Chapter 229 It Would be Great if I Could Give my Thanks to Everyone Even a Bit (1/2)

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.]

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[……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? ] ]

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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.

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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.]

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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.