CH 82

There’s always room for sweets. I guess that doesn’t change no matter what world you’re in.

But going back to reality, Hikari is once again eating a lot, but Mia doesn’t fall behind. With each bite it feels like her face is melting as she happily chews. I guess she wants to try different things, because Mia and Hikari have been sharing cakes.

Seeing them so happy is fine and all, but all this sweetness is kind of making me sick.

Including what we’re bringing back with us, this ended up costing quite a bit. Not enough for me to part with a gold coin, but enough for me to feel like the employee is holding back from saying something about it. You’re the one who caused this, not me, right?

Sweets are a luxury in this world, but definitely not so much that buying them for two people is going to break the bank. It’s mostly because we’re bringing back so much for everyone else. I feel like I should add that part to preserve the dignity of these two. Wait, who am I even talking to?

I get the feeling that the distance between Hikari and Mia has shrunk a lot all of a sudden, probably because they were eating cake together. They’re walking hand in hand, and Mia has a big smile on her face.

It’s a nice change of pace for her.

Hn? There’s a reaction on Map. It’s the same that was sniping at Mia.

I see Hikari flinch, so she probably senses something too.

The reaction is relatively close, and feels like it’s coming from someone who doesn’t want to lose track of us but also doesn’t want to get too close. I keep an eye on Map while making sure not to actually look that way, and bump into Hikari, who suddenly stopped.

Hikari is looking at Mia, who is looking at a building.

It’s a clothing store.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, nothing. Let’s go back.”

Her smile seems awkward. Completely different from a few minutes ago when she was stuffing her face with sweets.

Is it her position? Someone who is as free as me probably can’t even imagine what her life must be like. Even in the other world, I had no affiliation to any church or religion.

“I see. Sorry, but can you bear with me a little longer? I want to check out some clothes.”

“F-fine.”

“Then let’s go in.”

Hikari catches on to what I’m doing and pulls Mia. She seems concerned about something, but walks along with Hikari without resisting.

“What kind of clothes are you buying?”

“Ah… You’ve attended the advent festival a few times, haven’t you Mia?”

“Yes. I didn’t walk around in the street, but I watched it from afar.”

“I see. Do people wear special clothes during the advent festival? Hum, like, do girls wear dresses for example? And do men wear more formal clothes?”

She starts laughing.

“People around town aren’t that serious about clothes. I think most people just wear their normal clothes.”

“So what we’re wearing now is fine?”

I say as I point to myself and Hikari.

“I think so. People who are invited to the church are dressed accordingly, but I think you two are fine like that.”

“I see, that’s good to hear. But while we’re here, how about you try on some clothes too? It’s hard to feel comfortable in borrowed clothes, right? When I wore borrowed clothes I was always scared of getting them dirty or ripping them and stuff like that.”

Not that I ever had the kind of friends that would lend me clothes, but I can imagine.

Mia is hesitant at first, but then starts to timidly look through clothes. Hikari is with her, so I’ll leave that to her.

Is what I’m thinking, but then she starts asking me how’s this and how’s that.

As time passes, she starts losing her reservations and looking at various things and having a hard time deciding between them. She really looks like a girl her age now.

I don’t think she should be asking someone with as little sense for this sort of thing as me. But I guess that doesn’t matter to her, because when I tell her to just get what she likes, she tells me that’s not the point, and decides what to get after really racking her brain. Somehow, it hurts how meager my vocabulary is when it comes to compliments.

As we’re about to leave the store, feeling satisfied with what we bought, and I feel the barrier disappearing.

It lasted about four hours. Girls sure take a lot of time shopping for clothes… It reminds me of how my classmates who had girlfriends would boast about it with distant looks on their faces sometimes.

I activate the barrier again, with more magic energy than before. We’re going back to the mansion, but it doesn’t hurt to test it.

Now that I think about it, I guess we had cake for lunch. That pointless thought crosses my mind as we leave.

Mia looks happy holding the bag with her new clothes. I ask her if she wants me to put it in the Item Box so she doesn’t have to carry it around, but she says no.

Our pursuer is still after us while keeping some distance. I can see them observing us even after we return to the mansion, but eventually I see the reaction going away.

I track it with Map to see where the reaction is going , which worries everyone as we eat, because I guess I’m too focused on this and some of my responses end up being kind of weird.

The reaction suddenly vanishes the moment it enters a certain building. I mark the position of the building, which is pretty far from the center. We walked a lot, but thanks to the time we spent wandering around, I finished registering everything on Map.

Oh, and everyone was very happy about the sweets we brought home. The maids also make sure to thank me when I pass by them.

I’m going to be busy tonight.

I ask Yor if I can test to see if I can prepare a bath with magic, and I’m going to help Mia with her magic energy training again.

In the end, preparing a bath with magic has a lot of room for improvement, but it could be useful when we’re on the road. As for Mia, she felt something again, but she still hasn’t reached the point where she can make magic energy flow.

Tonight I’m huddled in bed all by my lonesome. No, that’s how it’s supposed to be anyway.

Hikari is with Mia. They’ve become friends over the course of this day.

I have a lot to do tomorrow too. I really need to earn those last sixty gold coins. Maybe I’ll go to an item shop again…