The magical knowledge stored in Alice's mind could only be described as vast.
It wasn't limited to just the Seven Colored Magic System.
It's just that when Alice first began her studies, she started with the Seven Colored Magic. But she was aware of other arcane knowledge as well.
Like that certain black-and-white magician lingering in her memories.
She even knew how to construct the Eight Trigram Reactor that Magician wielded—though the impressions in her mind warned her that the thing was highly unreliable and prone to explosions, so she had no intention of actually learning it.
Beyond magic, Alice's knowledge also included the physical combat techniques and spiritual arts of that red-white shrine maiden, as well as the Onmyōdō practices of the blue-white shrine maiden.
Heck, she even had memories of some bizarre occult arts mastered by rather eccentric immortals.
Each of these arts seemed incredibly powerful, but they were also notoriously difficult to master. In the end, Alice chose the Seven Colored Magic—the system that was clearest and most detailed in her mind, and the simplest to begin with.
Of course, it also didn't hurt that the frail young girl in her memories seemed to share a close bond with the version of herself that resided there.
So, Seven Colored Magic it was.
But if Alice wanted to move her entire house away, Seven Colored Magic wasn't quite going to cut it.
And so, Alice found herself at a loss.
'What should I do now?' she wondered. Beside her sat a large box filled with materials for crafting dolls.
As for her clothes, she didn't have many—after all, she made them herself, using materials not too different from those for her dolls. If she wanted new outfits, she could always just stitch a few more.
Shanghai and Hourai hovered quietly nearby, waiting for her to make a move.
'If only I could use the Gap...' Alice sighed helplessly. Mimicking the golden-haired big sister from her memories, she lifted a finger and lightly traced a line through the air. 'Then I could just tuck my whole house inside a gap and—huh?'
Where her finger passed, the space itself split open—like an eyelid peeling apart.
Alice stared in shock at the rift she had created. Though it lacked that eerie eye she remembered, she was absolutely certain: this was a Gap, her Gap.
'Just what am I, really...?' she frowned.
She had thought she was only loosely connected to those other selves in her mind, but the appearance of the Gap made it clear—there was something far more significant going on with her.
'Whatever. What's meant to happen will happen. I'll just wait and see.'
After turning it over in her mind for a while and getting nowhere, she decided to stop worrying about why she suddenly had this power.
'Looks like I've gotten even weirder—now I've got the powers of a Gap Youkai. But at least this solves my current problem.'
A relaxed smile finally appeared on her face.
"Come on, Shanghai, Hourai. Let's pack up the house, then head straight to Loki Familia."
With her two dolls in tow, Alice stepped into the narrow alley outside.
"Lucky my little shop is so out of the way. At this hour, no adventurers are around. Using the Gap like this shouldn't cause much of a stir."
Calling upon her newly discovered power, she sliced open a large tear in the air—right above her shop, big enough to swallow the whole building. Then, as if taking a bite, the Gap devoured Alice's little house.
Standing in the alley, Alice now faced empty space, with a clear view straight through to the deserted street beyond.
'If I'd known about this power earlier, I wouldn't have had to clean up. I spent all night sorting and organizing those doll materials—such a waste of effort.'
'But better late than never.'
Holding Shanghai and Hourai close, she walked out of the alley.
--+--
And after Alice left...
The alley, now missing a whole shop, showed not the slightest trace of anything unusual. It was as if Alice's shop had never been there at all.
Even now that it was gone, nothing felt out of place.
However, about thirty minutes after Alice's departure...
A man dressed in travel gear arrived in the alley, only to find the scene completely different from what he remembered.
He stood there stunned, pacing back and forth through the alley several times.
Finally, he had to accept one thing: Alice's shop was gone.
"How strange... I went to all the trouble of advertising for little Alice, so why has her shop disappeared? And I wanted to ask about that Freya Doll—why did it explode all of a sudden when I tried using it?"
The speaker was none other than Hermes, who had bought a Freya Doll from Alice.
It just never occurred to him that her entire shop might up and vanish.
While Hermes was still puzzled over why the location was correct but the shop was missing, a family from nearby stepped out with their child.
A lovely woman and her daughter, apparently on their way out for some shopping.
"Hello there, ma'am," Hermes stepped forward to greet her.
"Hm? Oh, hello! You're... a god, aren't you?" The woman looked at him curiously.
Gods and mortals were fundamentally different.
In the eyes of humans, gods were beings entirely apart from themselves. No matter which god appeared before them, humans could always tell—they just knew.
So even though this ordinary woman didn't recognize Hermes specifically, she could sense he was divine.
Hermes responded with a warm smile.
"My child told me there was a lovely doll shop around here and begged me to buy her a doll. But when I arrived, I couldn't find it. Maybe I'm in the wrong place? Would you happen to know if there's a doll shop nearby?"
The woman looked completely blank.
"A doll shop? There's never been a doll shop around here."
Hermes nodded. "I see. But this one was supposed to be rather obscure and tucked away—in a little alley, I believe."
"Are there any other alleys around here besides this one? If so, could you point me in the right direction?"
The woman's expression turned slightly awkward.
"Even though you're a god, sir... there's only this one alley around here. I've honestly never seen any doll shop."
"Hmm..." Hermes's eyes glinted thoughtfully. "So this has always been just an alley, you say?"
"That's right," she nodded.
"Alright then. Guess my little one must be playing tricks on me because I ate her favorite pudding the other day. Thank you for your help—have a pleasant day."
"Not at all, it's no trouble."
Hermes watched as the woman led her daughter away, then tipped his hat down with a faint smile.
"Seems I've missed something quite extraordinary. I wonder who managed to snatch little Alice away."
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
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