"Miss Aesc, are you awake?"
Gray knocked on Aesc's door and called out, "It's almost time to set off."
"Okay~"
Hearing Aesc's drowsy reply, Gray felt relieved and headed downstairs.
Who would've thought Miss Aesc would laze in bed like that? She's just like Teacher.
Downstairs, Lord El-Melloi II, who had been grinning foolishly at a crystal ball, suddenly sneezed.
--+--
"Eeeek! This one's too revealing! My... my face is completely exposed!"
Clad in Gothic fashion, Gray shyly tugged at the fitting room curtain, trying to block the two pairs of amused eyes watching her. But since she'd already agreed to this, she couldn't fully close it.
This reluctant, 'ordered-to-do-it' demeanor made the corners of Aesc and Reines' mouths curl up even further.
"Come on out and give us a spin~" Reines said to Gray with a mischievous grin. "No need to be shy, we're all friends here."
"You did promise, after all~" Seeing Gray's expression that screamed she'd rather die in there than step out, Reines slowly reminded her.
That's right. This was the price.
The price for getting information from Reines.
During the last incident, Teacher had frozen on the spot after that retort from Wills.
It made Gray realize she knew practically nothing about her Teacher's past.
So, after returning, Gray had asked Reines about her Teacher's history, about the Holy Grail War.
The cost of that information was exactly this: accompanying Reines on a shopping trip.
"Ugh... You said we were going shopping together, so why am I the only one trying things on...?" Seeing their delighted expressions, Gray let out a whimper like a small, distressed animal.
"Well~ It's almost the change of seasons anyway. It's about time you added some new clothes to your wardrobe," Reines responded, picking out the next outfit for Gray to try from the pile Aesc was holding.
Watching Aesc holding the clothes, a bold idea suddenly sparked in Gray's mind.
"Miss... Miss Aesc probably needs new clothes too, right?" Gray said, her eyes shining as she looked at Aesc.
It appeared! The art of deflection!
Even if she couldn't escape herself, she could drag someone else down into becoming a dress-up doll with her.
"I've already picked mine out."
"Huh?"
Hearing this, the hopeful light in Gray's eyes slowly solidified into dread.
"When did that happen? I didn't know." Reines beside her looked at Aesc in surprise.
"Just now, while I was picking clothes for Gray, I saw one I liked." After saying this, Aesc picked up an outfit and stepped into the neighboring fitting room.
Soon, Aesc emerged.
She wore a black, gold-trimmed tube top, with a scarf of the same color and pattern around her neck.
Below was a pair of white hot pants, fastened with a golden belt.
Her legs were clad in white thigh-high boots, with a black garter strapped around one thigh.
Over it all, she wore a heavy coat that matched the tube top in color and pattern, lined with gold inside. She'd even swapped her original black-framed glasses for red ones.
"So, how do I look?" Aesc did a little twirl, showing off the outfit to Gray and Reines.
"So pretty!" they said in unison.
Gray and Reines, who had been watching, sighed in admiration at the same time.
"My taste isn't bad, right~"
"Mhmm, mhmm!" x2
Gray and Reines nodded vigorously.
"Then Gray should try on the clothes I picked next, right~"
"Mhmm, mhmm!" x2
No sooner had they agreed than Reines turned to look at Gray with a sly smirk.
After a moment's delay, Gray processed what had just happened. She trembled slightly as she looked at the two pairs of eyes now fixed on her. "We... we're still going?"
"Of course." Aesc held up a one-shoulder dress, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Gray. "We've only just begun."
And so, Gray was submerged in a sea of clothing.
Watching the scene unfold, Add let out a peal of shrill laughter. "Hahaha, they say the clothes make the man, after all..."
He was cut off mid-laugh as Gray, now wearing a red-hooded formal dress, approached him with a dangerous smile.
"Waaaaaaaaaah—!"
Perhaps because the commotion was too loud, someone was drawn to the scene and opened the fitting room door.
"I say, what on earth is all this racket?" A blonde girl with drill-shaped hairstyles, Luviagelita Edelfelt, walked in, one hand on her hip, observing Gray subjecting Add to a violent spinning.
"Ah... Miss Luviagelita, what are you doing here?" Casually tossing the unconscious Add into a shopping bag, Gray stepped out in her new clothes to ask.
"Because," Luviagelita declared, "I own this Carnac boutique."
"It does feel very much in keeping with Miss Luviagelita's style," Gray mused, recalling the opulently golden decorations she'd seen on the way in.
"I've even placed magecraft here to stimulate customers' desire to buy." Luviagelita crossed her arms, smiling proudly. "Perfect timing, since there's a new face from the El-Melloi classroom here. Allow me to personally show you around this Carnac—"
Before she could finish, the overhead lights suddenly went out.
A magical barrier silently unfolded within the shopping mall.
'Why is this happening earlier here too?'
Aesc thought with some exasperation as she promptly helped Reines handle the surge of excess magical energy. It was supposed to have gone out of control after Gray finished buying her gift.
Sensing the initial burst of magical energy from the barrier's activation subside, Aesc stopped assisting Reines with her Mystic Eyes.
"It seems the magical structure of this mall has gone out of control," Aesc said to Luviagelita, who was vigilantly scanning their surroundings. "Where is the core of that desire-stimulating magecraft you mentioned?"
"Newcomer, I swear on my family's name, I did not employ any simplistic magecraft," Luviagelita said, looking displeased at Aesc. "Leave this matter to your seniors—"
"The possibility of an overload reaction caused by those... excessive decorations cannot be ruled out, can it?" Reines interjected, addressing Luviagelita. "Furthermore, we haven't been attacked since the barrier was erected."
"Hmm..."
"There's really a place with such excessive decor?"
"There is indeed, and it happens to be right at the core location of the desire magecraft." Luviagelita cast a suspicious glance at Aesc. "It seems the rumors of your genius are not entirely unfounded."
With that, Luviagelita walked towards a concealed elevator. "Follow me."
Boom—
'Wow, so this is the form of a Lady Crane.'
The moment they entered the core area, the out-of-control security system launched an attack on Aesc and the others.
"What happens on my turf, I'll handle myself. None of you intervene."
Uttering these words, Luviagelita made a show of rolling up her sleeves, charged at a security puppet, and slammed it with a grapple.
'I think you and a certain giant feathered serpent goddess lady would get along splendidly.'
Aesc mused, watching Luviagelita smash the last puppet to pieces with her bare hands.
"Hmph, free-style wrestling is a required course for any proper lady." Luviagelita flicked one of her drill curls, smirking triumphantly.
"So impressive! Is that really part of a lady's required training?" Gray asked, clapping with genuine belief.
"Don't you actually believe that," Reines said, a rare look of helplessness crossing her features as she watched Gray's earnest applause.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.