Chapter 144: The White Mouse, Spoon

"Wait! Are you saying Steel Wool is also female?"

Lan Qingyou, who had been about to retort, suddenly felt that Gu Xiaobei's words carried a hidden meaning and asked in return.

"Yeah. Isn't it true that snowy owls with mixed-color feathers are female, and the pure white ones are male? The kind that gets whiter as they grow older."

"Ah!"

"Huh?"

Lan Qingyou and Gu Xiaobei stared at each other in wide-eyed silence.

'Wait, the Monster Bestiary didn't mention this at all. Or does it mean...'

The more Lan Qingyou heard, the more confused she became.

"Is this knowledge from Blue Star?"

"Yeah."

Alright then...

Lan Qingyou scratched her head. She genuinely knew nothing about this subject. However, there were differences between Blue Star and the Kalim Continent after all. She would find out if the creature was female once it reached adulthood.

Didn't Gu Xiaobei say that the older they got, the fewer mixed colors they had?

"By the way, you still haven't decided on a name for this little guy. I guess Macho is the winner, right?"

"No... I suddenly thought of a great name."

Lan Qingyou decisively raised a hand, shutting down Gu Xiaobei's sales pitch.

"What is it?"

Faced with Gu Xiaobei's pressing question, Lan Qingyou's eyes darted around before landing on a certain utensil resting on the prep table.

"Let's call it Spoon. After all, it's a monster that can find good treasures for me, just like eating a sweet and satisfying watermelon with a spoon."

While trying to persuade Gu Xiaobei, Lan Qingyou was also trying to convince herself.

The reasoning was undeniably a stretch, but surprisingly, it somehow made perfect sense.

"Alright, Spoon sounds pretty good too."

'Hey!'

'You gave up that quickly?!'

'What happened to Macho? Aren't you going to insist a little more?'

Lan Qingyou silently scoffed at Gu Xiaobei's quick compromise. Then, picking up Spoon, she headed out of the kitchen.

After washing her hands, Gu Xiaobei went back to work.

Lan Qingyou had her roast leg of lamb, Steel Wool got sliced beef, and even Spoon, who had joined passively, was given a plate of nuts for its meal.

If it had the choice, the white mouse did not want to eat; it wanted to leave.

But the fierce, predatory glare from Steel Wool nearby left it completely paralyzed.

An entire night of harsh lessons had made it profoundly aware that escaping the clutches of this great demon king was impossible.

It was neither as fast nor as strong as the owl.

Thus, it had no choice but to stuff the bitter nuts into its mouth, one by one.

Every almond swallowed brought a pang of heartache.

Nobody knew how the others felt about the meal, but Lan Qingyou thoroughly enjoyed it, while Spoon ate in utter misery.

"Are you heading out, Boss?"

Having finished her meal, Lan Qingyou let out a satisfied burp. She wiped the chili and cumin powder from the corners of her mouth with a napkin and grabbed the Magic Broom leaning nearby, preparing to leave.

Suddenly, Gu Xiaobei appeared silently in front of her.

At this moment, she was the only one left dining in the restaurant; everyone else had eaten and left early.

After all, staying behind wouldn't bring them any benefits from Lan Qingyou.

Of course, the most important reason was because of Gu Xiaobei.

If a dispute were to break out in the restaurant, they would lose their source of cheap, delicious food.

Dining in the restaurant cost only half the price of buying food from the Exchange.

"Yeah."

Seeing the head chef approach, Lan Qingyou didn't hide her intentions.

She was currently in a rush to head to the Abandoned Ruins.

All jokes aside, wherever a Treasure Hunting Rat roamed, there had to be treasure.

Although Spoon was likely caught by Sherlock, it was undeniable that the ruins were vast. As the place where they had crossed paths, there might just be some good stuff waiting for her.

"Um..."

Seeing Lan Qingyou about to leave, Gu Xiaobei hesitated, opening her mouth but stopping herself.

"Given our relationship, just say it. There's no need to be so coy."

Gu Xiaobei's behavior made Lan Qingyou chuckle. This girl definitely wasn't this bashful online.

Sure enough, meeting up in real life still took some getting used to, right?

Even if she had pretended not to care earlier.

In truth, Lan Qingyou felt the same way; she was just better at faking it.

"Um, Boss, you managed to make paper tissues, right? Have you figured out how to make sanitary napkins?"

"Huh?!"

Prompted by Gu Xiaobei's question, Lan Qingyou suddenly realized that something was off.

It wasn't that Gu Xiaobei asking for sanitary pads was strange, but rather that ever since she arrived in this world, she hadn't had her period even once.

Thus, she had never paid attention to it, practically forgetting about the matter entirely.

People online used to say that a woman's body would automatically halt menstruation in extreme environments, but her current situation wasn't exactly extreme.

At the very least, compared to most people, she was living incredibly comfortably, so she could rule out that theory.

Then why hadn't she gotten her period?

It couldn't possibly be because magic power had modified her body, right?

Hahaha, no way, right...?

...

...

Lan Qingyou could no longer laugh.

Because that possibility was actually very high.

After all, according to the research done by Tarot Manor, their bodies had already been modified by the magic power in the air upon crossing over, adapting them to survive in the surrounding magical environment.

It wasn't impossible that even her menstrual cycle had been altered.

But why was she the only one experiencing this, while Gu Xiaobei still needed sanitary napkins?

"U-Um... Boss, please don't stare at me like that."

Lan Qingyou had been pondering an academic question, while Gu Xiaobei mistakenly thought she was being stared down. However, the nervous plea managed to pull Lan Qingyou out of her thoughts.

"Oh, right! Sanitary napkins. No problem at all, that's a piece of cake."

Lan Qingyou smiled, then instructed Gu Xiaobei to get ready.

She didn't use her Card to look for Shang Chuan. Instead, she had Gu Xiaobei contact him through the Magic Desk.

This method was much faster and more convenient.

Naturally, this also included the transmission of physical supplies.

"Moonrise Bamboo. The paper made from this type of bamboo is significantly better than that made from other bamboos or reeds. Most importantly, it is highly absorbent, even far more so than regular Cotton."

"Using this kind of paper to substitute for a sanitary napkin shouldn't be a problem, but if you want actual tampons, there's probably nothing I can do."

Kneeling on the floor, Lan Qingyou explained to Gu Xiaobei while drawing an Alchemy Array on the ground with a charcoal pencil the chef had brought over.

In truth, she had already experimented with this bamboo during her previous paper-making attempts.

However, because its properties weren't suited for writing or wiping—Lan Qingyou's original goals—she had immediately discarded the idea.

She hadn't expected it to actually come in handy for something like this.

Making paper was not a difficult task for Lan Qingyou. With the necessary materials and an Alchemy Array prepared, she crafted over a hundred kilograms of it for Gu Xiaobei in mere minutes.

As for Gu Xiaobei, she was visibly thrilled, seeing an Alchemy Array and Alchemy in action for the very first time.

This was Alchemy!

Although she had heard about it all the time and had been constantly using Lan Qingyou's products.

This was her first time witnessing and observing it from such a close distance. She was so excited that she was practically jumping for joy.

However, judging from Boss Lan's movements, it seemed her legs truly were paralyzed.

'How pitiful...'

'But she looks incredibly cool.'