Chapter 96: Accusation
[Edited by: Bunny, ArchmageNaoki, and Arthur300000 ]
“Hey, how long will he have to follow me?” I lightly elbowed Pristia and asked while we were browsing through the peach scented luxurious looking lingerie shop.
It had only been four hours since that meeting, but having that Kael, the pervert neighbor, following me everywhere felt more awkward than I thought it would. Anyone would've felt uncomfortable having a stalker following them while shopping for lingerie, right?
“Until everything's sorted out.” Pristia patted my head, trying to console me, while I was still contemplating alerting the shop’s security that we had a perverted stalker waiting outside for us, just for the fun of it.
To be honest, this Kael situation wasn’t that bad. The worst part was that Kael and I started off on the wrong foot, but even though we were having a lot of arguments and nitpicked at each other, I had to admit that he was very professional.
There was the time that I caught him taking a lot of pictures like some pervert from his hiding corner while we were at the weapon shop. But after I confronted him with my fist, which he skillfully parried, he explained that he wanted to keep track of the people surrounding me. That way he could guess which ones were sent by the bad guys. Well, he did add that he wasn’t a pervert, but I was too angry at the time and forgot to apologize. And now it was too awkward to do so...
Anyways, there was also a bright side to all of this. Kael had a car which was very convenient. Now, I could go around anywhere and whenever I wanted to with him as my chauffeur. Moreover, its seats were made of some kind of fur that was very fluffy and comfortable to sleep on. It felt even better than my own bed.
The best thing was, all of these bodyguard and car things were paid for by Ms. Bluebell. It was too good to be true if you asked me, but according to her, the guys that wanted me dead might be somehow related to the gang that abducted her sister. So, it was a kind of mutual benefits. With all things considered, I was reluctant to make a scene and ask for Kael to be replaced.
While I was contemplating all that, I heard Cocoa yawn to the right of me.
“Here, cheap and comfortable.” Cocoa suggested one of the white pumpkin style panties… Isn’t this just like the ones she wears? Well, we could have matching panties for our future underwear parties. So, I grabbed the pair that she handed me and put it inside my shopping basket.
“Kuro, look! This is the one! It’s cute and it also has the anti-moisture charm!” Pristia presented what I was looking for.
The mysterious reason why the bear pattern panties were so comfortable was revealed to me about a week ago. It was because of the anti-moisture charm that can only be cast on tightly woven fabric. So, today’s agenda was to find nice looking panties with that charm.
However, the pair she showed me were strawberry pink with a cute red bow on it. To be honest, it was cute, but those kinds of panties belonged on a showcase. I’ll need a lot more courage than what I currently have to wear something like that. Just what am I willing to wear currently? About striped panties, I think. Wait, doesn’t this mean that I’ve become a tsundere? Nah, I’ve taken my vitamin C every day, the placebo effect should prevent it somehow.
“Eh? Don’t you want to try them on first?” Pristia protested as I also put her panties into my basket and promised myself that I’d never ever tie my hair into twin tails.
“It’s alright, the shop is going to close soon, and I can ask for refunds within seven days.” I used the shop policy as an excuse and continued my crusade for anti-moisture enchanted panties.
“But I wanted to see you trying them on!” Pristia pouted. She complained that she had to go back tonight, so she couldn’t see me wearing them tomorrow. I felt relieved and sad at the same time. Anyways, all of this was for her own safety because it seemed that I was a danger magnet at the moment. Also, I think it would be bad for her future to skip her university classes for too long.
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The panties shopping went almost without problems. The exception being the underwear Pristia kept selecting which was too cute for me and Cocoa’s straight on indifference. And Skynet’s taste was… too efficient. She said that I should fill my wardrobe with the same design and throw away the rest, that way, she could eliminate most of the unknown variables.
I wished Barbara would’ve joined us but she said that she wanted to take some kind of extra course… Should I complain that my niece was too diligent? I wondered.
In the end, there was no such thing as good looking panties my size that came with anti-moisture enchantment… The closest was a pair of black nylon panties which were one size too big, and the strawberry pink pair which Pristia selected for me...
The moral of today’s story: A big shop does not necessarily have everything you need.
Even Cocoa also complained loudly about this shop having no second-hand corner which earned a lot of stares from people around the shop. Well, if I hadn’t known that it was a cultural phenomenon amongst Beastkin people to save money by selling their used underwear, I would also think that Cocoa is a pervert.
For some reason, it felt like I was a normal person surrounded by perverts here.
Anyways, I put my basket on the cashier table, then I waited for a chubby cashier woman to count what was inside my basket. While she did that, Pristia noticed that some of my picks were clearly not my size. Of course, I gave her the sound argument, “They are for when I grow up.” and looked away.
“That’ll be three gold and six big silver coins. Do you want me to wrap them in gift boxes?” Even the cashier seemed to also doubt that all of those undergarments were mine.
“No, thank you.” I answered. The only thing I wanted to put my treasure inside was a display case. I paid her the exact amount, stored everything into my storage device, and left the shop.
I let Pristia tell Kael to drive us to the airport. The communication between me and Kael was less punching and more talking thanks to Pristia’s work as a translator. However, her sudden departure made me worry for tomorrow and felt thankful towards her at the same time.
“Uhm, are you in need of money? I could give you some.” I asked Pristia as I sat in the back next to her. For some reason, Cocoa liked the shotgun seat, so we kinda always gave it to her.
“Huh? Why so sudden?” Pristia looked genuinely confused.
“Uhm, the airship ticket must’ve cost a lot. And it’s kind of my fault-” that I made her come, that was what I was going to say but she just hugged me again.
“It’s okay.” She released me and smiled. Then she continued. “This big sister earns a lot from her side job!” She proudly puffed out her chest.
“Side job?” Is that the kind of job that involves pillows and a group activity on the bed? I began to worry about her as my mind quickly went into the gutter.
“It’s secret.” Pristia coyly answered… Alright, now I’m really worried.
Still, no matter how I asked about her mysterious side job, Pristia didn’t seem to budge at all. So, I ended up telling her to take care of her body, but she only replied by pinching my cheeks instead. Girls are difficult to read, I concluded and waved goodbye to her at the airship port.
Riding the car back without Pristia made me feel empty… and hungry.
“Hey, do you have anything for me to eat?” I grabbed the fluffy front seat and whispered into Cocoa’s ear.
“How about a hot dog?” Her ears twitched a few times before she looked back and answered.
I smiled and nodded. Then she took out some kind of plastic cooler box the size of her lap, but as she opened it, hot steam floated out.
“Here you are.” She handed me a warm hot dog half wrapped in thin paper. Its smell was tantalizing but before I took the first bite, a rude man interrupted me.
“Please don’t drop sauce on the seat. You know, it’s a deep sea white rabbit’s fur.” … So what? You can just clean it later, right? So, I just politely nodded along while chewing on the juicy sausage. Oops, a droplet of mustard fell on my shirt.
I tried to clean it with my thumb but all it did was make the yellow smear grow bigger… Ah, don’t worry, it's dark, no one is gonna see it. And I could clean it anytime in my storage device. However, while I did all that, I didn’t realize that I dropped a big gloop of sauce onto the white furry undersea rabbit something fur beside me.
It was after I finished the entire hotdog and licked my fingers that I found the big red gloop sitting beside me… On second thought, this fur looked expensive.
[Skynet, do something!] I called for her help. She knew a lot of magic, cleaning an exotic rabbit fur should be easy for her, right?
[I’m sorry mistress, the deep sea white rabbit’s fur has anti-magic property, so only mundane cleaning methods will work.] Skynet apologized… The heck! Who is the idiot that made a seat from a material that couldn’t be cleaned with magic!?
In my panic, I tried to wipe the gloop with the only clean clothes I had, my spare panties. But for what it was worth, it turned the big gloop into a gigantic red smear… Well, what I did wasn’t in vain though. I learned that the ratio of the sauce I dropped has more of ketchup than of mustard by judging from the red color that became more prominent.
“Hey! Did you drop any sauce!?” Kael’s accusation interrupted my analysis on Cocoa’s secret recipe. Damn it, if he finds out what I just did, my hard earned image would be totally ruined.
“N-n-no!” I denied all charges while my brain went into overdrive, looking for an excuse. “It’s just… It’s just… I’m having my period!” I screamed and showed him the horrifying red panties in my hand.