I arrived at the church.
It had only been a month since my last visit, yet it felt like forever. In reality, I’d only skipped a single week.
I pushed open the church doors and walked into the chapel.
「Hellooo. Laudette-saaan, are you here? It’s Alec…oh, you’re… here.」
Laudette-san was sprawled across one of the pews, mouth half-open, fast asleep.
…Well, that was a familiar sight. I’d come here plenty of times now, and she was usually like this.
In fact, I’d only ever seen her do actual nun-like work once.
To be precise, I once saw her ‘probably’ in the middle of cleaning… right before she dozed off mid-task.
「Laudette-san, could you wake up? It’s me, Alec.」
I gently shook her shoulder.
「Fwaaah… y-yes, I’m fineee…」
「I see. Good morning, it’s Alec.」
「Ahhh, Alec-san! Long time no seeee.」
Laudette-san slept a lot, but at least she woke up easily. It would be even more helpful if she didn’t fall asleep in the first place.
「It’s been a while. Could you do an appraisal today? …Also, there’s something I’d like to ask.」
「Haaah. Well, for now, let’s head to the reception roommm.」
Laudette-san shuffled off toward the reception room. I was about to follow when…
「Ah, you forgot your Holy Book.」
I picked up the Holy Book she had been using as a pillow and handed it to her.
「Ah, thank you. It would’ve been terrible if I lost thattt.」
Then don’t use it as a pillow. Actually, a nun shouldn’t be using a Holy Book as a pillow to begin with.
「I can’t sleep without a pillow, but I can’t exactly bring one into the chapel, you know?」
「…I see.」
There were too many things wrong with that statement for me to even know where to begin.
――First, don’t sleep in the chapel.
――Second, don’t use the Holy Book as a pillow.
――Third, if you’re the type of person who’d already use a Holy Book as a pillow, why would you hesitate to bring a real one instead?
――And finally, I’d seen her manage to sleep without a pillow plenty of times.
「What’s wronggg? Let’s gooo.」
「Ah, yes.」
Well, whatever… Laudette-san was just that kind of person.
If anything, maybe it was ‘because’ she was so laid-back that I kept coming here every other week.
「Excuse meee」
I followed after her and stepped into the reception room.
As always, it felt more like her personal bedroom than anything official. Honestly, it made me a little nervous… especially with clothes lying around here and there.
「Ahhh, then please wait a moment, okayyy」
Just as she said, I sat down on the sofa and waited a bit while she prepared tea for the two of us.
「Thank you very much」
「Not at allll, you said you had something to discussss」
I took a sip of the tea she served. Just the usual village herb tea.
「Well then, here you go」
「Thank youuu」
As usual, I handed her a few coins.
「Ah, and also, I finally finished your doll, Laudette-san, so I brought it wi—」
…Wait. Now that I thought about it, didn’t I tell Ralina-chan something like, “I’ll just use the Laudette doll as payment for the appraisal”?
I really had been thinking I could cover at least one appraisal with it… but I already handed over the money…
「You finished the doll!?」
「…Eh, yes.」
Well, whatever. It’s too late to ask her to give back the coins in exchange for the doll now.
――Ah, come to think of it, I’d also given her Reversi without charging anything.
Well, whatever. It’s too late to demand payment for that now too.
I really can’t say anything to Laudette-san, huh…
「What’s wronggg?」
「No, it’s nothing. Anyway, here is the doll modeled after you, Laudette-san.」
I took the Laudette doll out of my magic bag.
Incidentally, before coming to the church I had tried using 『Varnish Coating』 on it. The skill had activated properly, leaving the doll with a glossy shine.
「Here you go」
「Waaah. Thank you very muuu…ch? Wait, what is this!?」
「…………」
As I expected, she got mad… Honestly, I had predicted this might happen.
With the power of my 『Woodworking』 skill, all I can do is faithfully reproduce the model in front of me.
Which means the Laudette doll I ended up making was none other than―― “Laudette-san, asleep on a chair with her mouth half open”.
「This is terribleee. What do you even take me for, I’m not like this at allll…」
Except… I literally ‘just’ saw her looking exactly like that. Even Ralina-chan immediately recognized it as her.
Actually, I knew Laudette-san would probably get angry, so I had left the doll sitting in my room. That’s when Ralina-chan found it…
Truthfully, I brought it here partly because I was scared of her reaction and wanted Laudette-san to take it off my hands.
「I’m sorry. This is the best I can do right now…」
All I can do is reproduce what I know. If I’m asked to carve the Laudette-san I know, then this is the result.
Of course, I’m sure she has other sides to her. But I’ve never seen them. I can’t recreate what I don’t know…
「I demand a redo!」
「Ehh…」
「As a doll, it’s impressive, but this is ‘not’ me. Please make one that properly represents meee」
She said almost the exact same thing Mother did… even though I really ‘am’ reproducing her faithfully.
Well, in Laudette-san’s case, I guess it’s only natural she’d be upset.
「…Alright. I’ll try a little harder.」
「Please dooo」
Honestly, though, if she wants a “non-disappointing Laudette doll”, then she should put some effort into showing me a “non-disappointing Laudette-san” to copy from…
Still, I’ll do my best. If I really try, maybe I can at least manage a version of her ‘sleeping with her mouth closed’.
But does this mean I’ll have to keep making Laudette dolls until I finally produce one that isn’t “disappointing”?
If Ralina-chan sees me with a whole collection of Laudette dolls, what will happen to her?
I don’t ever want to see that blank, Noh mask expression of hers again…
Ah, and speaking of Ralina-chan, I still need to finish her doll soon…
………
Wait. Why am I even making so many dolls in the first place…?
Next chapter: Ralina-chan and Laudette-san
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