The Tale of Hero Alice’s Social Death

After parting ways with Lilith, Alice did not return home right away. Instead, she arrived near Lilith's house while carrying a bag in her hand.

When they switched to chit-chatting just now, Lilith had briefly asked about the bag's contents. In response, Alice lied and said, "It's underwear I just bought." Upon hearing that the bag held Alice's private belongings, Lilith naturally dismissed any thoughts of looking into the bag.

In reality, though, what the bag contained was a custom-made figurine box. The box was even enhanced by a simple gravity-stabilizing spell to ensure the figurine inside would always stay in place and wouldn't get damaged due to bumping or swaying. Although it definitely cost a lot to manufacture such a box, KG Company still gave one to Alice.

Normally, such gravity magic would mainly be used on transportation tools. Even if the gravity magic used on the figurine box was a simplified version, adding it to a box was a considerably challenging feat. However, KG Company must have been worried about damaging the princess's custom-made figurine, so they prepared this box to ensure its safety.

Anyway, it should be obvious by now what Alice was trying to do. Indeed, she was trying to swap out Andusia with the new Hikari figurine she had KG Company make for her. From her conversation with Lilith, Alice learned that Lilith had other matters she needed to deal with after they parted ways and was unlikely to return home immediately. In addition, Alice also noticed that when they parted ways, Lilith did not leave in the direction of her house but in some other direction instead. So, knowing Lilith wasn't home right now, Alice wanted to use this opportunity to recover Andusia.

Like always, Alice concealed herself using her magic robe's Mana Concealment and snuck into Lilith's home using the same way she did previously. And sure enough, the only person in Lilith's home was Andusia, who wore a bored expression as she lay flat on her back in a figurine cabinet in Lilith's room.

Although Andusia could freely move around while Lilith wasn't home, she dared not do anything risky such as playing with Lilith's computer. After all, one mistake could lead her to get discovered. So, she could only lie down in the cabinet and let her thoughts wander.

Fortunately, Andusia had already grown used to such a situation during the past several thousand years she had spent in a soul-like state. So, a few weeks of boredom wasn't enough to make her go crazy. Or, more specifically, it wasn't enough to make her go crazy again.

"Andusia? Are you awake?"

Alice couldn't help but get the urge to laugh when she saw Andusia's lifeless expression through the glass cabinet. The poor Demon King was not only forced to live as a figurine, but she was also deprived of all forms of entertainment.

"Oh. You're here." Andusia sighed when she saw Alice. Then, she sat up in the cabinet, pushed open the glass door, and jumped out of it. Then, she looked at Alice and asked, "Did you come across another problem you need to ask me about?"

"I'm not here to ask you questions. I'm here to bring you away," Alice said, chuckling. Then, she opened the bag in her hand and revealed a translucent figurine box. Meanwhile, suspended in the middle of the box was a figurine with the exact same appearance as Andusia. Or, more specifically, it was a figurine that looked exactly like the anime character Magical Girl Hikari. The figurine was even making the same pose as Andusia made in front of Lilith.

However, anyone could easily tell that this Hikari figurine was made of wood. It was different from Andusia, whose skin felt like real human skin to the touch. If Alice were to use this figurine to take Andusia's place in its current state, Lilith would quickly notice that her precious figurine had been switched.

"Is this…Living Wood?"

Andusia could naturally tell the "artificialness" of the figurine in the box. However, her senses also told her that this figurine was made of an extraordinary material. Then, she looked at Alice in surprise and said in amazement:

"This is a surprise. How did you do it? I would assume that the relationship between humans and treants has reached a freezing point with how developed human civilization has become already. How did you convince the treants to part with their Living Wood?"

Andusia didn't think Alice could successfully acquire a block of Living Wood from the treants. After all, she had tried all sorts of ways to get a block from the treants in the past. It was only after she had run out of means that she resorted to using physical persuasion.

However, Andusia was familiar with Alice's personality, so she knew it was highly unlikely Alice would resort to robbing the treants like a bandit. Maybe the girl would resort to trickery to achieve her goal, but she definitely wouldn't resort to using brute force, especially not against someone who hadn't offended her.

Hence, Andusia quickly reached a conclusion in her mind.

"Did the treants offend you?"

Alice might not rob the treants if they didn't offend her, but it was a different story if they did offend her. After all, Alice was someone who wouldn't mind using violence to achieve her goals. Take Miriya Hampar, for example. Alice had killed the Eighth Demon King without hesitation, showing no tender or protective feelings for the fairer sex.

Not to mention, the treants were a bunch of literal blockheads. They did not match the beauty standards of humans and demons, so they didn't even have the qualifications for Alice to show tender or protective feelings for them.

"Can you not put me on the same level as you? I got the Living Wood through doing proper business with the treants," Alice said. She could naturally tell what Andusia was implying with her words. "After all is said and done, I am still the Hero. Isn't it normal for me to ask for compensation for my work?"

"Heh. The Hero, huh?" Andusia sneered at Alice mercilessly. "Apart from being able to use the Hero's Sword normally, I can't see any similarities between you and the other Heroes."

"I'm not going to take you away if you keep speaking nonsense.'

Alice's mouth twitched a little at Andusia's comment. What Andusia said was true. She was very much different from a real Hero. After all, the real Hero of this generation was busy working as a spy in the demon realm for humanity's future without the slightest bit of dissatisfaction.

In contrast, the things Alice had been doing while bearing the title of Hero were rather…questionable. If it wasn't because she could wield the Hero's Sword, an indicator she had received God's recognition, it wouldn't be strange even if the human realm's inhabitants regarded her as the Demon King.

"Anyway, help me prepare some fragmented souls," Alice said as she took out the Living Wood figurine from its box and placed it on the table next to Andusia. "But the only soul spell I know is one I learned last minute in the Royal Magic Tower. Moreover, to save time, I didn't choose a taboo-level one and opted for the simplest one instead."

Although Alice possessed great talent, she still needed some time to learn a taboo. Not to mention, she would also need to take time to familiarize herself with the taboo. So, since she was short on time, she decided to learn the simplest soul spell she could find in the Royal Magic Tower's library.

"What spell did you learn?"

Search bit.ly/3Tfs4P4 for the original.

Andusia didn't mind that Alice didn't learn a soul taboo. Living Wood might change its characteristics based on the soul inhabiting it, but it didn't have any particular requirements for souls to inhabit it. Even if they haphazardly stuck in a bunch of fragmented souls, the Living Wood would automatically select the best characteristics to match the fragmented souls.

"It's a spell called Soul's Return," Alice answered truthfully. After all, Andusia could be considered her senior. She had already realized her lack of experience at Gunst's place, so if Andusia asked her something, she would just answer honestly. "It seems to be a spell the Royal Magic Tower teaches to second-year high school students. The spell allows the user to manipulate an incomplete soul and attach it to an object. It should work for our purposes, right?"

"Soul's Return… What a coincidence. I have heard of this spell before," Andusia said, her mouth twitching a little. Then, looking at Alice with a gloomy expression, she continued, "You…learned the spell without even bothering to read its introduction, right? Do you know what this spell is used for?"