Lili was taking a bath.
Meanwhile, Alice, along with Shanghai and Hourai, happily and carefully stored all the materials Lili had purchased into her own workshop.
Although Alice had no intention of continuing to sell her dolls—
After all, venturing into the dungeon to defeat monsters promised far greater earnings than doll-making ever could. In fact, the difference was astronomical.
That was precisely why she'd decided to stop selling them.
But watching Lili bring back such a massive haul of materials for just 200,000 valis made something click in Alice's mind.
It dawned on her that whether she was selling dolls or buying supplies, she might have been getting seriously short-changed.
Take that time Hephaestus traded her top-tier gear for Alice's dolls.
Any piece of equipment from the Hephaestus Familia was worth millions of valis—even the lower-end items went for no less than a million. They were outrageously expensive.
But when Alice sold dolls to Lefiya and Tione, she'd priced them around a hundred thousand valis. Enough to cover her expenses, so she thought it was fair.
The truth was, Alice didn't have a very clear grasp of money. In her [Knowledge Repository], almost no one in Gensokyo ever really cared about finances.
Money had its uses there, but it wasn't a big deal.
The only monetary benchmark that stuck in her mind was that [100,000 yen] was considered a [huge sum]—enough to make the Hakurei Shrine Maidens treat you with respect.
So when she priced her dolls around a hundred thousand valis, it wasn't just about material costs—it was mostly because, in her mind, a hundred thousand sounded like an enormous amount.
Based on that impression, she set her prices. For example, a doll priced at 130,000 valis: 100,000 as the base value, and 30,000 for materials.
You could say Alice's dolls were dirt cheap—practically a steal. For Tione and Lefiya, it was almost like getting them for free.
But Alice, being clueless about money, had no idea.
To her, money was just for buying materials, having meals, and—the biggest expense—building this very house.
Besides, the dolls she'd sold before didn't have any special powers; they were just finely crafted. So a price in the hundred-thousands was actually pretty high for what they were.
But the dolls she sold to Lefiya and Tione were different.
Yet Alice never considered raising her prices afterward. She kept selling them for a pittance.
And that wasn't all.
After seeing Lili buy a whole backpack's worth of materials for just 200,000 valis, Alice realized something: not only had she been undercharging for her dolls, but she'd also been grossly overcharged by the merchants in Orario when buying materials.
The list she'd given Lili included everything she currently needed, might need later, and even some materials she wasn't sure about yet.
It was meant to be something for Lili to gather slowly over time—not all in one day.
She'd even made a note at the bottom of the list saying there was no need to rush.
But to her surprise, Lili managed to buy two of every item on the list—except for the unspecified ones—in just three hours.
And she only spent 200,000 valis.
This was completely outside the realm of Alice's understanding.
'All these materials… and Lili got them for just 200,000 valis? If I'd tried, it would've cost me at least two million…'
So, although Alice hadn't been sure what role Lili would play in her life, she'd now discovered a skill Lili took for granted—one that she herself lacked.
The art of the deal…
"Who would've thought a random act of kindness would bring me such a talented assistant?" Alice mused, wiping imaginary sweat from her brow as she finished organizing the materials with Shanghai and Hourai.
She couldn't help but feel pleased.
If Lili could acquire that many materials for just 200,000 valis, it meant she knew the market inside out—and was an expert haggler.
From now on, Alice could confidently leave material purchases in Lili's hands.
She also decided to reopen her doll shop.
With Lili's talent for bargaining, there was no real need for Alice to go dungeon crawling anymore.
After all, compared to fighting monsters underground, what she really loved was sitting at her workbench, guiding the sewing machine, and bringing her dolls to life.
She'd let Lili handle pricing and sales.
That way, neither of them would have to worry about money ever again.
Besides…
She was stronger now, and would only keep growing stronger. Alice's growth didn't depend on dungeon runs or gathering experience points.
All she needed was to practice her magic, and she'd steadily become more powerful.
So…
Staying home, making dolls, honing her magic—slowly growing stronger without anyone bothering her.
With enough money, if she ever needed rare materials, she could just hire powerful adventurers to retrieve them for her.
The Loki Familia would be a good choice for that sort of commission.
What a wonderful life. What a bright future.
Sipping black tea in her study, Alice felt more and more convinced that saving Lili had been the right decision.
"I'll have a good talk with Lili later about reopening the doll shop and setting prices."
"But I won't sell the dolls I make for myself—they're too personal."
"Maybe I'll just take custom orders. Dolls with the strength of LV.2 to LV.3 adventurers would definitely be popular."
"Though I might need to tweak their specs a bit… like making them single-use…"
Alice pondered seriously how to profit from her doll-making.
After realizing she'd been consistently ripped off on material prices, Alice wasn't angry—but her mindset was definitely shifting toward that of a shrewd business owner.
Suddenly, her eyes flickered.
She glanced out the window, her expression calm, then sighed softly.
"If I want the doll shop to open, I'll have to make it through tomorrow first."
"I wonder if it's someone from the Loki Familia… or maybe the Hermes Familia?"
--+--
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.
20+ advanced chaps on my patreon.
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If you guys wanna check it out.