“And there, and there, you’ll each get your own room, so I’ll make it accommodate extra space if we adopt new orphans... which leaves the playroom and the mini hotspring. And a playground in the yard, right? That, and I’ll make my quarters a two person room...” Ristia thought to herself, planning for the event in which she would get her younger sister. All the while, she handled a ballpoint pen in her slim and supple fingers to sketch up a set of blueprints so pristine it was like she used a ruler the entire time.
“Wow, Director, that’s so cool!”
“Ehehe, thank you~” In high spirits from the children’s praise, Ristia added some separation and drew in a large bathroom, following up by making the entire orphanage a two-floor building and putting in additional rooms.
“And... here’ll be fields for crops. But maybe I should open up a shop, too...” Ristia drew up her plans without an ounce of hesitation, setting up three buildings in a right-facing half rectangular pattern. She then took out another piece of paper and drew in water-supply lines and air-conditioning ducts, finishing it all off with a water-sewage pipeline and heating-cooling systems using magic tools. Finally, deciding on the materials for the building and penning in the load factor—the house’s upper limit in terms of weight—Ristia had completed a perfect blueprint in practically no time at all.
“This is just the testbed, so it’s subject to change based on whatever you guys want~” A perfect blueprint that was just a testbed. The children excitedly scanned the blueprints, but they ended up making some rather doubtful faces. Ristia looked at this in confusion, clueless as to what the issue was, but the children stared on, bewildered, without providing an answer. Ristia looked to her trusty Maria for help in this situation.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“Um, well... How do I put this? Can you really build a place this incredible?”
“I’m not going to build it; the carpenters are.”
“No, that’s not what I mean. I mean, is it financially possible? Also, what is this ‘magic-tool plumbing system’ stuff?”
“A system that draws water from underground with magic tools?”
“No, I mean, the system in general is... Ugh, you know what? Forget it. I’ll ask the carpenters later.” Getting the feeling that she was being treated like the awkward child of the family, Ristia flopped her shoulders in disappointment, deciding to try her very hardest so that Maria and the other children would be singing even more praises of her awesomeness. Unfortunately, she hadn’t noticed that she was going overboard and turning them off from her instead.
Her blueprints now completed, Ristia led the children outside the orphanage, this time without Maria, who had been acting as her bulwark this entire time by her side. Maria had since stepped out to Gratt Commerce in town to confirm whether it was fronting the costs of the operation. Ristia’s conduct was illogical in every sense of the word, and while it was commendable that Maria was being so straight-laced and confirming the facts... it left Ristia in a bit of a slump. Poo, she doesn’t trust me... However, she couldn’t allow herself to stay in this slump for long. There were twelve children around her, and if she impressed them enough, they would probably tell her, “Big Sis, you’re amazing!” Maria was also going to come back from her check sometime soon. If Ristia were able to change up a bunch of things before Maria got back home, then she might praise her, “You did all this while I was away? Big Sis, you’re amazing!” Motivated by that idea, Ristia decided to get started with her work.
“First... I guess I can start by moving the old building out of the way.” She used a search-type spell to confirm the foundation of the old orphanage building, and the results showed her that it was sitting underground, barely touched at all. Oh, this should be easy, then, Ristia thought, activating her spell without an incantation. She then removed the soil from a corner of the orphanage grounds the same size as the width of the building and about thirty centimeters deep, stuffing it inside her Item Box.
“Whoa! The ground just caved in?!”
“Wait, what? What’s going on?!”
The children started to panic in unison. And seeing that, Ristia felt sorry for startling them with the sudden display.
“Everyone, calm down. I just removed the soil with magic; nothing to be shocked over~” If there was a person here with the tiniest inkling of magical knowledge, then they would have really laid into that comment with a quip. “Just removed it? Yeah, right! Like that’s even possible!” But none of the orphans there had that particular knowledge on-hand.
“Wow, Director, you’re a sorcerer!”
“Director, you’re amazing!”
The children’s genuine surprise was followed by multiple amazed cheers. The moment those cheers graced Ristia’s ears, she was overjoyed. Yes! I did it! I got them to call me amazing! Just a little more before I get them calling me “Big Sis!” This time, she kept in mind not to startle the children as she cast her magic circle. It was a thoughtful gesture, but the tremendously-sized and breathtaking magic circle only managed to startle them all even more; it was a slight mishap, but it was neither here nor there in comparison to what she did next. She made the orphanage levitate, foundation and all, over to the space she cleared out just seconds ago and gently placed it down.
“The whole house moved!”
“Director, you’re amazing! Really amazing!”
The children cried as they clung to Ristia, who was jumping for joy on the inside.
Yay! I’ve captured everyone’s hearts. I’m the happiest girl around~ Ehehe~
Unwilling to let that very un-older sister-like behavior show to the children, Ristia petted everyone’s heads with a docile, “Why, thank you.”
As mild and level-headed she seemed on the outside, she couldn’t deny the fact that she was absolutely estatic on the inside. Ristia decided to proceed with even more of this and that.