"Rather than worrying about the future, the immediate question we need to discuss is whether my little shop should be set up here or in Babel Tower."
"Since you're all here, Loki—do you have any suggestions?"
Building a good relationship with the Loki Familia—whether it's for future doll transactions or for Alice to learn from them—was something to consider down the line.
Right now, the most important matter was definitely deciding on the location of Alice's doll shop.
Should they renovate the existing house and open shop in this relatively remote area, or follow Lili's advice and set up inside Babel Tower?
When Loki heard what Alice and Lili were debating, she looked back and forth between them with a puzzled expression.
She pointed at Alice first. "Alice-chan, you don't want to open your shop somewhere with more foot traffic?"
Alice nodded.
Then Loki pointed at Lili. "And Lili-chan thinks that out here, there won't be enough customers, and remodeling the house would be too much trouble. Right?"
Lili nodded.
Loki pinched her chin, thinking seriously for a moment, then suddenly stood up, placed her hands on her hips, puffed out her chest, and declared: "Then just open up inside our Loki Familia home! We can easily take on all of Alice-chan's doll output—every last one!"
"Ahahaha!!" Loki laughed triumphantly.
Meanwhile, Riveria let out a quiet sigh.
"Let me say a few words."
Both Alice and Lili turned their attention to Riveria, completely ignoring Loki's outburst.
"Hey! Even if you're going to reject my idea, don't just ignore me! It's lonely, you know!" Loki protested.
Riveria looked at Alice and asked:
"Alice, how long does it take you to make one doll?"
After a moment's thought, Alice replied, "If we're talking about custom orders—like the Ais doll for Lefiya, or the Finn doll for Tione—and if I have all the materials ready, it goes pretty quickly. About two hours per doll. If I'm missing materials, though, it takes much longer."
Hearing this, Lili suddenly realized what she'd failed to consider.
"I see," Riveria nodded. Alice's answer was somewhat unexpected. She had seen—even studied—both the Finn doll and the Ais doll.
In terms of craftsmanship, the Ais doll couldn't quite compare to the two dolls always at Alice's side, Shanghai and Hourai.
But if you looked at the Ais and Finn dolls as support items...
There was no question—they were excellent auxiliary tools. priced at just over a hundred thousand valis, they were an incredible bargain. Almost like Alice was giving them away.
For mid-tier Familias in Orario, Alice's dolls could easily be considered strategic assets.
Over at the Hephaestus Familia, even a skilled blacksmith needed a full afternoon to forge a decent piece of equipment. Producing one or two quality items a day was considered pretty efficient.
Alice's dolls were single-use items. Riveria had witnessed the Ais doll unleash attacks equivalent to Ais's Level 3 strength within a three-minute window. It could even withstand a full-force strike from an adventurer below Level 4.
The fact that Alice could produce such powerful disposable items in just an hour was truly hard to believe.
Potion-making was somewhat faster—typically yielding ten doses per batch. But even then, processing ingredients and such still took a full day, sometimes several.
While both potions and equipment could be sold in high-traffic areas like Babel Tower or elsewhere...
Alice's dolls were different.
Throughout all of Orario, she was the only one who could produce these unique, sword-like marvels.
Once word got out about Alice's talents, location wouldn't matter at all. Even out here in the sticks, customers would find their way to her.
What Alice really needed to consider wasn't foot traffic—it was production capacity.
Before, hardly anyone knew about Alice. Both Lefiya and Tione treasured their Finn and Ais dolls dearly, rarely using them as mere tools. So even within the Loki Familia, very few adventurers were aware of Alice's dolls.
But now things were different. Her secret was out.
After everyone returned home, they were sure to spread word about the effectiveness of Alice's dolls. Then, just as Loki said...
The Loki Familia alone could easily absorb Alice's daily output—and still want more. Riveria could already picture it: dolls that once sold for over a hundred thousand valis now going for millions.
As for renovating Alice's current home to accommodate the shop...
"Alice, you mentioned that from now on, you plan to take custom orders specifically. Is that right?" Riveria looked at her curiously.
"Yes," Alice nodded. "For custom orders, you can come to me with your request. I'll make the doll based on your needs and provide a list of required materials. Once you've gathered everything and paid a fee, I'll make it for you."
"Couldn't we just ask you to make them directly?" Riveria asked.
"I could, but then you'd only get the most basic dolls. If you provide materials and specify what you want, there are many more powerful dolls available for custom order."
Alice took a sip of her tea and continued.
"If you supply the materials, I can lower the price. Of course, I'll keep some of the materials as partial payment."
"I see..." Riveria nodded. "In that case, aside from needing a display case, you wouldn't require much shelving or retail space. If we clean up and merge this room with the main hall, it should be sufficient."
"Exactly. But after getting used to the current layout of the living room and kitchen, the idea of changing it back feels like such a hassle. That's what's bothering me. Plus, I really like the house as it is now—I don't want to alter it."
Alice explained.
"Why change it at all?" Riveria looked at her and asked.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"In the future, your shop is going to attract plenty of customers, and you'll have to limit how many orders you accept each day."
"At two hours per doll, you can make at most two in a day. More complex dolls would take even longer—maybe one every day or two."
"So why remodel this house?"
"This area is remote, and the neighboring plots are just ruins. Why not consult with the Guild, buy the land next door, and build a new shop from scratch?"
"If money is an issue, the Loki Familia can provide support. I'd even be willing to lend you the funds myself."
Riveria offered a completely new suggestion.
--+--
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.
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.