The Misadventures of Rodrick and his Assistant

Around noon, one of those six-wheeled vehicles parked near the entrance of the park.

Robin's mother disembarked and motioned to her daughter, who ran into her arms.

'I'm going to have to run after it…'

While bracing himself, Rodrick approached the vehicle, and when it drove away, he broke into a mad sprint.

He wasn't fat, but his stamina was lackluster. After 3 minutes, however, he was fortunate enough that this wasn't earth and that the streets of Lineage weren't made for vehicles. The stalls and shops made it hard for the car to speed up, which allowed Rodrick to keep it in his vision.

After what felt like an eternity, the car stopped in a street close to the Upper sub-District.

The street was wide, relatively empty, and both sides lacked any kinds of stores. This seemed to be a mini-residential area for the middle-class families.

Thankfully, access to this street wasn't restricted like the Upper Sub-District. Rodrick was able to follow the car all the way to its destination. He saw Robin and her mother enter one of the houses.

"So she lives there? Or it could be where the doctor lives. Ah! I'm acting like a creep."

Being a Con Artist was infinitely easier than tailing a 8-year old kid to her house.

Stupid as it might be, Rodrick was planning to sneak into the house at the dead of the night.

The house in question was a two-story building, but there were ledges that could potentially allow him to climb and then sneak inside through a window.

However, he might get caught or seen by one of the Lineage police officers. He had to be extremely careful and time things perfectly.

He just had to be in proximity of Robin to meet the fairy, but that was only assuming a tooth fairy would really appear tonight.

The more Rodrick thought about it, the more idiotic he realized he was.

Tooth fairies didn't exist, and if they did, would they really visit every kid that lost a tooth?

"Fuck the Grand Plan and the System."

"The Grand Plan is mysterious and important, User. Believe in it and you will be rewarded."

"Rewarded with what? More stupid missions? I don't care about humanity or the world. I'm only doing this to stay alive!"

"You are a Hero, User."

"You better be thankful that you're only a voice in my head. I swear if you ever appear in front of me, even while looking like somesort of cliché robot maid, I'll beat the living shit out of you. Mark my fucking words."

"Hypothetically, if I were a robot maid, I would be resilient enough to withstand your attacks, User."

"Yeah… keep running your mouth while you still can."

…

Rodrick, feeling extremely exhausted after running around all day, tentatively approached Robin's home while sticking to the shadows. He had to run after the vehicle one more time, but it was pointless as she just went to have her tooth removed.

He saw her sobbing and holding her cheek when she left.

The exact time wasn't clear since he didn't have his watch, but Rodrick was confident that it was Robin's bedtime.

The difficult part began now, as he reached the side of the building and looked around. There were no patrolling officers around, so, after a deep breath, he began climbing.

Even though there were enough ledges to make it easier, Rodrick was still no climber. The climbing struggle took an entire 20 minutes, mostly due to Rodrick stopping and hugging the wall when he heard the patrols walking around.

Unless they went through the alley, it was improbable for them to notice Rodrick.

Once he reached the window, Rodrick tried opening it or sliding it to the side but it was locked.

"F-fuck…"

With a shaky and unstable body, he turned his head and looked at a second window to his left. With no choice, he tiptoed on the edge, soon reaching it.

'Yes!'

The window wasn't locked, so he was able to open it and peek inside. It was a fancy room, though there was no one inside.

'I swear, if all of this is for nothing…'

While cursing himself and the System, Rodrick slipped inside while trying to make as little noise as possible. He quickly grew accustomed to the darkness and put his head against the door.

He heard faint chatter coming from downstairs, which made him relieved. Not unlike a thief, he hesitantly opened the door, peeking at the corridor and then fully revealing himself.

He didn't know where Robin's room was, therefore, he had to search every room on that floor.

'Not this one.'

'Also no…'

Out of the four rooms, one of them was locked and the other two were empty. The last one was, naturally, Robin's. As he stepped inside, Rodrick truly felt like an immoral criminal.

While calming his nerves, he crawled on the ground while constantly looking at the sleeping Robin, making sure she didn't wake up.

'Okay… now what?'

Rodrick positioned himself near the window, which he unlocked, and impatiently waited. If one of the parents were to enter, he would instantly jump through the window.

He might break a few bones or even die, but that was better than getting caught.

Second after second, minute after minute, Rodrick waited for the tooth fairy.

"User, you only have one hour to complete the mission."

'What am I supposed to do?!' He cried out inwardly as he kept looking at Robin, or more specifically, the pillow under her head.

'What if she didn't put the tooth under it? Should I check? No… even if I do, it's too late to look for another kid.'

As he was getting more and more nervous, Rodrick failed to notice that the breeze brushing against his face seemed to abruptly stop. Only when a buzzing sound echoed across the room did he raise his head.

As he sat under the window, agape, a small entity appeared out of thin air and danced around the room, leaving a trail of a colourful light in her wake.

'No fucking way….'

Rodrick, so far, had seen his fair share of magical nonsense, but even that paled in comparison to actually seeing a tooth fairy.

The tooth fairy flew around before stopping right in front of him. Her figure, which was emitting a blinding light, became clearer.

She really did look like how one would imagine a fairy. A small body, no larger than an adult's hand, translucent wings protruding from her back, an absurd colorful dress that was hard to describe.

Most shocking, however, was her face. Unlike one's expectation, it wasn't that of a godsent beauty, instead, she had quite the nasty and deep scar.

"You can see me? Hmm…"

With her legs crossed mid-air, she tapped her cheek as she looked at him. The tone of her voice contained a mix of surprise and annoyance, and her expression was cold and a bit scary.

Rodrick slowly raised his arm while squeezing a forced smile,

"H-hello…"

He noticed that his surroundings became colorless, as if time itself came to a stop.

"You met a tooth fairy, User. Congratulations."

Rodrick didn't have the time to rejoice over his success. He was desperate to meet a fairy, but now that it happened, he didn't know what to do. Should he just bail out of there? Ask for a wish? Or just talk to her?

"Hey! I'm talking to you!"

She floated closer and kicked his nose.

"Wh-what? I mean yes! Yes, I can see you. Nice to meet you, Miss Fairy."

The tooth fairy, frowning as if irritated, flew around his head while sniffing. After she was done, her expression became worse.

"You're one of them System Users. You don't smell as bad, though."

"A-ahahahah thank you."

Rodrick let out an awkward laugh, choosing not to annoy her further by relenting to his curiosity and asking her how she knew about System users.

"So, what the hell are you doing here? Wait a minute…" The tooth fairy looked at him then at the sleeping Robin.

"W-wait! It's not what you think! I'm here to meet you, Miss Fairy!"

"Is that so? Why?"

"Ehm… It's mission from the System."

"What? Speak sense, damnit!" She descended from above and kicked his nose again, though he didn't feel any pain, just a small ticklish sensation.

"It's really from the System!"

Sweating profusely, Rodrick kept sitting there, his body stiff from anxiety and fear.

"What kind of stupid System gives that kind of mission?"

"I don't know. I had to meet you to live."

"..."

"I'm really telling the truth, Miss Fairy. I went to great lengths to meet an esteemed and honourable entity like yourself."

"Okay, stop with your ass-kissing. And stop smiling, you're giving me the creeps."

Rodrick did as instructed, even going as far as lowering his head apologetically.

"I'm not in the mood to talk anymore. You finished your mission, so leave."

"Yes! Have a good night!"

As if he was pardoned, Rodrick jumped to his feet and opened the window.

Just as he was about to step into the ledge, however, he heard the fairy again.

"Come back here."

Rodrick reluctantly pulled his foot inside as a chill went down his spines.

"Is there anything else you want, Miss Fairy?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. I helped you complete your mission, did I not?"

She had a wide, unpleasant grin on her scarred face.

Rodrick's mouth hung wide open as he saw snap her fingers, causing a miniature cigar to appear in mouth. While huffing and puffing smoke, she scrutinized him from head to toe while nodding to herself.

"You're going to help me tonight."

"W-with what?"

"What do you think, dumbass? You'll go around and give gifts to the good children that lost a tooth."

"..."

"What? You don't want to?"

"With all due respect, Miss Fairy, I don't have the ability to do that. In fact, I barely managed to sneak into this house."

The tooth fairy flicked the cigar at him and then let out a laugh, "I got you covered. I'll give you a map and a temporary blessing that makes time stop. That should be enough."

"Ehm…"

Without even waiting for him, she took out a golden wand and waved it around, afterwhich an intricate map of the Common sub-District appeared in his hands. There were several houses with red circles around them.

"See these small sticks? These are the gifts you're gonna put under the pillows. Also, the golden wand in your hand can stop time… just click on the button on the side. Now, off you go!"

Before he could process anything, Rodrick found himself back in the alley. For minutes, he stood there, unable to comprehend what the hell just happened.

"Mind explaining, my dear and loyal assistant?"

"..."

"Say something, for fuck's sake!"

"The Grand Plan is mysterious and important, User."

"What Grand Plan? This has nothing to do with the System! Why did I become the fairy's errand boy?!"

Rodrick almost pulled out his hair from anger and frustration, nonetheless, he didn't dare disobey the fairy. He used the map and the wand to go around the sub-district, delivering 'gifts' to the kids.

In total, he visited 13 houses, and that took 3 hours. He figured out that the wand could stop time only for five minutes, so he had to do a lot of sneaking around. Still, the job wasn't as difficult as it seemed.

In fact, Rodrick hoped she would give him the stick as a reward.

Amidst this 'secondary' mission he had been forced to do, Rodrick did hear the System informing him of his success. Moreover, he was also informed of the new mission.

…

Around 3 am, Rodrick was finally done with the gift distribution.

As if she had been monitoring him, the tooth fairy stopped time and appeared in front of him.

With a cigar in her mouth and legs crossed, she used her own fairy magic to snatch the wand in his hand.

"It's been a longtime since I rested like this. You're a good slav-.. ahem, helper."

"..."

"You should be honored to have been given the chance to use my magic. The children will surely be happy with the gifts you delivered. Be proud."

"Can I have the wand as a reward?"

"Of course not, dumbass. I'm not even allowed to lend it to anyone."

"But you just did… Miss Fairy."

"And? You gonna snitch? I had a good nap and you got to be a tooth fairy for a night. Geez, why can't you be grateful?"

Rodrick, who had given up on getting a reward, just stood there, solemnly staring back at her.

"Can I ask a few things, Miss Fairy?"

"Since you did help, I suppose I'll let you ask."

"Did you meet other System Users?"

"I've seen a couple from afar, but that was a long time ago. The most recent was 10 years ago. They seem to appear after fixed intervals."

Rodrick frowned, feeling that such an important clue was hidden from him by the System or his assistant.

"I did not know that, User. Assistants are not provided with info regarding previous A.I Assistants or their associated Users."

Before Rodrick could ask anything else, the fairy continued,

"System Users are a nasty bunch, but I've never seen or heard of a User as pathetic and downtrodden as you. If I wasn't such an awesome and capable fairy, I wouldn't have been able to sniff that stinky System of yours."

"Could others, specifically humans, detect that I am User?"

"How am I supposed to know that? The System was created by Humans, so the answer is 'yes'. Or probably? I don't know."

"Created by humans? For real?"

"Who else would have created them? You really as stupid as you look."

"I thought it was Gods or something…" Responded Rodrick with a low and weak voice.

"Gods?" The fairy looked at him as if he was mentally challenged. "You're not right in the head, are you?"

"..."

"Don't worry, User. Based on my assessment, you are mentally stable and your intelligence is above average. Don't let her words affect you. Your loyal assistant believes in you."

"Putting aside the fact that you're stupid, your System is indeed weird. I've never heard of a System giving a mission like 'meeting a tooth fairy'. What about your other missions?"

Rodrick, albeit hesitant, told her about the other missions he received. It was kind of surprising that she seriously and attentively listened.

"Yeah… that's definitely strange. You're shit out of luck, it seems."

"R-right? Ahahahaha…" Rodrick let out a forced laugh, but he was internally cursing everything. Were the fairy not present, he would fly into a rage and start screaming atop his lungs.

"There is nothing wrong with the System, User. All if functional and as it is supposed to be. All missions are for the sake of the Grand Plan. You are a Hero who will save the world."

Rodrick ignored the bullshitting A.I and asked,

"Is there a way to go back to my world?"

"Dunno. The System and its users are always shrouded in mystery. Those who know about them are always advised to stay out of their way. You should feel honored I'm wasting my precious time with you."

"Indeed, you are an awesome and powerful fairy. Your graciousness knows no-"

"I feel like I'm going to vomit every time you praise me, so stop it!"

"I'm only speaking the truth, miss Fairy. By the way, can only System Users meet tooth fairies?"

"I don't know and I don't care. But, if I had to guess, it must be because you are not from this world, so our magic don't affect you, otherwise my time-stop magic would have frozen you too. Anyway, it's not like other System Users would go around looking for tooth fairies."

"T-to be honest, I didn't think tooth fairies existed."

"Hmpf! Being a tooth fairy is just my part-time job."

'Part-time job?'

Rodrick, stupefied, blinked at her while trying to make sense of her words.

"Oops! Look at the time! I'm leaving!"

She looked at her wrist, which didn't have a watch, and then flapped her wings while drifting away from him.

"Wait! Miss Fairy! Can't you give me some kind of magical ability?!"

Rodrick chased after her, but she was faster.

"Miss Fairy!"

Alas, she soon vanished into thin air.

"At least give me money, damnit!"

Rodrick grumbled to himself before hastily leaving the alley, afraid that one of the patrolling officers heard his prior screaming.