After the arrival of the Deep Sea Age, humans are not the only intelligent races that have survived from the old world and established city-state civilizations. In addition to humans, there are also three races: Jipros, Senjins and elves living in this world.
developing their own civilizations.
This is knowledge written in Nina's textbook. Duncan has already known it, and he has been very interested in these "foreign races" mentioned in the textbook from a long time ago, especially the elves - this always appears.
In various fantasy stories, races with mysterious auras actually exist in this world, which once made him full of curiosity.
The illustration in Nina's textbook once described the appearance of the elf to Duncan. The illustration was the same as the elf in his impression, with long pointed ears, a slender figure, and a beautiful appearance. It was so beautiful that it was almost impossible to distinguish between male and female.
This directly allowed him to establish his initial impression of the "elves" in this world: a long-lived species with a lifespan of up to a thousand years, generally very good-looking, elegant and mysterious.
And in his rough initial impression, it seemed that there was no outline of the aging appearance of elves with a thousand-year lifespan... He did not even think that this race would have the same appearance changes after aging as humans.
But now he knows that his understanding of the "elves" in this world is too superficial.
The owner of this "Rose Doll House" is an elf, a chubby old elf woman with a kind smile - except for her iconic pointed ears and green pupils, as well as the faintly discernible beauty of her youth between her eyebrows.
Other than that, she looks just like an ordinary old lady next door.
It's impolite to stare at others.
Duncan reacted quickly, quickly withdrew his overly curious and prying eyes, and touched his chin with some embarrassment: "This is the first time I have seen an elf."
He was not worried that his "ignorance" would be exposed, because elves were indeed rarely seen in the city-state of Pland.
Each major race has its own city-state, and due to the inconvenience of transportation in the Deep Sea Age, most civilians rarely leave their homeland in their lives. Only brave ocean explorers and caravans shuttle between city-states, and they are just passers-by, almost
They will not settle down in a city-state of a different race - this is true for all major city-states, and more than 99% of the residents are "main ethnic groups".
A person who lives in his own city-state and rarely goes out will probably never see the "foreigners" living on the other side of the city.
"This is normal," the old elf lady laughed. "The total number of elves in this city is probably less than a hundred, including the dozen who have been working in the Institute of Mathematics for two hundred years.
Squatting at home before going out—is there anything I can do to help?”
After listening to the old woman's reminder, Duncan finally realized his original purpose. He looked back at the dolls crowded in the window, counter and stair space, and said while thinking: "I want to buy some dolls.
Things, and if possible, I would also like to ask some questions related to the dolls... But as soon as I came in, I was spoiled for choice."
"Oh, it seems that you are a 'novice'," the old woman nodded, "Is it a female doll? Is it your own collection, or..."
"Women, I 'collected' myself," Duncan replied casually, but as soon as he finished speaking, he felt something was weird, and the corner of his mouth trembled subconsciously, "Isn't this a weird hobby?"
In the end, it was okay if he didn't ask, but it felt even weirder when he asked...
"Of course it's not surprising. Collecting and taking care of dolls is a tasteful interest." The old woman didn't react at all. This was probably due to the well-informed experience accumulated from running a shop that has been running for hundreds of years. "You want to give yourself
Do you want to add some clothes or accessories to the doll?”
Duncan thought for a while: "Let's get a wig first..."
"Here," the old woman led Duncan to a corner of the store, and asked at the same time, "What size is the doll? Four points? Or three points?"
Duncan: "...As big as a human being."
The old woman's footsteps paused unconsciously, and she turned her head: "This... is rare. A doll as big as a real person? I guess it's worth a lot of money, right?"
"...Actually, I'm not sure how much she is 'worth'," Duncan tried to keep a straight face while enduring the awkward feeling in his heart, "It was given as a gift..."
"Then it seems that you have a friend who spends a lot of money," the old woman smiled, and as she spoke, she opened a wooden box near the circular counter and placed the contents on the counter next to her. "A large-sized person
It's rare to see it, and there are even fewer matching items, but they are all here - wigs and hair accessories."
Duncan coughed twice and muttered as he leaned over: "I don't know if he is rich or not, but he is a captain anyway... This matter is quite complicated."
His eyes fell on the things the old woman took out.
The workmanship is exquisite and well taken care of. It is obvious that the maker put a lot of effort into it.
He carefully selected them, and at the same time imagined Alice wearing these things in his mind, and then he couldn't stop thinking about it halfway through.
...The elegant, beautiful and mysterious cursed doll will one day become bald and have to rely on a wig to survive. The sense of violation brought by this matter is so serious that even he himself can't bear it.
Fortunately, he came up with it himself.
But soon Duncan had a sudden change of heart, and with the intention of persecuting everyone until the end, he chose the one he liked...
A gorgeous blonde wig with matching silver hair accessories.
Yes, silver hair accessories - as a luxury item that only the upper class is qualified to have access to, the accessories that come with the doll are really not cheap at all!
Looking at the wig set in front of him, Duncan couldn't help but start to imagine what Alice's reaction would be after receiving these things... That fool might cry in his arms, or he might turn around and run away, just like everyone who faces their fate when it comes to hair volume.
Like everyone else, this requires a little psychological adaptation process, but no matter how Alice reacts when the time comes, he himself is already starting to feel happy.
In the process of selecting things, he said casually: "By the way, can I ask about some things about the maintenance of the dolls?"
"Of course," the old woman smiled kindly, "Dolls need careful care."
"Just... what should I do if the doll's joints are often loose?" Duncan gestured while organizing his words, "It's mainly the ball joint where the neck and head are connected. I don't know why it's loose, and the head always falls off."
"Wear and deformation of the ball head and bowl will lead to loosening of the joints - if it is not due to later neglect or violent treatment, then the initial design or material is substandard," the old woman said immediately, "If it has reached the point where it often falls off
If it's down to the point where ordinary repairs are ineffective, you can consider replacing the joint directly."
She thought about this for a while and then added: "However, it is not easy to replace the joints of a large doll. You may not be able to do it yourself. You can bring the doll over and I can help replace it - only the parts are charged.
"
After hearing this, Duncan thought about it and felt that this was not very reliable.
Alice's "Guillotine" ability is secondary, mainly because Anomaly 099 is no ordinary doll! Are her joints replaceable?
When the time came, I told her that I was going to the city-state for surgery and that my neck would have to be completely removed and replaced with a new one. She might turn around and run away...
So Duncan brushed off the topic, and then asked about the techniques for hair transplantation on dolls...
The old lady who owned the shop patiently explained a lot of things to him. After the explanation, she added: "...to hear what you mean, your doll is the one with its own hair. If this kind of doll has hair transplanted later, it will be fine."
Unless the producer does it himself, it will be difficult to achieve the perfect state. In addition, you just said that her head joints already have problems, so I suggest that you directly make a new head sculpt..."
Duncan: "..."
The old lady who owned the shop was quite enthusiastic: "Based on your reaction, do you think you are reluctant? Please rest assured that our shop's craftsmanship has always been very good. We have never let customers down for hundreds of years, and none of our old customers have complained..."
Duncan thought to himself that the old lady's "old customers" might not even be able to find their bones now, so how could anyone come to complain, but he definitely couldn't say this out loud, so he had to smile awkwardly and find an excuse to deal with it.
: "That's not so, the main thing is... her head has been changed, so she's not her anymore, right?"
He just said it casually, but he didn't expect that the old lady's eyes suddenly lit up, and her smile became more sincere than before: "Ah, your idea is really not simple. Many people only treat dolls as objects, even if they like them
, and few people think like you do."
Duncan felt a little embarrassed for a moment: "Ahem, I'm a little embarrassed to say this..."
"I'm telling the truth," the old lady sighed, "Puppets need to be taken care of carefully. The moment they are given human form, they should no longer be treated as dead objects. There is a relationship between puppet masters.
There is a saying - dolls that are treated with care have their own souls, you should even think that they have their own joys and sorrows..."
Alice's harmless "hehe" suddenly appeared in Duncan's mind, and he nodded repeatedly: "You're right, you're right."