Volume 5 - CH 5

Chapter 5 – A Date in the Holy City

When we showed the receptionist the proof of subjugation, she was surprised to see an ogre king and two ogre generals, and apologized to us repeatedly.

The reason was that she had set the difficulty level incorrectly.

“I am so sorry! I had no idea there would be two generals in addition to the ogre king…”

The receptionist bowed deeply.

“It’s fine…oh, right. Asha, Kusel, you two should split the reward amongst yourselves.”

When I handed over the reward, Asha was like, “I can’t!”, I had to persuade her to accept it.

Kusel on the other hand was like, “Are you sure?”, I said to her, “It’s proof of your hard work”, and then handed it over.

After leaving the guild, we headed to a restaurant recommended by the receptionist, and decided to have lunch there.

It was a reasonably busy restaurant.

After placing our orders and waiting for our food, Kusel made a suggestion.

“Haruto, Asha, I’d like to take a look around the holy city a bit after this, if that’s all right?”

“Sure thing. Count me in.”

“Me too. I’ll go with you.”

“Thanks.”

“What are you talking about, taking a leisurely stroll through the holy city after a meal, sounds totally refreshing.”

“Exactly.”

Asha nodded to my words.

After a hearty lunch, we headed out to the city.

Since we were not traveling in a large group this time, I thought there would be less hassle…

“Hey cuties, wanna hang out with——”

“Uh?”

“——Hieek?! Nevermind!!”

“SORRY ABOUT THAT~!”

What are they tangled up in now?

I wondered. And then I stared at the two of them.

Both Kusel and Asha on a normal day, are quite the beauties.

The fact that they’re not in a group like yesterday may make it easier for them to be approached.

“I feel like we’re being stared at for a while now…?”

“Right? I’m feeling a lot of eyes on us.”

I shook my head as Kusel and Asha said that looking at me.

“You’re overthinking it. You shouldn’t be too conscious of it.”

Well, it’s not like you can do anything about it.

“I guess you’re right.”

“Okay.”

After strolling around for a while and a good amount of time had passed, Asha stopped in front of a store.

Wondering what was going on, I followed Asha’s gaze and saw a beautiful, gorgeous outfit on display.

“You like it?”

“Kya, Master Haruto?!”

Asha’s face turned bright red and she hurriedly waved her hands in front of her face to deny it.

“N-Not really! I won’t look any good in something like that!”

Then my voice overlapped with Kusel’s.

““I think you would!””

“——Huh?!”

Asha froze.

“You think so too right, Kusel?”

“Yea. You should dress up more, Asha.”

Yeah, that’s rich coming from you…

“Like you’re one to talk, Kusel.”

“…What?”

Kusel widened her eyes at my words.

I mean, I can’t mention Kusel and fashion in the same sentence either.

“Since you’re here, what do you say to picking out some new clothes?”

The minute I said that, Asha pounced on her like a wolf that smelled blood.

“Exactly! You’re a beautiful woman, Kusel, and should definitely dress up more!”

“There you have it. Keep up you two, we’re going in.”

I walked into the store with the two of them in tow, and a store assistant immediately approached us.

“Welcome.”

The store was packed with women’s stuff, and the assistants seemed to be composed of only women.

I told the assistant what I wanted.

“I don’t care how much it costs, just pick out clothes that will look good on both of them.”

The assistant’s eyes lit up at those words. Three more assistants came and firmly grabbed Kusel and Asha by the arms.

““““Understood!””””

The assistants said with big smiles on their faces.

“L-Let go of me! I ain’t wearing those——”

“M-Me too, I don’t really——”

The two of them were dragged to the back of the store by the store assistants.

I nodded in satisfaction and relaxed on the sofa in the store.

After waiting for a while, Iris, Finne, Suzuno, and Ephyr passed by the front of the store, and then Iris and I locked eyes.

I walked out of the store and called out to the four of them.

“Hey there, what a coincidence.”

“What are you doing here, Haruto?”

The four of them must have wondered what I was doing in a women’s store, and they came up to me.

“Actually——”

I told them all about the events leading to the present starting from when we received the request.

After I was done with the narration, the four of them nodded their heads seemingly convinced.

“Hm, I see.  I do agree with you that Asha certainly does need to dress up a little more. She’s always wearing a maid’s uniform afterall.”

“Kusel doesn’t dress stylishly either. She’s always in some rough-looking outfits.”

“I know, right.  Especially when Kusel is such a beauty, and Asha, who looks as cute as she does. Looking like that and not dressing up, is such a waste.”

“I couldn’t agree more, Suzuno.”

I let out a sigh of relief in my mind.

I glanced around the store and saw that the store assistants were heading toward the fitting rooms with several clothes they had picked out.

Thinking to myself that this is going to take a while, next thing, Finne nodded her head.

“How about we leave this to Haruto.”

“You’re right. Good idea, Finne, so there you have it, we’ll leave the two in your care. Oh, and you’re taking a quest with us too!”

Iris said and glanced up at me covertly.

“Sure, how about we all go together tomorrow.”

“Yay!”

Iris was delighted.

“Later then.”

After seeing Iris and the others off and then returning to the store, Asha and Kusel had just finished changing and were coming out.

“What do you think?”

The assistant asked with a look of satisfaction on her face.

“S-So, how do I look? Out of place right…?”

“Master Haruto, um, how, do I look…?”

Perhaps feeling shy, both Kusel and Asha, who do not usually dress up, were blushing so hard, their cheeks were dyed.

Kusel was wearing a red dress with her hair slicked back, and Asha was wearing a white one-piece dress with a simple, elegant hair clip in the front.

“You both look great. I definitely would like to see you dressed like this once in a while.”

Kusel and Asha, whose red faces turned even brighter at my impression, turned their faces away.

I’m looking forward to seeing how Iris and the rest would react.

Seeing our exchange, the assistant tilted her head.

“Do you like them?”

“Oh yeah, they’re perfect. We’ll take them all.”

“Thank you very much! It was worth the effort!”

After paying the bill, I urged Kusel and Asha so we could ‘return back’, but for some reason neither of them would move.

“…What is it?”

“Nothing, just, can I please change back into my previous clothes…?”

“I-It’s too embarassing…”

“——Come on, let’s go. Everyone is waiting for you guys!”

I said, somehow forcing them out of the store and headed for the inn.

On the way, all eyes were on Kusel and Asha, who were walking shyly behind me.

Needless to say, not in a bad way, everyone was just curious about the beauties I had in tow.

However, not a single one dared to approach them.

The reason being, I was slightly intimidating the people around us. Wouldn’t want them to get tangled up with some strange people.

After a short walk, we arrived at the inn.

““““H-How adorable (oh my gosh)!!””””

Iris and the others had returned to the inn shortly after we parted, and exclaimed as soon as they saw Asha and Kusel.

The two of them were crouched in the center of the room with their faces bright red.

“Asha, there is no reason for you to be embarrassed. It looks very good on you.”

“That’s right.  And you too, Kusel.”

“I’ve never seen Asha dressed up like this before, but she looks so pretty…and Kusel looks even more beautiful…”

“Kusel’s transformation is nothing short of amazing…”

Iris, Finne, Suzuno, and Ephyr all expressed their impressions.

I, too, nodded my head in agreement.

“Maybe I should have Asha serve me in that outfit from now on?”

“Lady Iris?!  Please, anything but that!!”

Asha looked up and pleaded.

“What to do, what to do, I wonder~?”

Iris was smiling at her.

“Right, I also think it would be a good——”

As I was about to finish my sentence, Asha turned to me with a face clearly seeking for help.

Her face was so red that it looked as if it might explode at any moment.

Seeing that, I felt sorry for Asha.

“Alright everyone and Iris, that’s enough, y’all should leave Asha alone.”

“Leave her alone…okay, now you’re just trying to make me look bad. What do you expect me to do when she’s looking that adorable.”

“Fair point.”

I nodded in agreement with Iris, but then Asha…

“Huh, aren’t you supposed to be helping me out…?”

“Oh.”

In the end, both Asha and Kusel were left dressed as they were for the rest of the day.