Published: September 10, 2025
“Master, that person…”
Arisa looked down at the two blond beauties and the young girl we had protected, her face filled with surprise.
It seemed that, using her appraisal skill, she had learned their true identities—that they were an Elf and a homunculus.
“Oh, Arisa, do you know what a homunculus is?”
“Yeah, they’re humans created through alchemy, right?”
“Are they common?”
“Hmm? This is my first time meeting one, and I’ve never even heard of them before.”
I thought in a fantasy parallel world they’d be commonplace, but apparently not.
As we were having this conversation, I heard a rumbling noise from my stomach.
“Maybe this kid is hungry?”
—Generator Fuel Empty. Transitioning to sleep mode to conserve remaining energy.
Before the blond beauty homunculus—No. 7—passed out, I vaguely remembered her saying something like that.
Still, she was unconscious, and I hesitated to wake her.
“If we place some warm soup near her nose, maybe she’ll wake up,” Arisa joked with a smile.
I doubted it would work, but I took some warm soup from my storage, saved for late-night snacks—
gulp! No. 7’s eyes snapped open as if making a loud sound.
Her neck twisted sharply as she looked at me.
It was a bit like something out of a horror movie.
“Detected scent information of supply provisions. Requesting resupply,” she said in a unique tone.
I guess that means she wants the soup?
“Alright. Be careful, it’s hot.”
“Noted. Expressing gratitude to rescuer,” No. 7 responded with her distinctive phrasing.
Without waiting for me to hand it over, she grabbed the soup cup along with my hand and gulped it down with force.
“Ah, don’t drink so fast…”
No. 7 looked up at me expressionless, tears in her eyes, and said, “Hot.”
I see, she’s not good at showing emotions.
“Try blowing on it to cool it down.”
“Yes, coach.”
Who are you calling coach?
No. 7 obediently blew on the soup to cool it and drank slowly.
“Master, how long do you plan to keep holding that girl’s hand?”
Arisa said, sounding a bit sulky.
“I’m not holding her hand; she’s holding mine.”
“That might be true, but—”
Arisa circled around to the opposite side of No. 7 and pressed herself against me, seeming to want some affection.
“Oh my, Satou, you’re quite popular.”
Without knocking, the ranch owner’s daughter, Merinna, entered.
Behind her were Liza and Lulu, who had gone to report, and the ranch owner himself.
“That’s quite a beautiful lost child you’ve got there.”
I explained the situation to the ranch owner.
“If that’s the case, you can leave her here until your little sister’s feeling better.”
“No, thank you for the offer, but the princess is not my sister,” No. 7 corrected.
“Princess? A princess and her maid, then?”
The ranch owner said with interest.
He seemed skeptical of No. 7’s words.
â—‡
“Satou, the princess still hasn’t woken up,” No. 7 said, looking dull as I returned from morning ranch work.
The young elf girl Misnaria—the princess—was still asleep, her face pale.
According to the AR information beside her, she was suffering from magic power deficiency.
I knew this from last night but thought her magic power would recover naturally after a night’s rest, so I let her sleep.
However, judging by the current state, reality wasn’t that kind.
“Arisa, do you know how to treat magic power deficiency?”
“Even Wikipedia-level Arisa doesn’t know,” she said, shrugging helplessly when pressed.
“Maybe we should take her to a doctor,” Lulu suggested.
I asked Merinna, the ranch owner’s daughter—
“Doctor? You’d have to go all the way to the territorial capital to find one,” she said.
Transporting a sick person by uncomfortable carriage wasn’t ideal.
“So what do people around here do when they get sick?”
“They either take medicine from the old apothecary lady who comes through as a peddler or just sleep it off.”
Sounds tough.
“But this kid’s lucky. The old lady comes around at the start of the month, which is the day after tomorrow. So she’ll get medicine quicker than going all the way to the capital.”