Chapter 14

I woke up early the following day to the sound of a knock on the front door. It was still dark outside, but I dressed quickly and ran downstairs while Lori snored soundly in her room.

I opened the front door and found something wrapped in a bundle of what looked like sheepskin on the floor and some bottles. I picked it up and saw a neatly scribbled note inside.

"Fresh cat-ch for lunch or dinner! Wishing you a purr-fect day!" - Dinah ♥

I blinked and unwrapped the sheepskin. It looked like a cut of game meat, some kind of venison brisket by the looks of it.

The note and gift put a smile on my face, and I walked back inside toward the kitchen. I staggered and nearly lost my balance from the weight of the cut immediately, so I gently put it down.

I picked up the bottles and sniffed them. It smelled kind of like goat's milk.

Looking at the bottles thoughtfully, an idea came to mind, so I decided to go for it.

I waved my hands and visualized the symbols I needed. I floated a cut of some venison-like meat Dinah had brought us for lunch into the air, and then I moved a large mixing bowl onto the kitchen counter before floating the venison into it.

With an exaggerated twirl, I made a scooping motion toward jars and cans of salt, spices, and marinades and popped their lids open. Then, I drew the exact proportions of herbs I needed and compressed them into a glob in midair. I sent it gently into the mixing bowl and delicately blended the spices evenly with the meat.

Humming to myself, I floated some wood over to the oven and pointed at it. I visualized the 'Light a Fire' symbols in my head and started up the stove.

I reached into a bag of oats and waved my hands, steel-cutting many oats perfectly with magic. I poured my freshly-made oatmeal with honey into two bowls and added some dried fruits. Then, I snapped my fingers. In an instant, the milk started boiling over. In a minute, the oatmeal was cooked to perfection.

Just as the oatmeal was finished cooking, Lori walked downstairs with a yawn.

"Morning," she yawned as she walked into the kitchen. She blinked and sweatdropped, "Did you cook all this yourself?

"Mmhm!" I smiled sweetly at her as I walked over to the mixing bowl.

I floated the cut of venison next to me as I walked over, opened the hatch, and put the perfectly marinaded shoulder in. Then, I vacuumed up all the blood and marinade goop and bacteria in the mixing bowl in a single 'woosh' sound to a floating blob above my hand and tossed it into the oven on top of the meat.

Giant explosions and lightning bolts? Screw that! Stuff like THIS was the best part about learning magic!

Still, I frowned to myself. I had to be careful with abusing this. I could see how the original Alice got so out of shape if she defaulted to this with anything heavy.

Lori sat at the table and stared at the food with wide eyes. Her mouth was hanging open, and she started poking at the oatmeal with a spoon.

"What is this?" she asked quietly.

"It's breakfast," I replied simply.

She looked at me with a blank expression on her face, "Is it good?"

I nodded, "Yeah. Nutritious too!"

Lori took a bite of oatmeal and chewed thoughtfully. Then, she swallowed and looked around again.

"Where did you learn to do all this?" she asked curiously.

"You spent a week helping me learn all those household spells ," I explained. "Dinah brought us some meat and milk, so I thought I would try putting those spells together and cook breakfast and lunch with them."

Lori stopped eating for a moment to stare at me, "You're joking right?"

I shook my head, "Nope."

She giggled, "You're definitely my adorable genius sister alright," she muttered.

Was I, really? Ah, I'll save those existential questions for later.

I rolled my eyes and shrugged, "I'm just trying to help out here. You know, make sure we don't starve or get eaten by monsters while you're gone on a quest."

Lori snorted, "You're going to have to work harder than that. Remember, we have nearly eleven thousand gold to pay off."

I looked suspiciously at her, "What are you planning?"

She smirked evilly, "Oh nothing. Just making sure you don't waste your time doing stupid things."

I huffed and turned back to cooking.

"So...what should we do today?" I asked as I swirled my fingers in the air, fanning the oven's flames.

My sister sighed and stretched, "Well, since you're such an expert in housework now, maybe you can teach me how to cook some stuff later...other than that, I think I'll look for a job."

I smiled widely at her as I finished cooking breakfast and lunch.

After that, Lori went out to the Adventurer's Guild to pick up a quest while I took the time to take a break from my studies and finally explore Halton. It was a large town or small city that was part of a larger metropolitan area around the Royal Capital, depending on how you looked at it. A satellite city like New Haven and Bridgeport, Connecticut, are for New York City or Oakland and Berkley for San Francisco.

The main street was lined with shops selling everything from weapons to potions to armor and other equipment. There were also several taverns, restaurants, and even a few brothels. The streets were packed with people walking around and chatting happily among themselves.

I walked through the crowded street and found myself stopping every once in a while to watch a show or listen to someone play an instrument.

I heard something that sounded like a violin playing beautiful music in one corner of the square, and I couldn't help but stop and listen for a minute. It was more of a cross between a Chinese erhu and a violin, but I loved listening to instruments played on city streets, especially stringed ones. They reminded me of home.

I walked over to the musician and tapped him on the shoulder when he was done playing. He jumped slightly before turning towards me.
He was a halfling who was probably no older than twenty-two or twenty-three years old. His dark green hair was tied back in a ponytail, and his bright red eyes twinkled merrily as they met mine.

"Hello there!" he greeted me cheerfully, "What's your name?"

I swallowed for a second before giving him a fake name, "Amy."

The halfling laughed at me, "That's not very original."

I shrugged, "It's better than 'Alice' right?"

He grinned, "Very true! What brings you here?"

"Just looking around," I replied casually, "Do you mind if I ask where you got that instrument from?"

Then, he nodded and pointed behind me, "I bought it from a traveling merchant last week."

I tilted my head curiously, "Really? How much did it cost?"

The musician shrugged, "I dunno, like eight gold or so? It's a rare model though; I only saw two others in all of Halton."

I whistled quietly, "That is expensive."

He nodded, "Yeah. I guess the man said it was made by a famous master craftsman from the country of Yue."

I blinked, "Yue? That sounds familiar."

"Anyway, he said this guy used magic to craft it."

I furrowed my brow in thought, "Magic? So does that mean it has some sort of magical element to it?"

The boy shook his head, "Nah, I think it's just a really good instrument. But I've never seen anything like it before. It's definitely different from any instrument I've ever heard before."

I nodded slowly, "Yeah. It's pretty cool."

Then, smiled at me, "Thanks. Anyway, do you want to hear me play something else?"

I hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

The musician pulled out a small piece of paper and quickly scribbled something down. Then, he put his left hand on the strings and started playing a simple tune.

It wasn't very complicated, but it was still fun to listen to.

I hummed along quietly as I watched him play. After a few minutes, he stopped and handed me the paper.

"Here," he said as he gave it to me, "I wrote down the notes for the song so you can learn it if you ever pick up music."

I frowned slightly, "You didn't have to do that."

He shrugged, "No problem! I'd be happy to teach anyone who wants to learn."

"Thanks."

I looked down at the paper and looked at the notes. I was familiar with music notation at home; surprisingly, the system was the same. I think, at least. It looks like something in B minor. I folded up the note and tucked it into my pocket. Then, I turned around and waved goodbye to the halfling.

A string instrument crafted with magic, huh? That gave me some ideas. The original Alice apparently had a potion brewing business, and I wonder how that wound up going bust, given all the things I could do with precision in the kitchen this morning.

◆◆◆

After I spent some time exploring Halton and doing some grocery shopping, I decided to meet up with Lori at the Adventurer's Guild. Lori returned with a Rank C quest to hunt some bandits that she thought about accepting. Apparently, a child had been kidnapped by bandits when she went outside to look at the stars one night.

I sighed as I looked at the map.

Lori sat down next to me and leaned against my shoulder.

"What's wrong?" she asked curiously.

I rolled my eyes and sighed, "Nothing...just thinking about our current situation."

She raised an eyebrow, "Our current situation?"

"Yeah. We're both working hard to pay off the family's debts, and we need money to survive in this world."

Lori let out a soft sigh, "Yeah, you're right. But there's nothing we can do about it. They took your lab when dad went bust. You know that."
Well, that explains a lot, but still.

I shook my head, "There are always ways to make more money. There must be something we can do."

Lori laughed softly, "Oh yeah? Like what?"

I thought, "Well, maybe we could try making some items and selling them? Or even start a shop somewhere?"
She tilted her head quizzically, "What kind of things would we sell?"

"Anything really. I don't really care. Maybe we could use your swordsmanship skills to teach people how to fight or something."

Lori snorted, "That's not really a profitable idea."

That made me respond to her with a sweet smile, "Why not? You're pretty good at it."

She huffed, "I'm good at fighting, but I don't have the patience to teach other people how to fight. I can help you practice because you're my little sister. I would scare them all away."

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever."

We spent the rest of the afternoon talking about different things, throwing ideas at each other, and just walking around town.

When it got dark out, we headed back towards the house. As we were walking back through town, I noticed a large crowd gathered in front of the Adventurers' Guild.

"What's going on?" I asked Lori.

She shrugged, "Dunno."

We walked over to see what all the fuss was about. When we reached the square, I noticed several adventurers standing around a table. They had a map spread across it, pointing at various locations on the map.

One was a tall highlander man with long brown hair and sharp features. He wore leather armor with a red cloak draped over his shoulders. He had a sword strapped to his waist, holding a piece of parchment in his hand.

"What's going on here?" I asked as I approached him.

He looked up at me and smiled, "Ah, Alice! How are you?"

I blinked at him in surprise, "How do you know who I am?"

He chuckled lightly, "You're famous, Alice. Don't worry; no one will bother you while you're here."

I rolled my eyes. And this is why I use an alias when people don't recognize me off the bat here.

Then, I looked back at the map and frowned slightly.

The man pointed to one spot on the map, "A lot of us are going to check out this dungeon that was recently discovered by the local miners. We've heard rumors that it's filled with treasure, so we want to get in there before anyone else does."

I scratched my chin, "What do you mean by 'recently'?"

He scratched his chin thoughtfully, "It was only found about two weeks ago, and nobody has been able to explore it yet. The entrance is hidden deep underground, but it looks like it leads into a very large cave system."

Nodding slowly, I responded, "Well, I guess that sounds alright then."

I returned his smile with a sunny one of my own and walked away with Lori toward the town gates.

Then, I started giggling.

"You okay there, Alice-chan?" Lori asked me quietly.

I gave her a sunny smile, "Yeah. I think I might have an idea about we can earn some extra money."

Lori raised an eyebrow, "Really? What did you have in mind?"

Giggling evilly, I flashed her an even bigger smile, "Well, there's that dungeon that just got discovered by the local adventurers. It's supposed to be full of treasure, so I bet we could find a way to make money off this."

Lori's eyes widened, "Are you serious? You want us to go after a dungeon? Isn't that dangerous and umn, bad for your mental health given what you just went through?"

Shaking my head, I responded, "No Lori, quite the contrary. This is exactly what we need right now!"

I closed my eyes and focused on a plant matter manipulation spell from the Household spellbook. I bent down, feeling the billowing grass beneath me.

Then, I channeled mana into the spell and focused on pulling as many fibers as possible from the grass near me. After that, I weaved and spun it around in the air. The work was precise and mentally exhausting, but I was able to get it done quickly.

In about a minute, I turned around and passed Lori a yard of brittle, grass-spun rope.

"Oh." Lori gasped softly.

I grinned at her.

Now I just needed some better raw materials and ideas.