The second day of the Month of Wind had arrived. With less than a week left until Lilia-san’s birthday, I had finally succeeded in gathering all the necessary materials.
Since I had been told the magic crystals didn’t need to be of particularly high purity, I had purchased some with deep blue hues to match the color of the Midnight Crystals. With everything now in my possession, I headed to Alice's General Store, which was to serve as my workshop.
"Welcome, Kaito-san!"
"……"
The moment I opened the door and saw that cat kigurumi greeting me, I closed the door again out of pure reflex.
Yeah… I hadn’t seen it in a while, but that costume really left an impression.
"Why are you closing the door!?"
"No, just because… I mean, it’s been a while since I saw you in that kigurumi, Alice."
"Ah, well, I’m just a 'Split Body' right now, you see~ This is the shopkeeper's attire!"
"……I have several things I want to say about that being the shopkeeper’s attire, but before that—is a 'Split Body' the same as the clones you mentioned before?"
"That’s right! The main body Alice-chan is right here!"
"Whoa!?"
As soon as I asked, a voice came from right behind me. I spun around to find Alice wearing her opera mask.
That really startled me. I’d heard about her abilities, but seeing two Alices standing together like this was quite a sight.
"The kigurumi me! Alice-chan is minding the store!"
"The real me! Alice-chan is acting as your guard!"
""Combined, we are the Perfect Alice-chan!! Well, it’s not like we actually get any customers anyway~""
"That’s impressive. There’s two of you now, so the level of annoyance has doubled. I don’t feel like I’ve gained anything at all. I’ve just realized that when you double an idiot, you just get one colossal idiot…"
""……Kaito-san, could you at least try to keep those as 'inner thoughts' instead of saying them out loud?""
After throwing a jab at the ever-consistent Alice, she led me behind the counter to an area I usually never entered—her workshop. The kigurumi Alice stayed behind to mind the shop, while the main body in the opera mask served as my guide.
"O-Oh……"
"How is it? This is my workshop, the pride and joy of my life!"
"It’s incredible, but… the size of this room definitely doesn’t match the shop's exterior, does it?"
"I’ve expanded the interior with space magic, after all~"
"I see."
The workshop Alice showed me was equipped with everything from a forge like one would find in a blacksmith's shop to tools for weaving cloth, workbenches for fine engraving, and even magnifying lenses. There was so much equipment here that I wondered if there was anything in the world she couldn't make.
"Well then, let’s get started. First, we should process the wood into lumber."
"Right. I’m counting on you."
Processing the Branch of the World Tree was far too difficult for a novice like me, so Alice had agreed to handle that part. I knew Alice was capable of incredible things, but I still had a hard time imagining her easily working wood that had taken me a full day and ten Orichalcum saws just to cut off.
I pulled the Branch of the World Tree from my magic box with some hesitation. Alice took it, drew a single knife from the holder at her waist, and gave it a swift flash. In the blink of an eye, the branch was transformed into beautiful, finished lumber. What on earth just happened!?
Wait, seriously, what did she just do? I thought I saw her swing her knife once, and suddenly that massive branch was reduced to small, perfectly shaped pieces of wood. Their surfaces were so smooth it looked like they had been polished with the finest sandpaper.
"There we go, all finished! I’ve already carved the notches according to the design, so you should be able to just snap them together."
"……Th-Thank you……"
I stammered, completely overwhelmed by her god-like technique. Alice didn't seem to notice my shock and moved over to a workbench. She set up several lenses, adjusting them for precision work, and then looked back at me.
"Now, I’ll have Kaito-san handle the gemstone engraving. It’s the most time-consuming part. I’ll do the drafting, so I want you to follow my lines and carve them… using this knife."
"U-Understood."
She handed me a long, slender knife, slightly thinner than a typical carving chisel. It was apparently designed specifically for engraving patterns onto gemstones. She mentioned it was made from a Fragment of Magnawell's Fang, allowing it to cut through even the hardest gems with ease.
I couldn't help but feel that this knife alone was probably worth an astronomical amount… but setting that aside, I began the most critical phase of the project.
It was much harder than I had anticipated. The Midnight Crystals were only a few centimeters wide, and trying to engrave complex patterns onto them was a nightmare. Even though Alice had provided the draft and I only had to trace it, my hands just wouldn't move the way I wanted them to.
I would carve a tiny bit, check my work, then carve a little more. If I slipped even once, Alice had to shave down the surface so I could start over from scratch. It was exhausting. Not only did it require absolute focus, but the eye strain from staring through the magnifying lenses was brutal. This was going to take a long time.
"Kaito-san, Kaito-saa~n."
"……Huh? What is it?"
"It’s already 8:00 PM. Are you sure you don’t need to head back?"
"Wait, what!? Is it really that late already!?"
Startled, I pulled out my pocket watch. Sure enough, the sun had long since set. Since I’d failed and restarted three times, I hadn't even finished half of the first gemstone.
"Personally, I’m totally fine with you staying the night—bring it on, I say!—but Duchess Lilia will probably worry if you don’t show up, right? You should probably head home. You can just pick up where you left off tomorrow."
"Yeah… You’re right. Thanks, Alice. I’ll be back tomorrow."
"Roger that."
Taking Alice’s advice, I wrapped up for the day. After thanking her once more, I activated my teleportation magic tool and returned to the mansion.
However… although I had stopped working at the general store, my work for the day was far from over.
"……Okay, this note is 'Do,' so the magic formula should be……"
"Ah, Kaito-kun. The tempo of the song changes there, so you need to input the adjustment formula first."
"Right… Let’s see, the one for increasing speed is……"
Using the Formula Chart Kuro had made for me, I began embedding magic formulas into the magic crystals one by one. As Kuro had said, the formulas for the music box were simple enough for me to handle, but they had to be entered note by note.
In a way, it felt a bit like knitting—layering simple steps over and over until they formed a cohesive whole. It was simple, but incredibly tedious.
"……Yawn……"
"Kaito-kun? Are you alright?"
"Yeah…… I think my eyes are just a little tired……"
"Don't push yourself. At this rate, you’ll definitely finish in time, so let’s call it a night."
Kuro spoke to me in a gentle, worried tone. I nodded and decided to stop for a while. We chatted for a bit while snacking on some baby castella, and once she saw me lie down in bed, she gave me a light kiss on the cheek and headed home.
The happy warmth remained on my cheek as I closed my eyes. Then, about thirty minutes later, I opened them and sat back up. I held my hand over the simple lighting magic tool on my table to turn it on and resumed embedding the formulas into the crystals.
If I kept this pace, I would finish in time for Lilia-san's birthday. That was true. But that was only if I were making one gift.
In truth, I was planning to make five additional music boxes—each with a unique song and design—for Kuro, Isis-san, Sieg-san, Alice, and Lilliwood-san, as a way of thanking them for their help. The only person who knew about this was Alice, whom I had consulted for the designs.
This wasn't a birthday deadline for them, of course, so there wasn't a strict time limit. But I knew that if I didn't do it now, I would probably keep putting it off. I wanted to work on all of them at once.
However, as a human, I only had so many hours in a day. If I didn't sleep, my work would suffer. But I had a solution for that.
As I worked, I pulled a Fruit of the World Tree from my magic box and took a bite. Lilliwood-san had given me a large stash of them because they were "overflowing" in her stores. I had been hesitant to use such a precious item until now, but I couldn't afford to be wasteful with my time anymore.
The moment I finished eating, vitality surged through my body. My heavy limbs felt as light as feathers. It truly was a legendary fruit—the fact that it fully restored my magic power as well was a welcome bonus.
"……Yawn……"
Unfortunately, it didn't seem to cure drowsiness. My body was full of energy, but my brain was still sleepy. It was a bizarre sensation, but given that all my physical fatigue had vanished instantly, maybe this was my body's way of staying grounded in reality.
Regardless, from here on out, it was a battle of willpower against the sandman. My stamina wouldn't fail me, but I was still tired. Still, I had to push through.
Dear Mother, Father—since I came to this world, so many people have looked after me. Every day, my gratitude toward them only grows. I want to take this opportunity to do my absolute best—and hope I can repay everyone at least a little.
Serious-senpai: "……Starting next time…… it’s going to be absolute hell…… The sugar…… the sugar is coming……"