Before we left, Shirley demonstrated the freeze-dried fruits to Mia and Tia, who were impressed. In the meantime, I checked Olivia's research. The young Half-Elf was, as always, full of energy and showed me her latest inventions enthusiastically, including an interesting take on the illumination flare. She tried to make its glow last for at least fifteen minutes. We left Olivia and Shirley with unpacked rations and a bit of a mess to clean, but they didn't mind. I teleported us back to the palace where Amber and Freya were already waiting.

"For a moment I thought you went without us." Amber giggled.

"Mia and Tia wanted to try a MRE," I explained briefly and smiled. "Shall we go now?"

•••

It wasn't the shopping run Freya probably had expected. Our trip was limited to visiting Wendy's Emporium, Ruby's jewellery store, and Ragnar's armoury. The last shop on our list was added thanks to Freya and Tia, who once heard about it, they became impatient to get there. Since I was sure that the visit to the armoury would take less time than the other places, we went straight there. We stumbled upon Ragnar, who was about to leave.

He welcomed us with a big smile. "Good afternoon, my Lord! How may we help you?"

"Hello, Ragnar!" Freya emerged behind me and merrily waved at the Forge Master of Avalon.

"My Queen!" He bowed with the utmost respect. "It's an honour-"

"We just wanted to look around." Freya quickly waved her hand, stopping his speech to avoid being embarrassed. "I would like to see if you have anything interesting for me and I would like to find a new battle axe for Balin."

"Most certainly, my Lady! Please, this way..." He bowed with a smile and led the way, excitedly explaining the latest creations of his workshop displayed.

Mia and Tia looked around in silent awe at the assortment of weapons and armour. While Amber and I patiently waited, Tia and Freya relentlessly bombarded Ragnar with a myriad of questions. On the other hand, Mia was quietly looking at the best daggers Ragnar could produce and occasionally shook her head in disbelief. Amber looked disinterestedly at various staves and wands, but nothing interested her.

"What class are you anyway, Mia?" I asked her after a moment.

"I thought you appraised me a long time ago." She giggled and shrugged. "I'm just a Queen. No subclasses, but I have invested in some general skills."

"I..." I suddenly felt bad.

"Don't worry. I'm quite good with a dagger when I have to," she said confidently.

"What?! That won't do!" Freya chimed in. I could swear she was on the other side of Ragnar's shop a second ago. "You should get a subclass!"

"How? Getting a subclass is an extremely rare occurrence! I don't think I know anyone who has a subclass..." Mia inhaled sharply.

Freya and I exchanged flat gazes, and after a few moments, I looked straight into Nekomi's eyes.

"How many subclasses do you have, Amber?" I asked loudly, pinning Mia who slowly blushed under my gaze.

"Only two. I don't need any more," my first love in this world answered as if that was something normal while Mia's eyes widened in shock.

"What about you, Ragnar?" I asked, still staring at Mia.

"Ummm. Seven, my Lord. But I took that last one just for one skill, so it barely counts..." The Forge Master rubbed his beard.

"Seven?!" Mia and Tia shouted in unison.

"We are in a Dungeon, Mia, and Tia... That's what Dungeons should do..." Freya put her hands on her hips and sighed heavily. "Anyway, we will think with Theon what class would fit you the-"

"FIGHTER CLASS!" Mia and Tia put their hands together and looked up with their wide, golden cat-like eyes as their tails moved slowly in excitement.

The visit to the armoury extended as Mia and Tia started explaining what kind of weapons they liked and what their class should use. The women moved around trying different armours and swinging different weapons. In the meantime, Freya was making up class names that would fit them.

"Valkyrie? Like the name of my armour set?" Amber hummed after one Freya advocated for the most.

"Yeah. It's a bit strange that a mage set is called Valkyrie's armour..."

"It wasn't specified that Valkyries were just warriors," Freya scoffed. "On the contrary! Valkyrie's names are actually a good representation of what they could have wielded. For example, two of them were named Göndul, which means wand-wielder, and Geirskögul, which translates to Spear-shaker. So Göndul could have been some kind of magic user."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Mhm." Amber nodded. "But if most of the Valkyries were warrior-like, then I don't see why not naming a class after them."

"All right." I shrugged, and we approached Mia and Tia, who were trying to decide what weapon they would like to use.

I saw that they were looking at the vast assortment of spears and various swords. However, Ragnar disappeared somewhere, only to reappear just as I wanted to ask the twins if they needed help.

"I think I have a solution, my Ladies." He put a large tray with two slim swords in beautifully decorated scabbards. Their blades were a bit wider than a katana or a sabre, but that might have been just my imagination. They were a bit short for my taste, but I refrained from commenting for now. "These are rather specific weapons, but I believe that they are going to be exactly what you were looking for."

He took out one of the intricately decorated blades, which briefly shone with an orichalcum glow. He swung it a few times, making the blade sing its deadly song. While Mia looked absolutely bewitched by the blade, Tia wasn't particularly impressed. The blade itself was slightly curved, similar to a katana, but unlike a katana, it was double-bladed. The structure of the blade was somewhat confusing because its curvature was obviously designed to aid in cutting. The other side of the sword was also sharpened, but the shining edge wasn't that obvious with its gold-lined decorations and powerful runes.

"It's very light and will work perfectly in any tight space." The Dwarf smiled towards Mia and then looked at Tia. "However, it's not just a simple sword." Ragnar lifted the sword, and after grinning towards Tia, the sword, in a blink of an eye, extended its handle and became a polearm at least two metres tall. It was just like one of those expanding party staves on Earth, except it was much cooler and, most importantly- functional. "Now you have a glaive..."

Their shocked gasps turned into high-pitched, but not annoying, screeches of excitement. The twins turned around in unison with begging gazes as they looked at me with their huge, cat-like eyes. I was barely able to hold back my laughter. I extended my hand, took the second sword-glaive from the tray, and weighed it in my hand. The balance was barely noticeably shifted towards the hilt, but I wasn't sure if anyone would notice that slight imperfection. The weapon had a light, slim, and graceful blade, but it appeared especially short in my hands. I inspected the hilt, but when I couldn't find any release button or anything like that, I looked at Ragnar. He gave us an in-depth explanation of how that system worked. Of course, it required magic. The glaive form was even more comfortable to use, allowing for swift thrusts and broad cuts. The handle was profiled in a way that made it easy to distinguish when the blade was aligned. I took a second from Ragnar and shook my head in impressed disbelief. They were absolutely identical.

"Those are fine weapons, Ragnar. As always, incredible work." I smiled and extended them towards Mia and Tia, who slowly grabbed hilts. "I reckon you want your class to use that kind of weapon. So, what do you think about the Valkyrie class?"

•••

The next hour passed with balancing skills and focusing on fine details. The twins' cat-like nature and exceptional grace made it evident that cladding them in heavy armour was out of the question. However, I wasn't going to simply let them run around in light armours. The solution to that problem was making them custom armour. With my skill proficiency being simply focused on the idea of 'class specific' armour, it gave me enough flexibility to make it work. The heavy cuirass from the Valkyrie class was made of orichalcum and adamant, lined with a variety of runes, and protected the torso. Its dark blue, almost black base colour glowed with a gentle cobalt hue highlighting its gold ornaments. The pauldrons were not as pronounced as in the case of the heavy armour but covered the arms. There were also more intricate details resembling feathers of closed wings again made of orichalcum and adamant. The forearms were protected by solid bracers made of the same alloy as the cuirass and pauldrons. Their high, over-the-knee armoured boots were made of the same alloy, providing superior protection. However, it wasn't seamless or anywhere near full plate armour. Underneath it was a tight, full bodysuit of Wyvern skin, making the set gapless for protection’s sake.

Or it would have been if not for their Nekomi features. Similar to Luna, Mia and Tia needed their tails to balance themselves, so they couldn't be easily hidden. To not unnecessarily complicate the balanced armour, we added a dress-like fabric made of Death-weaving Spider's silk. It was so light that it was easy to forget it was there in the first place, but it offered enough protection to shield their vulnerable tails. The helmet was another bit of custom work but nothing unusual for Ragnar. Nekomis needed space for their ears, so naturally, the helmets had those adorably looking cat ears. Still, the design was heavily inspired by the Viking style, and Freya insisted on each detail and ornament. I just made sure that the braces were upgraded to use an Aegis-type shield. Once we finished and Ragnar took all the measurements, he went straight to the work. The armours would be ready tomorrow.

The visit to the jewellery store was far more intense, and I started mentally preparing for the clothes store. All four women actively and methodically dug through the wares while Ruby observed her employees from the side. I was focused on the assortment of masterfully crafted and intricately decorated Aegis shields. It took me a while to choose, and I finally bought three. One was for Freya, and two others were identical for the twins. The next things on my list were storage rings of the greatest capacity available. Thanks to Ruby's skill, they were also elegant and richly decorated, even though they did not have a single gemstone. After getting three, I continued with my shopping list, completely ignoring what was happening around me. However, the excited shouts and gasps of pure awe were a clear indication that the girls were having fun. When I was finished, I looked at the four women who had tried on a number of different accessories at the same time and simply laughed. Right now, they weren't the Queens of a powerful Empire or the fiancées of its emperor, but just people having fun, which was a priceless moment to remember.

The shop attendants' thoughtful gazes and soft smiles clearly indicated that they also understood the rarity of this sight and were excited to be a part of it. The young girls behind the counters tried their best to make their very important customers happy, but their polite casualness was exactly what Amber, Freya, Mia, and Tia needed. Of course, only Amber seemed utterly careless about the price tags attached to each item they tried. While Freya was slightly concerned, Mia and Tia were absolutely horrified by the price that had to be paid for Ruby's masterworks. I would have been as well if not for the fact that I was obscenely rich. Tax incomes filled my treasury in real-time, and it was unavoidable to pay in any Dungeon City of Arcadia. While most of it was spent on the development and Arcadia's expenses, there was still enough for an occasional gift. Yet, I knew that today, even my wallet would weep. Buying jewellery for ten women wasn't going to be cheap...

After paying the equivalent price of a brand-new destroyer for our purchases, it was time to leave Ruby's shop behind. The time had come to enter a place I feared the most. It was time to go to Wendy's Emporium.