"It's the second day."
Itsuki looked out the window; her three-day Trial Mission had finally progressed a bit.
She really didn't know what kind of bizarre Trial Mission Paradise had issued. If no one helped her, how was she supposed to survive until the third day in the Gingerbread Witch's Candy House? Was she really expected to subdue the Gingerbread Witch with her bare hands?
The appearance of moonlight somewhat eased the eerie atmosphere of the Strange Speech Forest, and the pumpkin carriage's wheels accelerated. Mud and trees couldn't stop it, and any weak creatures that got in the way were crushed directly.
During such a long night, Itsuki's relationship with these Strange Tales had grown a bit more familiar.
Especially Calcifer. Itsuki noticed that it kept subtly bringing up topics about the Main World, then pretended with a completely undisguised expression that it didn't want to know anything about such matters.
It seemed… quite foolish.
According to Calcifer, the Strange Tales in the Fairy Tale World still had many differences.
"The first type are humanoid Strange Tales like the Gingerbread Witch and the Shepherd Witch.
The second type are animals, such as the Golden Goose.
The third type are miscellaneous Strange Tales like the Magic Mirror and the Scarecrow.
Although the Abilities awakened by animal Strange Tales and miscellaneous Strange Tales are generally more powerful and strange than those of humanoid Strange Tales, the latter's growth is much more difficult.
For example, the Golden Goose still hasn't developed any intelligence, and the Magic Mirror doesn't even have the Ability to move independently. Miss Red said that every miscellaneous Strange Tale should give birth to a human-shaped artifact spirit.
That sounds troublesome; the Scarecrow still has no clue, anyway."
Just then, Tohsaka Rin grumbled, "Kisaragi-san-sama is finally done."
"So what exactly was Kisaragi busy with?"
Itsuki asked curiously, looking at Kisaragi Rin who was coming downstairs, holding Lily and Anna's hands. The oblivious Itsuki still didn't realize, but the other four in her mind understood from Tohsaka Rin's expression.
"Huh? That?"
The discussion among her sisters in her mind instantly made Itsuki's cheeks flush.
Kisaragi Rin also had a face full of question marks.
Because he noticed Itsuki looking at him with a blush, he used his Singularity Eye to examine himself and confirmed that all the lipstick marks had been wiped off.
"How strange."
Not wanting to bother with it, although Kisaragi Rin felt that the difficulty of the Mission to save the Queen was enough for Itsuki to be rated S, Paradise hadn't given any hints, so he couldn't be sure if Paradise would lower Itsuki's score.
Hmm... lower the score.
Since there was Paradise's favor, there must also be Paradise's displeasure.
Miss Red came forward from the side and began to introduce the pumpkin carriage's next itinerary.
"The pumpkin carriage's speed is quite accurate; we are about to leave the Strange Speech Forest.
After passing through the secondary territory [Wind-Blown River], we will be able to enter the scope of [Rapunzel Territory]."
Miss Red was sensing Anna and Lily. Last night, she had already discovered that several terrifying presences had suddenly appeared in the pumpkin carriage.
Now, facing Anna directly, Miss Red had confirmed that she absolutely couldn't defeat this loli.
"How is the Wind-Blown River?"
Kisaragi Rin asked.
"We can just subdue it easily later."
If the [Wind-Blown River] had any significant background, Miss Red wouldn't have recommended [Rapunzel Territory] as the Strange Tales Association's base.
A moment later, The trees of the Strange Speech Forest abruptly ended.
The front became open, and a gray river bubbling appeared before their eyes.
The river was gray, and no water flow could be seen.
When the pumpkin carriage arrived at the river, a flock of ducks swam towards the shore.
However, these ducks looked truly bizarre: their faces were handsome men, their outstretched wings were woven from dense human hands, and in the dark shadows beneath the water were more feet flapping like centipedes... "So disgusting."
Anna couldn't help but say.
Her demonic eye, [Cybele], merely glanced, and inadvertently saw all the details clearly.
Itsuki, due to the darkness, was pressed against the window and couldn't see the full appearance of these ducks.
"Indeed disgusting."
Kisaragi Rin also complained, "Miss Red, are Strange Tales really the only specialty of the Fairy Tale World? Why do I feel like these things have a touch of madness to them?"
The previous Bat-people could be called ugly, but these ducks weren't even trying to hide it now.
"There's no helping it. These humans have reproduced for many generations after becoming subordinates of Strange Tales. The environment and the Strange Tales they worship are constantly polluting their bodies.
Compared to these ducks, the creatures in the deep sea are even more sinister."
Miss Red explained that Medea had already torn them all to shreds with a torrent of magic, not even letting them say a word.
They were merely Strange Tale derivatives; even if taken to the Workshop, they could only be used to extract Energy.
As soon as these ducks died, the water of the Wind-Blown River instantly swirled together, condensing into a body.
"How dare you! Who dares to kill my subjects!"
The Strange Tale shouted, startled.
He held a trident, wore a crown on his head, and dragged a shit-green tail behind him.
This appearance resembled the Sea King from Spongebob, but unfortunately, his strength was too weak, causing Kisaragi Rin to quickly dismiss that possibility.
"Is there a Mission?"
Kisaragi Rin asked Itsuki.
Itsuki: "Yes."
[You have received the Mission - The Honest River God]
Mission - The Honest River God
Description: Please throw one of your precious items into the river. The River God will greedily claim it, and you need to make the River God honestly return it.
Itsuki: "Why are the Missions Paradise gives me always so contrary to common sense?"
"You might as well ask if Paradise is eager to kill you. To complete the description above, you'd need to be stronger than the River God. Why would you trigger such a Mission?"
Miss Red asked curiously.
Itsuki: "..."
She didn't know! She also really wanted to know what mistake she had made. Hadn't she already integrated the five people as her father said?
This question was truly difficult to answer.
The River God outside had already retreated two steps. He sensed that something was wrong; the pumpkin carriage in front of him was constantly emitting a faint, terrifying aura, almost making him unable to hold his trident steady.
"Could it be that I've offended some powerful passing Strange Tale?"
The River God couldn't help but think.
The Wind-Blown River was his territory; running away directly was impossible.
Before he could decide what to do, several figures had already emerged from the pumpkin carriage.
The next moment, a red-black Killing Intent stood behind the River God, poking its finger into his brain.
"We speak, you act. Understand?"
Kisaragi Rin said gently.
The River God stiffly shook his brains.