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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Welcome.”
The shopkeeper greeted us as we entered a tailor shop.
It looked a bit run-down, but I decided not to doubt it since Trie had recommended the place.
“Oh my. Are you Imperial University students? Then I’ll give you a 30% discount.”
“Thank you.”
“Is there something specific you’re looking for?”
“A belt and I’d like to order a scabbard.”
“A scabbard…”
The shopkeeper’s expression changed abruptly.
She then gestured for us to follow her inside.
We followed the shopkeeper down the stairs, carrying an oil lamp.
“Wow…”
Emilia exclaimed.
The basement was even larger than the tailor shop upstairs.
There were leather clothes, knee guards, and all sorts of leather protective gear in abundance.
It seemed this was their main business.
“We only deal in leather scabbards here. Is that alright?”
“As long as it’s not a scabbard that gets pierced by the sword tip, it’s fine.”
“Hehehe. That wouldn’t be a scabbard at all. Do you have the actual sword with you?”
“No, I don’t have the real thing, but…”
I had compared the size of the sword Trie gave me with Vafe before.
When I placed them side by side, they matched almost perfectly.
So it should work if I used Vafe as a reference.
I slowly activated my internal circuits to generate mana energy.
A flash of light burst from my right palm with a zinging sound.
When I grasped that pillar of light tightly, a blue, shimmering light sword appeared in my hand.
“Please make it fit this size.”
“Ah… Yes. Let me take the measurements. Could you lower it a bit?”
“Yes. Be careful, as you might get hurt if you touch it.”
“Alright…”
I laid Vafe down on the table.
The shopkeeper measured it with a trembling hand and a tape measure.
When I thought she was done, I put Vafe away.
Then my eyes were drawn to the table.
“Huh?”
“Is something wrong?”
“It’s nothing.”
The edge of the table was scorched and slightly scraped away.
It must have touched it lightly…
I turned around and quietly signaled Emilia to keep quiet.
“What color would you like?”
“Black, please.”
“Alright. Then would you like to choose a belt from those hanging on the wall? I’ll make the scabbard right away.”
“Yes, understood.”
As the shopkeeper went into the back workshop, Emilia and I were left alone.
Emilia approached me with a playful look in her eyes and brought her mouth close to my ear.
“That table looked really expensive…”
“…”
“You don’t want me to say anything?”
“I’d prefer if you didn’t.”
“Then what’s in it for me?”
“…”
Now she was even demanding hush money, she had really become shameless.
I wondered if she had noticed that I knew her true identity.
It was hard to believe how much a person could change overnight.
“Well. What do you want?”
“That thing from earlier. The thing you pulled out of your hand. I didn’t have a chance to ask before, but what exactly was that?”
“I’m not sure myself. It just suddenly started coming out of my hand one day.”
“…”
Emilia stared at my face intently, but her expression became uncertain.
It was a face that couldn’t tell if I was lying or telling the truth.
Of course.
I had mixed a little truth into the lie.
It was clear that a 100% lie wouldn’t work on Emilia.
“Hmm… I see. Are you destined to be some kind of hero or something, oppa?”
“No way.”
I shook my head immediately.
This situation was just barely being managed by cramming all sorts of abilities and coincidences into an extra’s body.
I was certain that Schlus’s body itself didn’t have much talent.
Except for a bit of sword talent, that is.
“Hmm. Then shall I demand my hush money now?”
“Wasn’t that question enough?”
“I never said I’d settle for just that question, did I? I just asked, and you happened to answer.”
“…”
It was a cunning smile.
I almost gave her a knock on the head.
“Alright then. Let me ask clearly. What do you want?”
“I’ll choose.”
“What?”
“I’ll pick out the belt for you. That’s enough.”
With that, Emilia went to the display rack, humming as she examined the belts.
It was a bit strange.
I thought she would try to extract some kind of wish or favor from me.
Of course, how much use a wish granted in exchange for overlooking a scorched piece of furniture would have was another matter entirely.
“Hmm…”
Watching Emilia happily touch and choose belts brought a smile to my face.
It felt just like we were a young couple out on a date.
Emilia spent a long time calling me over, putting belts around my waist, and trying them on before finally choosing one.
It was a pitch-black belt.
“I think black would suit you, to match the scabbard. What do you think?”
“There’s no pattern on it.”
“Yeah. Don’t you like it?”
“…No, I do.”
It was an incredibly plain, monotonous belt.
The lack of ostentation was exactly to my taste, so much so that I couldn’t imagine liking anything else more.
Having spent quite some time with Emilia, it seemed she had completely grasped my preferences.
“I love it.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“It doesn’t seem like it. Be a little more excited.”
“I’m plenty excited.”
“Hmm…”
Without realizing it, I had placed my hand on Emilia’s head and was stroking it.
Emilia, who had been speaking playfully until just moments ago, suddenly became docile, gripping her skirt with both hands and tilting her head slightly.
As I kept stroking for a while, her side hair fell forward.
Afraid it might poke her eyes, I tried to tuck it behind her ear-
“Mm…”
Emilia’s hand grasped my wrist and gently pulled it downward.
Before I knew it, I was caressing Emilia’s cheek.
Her soft, plump cheek.
Emilia, like a cat that had found its owner’s touch, closed her eyes and held my hand, nuzzling against it.
I just caressed her face as if in a trance.
“Chu.”
The moment my thumb touched Emilia’s lips, I snapped back to reality.
There was a light kissing sound.
I should have pulled my hand away then.
I should have, but my hand was trapped by Emilia, unable to move.
No, actually, this was just an excuse.
If I had wanted to, I could have forcefully pulled away at any time.
When I came to my senses, I realized my thumb had already slipped between Emilia’s lips.
Emilia, biting my thumb, opened her beautiful, sparkling eyes and looked up at me.
It was the kind of gaze that stirred various male impulses…
“It’s done. Have you chosen a belt?”
“Ah, yes. We have.”
At that moment, the workshop door swung open, and I hastily pulled my hand away.
I quickly glanced around and saw that Emilia had already returned to her usual serious expression.
What on earth was that just now…
It felt like her acting skills had improved lately.
Damn.
I still couldn’t forget that face.
“I’ve made it to fit the flash… thing you showed me earlier. If you try putting the sword in and it gets stuck or rattles anywhere, please bring it back. I’ll fix it for you.”
“Yes, understood.”
I tried on the belt with the scabbard attached and looked in the mirror.
It looked pretty good.
Wearing a sword with my school uniform would make me look quite battle-crazed, though…
Ah, of course, I didn’t mean to imply that Trie looked battle-crazed.
“Are you left-handed?”
“Pardon? No.”
“Then why…”
“I’m practicing with my left hand as well.”
“…?”
The shopkeeper looked puzzled seeing the scabbard on my right side.
It was because Vafe could only be drawn with my right hand.
Most battles would be fought with Vafe, while the sword Trie had given me would mostly be used for show or intimidation.
I thought that in emergencies, I might draw it with my left hand and use it alongside Vafe as dual swords.
Of course, that meant I needed to get used to wielding a sword with my left hand.
I decided to practice that gradually.
“…?”
As I was feeling the scabbard, I detected traces of magic.
“Did you use magic in your work?” I asked.
“Yes, that’s right. Without magic, I couldn’t achieve this speed, hoho.”
“Your precision and speed are quite impressive. Did you graduate from the Imperial University by any chance?”
“No.”
I had thought she might have, given her skill and shop location near the university.
My guess was wrong, a complete miss.
“But I did work at the Imperial University for a while,” she added.
“Ah, I see.”
So it wasn’t a complete miss after all.
I suddenly became interested.
I wondered if I could get some information about the Imperial University from her.
As the original author, I had been learning many new things lately, so it was important not to be arrogant.
There was a good chance that even an ordinary extra might know facts I didn’t.
“Do you have any tips that might help with school life?”
“Is the top entrance student asking for tips?”
“Well, the more information, the better.”
“Hmm… There is one tip. You know the mountain behind the school? When a professor is nearby, look at that mountain, glare at it once, and then say something meaningful like ‘I wonder if it’s time for it to wake up…'”
“Excuse me…?”
“Then the professor will start to see you as unusual and want to drag you into graduate school.”
“…”
Her words, though spoken with a smile, were quite chilling.
By the way, it seemed this lady wasn’t just a simple worker, but had been a professor.
She knew about Untier, which was sealed in the mountain behind the school.
But it was still a long time before that creature was supposed to appear.
I decided to put Untier out of my mind for now.
“That’s quite a difficult joke to understand,” I said.
“Is it? Ah, I guess students these days don’t know about that…”
I pretended not to understand and brushed it off.
Behind me, Emilia tilted her head in confusion.
For her, it was truly a story she knew nothing about, so her reaction was natural.
We finished our shopping and left the store.
From the outside, it looked just like an ordinary tailor shop.
I doubted many people knew about the leather protective gear sold in the basement.
It was interesting that such a shop existed in the capital.
As the original author, I found it an intriguing setting.
“Shall we go home now?” Emilia asked.
“You’re back to formal speech as soon as we’re outside?”
“Should I use informal speech then? Would you like that?”
“No. I’ll be criticized for poorly educating my attendant.”
“That’s not my problem.”
“Use formal speech quickly before I have to correct your manners myself. When we’re outside.”
“Correct me yourself? How would you do that? How would you educate this ill-mannered attendant?”
“…”
Emilia kept pressing close to me, asking provocatively.
She really…
Her personality had changed strangely, or maybe this was her original personality.
I wondered what had made her so free-spirited.
I suspected Jin might have hit her head too hard and made her a bit crazy.
“If you keep disobeying, I’ll have to educate you like this.”
“Ah… Eh…?”
I placed my hand on Emilia’s cheek.
Then I naturally moved it back to grip her nape.
To prevent her from moving her head.
The stiff feel of her hair, tied up in a bun, felt nice.
As I brought my face closer, Emilia took a small step back but then seemed to resign herself to her fate and tightly closed her eyes.
But why was she puckering her lips?
Whack!
“Ugh!”
I headbutted her, and Emilia sat down with tears in her eyes.
Her gaze as she looked up at me, holding her forehead, was mixed with resentment.
“Will you still disobey? You’d better answer well.”
“Ow… I’ll obey. Oppa.”
“‘Oppa’ isn’t acceptable either. When we’re outside.”
“…Mr. Hainkel.”
“That’s right.”
Finally, things were set straight.
I started walking with a slight smile, and Emilia, who had been exaggerating her pain, soon trotted to catch up.
“Let’s stop by somewhere else.”
“Where? My arms hurt from carrying this shopping basket.”
Her complaints remained the same even though she was using formal speech.
I considered giving her another headbutt, but decided against it as the street was getting crowded.
“To buy some clothes for you.”
“What?”
“You only have your maid uniform and one set of casual clothes, right? It would be good to have a dress for more formal occasions… and a few more sets of casual clothes. I’ll buy you some shoes to match too. Ah, comfortable pajamas would be nice as well.”
“Is that… really true?”
“Have you ever seen me lie?”
“No… I’m just surprised a miser is being so generous.”
“I want my attendant to look prettier when we’re out.”
“Ah, um… I see…”
I thought that Emilia’s recent complaints towards me might be a kind of protest.
Overworking her for a monthly salary of just 200,000 won…
Even if I couldn’t raise her salary, providing good company benefits should at least prevent her from going on strike.
Moreover, if an attendant always wore the same maid uniform or casual clothes, it might raise doubts about the quality of that servant.
The latter reason was more significant, but it seemed to have had an effect.
Emilia’s mood seemed to have improved a bit as she walked close beside me.
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[Emilia is gonna twist him around her little finger i swear and im fucking down for it ngl Emilia best girl and honorable mention is ofc Madam Lichtenburg]
God she’s so cute
holy i love emilia so much