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The days in Forligen pass by more peacefully than I had expected.

The harassment from the western alchemists has decreased more and more with each passing day. They finally seem to have realized that the more they do it, the worse their own reputation becomes. Now all they do is glare or click their tongues, so there’s no real harm.

On the other hand, people from the east have almost no prejudice against beastfolk. I’ve gradually had more chances to talk with the receptionists, and Sufi is in a good mood because she can chat with them during the waiting time.

As for work, things have calmed down for now. Lately I’ve mostly been making intermediate-grade potions, or helping out at the pharmacy attached to the guild. The pay itself has dropped to two silver coins, but since it’s only a bit of work in the morning, the physical strain is small.

My daily routine is: wake up in the morning, prepare meals, have Sufi see me off, and go to work at the Alchemists’ Guild. After working only in the morning, I withdraw, and then spend the rest of the time recuperating or doing research at Apartment 404.

The other tree—Sufi, Noche, and Filia—rest or train in the morning, and in the afternoon they put on the equipment they just bought and work as apprentice adventurers.

Cleaning out the sewers pays fairly well, but it seems to be an important source of income for unemployed older men, so the recruitment fills up immediately.

So their main work ends up being helping out at an orphanage and the like. It seems to be the same orphanage where Nick and the others are, and while the Sister there is a devout follower of the Luminism Faith, she is strongly opposed to racial discrimination.

Apparently, a big reason Nick and the others had no strange hostility toward us from the beginning is that the Sister had told them: “Calling them terrifying monsters or beasts with low intelligence is outrageous. They’re just good at moving their bodies. They’re no different from us, and are a race that can become good friends.”

When Sufi and the others actually met her after taking a request, it seems she was so moved to learn that the children she looked after had become acquainted with beastfolk that she staggered, hit her knee on a chair, and cried.

According to Sufi: “She was a little clumsy, but a really kind person. We ate snacks together. And she had this huge shield too—it was amazing!” Sufi’s intuition and eye for judging people are fairly reliable, so at the very least she probably isn’t a “bad person.”

The reward is cheap, but you can’t trade safety of body and mind for money. With me around, we can manage living expenses somehow, so after hearing the story, I thought it was just right as a way to build up experience, and suggested we focus on that request.

She also told them to bring the little sister along to play sometime, so when I have enough time and stamina, I plan to go.

Well, the reason I don’t really have time is that, since Sufi and the others debuted as adventurers, I decided to properly make their weapons.

The knife that I had the receptionist choose and buy as a test was truly awful. The metal wasn’t uniform, the blade was warped, the hardness of the edge varied depending on the spot, and the handle was mediocre too.

As expected of the guild receptionist, her eye for value was accurate—this was the average quality of weapon shops in this town, at a price appropriate for it. In other words, this is what weapons in the price range we can afford look like.

Three silver coins for this was ridiculous; but reality was they could charge that and get away with it. We bought it, and it was immediately destined to be dismantled for materials.

I can’t match professional blacksmiths or alchemists who specialize in forging when it comes to scabbards, fittings, or design. But I’m confident about the quality of the blade itself.

Moving hard metal precisely requires magical power, so with my amount of magic I can’t finish it all at once, but if I take my time, I can manage.

It’s not like the door before, where it was fine as long as it roughly had a shape, and it’s not that the parts themselves are small either.

So, I’m currently researching types of weapons online, showing them to everyone to ask what they want, and using my computer to make the blueprints.

I do get tempted by games sometimes, but I really don’t have that kind of leeway, so I restrain myself. If I had some way to obtain products from the other side, I’d buy a TV and a home console and play together with everyone…

■■■

Even though we rent a dorm, our actual living space is mainly Apartment 404. The facilities are completely different, after all.

When she first learned how to use it, Filia was constantly excited, saying, “This kitchen is amazing!” But little by little she’s gotten used to handling it. Now cooking together is becoming part of our daily routine.

“And then, Sufi almost snapped, nya—”
“Because he tries to look for Alice.”

While frying meat in a pan, I listen to Noche and the others complain. Apparently, since he lives in a different area from the orphanage, they rarely run into the butcher’s son, but whenever they do, he pulls that same stupid move.

They generally try to ignore him, but today he apparently mentioned that I wasn’t around and nearly incurred big sister’s wrath.

I mean… is it possible that he’s targeting me? I really don’t like that.

I just took a bath, and washed my hair with hot water, so it’s a little shiny right now, but normally before going out I dirty it with ash and dry soil so it looks dull white or barely grayish.

“From my point of view, when Alice and Sufi clean themselves up, you’re totally like princesses, but humans think you’re cute even when you’re just normal.”
“Mmph…”

I glance at Sufi, who is pouting slightly.

Since I have memories from my previous life and almost no contact with beastfolk, my sensibilities are basically human. By that standard, Sufi is unquestionably a beautiful little girl.

Especially lately, since she’s been able to get proper nutrition and her living environment has stabilized, her expressions have become brighter. Her face and body have filled out a bit too, and she’s gotten even cuter.

And Sufi’s facial features are the same as mine. Objectively speaking, I probably fall into the “beautiful little girl” category as well.

“…Alice, are you not very happy when people say you’re cute?”
“…I’d rather be cool. Hardboiled would be good.”
“Hard… boiled?”
“A tough and wild male wolf.”
“…I-I see. It’d be nice if you could become that, huh?”

Standing side by side at the counter, Filia, who is peeling potatoes next to me, looks at me with gentle eyes for some reason.

“That’s the faaaaarthest word from Alice, nya.”
“Alice is cute!”

The two waiting for dinner say whatever they like. The thought of giving them extra bitter vegetables crosses my mind, but I endure it.

Someday, I’ll definitely make them call me “tough.”

“Filia.”
“What is it?”
“Switch with me on the frying pan, my arms won’t go up anymore.”
“Okay, okay.”

■■■

After finishing the simple meal seasoned only with salt, in the tatami room covered with futons, Noche and Filia, both in T-shirts, are having a pillow fight. Sufi joined at first, but stopped after a while and came over here.

“What are you reading, Alice?”

Sufi, who drank some water drawn from the tap and chilled in the fridge and let out a breath, peeks at the documents I was reading from the side. She also suddenly rubs her cheek against me, making my neck crack a little.

My gaze and face were fixed forward…

“Magic Stone Design Theory.”

It’s a copy of a paper that came out recently. Grandpa had been retired for a long time, so he was a bit out of touch with the latest alchemy. When I finally had some breathing room and asked Philip if papers were available, it turned out there were more than ten times as many unknown papers as I’d expected.

As for the niche research of miniaturizing magical device bases, Grandpa was at the cutting edge, and this was not me saying it as her granddaughter. Apparently he continued researching even after retiring, and since I inherited some of it, I understand.

But the broad development of magical devices is astonishing.

Originally, there was the idea of supplementing insufficient magic for activation and maintenance from the outside, but by applying Grandpa’s base-miniaturization research to that, they fill stones and gemstones made of elements with high magical conductivity with magical power. They engrave magic to store that power, and use the base itself as a mana pool.

It’s apparently still in the research stage, but they’ve succeeded in reproducing it.

“Is it interesting?”
“Yeah.”
“I see. But shouldn’t we go to sleep soon?”

When I look at the clock set up in the living room, it’s already 10 p.m. Strangely, the time inside matches the outside world, so I placed a wall clock I found in the supply warehouse to check the time.

It was 7 p.m when we had dinner… No wonder I feel sleepy.

“Yeah.”

So I don’t dirty the borrowed paper, I place it on the desk in the western-style room and head to the tatami room.

“Let’s sleep, Leader.”
“Sleep.”
“We didn’t finish deciding, nya.”
“Noche was getting too serious~”

Apparently Filia was just about to be defeated, and Noche, holding pillows in both hands, throws herself onto the futon in dissatisfaction.

“Switch.”
“The electricity? Could you please, Filia?”
“Ah, yeah, I’ll turn it off.”
“…Nyaan, hasn’t Alice’s way of talking gotten weird?”

I don’t think so, but I seem sleepier than I thought. Once I think about sleeping, even standing is hard.

“Alice gets like this when she’s really sleepy.”
“Eepy.”
“Yeah, let’s go to sleep.”

I feel like I’m saying I’m very sleepy, but I wonder if it’s actually coming out as proper words.

While that’s happening, I hear a click, and the living room light goes out. Filia comes back, reaches for the wall near the entrance, and this time the tatami room light goes out, plunging us into darkness.

When I lie down on the futon as if being taken care of by my big sister, my consciousness falls into sleep in an instant.

What should I do tomorrow, I wonder. Come to think of it, the subjugation team should be returning around now. I wonder if it ended safely.