Erika gulped and took a bite from the black chocolate.

"UUUUUGHHHHH!!!"

Sweetness raped her brain. It was so sweet that she couldn't sweet even stand sweet and nearly sweet collapsed on the sweet floor because sweet.

“Gah! Ugh! T-too...s-sweet... ack...”

Erika brought up the Dimension Vessel and tossed the cursed item into it.

“Oh, you can’t even handle chocolate? Just how much of a trash can one be?”

Minerva smiled gently, as she watched the staggering Erika.

“It’s very worrying, that a nobody like you will head into the outside world all alone.”

Minerva lowered her head with genuine worry.

“I’m sure you’ll die countless times before even reaching the city. Then, you’ll respawn in my hall, each and every time. Just the thought of that makes me want to puke.”

“Ugh...”

Erika recovered from the sweeeeeeet pain, and eyed Minerva with a silent killing intent. Minerva ignored the hostility and turned toward the window.

“Vivi, come here.”

A small creature flew into the hall and approached Minerva.

T-this is...!

The tiny creature was a fair-skinned girl, with glittering wings on her back.

“A fairy!? S-so cute~”

Erika latched onto the fairy and tried to grab her. Alas, the fairy dodged the rape attempts and ascended high into the air, beyond Erika’s short reach.

“Pipipipi!”

The tiny girl puffed her cheeks, and fired high-pitched complaints like a machinegun.

“Vivi, give it a break. I already know, this child here is genuine trash.”

“Pipipipi piiipiipipi!”

The fairy, Vivi, turned toward Minerva and continued her unrelenting complaints.

“I know, I know. She’s a completely lost case, a pitiful good-for-nothing.”

Minerva nodded in response with a warm smile. Apparently, Minerva understood Vivi’s squeaky language. Erika locked her attention on the fairy, but all she heard was “Pipipipi” or “Piiipipipi”.

“Oh, you can’t understand what Vivi is saying? I always thought stupidity had a limit, but your case proves otherwise. You’re aware that you have a [Communication] rune, right?”

Minerva smiled gently and continued her conversation with Vivi.

【TIP】【You can activate your runes by focusing on the body parts in which they’re infused. In your case: the [Communication] rune is infused into your forehead.】

【TIP】【If you have difficulties with activating runes with your mind, then you can manually invoke their effects from the Status screen.】

Erika skimmed the instructions in panic.

“Curses, informing me in such a critical moment...! Say, Mini!”

“I’m not Mini!”

“How exactly do I use runes?! I must understand what this cute, little fairy is saying!”

“Hmm.... ya just kinda focus on it, and POOF it works!”

“Tch, that doesn’t help at all!”

Afraid that she missed important NPC dialogue, Erika immediately brought up the status screen. She didn’t have the luxury to figure out the vague “rune activation” system.

A body diagram appeared on the screen, with empty slots plastered over the limbs. Only the head’s slot was colored in light-blue, representing the [Communication] rune. Erika tapped on the blue slot, and turned her attention toward the ongoing conversation.

“Ugh..!”

A throbbing sensation pierced her head, as if a foreign object moving in her skull. The symptoms shortly subsided, and a blue sigil formed on Erika’s forehead.

“Like, I’m not a babysitter, you know!”

Vivi crossed her arms and complained with puffed cheeks. Her voice still had a high pitch, but it was comprehensible enough.

“I know, she’s rotten trash through and through. But, you also need to reach Zelin City, right?”

“Hmph. Like, it’s true I want to visit the city. But this idiot is only going to drag me down!”

Vivi threw an irritated glance at Erika, and turned away.

Does Minerva try to pair us together? I must say something!

Driven by the desire to travel together with the cute fairy, Erika stepped into the conversation.

“Don’t worry, Vivi~ I’ll keep you safe as we travel~”

“You? Keep me safe? Like, how stupid can you be?”

Vivi hung her head in disbelief, and spat out a sigh.

“You’re so small and fragile~ Mommy will make sure to protect you~”

“Wh-! I’m not small! I’m a pixie!”

Vivi angrily kicked the air.

“I’m sure there are many dangerous monsters out there~ A weak, little girl like you needs protection~”

“W-weak!? Now you’ve done it!”

Vivi swung her tiny arm and fired a gust of wind.

“W-waah!?”

Invisible force slapped Erika in the face. She tripped backwards and fell on her bottom.

“Ahahaha! Did you see that?! The great Vivi is way stronger than the likes of you!”

Vivi put her little hands on her thin waist, and struck an arrogant pose. It truly a strong strike, which impressed Erika.

“Was that wind magic?”

“Ding dong! Seems like you DO have a brain in that big head of yours.”

“Amazing~”

Erika was very proud of the small, yet powerful, pixie. Sadly, Vivi still refused to cooperate, and dodged every attempt to be grabbed by Erika.

Oh, I know.

Erika opened her Dimension Vessel and took out the cursed Dragon Chocolate.

“Vivi~ If you come with me, then I’ll share some chocolate with you~”

“H-huh!? D-Dragon Chocolate?!”

Vivi’s eyes sparkled in excitement.

“Ack! H-hmph! I-it’s not like I love chocolate or anything! Like, I’m not a kid!”

Vivi did her best to not look at the chocolate, but her eyes were attracted to it like a magnet.

“I’ll give you one piece of chocolate now, and the rest when we reach the city. How about it?”

Erika cracked a chocolate piece and brought it close to Vivi.

“I-I never said I want any! Hmph!”

“Then, I guess I’ll throw it away?”

“A-ack! W-wait a second!!!”

“My, do you want it then?”

“N-not really! L-like, wasting food is just bad, you know! Y-yeah, that’s right! Since you insist that much, then the generous Vivi will relieve you of that chocolate!”

Vivi snatched the chocolate piece and dug her tiny teeth into it.

“Mmmmmmm!!!”

Vivi’s body trembled in joy. Erika was amazed how Vivi could peacefully nom on such a SWEEEEEEEEEET treat. This was probably the meaning behind a line in the item’s description:

【Sweet-toothed creatures would do anything for a piece of this masterpiece.】

Apparently, pixies liked sweets in GoVe. Or, maybe it was just Vivi. Either way, Erika got a strong card for negotiations.

“If you accompany me to the city, then I’ll hand over the rest of the chocolate. Otherwise, I’ll eat it myself or toss it away.”

“F-fine, hmph! You beg so much, that the generous Vivi feels sorry about your pitiful existence!”

Vivi crossed her arms and lifted her chin.

“The great Vivi will bless you with her divine presence, and will accompany the helpless idiot you are. But only until the city, you hear?! Like, if you don’t hand over the chocolate - I’ll rip you apart!”

“Of course, of course~ Anything for my cute lil’ Vivi~”

【INVITATION】【Vivi (Velver Pixie) wants to accompany you.】

Huhu, you don’t even need to ask.

Erika confidently tapped on【Accept】.

【NEW QUEST】【Vivi’s Escort】

“Mini, look at this~ I only started the game and I already have such a cute little pet~”

“Huuuh? Cute? If it were me - I’d slice that dumb bitch into salami!”

“Huhu, Mini is just jealous because mommy now got another child~”

“Bah! Like hell!”

Mina threw invisible punches at Erika. For the life of her, Mina couldn’t understand what was even remotely “cute” about the foul-mouthed, arrogant pixie.