I sighed and asked, "Since I promised, can you tell me where they are now?"

  Remilia smirked, clearly enjoying dragging this out. "They're in the forest near the shrine. Just find a big tree, and you'll find them."

  I blinked at her, trying to process what she just said. "...You're joking, right?"

  She tilted her head slightly. "Not at all. They're right near the shrine."

  I clenched my jaw. "You mean the shrine where that zy shrine maiden, Reimu, lives?"

  Remilia chuckled, clearly amused by my frustration. "The very same."

  I ran a hand down my face, groaning. "You have got to be kidding me..."

  The very first pce I checked was the shrine. Reimu told me they were in the Forest of Magic. I had spent an entire day running around, getting attacked, forced into training, and tricked into future training—only to find out that those little pranksters were right near the shrine this whole time?

  Remilia shrugged, looking completely unfazed. "Well, at least now you know. No need to thank me."

  I let out another groan. "If I don't find those fairies this time, I swear I'm coming back here just to compin."

  Remilia waved a hand dismissively. "Yes, yes. Now off you go, little brother. I'm sure they're in their house now."

  I ignored her and turned away, muttering, "Unbelievable..."

  This entire day had been a disaster, but at least I was finally getting somewhere. Now all I had to do was find those three fairies and get my revenge.

  I just hoped they were worth all this trouble

  .........................................

  I flew toward the shrine, my mind racing with thoughts.

  Halfway there, I briefly considered stopping by to visit Reimu. But then I remembered how this entire mess started—Reimu sending me on a wild goose chase, making me run around just to end up right back where I started. The mere thought of it made my eye twitch in frustration. If I saw her now, I might lose my temper and start compining instead of focusing on my goal.

  So, I kept flying.

  Once I passed the shrine and entered the forest, I started searching for the big tree Remilia mentioned. The problem was, there were a lot of big trees. I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "Great. Could've at least told me something more specific..."

  Still, I had no intention of leaving empty-handed. If those fairies were really here, I was going to find them.

  It didn't take long before I spotted something—a window nestled in the trunk of a massive tree.

  I hovered in the air, studying the tree in front of me. It was a hollowed-out tree home, complete with a door and a window, resembling Mystia's house.

  Landing near the base of the tree, I spotted a small door. My first instinct was to knock, but then I remembered—I didn't come here for a friendly visit. I came for revenge.

  I stopped myself and instead went to a nearby window, peeking inside. Two fairies were arguing about something, though I couldn't make out what they were saying.

  Since I only saw two of them, I hesitated. Should I wait for the st one to show up? But standing around doing nothing wasn't my style.

  Then, an idea struck me. Since they pranked me at my house, it was only fair that I returned the favor.

  I quickly set up my traps. First, I make a trap on the door so that a honey bucket would fall onto whoever opened it. Then, I tied a thin rope across the entrance, just high enough to trip them. To make it even worse, I scattered a bunch of dry leaves right where they'd fall, ensuring they'd have a rough nding.

  Satisfied with my work, I knocked on the door and quickly hid behind a tree, eagerly waiting for my pn to unfold.

  But before anything could happen, I suddenly heard a voice behind me.

  "That looks interesting."

  I flinched and turned around, only to see a fairy with long bck hair floating behind me. It was Star Sapphire—the one fairy I hadn't spotted inside the house.

  Damn, I got caught.

  I considered running, but she didn't seem like she was going to attack me. Instead, she just observed my traps with curiosity.

  "So, what do these do?" she asked, sounding genuinely interested.

  I narrowed my eyes. "Aren't you going to tell your friends?"

  She shrugged. "Nah, it's fine. As long as I don't get caught in it, I don't really care."

  I was speechless. Was she really betraying her friends just to watch them suffer?

  I frowned and asked, "How did you know I was here? I don't remember making any noise that could've given me away."

  Star Sapphire smirked slightly, crossing her arms. "Fairy intuition," she said pyfully before shaking her head. "No, but really, my ability lets me sense movement and detect when people get close. The moment you arrived, I knew someone was sneaking around our house."

  I blinked. "Wait, so you knew I was here the entire time?"

  She nodded. "Yep. I was just watching to see what you were up to. And, well..." She gestured toward the traps. "This looks way too fun to interrupt."

  I stared at her, still processing the fact that she had been aware of me from the beginning and just let me do whatever I wanted. "So... you're really not going to warn the others?"

  She grinned. "Nope. I want to see their reactions when they fall for it."

  Suddenly, the door creaked open. Reacting quickly, I grabbed Star and pulled her into the bushes with me, cmping a hand over her mouth to keep her from giving away our position.

  Sunny peeked outside, frowning. "Huh? Star, why'd you knock and not come in?" She took a cautious step forward but hesitated at the entrance.

  Spt!

  The honey from my trap spttered right onto her head. "Gah! What is this?!" she yelped, filing as the honey covered her face. Blinded, she stumbled forward, right into the thin rope I had set up.

  Thud!

  Sunny tumbled to the ground, nding in the pile of dried leaves I had gathered. In an instant, she was covered head to toe, transforming into what looked like a walking pile of autumn debris—a perfect leaf fairy.

  Luna came out because of the noise, she saw Sunny's situation.

  I couldn't help it. I burst out ughing at the sight, clutching my sides.

  Beside me, Star stifled a giggle before completely giving in, ughing just as hard as I was.

  Sunny and Luna immediately turned toward the source of the ughter, their eyes locking onto us in the bushes.

  Sunny's face twisted in fury. "Star! Why are you with the human?! Did you betray us?!"

  Luna crossed her arms, nodding in agreement. "Yeah! Why are you hiding with him and ughing?!"

  Star tensed beside me, clearly flustered. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. If she told them the truth—that she had just been watching and found it funny—they might get even angrier at her.

  Seeing Sunny and Luna fuming at Star, I decided to step in—both to help her and make my exit. I figured I'd had enough revenge. After all, seeing a fairy covered in honey and leaves like a walking bush was already satisfying enough.

  Letting out a dramatic vilinous ugh, I pulled Star closer as if unveiling some grand master pn.

  "Ha ha! It seems both of you have misunderstood her!" I decred. "She tried to warn you, but unfortunately for her, I caught your friend as a hostage before she could!"

  Sunny and Luna were furious. Their small wings fluttered aggressively as they gred at me with pure rage.

  "Let go of Star, you sneaky human!" Sunny shouted, stomping her foot.

  "You'll regret messing with us!" Luna added, pointing an accusing finger at me.

  I leaned closer to Star and whispered just loud enough for her to hear, "Push me away and run to your friends."

  She blinked in surprise but quickly caught on. "Get away from me, vilin!" she said loudly, shoving me back with all her strength before dashing to her friends.

  I dramatically stumbled backward, clutching my chest as if I had been mortally wounded. "Guh—! Damn you, fairy... I underestimated you!" I groaned, staggering like a defeated vilin. "But mark my words—this isn't over!"

  Before they could react, I tossed down a smoke bomb, using the cover to fly away and head back home to rest.

  Luna coughed, waving away the smoke. "Is he gone?" she asked, scanning the area.

  Star nodded. "Yeah, he's gone. My ability show no sign of him."

  Sunny, still covered in honey and dead leaves, crossed her arms and pouted. "Star! I know that human caught you, but why were you ughing with him at me?!"

  Star hesitated for a moment before putting on the most serious expression she could muster. "I... I was ughing to lower his guard! Yeah, that's it! I was just pretending to go along with him so I could catch him off guard next time."

  Luna raised an eyebrow. "Really...?"

  "Of course!" Star nodded rapidly. "I mean, come on, would I really betray my friends?"

  Sunny and Luna exchanged gnces before finally sighing. "It seems so... Alright, let's defeat that evil human!"

  Sunny clenched her fists. "He made a fool out of me! I'm getting revenge on him!"

  Star gnced in the direction I had flown off, a mischievous smile forming on her lips. "Yes... Let's pull a prank on him again."