I Became the Cute One in the Troubleshooter Squad-Chapter 140: Surviving in the Sky Garden (3)

so I can’t completely rule out the possibility that magic was involved, but still...

‘The distance from the explosion site is close. But according to Echo, there were no electronic devices within a 100m radius...’

Since candidates must always wear watches on their wrists, the likelihood that the culprit is a candidate was low.

No matter what trickery they might try, they couldn’t escape Echo’s detection abilities.

The same went for the staff or active Fixers.

They had no reason to be wandering around the Sky Garden without equipment.

So, the chances of the culprit being a candidate were lower than low.

‘Then, is the culprit a fairy? No, that’s probably not it.’

Fairies were generally peaceful creatures.

They hated fighting and injuring others, and while they could be greedy, they valued trust.

They were typically playful and innocent, growing up in isolated environments.

At least, on average, their temperament was the best among all the different races.

But could such a fairy cause an explosion in their own garden?

That didn’t make sense no matter how I thought about it.

After all, there weren’t many fairies capable of using such powerful magic.

‘Then, the cause of the explosion... I don’t know. Could it be an outsider?’

It couldn’t possibly be Vespera, right?

If it were her, she’d probably use a cleaner method instead of an explosion filled with gunpowder fumes.

If the World Tree Seed was the goal, there was no reason to create such a commotion.

If her identity were revealed by causing such an uproar, the entire purpose of sneaking in would be ruined.

So, as I pressed my temples, silently continuing my thoughts, I decided.

I needed to find out what was going on.

‘Echo. Can you disrupt the watch’s location tracking?’

[ Yes. I will reverse the data sent so far. ]

‘Okay. That’s enough.’

After asking Echo to interfere with the location tracking,

I quietly moved toward the direction where the explosion had occurred, holding my breath.

Fortunately, it wasn’t difficult to figure out the direction of the explosion.

It wasn’t far, and all I had to do was follow the direction from which the acrid wind was blowing.

But when I reached the epicenter of the explosion, I couldn’t help but feel bewildered.

The scene was unsettling, as if a ghost had played a prank, and there was an overwhelming sense of incongruity.

“....”

There were no victims of the explosion, nor any objects that seemed to be the cause of it.

All that remained were the rough, torn-up ground and the scorched trees and grass.

What was the intent behind this?

I silently pressed my forehead.

If this was really something done intentionally, it would certainly be a huge mistake.

It would only raise the tension of the Fixer Association, with no gain whatsoever.

Who could be behind this absurd act?

I couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh as I realized that this had only caused unnecessary trouble for me.

[ Yuria, someone is approaching at high speed from nearby. The destination is this location. ]

At that moment, I heard an ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) urgent voice from Echo, who had been keeping track.

Someone was coming this way. It was likely an examiner or a staff member.

I quickly moved my body and hid in the nearby bushes.

I pressed myself flat against the ground just in time as hurried footsteps approached, and a group of people arrived at the scene.

“This is the location of the mysterious explosion!”

“Hm... Indeed... There seems to be some kind of trace...”

“There’s no trace of magical energy. It doesn’t seem like it was caused by magic...”

“If it wasn’t magic, then it couldn’t have been caused by a fairy.”

I caught sight of four people through the gap in the bushes.

One of them was Sayoko, the shady woman who introduced herself as the examiner earlier.

The other three were unfamiliar faces. They were probably staff members, likely Fixers.

The four who arrived at the scene began carefully examining the surroundings to figure out what had happened.

They touched the soil, pulled out some of the charred trees and grass, and examined them.

But it seemed that just by observing, they weren’t getting anywhere.

They began to discuss amongst themselves what could have happened.

“A device using gunpowder? But there’s no way the candidates had something like that...”

“The possibility of an outsider... seems unlikely. The Sky Garden is surrounded by a special magical barrier, and unless you pass through a special process, you can’t approach.”

“So then, how did this happen...?”

The staff members seemed baffled by the sudden explosion.

They exchanged serious words, clearly troubled.

After all, this anomaly wasn’t just causing problems for the Fixer exam.

It was affecting the Sky Garden, which had a strict barrier against outsiders.

This was likely a far more serious situation than anyone realized.

‘By the way, I didn’t know there was a magical barrier here. So that’s the system in place.’

I could understand now why attacks on the Sky Garden were extremely rare in the original work.

If there was indeed a magical barrier, that made perfect sense.

With the magical barrier in place, outsiders couldn’t easily get in.

So, there was no need to worry about invasions from external forces like the Beastkin Liberation Army.

The real concern now was making sure Vespera hadn’t gotten into the Sky Garden unnoticed.

‘This is good news. With the magical barrier in place, even the Queen’s defiling tiara won’t be useful. Now, I just need to secure the World Tree Seed before Vespera.’

I smiled to myself, quietly crawling out of the bushes, feeling victorious.

With the situation now focused on the World Tree Seed, I could concentrate on my true goal.

As I was thinking this, the conversation had progressed a little further.

Sayoko, who had been slow to act, calmly gave instructions to the flustered staff members.

“For now... we need to maintain a state of alert... Let’s deploy the resting staff members deeper into the garden... and observe the candidates more carefully...”

“Yes, I’ll go to the command center and report this.”

“I’ll call the resting staff members.”

“I’ll observe the candidates more closely, just in case!”

As expected of a high-ranking Fixer ranked 144th.

Even though there seemed to be communication issues, she was handling the staff with remarkable skill.

Well, since she’s ranked 144th, she’s among the top Triple Fixers. Her strength couldn’t be underestimated.

I guess underestimating someone based solely on appearances is always a mistake.

Anyway, as soon as she finished speaking, the staff members went off to do their tasks.

And the only one left at the scene was Sayoko.

However, just as I thought she would soon leave,

she suddenly turned toward me and spoke.

“I feel... something... a presence...”

I stiffened!

The clear words that seemed to point directly at me made my shoulders tremble against my will.

I had been flat against the ground, holding my breath, so how did she notice me?

In the midst of my panic, with cold sweat dripping down my face,

I suddenly remembered that high-ranking Fixers have extremely sensitive senses—enough to notice even a passing ant.

Thinking about it, I realized I had no idea how to effectively erase my presence.

No matter how much I held my breath and stayed flat against the ground,

I couldn’t hide the subtle signs like my breathing or heartbeat.

‘Wait a second... If I’m caught here, I’ll be blamed for the explosion, won’t I?’

The possibility was... quite high.

Since I was technically in a different location according to my watch.

If Sayoko found me out now, I’d look suspicious no matter how you looked at it.

I might end up being disqualified as a candidate and branded as a suspect!

Of course, with the agreement I had with Tempest,

even if I was caught, it wouldn’t go as badly as it could have.

But if I were caught after refusing protection... well, that would be very embarrassing.

“Wait... No, I’m sure I felt something... a small, delicate heartbeat...”

But regardless of how panicked I was, Sayoko muttered to herself and started walking toward the bushes where I was hiding.

Since the presence I felt was not far from the explosion site,

she was likely not dismissing it as a misunderstanding and was planning to confirm it. Why was she so thorough?

Unfortunately, since I was pressed flat against the ground, there was nowhere to escape.

It felt like this was the most critical moment where I might be discovered by Sayoko!

Suddenly, something jumped out of the bushes next to my face and darted into the open.

“...!”

“A rabbit...? Was that a misunderstanding...?”

Indeed. The creature that jumped out of the bushes was an adorable-looking rabbit.

It had purple fur, but since many

gentle creatures from other worlds lived in the Sky Garden,

it didn’t seem out of place at all.

Sayoko, who had been approaching, stared blankly at the purple-furred rabbit,

then quickly turned her body, as if realizing her mistake.

She must have thought the presence she felt in the bushes was just the wild rabbit.

But I was left dumbfounded.

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There was no rabbit in the bush where I had been hiding.

‘If it wasn’t a misunderstanding, it must have appeared right next to me. What is this...?’

I was confused, but I slowly crawled out of the bushes,

then looked around, trying to find the rabbit that had emerged.

“Hey, you little, foolish human. Was that your doing?”

Suddenly, I heard a harsh voice from something flying nearby.

A foolish little human? Who would say such a harsh thing?

I quickly turned my head toward the direction of the voice.

“...?”

And there, with half-open eyes and a full expression of dissatisfaction,

was the purple fairy I had been searching for in the Sky Garden.