World’s Cutest Alchemist

I woke up with my head buried in Luna’s shoulder. My arms were wrapped around her stomach as she still lay slumber. I was used to my sleep-hugging at this point, so I didn’t think much of it and quietly retracted myself and stood up.

Sunrise had still yet to come, but I wasn’t tired whatsoever. As much as I loved to sleep, it’s a little difficult to go back to dreamland when your mind has awoken.

Yawning, I stretched my arms wide before grabbing some clothes from my closet and heading to the bathroom.

Now that I think about it, there really is a bunch of stuff to do for proper cohabitation. Luna doesn’t even have a set of toiletries here. Clothes weren’t an issue since we had similar sizes, but we couldn’t exactly share toothbrushes.

Anyways, I finished my shower and got dressed in my back-up home attire.

I skipped laundry day because of…obvious reasons. So, today, I’d catch up on home chores. It’d also be a good way to see what clothes I could share with Luna, assuming she doesn’t go home and pack her own suitcase.

Which—to be fair—would completely make sense.

But! Even if she did that! I had a goal! A mission! A quest! That I must complete no matter the cost.

Thinking about it made me excited for nightfall already, even if it was still morning.

“Hehe.” I giggled as I brought my laundry basket to the laundry room.

…

A little later, I was in my garden and tending to the plants. Everything seemed to be growing well, and even the materials looked quite nice.

“Grow~ Grow~ Grow up big and strong~” I sung.

It’s always so peaceful in here. I think I can understand why people go on hikes now, being surrounded by plants is calming.

Should I go on a hike some day? I wonder if Luna would join me. It’d be a good chance for her to touch grass.

After I was finished in the garden, I headed to the kitchen to make breakfast.

Since the sun had started to come up, Luna should be awake soon.

I was feeling a little fancy today, so instead of the usual eggs, bacon, and pancakes. I made some sausage patties, biscuits, bacon, and eggs.

Soon, the pleasant smell of breakfast started to flood the air. About now is when Luna should exit the room with a sleepy expression.

“…”

Did I misjudge the time or something?

Was she just really tired?

Whatever the case, I continued cooking breakfast.

Around 20 minutes later, I plated the table with our food and Luna still hadn’t come out.

Getting up, I headed to the bedroom door and peeked inside.

Luna was sleeping like a baby. She had her arms and legs wrapped around one of my pillows and there was even a little drool on the pillow. She slept so peacefully that it was hard to want to wake her up.

I scratched the back of my head before closing the door. No reason to disturb her rest. Of course, I took a picture.

Back at the dining table, I covered her plate with tinfoil and left it in the oven before eating my own meal.

“Mm…A bit much.” I mumbled. I hadn’t made biscuits and sausages in a while, so I forgot how filling they were. Next time, I’ll have to cut down on the portion size.

After finishing my meal, I laid on the couch while scrolling on my phone to do some research about the public opinion of my bouncy bouncy potion.

I hadn’t forgotten about it. Even today, I planned on looking into any materials I could use to cut the cost of creation.

“Mm…Innovative. Interesting. Useless. Seems cool. Seems fun.” I mumbled, reading the thoughts of the potion.

Overall, it sounded like people were interested in it. Especially people who were curious about me.

In one way, this would be considered a true test of my skill as an alchemist. Anyone could have created the potions I had previously, but the bouncy bouncy potion was a proper new creation.

So, many people were curious if I was just a one-hit wonder or a pioneer in the making.

And honestly, I don’t think this potion will disappoint those fellows. But, only time will tell.

After an hour or so of research, I noticed the bedroom door finally opening. Tilting my head back, I saw a curious mouse peeking her head out the doorway. I felt like I could see the physical mouse ears and whiskers on her.

She sniffed the air before spotting me.

…Did those two things have any correlation between each other? I hope not…She’s not actually a mouse, is she?

I could see her expression brighten as she gave me a small wave before quickly heading into the bathroom.

I yawned, continuing to scroll on my phone.

A few minutes later, Luna was approaching me.

I looked at her while still laying on the couch, my head resting on the arm cushion.

“Good morning.” Luna greeted.

“Morning.” I replied.

She sat at the empty space near my feet and continued,

“It smells like breakfast, did you cook?”

“Ah, yeah. Your food’s remaining warm in the oven. I made it earlier, but you didn’t wake up at the time I thought you would.” I replied.

“You could’ve woken me up, you know?”

“But you looked so peaceful, I couldn’t bear to disturb your slumber, princess.”

Luna rolled her eyes before getting up.

“In the oven?” She asked.

“Mm.”

Getting up, I stretched before joining her at the table.

“How’d you sleep?” She asked.

“Really well, but clearly not as well as you did.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“You were drooling all over the pillow.”

“W-Wha!?” She dropped her silverware, “S-Stop lying!”

“Hehe…” I just giggled as a reply.

“Y-You’re lying, right?”

I shrugged.

Her pupils trembled and a rosy color appeared on her cheeks. After taking a deep breath, it seemed like she decided to either ignore it or not believe me and just eat her food.

“How is it?” I asked.

“Good as usual!” She said after swallowing a bite of food.

“I’m glad.” I smiled before returning my eyes to my phone. Conversations could wait until after breakfast.

…

“Should we go to the store or order stuff online?” I asked after Luna sat back down.

“Huh? Context?” She tilted her head at my sudden question.

“For your toiletries and stuff. I’m thinking it’d be nice and convenient to have your own set of stuff here. And while we’re at it, I’ll get a set for myself to keep at your place.”

“Oh, um…Let’s just order? Is there a need to go in person?”

“Not really?” I shrugged, “Just thought I’d give you the choice.”

And she wonders why I call her a hikikomori. Though, I also didn’t feel the need to go shop in person.

“I’ll order two sets of toiletries then?” I said.

Luna nodded and I quickly placed an order.

“Um…Can I borrow a set of clothes so I can shower?” She asked.

“Sure, let me get some for you.” I nodded, “Underwear too?”

“Ah…” She paused and thought for a bit.

“It’s fine, I have a few I haven’t worn yet, I’ll give you those.”

“Okay, thank you.”

“Mm.”

I had a limited selection to offer since a lot of my clothes were still in the washer, but, I was able to find a comfy home attire: Dolphin shorts, a white tee, and a hoodie.

“Here you go.” I handed her the clothes, “If those don’t suit you, I could grab some joggers instead. Or if you’d like a wifebeater, I have plenty.”

“Mm, these are fine, thanks.”

I nodded as she headed to the bathroom. A little later, I could hear the water start to run.

While she showered, I lay on the couch and stared towards the ceiling.

I was currently watching other people clear the 5th floor.

It’s crazy, just like me all these people had no items going into the floor. But unlike me, they actually had the skills and capability to clear it.

Most of them used their skills—magic was flung through the air and easily dispatched the hobgoblin after a few spells. Some wielded blades that weren’t classified as an item. And there were even a few who fought the goblin in hand-to-hand combat.

The difference between us was light and day.

Is this really a wall that the average production class can’t climb?

I searched the leaderboards for any solo production-class clear, but I couldn’t find any. Even ranking in the 100,000’s, there were only combat-classes.

When I finally found one, their ranking was somewhere in the millions.

It was a sturdy-looking blacksmith. He was over 185 cm and clearly in shape. He wielded a small claw hammer.

The clear video started as the hobgoblin spawned in, it looked around before quickly spotting the blacksmith.

He hadn’t gone into the forest, rather, opting to take the fight on the plains.

The monster immediately started to charge the smith.

Standing his ground, the man’s hammer started to glow—he had activated some skill—as the monster approached, it lunged forth, swinging its club at the man.

Dodging, the man drove the hammer into the goblin’s side. Despite clearly taking damage, the goblin remained in place and swung its club again. This time, the weapon connected and the smith groaned, taking the hit to his arm.

Stepping back, the goblin charged once again and swung.

The man side-stepped, watching at the club smacked the earth before lunging at the goblin. He aimed his hammed for the goblin’s arm and connected.

Instantly the bone shattered and the monster dropped the weapon and screeched.

With its other hand, it tried to swipe at the man. The dirty fingernails barely missed as the man activated his skill once again and swung his hammer towards the goblin’s dome.

Its head nearly caved in as it stumbled back before falling to the ground.

With heavy steps, the man didn’t miss the opportunity and mounted the fallen foe, bashing its head in with the hammer. After a few swings, the floor clear notification finally shown.

“…So brutal.” I mumbled.

It was sloppy, slow, and tough. The smith had to take his time to wear down the hobgoblin’s natural defenses even while using a steel hammer and some sort of skill.

While others’ fights were in the minutes, his had approached 20.

And that was someone with a well-built body, muscles, and likely buff potions.

On the contrary, I’m in my 140’s in terms of height, have almost no muscle, and am pretty clumsy.

It was safe to say that this pretty much confirmed that I had no chance against it in a one-on-one.

I found another clear video a little later.

It wasn’t a production-class but a utility-class, a trapper.

Unlike the smith, this guy didn’t fight the monster directly. Instead, it looked like he had used his prep time to build a trap for the hobgoblin to walk into. Since the video starts when the goblin spawns in, I couldn’t see the details of how he made the trap. But it was rough, sloppy, and makeshift. Yet, it got the job done. The goblin fell into the spikes and slowly bled out over the course of 15 minutes.

“Mm…” I tapped on the couch.

Before I could think about it more, the bathroom door opened and steam could be seen.

Glancing over, I saw Luna exiting the bathroom with damp hair while wearing my clothes.

Wow…

It reminded me of when I first saw her in that cafe.

Shaking my head, I threw her a wave.

“I’ll blow dry your hair.” I said, standing up.

“Okay.” She replied.

As I passed by her to grab the blower, the familiar scent of strawberries hit me. Right, we’ll be smelling the same for the upcoming future.

I feel a little happy.