Extra 3. If Yvnes
There were a lot more requests that she had to take of than usual. Yvnes had been handing her requests that were interesting and well-paying–the two things that she couldn't resist.
When Yves gave her a blueprint and design of a device, Shuraina drew the appropriate magic circle in the product and engraved it in. He gave her a lot of requests that were both varied in type and use, but the blueprint and designs all seemed to be similar. Dark, depressing, but high-quality.
As soon as Shuraina graduated, she sat at the nearest desk, pulled it close, and focused on creating products. She carved out a bit of her white magic column, the thing she had been using as a coat hanger, and sat back down on her chair.
She needed to look a a particularly detailed spot, so she dragged the magnifying glass that she had attached on the wall close. She could hear the creaking sound of metal.
She finely ground down the magic stone and poured it into the hole, then drew the circle over it. She made it so that the powder wouldn't leak, then dulled the sharp edge of the device.
"Can I use my Shunivalen name around now?"
Her business name–the one that had been sealed for a bit after taking care of the Lunaasha guild leader. Shuraina wanted to go back to using her name to work on commissions like before.
She had been so focused on making products and following requests that she hadn't been practicing the sword recently. To be honest, magic was a more tempting route. It was nice, being able to focus on her hobby like this for so long.
To be honest, joining the knights wasn't such an urgent task. She wondered if she should push her exam date two to three years. She was going to be joining really early if she joined now, and three years from now would be the perfect age to join.
Shuraina hesitated before stamping her signature into the product. It wouldn't be too bad to enjoy some time off and work as Shunivalen.
She was quite rich now, too. She wasn't struggling for money, so she wanted to enjoy herself a little bit.
"When I'm done with this request, should I ask him to sell my products personally?"
She took out the home address that Yves had written her and thought about it.
Hmm, not a bad idea.
Shuraina collected her completed products and placed them in the bag gently before standing up. Yves had always come to visit her–the other way just never happened. When they contacted each other, the only thing they said was to use the contact orb because going physically was too strenuous. Of course, she was the one that said it.
Shuraina contacted Yves. Beep. Beep. Beep. The magic circle whirred as the dial tone rang.
[....Hello.]
"Oh, sorry. Were you sleeping? I'm going to go visit you, is that okay?"
A husky voice came through the contact orb. The sleepiness in his voice seemed to make his voice even deeper than usual. She could hear a tiny yawn.
[Sure. Hurry up. I warmed up the bed for you too.]
"What do you mean, bed."
[Weren't you trying to sleep with me?]
"What do you mean?"
[I need to sleep until at least 5AM. If you come now, I'm probably going to be asleep. You can crawl into my blankets with me on your own.]
Shuraina wondered why Yves was speaking nonsense before she turned around to look at the clock.
"Sorry. It's 2AM. I thought it was lunch time."
[.....]
She had been so focused on creating her devices that she hadn't even checked the time. She must've been insane. This was so rude.
Yves seemed to have drifted off for a bit. He went quiet before speaking again.
[It's nice, hearing your voice after sleeping. I want to keep calling, but I'm too sleepy. Sing for me so I wake up properly.]
Shuraina ended the call. She could hear his low chuckle as she ended it.
When she opened the curtains, it really was in the middle of the night. It seemed like she had lost all of her understanding of time while she had been at work. That was bad. She needed to have a routine, just like Yves.
It was too late now. Shuraina just sat back down and worked on two or three more requests.
Her concentration soon waned and sleep began to pour into her mind. Shuraina took off the jacket that she had put on while calling and crawled into bed.
Shuraina stared at the clock in despair.
"What do I do?"
She had been planning on sleeping until lunchtime and then visiting Yves. But it seemed like her bad sleep cycle had struck–she had slept the entire day again.
When she checked the clock, it was 2AM again. Was this the curse of 2AM?
Shuraina held up her contact orb. She had gotten a few calls. When she checked who it had come from, it was Yves.
[You can call even if it's midnight. Call me when you wake up.]
She didn't call him. She didn't want to hear anything after waking someone in the middle of the night. Shuraina pushed the contact orb again and continued working on the requests she had fallen asleep while working on.
She was hungry, so she headed out to the kitchen. She placed ten slices of bread, a jar of jam, and a bunch of milk and began walking back to her room.
She was about to head into her room when she saw things pasted here and there on her bedroom door.
[Nuna….. Are you alive? I miss you. You're home, so why can't I see you?]
[Shushu, magical research is good and all but I miss you so much.... Come out of your room....]
Shuraina often went into her room and didn't leave. She had done this whenever she had big projects, requests, or had work to take care of, so her family didn't find this strange. They just worried.
Shuraina hated having her concentration broken, so she locked her door thrice and pasted a "At Work" doorplate on her door.
These notes were placed under that particular doorplate.
Not only were they from her older and younger brothers, but they were from their employees and even her parents.
And then.
[Sleepyhead.]
She stared at the familiar handwriting. Seeing the neat handwriting, it had to be Yves. It looked like he had taped his on the door with Harun's piece of tape. Harun's note was on the floor over there, after all. ANyway, when had he visited? Had he come to visit Harun?
Shuraina took all of the letters and walked into the room. Then, she wrote, [Alive] on an empty piece of paper and taped it to the door.
'I should probably start bringing my sleep cycle back to normal…..'
Shuraina sat down, regretting sleeping the entire day away. She began to work on the requests that she had personally picked up. She could now use black magic, so her request and price range had increased drastically.
She could ask for up to 800 gold per request. That was why Shuraina was working day and night. She wasn't in need of money right now, but it was always better to have more, after all.
Shuraina sat at her work station and continued working on her pieces. After a few more hours, the sun rose and it became 11AM.
Shuraina decided to sleep for an hour, change, and then go to Yves.
[I'll take the products and be there at around 3PM today.]
She sent the message and crawled back into bed. She had set her alarm, too. She was going to sleep for an hour and give Yves the device. She was going to introduce the product she was going to sell under her name. She was going to apologize to her family for worrying them.
"Great…..It's perfect....."
Shuraina purposefully slept on the floor to wake up an hour from now. She didn't even put a blanket over herself. If she was uncomfortable, she'd be able to wake up immediately, right? Whew.
A few hours passed and the sun set while Shuraina was asleep. Instead of the sun, the moon was high up in the sky.
It was 2AM.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaagh..."
Shuraina despaired as she stared at the clock.
Why didn't she hear this stupid alarm?
She hadn't slept one hour. She had slept for ten. She had planned out her entire day based on waking up an hour later, but everything had fallen to pieces. Moreover, she had been sleeping on the ground all uncomfortable, so her body ached. If she knew this was going to happen, she would've just slept on the bed. She had just ended up suffering from her hare-brained scheme.
Shuraina wrapped a blanket around herself and walked over to the contact orb, seeing that she had a few attempted contacts.
When she checked, it had come from none other than Yvnes. She had said that she'd be there at around 3PM, so he must've found it strange.
Shuraina read the message in the contact orb.
[I'll try to stay awake. I put the key in Shushu's house. Bring the requested items too.]
If she kept delaying her visit to Yves, she felt like she'd never be able to see him. She was sorry, but Yves had said that he'd try to stay awake. He'd even told her where the keys were.
She thought that there was no reason to not go. Anyway, he said that he put the keys in Shushu's house, so he was talking about Shushu the puppy right? Shuraina put on her outside clothes and pulled on a robe. She placed everything she had made recently and left.
"Oh, I forgot the plastic bag."
Shuraina prepared for the possibility that there was going to be Shushu's poop in her house, so she took some too.
This wasn't the first time that she was going to Yves' residence. She had visited before, too. She had visited him because of requests like now, and she had walked puppy Shushu once she was done.
His place was simple considering the amount of wealth he had. No, was it big for someone who lived alone? But it wasn't sparkling with riches. It was simple and neat.
Shuraina slowly walked, holding the map he had drawn her. When she passed by the familiar yet unfamiliar streets, she could see where Yves lived.
There was a small doghouse in front of his building. Puppy Shushu's house was a lot fancier compared to the last time she had seen it. The dog was swimming in luxury compared to their owner.
It was just a doghouse, but it was encrusted with jewels. Puppy Shushu's collar was a stupid expensive luxury brand. Shushu had multiple food bowls. A snack bowl, food bowl, dessert bowl, biting bowl, and more–they were all strewn in front of the small dog.
Puppy Shushu had grown even more fatter and pig-like. They were even wearing luxury clothes.
"Piggy, get out of your house."
Wave, wave. A small foxtail waved and tickled the puppy, toying with it. Shuraina held the foxtail and waved it in front of puppy Shushu. Puppy Shushu was also wide awake at this hour, just like their namesake. The puppy just panted with a stupid expression.
Puppy Shushu was fat and pudgy and refused to move. She looked heavy. Compared to her massive torso, her legs were too short.
Shuraina tried to drag the puppy's front paws out of the home. When the puppy refused to leave, Shuraina moved their food bowl to the opposite side of the house. Puppy Shushu frowned before panting and walking out, almost looking like they were bouncing.
When puppy Shushu finally exited their luxurious residence, Shuraina cheered and put her face into the house. When she couldn't find the keys, she put more of her body into the house. She tried to avoid touching the dog poop.
She looked around as hard as she could, but the keys weren't there.
"Shushu, you're here."
Yves had on a night gown as he yawned widely and stared down at Shushu, still with her head in the doghouse, with sleepy eyes.
"Are you looking for the keys?"
"Are you kidding? It's not there."
Yves walked down the stairs. He held Shuraina's waist and helped her up.