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Episode 05
Holding a sign for an investigative agency, Letty was so engrossed in promoting that she didn’t even notice the fairy on her shoulder fluttering away to somewhere else.
"We solve anything! Trust Letty!"
While stopping passersby to ask if their runaway husbands had returned or if their households were at peace, Letty finally realized the fairy was gone and tilted her head in confusion.
‘Where did the fairy go?’
“Eek!”
A piercing scream from the fairy penetrated Letty's ears.
“Hmm?”
Surprised, Letty looked around and spotted the fairy caught by the scruff of its neck by an elderly man, letting out a sharp cry.
“Fairy!”
Letty, her fur pale with alarm, hurriedly ran toward them.
“Uh...”
But as she got closer, it became hard to demand the fairy’s return. The stern appearance of the elderly man, holding the palm-sized fairy, was anything but ordinary.
‘So scary!’
Looking up at the white-haired man who stood straight with no signs of frailty, Letty could only fidget with her fingers.
“Uh... Grandpa…”
The man, hearing the timid voice addressing him, glanced down and raised his thick eyebrows sharply.
“Is this bug yours? It’s quite the unruly pest.”
Not a bug!
Though the fairy protested the man's words, he didn’t pay it any mind.
Letty tried hard to meet the fierce gaze of the man looking down at her.
‘Letty, you can’t be scared! The fairy is in danger!’
“Yes...!”
The man alternated between looking at the brave Letty and the fairy, then let out a hollow laugh as if in disbelief.
“What a peculiar bug. Charging straight for someone’s wallet like that... it’s almost as if it’s a pickpocket.”
Letty’s fur paled even further at his words.
‘Fairy, I told you stealing is not okay!’
As if hearing Letty’s thoughts, the fairy avoided her gaze and hummed nonchalantly.
"I-I'm sorry! It was wrong!"
So please don’t kill the fairy!
Letty feared the man might crush the fairy underfoot, calling it a bad bug caught stealing.
The man, seeing the baby red panda looking up at him with tearful eyes, scratched his chin slowly.
“You’re a kind I haven’t seen before. Are you a raccoon? No, you’re rounder than that.”
I’m a red panda.
Letty didn’t like how the old man mistook her for a raccoon, but since he didn’t seem to mean any harm, she merely pouted.
"I'm not a raccoon…"
“What’s that you’re holding?”
The old man, intrigued by the shabby-looking red panda holding a mischievous bug, tapped the sign Letty was carrying.
“Uh, ‘We solve anything... Trust Letty...’”
“Oh? And how exactly do you solve problems?”
The man asked sharply.
His bushy, thick eyebrows jutted upward, and his slightly crooked, prominent nose gave his face a stern and sharp look.
With his dull crimson eyes resembling stagnant blood, his fierce appearance only became more intimidating.
He must have been incredibly handsome in his prime, but to Letty, he looked like a grumpy old predator ready to swallow up children or fairies in one bite.
‘Just look at him. He’s clearly a beastman.’
“Sniff… sniff…”
Scary. So scary.
“Why are you crying? I only asked how you solve problems.”
Under the man’s intimidating persistence, Letty couldn’t respond immediately, nervously biting her lip. Her now damp fur drooped slightly.
‘Get a hold of yourself, Letty! You need to go to the Grizzly Grand Duchy!’
You have to go there to get treated and meet Mom.
Mom! That’s right!
The thought of her mother gave Letty a sudden burst of determination. She quickly gathered her wits and answered the man firmly.
“I-I help find people. Or collect unpaid debts.”
“Hmm, you find people, huh.”
The man, perhaps not hearing the softly added part about collecting debts, tilted his head and let out a long breath.
Well, entrusting this to the little one might not be a bad idea.
Muttering something barely audible, the man spoke to Letty.
“So, little one, can you find the person I’m looking for?”
At her very first request, Letty’s eyes widened.
Then, as if she had never been scared, she clasped her hands together and smiled brightly, looking up at the man.
“Of course, dear customer. Who should I help you find, and how?”
Letty spoke sweetly, recalling how her mother always treated customers kindly and warmly.
✦ ✦ ✦
[I’m looking for my lost daughter.]
The old man, despite his white hair and wrinkled face, stood so upright and strong that he didn’t seem his age. Yet when he spoke about searching for his daughter, he appeared frail, as if his life’s breath could fade at any moment.
‘He must be waiting for his family, just like me.’
Letty pressed her front paw to her chest as she thought of the old man’s bitter expression. Her heart ached as if pierced by tiny needles.
“Letty really wants to help that grandpa find his daughter.”
Hearing Letty’s words, the fairy, who had been fluttering about nearby, patted her own bundled-up shoulder and glanced back at her.
“Huh? You actually plan to help him?”
“Yes, of course. He already paid us.”
Letty answered, shaking the small pouch of coins the old man had given her with a soft jingle.
“Huh. I thought you’d just take the money and run.”
“Run?”
“Like, eat and bolt. This is enough money to rent a carriage to the Grizzly Grand Duchy, isn’t it?”
The old man had promised to pay double the advance once his daughter was found, but even this amount was more than enough for Letty’s current needs.
However, Letty’s round eyes narrowed sharply in disbelief at the fairy’s shameless remark.
“Fairy, why do you always think of doing bad things?”
A tiny wrinkle formed between Letty’s small brows. Deciding it’d be easier to interact with people in the village, she transformed, her soft hazel eyes glaring at the fairy.
‘First, you almost got caught stealing behind my back. Now, you’re suggesting we take the money and run after accepting a request.’
“Are you a bad fairy?”
Standing with her hands on her hips, mimicking her mother, Letty tilted her head in confusion at her own words.
“Huh? But there’s no such thing as a bad fairy…”
“…Huh?”
The fairy, startled by Letty’s soft murmuring, widened its eyes in surprise, its pupils trembling as if struck by an earthquake.
“Fairy, you are a fairy, right?”
“Y-yeah, of course! I’m totally a fairy!”
The fairy answered Letty’s suspicious gaze hesitantly, then frowned as if offended.
“Are you doubting me? Who doubts a fairy?”
Then you must be a bad kid!
Letty furrowed her nose at the fairy, who yelled in anger as if trying to cover up its own faults.
“Letty isn’t bad. The yelling fairy is the bad one.”
Or maybe you’re not even a fairy.
Unable to shake off her doubts, Letty squinted at the fairy, who clicked its tongue and fluttered upward.
“See? I’m totally a fairy. My outfit’s green, my wings sparkle—just like in D☆sney!”
If I’m not a fairy, who else would have these kinds of wings?
As it spoke, the fairy flaunted its delicate wings, flying a circle around Letty’s head as if to show off.
The wings, shimmering with star-like dust, were intricate and beautiful, like lace ornaments.
“…That’s true.”
Letty, who had been questioning the fairy’s identity, found herself at a loss for words in the face of the fairy’s confident demeanor.
‘Maybe I doubted too much? The fairy has helped me before...’
Letty recalled the fairy throwing a book at Lingling with its tiny body to protect her.
‘The fairy is my friend now. I shouldn’t doubt my friends.’
Shaking her head firmly, Letty looked up at the still-annoyed fairy and asked.
“Then, Fairy, what’s your name?”
At Letty’s question, the fairy seemed even more flustered, stammering in response.
“M-my name?”
“Yes.”
“Well… Asta...r—wait, I’m not supposed to tell you that name.”
“Huh?”
Letty pressed for an answer, and the fairy hesitantly spoke.
“Then Tinkerb—wait. If I use that name, would it infringe on copyrights?”
Copyrights? What’s that?
Letty tilted her head, not understanding the fairy’s muttering.
“Is your name Tinker?”
“Uh-huh. Just Tinker. Tinker.”
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