Chapter 11

10. Fairy Xi

After a few days, she entered the garden. During her hospital stay, she had no idea how many times she wanted to take a recovery potion. She had taken the potion without considering that a sudden recovery might arouse suspicion from doctors or others. She had brought the potion with her, but couldn't drink it because her manager was nearby. Fortunately, she had good luck.

"Now there's just one day left."

After buying a bottle of recovery potion from the shop and drinking it, she walked around the garden. The rainbow seeds she had planted from the random box would be ready for harvest in just one day. She almost lost her energy waiting. It had been 100 days, or actually about 40 days, but the rapid harvesting of other crops made the wait seem unbearable.

"What will come out? Will something good for the body come out?"

One thing was certain: something very expensive would come out. After 100 days of cultivation, it was bound to be valuable. Even though they weren't fully grown yet, the plants already looked extraordinary.

What she was most looking forward to was something with wings, like a fairy. She hoped a fairy might be born. The other plants were also fascinating. There were black fruits with thorns like sea urchins, and jellyfish-like seeds that wrapped around the stems in spirals. All of them were plants she had never seen in reality.

"I should go fishing today, but I wonder if an automatic fishing rod will appear."

Tae-ju was tired of fishing, which had yielded nothing for over two weeks. He hadn't even caught a single ordinary carp from the pond, let alone a golden carp. His poor fishing skills, not even considering the bait carp like, were the problem, but he hadn't realized it.

Recently, Tae-ju's favorite activity was combining slimes. He put two small slimes in the same space and gave them one mushroom. After eating the same mushroom, the two slimes would explore each other for a while before merging into one.

The sound made when the slimes merged was very interesting. It made a 'pudeng pudeng' and 'pi pi' sound, which he found so amusing that he deliberately combined them. Of course, the main reason was to relieve the stress from fishing. As a result, the number of slimes decreased, and he had to buy more from the shop.

While munching on a fruit he picked from a tree, Tae-ju sprinkled the slime essence he had collected over the fertilizer ingredients. He had already made it several times, so he was familiar with the process. The fertilizer pit only darkened the soil slightly and didn't smell, so he placed them in various spots around the garden.

The trees he had planted as seedlings grew incredibly fast. The star tree seedlings had already grown and been harvested once. The star tree fruits needed to be powdered, so he left them in a basket in front of the cabin's stove to dry before grinding them into powder. It felt like spreading peppers in a farm, making him flinch every time he saw the basket.

The tree for building a treehouse to welcome winged visitors was still growing. It needed to be at least three stories tall, not as big as the large tree in the center of the garden, but it was growing steadily. Every time he visited the garden, he watered and fertilized it to help it grow strong.

"I wish I had brought Tae-san. I left him behind, thinking he might interfere with the harvest, but now I feel a bit disappointed."

Trying to avoid the boring fishing, he looked around the garden, but all the tasks that needed his attention were already completed. There was nothing to do until the rainbow seeds were ready for harvest.

Tae-ju sighed and picked up the fishing rod. He put on some cheerful music on his tablet and cast the rod into the pond. He fished all night but didn't catch a single fish. Tae-ju confirmed once again that he had no talent for fishing. He needed to think of another approach.

*

The day dawned. The moment Tae-ju had been waiting for finally arrived. He approached the field with a quick pace, pressing down on his pounding heart.

A strange fragrance was coming from the field. It smelled like fruit and herbs, emanating from the sapphire-colored plants. The plant had dozens of thread-like stems twisted together to form a ball.

"Making armor from flowers? I'll need blacksmithing skills for that."

He confirmed the flower with wings, which he had been most looking forward to.

"Ah! It grants wishes? Without any limits?"

The flower was even more valuable than he had expected. He had only hoped to see a fairy, but it granted wishes. Various wishes popped into and out of his mind.

'Should I ask for Tae-san to grow? No, he should grow naturally. Pass.'

'Should I ask for time to be reversed? I have too much to lose now. Pass.'

'Should I ask for my fishing skills to improve? That's a bit too much, even for me.'

Tae-ju swallowed and carefully touched the fairy flower. The flower trembled when his hand touched it, and the bud opened. Sparkling powder fell from the bud.

"Hello?"

"Hello?"

"Nice to meet you. What is your wish?"

"Can you live in this garden with me?"

"Is that your wish?"

"Yes. I want a fairy to live in the garden with me."

"Sure. Your wish will come true."

♩♬♪~~

Music filled the garden. A system message appeared in front of Tae-ju.

"Ah!"

"Hello! Give me a name."

"Ah! Xi (喜). Let's call you Xi. It means 'joy.'"

"Xi! I like it. Now I'm Xi!"

Xi flew above Tae-ju, sprinkling sparkling powder from her transparent wings. She circled around, sprinkling the powder on Tae-ju.

"Tae-ju, are you feeling better?"

"Thank you. I'm all better."

It seemed Xi had the ability to heal. Tae-ju must not have fully recovered even after taking the recovery potion. He felt like he had received an unexpected gift.

"Xi, let's harvest the crops together. There are many interesting things."

"Sure. I'll help you."

With Xi's help, they harvested the crops quickly. Using her administrator abilities, Xi moved the harvested crops directly to the storage, much faster than Tae-ju could with a cart.

"Tae-ju, don't sell this. You'll need it later when you become better at making medicine."

"Then let's keep it."

"Sure. Let's sell this. You can't use it without alchemy skills."

"Okay, let's sell it."

They divided the harvested crops into those to be sold and those to be stored. Xi, now an administrator, could access the garden manual information immediately, unlike Tae-ju, who had to check the book-shaped statue whenever he had questions. This made it easier to quickly categorize the crops.

Almost half of the crops were things Tae-ju couldn't use, but they were very expensive, so he put them up for sale at the shop. If they sold at the expected price, he could even decorate the garden luxuriously.

"Tae-ju, I have a request. Can you build a house for Xi?"

"House? Don't we live together in the cabin?"

"No, I want to live in the big tree in the center. Build a house for me in the big tree."

Compared to the help Xi was giving, this was not a difficult request. He would naturally agree. He searched for the fairy house recipe at the shop.

"Here. Tae-ju, build this for me."

The house Xi chose was not very large, about the size of a bedside table. But it seemed sufficient for Xi, who was less than an inch tall.

He bought the recipe and materials. Since it was for Xi's future home, he wanted to give her the recipe, but she refused. She crossed her arms and fluttered her wings, asking him to build it as a gift. Tae-ju smiled at her shy expression and immediately tore up the recipe to build the house. He installed it in the location Xi wanted and welcomed her.

"Xi. Welcome to the garden. Let's live happily from now on."

"Thank you, Tae-ju. Let's live happily."

It was time to return to reality. Time had passed quickly while he was with Xi. Tae-ju returned to reality with a sense of longing.

*

Ding!

"Tae-ju, did you arrive safely?"

"Huh. Messenger?"

"You can communicate with Tae-ju using the book-shaped statue."

"Tae-ju, are you sleeping?"

"Meow."

'Xi. I'm sorry for being late. I'm using the messenger for the first time.'

"It's okay. I'm glad Tae-ju answered."

Tae-ju was worried that Xi might get bored while he was in reality, but it seemed she would be fine. He hadn't even imagined a messenger. An icon had appeared on his tablet, shaped like the book statue under the big tree in the center.

"Ah, really. Beyond my imagination."

It was a pleasant morning.

"Meow."

"Okay, I'll give it to you. Wait. Let it cool a bit more."

*

Trrr~~

"Yes, I've had breakfast. I'm feeling fine."

- ···

"No, there's no need for you to come. Yes, please call when you arrive."

He couldn't refuse the manager's request to check on him in person. It was part of the manager's job, and he could hear the concern in his voice.

"This is the first guest since I moved. Should I bring out the tea set?"

Thinking about using the tea set he had recently acquired, he welcomed the manager's visit. He hummed a tune while taking out the tea set and selecting tea leaves. He hoped the manager wasn't one of those who didn't drink black tea. Of course, Tae-ju also loved coffee as much as black tea, but he was eager to use his new tea set.

Ding-dong!

"Meow."

The doorbell was followed by Tae-san's cry. When he opened the door, the manager was standing there with a shopping bag.

"Red meat is good for anemia, so I prepared a set of beef."

"Thank you. I didn't even think about it. Haha."

He had insisted on coming to check on him, and now he had brought this. Thanks to Xi, he had started the day in a good mood, and the manager's visit made it even better.

"This is Tae-san. Wow! Is it really a cat? How can it be so cute?"

"Hahaha."

'I thought he was usually quiet, but he's like this in front of Tae-san.'

Tae-san, flipping over on the sofa and rubbing his back, was indeed cute. His sapphire eyes sparkled as he tried to grab a string with his paws, a scene worth capturing on video.

Fortunately, the manager didn't dislike black tea. He was very surprised by the chocolate cherries served with the tea. He was amazed by the combination of the rich and slightly bitter black tea with the sweet chocolate cherries. It was a rewarding response.

"Phew. This is a whole new world of flavor. I've never had this chocolate before, but it's really delicious. It's a treat for the palate."

"Please go back to the office. I'll pack a box for you when you leave."

"Thank you. I can't refuse such a delicious treat, so I'll take it with a guilty conscience."

"Hahaha. It's fine. I have several boxes at home."

The chocolate cherries seemed to be universally liked. Both Tae-ju and the manager enjoyed them. Tae-ju decided to plant a few more in the garden.

"You seem to be recovering very quickly. Your complexion has improved, and your movements don't look as weak as they did yesterday. That's good."

"I'm young. I'm still in my teens."

"Haha. I see. Then I can give you