Sucrose's request

"Hm?"

Ellin looked toward the voice, and her eyes lit up when she saw who was coming.

Wasn't that green-haired girl jogging toward her, wearing a white cap, a blue-and-white outfit, and black stockings with garter straps, the alchemist Sucrose from the game?

"Hello, Miss Ellin..."

Sucrose ran up to Ellin, adjusted her glasses, and cautiously bowed to her.

"Hello, Miss Ellin. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Sucrose, an alchemy researcher."

"Hello! No need to be so formal. Just call me Ellin."

Ellin smiled and nodded, though she was quite puzzled. As she remembered it, Sucrose was a research-obsessed nerd who wasn't good with people. Why had she suddenly worked up the courage to approach her?

"Did you need something, Sucrose?"

"Ah, sorry... am... am I bothering you?"

Sucrose rubbed her hands together awkwardly. Clearly, she was still the same girl from the game, bad at socializing and terrified of accidentally saying something that might hurt someone.

Knowing what Sucrose was like, Ellin didn't mind. She put on the gentlest smile she could and waved a hand.

"Not at all! I just finished training. You don't have to be so nervous. Say whatever you like. You're so cute, Sucrose, I wouldn't mind anything you said."

"Cute... huh? Me?"

Sucrose was absorbed in her alchemy research. Like most research nerds, she rarely bothered to dress herself up and had no real sense of her own looks.

This was the first time anyone had called her cute, and it had come from a girl as cute as Ellin, no less.

"P-please don't tease me. If we're talking about being cute, you might be the cutest girl in the world, Ellin."

Sucrose blushed and lowered her head, twiddling her index fingers together.

"I'm not joking!" Ellin looked perfectly serious. "You really are cute, Sucrose. I've heard plenty about you. Everyone says you're dedicated and hardworking."

"Oh, right! You still haven't told me what you came to see me about!"

At the mention of that, Sucrose immediately perked up. "Here's what happened!"

"A few days ago, you killed several Hilichurl Berserkers and two Abyss Mages in Wolvendom, didn't you?"

"When the Knights of Favonius cleared the site, they brought all their bodies back."

"It's a little embarrassing to admit, but I have an unusual hobby: collecting skeletal specimens. Assembling skeletons also gives me new inspiration."

"So when I found out they'd brought back those Hilichurl Berserker and Abyss Mage bodies, I was absolutely thrilled!"

"Those are Hilichurl Berserker and Abyss Mage skeletons! I've never managed to collect any before, so I immediately went to Acting Grand Master Jean and asked if she could give me the bodies."

"But Acting Grand Master Jean said they were your spoils, Ellin, and told me to ask what you thought. So here I am."

Once she started talking about skeletal specimens, Sucrose seemed like a different person. All trace of her social anxiety vanished, and the words flowed effortlessly.

"So that's it!"

Ellin was delighted to hear it. Sucrose really did have a hobby of collecting bones.

Every three days, Sucrose would carry a leather bag around to the hunters in Springvale and the Adventurers' Guild, asking them for all sorts of strange and unusual bones.

But this world was far more real than the game. Not everyone had the strength to hunt Hilichurls and other monsters, so most of what Sucrose could get consisted of chicken bones, pig bones, lizard bones, and the like.

Her friendship stories in the game mentioned that collecting a complete lizard skeleton would make her happy all day, and receiving an intact Hilichurl leg bone would have her bowing to Katheryne over and over in thanks.

So Ellin could easily imagine just how much the bodies of eight Hilichurl Berserkers and two Abyss Mages meant to Sucrose!

"I see. So those Hilichurl Berserker and Abyss Mage bodies are incredibly precious treasures to you, right?"

"Yes! Yes, exactly!"

Sucrose nodded earnestly, then clenched both hands into fists and gazed into Ellin's eyes with the anticipation of a kitten waiting for its owner to feed it. "So, could you give them all to me?"

Then she caught herself and hurriedly waved her hands to explain. "Oh, please don't misunderstand! I don't mean for free. I can pay you Mora, or trade you some alchemical items."

"No need!" Ellin gave her a sweet smile. "Since you like them so much, Sucrose, I'll give them all to you."

"Huh?! Really?" Sucrose's eyes shone with delight, but she quickly calmed down and shook her head.

"I can't. These things are far too valuable to me. I'd feel uneasy accepting them for nothing!"

Even faced with treasures that mean so much to her, she still sticks to her principles... what a good girl!

Ellin couldn't help marveling inwardly. She understood now that the green-haired girl had her own set of principles and would never accept something for nothing. In that case, she could ask for a token favor, then take the opportunity to give her all the bodies.

With that thought, Ellin blinked and said, "All right. In that case, there is one little thing I'd like to ask."

"Really?" Sucrose couldn't have been happier to hear that. She nodded. "Of course! Tell me. As long as it's something I can do, I'll do it."

"Well, as a researcher, you must know how painful it is when you can't satisfy your curiosity."

Ellin continued, "I've always been curious about your ears, so... would you let me touch them?"

"No!"

To Ellin's surprise, Sucrose refused without the slightest hesitation.

But Sucrose quickly realized she'd been a little rude and hurried to apologize. "Ah, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to disappoint you. It's just... I'm rather sensitive about people noticing my ears, so..."

"It's fine, it's fine!" Ellin quickly waved her hands. "I didn't think it through. I'm the one who should apologize."

Suddenly, something seemed to occur to Ellin, and she quickly asked, "Oh, Sucrose, do you know how to cut fabric and make clothes?"

"I do!" Sucrose nodded. "Research inevitably involves work similar to cutting and mending, so I learned to make clothes along the way."

"That's wonderful!" Delighted, Ellin immediately took Sucrose's hand.

"Come on, let's go to my place. I'll treat you to lunch and draw up a design while we're there. Could you make a couple of outfits for me?"

Ellin was overjoyed, while the socially anxious Sucrose found herself at a loss when she realized Ellin was holding her hand.

But at the sight of the smiling white-haired girl before her, Sucrose blushed, lowered her head slightly, and let Ellin lead her away.