While Merumeru was hanging out with another magical girl on the sky island and Ki was modifying a certain wooden spider, Alex slept.  Alex used the carriage as a bed because that is what she’d grown comfortable with in the past couple weeks.  The guildmaster’s room that Alex had used previously while in town was the biggest suite in the adventurer’s guild but Ki had adopted it as her office while Alex was out. Since Ki was a baroness now, she got lots of petitioners coming to her office asking for things. And while there was plenty of room to work on things, getting involved in the day to day running of the town wasn’t something she wanted.

 

The previous day, Alex was working on Charlotte's blouse and someone new came in to ask if they could stay in the new town.  Apparently, other tribes besides the stone ax tribe would cast off members that failed their class ritual.  If there wasn’t enough food and water for their group then the leaders would have to make hard choices.  When there wasn’t enough to go around the classless would be the most likely to be cast out.  People who asked for a class and were denied it couldn’t ask again for a year.  Sending them away into the forest was a nice way of disposing of them.  Humans that traveled too deep tended to not come back.

 

After finishing making Charlotte and verifying she was able to weave and spin like expected Alex stumbled back to the carriage and slept like a log.

 

The cloudy morning with a slight misting of rain allowed Alex to sleep in until noon.  When she opened a curtain and peeked outside she noticed a familiar sight.  Two ducks were preening themselves in a nearby puddle.  

 

“Huh, ducks, they remind me of my cabin back on earth.” Alex looked back towards Fufi.

 

“Ducks, wow I didn’t think there were many left.  I could have sworn that this breed of mallard was extinct.  I’m glad to be proved wrong.” Fufi inspected the pair of ducks.

 

“Well, hopefully that’ll mean today will be a good day.” Alex said, stretching and getting dressed.  Alex glanced at the small shower in the carriage but shook her head.  “The bath house is so much better.  I might as well get up and get out.”

 

After fixing her hair, and slipping into the dance shoes Alex prepared eyed the wardrobe that contained the outfits crafted or obtained so far.

 

[Pink robe]

[Crafters outfit +1 toy making]

[Priestess robes]

[Magical girl dress +2 cuteness]

[Fur dress +2 warmth]

[Heart-shaped diamond earrings]

[Wooden sandals]

[Dancers shoes +1 dancing]

[Feather duster +1 cleaning]

[Pink undergarments]

 

Some of the things might have hidden powers.  The earrings, robe and unmentionables were gifts from Luna.

 

Heading inside Alex said, “I should try to make another outfit.  I gained another level in tailoring so maybe I could make a better magical girl outfit.  Or I could try to create a better crafting outfit.  Perhaps one that doesn’t involve a corset.”

 

“That is a good goal. I know you can do it!” Fufi waddled along after Alex.

 

Several humans, nymphs, and avians greeted them upon entry into the town’s fanciest building.  At one point this adventurer's guild building was the largest.  However after the tree house sanatoriums were built they were the tallest.  And with the ever-expanding warehouse building the nymphs set up that became the largest building.  It still had a good view.  The guild faced the main plaza with the statue fountain that Merumeru restored.  This place looked more like a small town now than a ruin with a couple squatters hanging out in it.

 

The flamingo and Magical girl took a quick cold shower and got lunch in the adventurer’s guild.  Soon after they headed to the warehouse where they had crafted a nice stash linen and wool bolts of cloth to work with.

 

“What’s going on here?”  A commotion greeted them when they walked a few blocks to the warehouse.

 

A flattery of nymphs had formed a crowd and were cheering someone on.

 

Fufi flew on ahead and checked out what was going on. “Oh, it is Charlotte, she is so cute now.”

 

“Huh?” Alex pushed her way into the warehouse.  

 

The wooden arachne doll had gotten up and started moving on her own.  Moreover, she was now covered with leaves and flowers.  Charlotte was busy spinning all the prepared flax.  Several humans helped by feeding her the prepared plants so she could keep spinning.  Others collected the finished spools of thread Charlotte created and placed them on other shelves that were filling up fast.

 

Fufi landed next to Alex. “Look, she’s got a whole new outfit.  Isn’t it pretty?”

 

“Yes, though that isn’t the thing that you should be noticing right now.” Alex blinked in disbelief.

 

“What’s that?” Fufl regarded Alex.

 

“She’s moving on her own.  I thought she could only move when I was dancing.” Alex threw up her hands.

 

“Someone sure is full of themself. You are in a dryad’s domain run by a nymph baroness and are surprised when plants start moving on their own?  Didn’t the nymphs grow all the wood that you used to craft Charlotte?” Fufi chided the magical girl.

 

Alex lowered her hands. “Fine, when you put it that way.  I guess I should have seen this coming.”

 

“They grow up so fast don’t they?” Fufi pretended to wipe away a tear from her eye with her wing.

 

“I guess she was never made with fighting demons in mind.  I think she’ll be happier staying here and helping kickstart the textile industry.  Just look at how quick she is.  She’ll be able to make enough wool and linen to cloth the whole town in a few days.  It is too bad we don’t have anyone to trade with.” Alex said.

“Hmm, sounds like a problem for the nobility.  I bet Ki might have some plans. You should let her lead.  She’s the one with the baroness class.  Focus on the strengths of your class.” Ki flourished a wing.

 

“Right, I came here to try to make some better clothes so that's what we'll be doing today.” Alex rolled up her sleeves and got to cutting cloth and sewing outfits.

 

The first outfit she made was another Victorian shirtwaist and skirt.  It had many frills and elaborate embroidery. The dungeon treasure outfit was good but she felt like this one outdid it.

 

Alex found a closet and changed into the outfit.  She used her phone to pull up her character sheet and check the change in her skills to determine the bonus it gave. Alex’s hands blurred with speed.  Needles threaded their way through the cloth with superhuman progress.  It only took a couple hours to cut and sew everything together.

 

[Crafter’s outfit +2 toy making]

 

Alex cheered.  It was on par with the magical girl outfit in that it gave +2.  

 

“How is it?” Fufi asked.

 

“I was hoping for +3 but it gave +2.  But it still is an improvement.” After stepping out wearing the new outfit, Alex showed the phone to Fufi.

 

“Hmm, you might be running up into the limit for what you can do with normal materials.” Fufi speculated.

 

“You might be right.  Let me try to remake the magical girl outfit.  I think I can do better with that one too.” Alex wanted another try.

 

Alex followed the general pattern but made it more elaborate and as colorful as she could with the dyes on hand.  It also took a couple hours to finish.  If nothing else, Alex had gotten faster with creating outfits.

 

Using the same method revealed the follower results:

 

[Magical girl dress +2 cuteness]

 

“Ah, doesn’t this look better though. There is so much more fine detail.” Alex changed into the new dress and twirled around for the flamingo.

 

“It is cute but still made from ordinary materials.  I think you’ll need more exotic material to get a dress that can make it to the next level.” Fufi repeated her earlier observation.

 

“How do I go about that?” Alex asked.

 

“You’ll have to either buy them from greedy merchants or go and find them for yourself,” Fufi said.

 

“Darn, do you think Ki can help us?  I wonder if the temple of purity has anything we could work with but I’m not sure I want to go back there and ask.” Alex placed a hand on her face in contemplation.

 

“Hmm, I think dealing with the temple clergy would be safer than dealing with the fey.  All this time we’ve been treated with hospitality because of how Sakura violated the spirit of her class.  But know that the nymphs will always prioritize the forest.  If you want a treasure from them expect to be given a quest that will further that goal.  Some of the things they might ask for won’t make a lot of sense to a human.” Fufi warned Alex seriously.

 

“Do you think the dungeon will be an option?  I know I should be headed back in there soon.  Sometimes it has been weird but in the end it has always been worth it.” Alex looked in the direction where the adventurer's guild would be.

 

“It is a possibility but you shouldn’t expect anything better than what is on par with what you’ve got.  Luna set this up as a newbie dungeon,” Fufi said.

 

“I guess that there will always be barriers to overcome.  I’d like to be prepared as best as I can before facing more demons.  Like you said before, I've got a lot of weaknesses.” Alex fidgeted with the frills of her dress.

 

“I think that doing the dungeon again would be a good idea.  I would be super happy if I could get another one of those magic springs that power the carriage or something equally as useful.  Or even some more metal, we really could use some iron.  There is so little around here.” Alex changed back into the new, more comfortable crafters outfit.

 

They waved goodbye to everyone watching Charlotte in the warehouse and headed back to the adventurer’s guild.  In the bottom, Alex touched the rift stone and it opened up like a gate to another dimension.  “Well, hopefully it is done with underwater levels.  If I get one I might have to find that lady with the belt that turns you into a mermaid…hopefully only temporarily.”