The triplets were: Klein, in predominantly orange, Kleinn, in predominantly bubblegum pink, and Kleiny in predominantly cyan. They were three adorably short and small clown girls who messed around with the more typical clown-like activities, such as making animal balloons, making people laugh by pretending to fall, standing on each other’s shoulders, and putting on a coat to pretend to be a single person… They were rather involved in activities and were capable of playing games with children.

  Their area was the more typical playrooms with the slides, ballpits, and the like. Although I still believed that Braunlili was the most complicated out of the bunch, making these three as small and cute as they are while still making sure they could fulfil complicated functions–Which extended beyond just playing and being funny gals. They were directly in the place where children would be most of the time, so naturally, they had security responsibilities as well…

  Fitting all the necessary components inside their rather lithe mechanical bodies had not been easy, but I had managed, and the final result was something I was very proud of. Despite their small size, the triplets were very tough–I couldn’t let them be anything but that since they were going to be interacting directly and constantly with children… Spawnlings weren’t reputed for being gentle. They were senseless destroyers with thoughts on the same level as a wild animal for the most part.

  In any case, the last two automatons were the very first customers would see when entering, if they just so happened to look on their right–The present givers, the dynamic twin duo… Magie and Fluch! Formerly known as Pastel Red and Pastel Blue, they had a very different design philosophy compared to the rest.

  They were basically Jacks-In-The-Box, dressed in ample clown clothes with ruffs around their neck and a triangular hat on their head. I had been far less concerned with making them look human compared to the rest of the band. They were lanky, being especially thin and with smaller heads. They still used the same skin-like outer shell as the rest, though, allowing for a range of emotions on their faces.

  These two sisters were actually quite tall. They were taller than me, in fact… And despite being Jacks-In-The-Box, they did have legs and could walk around just fine despite their thinness. They could look a bit scary with their odd proportions, but most of that was hidden away, since they basically floated in their garments.

  Alright then, everyone is doing just fine. The various ‘systems’ were also fully operational, the location was impeccable, and the food had been stocked in advance. Everything was perfect.

  Elowen was the first to show up, arriving in advance, already wearing her work uniform. Which was basically a regular, but colourful suit worn with chainmail underneath, alongside a gambeson-like layer. The tomboy looked very good in it.

  “I am sure you’ll get hit on plenty like this”

  “Uwah… I’m not sure I can handle being flirted with, Mara…”

  “What? Don’t tell me none of the other knight trainees tried to charm you. You were probably one of, if not the only, girls around, and you are gorgeous! I know the type of men in there, there are plenty of the types that like to get stepped on–Literally. No way they didn’t hit on you”

  “...Well… The instructors told everyone not to mess with me because they were scared that they would have to deal with you if something bad happened, since you recommended me and all…”

  “Huh. The instructors are still scared of me after so long? I always knew that they were wimps. Well, anyway… I’ll brief you on how to deal with men trying to seduce you. Just remember: You can always hit them in the solar plexus with your pommel”

  The next person to show up was Mari, who also came quite early. My assistant seemed quite joyful about this–Of course, she was. Mari was going to be the only assistant in this location where I was the boss, so she would get to spend a lot of time alone with me. This was exactly what she wanted.

  She probably wasn’t even thinking about her raise.

  In any case, the rest of the employees showed up on time, and soon, once the sun had risen, I could already see customers arriving. The news of this new opening has been actively advertised for a while now. So the loyal customers and many other curious souls decided to come by and check this out.

  The looks of wonder and surprise as they stepped in and saw what Glown’s Wonderland had to offer were heartwarming. There frankly isn’t much else to say–The opening was a smash hit, and the location made an absolutely ludicrous amount of money. Not one customer was left dissatisfied. The future was looking impressively bright. Everything was looking bright for the first time in a while.

  The only downside was that Leton wasn’t here to see it.

  As the end of the day neared, most of the employees went back home, including Elowen, who had a very good job keeping the drunkards and suspicious folks out of the building. Mari and I had to stay behind, however. The job of night watcher was going to be filled in by me for a while, but today, the two of us needed to go through much paperwork–We had gathered many subscriptions for the daycare already.

  Many parents had been seduced by what we had to offer, and also by the fact that, despite the place being incredibly high-end and refined, the prices I offered were actually quite low.

  This was the magic of having lots of revenue sources and a grotesque stash of coins. I could absolutely screw over other businesses by having low prices. Not that it would cause any loss for me, with how many people were already willing to enrol their children into this.

  I could thank Weissecilia for being an absolute darling. Her gentle nature with the children who had interacted with her had been a big part of why so many parents were willing to trust me with running a daycare–I suppose they were less suspicious of an automaton than a real person when it came to paying attention to their offspring.

  The fact that I already had a good reputation also helped…

  Anyway, before actually getting through the abundance of paperwork, I told Mari to take a break as I myself decided to go for a walk and breathe some fresh air after today. I had spent my day looking everywhere in case there was even a single, small problem on top of talking with customers and giving directives to employees. I had been stressing myself over all of this, so I needed to unwind a little bit.

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  The air was cold enough for my breath to be visible. The sun had not yet dipped below the horizon, but sunlight was beginning to grow fainter, and it had rained recently. The ground shimmered as my steps would sometimes disturb puddles.

  I walked past a stand selling some newspapers. I wasn’t one to actually buy any, but my eyes were drawn to something written on one. It wasn’t the main title and was in a small box, but somehow, I immediately noticed it.

  How the hell had I not been told about this? Was the information given to the journalists before the court? What a bunch of vultures…

  The widow of the genius of machines, Leton Nebulo, claims that her husband did not die a natural death, but was instead assassinated by his own twin sister, Mara Nebulo! The widow told us that her husband’s will was most likely fabricated as well, so as to ensure that his sister would receive absolutely everything!

  I picked up the newspaper, staring at it.

  “Excuse me, Ma’am, but you need to buy to read i-”

  I shifted my gaze to the vendor.

  “...I apologise. I didn’t mean to disturb you”

  I must have given him a death glare as he paled and backed off like he was being actively threatened. I dropped the newspaper and walked away.

  My pace accelerated as I quickly swung by my house to retrieve the gift Maarkus had given me on my birthday–The gift had been a sword. A very fine blade…

  I fastened it in its sheath to my waist and headed straight for where Eleanori lived. At least, that was the plan, but just in front of the despicable woman’s house, I found a sad-looking little girl instead.

  My anger lessened as she looked at me with trembling eyes.

  “Aunty Mara?”

  “Hey there, Saltina… What are you doing out there at this hour? It’s a bit cold to be playing so late, don’t you think?”

  From inside the house, I heard distant shouting. Not a word could be made out, but it was clear that Eleanori and Joffi were yelling–I thought it was at each other, but…

  “Mommy and Daddy are shouting at someone…”

  “And you went outside so that you didn’t have to hear it?”

  “...Yes”

  I tapped the top of her head with my palm.

  “Don’t worry about it. Is the door unlocked? I am going to make them lower their tone”

  With a few steps forward, I headed for the front door.

  “Aunty Mara… Daddy keeps saying that Papa died because I was born, and that… And that if I hadn’t been born, we would be rich… I don’t get it! How could it be my fault? They say that I made him sad”

  My hand froze as I was about to grab the handle.

  “It’s not my fault! And Mommy never says anything to defend me! It wasn’t my fault!”

  “...Why do you call him Papa? Leton isn’t your father”

  “I… I don’t know… Mommy told me to do it…”

  I retracted my hand and looked to the side at Saltina.

  “Your dad is mean to you, but your mom… She loves you, doesn’t she?”

  “Of course! But she is always focused on something else… I don’t know what”

  She didn’t tell her? I would have expected Eleanori to vilify me to her daughter. Seems like Eleanori actually cares for her second offspring, unlike the first.

  …I stared down at Saltina.

  “You know what? If you don’t like them yelling, why don’t you spend some time at your aunt’s place?”

  Saltina smiled.

  “Sure! I’ll go tell-”

  I stopped her.

  “No need to tell them, I’ll take care of it, and it probably isn’t a good idea while they are yelling, don’t you think? Let’s go right now, and I’ll cook you something to eat. My cuisine is reputed all over the continent”

  ___

  Cro gsvv lo sx loddob rkxnc gsdr wo. Nyx'd iye gybbi, Ovokxybs.

  ___

  I found myself back at the restaurant.

  “Miss Nebulo? Did something happen? You were gone for longer than I expected”

  “Everything is alright. No need to worry, Mari…”

  “But… You seem a little weird… Are you sure it’s fine?”

  I looked at Mari. Her genuine eyes of worry were quite something. I was lucky to have her. She was a good friend.

  I…

  “You know what? This walk was anything but relaxing on my nerves. I think I am more stressed than when I left earlier”

  “You really don’t sound like normal, Miss Nebulo… Maybe it would be best if you rested for a while? I can take care of the paperwork”

  I covered my face with one hand and sighed. I needed to do something to decompress… Mmh… After all, why not? I might as well go for it at this point.

  “Mari”

  “Yes?”

  With a light motion, I pushed her against the wall of the office, and before she could process what had happened, I grabbed her face and pressed my lips against hers. She made a muffled sound as I invaded her mouth, grabbing my wrist with one hand and hitting my shoulder with the other.

  She turned completely red before managing to push me away, which wasn’t too difficult since I wasn’t trying to resist… Mari breathed heavily as though I had been suffocating her.

  Despite pushing me off, she didn’t make any move to leave and continued to hold onto me as I thought deeply.

  …I guess it wasn’t too bad. She is quite soft and enjoyable, but… I know for sure that I am indeed not into women. It didn’t evoke anything else within me other than the enjoyment of the physical contact.

  Oh, well… That is enough for loveless me, I suppose. That should be enough until I find myself a man.

  I pinched her cheek.

  “That wasn’t too bad. Come on, let’s deal with the paperwork now…”

  “M-Miss Nebulo…”

  “Just call me Mara”