The 2nd day of the Wind month. While there was less than a week to go until Lilia-san’s birthday, I’ve gathered all the materials I wanted.
I was told that the magic crystal didn’t need to be very high purity, so I bought a blue-colored one to match the color of the Midnight Crystal.
Then, after all the materials were ready, I came to Alice’s miscellaneous goods store, which was the place where I would be working.
[Welcome, Kaito-san!]
[…………….]
When I opened the door of the miscellaneous goods store and saw the stuffed cat that immediately greeted me, I closed the door almost as if it was reflex.
Unnn…… I’ve never seen it for a while, but that stuffed costume really has lots of impact.
[Why did you shut the door!?]
[No, it’s just because of some reasons….. Or rather, it’s been a while since I’ve seen that stuffed costume.]
[Ahh~~ Well, I’m a “clone body” after all~~ I have to dress myself as a shopkeeper.]
[……I’d like to make a tsukkomi about how that stuffed costume appearance equates to being the shopkeeper but…… Before that, is that clone body that clone you were talking about before?]
[That’s right~~ The main body Alice is over here!]
[Uwoaahhh!?]
Hearing her say that she’s a clone body, I asked, and immediately afterwards, I heard a voice from behind me and an Alice with an opera mask appeared.
I was seriously surprised…… I had heard about it beforehand, but to really see two Alices here like this is quite a sight to behold.
[The costume me! Alice-chan who is taking care of the store!]
[The real me! Alice-chan who is taking care of you!]
[ [ When we’re together, we become Perfect Alice-chan!!! Well, we still don’t have any customers though~~ ] ]
[Amazing…… Double the people, double the annoyance…… Doubling yourself doesn’t have any value at all. I’ve realized yet again that even if you multiply the idiots twice, it will only make them a bigger idiot……]
[ [ ……Kaito-san, can you, at least, not say that out loud? ] ]
After smacking the Alices with enough tsukkomis, I was led to the area behind the counter which is usually not accessible…… leading towards the workshop.
The costumed Alice stays behind as the shopkeeper and the opera mask Alice…… The main body shows me around.
[W- Whoa…….]
[What do you think? This is my prided workshop!]
[I- It is amazing but…… Doesn’t the size of this room obviously doesn’t match the size of the room from the outside?]
[I’ve expanded the room with Spatial Magic~~]
[I see.]
Alice showed me around the workshop, which contained a kiln like the ones used in blacksmith’s shops, as well as tools for making cloth-related items, a fine-tuning table and a magnifying lens…… This place was so well-equipped that I feel like there was nothing that couldn’t be made here.
[Well then, how about we immediately start…… First would be to process the wood huh.]
[U- Unnn. Please.
As for the task of turning the branch of the World Tree into wood, Alice is going to do it for me as I’m an amateur.
I know that Alice is amazing but…… I still can’t imagine that she can easily process a branch that I spent a day cutting off with 10 Orichalcon Saws.
Somewhat bewildered, I took out the branch of the World Tree from my magic box. Alice takes it, pulls out a knife from the sheathe on her hip and after she brandished it…… Immediately afterwards, the branch of the World Tree turned into a stunning piece of wood. Eeeehhhhh!?
Wait, w- what the heck just happened? I thought Alice was just brandishing her knife, but then, the thick branch turned into fine pieces of wood…… Moreover, they appeared in front of me as if they had been polished with a file.
[Whoosh, perfect~~ I’ve also inscribed them with matching designs, so you can just join them together~~]
[……T- Thanks……]
Muttering to myself as I feel overwhelmed by Alice’s technique, which can even be described as a special move already, she moved towards the workbench without seeming to be particularly bothered by it.
She then takes out some lenses and sets them up, adjusting them so that it would fit for the detailed work before she turns around.
[Now then, let’s have Kaito-san work on the most time-consuming job, jewelwork…… I’ll draw the rough draft, so Kaito-san…… shave it off with this knife.]
[A- Alright.]
Saying that, Alice handed me a long and thin knife, a little thinner than an engraving knife, and it seems to be the one she prepared for me to work on the surface of the jewel to create a pattern.
Apparently, this knife is made from Magnawell-san’s fang, so even hard jewels can be easily processed.
Somehow, I feel like this knife is much more expensive than what I’m working on but…… Well, let’s just put that aside, as in a sense, I’m going to be working on the most important part of the work.
It seems that this is more difficult than I thought…… The size of the Midnight Crystal is only a few centimeters in radius at best, and if I wanted to draw a complex pattern on it, it wouldn’t go as far as I wanted, and even though I’m only tracing what Alice has drawn, but it won’t just turn as I had imagined.
I scrape a bit and check, I would then scrape a bit and check again…… If I fail, I would have Alice scrape the surface and start from scratch again…… This is tough.
Concentrating on the movements of my hand is one thing, but the fatigue I felt on my eyes as I stare through the lens is also quite considerable…… I guess this would take quite a while for me to complete this.
[Kaito-san, Kaito-saaann.]
[……Eh? What?]
[It’s already 8:00 pm. Is it alright for you to not go home?]
[Eeehhhh!? It’s already that time already!?]
As Alice called out to me, I hurriedly took out my pocket watch…… Indeed, before I knew it, it’s already time for me to call it a night.
Moreover, I failed three times on the way, and had to start over from scratch, so I’m not even halfway through.
[As far as I’m concerned, I’m totally OK and ready if you want to stay the night but…… Duchess Lilia will be worried about you, so don’t you think it would be better if you go home? You can do it again tomorrow.]
[Unnn. You’re right…… Thanks, Alice. Well then, I’ll go back again tomorrow.]
[Roger that.]
Following Alice’s advice, I decided to stop working here, and after thanking Alice once more, I activated my Teleportation Magic Tool and returned to the mansion.
Well, but then…… I finished my work here in the miscellaneous goods store, it’s not like I’m done with today’s work yet……
[……Errr, the note used here is Do, so the technique used here would be……]
[Ahh, Kaito-kun. That’s where the speed of the song changes, so you need to use an adjustment technique first……]
[I see…… Errr, the technique to increase the speed is……]
Using the magic technique chart Kuro made for me, I wrote the technique on the magic crystal one after another.
As Kuro said, the technique used to make a music box certainly is very simple, and even I can write it well enough…… However, since I have to write each symbol for a musical note, I have to write each of the notes in order.
How should I say this…… I’ve never tried doing it before, but it probably feels closer to knitting.
It’s a simple, but time-consuming process, as it’s like piling up a number of techniques and finally putting them together.
[……Mhmm, Fuaahhhh……]
[Kaito-kun? Are you alright?]
[U- Unnn…… As expected, my eyes are a bit tired……]
[Don’t push yourself. With your current pace, you should be able to make it, so let’s just call it a day.]
Hearing Kuro’s worried, gentle voice, I nodded once and decided to stop my work.
Kuro and I then chatted for a little while, picking up some baby castellas, and when she saw that I was lying on the bed, she lightly kissed me on my cheek and left.
Aware that my face loosened up at the happiness I felt from my cheeks, I closed my eyes…… and after about 30 minutes, I opened my eyes and sat up.
Then, I held my hand over the simple Illumination Magic Tool on the table to turn on the light and began writing the techniques on the magic crystal again.
With my current pace, I can make it in time…… It certainly as Kuro said, even at the current pace, I will be able to make it in time for Lilia-san’s birthday.
However, that’s only for when I’m going to give a present for Lilia-san……
In fact, for Kuro, Isis-san, Sieg-san, Alice, and Lillywood-san who have helped me with what I’m making…… I was going to make more music box for these five people “with different songs and designs”.
By the way, the only person who knows about this is Alice, who I consulted with in regards to the songs and designs……
Of course, these aren’t birthday presents, so there’s no time limit to make it, but I think if I put it off until later…… I will just end up dragging it out. So, I’ve decided to work on it at the same time.
However, being a human being, I have a limited amount of time in a day…… Especially if I don’t get any sleep, which will have a big impact on the work itself.
But now, I had a way to solve it.
While working, I took out a “Fruit of the World Tree” from my magic box and bit into it.
These fruits were given to me in large quantities by Lillywood-san because she had a surplus due to the restriction of the distribution of this fruit. When she gave them to me, I was wondering what to do with it, and I wasn’t able to use them because I felt that it would be wasteful.
However, in this current situation where my time isn’t sufficient if I sleep, wake up, and work on it like normal…… I can’t say that it’s being wasteful, so I decided to gratefully use it.
As soon as I finish eating the Fruit of the World Tree, my body is filled with vitality and my heavy body becomes as light as a feather.
As expected of the legendary fruit that is said to heal all wounds…… My magic power being completely recovered too is a miscalculation that I’m happy about.
[……Fuaahhh……]
However, unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to have cleared away my sleepiness. My body is filled with vitality, but I feel sleepy…… It feels strange, but it would be more strange to have a situation where my fatigue just instantly disappears, so I guess you could say that my body’s reaction is normal in a way.
Anyway, from here on out, it’s a battle against sleepiness…… It’s a battle of will-power.
I won’t run out of vitality…… But I’m feeling sleepy…… However, I have to keep doing my best.
Dear Mom, Dad——- I’ve been indebted to so many people since I came into this world, and my gratitude for them gets bigger and bigger with each passing day. This is a good opportunity for me, so let’s do our best here——– It would be great if I could give my thanks to everyone even a bit.
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai: [……The next chapter…… is the real hell…… T- The sweetness is about to come……]
T/N: 82/237