Author: Himezaki Shiu	Original Source: Syosetu
Translator: PunishedLyly	English Source: Re:Library

Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

We finished our morning activities, and Ciel just fell asleep.
Ciel is sleeping comfortably in a good-quality bed, so while I do feel bad about this, I decided to borrow her body for a while.
I’ve already informed Ciel beforehand, and she even wanted to stay awake; however, since it should already be sleeping time for children of her age, I had her go to sleep.

They say that a child who sleeps well grows well, but can it really be considered sleeping when I move Ciel’s body around in the middle of the night? Could Ciel’s short height relative to her peers—which is honestly average in my old world—be due to me borrowing her body at night?

Worried about that, I asked the creator god, and, apparently, it isn’t the case. If it were, she would not have grown this tall.
It seems like that was also included in the blessings derived from the creator god’s power. In conclusion, Ciel being short is all Rispelgia’s fault, and if she has any discontent over her build, then I’ll have to pick a fight with Estoque. That’s how it is.
Though it won’t happen unless Ciel says so.

Now, in regard to why I’m borrowing Ciel’s body, it’s because there’s something I need to do today.
And that is to appease the spirits.
Since we entered the royal capital, we have told the spirits to not follow us around, but it seems like they really want to be near.
That’s why I asked Lisyl to tell them that they can approach us once every few days, during the time when people are asleep.

It would be a problem to do it in the middle of the capital, so we’ll be meeting outside the gates; however, it seems like, other than me, there is someone else who intends to leave the inn room.
This individual is a bit too brazen in following me, as she knows how meaningless it is to try to stealthily tail me. Well, it’s just Mia, though.

「Are you coming along too, Mia?」
「Of course, I will be by your side.」
「It wouldn’t be fun for you, you know?」

After all, since she can’t see spirits, it will only seem to her like I’m behaving weirdly on my own.

「An attendant does not accompany their master only when it is fun, Lady Ainsel.」
「That’s a good point. Waiting beside us while we eat is probably more taxing in comparison.」

Servants are required to stay silent and keep vigilant while their masters are having a meal. Compared to that, watching your lady act eccentric might actually be more entertaining.
As there isn’t any reason to turn her down, I let her do as she pleases. In this case, we should just casually exit through the gates. With Mia along, we should be allowed to go outside.

Personally, sneaking out would be difficult for me, so if we can leave through the gates, it’s all good.

「Since you’re coming along, I’ll leave the negotiations to you.
If you say that we’re leaving to harvest night-exclusive medical herbs, it should be enough.」
「Understood. Then shall I gather those herbs when we reach our destination?」
「Yes, please do.」

You just want to look for herbs, don’t you? But I’m not saying that out loud.
It would be weird to return from herb gathering empty-handed anyway, and I would like to spend as much time with the spirits as possible, so I’d actually appreciate that.

Leaving the inn, we walked the evening streets of the capital. As night befell Royal Capital Ausente, there was a well-lit area some distance away. Judging from its location, it’s probably where the bars and whatnot are, a place I’m absolutely not bringing Ciel to.
Perhaps due to good city planning, it’s silent where the inn is located, and there was no presence of other people as Mia and I continued down the street.

There weren’t any people around even as we drew near to the gates, so maybe they don’t let people inside the capital in the evening?
I do recall hearing that going outside is possible, though.
Well, if we can’t leave through the proper route, then I can just go over the wall, so it’s no issue. I have no idea if Mia can do the same, so at worst, I’ll have to carry her over.

I tend to forget about it since I can’t attack, but I am actually capable of using physical reinforcement.
In pure physical power, I can even surpass Ciel at full strength.
After all, not only am I better at magic power control, but I also have the greater magic power capacity between us.
That said, if I exclude the magic power I regularly use in maintaining my barrier and for detection, Ciel would have more usable magic power than I do.
I don’t plan on dispelling the barrier, so you can say that I have less magic power than Ciel in practice.

In any case, the problem is whether we can exit or not.
As we arrived at the gates, someone who looked like a gatekeeper suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
It was a friendly-looking old man who, upon seeing us, asked, 「What is it?」 with a sincere expression.
I’ve entrusted the negotiations to Mia, so I sent her a look, and she stepped before me.

「May we go outside the gates at this time?」
「Young girls outside this late; why do you want to leave at this time?」
「Despite appearances, we are hunters. Tonight, we plan to gather medical herbs that can only be harvested in the evening.
We heard that there is not much danger near the royal capital even at night, you see.」
「I see… There isn’t much danger, yeah, but it’s not nonexistent.
Moreover, the girl behind you is still a kid, isn’t she?」
「She is also a hunter, so there is no need to worry. Would you prefer to see her card?」
「Yeah, that would be appreciated.」

Mia came to me, so I handed her Ail’s card.
Receiving my card from Mia, the gatekeeper then verified it with some sort of sorceric tool and immediately returned it.

「Right she is. Once you’re outside, you won’t be allowed in until daybreak. Is that okay with you?」
「Of course. We’ve camped out many times before arriving here at the royal capital.」

Before Mia could reply, I answered. The gatekeeper looked Mia’s way, and she nodded in response.
After that, he answered,「This way」 in a resigned tone.

He led us to what seemed like a back door exit, but right before leaving, he told us to be careful.
Well, I’m used to having people worry like this. If it were only Ciel and me, people would even get worried about us even during the daytime.

Upon exiting, there were a lot of people—and wagons, so there might be a good number of merchants—preparing their campsite around bonfires.
There was someone who came up and talked to us, but we gave only a half-hearted response before entering the forest next to the capital.
Apparently, there are medicinal herbs that can only be harvested at night inside this forest.

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⌈ Index ⌋

And that ends our last chapter half for this month! Seems like Ciel is out for the count this time! Health is wealth, after all.

I do like how concerned Ain is about Ciel’s height, though it is kind of funny how she’s relieved to put the entire blame on Rispelgia. I would too, frankly. Also, it looks like Mia really “love” loves the herb spotting training, that’s cute. Anyhow, we’re getting some fun time with the spirits it seems. Too bad Ciel’s missing it.

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay healthy, stay safe, and have a nice day~!