“Nyahaha… This really is too much to take in… You weren’t kidding…”

  “I told you! I knew you’d be surprised! I thought I’d do better this time, but…”

  Ririna and Sarasa both dangled their arms and slumped forward. We had just arrived at a mall, one different from where we went with Ririna last time, a mall closer to school and to the House. Walking here was all we did so far, and they were already spent…

  “How pathetic… We haven’t even gotten started.” Carol placed her hands on her waist. “Where did your bravado go? Is this all you two can do?”

  “I thought I had seen everything… In all those caves and dungeons…” Sarasa’s head was still spinning. “But those things… Cars… They’re terrifying!”

  “Really? That’s what you wanna focus on?” I spoke without thinking, but I guess I can’t blame her. Ririna was the same. “Well, whatever. Take your time and let’s move when you’re ready.”

  Only in a place like this would you find so many people walking around in Three Records. I didn’t want to cause a scene, so it’d be better to give them time.

  *Clap!*

  Sarasa slapped her own cheeks. “No… You’re right!” She clenched her hand, filled with determination. “I’ve fought monsters capable of cutting people in half with a single blow… This is nothing! I can handle this!”

  Seeing that display, Ririna couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah… I… I’ve tamed the world’s most dangerous potion! I can do this!”

  “Woooo! Good one, Ririna.” Sarasa high-fived her and walked past us, leading the way. “Let’s conquer this dungeon together like in the good old days!”

  “Are you gonna be alright? Feels like you’re overcompensating…” She didn’t know where she was going, so I followed closely behind her. She was surprisingly good at not bumping into people. “Don’t make a scene, okay?”

  “Make a scene? Why would I make a scene? There’s nothing here to make a scene.” She put on a strong face and turned to the side. There was a decoration in the middle of the walkway, a big sculpture in the shape of… “Am I supposed to be surprised by a set of scales?”

  “I don’t know… Maybe?” She stopped, one hand on her waist and the other stretched pointing, as if saying, ‘the hell is this?’ “Ririna’s staring, so…”

  “She’s just taking a look. We got these in our world. It’s nothing crazy.” A small grin formed on her face. She was convinced she had figured things out. “Glad to see some things never change. No matter how advanced your world may be, you still use scales like us.”

  “We don’t.” Carol cut her dreams short. “Those scales are outdated. We have a machine for that now.”

  “Noooo! Enough of machines! I’ve had enough!”

  “It’s some kind of sculpture, isn’t it? What’s this metal?” Ririna tapped the sculpture while Sarasa held her head in anguish in the background. “Does it have some kind of meaning? Why is it tilting?”

  “That’s… a good question actually…” Carol and I looked at each other. Looks like she had no idea either. “I have no clue…”

  “Hmm… I think I know! The scales are in the logo… the symbol of the mall… I remember seeing it in some pamphlets sent to the House.”

  “Ahh… That makes sense… Merchant guilds on our world use scales a lot too.”

  “Pamphlets? What’s that?” Sarasa tilted her head. “Like, some kind of monster?”

  Ahhh… Blessed be the ones who don’t know what ads are! “Yes! They’re monsters!”

  “Really?” Sarasa was ready to believe me.

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  “No, they’re not! Don’t lie to her!” Carol growled. “Pamphlets are like these pieces of paper that…”

  She went through the trouble of explaining it to the other two, but I just zoned out… I’ve had enough of ads for the rest of my life- “Hm?” Off in the distance, I saw a hairstyle I recognized.

  Smooth, brown hair. Side locks that fall onto the shoulders with hair ties near the end… That’s… Ayumu?!

  “This is bad…” I muttered inaudibly while frozen in place. Gotta look away… Gotta look away before she notic-

  “…”

  Our eyes crossed. She noticed me, didn’t she? I need to do something…

  “They’re basically saying, ‘come shop here and give us your money.’”

  “He- hey, are you done?” Carol was about to finish her explanation while the other two listened attentively. “We can’t spend our whole day here. Let’s go!”

  “What?” “Hey!” “Kyaa! More!” I pushed them from behind, and we disappeared into the crowd… We’re safe…

  Also, one of their reactions was not like the others.

  …

  “Whew… We’re finally here…”

  It required some finesse, but after pushing and wrangling the three of them, we finally arrived at the store we meant to go to. I’m not the knowing type when it comes to clothes, so the decision to come here was entirely Carol’s.

  “Woah!! So many weird clothes!” Sarasa’s energy spiked as soon as she saw all the displays. She ran ahead of us, jumping from aisle to aisle. “No wonder you two always looked so weird if these are your choices!”

  How rude… They’re only weird by your standards. This girl… Does she think wearing gold from head to toe is normal? We had to keep all her accessories at the House or someone might have tried to rob us… Not that it would ever be more than an attempt…

  “Why were you in such a rush?” Carol let Sarasa run around as she pleased and left Ririna the task of chasing her. Did she notice what I was doing?

  “Uhmm… What do you mean? We’re here to buy them swimsuits, right?” Carol just sighed.

  She took a step forward, and we regrouped with the others. “Sarasa, we’re not looking at normal clothes today. Let’s go.” She managed to grab their attention and led the way.

  “It might be a bit too late, but what’s swimsuits?” Sarasa was once again confused. “Are they monsters?”

  “Do you immediately assume every unfamiliar word must be referring to a monster?”

  “Swimsuits are clothes, Sarasa.” I covered for Carol. “They’re suits for swimming, but… they’re not suits. They’re very skimpy clothes to play around in the water and swim in.”

  “Ski- skimpy?” Ririna’s nails touched her lip. “We- well, if you insist, I guess I could…”

  “Don’t get hung up on that part, okay? They’re relatively normal, and at the beach, everyone’s gonna be wearing them.”

  “Everyone?” Ririna’s eyes seemed to light up. “You too?”

  “Ohhh… How very amusing…”

  These two… Are they getting lewder? Is it my fault?

  “But I still don’t get it.” Sarasa held her chin. “Seeing your girlfriend with fewer clothes is nice, but what’s the point? Isn’t playing in the water dangerous?”

  “No… It’s safe if you’re not stupid…” I hope Sarasa doesn’t fail that part… I continued. “The goal is to have fun… Fewer clothes has nothing to do with it… Most of the time. Usually, people go there because it’s fun and refreshing.”

  “Ehh… So it’s just living on the edge…” I don’t think she got it, yet the cocky grin was back. “I like it… I respect it. Now I’m interested!”

  Carol didn’t want to join the idiotic conversations, so when we got to the swimsuits, she kept us on track. “Here we are.” She faced Ririna. “How about we start by getting yours first since finding something for Sarasa is gonna be a pain?” Ririna nodded.

  “Hey! You have a problem with me? What’s that supposed to mean?” Everyone averted their gazes.

  …

  Out of the options we gave her, Ririna decided to go with a green swimsuit. A deep and cold green swimsuit with a flowery pattern that suited her very well. Her hair might have been brown, but the inside strands had an earthy green hue, similar to her eyes and similar to her new swimsuit.

  “How’s this?” Ririna slowly pulled back the curtain. “Does it look good?”

  Just like I expected… Everything matched up nicely… The brown of her hair with the green, the green, and the green, and the flowers keeping it interesting. She’s so cute… “Do you like it?”

  “Uhmm…” She hesitated. “Do you like it?”

  “Of course! You look amazing!” She broke into a huge smile.

  “Really? I’ll take it then!”

  She closed the curtain again to change back.

  “Now for the troublemaker…” Carol smirked while looking at Sarasa.

  “Come on!” She tried to stand up for herself. “I haven’t even done anything yet!”

  “You haven’t, but… Surely, you can already see the problem… How are we gonna hide your tail with such skimpy clothes?”

  “Well, that’s not really my fault, is it? Want me to rip it off?”

  “Yeah.” Carol nodded bluntly. “Please do.”

  In response, Sarasa theatrically covered her face, pretending to cry. “You’re the worst!”

  …

  Ririna changed back and stepped out. It was finally time to start dressing Sarasa, but… It wasn’t easy… We had to find something that suited her and hide her tail. The ears can be covered with a straw hat or something. She must have tried more than 10 by now, but…

  “Hehehe… That one looks cute too…” This was becoming quite the show… She’s showing off almost as much skin as ever, but seeing her hesitant, covering herself… “How’s it possible you always look so good…?”

  “Here’s the next one, stupid cat.” Carol tossed the next swimsuit with an evil look. “Hurry it up.”

  “This one’s not gonna work either! Are you even trying?” She grabbed the new swimsuit, partially curling up. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you? This is bullying!”

  “Huh? Whatever you say.” Carol ignored her. “I’m holding onto your clothes until we’re done here, so… go on… change.” Carol helped by closing the curtain.

  “This is blackmail… I can’t believe this…” We heard sobs from the other side of the curtain, but she still changed. I can’t wait to see what’s coming next…

  In the end, we found her a swimsuit with a pseudo skirt on the back. Kinda similar to the one Hecate wore on the cruise. It doesn’t perfectly hide her tail, but it will have to do.

  “It’s nice that you finally found something, but…” Sarasa turned up her nose while shaking the cloth covering her tail. “This isn’t really my type of thin-”

  “What’s the problem? That’s not a skirt!”

  “Huh?!” Sarasa was startled when I got right up in her face. “I mean… What do you call it the-”

  “It’s not a skirt! There are multiple perspectives and points of view on it, and while it’s not a consensus, what you’re wearing is not classified as a skirt in a lot of ways. You can’t complain. You hear me? No complaining!”

  “Nyahaha… You say that, but…” She was on her back foot.

  “It’s the only way. I need you with us! Don’t even think about it!”

  “Uhmm…” She leaned backwards to make some space. The pressure was too much. “*Sigh…* Fine… I guess I’ll take it!”

  “Yay!” I shook her hand with a smile. “I’m so happy that you like it!”

  “Did she…?” Ririna was nervously looking on from afar. “At least you finally found her something. Any more and I might have actually felt bad for her. Can you believe that?”

  Why would she feel bad for Sarasa? Carol and I handled her with lots of love.

  “Well, whatever. Now we’re all set!” I couldn’t be happier. “We can all go to the beach! No need to bother with anything else!” In fact, coming right up… Next chapter: Chapter 154 – Queen of the Waves