At that time, Sylphy was at home looking after the 4th daughter Christina.


    "That''s good Chris,1 now take you hands off and walk towards mama."


    "Hmh~! Mama you come here...!"


    Compared to the fast learner Lily, Chris could only barely walk while holding onto something.


    And so recently she had been undergoing training like this with her mothers.


    Although Chris had never really liked it and was shaking her head on the brink of tears.


    "No you come over here, come on, do it slowly, slowly."


    "Hm! Uuh... Mama~... Come..."


    "No. Come on, I''m right over here."


    Chris was grumbling and crying.


    That said, it wasn''t something she couldn''t do.


    She just like to be spoilt.


    "*hic*... aah!"


    She eventually shut her eyes, toddled over to Sylphy and jumped into her arms.


    "There, there. You did great. Good girl."


    "Nn~..."


    Sylphy held Chris as she always did and stroked her head.


    Chris, still sniffling, held onto Sylphy.


    Compared to the energetic and curious Lilly, Chris was quite timid and withdrawn.


    She belonged to the indoor faction and never went out much.


    Eris occasionally took her out with the others, but she would always be stuck to her and she would often start crying and come right home because she was scared.


    Therefore she wouldn''t go out on walks and spent most of her time home.


    "Chris, you''re too shy. I wonder where you get that from..."


    Slyphy said that, but, well, it definitely came from Rudeus.


    "Mama... Papa, not home yet?"


    "No, he''s not home just yet."


    Chris is what you would call a daddy''s girl.


    Ever since she was born she was always quick to cry but whenever she was in Rudeus''s arms she would always stop.


    She was the complete opposite of Ars.


    Lately, Rudeus''s lap has been her reserved seat.


    "Aah!"


    "...Hmm?"


    She had  heard a sound from the entrance.


    Someone had probably come home.


    "Papa?"


    "I wonder... I don''t think it is."


    Rudeus had left yesterday.


    He hadn''t given an exact time, but he said he''d be 2~3 days.


    So he shouldn''t be back yet.


    "Onee-chan?"


    "It''s a bit too soon to be Onee-chan."


    It wasn''t quite time for Lucy and Roxy to be back from school, or for Aisha to finish with the Mercenaries.


    It could be Eris back from her walk.


    No, She was out with the playful Sieg, so she''d probably be out a bit longer.


    Then Lillia and Ars back from shopping.


    No, the two of them just left. It would be too fast.


    It''s possible that they could be coming back because they forgot something...


    It could be Zenith.


    She was sleeping in her room, but she could have made her way into the garden without anyone seeing.


    Sylphy kept thinking all kinds of things and put Chris on the couch.


    "Chris, wait here."


    Sylphy, somewhat baffled, headed towards the entrance.


    After she left the living room and was halfway down the hallway, she heard a creak.


    The door was half open.


    But what Sylphy was looking at wasn''t the door.


    "..."


    She was standing inside.


    Sillouetted by the setting sun of the half open door, she stood there.


    A black haired girl.


    Just by appearance, she was the girl called Nanahoshi.


    If they were closer, she might have called out to her.


    But the moment Sylphy saw her, she frowned.


    "...You''re not Nanahoshi are you?"


    Hearing that, the girl''s lips warped into a smile.


    With the lighting behind her, the look gave an ominous vibe.


    "Yes. That is correct. How did you come to know?"


    "Nanahoshi comes to our house quite often. Whenever she opens the door she has habit. She''ll always knock twice and if there''s no response, she''ll open the door slightly and ask "Is anyone home?"2 quietly."


    Sylphy said that and put mana into her right hand.


    An unknown existence imitating their friend had infiltrated her house.


    When Rudeus arrived, the house was eerily calm.


    Beet’s post.


    Aisha’s garden.


    Leo’s dog house.


    No one was there.


    Peeking through the unlocked entrance, he could see the cleanly swept hallway and living room door.


    It was calm.


    No, it wasn’t that there was no sound.


    Only a cry resounded throughout the house.


    It was a voice he knew well.


    It was Chris’s cry.


    It was a cry of heartbreak.


    It sounded like something important had been lost, as if alluding to some great sadness.


    To Rudeus, it was a familiar cry.


    A cry that whenever he approached, would quickly stop.


    And although he heard it, for some reason, he still thought it was calm.


    “…The mercenaries are to remain on standby.”


    Rudeus issued that order, opened the door as silently as possible and went inside.


    Here, it was also calm.


    The hall was clean.


    As a result of this incident, the doll’s disposal was dismissed.


    Their plan became to maintain the doll to the best of their abilities.


    And the doll that played the central role in the incident, was assigned a legitimate unit number.


    Automaton No.01.


    After that, Rudeus continues his experiments in the Lab and the Magic City Sharia and advanced many of his various plans.


    But that’s another story.


    Nanahoshi also became aware of the doll’s secret.


    Discovering that a doll with her face functioned sexually, she was clearly displeased.


    But after Rudeus prostrated himself and told her that he had already promised Sylphy that he wouldn’t use it to that end, she somewhat forgave him.


    “Well, it’s fine. So, what’s her name?”


    “We haven’t come up with one yet.”


    “Really? Do you want me to give it one them?”


    And so Nanahoshi named the doll.


    The Automaton No.01 would be known as『Anne』.


    And in case Nanahoshi’s acquaintance were to ever appear, in order for him to be able to know of her existence, the doll would be given a Japanese-like name and so,『Nanahoshi Hajime』3 was chosen.


    If she were to ever meet Nanahoshi’s friend, after saying that name, she would proceed to tell of her relation to Nanahoshi.


    And so it’s official designation was『Automaton SS-01 Anne』.4


    They didn’t yet know if Unit No.02 would be Deux and and Unit No.03 Trois, but they would work that out when they got there.


    The SS stood for Seven Star.


    That was how the first product of the Seven Star Series『Anne』was completed.


    And her brothers and sisters slowly increased over the years.


    But let it be known, that she was the only one with nipples.


    ―○●○―


    1. Chris is short for Christina and the Japanese "Kurisu" is not considered as masculine a name as Chris is in English.


    2. "Gomenkudasai" Literally translated, it''s basically two apologies, but it''s a rather common way to inquire whether there is anyone is whether it be a home or a workplace.


    3. Nanahoshi is in kanji here and Hajime is written with the character for one.


    4. The name "Anne" and the French "Un" for one are both written the same in Japanese.