Whatâs Truly Important Isnât Money
Part 7\nâYou twoâŚthis is fine already. It wonât change that much.â
As for Alice, whose outfit design was dependent on Takako and Krul, 30 minutes had passed since Kagami had left the break room. Alice couldnât suppress her feelings of wanting to run away from the situation, where they were constantly changing her clothes, which were nearly the same every time.
âYou canât! Itâs important to dress up the parts that you canât see. Dignity can be born if you consider the combination of colors, you know!â
âThatâs right, Alice-chan. If this becomes a Casino where many nobles walk around, they could look at your every nook and cranny with their indecent eyes, and they wonât be blamed for it. When I was added into the party as a PrincessâŚoh how I realized the appearance of my body! Youâre the face of this Casino, Alice-chan! They will be able to look at you!â
Although Alice tried them on after Takako and Krul had tried persuading her several times, the two of them didnât waste a moment and prevented her from running away, so Alice showed them a weak-looking expression with an ââŚAuâ.
Although David looked at this scene with a smile, Alice was only strangely ashamed by him. She momentarily thought, âHe is watching me stand on my feet for an hour, but is he not busy?â
âYou two, an hour has almost passed. Although you two have the stamina of an adult, Alice-sama is still a child. I think itâs about time to wrap this up.â
Just as Alice thought that, David took a step towards her and helped her in a timely fashion. Although Aliceâs expression brightened for a moment because of this unexpected help:
âPlease, David. Just a little bit longer! This is for Alice-chan!â
âHohoho! It canât be helped then!â
As Alice pleaded with her eyes pointing upward, David gave up on helping her, smiling happily compared to earlier. When she saw this, Alice looked like she had given up on wanting to say something at all and let out a small sigh, uttering, âKagami-sanâŚPlease come back quicklyâŚâ
âHowever, Krul-sama, your mood has changed quite a bit. A long time ago, you didnât show any interest in things that you could bind yourself to, but you are now personally trying to find some.â
Krul blinked at Davidâs words and showed a bewildered look, as though she had not realized her change personally, and responded with âI-I see?â.
âAlice-chan has a unique charm to her. I havenât changed, you know.â
âWell, of course Alice-sama is attractive, but Iâm not just thinking about that. Iâve been watching Krul-sama for a while, but with Kagami-samaâŚKrul-sama changed after meeting him on various occasions.â
After saying this, David had a sad expression on his face, as if he was remembering the distant past.
When Krul heard the word âMeet,â she thought that certainly might be the case and brought her hand to her chest, wearing a reserved smile.
âI also think that. It doesnât mean that the way you speak and your personality itself has changedâŚand rather than saying that there isnât any point in arguing about it, ummâŚYou looked at me for who I am. I think that Krul-san is a very special person to me, one who also trusts me!âŚI might have never said this, though.â
Alice tried her best to tell that to Krul, as though she was supporting Davidâs words, while Krul gestured and felt embarrassed about the changes he had stated.
While she was confused about this, she felt some warmth gathering in her heart. When she finally realized it, she smiled happily and placed her hand on Aliceâs head.
âWell, Iâm happy that you said that for me. I wasnât aware of it, but I couldnât expect my current way of life, compared to how I lived in the past. Even if I did expect itâŚI had thought that it was hopeless.â
Krul remembered the first time she had encountered Alice while she said this. Although Alice had been a companion she had once wanted to kill, with the reason of âshe was an unreasonable Demonâ, Alice had now said that Krul was an âimportant personâ to her. Krul now felt that she was intimate enough with Alice to want to protect her.
When comparing the past and the present, it was strange enough for her to wonder why she had wanted to kill Alice without listening to her, so she recognized her own changes. She had thought that it was necessary to kill Alice. This was natural, since she had been taught that this was the worldâs ploy, after all.
She had lost the ability to think for herself. Although there had been times when she began to think about it, she had immediately abandoned thinking about things that she felt compelled to do. It had been the same since Rex had brought Krul with him, and when she had become companions with Palna and Tina.
If anyone were to say that she had changed, then the causes for those changes were obvious. It was the meeting with the unexpected Villager. Krul clearly thought that the beginning of everything was her encounter with Kagami.
In the beginning, she had been confused. However, she immediately understood that he was a happy person. When Balman was under attack from the Demon King Army, he protected her from her careless actions, which had nearly harmed her people, and he strictly scolded her for them.
It was the first time for her. The first time someone had immediately objected to her decisions as a Princess and given her a chop on the head. She might have been interested since that time.
Before she had realized it, Krul became aware that it was useless to think about such things. Kagami always did everything he could do. There were people who had protected Demons with all of their power as well. Even though it was obvious that he would have to cut down those from both sides for his path to happiness, she had come to question herself, asking âIs the me of today truly correct?â when she saw the times Kagami became worn out while trying to stand against others.
Surely, she would have immediately answered that it was âcorrectâ before she met Kagami. It was simply that the encounter with Kagami had been a huge shock for Krul.
âValues are easily changed from oneâs experienceâŚrather, it would be strange if they didnât change.â
Takako said, with a smile on her face, as if backing her up. It was as if Takako was declaring that change was never a bad thing.
âThatâs rightâŚItâs stranger to not change.â
For some reason, Davidâs expression darkened as he replied to Takakoâs words.
âHowever, Krul-sama has pushed forward with her resolve to subjugate the Demon King ever since her childhood. Although the goal is to save up money, if it were the Krul-sama of the past, perhaps she would have been here with a tense expression, trying to stick to her beliefs more. Perhaps she would have continued on a separate pathâŚâ
Even though it would be strange otherwise, and even if it was strange for Krul to not be like that, Alice felt strange when she heard David, who looked like he wanted to say something, and tilted her head. Certainly, when she had first met with Krul, as well as the times after that, she had felt that Krul was living to chase after something, and she didnât particularly think that someone changing after gaining experience was anything special.
âEncounters can change people. Either good or bad.â
Takako muttered, as if she understood him.
âYou knowâŚfor that reasonâŚyour existencesâŚare especially amazing for Kagami-sama.â
Whether or not he thought that from the bottom of his heart, Alice somehow understood David, who had said that that with his eyes shut. Since Kagami was a someone who could change things by himself, she felt that changing after meeting him wasnât anything special. Thatâs how she interpreted it.
âDavid-san, you are also trying to change after meeting with me.â
âIs that riâŚhuh? Huhhhhh?â
When Takako, who looked like she was deeply moved by him, muttered that and approached David, sweat flowed down from his forehead, and he showed a smile. From Takakoâs tone of voice, she had entered her âPushy Modeâ, since he was thinking about her. Alice, who had uttered the same words earlier, sensed the change and looked at David with pitiful eyes while muttering âGood luckâŚDavid-san.â\n