pass rate hadn't even reached ten percent.
The difficulty was nothing short of terrifying.
"Hah… I've been wandering for four hours already…!"
There were various reasons for such a low pass rate.
For one, fairies were generally impulsive and difficult to read.
Their bodies didn't mature, and their mental age remained that of a lower elementary school student.
And since most Fixer examinees tended to give off a strong, intimidating impression…
Like oil and water, there was no way such disparate beings could naturally become friends.
Another reason was that a single fairy could only befriend one examinee.
Sometimes they would make incredibly difficult requests, or they would simply lose interest after talking for a bit.
As expected of the Fixer exam, which had never been a smooth ride, this trial boasted a difficulty comparable to the previous ones.
And the most decisive reason for the low pass rate so far was this:
The Sky Garden was ridiculously vast… and finding a fairy within it was incredibly difficult!
"Why haven't I met a single fairy yet!"
For four hours since the trial began, Alice had wandered the Sky Garden without a moment's rest.
She stopped in her tracks and screamed, clutching her head.
An hour or two would have been one thing, but to not have encountered a single fairy in four hours!
How could she be this unlucky? It was enough to make her laugh in despair.
Of course, with eight hours still remaining, it was too early to worry about elimination…
But she couldn't afford to be complacent.
At this rate, a single failure could very well lead directly to elimination.
"Ugh… They didn't make this a trial for nothing. I thought it would be difficult, but…"
"Really? Why?"
"Well, fairies usually avoid people. I didn't think they'd show themselves easily with so many people coming and going… Wait, who's there?!"
Alice, who had been catching her breath, jumped in surprise and whipped her head toward the source of the voice.
She had been talking to herself, yet the conversation had flowed so naturally.
When she looked, she saw a doll-like creature with a somewhat prim expression—a fairy.
It was about thirty centimeters tall.
Roughly the size of a grown man's forearm, it was utterly adorable.
Even its face and clothes were as perfect as if they had been crafted by a master designer.
Alice could only freeze at the sight before her.
"Hmph…! A f-fairy!"
"Yes, I am a being called a fairy. Call me Sharung. Pretty human."
Sharung. Even her name was a perfect match for her prim face!
Alice stared, mouth agape, as she looked the fairy up and down.
Sharung was a fairy with a princess-like air, her eyes upturned at the corners.
She looked like a blonde girl in a dress, her long hair tied in pigtails.
In other words, she was incredibly dangerous to Alice.
For a hardcore connoisseur of all things cute like her, this was a lethal dose of adorable.
This was her first time seeing a fairy in person, and she was this perfect!
Alice clutched her nose, which felt like it was about to bleed, and muttered in a daze.
"C-Cute…!"
"Hmph, what's this? You have good taste. That's right. Sharung is cute. You're pretty too, human."
"What do I do… Even her name is perfect… What am I going to do…!"
In that moment, Alice completely lost her will.
The trial was forgotten; she was just an empty shell repeating the word "cute."
They say a girl in love becomes even more beautiful.
The dazed, lovestruck look on Alice's face was a sorry sight.
However, perhaps her hundred-percent genuine praise had an effect on Sharung.
The fairy, who had been watching Alice with her arms crossed, turned her head away primly and spoke.
"Well, I just came to take a look, but you seem to have a good eye. If you become Sharung's minion, I might consider giving you the mark of a friend. But you must remember. Becoming Sharung's minion means…"
"I'll be your minion! I'm all for being cute Sharung's minion!"
"Hey! I wasn't finished talking!"
Sharung protested to the already-conquered Alice, puffing out her cheeks.
Becoming a minion meant forming a very close bond.
The relationship should only begin after the gravity and seriousness of it were fully understood!
But she was displeased that Alice, who had a face suitable for being a minion, had accepted so readily without even hearing her out.
If you answer so half-heartedly, I'll just leave, minion or not.
Perhaps it was because of the sharp glare Sharung shot her.
Alice quickly reattached her far-flown reason.
She looked at the fairy with a rather serious expression, as if to say, "Go on."
"Ahem, ahem. Human. I'm not going to say this twice, so listen carefully, okay? If you become my minion…"
"If I become your minion?"
"You have to come see Sharung again… Got it…?"
"...!!"
*Thud!*
Alice dropped to her knees, her face blank.
Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like she’d suffered a massive internal injury.
To be so overwhelmed by cuteness that it caused not just mental but physical damage…
As expected of a connoisseur of cuteness who belonged in the high-risk category. She had a severe case.
And so, the relationship between Alice and Sharung progressed simply.
Sharung, who was affectionate despite her prim act, and Alice, who was completely disarmed by cuteness, were surprisingly compatible.
After chatting amiably for about an hour…
And after Alice promised to return to the Sky Garden, Sharung gave her the mark of a friend.
"...*Peck.*"
"Wow, the color of the bracelet changed!"
"Well, Murmur said all I had to do was kiss the bracelet. This should be enough."
The method of bestowing the mark of a friend was incredibly simple.
The fairy just had to give a light kiss to the bracelet that drew their favor, and that was it.
It was an act that couldn't possibly be done by mistake, making it the most certain proof of passing.
Alice gazed at the bracelet, still warm from Sharung's touch, with a foolish grin.
Then, a name that came from Sharung's lips sparked a small question.
"Hey, who's Murmur?"
"He exists. A bothersome meddler. And a fool who's always so worried about the fairies he never sleeps."
"Heh… I see."
Sharung twirled her pigtails with her fingertips.
Alice could sense a certain affection in her gesture.
*I don't know who he is, but it's cute how she pretends not to care.*
She smiled brightly, watching the adorable fairy.
*Now that I've passed the trial, I should humor Sharung until time is up.*
Alice steeled her resolve with a sense of mission.
Of course, at the root of her actions was the dark, murky emotion of "I just love cute things."
But her neat, proper face completely concealed that darkness.
"Ugh! Wh-What's this!"
"The, the ground… is it an earthquake?"
But the moment she let her guard down, the earth suddenly began to tremble violently.
The trees danced wildly, and all sorts of birds fluttered up into the sky.
This was clearly no simple illusion.
But a sense of unease immediately followed the question.
*The Sky Garden is floating high in the air. Can an earthquake even happen here?*
"Sharung! This way!"
"H-Huh? O-Okay!"
As soon as Alice sensed something was wrong, she protectively scooped up the dazed and bewildered Sharung into her arms.
It was a complete reversal of how she had been treating her like a minion just moments ago.
But in the face of Alice's serious charisma, Sharung had no time to dwell on such trivial feelings.
*If I trust Alice, everything will be okay.*
As Sharung thought this, clinging to the warmth, a change suddenly occurred.
And Sharung, noticing the nature of the change, her eyes widened in shock.
"N-No way…"
"Sharung, do you know what's happening?"
"The barrier… that protects the garden… in the sky…!"
*Whoosh.*
Alice quickly raised her head and looked up.
The sky, which had seemed endless, was wavering with extreme instability.
Finally, the wavering reached a critical point, violently tearing apart something unseen.
Along with that anomalous phenomenon, which elicited a visceral sense of unease, the gentle breeze that enveloped the garden instantly turned ice-cold.
"Ugh…! This cold wind… Don't tell me!"
Alice, holding Sharung in her arms, realized something.
No, at this point, it was impossible not to.
The meaning of the gentle breeze that flowed through the garden disappearing.
It led to one, all-too-obvious conclusion.
And just a few seconds later, something rose up from all directions.
It was a mass of fleshless bones, completely out of place in the fairytale-like garden.
"*Creek… creeak…*"
Dozens of skeletons rose to their feet and moved toward the living.
A skeleton was a tricky monster that an ordinary human could barely face with firearms.
The horrifying animosity directed at the living was enough to make Sharung's face turn pale.
"Sharung! Hold on tight! I'll get us somewhere safe!"
"Okay!"
*Crack!*
But with a powerful kick from Alice, the skeleton crumbled as easily as if it were made of dirt.
To Alice, who had already fought high-level undead, a low-level undead was nothing more than an obstacle.
Easily kicking away the skeleton to create space, Alice leaped high into a tree.
From her high vantage point in the forest, she looked out into the distance, her expression turning aghast.
"This is a planned attack…!"
The violent noises and screams coming from all over the Sky Garden.
They were proof that this incident was not something that would be resolved easily.
*Yuria…!*
Alice thought of the pure white girl who was somewhere in the Sky Garden.
This situation was incredibly dangerous for Yuria.
She had to go help her, as fast as possible.
But the warm presence in her arms made Alice bite her lip.
*Please be safe and unhurt,* she prayed to the heavens, her face darkening.
The chaos that had descended upon the Sky Garden was only just beginning.