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Led by Shusii, we arrived before a weird kind of stand. I suppose it looks similar to a weighing scale?

「Could you stand on top of this?」
「Understood.」

Ciel unhesitatingly stood on top of the mysterious object. Well, frankly speaking, it’s probably some sort of body measuring tool as it seems to be. If it’s a trap… would that be overthinking at this point? I’m confident in protecting her from anything, but there’s still a one in a million chance of failure…

Still, after being so concerned about her lack of social interactions, I guess I really shouldn’t be saying that. Also, Ciel’s act of standing on the device with confidence probably speaks less about her trust in Shusii and more about her trust in me protecting her no matter what happens anyways.

As Ciel got on it, some string of numbers suddenly appeared. I assume those are Ciel’s height and whatnot, but the units of measurements are different, so I can’t understand it. Anyways, Shusii is showing a troubled look, so I can tell that there’s a problem.

「Umm… Could you at least momentarily disperse that barrier?」
「No-…」
『For now, let’s try disabling the spherical one. If that isn’t enough, then we have no other choice.』

Ciel almost immediately refused, so I suggested an alternative choice. I don’t want to leave her defenseless either. Even if we reach the point of trusting Shusii, there’s no assurance that something won’t come flying from outside. The only place I can deactivate my barrier completely is probably in Fiiyanamia’s manor. Not that I’ve tried it.

「Understood.」

As Ciel replied, I deactivated the spherical barrier. This one only serves as an intimidation and a way of measuring other people’s capabilities, so it’s not a problem. If the issue was barrier interference or something, the barrier that’s always on was made to be skintight, so she should be able to get Ciel’s measurements.

「Alright, thank you.」

It finished in just a few seconds, so Ciel stepped down from the device. I know it’s late to ask, but was that a magic item? As expected of a world of magic, such a convenient thing to have. Speaking of measurements, I really thought that Shusii was going to use a tape measure for this.

「What’s next?」
「Next is to decide on what sort of clothes to make, do you know how many of what you want to order?」
「I don’t know. For now, I’ll buy what looks good.」

We came here with no plans, after all, didn’t we? Or so I think to myself, but to begin with, Ciel has never shopped like this before and it’s not like I’ve had plenty of experience either.

「Then… Do you want to come up with the designs together?」
「Yup.」

I have no idea why she asked that, but Ciel and Shusii are going to design clothes for me together now.

◇

Once again, magic and sorcery are really convenient. That was my thought while observing the two rowdily chatting. Now at the designing stage, since they thought it would be easier to imagine with the clothes being actually worn, a doll of me was made. Using the earlier measurements and sorcery that uses wood, in mere seconds Shusii crafted the mannequin.

Being capable of doing such a simple-looking yet complicated feat, her being an A-rank hunter is unlikely to be a lie. Maybe I should try doing it later. With the mannequin even being colored, they dressed it up again and again in order to solidify their designs.

The clothes’ basic design is also crafted with sorcery, and then they build up from that.

「This one looks better,」
「This one suits Ain more.」
「Hmm… That might be true, but isn’t this one cute too?」
「Both… wouldn’t be good.」
「Want me to make one for each?」
「Do it.」

Ciel is being extremely talkative. She still has the same tone, so she is drawing a line somewhere but even considering that, she’s really talkative. This time, I don’t feel even a hint of jealousy. After all, it’s just so overwhelming right now, I don’t have the leeway to feel jealous.

As for how this happened, it all started when Shusii, having a better look at Ciel’s appearance, seemingly had her seamstress heart burning with enthusiasm. I can understand that. Even I want to make clothes for Ciel, clothes that would accentuate Ciel’s cuteness, from scratch.

With Shusii directing that passion into designing clothes for me, teamed up with Ciel as well, this happened. Ciel seems to have some things she wouldn’t give up on, so while exchanging ideas with each other, the two worked on the designs.

Had this been for Ciel’s clothes instead, I would’ve joined in the discussion but since it’s my clothes they’re designing, it’s hard to interject. Rather, seeing them dress up a mannequin that looks like me feels, how do I describe it… fairly uncomfortable. It only feels that way since I think of it as me, so I could try to view it as Ciel with a different color scheme, but since I have a permanent form now, my mind automatically links “Ciel with a different color scheme” to “me.”

I wonder how much time has passed. I’ve started to feel lonely just watching, so I was playing with Liessyl, since it appears that only spirits with significant magic power can see me in my current state. However, in the midst of our playtime, a voice called out from the storefront, asking, 「Shusii, are you in?」

At the same time, Shusii instantly froze.

It’s a familiar voice. If I remember correctly, isn’t it Yunmica who we met at the Hunter Guild? Why is she here? I first thought, but are they perhaps sisters? Welp. I only remember Yunmica’s first name.

「Ah… Umm…」

With pleading eyes, Shusii stares at Ciel, but Ciel only seems puzzled. Rather than her being afraid of her sister, is she perhaps asking if it’s fine to leave?

『For now, tell her that it’s fine.』
「It’s fine.」
「T-thank you. Then, I’ll be back in a minute, okay.」

Saying so, Shusii hurried out of the room. Left by herself, Ciel tilted her head.

『I wonder what that’s all about?』
『The one who just arrived should be Yunmica, I think…』
『Who’s Yunmica?』
『The elf we met at the headquarters.』
『Oh, she was there. Yunmica Maa Messi, right?』

…Yup, it sounds like Shusii and Yunmica are undoubtedly sisters. More importantly, back to explaining to Ciel.

『Between you and Yunmica, you should have a higher status since you’re Mother Fii’s daughter.』
『Right.』
『Because of that, it might be impolite to leave you unattended while welcoming Yunmica. However, for Shusii, it’s probably difficult to simply ignore Yunmica. Even so, asking you to step aside would go against common courtesy, so perhaps she wanted you to read between the lines and allow her to go.』
『It honestly wouldn’t have bothered me, but I suppose she just couldn’t go against that, right?』
『I can’t say for certain, but that’s probably the case.』

I don’t know the etiquette regarding that either. While I do have some past life knowledge at disposal, that knowledge only came from skimming through books, I’ve never put it to practice nor did I have any opportunities to do so. Still, Ciel is impressive as always. I’m glad she understood it from that explanation.

『Having authority is so troublesome.』
『Considering how we still get into dragged into trouble even without it, it’s difficult to judge which is more troublesome. At the very least, I believe that we’ll have less trouble than we would without having authority.』

If we have to deal with nobles while having no firm standing, a mistake while interacting might make things messy. Specifically, if we’re pushed to use force, we might get into an all-out war with their house and, if it’s an important noble, it might be even with the country itself. Though, starting a war against one girl would probably affect the reputation of the country.

Currently, people who don’t want to have hostilities with Fiiyanamia likely wouldn’t escalate things even if Ciel has a few awkward interactions. While we might get into more trouble as Fiiyanamia’s daughter, with our status, things shouldn’t go too bad even if we resolve problems with force.

While it’s best to behave in a way so that this doesn’t happen, unfortunately neither Ciel nor I know how to behave like a noble. As I contemplated this, I sensed two people approaching the room.

『It seems like she’s heading back now.』
『Oh, that’s a shame. I wanted to talk with Ain more, though.』
『I feel the same.』

While we can talk anytime, we do need to make sure that we don’t take this for granted.

「Lady Cielmer, sorry for the long wait.」

The door opens, showing Shusii and Yunmica. Seeing Shusii speak the way she did to Ciel earlier, Yunmica went pale and smacked her on the head. She then pushed Shusii’s head down, as if to make her apologize.

「Please excuse my fool of a little sister.」
「I don’t mind it, I gave my permission.」
「See, even Lady Cielmer is siding with me. I’ll make sure to act properly in public, okay~」

Hearing Shusii’s insistence, Yunmica reluctantly let go of her. With her head now freed, Shusii sighed as she rubbed her neck.

「Lady Cielmer, what business brought you to such a placed as ours?」
「Yunmica, you can talk normally too.」
「Umm, Right. Affirmative, no, understood. What brought you here, Lady Cielmer?」

While having some difficulty, Yunmica changed her tone. Shusii changed her tone easily because she’s, well… a bit of an airhead. This is in contrast to Yunmica, who did so due to her practicality. As expected of the chief of the elves, I suppose.

And just as Shusii said, I guess they’ll be speaking more courteously outside of private situations.

「I came to buy clothes.」
「While this shop certainly does also sell clothing, there are better clothing stores to shop at, you know?」
「Sis, you’re so mean.」
「I wasn’t let inside.」

Ignoring Shusii’s words, Ciel answered her. I feel sorry for Shusii but while this shop may be expensive for hunters, it’s an average shop from a noble’s perspective. Naturally product quality is also important but one’s name value speaks louder in this case.

After all, nobles pay great attention to what they wear. Still, if the product quality is great, your shop should gain fame eventually.

As I mulled on that, Yunmica had a grim expression and looked at Ciel.

「Is that true?」
「Yeah.」
「… I can’t believe it, do they want to die?」
「Who?」
「I’m talking about the people managing the sales of clothes and accessories.」
「Why?」

Ciel and I tilt our heads in confusion. Did we provoke their anger or something? I don’t think that’s the case, though. Rather we didn’t have any time to do so.

「Do you remember the people who were cornering you back at the Hunter Guild?」
「Vaguely.」
「They are part of the same group. It’s a rather unjustifiable grudge, but perhaps they assume it’s acceptable to go after just the daughter?」

Yunmica brooded over the matter with a somber expression, but I have a better understanding of the situation now. They aren’t targeting Fiiyanamia; instead, they are most likely aiming for Ciel directly. And they probably don’t believe that Ciel is Fiiyanamia’s daughter now, do they?

Well, while I’ve got some clues now, it’s not like we can do anything about this immediately, so we’ll just resolve things as they happen. Fiiyanamia likely knows something about this anyway.

「I’m sorry to say this, but there’s nothing I can do.」
「I don’t mind. It doesn’t matter.」

That’s a Ciel-like answer. In the end, she’s still getting clothes for me with her ideas incorporated in the design. Rather, maybe she’s even thankful about being chased away from the other stores? It’s fine since I’m mad in her stead though.

Anyways, that’s the end of that topic. Just as we moved to the next topic, a spirit suddenly popped out from behind Yunmica and our eyes met.

Heya~! We got another new character, or rather a returning character, once again! And it seems like there’s going to be some spirit shenanigans abound!

First off, we get a good amount of worldbuilding for fantasy clothes and dressmaking. A surprise, sure, but in these kinds of slice of life fantasy stories, a welcome one. Ain’s barrier interfering with proper magical device readings is funny though. And as usual, it’s nice to see magic actually being used to circumvent the more laborious and time consuming parts of work, just as normal people would use it should it exist and be moderately simple to use. Having a manikin of you (size unconfirmed, actually, the more you know~) being dressed up in your stead is a bit haunting though. Just when you thought you could escape the dress up sequence because of being non-corporeal, there’s an effigy of you, showing you what your fate would have been otherwise, lol.

Ciel having fun, at Ain’s expense (lol), is a nice read as always. And of course Ciel would be vocal when it comes to Ain. Being not very social will not stand in the way of buying Ain new clothes, lol. Meanwhile in the background Ain is just plain overwhelmed with a pinch of dread. Again, the manikin/doll doesn’t help, lol. Good thing Liessyl was there to play and distract her from reality. I do like Ain being like “But what if it’s a trap… so much for wanting Ciel to have more social interaction. Okay, let’s just do it.”, self-awareness is good. In the past interludes, it has been shown that Ciel is sensitive when Ain is on alert and it’s one of the things that stops her from opening up, so it’s nice to see Ain being a bit more relaxed, while her caution is understandable.

And lastly, we have the introduction to Yunmika… and her spirit? Not much to say yet, but I think this is the first time we’ve ever gotten an actual on-screen sibling character interaction? Just a random thought. The “See, I’m not doing anything wrong!” part with Shusii was very relatable as a younger sibling though.

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay clean, stay safe, and have a nice day~!