Let's be real.
Alice had only been in this world for about three months.
Or rather, it had only been a little over three months since she first gained consciousness and found herself in this world. In just over three months, even with her extraordinary talent, the level of strength she'd achieved…
Well, it was only because the power stored in her [Knowledge Repository] gave her a high starting point, combined with her own remarkable natural gifts.
If we're talking about real combat instinct? She still couldn't compare to adventurers who'd been fighting for years.
As for the presence outside her room—
Alice hadn't detected any aura. Her five senses were only as sharp as a normal person's. She was capable of sensing through mana, but she hadn't been using it.
The reason she noticed so many people lurking around her remote home was simply because they weren't trying very hard to hide.
It was just her sixth sense—the feeling that outside her window, where there had been nothing, suddenly there were many unpleasant sensations.
Based on her own understanding of herself…
These unpleasant feelings, which appeared right after Lily returned, were probably human presences.
'Probably not Loki Familia or Hermes Familia…'
Alice murmured uncertainly.
So far, Alice had only met three members—and one god—from Loki Familia.
Loki, of course, she didn't dislike. Tione and Lefiya were fine too. Even that werewolf who attacked her—though she came to hate him afterwards—when she first saw him, her initial impression wasn't negative.
Alice had a very clear, yet also somewhat vague, standard for judging people she disliked.
Her criteria were simple:
She disliked bad people and liked good ones. Clear in principle, but tricky when it came to defining what made someone "good."
As for that werewolf from Loki Familia, based on her intuition, he was probably a good person—but he was just so damn annoying.
From Hermes Familia, she'd only met Asfi, and that was by chance. Though she sensed the woman was rather shrewd, Alice still felt she was a good person.
All in all, Alice's intuition was similar to that of the elves in this world—only sharper. Elves felt discomfort through physical contact with those who had evil intentions.
But Alice was more sensitive.
So now, she felt that not a single one of the people spying on her outside was good.
'So… should I take care of them?' Alice frowned, feeling slightly troubled. Even though she sensed they were bad people and found them thoroughly unpleasant, they hadn't shown any direct hostility toward her.
If possible, she'd rather not make a move.
Just as Alice was wrestling with the decision, the unpleasant sensations outside gradually faded away. Their disappearance let her relax a little.
Taking action on the surface would be troublesome. These people had clearly followed Lili here—they were watching her home.
She didn't know how many there were. If she didn't take them all out, more would surely come later. Even if she eliminated every one of them, the people behind them would eventually find clues and send even more her way.
'Since they're gone for now, that's good enough,' Alice smiled slightly. 'Tomorrow, I'll reopen the doll shop.'
--+--
Loki Familia.
As one of the top familias in Orario, its members were, of course, adventurers of decent character. At this hour, everyone had returned to their rooms.
After dinner and a bath, it was time to sleep.
But just then, a delighted shriek came from Loki's room.
"Woo-hoo!!"
"Awesome!"
"Finally got a lead on Alice-chan!"
"Hahaha!!"
Shouting excitedly, Loki dashed out of her room into the courtyard and called everyone in the familia together.
Lefiya, in her pajamas, pushed her door open and yelled at Loki who was making a racket below.
"Loki! Keep it down!"
"Everyone's preparing for the upcoming expedition! Can you pipe down?!"
Loki Familia was planning an expedition into the Dungeon in a few days, so everyone had been working hard to improve their stats.
For an adventurer to level up, two conditions had to be met.
First, their basic attributes had to reach the threshold for their current level. Once that happened, leveling up was necessary to grow stronger.
The second requirement was achieving a Great Feat.
Expeditions were perfect opportunities to accomplish just that.
The goal of Loki Familia's expedition was to reach beyond the 50th floor. For adventurers below Level 4, everything up to the 50th floor was prime territory for earning Great Feats.
So, to seize the chance to gain the Great Feat needed to level up during the expedition—and to ensure they could protect themselves along the way—every member of Loki Familia had been pushing their limits to improve their basic attributes.
They spent their days in the Dungeon and returned at night utterly exhausted, in desperate need of proper rest.
And now, Loki was shouting and disturbing everyone's sleep.
Naturally, Lefiya was furious.
But Loki brushed off her anger and called back, "Lefiya! I found info on Alice-chan! You and Riveria come with me to find her tomorrow!"
"Hah??" Lefiya frowned. "Why should I go looking for some Alice?"
"Ara~ Weren't you curious about the magic that girl used to escape from Bete?"
Loki grinned.
"If you come with me tomorrow, you might get to see her in person."
Lefiya's eyes widened slightly. "The girl who used magic without belonging to a familia?"
"Yep~ Wanna come?"
"...Fine… I'll go. But you ask Lefiya yourself." With that, Lefiya turned and went back into her room.
"As for now, Loki, go back inside. Everyone needs rest."
"Alright, alright~"
Watching Lefiya leave, Loki's narrow eyes cracked open slightly, her brow furrowed in thought.
'But if her neighbor is Hestia… Could Alice-chan have joined that pipsqueak's familia? If that's the case, things could get messy.'
'If that little runt finds out about this, she'll never let me hear the end of it…'
'Dammit… That idiot Bete. Tomorrow I'm definitely having Finn put him through hell.'
--+--
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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