After receiving the funds from Loki, Syr and Ryuu left the Loki Familia.
Before Alice departed, only Finn had returned.
So, after waiting for half a day with no sign of Ais or Tiona, Alice eventually left the Loki Familia and returned home.
Just as she had told Lefiya, the materials she obtained in the dungeon needed proper sorting.
With these puppets—Alice's puppets—especially the various components of Hourai and Shanghai, it was time for some upgrades and replacements.
The gravity magic circle had been set up in the backyard of the Loki Familia and could be activated smoothly. Without Alice using her power of boundaries to enhance it, the magic circle's maximum gravity effect only reached about ten times the normal gravity.
Even so, it was more than sufficient for the daily training of the Loki Familia members.
Days passed one after another.
Alice resumed her usual routine. Her little puppet shop was technically open for business, but with the income from the comic royalties she received from the Loki Familia, Alice didn't really care whether the shop was open or how business was going.
Loki and Hestia had teamed up to create their own story. Although the protagonist was Alice herself, she didn't object to it.
After all, Loki and Hestia were giving her thirty percent of the profits as compensation for using her as the main character.
These days, Alice was arguably the most popular figure in Orario. Whenever a comic featuring her as the protagonist hit the shelves, everyone would rush to buy it.
It significantly boosted comic sales.
At the same time, because Loki was extremely eager to know what happened next in the Dragon Ball story, Alice directed her puppets to illustrate the entire subsequent series.
Alice now had a great many puppets.
Including the household puppets from before, she had nearly thirty puppets in total. Led by Shanghai and Hourai, they all set to work drawing the comics.
Combined with the power of the Gap, the puppets only needed to trace over the pages of comics that Alice projected using her boundary power. The process was incredibly fast.
In just another week, Alice had finished drawing the entire Dragon Ball Z story.
After handing this batch of comics over to Loki, Alice stopped drawing.
Meanwhile, Loki also published the original Dragon Ball story. Since the author was Alice, and the content was so unique, the Dragon Ball series instantly sparked a trend throughout Orario.
On the streets, you could see adventurers and children squaring off, mimicking energy blasts.
Even when Hephaestus dropped by for a visit, she mentioned that recent weapon sales had declined, but the sales of items like gauntlets had surpassed previous weapon sales.
And gauntlets were even more expensive.
Because they had to ensure offensive power while remaining durable, the craftsmanship required for gauntlets was far more intricate than for ordinary weapons.
As a result, the Hephaestus Familia's profits had increased quite a bit recently.
Alice's earnings were also substantial.
Thankfully, the Guild also had a bank for deposits—otherwise, Alice wouldn't have known where to put all her money.
Day by day, time went on.
Today happened to be the day of the Monster Feria.
"Alice-chaaan~ Are you ready?" Outside Alice's home, Loki cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted loudly.
Alice opened the curtain. Dressed in her pajamas, her expression was calm.
She glanced down at Loki on the street below, then at the faintly lit, early morning sky. She promptly grabbed a ball of yarn and threw it at Loki.
"You! What time is it?! It's way too early!!"
"Ow~~~" The yarn ball hit Loki square on the forehead, making her yelp.
Bending down, Loki picked up the yarn ball, a happy grin on her face. "Hehe, it's because I have a date with you today, Alice-chan! I've been looking forward to it since yesterday, that's why I came so early."
Alice facepalmed and sighed. "This early, most of the stalls in Orario are probably still setting up.."
"Hehe.." Loki scratched the back of her head sheepishly.
"Whatever, it's not like we can do much this early anyway. Just come inside for now. The puppets will let you in. I need to get ready." With that, Alice turned and went back into her room.
"Okay~~~ I'm coming!"
Hearing Alice's words, Loki happily walked to the front door, knocked, and the puppets opened the door for her.
"Thanks~~" After thanking the puppets, Loki deftly went upstairs and arrived at Alice's room door, knocking on it.
Alice's voice came from inside. "Loki, wait a moment. I'm changing clothes, I'll be right out."
"Changing clothes!!" Loki's narrow eyes shot wide open, a bold idea flashing through her mind.
"Alice-chaaan~~~ Need any help?" Loki called out loudly.
"No need..."
Inside the room, Alice had already put on her usual dress and was fastening the button at her waist.
The buttons and zippers on Alice's clothes were all hidden, invisible to the ordinary eye.
At this point, not just Alice, but anyone would know exactly what Loki was aiming for by offering help.
So, Alice flatly refused Loki's proposal.
Besides, even if Alice allowed Loki to help, there was no need anymore. All that was left was tying the ribbon on her collar—a simple task requiring no assistance.
Loki, of course, was unaware of Alice's progress.
She was still fantasizing about Alice being halfway through changing, and how adorably flustered she would be, trying to cover herself, if Loki barged in.
So, Loki's hand gripped the doorknob to Alice's room. Adopting a casual tone, as if to lull Alice into a false sense of security, she said:
"Come on now~~~ We're both girls! Helping each other out is totally fine!!!"
With the last word, Loki mustered all her strength and shoved Alice's door inward, trying to push it open forcefully.
However...
Loki successfully swung the door open, but ended up throwing herself forward, landing face-first on the floor..
"Oww!!" Loki cried out in pain.
It turned out Alice had already finished changing and was just about to come out.
Right at that moment, Loki used all her strength to push the door open. Just as Alice opened it from the inside, Loki's momentum carried her stumbling into the room, resulting in her fall.
"Loki, what are you doing.." Alice looked down at her, her expression cool and somewhat exasperated.
"Ah.." Rubbing her face, Loki froze stiff upon hearing Alice's voice, then let out an embarrassed laugh.
"Ahaha~~ You're so fast, Alice-chan! Hahaha!"
Alice sighed. "Loki, have you eaten breakfast yet? If not, let's eat first."
"Oh!! I want some!!"
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
20+ advanced chaps on my patreon.
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.