Chapter 318: Mission Complete, Magic Orange
"Can you help me watch Clementine?"
"Huh? Isn’t she your sister?"
"My sister?"
The squirrel hopped up. "That’s right! The mean woman who hits really hard."
Faye Yardley suddenly felt like something was very wrong.
’Are Faye and Clementine actually two sides of the same person?’
They were both very nice to her, but they didn’t seem to get along with each other. Still, they never actually came to blows.
"Mr. Squirrel, do you know a place where I can hide Clementine for now?" Faye Yardley figured that only Faye and Clementine themselves knew the truth of the matter.
’My mission was completed out of nowhere. Could it be that Faye just wanted an obedient little sister from the very beginning?’
’That sister could be me, so of course, it could also be Clementine.’
’But Clementine isn’t obedient...’
With the squirrel’s help, she found a large tree hollow lined with soft, dry grass. Faye Yardley thought for a moment before feeding Clementine a Physical Potion and an Energy Potion. Then, she took a clean dress from her backpack and changed her into it.
Then, she turned to the squirrel who was keeping watch at the mouth of the hollow and said, "Mr. Squirrel, please help me look after Clementine. If my sister comes looking for her, I’ll pay you extra."
As she spoke, she offered him a Gold Coin.
The squirrel quickly snatched the Gold Coin, his face breaking into a wide grin. "You got it."
’Perhaps only Ace knows which one is the real Faye. After all, he’s the only one who has kissed Faye, right?’
’Even if she was asleep at the time.’
Faye Yardley tried to go back to the ballroom where the party had been held, but she couldn’t get in.
After midnight, the ball ended, and the entire castle seemed to have been sealed off.
’What do I do?’
"Faye~ Faye~"
The hair on Faye Yardley’s arms stood on end. She carefully tried to control her wildly pounding heart, forcing herself to look natural in the moonlight. Turning around, she saw a girl in an orange dress with long, silky orange hair walking toward her.
"Who are you?"
"Don’t you already know who I am?"
Faye Yardley forced herself to calm down. ’I may not know Magic, but I have Exorcism Talismans, right?’
"You’re not my sister, and you’re not Clementine. Why are you..."
"Heheheh... So you really do know everything. In that case, I can’t let you live."
"You’re the one who made me fall and hit my head!"
The girl cackled as expected. "Of course, it was me. But I didn’t expect you to be so hard to kill."
A Magic Wand suddenly appeared in her hand. Just as she was about to brandish it and cast a spell on Faye Yardley, Faye Yardley beat her to the punch, throwing an explosive talisman at her.
She had wanted to use an Exorcism Talisman, but this creature didn’t seem to be an evil spirit, so she’d switched to an explosive talisman instead.
BOOM! The massive explosion seemed to awaken the sleeping castle.
Lights began to flicker on one by one.
The Witch at the center of the blast wasn’t seriously injured, but her hair was singed, her clothes were tattered, and some patches of her skin no longer had the tender look of a young girl.
"Guard Commander, seize that person!" Ace ordered, pointing at the Witch.
Standing beside him, Faye looked worriedly at Faye Yardley, who was facing the Witch. "Faye, run into the castle, quickly!"
"Jye jye jye~ You can’t escape!"
’What is a Witch afraid of?’
Faye Yardley didn’t know if it was just that her mind grew calmer in a crisis, but Light Wound was already in her hand.
Under Faye’s astonished gaze, she raised her blade and charged the Witch.
’Her little sister is this fierce?’
While she was still stunned, Faye Yardley had already exchanged more than a dozen blows with the Witch, and it was clear the Witch was losing.
After all, she couldn’t use her most powerful magic and witchcraft. Based on her own combat abilities, she was no match for Faye Yardley at all.
Once the Guard Commander joined the fight, the Witch lost even the strength to fight back.
The Guard Commander stabbed the Witch with something, and Faye Yardley saw a wisp of orange Energy drift out of the Witch’s body and disappear.
The Witch, in turn, transformed from a young girl back into an old crone who looked like a withered tree branch.
A little girl with long orange hair, wearing a white dress and running barefoot, came over. She plunged her hands directly into the Witch’s back and said happily, "I found my heart."
When she pulled her hands back from the Witch’s body, she was holding an orange-colored crystal. She pressed it hard against her chest, and the crystal vanished.
Then, she herself transformed into a Clementine that glowed with a soft orange light and slowly began to rise.
The entire transformation happened in an instant.
It was so fast that Faye Yardley, who was right there, didn’t have time to react.
The glowing Clementine floated directly up to Faye, who was already in tears.
The Clementine merged into Faye’s body.
’So Faye really was Clementine.’
[Ding! Congratulations Player Faye Yardley for completing the hidden quest. You have received Fairy Tale World Favor +1, Magic Orange ×1]
The scene transition was incredibly smooth. Everything around her had changed back to the familiar sight of her home.
"Big Sis, you’re back~"
Faye Yardley let out a little "ah." In the Fairy Tale World, she had been the one calling someone else "Big Sis," but now that she was back, the title was hers again.
[Event Quest Complete. Calculating Rewards: You have received Faye’s Mushroom Soup Recipe ×1, Clementine Sapling ×1, Red Apricot Sapling ×1, Grandma Hayes’s Mood-Lifting Tea Recipe ×1]
Huh?
Faye Yardley truly hadn’t expected to receive rewards for completing the event quest this time.
After all, in all the previous events, just making it back to the raft alive was considered a victory. She’d never seen so much as a single thread of a reward.
’The system is this generous this time?!’
’So generous it was almost unbelievable.’
’This event didn’t seem that hard, either. All I had to do was be an obedient little sister.’
She’d been confused about the quest, but she’d managed to complete it and even get a hidden reward. She had to admit, her Luck Value had really helped her out a lot.
When she hadn’t even been aware of it, Lady Luck had smiled upon her.
It was now 12:23 AM on the 23rd. Faye Yardley took the hot milk Willow Yardley handed her and drank it in one gulp.
"I’m heading to my room. You should get some rest too."
As she spoke, Faye Yardley claimed the two saplings, placed them in a corner of the living room, and said, "Have Eamon plant these in the morning."
"Mhm, okay."
Back in her upstairs room, she took a quick shower, changed into her pajamas, and lay down on her bed. But she didn’t fall asleep right away. Instead, she took out the Magic Orange to examine it.
[Magic Orange: Eat this orange, and you will have a chance to obtain a type of Magic.]
Faye Yardley, who had been lying down, shot up in bed.
’It’s that amazing?!’
’Magic... isn’t that just like a superpower?’
Feeling that hesitating for even a second would be a disservice to herself, Faye Yardley popped the Magic Orange into her mouth and ate it.