"Haaaah~~~"
Sitting at her workbench, Alice was beaded with fine sweat on her forehead, yet her face was radiant with a brilliant smile.
"I did it!!"
Cheering, Alice tossed the newly repaired Hourai into the air. Hourai immediately took flight, swirling around joyfully.
"You little thing, you really took your sweet time. I'm dead tired now—if I don't get some sleep, I'll probably end up with dark circles."
Watching Hourai dancing through the air alongside Shanghai, Alice couldn't hold back a yawn.
Although the magical power within Alice was astonishing, perhaps rivaling that of adventurers of unknown ranks, her physical condition was ultimately still that of an ordinary person—or at least, that's what she believed.
So after spending the entire day repairing Hourai, it was no surprise she was feeling drowsy.
"Good thing I'm in the Gap. If I were outside, I probably wouldn't be able to sleep at all."
Alice was well aware of this. After all, she'd run away from Loki. It was because of that werewolf, and she had no intention of joining the Loki Familia now.
But based on her brief encounter with Loki, she had a feeling that Trickster wouldn't just let her go. So the sudden emergence of her Gap ability was truly a blessing.
Here, in this peaceful space, she could enjoy a good, long sleep.
"Still, the outside world is dangerous. I need to speed up my magic studies, improve the materials for Shanghai and Hourai, and stock up on more dolls."
"Out there, I can keep the doll shop running. With the Gap, I can always 'move' and escape whenever I need to. No fear of Loki coming to pester me."
Even though Alice knew that Bete was just an exception—that within the Loki Familia, there were people like Tione and Lefiya, and that folks like Bete were few and far between—it had made one thing painfully clear to her: interpersonal relationships are such a hassle.
Alice decided then that from now on, she'd just be an unassuming doll shop owner, selling dolls every day. And not any of those special-powered dolls either, just ordinary ones.
"But if that's the case, money's definitely going to be tight."
She knew exactly what kind of customer flow her little shop attracted. Even in a fixed location, she didn't get many customers. And now, with the possibility of becoming a mobile stall, plus having to avoid her former big clients—the Loki Familia—for a while, her income was going to plummet to pitiful levels.
Just like this author's royalties—twenty bucks a day, and with the full attendance bonus, still less than a thousand a month. Sob.
"So, does this mean I have to go to the Dungeon?" Alice frowned. But if she had to choose, comparing the two—dealing with a bunch of people in the Dungeon versus going alone—the latter sounded much easier.
"In that case, I'll need a solid plan. I can't rely solely on magic forever; even I get tired."
Alice pinched her chin thoughtfully. "An army of a hundred Shanghai dolls? That sounds pretty good, actually."
Hearing that Alice planned to make a hundred copies of it, Shanghai, who had been playing with Hourai mid-air, immediately grew anxious. It fluttered in front of Alice, waving its tiny hands frantically.
Seeing Shanghai so flustered, Alice couldn't help but laugh. She cupped Shanghai in her hands and reassured it, "Don't worry. Even if it's an army of Shanghai dolls, they'll just be made to your specifications. You're one of a kind, Shanghai—and so is Hourai."
"So, there might be a Hourai army in the future too, Hourai. Don't you worry either."
Hearing this, Hourai shot a disdainful look at Shanghai, then confidently patted its own chest.
Provoked by the look, Shanghai took off from Alice's palm, brandishing its spear as it charged at Hourai.
Watching the two dolls tussle, Alice felt her eyelids growing heavy. She leaned back in her chair, stretched contentedly, and yawned repeatedly, tears welling in the corners of her half-closed eyes.
Standing up, she made her way toward her bedroom.
"Shanghai, Hourai, after you're done fooling around, could you please put all the materials and fabrics from the suitcase back where they belong?"
"I'm not going to join a Familia. This little house is my forever home now."
"So, please—you know where everything goes. I'm counting on you."
With that, Alice entered her bedroom, took off her dress, and slipped under the covers, pulling the blanket over herself.
Then, a pink bra and panties were tossed out from under the blanket, landing on the floor.
On the bed, Alice's head emerged from the covers. Resting on the soft pillow, she gradually drifted into sleep.
Meanwhile, following Alice's instructions, Shanghai and Hourai stopped their squabbling and dutifully began tidying up the room—including the dress and underwear Alice had thrown on the floor, and the suitcase filled with doll-making materials and fabrics.
--+--
As one of the two most powerful Familias in Orario, the Loki Familia was constantly under scrutiny from many others.
The story of a beautiful blonde girl who had intended to join the Loki Familia, only to be driven away because they deemed her too powerful, had spread to numerous Familias within the day Alice spent repairing Hourai.
On its own, it might not have been a big deal. But intelligence agents hidden nearby during the incident reported that the seemingly unaffiliated blonde girl had used more than three different spells.
Puppet Magic, Fire Magic, Beam Magic.
And finally, Spatial Magic to escape from a Level 6 adventurer.
In this world, Magic was exceedingly rare and precious.
Regardless of race, after receiving a Falna, one could only learn three spells—even elves were no exception. However, elves possessed unique methods to deeply develop and chant based on existing magical incantations, allowing them to master more spells.
The reason Riveria was known as the "Nine Hell" was because she had thoroughly researched and developed her three spells, adapting her incantations to use nine different forms of magic.
But even for Riveria, those nine spells were all interconnected.
Yet this blonde girl's magic—aside from Fire and Light Beam Magic, which could somewhat be linked—had no connection whatsoever between her Puppet Magic and Spatial Magic.
Even so, a human who had mastered three spells without joining a Familia was unprecedented.
Thus, while every Familia mocked Loki behind her back, they also began to take notice of Alice.
As for Alice's appearance, the intelligence agents were too far away to get a clear look.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
20+ advanced chaps on my patreon.
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