Ch.181[Episode 181] Anomaly: Jelly Rain

Tok. Todok.

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica were looking out the window from inside the house.

Jellies were falling one by one in the yard.

And soon jellies began pouring down with tremendous force.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Sir Dominic said while chewing on a jelly he had casually caught from outside.

“Huh? This kind of thing is surprisingly common… Oh. Right. You were with System Industries.”

Sir Dominica picked up a few jellies from Sir Dominic’s palm and popped them into her mouth.

Outside the window, Alice was wearing a raincoat with a basin on her head, frantically catching jellies falling from the sky.

“This was quite common at Black Company.”

“Was common, you say?”

“This is an advertisement.”

Sir Dominica knew quite a lot about Black Company.

And usually such information came from loose-lipped employees who came for coffee during breaks, through which she learned that these strange phenomena were promotional events or advertisements from Black Company.

“They usually target pioneers with these events. They buy Android products in bulk too. But…”

Sir Dominica looked at the jellies that had now piled up to Alice’s waist.

Alice quickly came into Sir Dominic’s house, fearing she might get trapped among the jellies if she stayed outside any longer.

“Masters! I collected this much!”

Alice began stuffing the jellies into bags and packing them into her backpack.

This would be enough to trade with the fairies and still have plenty left for snacks.

Alice took off her raincoat.

The raincoat was a mess of colorful jellies, as some must have been too soft and sticky.

“My hands are all sticky! May I use your bathroom, Master?”

Sir Dominic nodded.

Since Sir Dominic was listed as the owner of this house, Sir Dominica simply watched Alice.

After Alice went to the bathroom to wash her hands, Sir Dominica continued speaking.

“So, as I was saying, scattering this many jellies… it might actually cause problems.”

“As the System just said, this is the work of a villain.”

Sir Dominic agreed with Sir Dominica’s words.

“Problems are to be expected.”

“That’s true.”

Sir Dominica nodded.

“By the way…”

Sir Dominic looked out the window at the yard.

The jelly rain seemed to be gradually subsiding, but jellies, being solids rather than liquids, inevitably… piled up.

“Cleaning that up will be quite a task.”

The jellies in Sir Dominic’s yard were now piled as high as Sir Dominic himself.

“Just use your inventory.”

Sir Dominica offered a surprisingly practical suggestion.

Sir Dominic looked at Sir Dominica.

It was a good idea.

…

After the jelly downpour completely stopped, Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica filled their inventories with jellies.

There were so many jellies that their inventories became sticky, but Sir Dominic didn’t mind much.

“Come to think of it, didn’t you say Black Company holds these events?”

“More precisely, Black Company plans these events. They usually hold them around February 14th, March 14th, or November 11th, I heard.”

Sir Dominic nodded.

He had learned some new knowledge.

“Anyway, if that’s the case, that villain… Miss Sweet-Sweet was her name? She might be a member of Black Company.”

“I’m not so sure.”

Sir Dominica expressed doubt.

“Black Company does the planning, that’s correct. But they need permission from the Executive branch, and System Industries handles the execution.”

“It means no single entity can execute this alone,” Sir Dominica explained.

“…Then perhaps we should visit each place one by one.”

Sir Dominic said.

“Well, isn’t this the time to use those connections you’ve built up?”

“Indeed, we shouldn’t delay any further. Let’s go find Miss Sweet-Sweet right away.”

With those words, Sir Dominic took a step toward the yard.

His foot stuck to the sticky ground with a squelch before pulling free.

“Oh? Master! Wait a moment!”

Alice, who had finished washing her hands, noticed no one was in the house and looked outside to see Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica leaving.

Alice hurriedly began following them.

…

Black Company headquarters.

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica chose Black Company as their first destination.

It was the place Sir Dominic suspected most, but more decisively, Alice’s words had influenced their decision.

“They exchange jellies here!”

That’s right.

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica visited Black Company first with the intention of getting rid of the sticky jellies in their inventories.

“Welcome.”

A tent near Black Company headquarters.

Fairies were busily flying around in the tent.

The fairies were chatting with people who visited the tent, mostly about exchanging jellies.

“I’m back again!”

“Oh, it’s Alice?”

One fairy recognized Alice.

“What are you here to exchange this time?”

“A hamster cushion!”

Alice pointed to a flat hamster doll with a peculiar expression.

It was a doll that had once been discontinued but was being sold again due to requests from GachaLand citizens.

“The hamster doll costs 5000 jellies. The value of jellies has dropped a lot because of the recent downpour.”

“Is this enough?”

Alice showed a basin full of jellies, her eyes sparkling.

“Just a moment.”

The fairy called other fairies.

Using magical power, ten fairies lifted the basin and placed it on a scale.

An approximate count began to appear on the scale’s display.

“5300. That’s enough. Would you like the remaining 300 packed separately?”

“Yes!”

The fairies poured the jellies into a box behind them.

Then they separated about 300 jellies and put them in a pretty envelope for Alice.

“Thank you!”

Alice smiled brightly with a flushed expression.

I see. So that’s how the exchange works.

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica simultaneously showed expressions of understanding.

Sir Dominic approached one fairy.

Sir Dominica approached another fairy.

“Welcome! Is this your first time exchanging jellies?”

“These are my masters!”

“Oh really?”

The fairy greeted Sir Dominic with an innocent, bright expression.

“What would you like to exchange?”

“There’s something I’d like to know.”

Sir Dominic spoke directly to the fairy.

He judged that since the fairies were handling jelly exchanges, they would know about the jelly downpour as well.

“Ah.”

The fairy was still smiling.

But it was no longer an innocent expression.

“Then that’s a different matter.”

The fairy looked at Sir Dominic with a blade of grass between its lips and hands in its pockets.

“So, what information do you want? The weight of jellies varies according to the weight of information.”

“Oh my? Isn’t that Sir Dominic?”

Just then.

A familiar nasal voice came from behind Sir Dominic.

When Sir Dominic looked back, there stood Baroness Barron.

The very noblewoman who had first made a skin for Sir Dominic.

“My goodness! It’s been so long, Sir Dominic!”

The Baroness ran over with small steps and took Sir Dominic’s hand.

“Ah, Baroness.”

“Why have you been so hard to find lately? I was feeling a bit neglected.”

“Ah, I was planning to visit you soon. But what brings you here…?”

“I came to buy silk that the fairies sell. It’s a material often sought after for its soft texture.”

The Baroness looked at the fairies as she continued.

“Isn’t that right, Huldufork?”

“Huh? Oh, yes! Godmother!”

The fairy who had been trying to set the mood earlier responded with rigid discipline.

“Godmother? The current godmother is Titania. I’ve already retired. Anyway, why is Sir Dominic here…?”

“Ah, I was just gathering information.”

“Information? Oh! I see. The whole of GachaLand is buzzing about the incident caused by Miss Sweet-Sweet, isn’t it?”

The Baroness nodded.

“Then you’ve come to the right place. Fairies love to eavesdrop and chatter about everything. Look at me! I’m the same, aren’t I?”

The Baroness covered her mouth and laughed softly.

Her high-braided hair swayed.

“Anyway, I hope you have a good trade. Oh, and Huldufork?”

“Yes, yes! Godmother… I mean, former Godmother!”

“Do be reasonable. Reasonable. Understood?”

“Yes, yes!”

The Baroness disappeared into the crowd as suddenly as she had appeared.

In the distance, her high-braided hair could be seen, but even that soon disappeared into an alley.

“…Hey. Why didn’t you say you knew the Godmother?”

The fairy looked at Sir Dominic with a bewildered expression.

“If I had known, I wouldn’t have shown my true self.”

As Sir Dominic watched the fairy grumbling, he realized that the Baroness’s appearance had put him in a more advantageous position.

“Well, isn’t it fortunate that we have no issues between us? May I ask my questions now?”

“By all means. I’ll sell at just a little above the actual price.”

Sir Dominic questioned the fairy until his inventory full of jellies was depleted.

More precisely, the fairy ran out of information before Sir Dominic ran out of jellies, but it was closer to Sir Dominic giving away the remaining jellies out of benevolence and generosity.

“Come again next time!”

The fairy’s previous arrogant attitude had completely disappeared, replaced by a surprisingly courteous demeanor.

Now that they had gathered information, it was time to move on to the next destination.