"Put this on and see how it fits."
Kiriko took out a new set of clothes and handed them to the little girl, then politely turned around.
Initially, when the little girl had woken up and discovered that Kiriko had actually been using her tail as a pillow, she became furious, her goodwill directly plummeting from positive into negative territory.
But a child was still a child.
After Kiriko brought out the new clothes she had bought, the girl's favor quickly bounced back, climbing even higher than before.
A child really was just a child, after all.
After happily trying on several new outfits in succession, the girl's face overflowed with undisguised joy.
Until—
Kiriko took out a potion bottle and removed its cork.
"Be good and drink this potion. Rest assured, it absolutely does not contain any microplastics."
The girl took the potion, sniffed it, and immediately made a disgusted face.
"This smells awful. I don't wanna drink it."
As she tried to hand the potion back, Kiriko subtly stepped out of reach.
"If you don't drink your medicine, no dinner tonight."
Kiriko glanced pointedly at the girl's stomach, which just then let out an audible growl.
They had eaten lunch around one in the afternoon, and it was already past six now.
Five hours was a long enough interval, and children's metabolism being faster than adults', it was normal for her stomach to start growling.
Hearing she might miss dinner, the girl reluctantly took a slow, hesitant sip.
Yet as soon as the liquid touched her tongue, her face instantly paled to the color of paper, eyes squeezed shut as if ready to spit it out.
But Kiriko was quicker, immediately covering the girl's mouth with one hand.
"No spitting. Swallow it. Every last drop."
"Mmmph… Mm-mmph!"
The girl muffled protests beneath Kiriko's hand, whining pitifully, but Kiriko's palm remained pressed tight over her mouth, like a face-hugger refusing to let go, until finally—after what felt like forever—she swallowed it down.
Seeing the potion finally gone, Kiriko released her grip.
The girl instantly stuck out her tongue in disgust. Watching this, Kiriko couldn't help but wonder—was it really that bitter?
The pharmacist had indeed mentioned the potion might taste a little bitter when handing it over.
But the pharmacist had also repeatedly warned Kiriko that adding honey or anything sweet would negatively impact its efficacy.
Judging by the girl's reaction, it probably truly was extremely bitter.
Even so, bitter or not, the potion had to be taken. How else could illness be cured without medicine?
It was practically by force that Kiriko finally managed to get the girl to finish the entire potion.
Maybe it was Kiriko's imagination, but after drinking it, the girl's complexion seemed even worse than before.
Kiriko couldn't help but suddenly feel like one of those villains from hentai, forcing the heroine to drink aphrodisiacs.
"You finished the potion? Good girl!"
Kiriko gently stroked the girl's head, this time without intentionally avoiding it.
Headpats really were super-effective against lolis. Emperor Yongye wasn't lying about that one.
Right after finishing the potion, the girl's coughing immediately stopped.
It seemed the pharmacist truly knew his stuff.
Kiriko placed the empty potion bottle on the table, leaving it for the staff to clear when they checked out.
But the cork she carefully tucked away in her Dimensional Bag.
Who knows, maybe someday it could even serve as currency.
Yet, as her head continued to be patted, the little girl showed no signs of comfort; instead, she stared at Kiriko with confusion.
"Do you have a name?"
"Huh?"
"Although it's rare in novels for masters to name their slaves, rather than forcing you to use a name you dislike, why not use the one your parents originally gave you?"
"Ra… Raphtalia."
Raphtalia?
It sounded like a beautiful name.
...
Taking Raphtalia out for dinner, Kiriko ordered different dishes this time, including extra servings of vegetables.
Raphtalia might have lacked nutrition, but vegetables could help make up for it, and eating more greens was always beneficial to one's health.
After dinner, Kiriko took her back to their room.
Entertainment in this world was frankly lacking. After a tiring day, there were basically only two options available to relieve stress:
One was getting drunk; the other, paying for sex.
Unfortunately, neither was suitable for healthy, wholesome people like Raphtalia—or Kiriko, for that matter.
So the two of them went to bed early—separately, of course.
Kiriko lay on the bed, eyes blankly fixed upon the ceiling.
Just last night at this same hour, she would never have imagined that within only a single day, so many things would change.
She, along with Naofumi Iwatani and the other three idiots with Intelligence ranked E, had only been summoned into this strange world the day before yesterday.
Yet somehow, it already felt as though half a month had passed.
Unlike the other guys dreaming of heroism, Kiriko had never been interested in saving the world. The idiotic maneuvers pulled by that Trash King today had only further extinguished whatever little interest she had.
She wondered briefly what the kings of other nations were like.
She knew there existed a demi-human kingdom that worshipped the Shield Hero. In that kingdom, humans received exactly the same treatment demi-humans did here.
But although that nation worshipped the Shield Hero, Kiriko didn't plan to recommend Naofumi to visit there.
The reason was simple.
Rumors about that demi-human nation were not entirely flattering.
It was said that the previous summoned Shield Hero survived only a few months after arriving, having been treated as breeding stock to produce superior offspring—drained utterly until there was nothing left.
Though the rumors were impossible to verify, it was wise to remember what Bai Juyi once wrote: "The cruelest hearts belong to the imperial house."
Thus, it would be naive to assume that worship alone guaranteed good treatment.
In truth, whether in this world or modern society, one must primarily depend on oneself.
Depending on others was fundamentally misguided.
Strength—one could rely only on one's own strength.
In the modern world, strength was complex, not simply defined by money or authority alone. Connections, networks, and even luck could count as strength.
How exactly to wield those things was beyond the explanation of a bottom-tier writer like Kiriko.
But in this world, the definition was much simpler.
Strength boiled down to two words:
Levels and equipment.
The higher your level, the better your stats and the stronger your skills.
Equipment was even simpler. Anyone who had played MMOs or RPGs knew equipment's significance well.
And besides skill, the gap between top-tier players and casuals came down to just one more thing...
The willingness of whales to create miracles with cash.
---
T/N: I wish i was a whale
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
discord.gg/wisetl
patreon.com/wisetl