"This one hasn't instantly crumbled, so that's progress," I clap Hotel on the back and the moment I do, the newly created building falls apart, "keyword being 'instantly' here."

I've used a skill that should make most people unable to see the absolute hellish feat of architecture Hotel is currently making, but I'm not confident it's perfectly safe. My UM has been so messy recently that some skills are just unavailable, and I have no guarantee the ones that are usable will function correctly.

Unsurprisingly, the "houses" Hotel has built are mostly...well, Hotel hallways. They actually used very little experience when they made the first one, and then they just reshaped the same hallway over and over. If practice makes perfect, then Hotel is surely the best at making this specific hallway.

Unfortunately, Houses aren't just made out of hallways, and the building often falls apart soon after it's made. Hotel is having fun at least, they jump up and down every time they make a little progress, and they don't mind the failures that much. I admire their determination considering we've been doing this for ten hours now, but then again they probably spent way longer doing just that in their own universe, so a couple of hours must be nothing to them.

"Alright, that's enough for today, the caretaker will get worried if we don't go back to the orphanage before noon," I dust myself off and tap Hotel on the shoulder, they get the message and follow me on my way through the slums. A lot of buildings have already been rebuilt, which is pretty impressive considering how little time has passed, I just hope the construction workers haven't half-assed the houses just so they could go home early.

Who am I kidding, of course they did, who wouldn't when it's probably going to get destroyed by another magical beam in the following week. It's a slum too, so it's not like the houses are really known for their durability. At first I was wondering why they didn't build apartment complexes to save space, but one well-placed pink explosion would make the whole structure fall apart, so I get why no one would bother. If the houses are spread around, then it means that friendly fire is going to destroy less things in one go.

After a few detours due to my poor sense of direction and getting distracted by a cool butterfly--mostly the latter--we arrive to the orphanage, I get a few greetings from the kids that somehow have already taken a liking to me, I don't know why as I only take care of Hotel and no one else, but maybe they just get attached easily.

I make my way to the kitchen, letting Hotel play with the other kids, this time I'm actually keeping track of them with a skill. It's not that I fully trust them to act on their own, but Hotel has been acting nice enough that I don't think they are going to accidentally kill a kid over a misunderstanding.

I can see Provoj and the caretaker talking with each other as they do the dishes, the kitchen is basically where the adults hang out, although some kids occasionally show up to grab something from the fridge.

"Come on, no one will mind," the caretaker says to Provoj, nudging her with his shoulder.

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"I don't see you taking a break," Provoj laughs a little bit louder than I expected her to with how quiet she usually is, "Evil doesn't take days off! So neither will I!" she strikes a dramatic pose and accidentally splashes soapy water all around the sink, her laugh turns into a quiet chortle as she gets back to helping with the dishes.

"Nice pose," I awkwardly force myself into the conversation before I eavesdrop even more, "need help with the dishes?"

Provoj's face turns red as she just points to a napkin on the fridge, I pick it up and start cleaning off a few plates as I wait for them to continue talking, although Provoj looks a lot more self-conscious now that I'm here, I guess I'm still a stranger, I haven't been here that long after all.

"Still, if you keep working so hard like this every day, you'll just break. Trust me, I'm speaking from experience," the caretaker says.

"I- I've gone down in the magical girls ranking, so that means I need to work even harder if anything," Provoj sneaks a few glances at me, I'm pretty sure she's been wiping the same plate for a while now, it should be more than clean at this point.

"I thought people liked the whole 'shy' thing?" the caretaker yanks the plate away from her grasp and gives it to me, she just picks another plate without a word, but I think I can see her hands trembling.

"P-people want the cute, marketable shy type, not the 'I'm g-going to puke when there's too many people' type," she hides her hands deeper into the soapy water, "My power isn't flashy or impressive like the rest, w-what am I supposed to do? W-wear more revealing outfits? Brag every time I save someone, a-as if someone's life is only worth a couple of points in the leaderboard?"

"We all appreciate what you're doing for the orphanage," the caretaker says, "does it really matter what the public thinks?"

Something cracks in the water, followed by an uncomfortable silence. Her eyes refuse to let go of the now broken plate in her hand and her arms start shaking too. The caretaker's smile leaves his face, and I can't help but think his expression is eerily similar to the woman in the mirror.

"Of- of course it MATTERS!" she shouts, a few tears rolling down her face. "I get paid LESS when people forget about me, it's a stupid popularity contest. No one cares if you're a good person if you don't ADVERTISE IT! All they want is to see you help important people in flashy ways. My runes have probably saved thousands! Hundreds of thousands! But because my magic is preventive, no one-" she tries to wipe away the tears but her hands are still covered in dish water so it just ends up making things worse.

"I'm sorry, I know it's hard for you," is all the caretaker say. I really feel like I shouldn't be here, but at least I'm not eavesdropping, or I guess they know that I'm eavesdropping, which makes it okay? I'm not sure.

"I'll...I'll take a little break. I'm sorry I couldn't bring as much money as last time," she turns to me before leaving the kitchen, "Sorry you had to see this Miss Leave, I- tend to make things worse recently."

I just nod, there's no point in arguing with her, I'm not particularly good at making people feel better with words. Besides, it's none of my business, I'm just here for Hotel. There are problems everywhere I go and tragedies are common place, so why should I bother if I'm going to leave soon anyway? I don't even belong there, so who am I to say how things should be anyway? I might just make things worse in the process. If I make money appear out of thin air I could destabilize the economy, trying to fix a cultural problem without understanding said culture might divide people even more. So I just do my own thing and try to not worry too much about the consequences, that's just how I live my life.

And yet, I can't help but feel as if this is wrong somehow, but I don't know exactly why it's wrong. It's how I've always done things, so why am I having second thoughts now?

Wait, why did I help with the dishes again?