Generally speaking.
Bathrooms are usually tucked away in the most private part of a home, positioned so that outsiders can't just peek inside from the outside.
But Alice wasn't too concerned about that.
With her ability to manipulate boundaries, passersby wouldn't even notice her house, let alone try to sneak a peek through a second-story window over three meters up.
While soaking in the bath, she could enjoy the view outside, but there was absolutely no way anyone could see in.
After a long day's work, it was already late at night.
Even in Orario, probably only the Red Light Districts was still lively; everywhere else had likely gone quiet.
But surprisingly—
The neighbor across the way, that goddess who'd been kicked out, Hestia, didn't seem to have turned in for the night yet.
The lights in the church were still flickering.
However, as Alice watched the shadows cast by the lamplight against the church windows, she frowned.
'Two people?' she wondered, puzzled.
In Orario, it was usually pretty easy for gods to recruit familia members. After all, aside from a Familia's strength, the only thing a god could really offer was the Falna.
And when it came to the Blessing, every god was the same—none could give an adventurer any extra edge.
That meant every god stood on equal footing when it came to attracting children of the lower world.
Of course, gods like Hephaestus, the blacksmith goddess, or deities of beauty and wine, who naturally drew followers, had a clear advantage.
But the rest? Not so much.
Especially now, when most gods had already descended and most potential adventurers had already joined familias.
For a goddess like Hestia, who had nothing—not even a home of her own, just a donated hideout—gathering a familia was truly difficult.
But now, it seemed…
During the three days she'd been away, this goddess she'd never met might have actually managed to recruit someone.
'So… that time I tricked the half-elf at the Adventurer's Guild into thinking I was from Hestia Familia… has that been exposed?'
Alice recalled the surprised look on that half-elf staff member—Eina's—face earlier that day when she mentioned which familia she belonged to.
Even back then, it was like the other girl already knew she was lying.
'In that case, next time I go to exchange magic stones, I'll need a disguise,' Alice mused, sinking deeper into the bath until the water covered her mouth.
She blew bubbles softly into the water.
'But from what I remember, no one's ability really includes disguise… and even if there was one, I probably couldn't learn it quickly anyway…'
She'd spent three days trying to develop new applications of her boundary manipulation, with little success.
On the other hand, she was picking up the Seven Colored Magic scarily fast.
'Disguise… forget it. Since she didn't call me out on the spot, she must have accepted what I said. I'll just go to that half-elf again next time.'
Leaning back against the tub, Alice lifted her gaze to the bright moonlight streaming through the window.
Her eyelids grew heavy.
'Divine Script… Now that my neighbor has a familia, maybe I could offer to help look after her child in exchange for her teaching me. I wonder if that would work.'
'Ah, never mind. I'll figure it out later. I haven't even fully mastered the Seven Colored Magic yet, and there's still a ton of knowledge in my memory bank—it's not like I have to learn it all right away.'
Gradually, Alice closed her eyes and drifted into sleep right there in the bathtub.
The moonlight through the window fell over her, making her features even more ethereally beautiful. Droplets of water trailed slowly from the ends of her hair.
The water's surface reflected the moonlight, obscuring the view of her body beneath—a hazy, dreamlike scene that made Alice look like some master artisan's finest creation, so beautiful it defied words.
As she slept, Shanghai and Hourai, having finished tidying up, pushed the door open and floated in, followed by the entire Little Legion of dolls.
Shanghai and the close-combat unit dolls carefully lifted Alice out of the tub.
Under the moonlight, her body seemed even more sacred and pure.
A soft, glowing sphere appeared in Hourai's small hand. As she brought it closer to Alice, the sphere gently evaporated all the water from her skin.
Once she was dry, Hourai and the magic unit dolls wrapped Alice in a white bath towel. Then, together with Shanghai and the rest of the Little Army, they carried her back to her bedroom.
They laid her on the bed and tucked her under the covers.
With all their tasks complete, the dolls settled onto Alice's bed, motionless and seemingly lifeless, like ordinary dolls—keeping her company as she slept.
--+--
Liliruca Arde.
An adventurer from Soma Familia, a Pallum.
She hated her familia deeply, despised everyone in it, and loathed all adventurers in general.
Lili had been born into Soma Familia and had never known anything else.
But Soma, the god of her familia, paid no attention to its affairs, leaving everything to his followers.
And those followers? They were all scum—drawn in by the allure of Soma's Divine Wine.
At least, that's how Lili saw it.
She had tasted that wine herself once, had been enchanted by it… and because of it, she had suffered terribly.
Lili wanted a peaceful life. She had once tried to run away from the familia.
But she failed.
Her perfect life was utterly destroyed by the trash in her familia.
So now, Lili wanted to save up enough money to buy a bottle of Soma's wine, approach him directly, and ask to leave the familia.
But as a Pallum, Lili didn't have outstanding talent; her stats grew painfully slowly.
However, she possessed a unique magic: Cinder Ella.
It allowed her to transform into any creature or race.
Using this magic, Lili would do anything for money—cheating, framing, swindling, setting people up… if it earned her valis, she'd do it.
She had even caused the deaths of many adventurers.
But Lili felt no remorse. In her eyes, every adventurer she'd ever betrayed was scum—not a single one was kind or innocent.
However…
These past few nights, while resting in her hideout, Lili had been plagued by nightmares. Well, she'd always had nightmares.
But these were different.
A beautiful girl with golden hair kept appearing in her dreams.
Night after night, that golden-haired girl—the very one she'd framed—would stare back at her coldly, then effortlessly end her life.
And today, after hearing rumors about a golden-haired spirit…
Lili grew even more uneasy, terrified that this spirit would come for her—just like in her dreams—and kill her without a second thought.
--+--
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.
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