Probably because she had rested the entire afternoon yesterday, Lily woke up early when dawn was just breaking.
"Anna-oneesama! Lily can get out of bed and walk by herself now."
"Your leg injuries haven't completely healed yet. Don't do any strenuous exercise. If you need anything, just tell me anytime and I'll bring it to you. Also..."
Being this nagging really isn't my style.
I followed behind Lily, feeling like an old nanny watching a baby take their first wobbly steps.
Both of Lily's legs were injured, making movement quite inconvenient. Yesterday I had to carry Lily to the bathroom. In just two short days, Lily had recovered from an arrow to the knee plus multiple fractures to being barely able to get out of bed and walk—a miraculous recovery rate by real-world standards. (TN: Skyrim reference.)
The injury recovery speed and disease healing rate on the Lemoria continent have always been much faster than reality. Players also get injured and sick, but who would want to keep playing if they had to lie in bed for ten days or half a month? Therefore, all characters have unnaturally magical recovery speeds, and NPCs' rates are similarly boosted, seemingly as a balance measure to prevent players from using skills like "bone breaking" for repeated guerrilla tactics.
That said, Lily's recovery was significantly accelerated by my medical skills and magic. At this rate of development, Lily would be completely transformed in less than a week.
"Lily, many adventurers will be visiting today. You can't stay like this."
Although Lily's petite body was wrapped in many bandages, that ultimately couldn't be considered clothing. A loli wearing only bear-patterned panties was really too lewd... oh no, really too dangerous. If this were a manga, Lily's outfit would be frantically testing the boundaries of censorship.
"So, shall we put on new clothes?"
I took out the little dress I had designed for Lily early on and revised several times.
While I don't like wearing cute little dresses myself, I quite enjoyed sewing little dresses for this delicate and soft loli. This couldn't be criticized with "don't do unto others what you wouldn't want done to yourself"—it's the same logic as adolescent boys liking beautiful girls but not wanting to become beautiful girls themselves.
Lily nodded obediently.
I had rich experience dressing my master, but dressing a loli was a first.
Lily wasn't very skilled at wearing luxurious clothing—even the underwear stumped her for quite a while. Lily, who had been wandering before, had never worn them and always went commando. At first Lily found it awkward, but she quickly adapted to the comfortable cotton fabric.
"There... all done. Come here~"
I brought out a mirror and placed it in front of Lily, reflecting her graceful figure.
The outfit I designed for Lily was a typical Lolita-style dress. Calling it "design" was generous—having [Tailoring] at Lv. Max grants access to numerous clothing design templates. All I did was select a style suitable for Lily from the clothing library and sew it. Innovation wasn't impossible, but that would require actual artistic talent.
The outfit was based on sweet, light colors, with a gauze butterfly bow at the collar, puffy sleeves on both sides, and lace trim embedded at the hem and skirt edges. If she attended a noble's ball, Lily would undoubtedly become the princess who was the center of attention. She merely turned once in front of the mirror, and the exquisite dress with its flying hem made her look like an exquisite little fairy.
Her leg injuries hadn't healed yet, otherwise adding white thigh-high stockings would complete the look. For extra points, I could also elaborate on Lily's hairstyle.
Lily touched her delicate face, and the fairy princess in the mirror did the same.
She extended her tender palm, but unfortunately the cute person in the mirror made the same motion, though all Lily could touch was the cold mirror surface.
"Anna-onee-sama... this..."
"The one and only Lily."
Lily still seemed unable to believe it—she had never worn such luxurious clothing.
If there was anything that fell short of perfection... it was probably that her curtsy was very crude.
I should find an opportunity to teach Lily proper ladylike etiquette.
This thought came naturally to me, though I felt a strong sense of incongruity somewhere.
...What's a man like me doing teaching ladylike etiquette?!
After pausing for over ten seconds, I finally realized what was wrong.
"This dress was custom-made by me for Lily. If Lily has any preferences or favorites, you can tell me anytime."
"But... does Lily really have the right to... dress up like..."
"Of course." I ruffled Lily's beautiful golden hair. "They were designed precisely to dress up cute girls like Lily."
Lily's pretty face turned slightly red as she shyly lowered her head.
—Thump!
Quite mood-breaking, a dull sound came from the adjacent room.
"Don't be afraid, Lily. That's... a lost kitten."
"Oh, oh..."
"By the way, has Lily ever seen an elf?"
"An elf...?"
"A race with pointed ears who are very beautiful."
I gestured to indicate elven characteristics, and Lily thought seriously for a moment.
"Maybe when... when begging... I might have seen one..."
It appeared Lily didn't have any familiarity with elves.
I was worried that directly bringing Lily to identify the culprit might trigger bad memories, but from Lily's reaction, she was like ordinary people in the Kingdom of Michel—not very familiar with elves from distant Midgard.
Just what identity did that elf girl have?