NBAA Vol. 6 Chapter 2 Part 3
“Well then! Let me start by showing you around the first floor. There are a lot of people I need to introduce you to.”
“Introduce?”
“My secretary and husband.”
Ferris guided Reito into the building.
Many people were inside the building, and a woman in a maid’s uniform stepped forward gracefully and bowed.
“Welcome home, Ms. Chairwoman.”
“Thank you… We just got back now.”
“Oh… it’s another maid beside Aria.”
『Don’t act like someone who has just entered a maid cafe for the first time!』Airis made fun of Reito.
Ferris watched with amusement as Reito was a little overwhelmed by the many servants.
She then introduced him to the tallest of the maids, who appeared to be the oldest.
“This is Alice, my secretary.”
“I’m Alice. Nice to meet you.”
“Hi, hi…”
For a pretty name, the woman was muscularly built. She was very tall, perhaps a giantess. Her overwhelming presence made Reito back away and Ferris laugh.
“Alice, if you put your face so close to his, he’ll be embarrassed. Back up a little.”
“I beg your pardon. And thank you for the help you gave my husband earlier.”
“Husband…?”
Reito thought she was talking about Ferris, but the way she said it was not quite right.
Then Ferris added.
“She’s talking about Grohl. They’re a couple.”
“A couple!?”
“They have a child.”
『Are you serious?』
Even Airis, who is supposed to know everything about this world, was also astonished.
According to Ferris, Alice, and Grohl are a mature couple with two grown children.
Both are now on their own, and both are under the care of the Dalton Trading Company.
Reito asked Alice with a shy smile, “Are you also a warrior?”
“I used to be an adventurer in the past. But when I married my husband, I stopped being an adventurer and devoted myself to being a housewife. Now I work as a secretary for Ms. Ferris.”
“The Giant Tribe has a hard time losing muscle mass… she don’t work out anymore, but she still has trouble with her arms being as thick as our heads,” Ferris said, and Alice blushed in embarrassment.
“It’s embarrassing… But this is actually less muscle than I used to have.”
“I see…”
Even at this point in his life, he can’t help but imagine Alice’s younger days. She must have had enough muscle mass to look like a pro wrestler. He also wondered if Grohl might be a muscle fetishist.
Shaking his head to clear away the distractions, Reito decided to concentrate on his work for now.
“Where is my darling?” Ferris asked, and Alice responded.
“The master is back in the laboratory on the top floor. The product you are looking for is already here.”
“He is working as fast as ever… Oh, that’s right. The Magic Healing Herb that Mr. Reito retrieved for me was originally material for the magic tool he is developing. I was going to have him thank Reito for that.”
“Do you want me to call him down now?”
“No, I’ll call him myself later. Can I ask you to get that other guy for me for now?”
“Yes. Yes, I’ll have him ready for you right away.”
Alice looked to the other maids, who immediately moved to bring in a long desk and a wooden box.
The maids placed the desk in front of them, placed the crate on top of it, and opened the lid.
When Reito saw what was inside, he tilted his head.
Inside the crate was a shiny silver powder.
“What is this?”
“It’s a magical tool called Silver Sand. It’s a liquid made from a special herb mixed with sand.”
“Wow… it’s beautiful.”
Reito peeked inside with deep interest before Alice said, “Would you like to touch it? It’s safe to touch.”
“May I?”
“Please.”
Alice held out a pair of gloves.
He took the gloves from her large palm and put them on. Then, Reito touched the Silver Sand inside the crate through the glove.
Reito was surprised at the unexpected lack of feeling. The glove sank into the sand as easily as water, and he quickly pulled his hand out.
At first glance, it looked like nothing more than shiny silver sand, but each particle was too fine to sink as easily as water.
“How do you use this?” Reito asked, and Ferris explained.
“Well, there are many uses, but the most common use is hair dye. You see, Mr. Reito, if you look at your gloves, you know what I mean.”
“What? Wow, when did that happen!?”
When Reito looked at his gloves, he found that they had the Silver Sand stuck all over them, transforming them into gloves that glowed silver.
“Is this hair dye?”
“That’s right. If you put silver sand on your hair, it makes it look like silver hair.”
“But isn’t it easy to peel off?” Reito asked the obvious question.
Alice responded, “Not quite. This silver sand has the property of hardening when it is put in water. So when you use it, you put the hair dye in water and soak the whole hair. That way, it won’t fall out, so don’t worry.”
“Huh… Then, on the contrary, how do I remove the silver sand?”
“In that case, it can be easily removed by covering it with hot water. After being drenched with silver dust mixed with water, some of our customers use a hand towel dipped in hot water to remove the excess silver dust from their heads.”
“I wonder what kind of material hardens with water and can be removed with hot water…”
Reito wondered about the nature of the silver sand as one of the maids brought a tub bucket of water.
“Please, try using it.”
“Proof is better than theory. Let’s see if it works.”
“Oh, yes… how does this look?”
When Reito plunged the glove into the tub, the Silver Sand hardened when it touched the water, transforming into a shimmering glove as it was pulled up. But only the surface turned silver, and the glove did not seem to harden or cool in any particular way.
“Oh… this is great.”
“The only drawback is that it comes off easily with hot water, but other than that, it’s quite popular. In fact, even Bal of the Black Tigers uses a different type of Red Sand than this Silver one.”
“What, Bal dyes her hair!?”
The fact that Bal’s red hair was dyed was a surprise to Reito.
But then he realized that he had never seen anyone with red hair other than her, and it wasn’t so strange.
“This type of hair dye, including Red Sand, is very popular. Silver Sand is a recently developed product, but it is quite beautiful, isn’t it? That’s why I want you to use it.”