SMASH or PASS

When the second day’s work ended, breakfast appeared.

"You’re not bad," Luna said as she fried an egg in the pan. "You’ve handled my daughter very well—"

"I don’t want to talk about it."

"But—"

"I. Don’t. Want. To. Talk. About. It."

"...A-alright. Let’s talk about something else then?"

"Thanks."

"The last geezer was seventy, snored like a landslide, and had no learning capacity. Compared to that, you’re a great leap forward."

"Isn’t that a bit of a low point of comparison?"

"It’s a compliment." She slid an egg onto a plate and set it in front of me. "...Hey. Will you file a request for this block again? There’s a designation system. Contractors can apply from their side."

"I’ll think about it."

"You’ll think about it, huh," she snorted. "All men say that. Fine. Eat the eggs before they get cold."

My two-day contract, including my third-floor assignment, was complete, and I left the apartment building. As I was leaving, three pairs of ears peered out from the third-floor window, and as soon as our eyes met, all three pairs retracted.

[Contract SP: +7]

I’m a little tired. Mostly mentally.

◇◇◇

I received my reward of 1.5 gold coins at the guild.

Yenna at the counter said "Good work out there~ ...You look genuinely worked, huh?" Apparently it showed on my face.

Current total fortune: 1.5 gold coins and 8 silver coins.

Required amount: 23 gold coins

Even adding next week’s 2 gold from the farm, that’s only 3.58 coins.

Progress rate: approximately 15 percent.

"...."

Nowhere close. Nowhere fucking close.

Grind it out on combat quests? Thirty rats pays 5 silver, so how many rats is 19 gold? I don’t even want to do that math. The warehouse would run out of rats first.

Feeling slightly dizzy from the long journey ahead, I walked down the market street. The midday sun. The usual crowds of women. The usual piercing stares. I’m used to it now. It’s scary how quickly you get used to things.

That’s when it happened.

Plop

Something landed on my shoulder.

It was almost weightless. It felt like a sparrow had landed.

"Yoohoo. Hey, hey, what’s that thing attached to your soul? It’s shiny."

...Huh?

I slowly turned my head, and there it was, on my shoulder.

Palm-sized. Thin wings on its back. Her whole body glowed faintly with a pale light, and she sat cross-legged, her legs dangling on my shoulder as if she were sitting on a park bench.

It was a fairy.

A fairy straight out of a fairytale.

"That shiny thing!" she pointed to my chest. "Every time you look at a woman, it makes a ’ping’ sound. I’ve been observing you all morning. Since entering the market, let’s see, forty... no, fifty times. I mean, it’s rude, isn’t it? Does it ring on everyone you meet? Doesn’t it tire you out?"

I had completely stopped in the middle of the street.

The women around me began to murmur, "A man stopped," "There’s a fairy on his shoulder," "How cute." That was my cue to move.

I started walking, talking with a soft voice.

"...What are you talking about?"

"The sparkly thing, obviously." the fairy said, grabbing my collar for stability. "Oh, I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Pixia. Nice to meet you. By the way, is the old fountain in the square still there?"

"Fountain? I don’t know what fountain you’re talking about. The square has a clock tower."

"It’s gone? Wow, when was it removed?"

"I don’t know. It was like this before I came."

"Maybe before your grandmother was born, then. ...Ahh, right. Time. That thing."

She talks fast. And her sense of time is off by units of two hundred years.

"How old are you?"

"You’re asking a woman her age? You’ve got guts."

"A fairy, you mean."

"Heh heh. Then I’ll answer with a question. How old is Brannock?"

"I heard it’s about four hundred years old?"

"I was already a grandmother when Branock was still dirt."

She said that and yawned. Her yawn was the size of a pinhole.

...More than 400 years. Even conservatively speaking.

"So, back to the topic. I don’t know ’what’ that shiny thing is. But I know it’s ’there.’ It’s glued right next to your soul, and it’s constantly going ping-ping around the clock. If I had to describe it..." she thought for a moment, "like a spiritual parasite of sorts."

A parasite.

Hear that, system? She’s talking about you, aren’t you going to argue back?

[.....]

Silence? Really?

[What is this...└[•-•?]┘]

[Wait isn’t she— └[⊙_⊙]┘]

[Don’t worry about her. And do not mention any details about me whatsoever.]

...Huh?

Did this mf just talk?

Like actually talk—

[No. Now shut up and act normal.]

...

I gulped but gave a mental nod.

"What do you mean by a parasite?"

"Well, I’ve seen something like it before, you know." Pixia’s voice slowed, just slightly. "Not the same. But similar. A tool that a civilization from way back had. It was for classifying things. Mainly gods. Assigning numbers, rankings, so they could be counted."

"...Sounds useful."

"Mm, I think it was useful. Very useful." Her legs started swinging on my shoulder. "That civilization doesn’t exist anymore, though. Not a trace of it~ ...I wonder why?"

"Are you saying this thing is dangerous?"

"What I’m saying is," she leaned in toward my ear, "that the last people who used something like it are all very, very dead. Could be a coincidence! It’s just, I’ve lived a long time. And I learned ages ago that most things that look like this aren’t coincidence."

The silence lasted three steps.

"...So!" She clapped her hands. She changed the subject way too quickly. "Got food? I’m hungry. Fairies eat little but we eat all the time~"

What the hell is up with her emotional settings?

◇◇◇

In the end, I was persuaded to buy some baked sweet from a stall. Three copper.

The sight of this palm-sized creature munching on a pastry bigger than her head with both hands attracted the attention of the passersby. In a sense, it did reduce the number of eyes on me, so it might not be a bad investment.

"Shooo good," Pixia said, her cheeks stuffed. "First sugar in forty years~"

"Eh? What have you been eating for forty years?"

"Dew, flower nectar, and pure mana."

That last one is not a food.

As we walked, she appointed herself as my tour guide. A two hundred years outdated one though.

"The walls, riiight. When I first saw them they were way smaller. Just the inner ring. The Sovereign Wall. Everything else was added later. ...You know, every expansion had a reason!"

"Something outside got worse each time?"

"Ooh, good instinct." She held up one tiny finger on my shoulder. "First expansion was after the Demonic Courts unified. When hundreds of succubi where deployed, the human side became unable to sleep at night. Hence, a new magical anti-dimensional manipulation wall."

Dimensional... Manipulation?

"And the second?"

"After the Titan Empress sent her declaration of war. Ohh, and the TEXT of that declaration was something. It was short. One line. ’We will visit in the mating season.’ That’s it. Brannock panicked for three months."

"...Did she come?"

"Nope. Changed her mind, apparently. Giants are like that."

Is that something you can just brush off with "Giants are like that"?

"And the third was..."

The words cut off there.

The presence on my shoulder changed.

"The third?"

"...The third one isn’t a fun story."

"What happened?"

There was a short pause.

"People died. Lots. That’s why the walls got higher."

She never touched that story again. Instead, she pointed at a small bird perched on a roadside fence.

"Oh, a mana finch! Look! look at those feathers~ They only live in the farms near the city walls. They eat the leaked mana from alchemical farming. The color of their feathers changes with the seasons, they’re incredibly beautiful, and incredibly poisonous. Don’t touch them."

Was changing the subjects her smart way of avoiding dark topics or did she just have a short attention span?

"I’m not touching the damn bird."

"There was a knight once who touched one—"

"That story’s also not the fun kind, is it?"

"Wow, you learn quickly."

◇◇◇

That was when the system fired.

[SMASH / PASS]

[Target: Pixia]

[Tier: Comm—Rare—???]

[Species: Fey/???]

[Rank: ???—Error—???]

[SP Cost: 8273—19363—40263—???]

...Hey.

I stared at the system display.

Was my shit broken?

The tier field was flickering between Common and something the display couldn’t render as text. Rank showed a proud, unapologetic ERROR. And the SP cost numbers were spinning like a slot machine.

8.

40,000.

12.

71,000.

3.

The system. THE system, the same asshole that has been slapping price tags on every woman in the city.

Couldn’t put a price on that thing.

The second anomaly today, after the system talking earlier. This seemingly omnipotent system has something going on with that fairy.

I carefully memorized that fact, like storing it deep in my wallet.

"Whatcha looking at?"

Pixia, having swallowed the last crumb of her candy, peered into my face from extremely close range.

"Oh, I get it~" She grinned. "The sparkly thing is pinging on me~ isn’t it~? Right~?"

"...Well, something like that."

"Ahahaha!"

It was a laugh like the tinkling of bells.

"Adooorable. It’s trying to put a price tag on me. ...Hey, tell it that~"

She pointed one tiny finger at my chest, right about where the system lives.

"Tell it: ’She said no.’"

[SP Cost: ——... Alright.]

???

...Hey, system. Did you just flinch?

[Don’t talk to me right now]

But—

[Just don’t └[T-T]┘]

For one instant, the display went completely blank.

◇◇◇

She didn’t leave.

I tried to get her to leave. I walked faster. She stayed. Her wings were apparently fast enough to keep pace with a jog and she didn’t even look winded. I ducked into an alley. She followed, hovering at shoulder height, narrating.

"Hey."

"What?"

"Which way is your house?"

"On your shoulder."

"I’m not asking about your current location. I’m talking about your home."

"I told you. On your shoulder."

Communication was impossible.

"Anyway. I’m staying with you. You’re interesting and the shiny thing is interesting and I haven’t been interested in something in decades."

"...Do I have a say in this?"

"No."

Great to know.

She yawned. "Also, I’m homeless. I was living in a tree outside the market for thirty years. It got cut down last week. I need a new perch."

Isn’t that bum basically taking advantage of me!?

◇◇◇

From the market to the main street, from the main street to the alley, from the alley to the apartment stairs. The weight on my shoulders never once left.

When I opened the door to my apartment, Pixia swiftly entered first, circled the room, and landed by the window.

"This is my new home~"

"Who gave you permission?"

"I did."

And on the bed, Fenra woke up.

Her ears were straight up, her nose twitched, and her gaze was fixed on the glowing object at the window. Her fur seemed to swell slightly.

"Oh, a wolfkin!" Pixia waved, carefree. "Hello, I’m Pixi—"

SNAP.

Fenra’s fangs closed on empty air.

Pixia had retreated to near the ceiling with a single wingbeat. So fast. I only saw her afterimage.

"...You’re short-tempered, aren’t you?" Pixia said from the ceiling.

Grrr.

Fenra growled as she showed her fangs, looking at pixia with threatening eyes.

"Fenra." I stepped between them. "This is... how do I put it. I picked her up from the street. No, wait. I got picked up by her on the street."

Pixia waved. "Well, wolfkin! You’re very territorial. I respect that. I’m also not leaving."

Fenra looked at me. Translation: make it go away.

"I can’t. I’ve tried."

Fenra looked at me. Then at the fairy on the ceiling. Then at me again.

Translation: are you insane?

"I know I know... her mana feels a little bit off, but she was acting nicely so..."

A silent staring contest continued for about fifty seconds. Fenra maintained a low growl, and Pixia sat elegantly with her legs crossed on the ceiling. Ultimately, the two seemed to have reached a sophisticated diplomatic agreement to "treat the other as nonexistent."

Fenra curled up in her usual spot on the bed, but her ears still turned towards the window. Pixia landed by the window, but never again entered Fenra’s strike range.

The border line was exactly in the center of the room.

Peace was compromised within the small room.

◇◇◇

Night.

From the windowsill, Pixia started interviewing me with the face of a census official.

"How long have you been here?"

"...One month."

"Mm-hm. And before that?"

"Far away."

"How far?"

"Not on any map."

"Hmmm."

She swung her feet. Then tilted her head and stared at me.

The fairy’s eyes glowed faintly even in the darkness, and the pressure of her gaze was strangely heavy for her size.

"...Hmmm. I see. That’s very, very interesting."

"What is?"

"Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone~"

’?’

"Tell anyone what?"

She didn’t answer. She just smiled and sat there, glowing under the slight moonlight.

’She’s probably bluffing.’

Fenra settled into her usual spot, her body heat clinging to my back. Tonight, her tail only tapped my leg once, as if testing the waters. The effect of those three loaves of bread seemed to be still lasting.

I turned off the light.

Just as my eyes were closing...

"Hey."

A voice from the window.

Her voice was quiet now, like something at the bottom of the night.

"That thing clinging to you... it’s old."

"...How old?"

"Older than me~"

She paused a little.

"And I’m very, veeery old~"

I opened my eyes to reply.

But the light from the window had gone out.

In the moonlight, only the small silhouette of a fairy sat there, perfectly still.