Chapter 301 – Clash of Attributes

“You don't look very happy,” Alice commented as she looked at Andusia.

“How would you feel if you found out that someone had not only sold you away as a toy but has even asked you to return home by yourself afterward?” Andusia responded in a huff.

Alice and Andusia were currently in the city of Icarus, the Rhine Kingdom's capital.
The comic convention that Alice was told about by her internet friend Blonde Twintails would be held in Icarus City.
Moreover, the convention would start tomorrow.
So, Alice had traveled to Icarus one day in advance to meet up with Blonde Twintails beforehand.

Unlike the Gryffin Kingdom, which focused on developing its technological industries, the Rhine Kingdom focused more on developing its cultural industries.
In the Gryffin Kingdom's Holl City, one could find the most advanced technology parks and the headquarters of various technology companies.
In the Rhine Kingdom's Icarus City, one could find various art museums, large bookstores, and film sites.

The anime industry was also developing quite well in the human realm.
The comic convention Blonde Twintails mentioned was a large-scale event held in Icarus City every year, and it was very well received.
As evidence, when Alice arrived at the stadium that would play host to the comic convention tomorrow, she saw many youths walking around the stadium.
It was obvious that these youths were scouting out the area and planning their routes for tomorrow.

Meanwhile, when Alice saw the huge “30th Icarus City Anime and Game Convention” banner above the stadium, she couldn't help but get a strange feeling.
After all, even though the stadium was designed using medieval architecture, the building was surrounded by technology and culture that could only be found in the modern era.
Fortunately, Alice had already started to get used to this confusing fusion.

“An anime and game convention? Modern humans sure know how to have fun.”

Andusia mentally curled her lips as she looked at the distant banner.
On the surface, though, she remained motionless and pretended to be nothing more than a figurine.
She noticed many people on the street staring at her curiously.
If she made any movements now, there was a high chance these people would notice.

Although Alice had already put on a big sun hat to conceal her face from others and avoid attracting attention, her efforts were rendered useless because Andusia was sitting on her shoulder.
After all, Andusia's current appearance was that of the protagonist of a national-level anime.

In reality, Andusia had thought of having a professional woodworker alter her appearance to a different one.
However, despite how much she disliked her current appearance, she eventually decided to shelve this idea.
Her current body was already very small.
She'd definitely have to lose some Living Wood if she wanted a new appearance.
By her estimates, she'd end up with a body only half the size of Alice's palm.

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As a Demon King with strong self-esteem, Andusia was already having great difficulty accepting the small size of her current body.
The last thing she wanted was for her body to become even smaller.

“The meeting place is…Baroque Cafe.”

Alice looked at her phone and read the message from Blonde Twintails.
The message informed Alice of their meeting place, and the location Blonde Twintails had chosen was the Baroque Cafe near the stadium.
After walking around for a while, Alice eventually found her destination.

Baroque Cafe wasn't a small shop.
Instead, it was a large coffee chain covering all five human kingdoms.
Alice had previously seen a Baroque Cafe in Holl City, so she was familiar with the brand.

After finding her destination, Alice walked into the shop.
Since Baroque Cafe was a coffee chain, it naturally wouldn't be a high-end cafe.
It was more or less similar to the Starbucks in Alice's memory.

Initially, Alice was worried that she couldn't find Blonde Twintails in the busy cafe.
However, she quickly dismissed her worries when she saw a girl in the corner of the shop standing up and waving at her.

Alice was a little surprised when she saw Blonde Twintails.
This was because the other party was actually a girl with blonde twintails.
At first glance, the other party looked like an enlarged version of herself.

Before coming here, Alice had always thought that Blonde Twintails was only a person with a fetish for blonde twintails and might be a man in reality.
Never did she think the nickname “Blonde Twintails” would be a description of the other party's hairstyle.

“Hello, hello.
I'm Blonde Twintails,” the girl with blonde twintails introduced herself with a smile after Alice walked over to her table.

Like Alice, the blonde girl also wore a surprised look.
It was obvious that the blonde girl did not expect Alice to be a girl, much less have blonde twintails.

“You must be No.
2, right? I didn't think you'd really have blonde twintails…”

“I'm also quite surprised.
I thought 'blonde twintails' was your fetish.”

Alice looked around after taking a seat at the table.
Then, after ensuring that nobody was paying attention to their table, she removed her hat and moved Andusia to the table.
Evidently, Blonde Twintails must have recognized her through Andusia.

“Haha! That's not surprising.
Nobody can tell who they're actually talking to on the internet,” Blonde Twintails said, chuckling.
However, when she finally got to see Alice's face, her expression froze as she asked, “Wait, aren't you…the Gryffin Princess?”

“Shh—And yes, that's me.”

Alice naturally didn't plan on concealing her appearance from Blonde Twintails.
After all, she needed the other party to forge a student ID for her.
If she refused to let Blonde Twintails see her face, how was the other party supposed to provide her with a complete student ID?

“It's really you…
This scares me quite a bit.
Why do you want to sneak into the Royal Magic Tower with a forged ID?” Blonde Twintails' eyes widened when she heard Alice's answer.
She didn't think that the like-minded friend she met online would actually be the popular Gryffin Princess who had suddenly appeared two months ago.
“With your status, couldn't you easily get into the Royal Magic Tower so long as you asked? I doubt the Rhine Kingdom will refuse such a simple request.”

Not only would they not refuse me, but they'll even welcome me with open arms, Alice mentally retorted.

Alice naturally knew that the Rhine King would gladly let her enter the Royal Magic Tower should she ask him.
After all, she wasn't just the Gryffin Kingdom's princess but also the Hero of this era.

However, it was precisely because she was the Hero that she didn't want to let the Rhine King know about her visit to the Royal Magic Tower.
Otherwise, her every action in the tower would be put under close observation.

…

TL Notes:

The “Attributes” in the chapter title “Clash of Attributes” is a reference to the novel/anime OreTwi (Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu / Gonna be the Twin-Tail!!).
There is something called a “twintail attribute” in the series.