A mid-level (middle-aged) office worker's laid-back industrial revolution in another world - Chapter 170

Translator: Jasper Kadowaki | Editor: NovelMultiverse

Layla and Alice were drinking tea after they finished bathing. 

Takeo hadn’t returned from the kitchen, yet. 

“It’s been a while since I took a hot bath. I feel so content, right now,” said Layla. 

“Sister Layla, you’ve been saying that all night, you know?” said Alice. 

“Well, I don’t get to take a bath very often at the royal castle. I fully enjoyed tonight’s bath,” said Layla. 

“I would have thought you would take a hot bath every day at the royal castle,” said Alice. 

“You’re right. I thought I would be when I first went there, too. It turns out I can really only take a bath when there’s an evening party, a conference, or some special event,” said Layla. 

“It sounds like quite a modest living.”

“Yes, I expected there to be a big bathing hall, so I was quite disappointed. It’s not really any different from the bathroom here,” said Layla, with a bitter smile.

Then, Alice stood up. She went to Takeo’s study and returned with a notebook.

“What is, Alice?” 

“I want you to see this, too, Sister Layla.”

Layla took the notebook from Alice and looked at the cover page, but she couldn’t tell what was written on it.

When she put on the glasses that she had made that day, though, she saw that it said, “Health.”

She turned the page and looked at the first page, and she froze. 

“…Alice.”

“Yes?”

“What is this book?”

“It’s one of four books that Takeo-sama has started writing so that he won’t forget what he knows.”

“…Oh…” Layla looked at the book with intense concentration and then turned the page, again. 

As she read with intensity, she got through one page… then two…

Alice thought, “Wait, what?” When she had looked at the book, there were only two pages. 

Then, Alice noticed that Layla was blushing, a bit. 

“…Sister Layla?”

Layla jumped a bit at Alice’s voice. 

“Um… Uh… Yes. What is it, Alice?”

“Um… What’s wrong?”

“Uh… Alice… Since we’re sisters, I guess it’s okay, but… If you hand me this book out of nowhere… It puts me in a difficult position, you know?” said Layla, blushing hard now, and flustered. 

“What?” asked Alice, wondering what Layla was talking about.

This was the first time Alice had ever seen Layla this panicked. 

“What? This describes how children are made, right?” asked Layla. 

“Yes, the first two pages do. After that, though…”

“Hm?”

Alice had quietly taken out the glasses that she had made and put them on. She took the book from Layla and read the third page…

Her face instantly turned red. 

“Wait… What?!… This… This wasn’t written here, yesterday… Why?”

Now, Alice was flustered. 

There, drawn with stick figures, were people on top of each other…There were tens of diagrams…

“Alice… Takeo-san does this many…”

“No?! Not this many…”

“…Ah, so you have been doing it.”

“Oh…”

Alice’s face dropped and she looked down and away. 

“Uh… I was tricked into it by Takeo-sama…”

Alice felt a little resentment towards Takeo, though he wasn’t in the room at the moment. 

..

.

After an awkward silence, Layla said, “Hey, Alice.”

Layla must have gotten over her initial panic. 

“W…What is it?” asked Alice. 

“What… do you think of this?”

Layla pointed at one of the drawings.

“What? …Well.”

The two sisters started giggling and discussing the topic. [Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]

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When Takeo knocked on the door, Alice replied, “Yes! Come in,” so Takeo entered the bedroom. 

“Layla-san. Lady Alice. I’m back,” said Takeo. 

“Yes! Welcome back!” said Alice. 

“Welcome back,” said Layla. 

Alice responded nervously, and Layla seemed very happy. 

Takeo thought, “…Both of their faces are red… What are these two up to? …The bed is unnaturally messy… My notebook? …I can see the edge of it sticking out… Ah, whatever.”

“Lady Alice, shall I dry your hair?” asked Takeo. 

“Y…Yes!” said Alice, nervously straightening her back.

“What are you so nervous about?” asked Takeo. 

“No! Nothing, really!” said Alice. 

“…All right,” said Takeo, holding Alice’s hair up lightly and starting to dry it, casually. 

“Ah, so that’s how you dry it?” asked Layla. 

“Yes. If you leave the scalp wet, you could catch a cold. It’s just a light motion, but I’m getting rid of the moisture,” said Takeo. 

“Wow, that looks like you’re enjoying it, too, Alice. Your eyes look very relaxed,” said Layla. 

“It feels very good. I think I’ll become a little addicted to it,” said Alice, happily.

..

.

Takeo finished lightly drying Alice’s hair, then immediately walked over to Layla. 

“So, I’ll do yours, too, okay?” asked Takeo. 

“Yes, please do,” said Layla. 

Takeo held Layla’s hair lightly and casually started drying it. 

“How is it?” asked Alice. 

“This is… nice. It feels good,” said Layla, surprised, and having fun. 

“Sister Layla, your eyes look very relaxed, as well,” said Alice. 

“Yes, I feel very relaxed. I can understand why you said you’re getting addicted to it,” said Layla. 

“That’s good,” said Takeo, grinning.

“By the way, Takeo-sama, that cara… Were you able to make those sweets?” asked Alice. 

“Oh, you mean the caramel. Yes, it’s done,” said Takeo. 

“How is it?” asked Layla. 

“We’ll see… Right now, it’s too hot to eat, but it’s got plenty of sugar in it, so I don’t see why it would come out tasting strange,” said Takeo. 

“Can’t you taste test it?” asked Alice. 

“No, no, Lady Alice. Heated up sugar is dangerous, you know?” asked Takeo. 

“What? Really?” asked Alice.

“Yes. Sugar can get even hotter than water, so a burn from sugar can easily become a serious injury. So, you always have to cool it down before touching it,” said Takeo. 

“I see,” said Alice. 

“Right now, we’ve put the caramel on a steel tray sitting atop some ice, and cooling it down, that way. Taste-testing will be tomorrow,” said Takeo. 

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” said Alice, happily. 

“Well, now that I’ve lightly dried Layla-san’s hair, I’ll be taking a bath and going to sleep. Good night, you two,” said Takeo. 

Takeo left them and headed to the door. 

“All right, good night!” said Alice and Layla, together as Takeo opened the door. 

“Oh, Lady Alice,” said Takeo.

“Yes, what is it?” asked Alice. 

“Please have Layla-san write in her impressions in that notebook,” said Takeo. 

Without waiting for Alice’s response, Takeo left the room. 

..

.

“Alice.”

“Yes, Sister Layla?”

“It seems Takeo-san saw right through us.”

“Yes, it seems so.”

The two of them could only smirk at each other.[Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]