Chapter 190
—This is how great I am!
The Fairy boasted proudly.
"Wow! You're so cool, Fairy!"
Pastel clapped her hands, clap clap clap.
—Ahem! Ahem!
The Fairy's shoulders bobbed up and down in delight.
Then, as if something was bothering her, she glanced at Pastel and quickly added an explanation.
—The strategic foresight to hide an amulet behind your back just in case a fairy friend became corrupted! The trust in believing you wouldn't get hurt by a mere Vase Shard! It means the Good Fairy possesses all of these qualities!
"Woooow!"
This was just like a story where Pink Hair defeats an evil, mighty enemy using brilliant wisdom and trust in her comrades!
Absolutely amazing!
A genius! A genius!
Her Pink Eyes sparkled.
"Fairy, are you going to be Pink Hair now?"
—Well? What should I do?
Having learned that Pink-Pink was a good thing while living with Pastel, the Fairy looked up at the ceiling and arrogantly flipped her hair.
—Shouldn't fairy hair become the standard of the world now?
Gasp.
Arrogance itself!
But so cool!
Pastel clenched her fists tightly.
"I felt the beauty of the Fairy World today! That even amidst harsh words, there is a heart that loves its comrades!"
They loved each other so much that they even stuck a Love Amulet on one another.
—W-were my words harsh? I might have overdone it because I was so glad to see her. A Good Fairy like me doesn't usually act like that, but I guess I was just too happy!
The Fairy mumbled excuses while rummaging through the Magic Stone Pouch. A magic stone went into her mouth.
"Ah. Please give me one too."
—Here. But it makes sense for me since I'm a fairy, but why can you eat this? This is heavy metal, you know.
"I don't know either."
—What's with that.
Pastel took the magic stone and munched on it.
A sweet taste spread in her mouth.
But she felt like she was forgetting something.
What was it?
As she looked around, she saw the fairy stuck in the corner with a Love Amulet attached to her.
Gasp.
She had forgotten about the fairy!
"Fairy! The fairy!"
—Huh? What fairy?
The Fairy looked puzzled. She checked the fairy in the corner and her eyes went round.
—Oh right! I caught her!
It wasn't the time for Magic Stone Munching.
Pastel picked up the fairy.
The Fairy was startled.
—You shouldn't touch that dirty thing so carelessly! If you're not careful, your body will rot—wait, why isn't it rotting?
"Pardon?"
Pastel flinched in surprise. She hurriedly looked down at the fairy. A Black Aura that practically screamed “do not touch” was billowing out of it.
She suddenly felt like she was holding a poisonous mushroom...!
Her hands trembled.
"Am I going to die now?!"
I haven't even gotten to date Lord Demon yet, I can't die like this!
The Fairy turned serious.
—You normally should, but it's even weirder that you're perfectly fine. When it was just me, I thought maybe something had gone wrong with myself, but for it to be this consistent?
As if realizing something, the Fairy's face filled with shock.
—Come to think of it, how did you know she was a fairy?! She was definitely pretending to be a parrot! She even looked like a parrot to me, so I had to roughly guess based on suspicious signs!
Oing.
"You couldn't see her properly either, Fairy?"
She only looked like a parrot squawking away?
That must have been cute.
—Of course! That seems to be her area of expertise! Fairies receive a fraction of the Great Fairy's power, so we can't encroach on each other's domains!
As if to prove her point, she pointed a finger at the limp fairy. The fairy was in a soulless state with the amulet attached. She literally looked like her soul had left her body.
Eeeh?
Pastel held the fairy and shook her. The fairy's head and limbs flopped weakly. She just looked like a corpse.
—This is definitely a serious Unusual Phenomenon. To think a mere human has such strong resistance.
The Fairy muttered while eating magic stones with her cheeks stuffed full.
"I'm an Unusual Phenomenon?!"
—Yeah.
Gasp, she's so firm about it.
"Then am I going to suddenly turn into a cherry blossom cake and die or something?!"
No way!
Please make me a cherry blossom parfait instead!
The Fairy pondered seriously.
—Maybe. It's a fragile human body, so it wouldn't be strange at all if you suddenly died like that.
Gasp.
A cherry blossom cake.
Gaaaasp.
Pastel staggered in shock. She plopped down onto a lounge chair.
Cherry blossom, cherry blossom Pastel was actually a cherry blossom cake all along...
No wonder cherry blossom was in there twice.
Her head dropped.
"Please make me a cool cherry blossom parfait instead..."
Because the parfait I ate this morning was delicious.
The Fairy pondered seriously.
—You might be able to become that too?
Oing.
Her Pink Eyes rolled.
Cherry blossom parfait.
The letters are similar to Cherry Blossom Pastel!
It might be better than I thought?
Pastel pondered before asking an important question.
"Will pink syrup be drizzled on top?"
The Fairy pondered seriously.
—It could be!
Gasp.
"Could the ice cream be milk instead of ice?"
—It could be!
Wow.
A milk parfait with syrup drizzled on it is a million times tastier than a plain ice parfait.
Pastel felt she could be satisfied with that much. Her expression brightened. She jumped up from the chair.
She clenched her fists tightly.
"Then I want to be a cherry blossom parfait!"
From now on, my dream for the future is to be a cherry blossom parfait!
Oh yeah.
#
"Isn't she dead?"
The fairy placed on the plate was slumped over without a single ounce of vitality. She didn't react even when poked.
I never imagined the Love Amulet would be this powerful.
Was the Fairy, who does Wish Subcontracting to God, a more amazing being than I thought?
But thinking about it again, she got the Love Amulet by praying to the Fairy God too.
Oing.
I guess the Fairy isn't that amazing of a being!
An astonishing realization.
Wow.
—It's because I dominated her mind too much. Wait a second.
The Fairy reached out both hands toward the fairy. The Black Aura surrounding the Fairy wavered.
—Power of Love, awaken the Corrupted Fairy! Hiya!
The fairy slowly raised her body.
"Wow, wow!"
She stood up straight, her empty gaze staring directly at the Fairy. They were soulless eyes. She didn't seem to have any consciousness.
Uh-oh.
With the amulet attached to her, it felt like a Jiangshi had been manufactured.
Perhaps it wasn't the desired result, as the Fairy panicked.
—W-was the power too much? I made this amulet by packing the power in tightly, so it might have been a burden on a small fairy body.
Eeeh?
"Then what happens now?"
The Fairy crossed her arms and thought.
—Well, whatever! This fairy is a Corrupted Fairy anyway, so I had to do a Purification! I won't be able to hear her last words, but the result is the same!
Eek, is that so?
"If you do a Purification, does that mean I get another fairy family member now?"
A new family member added?
—No! A Corrupted Fairy cannot be turned back! Even as a Good Fairy, I really don't want to do this, but I have no choice but to kill her.
The Fairy picked up the knife next to the plate. Humming a little tune, she picked up the fork in her other hand. It wasn't the right size for a small fairy body, but she seemed to be able to hold them well enough.
"No way. Is there really no other way?"
The knife pointed at the fairy's Black Aura.
—Look at this evil aura. She's already beyond saving. The only way to solve this is to eat her and get rid of her. I really want to save her too, but fate does not allow my heart's desire.
The Fairy put on a very sad expression.
Waaah.
This was like a situation where you had to kill a Close friend who was under a Mage's Manipulation, and then burn their corpse so they couldn't become an undead.
How heartbroken must the Fairy be, having to kill a fairy friend she met after such a long time.
I immediately understood what she meant by eating her to get rid of her without needing an explanation.
In many stories, fairies are said to be spiritual bodies made of pure energy, not living creatures with physical bodies.
The Fairy probably meant that she would personally eat the fairy's Black Aura to do a Purification and return the fairy to Natural Energy.
Ugh.
By human standards, the process of taking a spiritual body's energy and returning it to nature doesn't really feel tangible. But from the perspective of the Fairy, who is a spiritual body herself, it must be identical to murder.
I couldn't even imagine how she must feel.
A faint humming sound could be heard.
Just as some people sing to relieve their emotions, it was a sound to relieve her sorrow.
Waaah.
The Fairy lifted the knife and fork and crossed them forcefully. The Chandelier made the blades gleam.
—Could you turn around? As a Good Fairy, I absolutely don't want to do this, but I don't want to show my Partner something I have to do anyway.
Ugh.
Pastel instantly realized what she was feeling. The Fairy didn't want to show her falling tears.
Her heart ached.
"I understand."
Pastel turned her body around.
She put on an uncharacteristically Gloomy Expression.
I guess I haven't been thinking enough about the Fairy's situation all this time. How lonely and hard it must have been to live separated from her family and friends.
Even with Pastel around, there were so many people nearby that it was hard to talk normally, and I couldn't even imagine a life where she had to hide all day behind damp, dark curtains or in the crevices of a sofa.
And to think her fate was to kill the fairy friend she finally met.
Ugh.
I really need to treat her well from now on.
Suddenly, a faint sound of tearing flesh came from behind. The plate clattered. It went quiet for a leisurely moment, and then the sound of bones squelching and crushing rang out in succession.
Pastel flinched and trembled.
Uh-oh.
Could this be...?
She glossed over it by saying she was taking the fairy's energy and returning it to nature, but reality probably wasn't that simple.
Even for humans, if you killed someone who was still alive by draining their blood, you'd think they would dry up and die like a mummy, but that's not the case. Their muscles would spasm and writhe uncontrollably.
Waaah.
Pastel wrapped her arms around her trembling body.
To think the Fairy was enduring such a sight all by herself.
Her heart ached, wondering if she had been too mean to such a Good Fairy all this time.
It was really bad manners to subtly pressure her about her freeloading situation to extort wishes out of her.
I really, really need to treat her well from now on.
Pastel firmly resolved herself.
A little while later, the sounds stopped completely.
The Fairy clapped her hands, clap clap.
—You can turn around now!
Turning around, she saw the Fairy.
The fork tapped against the plate.
The plate was clean.
With a flushed face, the Fairy gave a Wink and a thumbs-up.
—A Good Fairy is clean with the aftermath too! It's a World of Difference from a Corrupted Fairy!
Gasp.
This was like an attitude of forcing herself to act bright.
Tears welled up in Pastel's eyes.
—Huh? What's wrong?
She firmly grabbed the Fairy's small hands.
"If you ever have a hard time from now on, tell me! Even if there's a fairy or a person bullying you!"
—Huh? Huh?
The Fairy looked bewildered.
—Uh... There is definitely one person right now.
"Really?!"
What kind of person was bullying the Good Fairy?
A totally bad person!
"I'll teach them a lesson for you! Who is it?"
The Fairy stared at her in disbelief.
She thought for a moment, then smiled brightly.
—But the Fairy is good, so I don't tattle! It's better to solve things with conversation rather than fighting!
Gasp.
The Fairy is so good...!
Pastel reflected on herself.
I was a total Popular Person Disqualification.
Like a true Popular Person, Pastel decided to pray for the dead fairy's soul first.
She respectfully placed the cleaned plate down.
She bowed her head and observed a moment of silence.
"Please live happily somewhere in nature."
The Fairy nodded.
—I'll do it too! Because a Good Fairy is also good at praying for the souls of the deceased!
Then she came over to her side and observed a moment of silence together.
—Please live happily somewhere in nature.
A quiet time passed.
A burp sounded once.
The Fairy wiped her mouth and resumed her moment of silence.