Ruvollf and Rosanna swallowed dryly.
They said to bring as much as possible, so they brought everything.
But they didn't expect him to actually take it all.
"Rudolph the Reindeer Grandpa!"
"It's Ruvollf, not reindeer."
Ignoring the rebuttal, Momo shoved her chubby cheeks forward.
"Is this really everything?! You're not hiding more, are you?!"
"This is everything. I brought even what the General used, without leaving a single thing behind."
"Then why isn't your nose red?! Rudolph the Reindeer has a red nose! If your nose isn't red, it means Grandpa is lying!"
Somewhere between a hybrid of Pinocchio, whose nose grows when he lies, and Rudolph the Reindeer.
Kancho, who had been listening, shook his head.
"That chubby one is hopeless. Her memory is like torn dumpling dough."
He dashed over and scooped up Momo.
He couldn't let her keep tormenting Grandpa Ruvollf.
"I'll use them well, Sir Ruvollf. This is enough."
"It has to be enough. There's no more."
He gave a thumbs up.
Magitech weapons with performance far exceeding their level restriction.
They weren't high-grade or anything, but they were still excellent.
He looked around at his friends.
They were all staring intently, each holding a magitech item in their hands.
All except one: Renya.
"Renya, not picking anything? Grab at least a knife, like Seira. Doesn't have to be a weapon."
"I'm fine."
[Possessed Noble Phantasm: Not handled.]
A pure macho man who trusts only his own body, Renya himself.
He didn't expect him to refuse even here.
"Kick!"
At that moment, Dark's characteristic sneer rang out.
Renya's gaze turned.
"What?"
"Stop posing and just pick one. You used holy power gauntlets and greaves pretty well against the undead anyway."
"I didn't use them as weapons. I only wore them because I had to kill the enemy."
"Convenient conviction. You can twist it however you want."
"If you want, I can twist your head off and stick it to the wall."
"Can't wait. Try it."
Renya and Dark snarled at each other as if they were about to clash any second.
Seira approached from the side and elegantly shook her head.
"A mud fight, huh."
Jinhyuk, who had heard all of this, swallowed dryly.
Thank goodness.
They were too busy snarling at each other to hear Seira's words.
Otherwise, Seira and Renya might have started fighting too.
This place was a golden goose itself — the Magitech Research Lab.
He needed to get out before they smashed the whole place.
"Seira, stop them if they actually try to fight."
"Will do."
Momo was organizing items after setting Kancho as perimeter guard in case Elia tried to infiltrate.
Whoosh!
"Hey, what's with the sudden kidnapping?!"
He lifted Momo up and walked over to Vayla, who was standing to one side.
He had to try and see if he could fulfill Ruvollf's request.
"Hey, Vayla."
"Hi, Vayla!!"
Vayla stood still, expressionless, and gave a slight nod.
He wanted to have a relaxed conversation, but he felt he needed to hurry.
Seira, who he'd left to stop the fight, was about to start a three-way brawl.
He cut straight to the point.
"Vayla. If it's possible, would you like to leave the Tower with us? There's no magitech, but it'll be fun."
"Yes, I would."
"Ye... huh?"
Her immediate answer left him speechless for a moment.
He was about to explain why it would be fun!
And the fact that she said "I would" instead of "I understand" made it even more surprising.
"Father always said that when the war ended, we would leave Etheropolis and live elsewhere. The war is over, so I want to go out and live."
It seemed there was no need to persuade her at all.
Since her resolve was this firm, he decided to try right away.
"Momo, deploy!"
"Got it!"
Momo jumped down and ran to Vayla.
Then she grabbed her hand.
[Greedy Collector Momo attempts to forcibly claim the Tower's rights over Combat Doll Vayla!]
Ding!
[-------]
He stared at the empty space with a tense face.
This was another first.
A message box that appeared but had nothing written in it.
It felt like he could sense the Tower's anguish over the doll Vayla.
Then, after a moment.
[The Tower's rights over Vayla are forcibly transferred to Greedy Collector Momo!]
After long deliberation, the Tower had made its judgment.
That Vayla was not a truly living being, and therefore could not refuse the claim.
"Kuuuh...!"
Great Momo-sama, who could even forcibly take things from the Tower itself — what kind of being was she?!
Ding!
[Combat Doll Vayla is not alive, but she is a being that thinks and judges! An ambiguous position somewhere between existence and non-existence! An exception is set for Vayla! Combat Doll Vayla can only access the 22nd floor of the Mythical Tower!]
It seemed the Tower had really been conflicted.
To set up an exception like this on the spot.
Actually, this worked out fine.
He never planned to bring her along for the Tower climb anyway.
Plus, he could let her meet Grandpa Ruvollf whenever she wanted.
He turned to the old man and gave a thumbs up.
"Heh heh."
Ruvollf approached, leaning on his staff.
It looked like a scene that couldn't be watched without tears, so Jinhyuk quickly spoke.
"Grandpa. Vayla can come visit anytime."
"...!"
Was it because he realized there was no need for a goodbye?
A deep sense of relief washed over Ruvollf's face.
"Take care. We'll meet again."
"I will come again."
With a brief farewell, Vayla and Ruvollf shook their clasped hands up and down.
Good.
There was no need for a goodbye.
"Kuuuh!"
He stretched and walked to the window.
He'd used the five Mythical Tower tickets he'd saved up well.
Leaning against the window, he looked at his status window.
As expected, Vayla hadn't been added to the Collector's Hero Card section.
That meant the mysterious sphere wasn't the clue to the new Hero Card that the Card Finder trait had pointed to.
So it was confirmed.
The clue to the new card was in the mysterious ancient tome Elia was deciphering.
He stared at Elia, the first alchemist and Star Sage.
"Whoohoo! This scalpel cuts really well!"
Elia, excited about making a chimera, was swinging a surgical scalpel around.
Gulp!
He swallowed dryly without thinking.
She wasn't going to cut the tome with that scalpel, was she?!
Shaking off the sudden distrust, he quickly shook his head.
She was a living encyclopedia with over three thousand years of knowledge and wisdom.
He would wait with a calm heart.
For Elia to decipher the tome.
And for her to find the clue to the Hero Card.
Go, Elia!
* * *
"This is the pool!"
"It's very wide."
"Right?! Vayla, let's swim here together!"
"It's a place where anyone can't enter, but I'll specially allow Vayla."
"Are you the owner of the pool, Kancho?"
"I'm not the owner, but I'm in charge of managing it."
"Pool manager Kancho. I will remember this."
"The attitude of noting down important things is very good! Excellent!"
Except for Kancho and Momo, the others didn't really like water activities.
So it was just the two of them playing there all the time, but now Vayla had become a manager.
Momo dragged Vayla to the spacious kitchen.
"This is where we cook! Vayla, you don't know how to cook, right?!"
"I have some dishes I can make. Father couldn't cook, so I always did it."
"What?! What dishes?! What can you make!?"
Had a second passed since Momo's question?
Vayla's mouth started rattling off dishes at an alarming speed.
A massive number of dishes.
Most were unfamiliar, but a few gave him a general idea.
"By combining the recipes I've memorized, I can make even more dishes."
"Kuhuh...!"
Was she overwhelmed by the sheer number?
Momo stood there, mouth wide open, trembling slightly.
Then, after a moment.
"A doll that can make hundreds of dishes?! Sooooo cool!!"
The Momo Emperor snorted roughly.
"Vayla is totally awesome!"
"Thank you for the compliment."
Curious, he walked to the kitchen.
"Vayla. Can you cook something? The ingredients are roughly these."
Vayla scanned the refrigerator and nodded.
"With these ingredients, using the recipes I possess, I can make a total of 371 dishes."
"Uh, yeah. Don't make all of them, just five!"
"Understood."
The Jin-Kan-Momo trio stepped back a couple of paces and swallowed dryly.
Honestly, he was a little worried.
The kitchen wasn't going to blow up while she was cooking, was it?
Contrary to his worries, Vayla skillfully laid out the ingredients.
He was about to tell her where the knives and cutting boards were.
Then, from Vayla's hand, a magitech knife popped out.
Tatadak!
"Huh?!"
It was over in the blink of an eye.
The ham on the counter was cut into uniform pieces.
After that, the cooking was just as swift.
Like a factory conveyor belt, the cooking proceeded without a single error.
By the time he came to his senses, five dishes were already on the table.
The Kan-Mo duo approached, then turned to look at Jinhyuk.
Their eyes shouted intensely.
It was time for the taste tester to deploy!
He gave a thumbs up and picked up a spoon.
First, the appearance was a super pass.
The color was mouthwatering.
He scooped up some kimchi stew with the solid ingredients and brought it to his mouth.
Gulp!
Kancho and Momo watched Jinhyuk taste it, their hands clenched.
Then, after a moment.
"Oh!!"
Jinhyuk's eyes shot open in surprise.
"Is it poison?! Acidic?! Neurological?!"
"It's delicious!"
"Huh?!"
They froze for a moment, then quickly ran over and picked up spoons.
Each took a bite and then wildly gave thumbs up.
"What is this?! It's way tastier than what Momo-chan makes!"
"Right! It's better than what I make!"
He thought Momo would immediately hit him with her spoon.
But it seemed she hadn't heard properly.
Still, it was surprising.
To cook better than Momo, who had such nimble hands.
The craftsman she called "Father" must have taught her recipes from a master chef.
"What's with Vayla's cooking skills?!"
"Cooking is fun."
"Vayla, you eat too!"
"I cannot eat. I prefer making things."
"Vayla."
"Yes."
"Besides cooking, what do you like? Any hobbies or games you play when you're not fighting?"
"I like cleaning. I enjoy making things clean and shiny."
He was speechless for a moment.
He was going to buy her whatever she needed if she had a hobby, but cleaning?
He pulled himself together and held out a fashion magazine.
Forget hobbies, he'd buy her clothes first.
"I like this."
As soon as the magazine was opened, Vayla pointed at a typical medieval-style maid uniform.
Pretending not to hear, he quickly flipped the page.
"This?"
He pointed at a trendy luxury brand outfit.
Vayla spoke.
"That is not it."
Without missing a beat, she flipped back to the previous page and pointed at the maid uniform.
"I like this."
He looked up at Vayla, whose resolve was firm.
Specialty: cooking. Hobby: cleaning. Favorite clothes: maid uniform.
Had a maid suddenly appeared in his house...?
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T/N:
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