Chapter 27

Makoto's room was spacious. As expected of a mansion. It was several times larger than my room. A plush carpet was laid out, and in the center stood a king-sized bed. A study desk and chair were placed in the corner, and in the middle, there was a table and some cushions. The adjacent room was a closet, and there was a bookshelf. Moreover, there were many stuffed animals placed around, giving the room a fancy feel. It was truly Makoto's style.

With a warm gaze, I, the adult, looked around the room. I, too, had a time when I was innocent.

"En-chan, you like the stuffed animals, don't you~"

"This lion is so cute!"

My body instinctively hugged the stuffed animal. It was a squishy hug. After all, this stuffed animal was fluffy and large, about two meters tall. If you saw such a stuffed animal, you'd have to hug it, right?

The beautiful girl with gray hair hugged the lion stuffed animal, wrapping her arms around its paws and pressing her face into its fluffiness, closing her eyes and hugging it tightly. This stuffed animal is the best. It's too big to fit in my room.

"Makoto, Makoto, come on, let's join in!" Makoto happily entered and joined in, and for a while, the two of us enjoyed the stuffed animals. In the cozy atmosphere, we ate freshly made chocolate cookies and sipped milk. Of course, to make sure we could eat dinner, we limited ourselves to just two cookies.

After chatting about TV shows and friends for a while, I remembered what I had to do. I should do the troublesome things first, right?

"Makoto-chan, I want to practice the secret technique of somersaults. Can you give me about ten minutes alone?"

I clasped my hands together and asked. It's a secret technique passed down in my family. If someone sees it, I have to tickle them as punishment.

"Wow... A family secret! Okay, I'll wait outside the room!"

With shining eyes and a snuffling nose, Makoto trotted out of the room. Thank you, Makoto. But if you try to peek through the door, I'll notice.

"Well, let's take care of the side event first."

I dug through my memories of the events linked to the rusty forehead crown. I'm sure this item was in the slums. I don't know how it ended up there, but I can imagine. Preventing that is the role of my protagonist, who is a minor character.

Originally, I was supposed to retrieve it from the slums, but the person guarding it was the leader of a gang of thieves, and he didn't even have a name, so it's fine to skip that part.

I closed my eyes and whispered:

"My Room"

The space rippled, and when I opened my eyes, I was in a different room. Makoto's fancy room was gone, and I was in a two-story house with an open floor plan.

It was cozy, with a kitchen, living room, and bedroom all in one space. The second floor had a small loft along the wall due to the open floor plan. The ceiling was much higher than in a typical Japanese house. Through the windows, I could see a small garden and a shed with its door open, revealing tools inside.

This is "My Room." A separate dimensional room where you can change jobs and craft items. You can only access it from a hotel or your home. It's a convenient feature in the game, a common pattern.

Incidentally, when you move to "My Room," you disappear. Once, when I was sleeping in the bed in "My Room," my parents panicked, thinking I had been kidnapped. So, you have to be careful when using it.

"Well, I shouldn't dawdle."

I opened the status board and navigated through the screens to the job change section.

"This time, it's a production job."

A production job allows you to craft items.

- Machinist: Unique Skill - Can produce weapons

- Alchemist: Unique Skill - Can produce items

- Chef: Unique Skill - Can produce food

- Appraiser: Unique Skill - Can appraise items

These four are production jobs. The proficiency level is set to unlock recipes. The Appraiser is a bit special, as it increases the amount of items obtained and the rate of rare item drops during mining and gathering.

"I'll go with Machinist."

I clicked, and a silver hoop appeared. The hoop scanned my body from head to toe, and with a swoosh, my job changed from Priest I to Machinist. My stats were recalculated, and I felt heavier due to the decrease. It's a strange feeling, but it's normal.

"Even after changing jobs, my hair color doesn't change."

I poked my hair, but the gray color remained. It seems hair color is fixed. I don't remember choosing gray hair during character creation, but it's better this way since it would be troublesome if it changed colors all the time.

I moved my hands excitedly. I couldn't really tell the difference, but the job change was complete.

The Machinist job is for producing weapons, from magic armor to accessories. My proficiency level is 1, and recipes for equipment up to level 10 are unlocked. The item I want is among these recipes, so there's no problem.

Since it's an event item, it's designed to be craftable at proficiency level 1.

I selected the item I wanted to craft from the list. This is it.

"15 magic stones, 2 ores, 1 gem"

The required materials are displayed. A gem... a gem...

"Using an Earth Topaz would be a waste, but there's no choice."

In the game, any item would do. The magic stones could be the lowest rank, and the ores and gems could be junk items. It was clearly a leniency measure. However, since I don't have any junk items, I'm in a bind. ...I'm in a bind, but there's no choice.

"Men have to be bold! Women have to be bold too!"

I don't need courage or charm. Click.

As Miharu pressed the craft button, she plopped down. She then put her small hands together and started crafting.

A sphere of light floated in front of her, illuminating her face. She showed her canines slightly as she continued crafting.

The sphere of light wriggled like a slime, and after about 30 seconds, it burst, scattering sparkles of gold.

The crafted item appeared in the item box.

"Rusty Forehead Crown (Fake): Can use 'Barrier I' three times a day. Glows when infused with mana."

As planned. The event item, "Rusty Forehead Crown (Fake)."

"It went well. Let's proceed as planned."

I left "My Room." I closed my eyes, and the space rippled, returning me to Makoto's room.

"Ah, En-chan disappeared?"

The door creaked open, and Makoto rushed in. She had clearly been peeking. Her golden side ponytail swayed, and her eyes, full of curiosity, looked at me. As expected, it's not something you can use when others are around. This time, it was an emergency, so it couldn't be helped.

The fox on my shoulder tilted its head curiously. But this was expected. The genius girl, Miharu, always acts perfectly.

I puffed out my still-developing chest and answered confidently.

"It's the secret technique of somersaults."

It was a perfect theory. I had said from the beginning that I would use the secret technique.

"Makoto, Makoto, I want to use the secret technique too! Come on, teach me!"

"It's a family secret. So, this technique is a secret~"

"Teach me~"

Using the evasion tactics of a 9-year-old, I was pestered by Makoto for a while, and Kon-chan licked my face.

After playing for a while, Makoto's mother called us for dinner, and we headed to the living room with a cheer. A good girl like Miharu needs to act cute. Makoto and I held hands and arrived at the living room, where a sukiyaki pot was bubbling on the stove.

It seemed to be the Kanto-style of cooking while eating. Surprisingly, Makoto's mother was also there, apparently having a conversation. Spring was there too, and Makoto's father had returned.

Makoto's father, who makes magic tools, works in a separate workshop and can return home anytime, making him a white-collar craftsman. I'm envious. He has disciples, but they eat at other restaurants.

I wonder how they practice making magic tools. I've only learned life magic.

"Spring seems to feel better after receiving Miharu-chan's recovery magic. Thank you."

"Thank you so much, Miharu-chan."

Makoto's parents smiled, and even the mother, who usually smiles, had a slight shadow. It seems the magic I used wasn't quite right.

Thinking about it, it seems like a disease that requires an "Elixir." But since it was marked as "Disease I," it should be easy to cure.

...By the way, in the novel, there was a cliché event where the heroines competed to nurse the protagonist when he had a cold.

But isn't this a bit strange? Some of the heroines were healers. It wouldn't be odd for them to heal the cold with recovery magic. If it's a novel, that's true... But maybe the magic to cure status ailments is rare?

Did I do something wrong? No, this isn't the time to joke around. But let's put this aside for now.

With a full smile, Makoto's parents thanked me.

"Let us know if you need anything. We'll do anything to thank you."

"Right. Just let us know."

"Um, if that's the case, can I see your magic tools? And I want an 'Elixir'!"

"Elixir." I'm interested, but there's a more necessary event.

"Isn't it supposed to be an exchange for a magic tool? How about exchanging it for the rusty forehead crown?"

I fidgeted and made the request.

"Hmm, an 'Elixir.' ...I don't want to show any weakness to 'Yggdrasil,' but it's no longer necessary, and I've been suspicious of it for a while. Maybe I should recover it as evidence."

Makoto's father, placing his hand on his chin, hesitated but nodded. After all, he's always refused before. It's understandable. If we exchange it here, it would seem like my cure was meaningless. But he seems to have thought of another use for it.

Good, it has a purpose. I have to part with the rusty forehead crown.

In the game, it was held by a thief in the slums in the future. It gives me a bad feeling, doesn't it?

So, the joker must be discarded.

Let's change the future event in the past, shall we?