.
Dilorè needed outfitting as well, but she was smart enough to realize the effect she had on the public would be a problem for us. She wasn’t happy about it, but complied when I told her to dress as a mortal.
Every large town on Huade has a ‘hunter’s quarter’, ‘adventurer’s town’ or ‘sailor’s block’ that offers cheap lodgings, cheap liquor, cheap sex and reliable gear and supplies. The exact name of the neighborhood is a function of the local geography. For example, a waterfront district would only exist in a town with significant water transport. If guarding shipping is where the adventurer money is, then that’s the place where you would find their establishments.
Matthias sent us to the ‘Travelers’ Market’, because the money for adventures in this royal capital was in escorting merchants. That fact was made clear by the signs posted in front of many shops we passed. They included pictures of guards and wagons for the benefit of the illiterate. This town had no single employer for adventures comparable to the Mines Office in Cara Ita, so these caravan escort agencies thrived.
“Let’s go to an armorer. You need armor, Lady,” Ceria said as soon as we arrived.
“She doesn’t need armor,” Dilorè parried.
“She’s gonna fight in a dress?” Ceria retorted.
“A fairy doesn’t wear the armor you mortals make,” she declared.
I sighed. Despite the fact that my fairy armor had in fact been made by a very excellent dwarven (and therefore mortal) armorer, I had to side with her on this one. “Ceria, Lady Dilorè’s right. If my choice is whatever normal mortal armor I can acquire off the shelf, I’m better off without it. I need something made for a birdkin or succubus, and that’s almost unheard of, because they don’t like armor. It’s too heavy when they fly in it.”
Ceria frowned, but seemed to accept it.
“I don’t have my sabatons, so I’ll get some walking boots,” I decided. “I don’t know how much the enchantment on these slippers can really take. But my first need is a dressmaker.”
“You’re not gonna find a dressmaker in this neighborhood,” Brigitte said, rolling her eyes.
I twisted my mouth. My Robert common sense caught up to my rich girl Tiana’s cluelessness and agreed with her. But…
“Succubi have the same clothing problems as me, right?” I mused. “Where do they shop?”
Bruna grinned. “The brothel where I’ve been working is right around the corner. Let’s go ask one of the girls.”
Melione yipped, “The what where you’ve been what is around what corner?”
“Bruna!” Ceria protested. “Mom is traveling with us, this time! You promised me you wouldn’t do that!”
“Eh,” she dismissed the objection. “I had all this spare time, so I decided to earn some coin getting my mana the old-fashioned way. I can save on bracelet recharges that way too.”
I reminded myself to ask Arken or Matthias if they knew how recharging mana bracelets was done, the next chance I got. I already knew that Allia didn’t know how to do it, but maybe Ceria or Melione could learn the trick and Bruna wouldn’t have to pay for it. Or work for it.
Most prostitutes are not succubi. In an upscale place like the Velvet Retreat, it’s unlikely that any of them are. But, it’s normal to find them among the girls working in this sort of neighborhood, where the clients are more broad-minded.
We reached an otherwise normal-looking shop, distinguished only by the red lantern glowing in the window, indicating that the place was open for that kind of business.
“I’ve never been this close to such a place,” Melione muttered as our amazon companion strode inside. Barely a minute later, she emerged, accompanied by a raven-haired beauty in mildly provocative clothing.
“Hello, Sister,” the succubus greeted me, then tilted her head sideways and gave my body a languid neck-to-toe inspection. “You’re shopping for clothes?”
“I need a place that can deal with my wings,” I confirmed. “I only have town clothes along. I need to buy something appropriate for outdoor work.”
“Mm,” she responded, still inspecting me, then noted, “If you worked here instead, you wouldn’t have to do such a thing. The boys in our Traveler’s Market are generous, you know. I could use some help tonight, if you’re interested.”
“Ah-hahaha,” I laughed self-consciously, probably coloring slightly. As I glanced to the side out of embarrassment, I noticed poor Melione turning crimson.
With a smile, I told the succubus, “I prefer the work where I use my sword. But can you tell me where to find a good clothing shop?”
She looked teasingly disappointed, shaking her head while looking me up and down a second time, then answered, “What a sad waste of top-dollar assets. Head down to the next intersection and turn right. You’ll see a sign with a pair of scissors. All of us here shop there.”
After a moment hesitation, I asked, “You can buy regular street clothes there, right?”
With a low, throaty chuckle, she said, “She sells all kinds of clothing, Sister.”
Then she turned and gave Melione an appraisal as well. “I would be happy to make you that offer too, Cutie. Want a job?”
“Uh… no thank you,” Melione squeaked.
“There’s nothing to fear,” she assured her. “We run a good, safe business. We always have a good man on duty to deal with the troublesome ones.”
“I really don’t want to,” Melione insisted, her color deepening further.
“Such a pity,” the woman lamented. After she surveyed our two beast-kin party members, who both immediately waved negation the moment she looked at them, she asked Bruna, “You working again tonight, Hon?”
Her older sister was glaring at her, so Bruna chuckled and shook her head. “Nah. We gotta head out in the morning. I’m probably all done with this town.”
“Such a pity,” the succubus lamented, pooching her lips for a moment. She gave a light wave goodby, saying as she went back inside, “Make sure you drop in if you’re ever in town again. You too, Sister.”
It dawned on me she hadn’t picked on Dilorè, who is a real beauty. Then I realized the fairy squire had already headed down to the corner that the succubus had indicated.
As we followed her, I told Bruna, “You told her I was a succubus, didn’t you?”
That had to be why she kept calling me ‘Sister’.
“It was the fastest way to explain what you needed, Lady,” Bruna said with a grin.
At the clothing shop, I found backless chemises with support cups– I hadn’t been able to find them in Royses, and fairies don’t wear underthings, never mind worrying about support cups which they don’t care to use. They would rather let the things bounce every which way– as well as some decent blouses and knee-length pleated skirts.
Melione frowned at the skirt length, but I just couldn’t deal with underbrush and high grass in ankle-length clothing like she somehow manages. I was accustomed to the high hemline of my armor in the field.
Ceria was determined to get me to buy items that would have been more appropriate had I taken the succubus up on her offer. I had to firmly tell her no as well, several times.
This was my first all-girl shopping expedition. Robert always shopped solo, and Tiana had no experience with shopping at all until learning to buy supplies as a squire, and that had been with fellow (male) squires.
I found myself really having fun. I even let them pull me up to a stall that was selling accessories. I wasn’t going to buy anything, but I didn’t like wasting the shopkeeper’s time, so I purchased a couple hair-ties.
Melione’s eyes darkened slightly when I bought some blank enchantable bracelets at a magic shop, but I couldn’t risk not having them. I would ask Arken to prepare them for me.
By the time we finished and returned to the school, heading to the Headmaster’s Residence rather than Matthias’s office, I had ankle-length boots with a medium-duty endurance enchantment, a traveling pack, a mess kit and the same selection of field rations I had packed in Cara Ita.
I also managed to find myself a new hunting crossbow. Since my sword now sat where my crossbow used to, I would have to tie it to my pack, so I wouldn’t be using it in a fight.
“We still have a couple hours before dinner,” Ceria noted after we stowed our new acquisitions in her room. She latched onto my arm, squeezing into it. “Wanna snuggle?”
I rolled my eyes. “What I need to do right now is go meet the rest of this team.”
She gave a playful pout, then laughed and let go. “It’s just Mom and your other two old party members. They’re not back yet, so they’re probably still out at the training grounds.”
“I could use some exercise,” Bruna said from the door. “Why don’t we go join them?”
I changed over to a blouse and skirt, adding the thigh-high socks I bought in consideration of Melione’s sensibilities and using the hiking boots that I needed to break in. Brigitte and Melione were geared up and ready to accompany us.
Dilorè had gone to report to Serera and Manlon about my plans, and find out what would be happening on their side, so it was just us five heading out this time.
On the way, I wondered, “How did the king end up choosing this team? Why is it that somehow my last two parties have joined up?”
“That’s probably your fault, Lady,” Bruna said. “You’re the one that talked us up so much to the king, right? He said you’d really praised our abilities.”
“No, we’re the ones that asked for you,” Melione corrected her. “Arken recognized you when you went to meet with His Majesty. We were really impressed with you guys during that fight in Cara Ita. Although His Majesty added your mother. She’s a pretty famous adventurer.”
Brigitte added, “He wanted someone who could lead properly, so naturally he picked the noblewoman.”
“He doesn’t have a bias in favor of nobility,” I disagreed. “It’s the opposite. He normally prefers competent commoners. The majority of his knights are common-born.”
We had gone the length of the building we were passing before I noticed what Brigitte had said. “What do you mean, ‘lead’? Isn’t Ryuu the leader?”
“No way,” Brigitte retorted. “Not after what happened with you. The king chewed him out and told him to use this opportunity to learn from a proper leader.”
My mouth was hanging open for a bit there. I mean, Ryuu had gone through five volumes, and probably at least one more after I died on Earth, always coming out on the winning side despite all his bad decisions. He had infuriated his party members, but had been seen as a ‘Royal Champion’ (his official title, by the way) by everyone else. Just firing me had been enough to destroy his standing? I couldn’t believe that was the whole story.
We arrived at the training grounds. They occupied the opposite of the backside of Academy Hill, a wide-open series of fields scattered with targets and protective barriers and various other structures. We arrived at the one that Matthias had temporarily assigned for the teams use, which was ringed by a berm surrounding a sunken arena. We used the same arrangement at the Royal Barracks. The berm absorbs magic attacks.
I received a surprise as I entered the grounds and saw Allia Destia battling with Ryuu. Her hair had registered in my mind as ‘strawberry blonde’ when I first met her the first time in Bray, in the poor lighting of her shop. But out here in the daylight, I could see she had actually inherited a merrow hair color from her mermaid grandmother.
Her unrestrained coral-red mermaid tresses made a real contrast with her jack armor as they swept back and forth, following her motions while she fought. This warrioress was a very different image than the refined lady shopkeeper of a magic tools and potions store whom I had met in Bray. She was more like her adopted daughter Bruna.
She was shouting instructions and criticisms at Ryuu as they fought, and I could see a level of frustration on his face that I hadn’t seen since when I first met him and he was still learning how to use a sword. And from what I was seeing, he had good reason. While we watched she landed hard strikes on him with the wooden rod she was using as a sword no less that three times.
I had just decided to stop advancing and watch when she suddenly booted him in the chest, sending him flying, then whipped the rod around to point directly at me and yell, “[Wind Bullet!]”
