Chapter 101: Dress code

-Felias-

"P-please... I cannot do this... I need to get away from her..."

"What are you so afraid of?! Aren't you supposed to be a demon lord?"

"But... I had never seen anything so terrifying before. What if she finds out I'm a spy?"

"How is she going to find out? All you need to do is stay around her and tell me what you see her do, you don't need to do anything that she can 'find out'."

Back when we first started to use Karo- Kalno- that guy to help us get a foothold in the southern continent, I decided to prepare a spy of my own without Ranna or Cureva knowing. I had forgotten about her until now... But since I seem to have been betrayed by Ranna and some impostor dark queen is trying to steal my throne, she now has a chance to prove herself useful.

And yet, that slime is apparently so scared that she wants to run away. After everything I did to help her increase her level and status, she's now trying to refuse to keep her end of the deal? Bah, I can't believe that she fell for some stupid tricks, how can she believe that she really cut her own feet? Even with the power to make them regrow, no sane person would ever do something like that.

Still, it's not normal for someone to be this scared after a mere demonstration of strength. From the way she's described, every single one of her words and gestures seemed to have been planned to make her seem as terrifying as possible. That 'Luna' must be quite good at psychological manipulation, I know from experience just how difficult it can be to intimidate someone, it's not something that can happen by accident.

"I could get caught when giving my reports..."

"Just make sure that you are alone, it's not that hard. And it's not as if you are using a transmission mirror, these 'phones' Gerard designed cannot send images but they are much more discrete, and very few people even know about their existence."

As soon as I mentioned his name, I hear the familiar sound of spinning cogs, as if someone was setting the time on a clock, and I see the high technomancer, Gerard, enter the room.

The sound comes from the mechanical limbs that take the place of his legs and arms. I don't know how much of his head he replaced, but those ridiculous goggles he wears are clearly part of his face.

If I'm not mistaken, it was only his legs that didn't work and needed to be replaced, but he modified his body as much as possible to get as far away from 'nature' as he could... Knowing the history of this country, I can understand why the people of Mekria hate nature, but this guy takes it way too far.

"Analysis tools. The ones you asked for. Are almost ready."

That monotone voice and lack of expression always creeps me out. I used to think that Ranna was bad until I met this guy.

"Good, send them to the slime girl."

"Eh?! To me?"

"That fraud must have used some trick to increase the rank of her magic. Soon you will receive the tools that you need to expose her secret."

"But you said that I didn't need to do anything!"

"You don't. The machines will do all the work for you."

"That's not the problem!"

"I will go now. I will fi- fi- fi-" *Clank* The sound of metal hitting metal is heard when Gerard punches his own head. "I will finish the preparations."

"Are you feeling alright? It's not like we are in a hurry, you can get some rest if you need it."

"I do not need to rest."

"Really? You shouldn't force yourself."

The technology to change body parts for machines has not been perfected yet, so I can't help but worry.

"I do not need to rest."

"Alright, if you say so."

Without saying another word, Gerard begins to walk away. But his left leg is not bending properly and he almost trips a couple of times.

Maybe he needs some oil instead of resting...

-Luna-

"So you're telling me that you're late because you were fighting against the god of fire?"

Nera's expression makes me think that she doesn't fully believe me.

"It's true! I can take you to see him later if you want! He's called the king of fire now though"

"You want to take me to the infernal caverns?"

"Eh... I'll open the black gate somewhere safe. Probably..."

"Haha, even if there's really a former god down there, he would probably still be no match for Luna."

Arana doesn't seem to be taking this very seriously either.

"Eh... Actually, he was stronger than me."

""Uh?""

Is it just me? Or do they look like they find him being stronger than me harder to believe than him being a former god?

"And he said that the void demons are going to invade this world again soon?"

Now Arana sounds concerned, why can't she make up her mind?

"Yes, and to prepare, I need to turn this place into a stronger country. And have people start calling the demons 'manaborn' again, if possible."

"Well, that's all the more reason to focus on the ceremony."

Nera wants to go back to the topic that she's interested in. Xania said that proving my strength is all it takes to become the queen here, but Nera insisted that if we want to turn this into a proper country we should also have a more official ceremony. If nothing else, it seems like her maid has made sure that there will be a lot of luxurious food and sweets, so I decided to agree with Nera and have that ceremony after all.

But since the more casual dresses I normally wear are apparently not good enough for this, Arana has made some new clothes for me to try. Nera is also here to give her judgment, these two know much more about fashion than me after all.

"Uh, Ara, is it normal for it to take this long to put on a dress? I don't think I could even do it without your help."

"Of course, you cannot compare a regular dress to a 'queen dress' like this one."

"If you say so... It just seems a bit too 'elaborate' to me."

After some time, she finally finishes getting the dress on me. There is so much cloth on me that I'm having a lot of trouble moving at all, but against all odds, I manage to slowly make my way to the door. Now it's time for Nera to give her opinion.

"..."

Her gaze goes from the four layers of the skirt to the spikes on the shoulders. After taking a look at the headgear that's just over twice the size of my head, she notices all the skulls embroidered into the many folds on the three meters of diameter of the dress.

"Is this too much?" Arana asks Nera.

"WAY TOO MUCH!!!"

"Too bad, I wanted to see Luna show up in front of everyone wearing that."

"Take this seriously!"

Arana extends her hand towards me and there's a flash of light, then she places her hand on a sheet of paper... Oh, is this that light spell that lets you keep a copy of an image?

Taking the dress off also takes us some time, but the next one takes almost no time. That's probably because there's barely any dress to put on, just a few pieces of cloth covering my crotch and my breasts. Is this even a dress? I guess I'll hear what Nera has to say.

"NOW'S TOO LITTLE!!!"

"Jeez, there's just no way to make the princess happy."

After shaking her head, Arana once again does the thing with the flash of light and the sheet of paper, I'm not sure if I should let her keep this one...

Anyway, let's see if the third time is the charm. This dress seems a lot more normal than the others, only a bit more elaborate than what I usually wear.

"Mmm, this one looks good."

Maybe it's just because she's comparing it to the other two, but Nera looks satisfied with this one. I do have some doubts though...

Normally I wear dresses that press my breasts into my chest to make them look a bit more modest. But this one seems to be designed to emphasize them instead, and the gap in the middle goes down almost to my navel. The skirt also has a gap that leaves my left leg exposed.

"Are you sure this is good?"

Nera looks up at me. "Yes, it makes you look a bit more... imposing."

"Do I really need to look imposing? Also, the biggest problem I have is with the shoes."

"Why? It's normal to wear high heels with this type of dress."

"But it's difficult to walk like this! I think I'm going to trip and faceplant on the floor... And more importantly, these things are making me look even taller than I already am! Are two meters not enough?!"

"Actually." Says Arana, with an expression of badly hidden amusement that I've learned to fear over the years. "When I took your measurements earlier, you were 205 centimeters tall."

What? I must have heard that wrong. Tell me that I heard that wrong.

"Ara... Is this a joke? Are you saying that I got even taller?"

"Congratulations."

"Don't act as if this is a good thing! I'm not supposed to be growing anymore!"

Uh... What was I expecting? The only way for me to look scarier than I already am is to get even taller, so of course it was going to happen!

200 was such a nice round number...

forli

Remember ages ago when I mentioned that I wanted to make Luna taller? Well, I finally did it, more or less...

Technomancer is such a cool-sounding word, it's my favorite out of all the mancers.

Also, I named that guy 'Gerard' because it sort of sounds like 'gear'. I think my naming sense has hit a new low.