“Wait! Are you saying Steel Wool is also female?”
Lan Qingyou, who was about to argue back, suddenly felt there was more to Gu Xiaobei’s words and asked in return.
“Yeah. For snow owls, isn't it true that the ones with mottled feathers are female and the pure white ones are male? They get whiter as they get older.”
“Ah!”
“Ah?”
Lan Qingyou and Gu Xiaobei stared at each other in wide-eyed silence.
Wait, the Monster Encyclopedia didn't mention this. Or was it...
Lan Qingyou grew more confused the more she listened.
“Is that Blue Star knowledge?” Lan Qingyou asked.
“Yeah.”
Well then...
Lan Qingyou scratched her head. She really didn't know about that. However, there was a gap between Blue Star and the Kalim continent, after all; she would find out if it was female once it reached adulthood.
Didn't Gu Xiaobei say the mottled spots decreased with age?
“Anyway, you still haven't settled on a name for this little guy. My suggestion, Macho, is still the best, right?”
“No... I suddenly thought of a great name.”
Lan Qingyou decisively reached out to stop Gu Xiaobei’s sales pitch.
“What is it?”
Facing Gu Xiaobei’s questioning, Lan Qingyou’s eyes darted around until she spotted a certain tool on the prep table.
“Let's call it Spoon. Since it's a monster that can find treasures for itself, it's like using a spoon to scoop out a watermelon—sweet and satisfying.”
While Lan Qingyou was trying to convince Gu Xiaobei, she was also trying to convince herself.
The reasoning was a bit of a stretch, but if you didn't think too hard about it, it actually made sense.
“Fine, Spoon sounds okay too.”
Hey!
You're giving up that quickly?!
What happened to Macho? Aren't you going to push for it a bit more?
Lan Qingyou internally mocked Gu Xiaobei’s compromise before picking up Spoon and leaving the kitchen.
Gu Xiaobei went back to work after washing her hands.
Lan Qingyou’s roasted lamb leg, Steel Wool’s beef slices, and even Spoon, who had been dragged along, received a plate of nuts as food.
If it could, the white mouse didn't want to eat; it wanted to leave.
But Steel Wool was glaring at it from the side, making its legs feel like lead.
The lessons from the previous night had made it realize that it couldn't escape the clutches of this great demon king.
It wasn't as fast, and it wasn't as strong.
So, it could only stuff the bitter nuts into its mouth one by one.
It was truly a case of nuts in the throat and pain in the heart.
No one knew how the others felt after the meal, but Lan Qingyou felt great, while Spoon felt quite dejected.
“Are you heading out, big boss?”
After finishing her meal, Lan Qingyou let out a satisfied burp, wiped the chili and cumin powder from the corner of her mouth with a paper napkin, and picked up the magic broom leaning against the side, preparing to leave.
Then, Gu Xiaobei appeared silently in front of her.
At this moment, she was the only one left dining in the restaurant; everyone else had left early after finishing their meals.
After all, staying behind wouldn't get them any benefits from Lan Qingyou.
Of course, the most important reason was Gu Xiaobei.
If a dispute broke out in the restaurant, they wouldn't have cheap, delicious food to eat anymore.
Dining in the restaurant was half the price of buying from the exchange.
“Yeah.”
Seeing the head chef arrive, Lan Qingyou didn't hide anything.
She was in a hurry to get to the Abandoned Ruins.
No joke—wherever a Treasure-seeking Rat wandered, there was treasure.
Although Spoon had likely been caught by Sherlock, there was no denying that the ruins were massive. As the place where they first met, who knew what good things might be there?
“Um...”
Seeing Lan Qingyou about to leave, Gu Xiaobei hesitated.
“What's with the relationship between us? Just say it. There's no need to be so bashful.”
Lan Qingyou couldn't help but chuckle at Gu Xiaobei’s behavior. This girl wasn't this shy online.
As expected, meeting in person was a bit awkward after all, wasn't it?
Even if she had pretended not to care before.
In fact, Lan Qingyou was the same; she was just better at acting.
“Well, big boss, didn't you make paper towels? Have you made any sanitary pads?”
“Huh?!”
Hearing Gu Xiaobei’s question, Lan Qingyou realized something was off.
It wasn't that Gu Xiaobei asking for sanitary pads was weird, but rather that since coming to this world, Lan Qingyou hadn't had her period once.
She had never paid attention to it; she had even forgotten about it entirely.
She had read online before that in extreme environments, a woman's body would automatically stop menstruating, but her environment wasn't that extreme, was it?
At least compared to most people, her life was incredibly comfortable, so she could rule that out.
Then why hadn't she had her period?
It couldn't be because mana had reconstructed her body too, right?
Hahaha, no way, right? No way...
...
...
Lan Qingyou couldn't laugh anymore.
Because the possibility was actually very high.
Based on the research at the Tarot Villa, their bodies had been reconstructed by the mana in the air after they crossed over to adapt to the surrounding mana environment.
It wasn't impossible for even menstruation to be 'reconstructed' away.
But why was it only her, while Gu Xiaobei needed sanitary pads?
“U-Um... big boss, don't just keep staring at me like that.”
Lan Qingyou was lost in academic thought, but Gu Xiaobei mistakenly thought she was being stared down. This call pulled Lan Qingyou out of her reflections.
“Oh, oh, sanitary pads. That's no problem, easy.”
Lan Qingyou smiled and told Gu Xiaobei to get ready.
She didn't use her card to find Shang Chuan but had Gu Xiaobei contact him through the magic desk.
It was faster and more convenient that way.
Naturally, it also included the transfer of materials.
“Moon-rise Bamboo—paper made from this bamboo is much better than paper made from other bamboos or reeds. Most importantly, it's highly absorbent, even more so than some ordinary cotton.”
“Using this paper as a substitute for sanitary pads should be fine, but if you want cotton pads, I probably can't help with that.”
Kneeling on the ground, Lan Qingyou explained to Gu Xiaobei as she drew an alchemy circle with a charcoal pencil Gu Xiaobei had brought.
In fact, she had already tried using this bamboo when she was making paper before.
However, because its characteristics weren't suitable for writing or wiping—which were her original goals—she had discarded it.
She hadn't expected it to come in handy for something like this.
Making paper wasn't difficult for Lan Qingyou. With the materials and the alchemy circle, she produced several hundred pounds for Gu Xiaobei in minutes.
Gu Xiaobei was also quite excited to see an alchemy circle and alchemy in person for the first time.
This was alchemy!
Although she had heard about it and used Lan Qingyou’s products, this was the first time she had seen it up close. She was so excited she almost jumped for joy.
But looking at the big boss's performance, it seemed her legs really were useless.
How pitiful...
But she was also truly cool.
Rate on N.U.
