Chapter 63: Fashion
Edited by: Bunny, Deathbricks, ArchmageNaoki, and Arthur300000
"The future is now." Such a cliche phrase is written on a sign next to a mannequin wearing a combat exo-suit. Right now, I was inside the factory outlet store which Ms. Bubba told me about. Then I noticed this cool looking combat suit and ended up staring at it for quite a while, with a basketful of merchandise in my arms.
The combat exo-suit on the rotating mannequin looks hi-tech, but its specification is nothing impressive though. It just a mobility assisting device with minimal protection. It's defense mainly comes from the interference field and a static wall automated spell. All things considered, it's just a wearable overpriced close combat device. Damn, I could even buy ten daggers with the same specifications at this price. Maybe it’s expensive because of its mobility assist function, but even then, the 20 km/hour top speed described in its specification isn't helping much. I could outrun that easily with the strength of my OP loli body.
Its cool goggles, however, are interesting. One of It's functions is sharing sight and status with teammates. It also has infrared, ether trace, UV, and most importantly an X-ray vision. Oh, it also has a mapping function. I wondered what ether trace was about, so I asked the pretty saleswoman next to the mannequin.
"Dear customer, it's better to try it." She smiled and put the goggles on my head. She clicked a button on them a few times, then everything turned blue.
"It's all blue..." I told her.
"That's the anti-theft enchantment that covers entire shop." She explained and pointed at her hand. There is the text exo-vision rotating over her hand. I pulled the goggles off and the text disappeared. Wow,this product feels like it came out of an anime. I asked the saleswoman whether it had something like Mystic Eyes of Death Perception that would allow me to see death lines.
"It's a line that when cut, the thing is destroyed." I tried to explain it to her, but she replied with "There is no such thing, dear customer." and looked away... Whoops, my eighth grade syndrome is resurfacing.
Anyways, because the goggles have no offensive capabilities, anyone could buy them. So, I told her to help me carry ten boxes to the cashier. She paused in surprise for a while before she energetically helped me carry them. She even helped me carry my basket...
"That’ll be 51,540 gems, miss." The cashier told me the price of everything including parts and tools for creating magic devices. I also purchased a few cases of bullets for my sniper rifle. It seems I overspent a bit today. Including the shuttle repair cost, over half of my gems were used up. Even though I still had the one million gems bounty that I didn't cash out yet, but if this keeps going, my money would run out in no time. Still, these goggles are necessary. If I’m going to create an adventurer group in the future, this equipment could help a lot with teamwork issues.
"Thank you for your patronage, please come again." The saleswoman sends me off happily as I leave the shop. Her smile is warm but the air outside is only getting colder and colder, I wouldn't be surprised if it began to snow. Ahh, my ears feel cold. I tried to cover my cat ears with my hands as a strong gust of wind blew. Ugh, I don’t want to use a personal climate control device, it feel too stuffy.
This wasn't a problem when I took the bus here. The bus station is close to the building, and it was pretty warm on the bus. However, on the way back, I planned to take a tram which is a bit further away. I want to have a cat eared hat like the girl who just passed me. Maybe I could use my bra instead. No, that would draw too much attention.
To distract myself from my numbed ears, I tried the goggles and set it to X-ray vision. However, instead of the naked people that I hoped to see, everyone turned into walking skeletons instead. Damn it! However, my mood made a U-turn after I switched to the infrared vision. Alright, I can see through clothes this way~
Sadly, I got scolded by a policeman along the way, he said that I wasn’t supposed to use the “Tactical visor, Illuminator Mk. V” in public spaces. I wonder how he knew its full model number? However, I successfully fooled him with the upturned eyes technique while I explained to him that I just bought it, so I wanted to try it out. He stumbled a bit and let me go with only a short lecture.
“J-just use it outside the city.” He said... Wow, upturned eyes technique is formidable.
.
.
.
"One ticket for Rabitat shopping street, please." I asked a bunny girl at the ticket booth. My next destination is the town next to Alphatrick, opposite to the merchant HQ. While the merchant HQ is a big shopping mall, Rabitat is a bunch of small shops packed together. The travel website said that it has about 380 shops in total.
"Little, miss. You don't need to buy the ticket." Ms. Ticketbooth pointed at giraffe sign next to me. My head is just below the line it seems, but wait a moment, if I count my ears, wouldn't I a bit over the line? I look back at her and point at the tip of my ears.
"We don't measure ears or horns, little miss. Otherwise, Rabbitkin like me would be at a disadvantage, right?" She smiles wryly. Oh, she is right.
I decided to not worry about my height anymore as I followed the stream of people to get on the tram. After all, I can't blame anyone but my stupidity and a moment of perversion when I created this character... As expected, I can't reach the handrail.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
A gentleman offered me a seat as I was trying my best to reach the handrail while tip toeing and grunting. Of course, I could just hold the pole in the middle, but I really wanted to see whether I could grab the railing. It felt like it was only a centimeter away. So close, yet so far... Anyways, his gentlemanliness made me feel happy and disturbed at the same time. Disturbed at the feeling of happiness which I wasn't supposed to have, I mean.
""AHH!"" Two babies on their mother’s lap began to stir as I sat next to them. Our eyes met and they began to crawl their way to my face. "Ahh! Ahh!" They yelled while their mother tried holding them off. I didn't know how to deal with them, so I inched away. Because the seats on the tram are just two long rows facing each other, my shoulder was touching a woman in an office suit who sat on the other side of me.
"Sorry, sorry, they seem to like you." Their mom told me with a big smile as her babies frustratedly wailed. "Oh, Oh, Oh, be a good girl~, Luz, Liza." She crooned.
"They are so cute." The girl in the office suit said to the mother. And they began to chat above my head.
"Waii!" One of the babies slipped through their mother’s arms and landed on my lap. She looked at me with sparkling eyes, made herself comfortable, and nestled between my boobs... What a perverted girl she is.
"Mou, Liza, don't disturb other people, bad girl, bad girl." Her mom scolds her and apologizes to me. However, as she did that, the other baby also slipped past her entanglement and landed on me... Am I a baby magnet or what!? Other passengers who noticed this chuckled and smiled.
"Uhm, it's alright. Just let them be for a while." I told the mother. They are not that heavy, and it would be more troublesome if they were to cry. She thanked me profusely, but I had to shush her because the babies had begun to curl up and fall asleep...
"I'm a bit jealous though, they are too energetic with only me around." The mother admitted. I don't know what to say... Even worse, I don't know what these rascals are thinking. It would be a very bad habit for them to be this defenseless against a stranger.
[Mistress, an incoming call from an unknown number.] Skynet notified me and display a small alert window in my vision. I clicked accept.
[Kuro, where are you? I just registered my mobile package, so I tried it out.] Oh, it's Cocoa. I told Skynet to put her number in my speed dial.
[I'm on the tram going to Rabitat's shopping street. Would you like to meet me there? No, please meet me there. I need your help choosing my clothes... with a tail hole.] Clothes with auto repair also has its demerits. I can't just punch a cat tail hole in it because the hole would just fix itself.
[Alright, do you want me to take Pristia along?] She asked.
[No, please no. If she comes, I would be doomed to wear skirts.] I told her. While I preferred to have a second opinion, I don't want to be forced to choose.
[That's horrible Kuro! I don’t force you or anything.] Pristia protested out of the blue. What the hell!? Why is she there!?
[Sorry, Kuro. I was testing the hands free function.] Gah, please tell me beforehand!
.
.
.
Because Rabitat is a lot closer to Alphatrick than Bubba's factory, Cocoa, Sophia, and my sister arrived at the tram station before me. I quietly returned the two babies to their mother and get off the tram, they are still asleep though.
"So, you need some Catkin's pants, huh?" Sophia, the uninvited girl grinned.
"Leave it to me!" Pristia interjected with too much enthusiasm.
"Yeah, yeah, let's grab something to eat first. I'm famished." I dismissively told them and pulled Cocoa away by her hand. From the looks of it, she already feels guilty enough, so I didn't reprimand her.
We settled down at a Monster Burger fast food restaurant. They even have a branch here. Surprisingly, Cocoa never tried it.
"They don't open restaurants in the countryside or at borders." She explained with glittering eyes. She also stared at other people’s orders and kept sniffing the air. I felt embarrassed by her.
"Kuro was also like that the first time I brought her to this restaurant." Pristia giggled. Please, don't expose my dark past!
This time, I ordered wyvern burger properly. I also bought hash browns and poroporo juice. Cocoa, on the contrary, she ordered an extra-thick triple jororo burger. It's a burger with three big pieces of meat in the middle.
I never knew that it could be ordered this way. Her burger was quite impressive. Because there is no paper wrap big enough for it, the staff had to serve it on a big plate with a Monster Burger flag on top. I doubt anyone could fit three layers meat and the bread in one bite, but she did it while happily wagging her tails... What a voracious girl she is.
For the record, Cocoa and my orders were 40 gems in total while Sophia and my sister's order were only 28 gems. I felt relieved that we footed our own bill this time. Otherwise, it would be awkward when we look at the receipt. Anyway, I still have to pay for Cocoa's portion according to the contract, but looking at her munching away makes it worth every gem.
My wyvern meat is a bit hard to chew, but its flavor is deep and complex. "It was like eating a delicious tire." I explained to Cocoa, and she tilted her head even more. Seeing that I offered my half-eaten burger to her.
"I also want to try it!" My sister quickly joined in. After that, we traded small portions of our burger to each other. This way, everyone has tasted all the items we bought. Everything is delicious. No wonder this chain is so popular.
.
.
.
The shopping street in the evening was still lively. There are so many shops that I didn’t know where to start. Seeing me hesitate, my sister pulled me into a fashionable shop called A & T.
There were a lot of teenage customers inside. I had to wait in line to use the changing room. But because I didn’t want to waste too much time, I waited in line while everyone picked out clothes for me. My sister found a skirt, but she relented and put it down when I stared accusingly at her.
"Huh? Do I also need the shirt and jacket?" I look at everyone’s choice, they didn't pick only Catkin's pants it seems.
"Tch tch tch! Kuro doesn't know about fashion, huh?" My sister annoyingly got on a high horse. "Having matching clothes increases your cuteness by 90 percent!"
"Ninety?" Not a hundred or fifty?
"Right, over ninety percent! Everyone knows that." Sophia added, and Cocoa nodded along. From the way you said it, it's more like over nine thousand instead.
Anyway, I tried what everyone chose. It turned out that my sister's choices were the best. Even with pants, she could make it unbelievably cute. On the other hand, I preferred to not use what Sophia selected. There is too much stench of yaoi-ness in her style. It’s not manly and it’s more dandy, if you get what I mean.
"Mine is more useful." Cocoa argues for her... padded armor. Now, I'm glad that Pristia tagged along. It would be troublesome with just me and Cocoa… In the end, I bought three sets of clothes and a cat eared hat, all of which were my sister’s suggestions.
As a side note; the cat tail panties work well.