"It's not everyday that the three of us can spend a quiet time together like this." ~Stachie, Goddess of Loneliness and Isolation

Apple's Little Errands - Rullzia Town

On the day Shallies gave Valor'el Apple's token…

The teacup fairy perked up from her slumber. She had been busy taking care of all the fauna and flora in Shallies' land, moving them someplace else to prepare for the Gaiamaxims Guild's arrival.

Plants and animals in this province were impressively agreeable, she found. Unlike in some other harsher environments, places where trees were even thornier than a cactus, the peacefulness and abundance of nature in this region had allowed life to be quite generous and understanding.

In the midst of this appreciation, Apple noticed her coin being taken out of her Class Inventory. She felt Shallies retrieve it and give it to Valor'el. Which, of course, set in motion a variety of cogwheels in the fairy's head. She smiled, knowing that there was work for her to do.

Not long after, Shallies contacted her.

"I need you to influence Hydrangea's decision," the primary Godkiller said after explaining the situation. "If you're not busy, that is."

Apple nodded with so much enthusiasm that her head might fall off.

"Thanks," Shallies said. "We might still be out for a few days, so I'll leave the fort to you and Stachie."

With a bright smile, the secondary Godkiller made a thumbs up.

After that, Apple went to Stachie to inform her that she would need to leave for a while. The Goddess of Loneliness and Isolation understood her gestures like they were sign language, which was something the teacup fairy wasn't allowed to use.

Thankfully, normal gestures were allowed, regardless of how familiar Stachie was with them, or how repetitive Apple was with using them.

It didn't take the fairy long to find the seclusion. Knowing exactly where it was located, and a couple of Sight Steps to make travel almost instantaneous, Apple easily found the cave.

And since she was the one who used her Divine Mandate to create the seclusion, there was no need for her to say the password phrase. With a simple flex of her will, she was inside Rullzia Town.

After a few centuries being absent, not many inhabitants of the seclusion knew what Godkiller Apple looked like. Except, of course, for a few who had lived that long. One of whom was Hydrangea, who spotted her the moment she appeared.

Putting a tiny finger above her lips for just a quick moment, Apple prevented the fairy Guildmaster from blurting out in sudden surprise. Though Hydrangea was struggling to control herself, she had at least enough self-control to approach with dignity and poise. For some odd reason, the Guild Hall was more packed than usual.

"Miss Mila, it's been a while," she began, using one of Apple's other names. Lyra, being one of her more popular names, would take too much attention, especially since that singer persona of hers had already retired and vanished from the public eye.

Apple-Mila smiled, appreciating Hydrangea's quick thinking. With the Guildmaster intervening as soon as possible, the other patrons wouldn't be suspicious of her, and they could go straight to business as well.

She went to the Quest Board and pointed to the form posted on the corner. The quest Valor'el took.

As it was already signed, it took Hydrangea a bit of a moment to understand what was going on. As both the Mayor and Guildmaster of Rullzia Town, she was quite busy, Apple realized. It made sense for her to take a while to remember something like this.

It made Apple feel a tinge of guilt. She noted to herself to return the favor later.

"The quest is already taken, but I'm assuming you have additional information about it?" Hydrangea inquired.

Since most people could see the board without exerting any effort, they could easily identify that the quest was indeed already contracted to someone. So the Guildmaster wisely directed the conversation towards something that wouldn't be seen as suspicious, since additional information, whether by scientific discovery or divine intervention, was as common as any other prophetic occurrence out there.

And playing it cool was Apple, who simply nodded.

"Alright, we can catch up a bit back in the office while we're at it."

Hydrangea led her at the back of the hall. Over there was a door made for the size of an average human, but with a smaller version right in the middle of it.

Inside was a split room, the larger portion of which was the office made for larger folk, complete with office tables and chairs and shelves and whatnots. Apple was led towards the smaller version near a segregated section on the ceiling corner.

As soon as they landed, Hydrangea flung her arms over Apple.

"You should've said you were coming!" she began.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The cheerful bells that came from the teacup fairy were full of joy and energy. She returned the tight embrace, appreciating the fact that it had been a long while since she last hugged someone her size.

"Let me get you something to drink. Actually drink, not bathe in."

Apple watched as Hydrangea busied herself around the small section of the room, retrieving and cleaning tiny teacups and brewing tea through a tiny kettle. For an average folk, they were probably just a bit larger than their fingernails. But for them, it was just the right size.

While the Guildmaster prepared for a small impromptu tea party, Apple settled herself in one of the sofa chairs. She settled right in, sinking into the soft cushion and going straight into relaxation mode. Hydrangea, after all, loved relaxing routines.

"There we go. Biscuits or petal crisps? I have some fresh seeds, if you prefer that."

Apple took the offer, popping one of the petal crisps into her mouth. The crunch, followed by the soft fiber inside, was delectable. She took one more just to drive the point home what she wanted to eat. Tapping the empty space beside her sofa, she invited Hydrangea over to join her.

With that, the Guildmaster fairy spent the next few hours telling stories about Rullzia Town. Apple listened the entire time. She laughed at the funny moments, and comforted Hydrangea in the sad ones. She offered suggestions on how to improve certain things when asked, gesturing some simple instructions.

A couple of hours in, an elf knocked on the door, letting them know that Valor'el had arrived. Though Apple expected him to arrive sooner, she appreciated the extra time she was given to catch up with her friend.

After letting the elf assistant know they would be done soon, Hydrangea went back to Apple.

"Ah, I remember, Mister Valor'el said you were the one who directed him to this seclusion and this quest."

Apple nodded, taking the quest form that had been neglected on the table since they started having tea. She pointed towards the objective, towards the word 'close', and shook her head. After they had made sure that words written by someone else didn't contradict her Great Sacrifice, the teacup fairy had been utilizing them whenever needed.

"You don't want them to close it?" Hydrangea asked. "But it might mature to a more dangerous dungeon, no?"

Apple shook her head, pointing towards Valor'el's name, and then making a thumbs up.

"Oh, he'll take care of it?"

The teacup fairy nodded enthusiastically.

"I see, if that's the case then there shouldn't be any problems." Hydrangea spent the next thirty minutes making things comfortable for Apple.

At first, the Guildmaster thought that issue would be the end of the Godkiller's visit. Apple clarified that she would wait for her to return, by simply enjoying her tea and her sofa.

Content, Hydrangea left to accommodate Valor'el. In the meantime, Apple went to check on the seclusion's condition.

First, she created multiple layers of veils to ensure that no one would notice her checking her own Divine Mandate. It wasn't as dangerous as entering the Fate Weave Archive, but it would still create a certain pulse of Divine Authority. And unlike Avel Paradise, Rullzia Town's seclusion parameters weren't as strict. But it would be only proper procedure to make sure not even a single shred of her authority would escape the room.

Reviewing the seclusion's condition was a lot like looking through a mirror. A clear reflection meant a steady barrier. Cracks would indicate unauthorized access, which were fortunately none. Bends and stretches would mean internal fluctuations, or people unauthorized to leave getting out, which were none as well. And blurriness meant a weakened seal.

Apple found signs of the last one. They were small smidges, not enough to cause any issues. But since she was here already anyway, she decided to fix the issue.

The simple solution was to invest more Divine Authority to strengthen the weakening seals. Since they weren't caused by anything external or internal, and were just from the natural depreciation from the flow of time, Apple didn't have to invest that much.

And as soon as she was done, Hydrangea returned to the room.

"Oh, you were busy doing something?" she asked, noticing the last few veils vanishing from reality.

Apple just gave a thumbs up, signaling that she was already done with her work. So the two returned to their seats. Hydrangea brewed more tea, and they went on and spent the rest of the day doing what good friends do.

One talked and the other listened.

Shallies and Stachie did as they had always done whenever Apple started gesturing away. Though it wasn't anything like a sign language, they were familiar enough with the fairy's mannerisms to translate her movements.

"Thanks for helping out," Shallies started. "And I'm glad you got to catch up with a friend. Hydrangea was pretty enthusiastic when he saw Valor'el."

"How long are they going to stay secluded for?" Stachie asked.

Apple shook her head.

"They'll always stay secluded?"

"It's their preferred lifestyle," Shallies explained. "Originally, the Rullzian Fairies didn't want anything to do with the outside world. Which was why Apple made a seclusion for them after their old place got destroyed. But since it was Apple, she wanted them to see what they're missing out on, so she made their seclusion a little less hidden."

"Well, that's fair, I suppose."

Apple made a yawn, which caused the other two to feel the pull of sleep.

"Wanna sleep with us?" Shallies asked Stachie. "The seraphim aren't gonna barge in the room, so you don't have to worry accidentally influencing someone."

"I don't want to risk it, Shallies," the goddess said. "Besides, I'm not really feeling sleepy. It's day time where I am, you know? I need to restock on my supplies anyway."

"Alright, suit yourself."

Shallies and Apple gave Stachie a warm embrace before letting the goddess leave. After that, they went to their room and prepared for the night.

Apple's Little Errands - Helping Others

The next day, before dawn, Apple tended to the plants that had been moved away to give space for the Gaiamaxims Guild. Since they all had to squeeze in together, nutrients were quickly becoming scarce. And she didn't want even a single one to not have the nutrients they needed.

Mana was her answer. Nurturing common flora didn't take a lot of her mana. She had more than enough to nourish an entire country's land, after all. However, she couldn't feed them with a huge reserve all at the same time. Unlike their natural source of energy, these flora were unable to store mana in the same way. So Apple had to tend to them daily.

While doing so, she noticed a couple of people jogging on Catelyn Road. She immediately noticed Yoshelle, Krevan, and Laika, but there were others too.

The Elemental Archmage was the first to notice her, waving at her and signaling the others to take a break. Apple took that as a sign that Yoshelle wanted a word. She stopped what she was doing and met her halfway.

"Good morning, Apple," Yoshelle started.

The teacup fairy gave a huge smile.

"Are Grace and the others coming in today?"

A nod.

"So umm… Actually, I was wondering if Shallies can help me out? Valor'el said he had given every pointers he had regarding The Perpetual Method. But I still can't get past my current hurdle. So I was hoping if Shallies could teach me?"

Apple rubbed her chin, pulling at her Soul Confidant connection. Of course, she didn't say a word. But she trusted her enough to find out what was going on. Shallies was barely awake, but the fairy could already feel her exasperated sigh. She giggled even before her System Console opened.

[Fine.]

With a smile, the teacup fairy nodded and pointed towards the tavern.

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