Usappi
"Sir, your room is ready."
Gregor responded by turning his hand, and Tickle the maid arrived.
The reason he wasn't by my side was because he was making preparations to invite us in.
"I see. Then, let me show Alfried and Lana to their rooms."
"Yes――Yes! Lady Lana?"
Tickle's face goes white at the unexpected guest.
"Nice to meet you."
"Yes, yes! Thank you very much!"
I'm really nervous because I'm the daughter of a duke.
We're going to be practicing psychic skills together from now on, is that okay?
If I put too much strain on it continuously it will probably collapse, so I'll keep quiet.
With Tickle and Gregor leading the way, we headed to the room.
Occasionally, I pass young girls or women dressed in Gothic Lolita style clothing, who greet me gracefully as they pass by.
It's a fairy tale, but as it's a luxury inn, the quality of the people staying there is also very high.
The hallways are wide, the carpets are soft and the sound of footsteps doesn't echo. It seems that functionality has not been neglected in order to emphasize the worldview.
"This is a nice inn. The atmosphere matches perfectly with the dolls that Gregor makes."
"As expected of Alfried! You understand! The interior of Melju matches the cute dolls perfectly! Just watching Tickle move the dolls makes you feel immersed in a happy world!"
I said casually, and received a reply five times more enthusiastic than I had expected.
As expected, Gregor seemed to be enjoying life at the inn with the doll.
"The doll Viscount Doll is holding is Usappi, right?"
Ra-chan's courage is impressive as she doesn't get put off by Gregor talking about his love for strong dolls, and instead tries to have a conversation about dolls.
"Oh, that's right, Lady Lana."
Gregor turns around and shows off a doll called Usappi.
A round rabbit made of pink fabric.
Even though it is deformed, its body shape seems slightly different from that of a normal rabbit.
It's a creature I don't know.
"Is Usappi a monster?"
"Yeah. I often see them lounging around on the plains outside the royal capital."
"What is that? I'm jealous."
Life at the Misfeed mansion is comfortable, but it doesn't have the natural feel that Koriat Village has.
When you're in the city, you can't help but miss nature.
...I want to be Usapi too.
While I was thinking about this absentmindedly, it seemed we had arrived in front of the room.
When Tickle opened the door for me, I was greeted by a Rococo-style room with Tiffany pink walls. The decoration, which makes extensive use of curves resembling plant leaves, was very attractive.
"Oh, this one is so elegant."
In stark contrast to the pastel colors, the room is now beautiful, cute and elegant.
The worldview matches that of the dolls, and I can feel at ease with this level of interior design, so it's a relief.
The butler Bastian was waiting in the room and pulled out our chairs.
"Bastian, some more tea."
"I got it"
The fact that she doesn't seem surprised at all by Ra-chan's visit may be a result of her personality, but it's also likely the result of her long life experience.
We sit down, and Gregor sits down last.
Then Tickle brought a small chair and placed the Usappi doll he was holding next to it.
"It seems a shame to let go of the doll."
"Yes. I'd like to hold it forever, but I'm worried about what would happen if I spilled a drink on it."
"Then why not make a doll that can be attached to your shoulder?"
"... Lord Alfried, tell me more about that."
When I suggested this, Gregor's wry smile suddenly became serious.
Hmm? Are there no shoulder dolls in this world?
"If I made a doll that crawled on all fours so that it would fit on my shoulder, I could have the doll next to me without having to hold it and using up both hands."
"Are you a genius, Alfried-dono?"
Gregor took a notebook out of his pocket and immediately began to write something down with his pen.
"So it looks like this?"
Looking at the notes, he had drawn an illustration of a doll based on the idea I had mentioned.
Still, he acts quickly.
"That's right. If you can make them look sleepy and slouchy, you can express cuteness, which is interesting."
"Oh! It's great that it's not only functional but also attractive! However, I'm worried that it might slip off my shoulder, especially for someone with a large build like me..."
"If you're worried about it falling, you could add suction cup-like material to the limbs to make them stronger."
「That's a good idea! I need to get a new shoulder doll right away…!」
Gregor took out his sewing kit from his pocket.
It seems to have sparked his creative desire.
"Sir, we have a guest here right now so please hold off."
"Hmm! Ah, that's right!"
After Bastian admonishes him, Gregor suddenly comes to his senses.
"Ahaha, Viscount Doll likes dolls."
"Mmhmm. I love it."
Seeing Gregor looking frustrated, Ra-chan chuckled.
"I love dolls too."
"Oh, you too, Lady Lana! What kind of doll do you have?"
"There's a big blue bear doll that you can hug!"
"Oh, what a great big doll!"
"Isn't that great?"
She was a little nervous when she first arrived, but her feelings seemed to ease once she saw Gregor's personality.
He looks like a completely scary old man, but people seem to understand that he's actually a cute guy who loves dolls.
The conversation between Gregor and Ra-chan was a peaceful success.
●
"Now, let's talk about the puppet show."
The conversation was going smoothly and we had just finished drinking tea when Gregor spoke up.
"A puppet show?"
Ra-chan, who doesn't know anything about puppet shows, tilts her head.
Gregor asks if it's okay to convey that with his gaze.
I have already told Schugel about the puppet show that is related to our collaborative project.
My family member Ra-chan will probably find out eventually, so there's no problem telling her.
It will also be related to Ra-chan's puppet manipulation practice that comes later.
Gregor nodded and began to speak.
"Yes. Lord Alfried and I are working behind the scenes to put on the best puppet show in the royal capital, using magic to move the puppets and breathe life into them with voices."
"How do you make a doll move with magic?"
Ra-chan blinked and tilted her head at Gregor's explanation.
"Gregor, can you move that Usappi a bit?"
"Please do it!"
To show Ra-chan a concrete example, she uses psychic powers on a Usappi doll sitting on a chair.
Now under my magical control, Usappi rose to its feet and began hopping around on the table.
"Wow! The doll is moving! Perhaps it's being controlled psychically?"
"That's right."
"So psychic powers can be used like this too."
While Ra-chan was staring at Usappi moving around, I turned my attention to Tickle.
Perhaps sensing my intention to have him record his voice, Tickle cleared his throat, looking a little embarrassed.
As Tickle opens his mouth, I activate wind magic to make his voice flow.
"I'm Usappi. Nice to meet you."
"The Usappi doll spoke! Aww! Amazing!"
Perhaps it's because of an image he has for Usappi. His voice sounds a bit downer, different from Tickle's usual voice.
Thanks to Tickle's acting skills, Ra-chan perfectly mistakenly believes the doll in front of her is talking.
"That's amazing. Why don't you come and chat with me?"
"Yeah! Hey, why is Usappi always lounging around on the plains?"
"Because I like to just laze around. I like to spend my time relaxing without having to think too hard."
"I see, you're with Al."
I feel like I want to keep watching Usappi and Ra-chan's conversation like this, but if I drag it out too long the shock will get bigger, so it's probably best to tell them the truth now.
"Ra-chan, I have some unfortunate news."
"Huh? What?"
"...The one speaking right now is not Usappi, it's Tickle."
"Sorry."
When I canceled the wind magic, the downer voice came not from the Usappi doll but from Tickle who was standing by.
Now that she knows the truth, Ra-chan's eyes widen in shock.
It's like the face of a child who believes in Santa Claus only to realize that the Santa is actually his father.
"I, I see..."
Sorry about that, but it was necessary for the explanation.
Gregor and I tried to calm the dejected Ra-chan.
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