I... I Allow You to Call Me Alice!

One afternoon, after Cui Ciyou announced that the day's lessons were over.

For once, Alice did not rush off to the training grounds at the first opportunity, as she usually did, to find Ghislaine for extra "training."

Unexpectedly, she stayed behind, wearing a rare, complicated expression on her little face—part smugness, part obvious awkwardness.

"Hey, Cui Ciyou."

She called him by name at first, but then seemed to suddenly remember something. A faint blush rose to her fair cheeks, and she awkwardly changed how she addressed him.

"...Ci, Ciyou."

"Hm? What is it, Alice?" Cui Ciyou set down the lesson plans he had just organized and looked up at the unusually behaved red-haired girl.

"That method from before, using combinations of sword moves to calculate numbers... I think... I think it was kind of interesting."

Alice's gaze flickered uncertainly, as though she found it unbelievable that she could actually consider arithmetic "interesting."

I actually thought arithmetic was interesting!

"And... that historical event where I played the duchess defending the city... I... I think I managed to defend it successfully too!"

She raised her delicate little chin slightly, her face openly declaring, "Hurry up and praise me."

"That annoying 'treacherous minister'—the one you played in that role-playing game—ended up getting driven off by me! Hmph, hmph!"

Looking at her radiant appearance, like a proud little peacock, Cui Ciyou could not help smiling faintly as he said gently,

"Is that so? That proves you really did learn quite a lot from those lessons, whether it was arithmetic techniques, historical knowledge, or... well, the unique skill of successfully driving off a 'treacherous minister.'"

"Of course!"

Alice nodded smugly, but then seemed to remember something. The smile on her face faded slightly, and her voice lowered with it.

"Although... although I still think arithmetic is really hard... writing is such a hassle too... and all those noble manners are unbelievably tedious... but..."

She suddenly raised her head and bravely met Cui Ciyou's gaze. In those bright, beautiful ruby-like eyes, what now shone was no longer the fierceness and hostility she had shown when they first met.

Instead, it looked more like... an indescribable sense of "gratitude."

"But... learning like this today... somehow... it wasn't so unpleasant."

She paused, as though gathering the greatest courage of her life. A suspicious flush spread across her cheeks again, and her voice became as faint and indistinct as a mosquito's buzz.

"Um... Ciyou..."

"Hm?" Cui Ciyou answered calmly, waiting for her to continue.

"F-from today onward..." Alice's eyes involuntarily drifted toward the ground. Her little hands nervously picked at the hem of her dress as she muttered,

"I... I allow you... to call me Alice."

She quickly raised her head, then hurriedly added, as though afraid Cui Ciyou would not understand the "deeper meaning" behind her words.

"I-I mean... you can call me by my name directly! Don't call me 'Lady Alice' anymore!"

"Although... I know you sometimes call me that already... b-but it's different!"

"And!"

She took a deep breath, as though she were about to complete an immensely solemn and sacred ritual, then continued.

"From now on... I-I'll call you... Ciyou directly too! I won't call you... 'bastard' or 'pretty boy' anymore!"

By the time she reached those final words, she seemed to feel embarrassed beyond measure. The moment she finished, she abruptly lowered her head and quickly added in a voice as soft as a mosquito's feet,

"B-because... you... you aren't... that... unpleasant..."

Cui Ciyou quietly watched the red-haired little girl before him, her head lowered, the tips of her ears completely red, her body trembling slightly from overwhelming embarrassment.

Allow me... to call her Alice? And she wants to... call me Ciyou? Is this a kind of concession? Or does it... represent her acknowledgment and acceptance of me?

"All right, Alice."

After a moment of silence, Cui Ciyou finally nodded lightly, a gentle smile appearing on his face.

Then, seeing Alice still keeping her head lowered, too shy to look at him, he could not help feeling like teasing her a little. He deliberately reminded her in an even tone,

"However, Alice, although I'm happy that we can address each other by name from now on."

"According to the basic etiquette between teacher and student, shouldn't you... at least call me 'Teacher Ciyou'?"

"Shut—up—!!!"

Just as expected, Alice shot her head up like a kitten whose tail had been stepped on, her whole face bright red as she shouted at Cui Ciyou,

"I-I'll call you whatever I want! It's none of your business!!"

Though her tone still sounded fierce, those bright ruby-like eyes no longer held any of their former hostility or aggression. Instead, they were filled with obvious shyness, panic, and... perhaps even a trace of radiant delight like the winter sun, one she herself had not yet realized was there.

"Hehe..." Seeing her typical prickly tsundere reaction, Cui Ciyou finally could not resist letting out another soft laugh.

This little one really has quite the temper... I wonder who she inherited it from.

Sauros is hot-tempered, while Philip and Lady Hilda both seem rather deep and reserved. Could it have skipped a generation?

He pondered silently. Still... this probably means our relationship has improved, right?

Cui Ciyou gazed at the red-haired young lady, who was still stubbornly sharp-tongued but whose eyes had clearly softened considerably, and a touch of warmth rose within him as well.

Later Notes on the Setting, Organized from the Original Work:

Regarding Alice's performance in her studies, the author wanted to develop it in this story while preserving the original setting as much as possible.

In the original Jobless Reincarnation, Alice's performance in academic studies was indeed far from ideal, almost to the point of being considered "stupid."

For example:

Even at the age of nine, she still had not mastered addition and subtraction within ten.

Even after Rudeus taught her for a full three years, she had only learned some simple addition and subtraction.

At nine years old, she still could not write her own name.

However, Alice in the original work also had many moments when her thinking was very clear and well organized.

For example, when Alice teamed up with Cliff for an adventure—during that goblin subjugation—her thought process was quite clear and methodical, nothing like that of a truly "stupid" person.

Therefore, the author's view in this story was that Alice was not intellectually impaired.

Rather, she was insensitive to abstract symbols such as numbers and writing, much like modern dyscalculia or dyslexia.

Alice's talents were more apparent in direct perception and hands-on action. There was nothing wrong with her own reasoning or imagination.

Therefore, when the author was devising Alice's teaching tasks,

the idea was to transform written words into images—into sensory experiences that were easier for her to understand and accept.

For example, arithmetic could be taught through concrete actions such as the number of sword strikes or whether a defensive block succeeded.

It was like a former classmate of the author, who could only memorize Song of the Pipa by singing it and could not simply recite the words.

This was a difference in learning methods and talents, not simply a matter of being "stupid" or "not stupid."