Chapter 96 - It's Loungewear
With that boisterous episode more or less behind us, the Magitechnician herself gave me a direct explanation regarding the aforementioned [Rabbit Dagger: Parabellum].
Once that was settled, Kagura-san stood up from her chair. "Alright then," she said.
"Guess I'll get started right away. A week—no, you'll probably need to get used to it, so I'll have it done the day before. Is six days from now, back here, good for you?"
"Yeah, please do. What time?"
"The sooner I can hand it over, the better, so in the morning... Let's see, how about six o'clock sharp?"
"Real-world time, right? Got it."
I'm finally making my university student debut tomorrow, but the first week or so is just guidance sessions and whatnot, so I should still have a bit of free time. If I pick it up first thing in the morning, I can start getting the feel for it as soon as I get home, which is a great help.
"Oh, sorry. I can't log in that day," Nia said, her tone light as she pressed her hands together apologetically. It seemed the schedule didn't work for her.
"Actually, my login times are going to be pretty inconsistent starting tomorrow... Is it okay if we do the handover on the day of the event?"
"Should be fine, right? Costume items don't have any special effects or anything, do they?"
"Huh?"
"Hm?"
Why?
"...This looks like it's going to take a while, so if you'll excuse me?"
"Ah, yes. See you in six days, then."
I bowed my head again in thanks. Kagura-san waved back, exchanged a casual "See ya," and "Bye-bye," with Nia, and left the shop.
Left behind were one idiot who remained perpetually clueless, and one indigo-haired girl who was fidgeting for some reason.
"...Sorry, can I ask you to explain?"
"Oh, yeah, yeah, of course!"
Things just sort of ended up this way, but is this the first time we've been one-on-one? Nia's acting a little strange, as if something's off, but her response seems fine, so I'll continue.
"When Kagura-san gave me this, I was told that costume items are just fashion accessories without any status effects."
My memory should be correct, but Nia still tilted her head at my words.
"She probably was just talking about that specific outfit, don't you think? I mean, you wouldn't put special effects on loungewear..."
"Excuse me? Loungewear?"
The word that just came out of Nia's mouth made me look down at my own body, my confusion deepening.
Loungewear? She called it loungewear? This... this stylish fantasy fashion is loungewear!?
"Uh, I mean... you can tell it's not for combat just by looking at it, right?"
"Even with all these mysterious belts attached to it!?"
"Th-that's fine! It's cute, isn't it!?"
Are you serious, Nia-chan? Are you one of those highly conscious designers who demands high fashion even for loungewear...? More importantly, does this mean I've been heading into battle dressed in loungewear this whole time, acting like it was perfectly normal? If I look back on my past, every single scene where I tried to look cool is probably going to have '(lol)' attached to it, isn't it???
"It's not just a costume item, it's clothing equipment, you know? So if you use good materials, of course it'll come with special effects, just like normal armor."
"Seriously..."
"Oh, but as a trade-off, if you add effects, it gets officially classified as 'equipment,' so its weight will be factored in. It's still a lot lighter than normal armor, though."
Well, that's fine. Now that Sora and I have officially formed a partnership, my inventory capacity issues have been solved thanks to the shared storage. Combined with her shocking statement that she had only ever used about ten percent of her space, I've been told I can freely use nearly ninety percent of our total combined capacity.
Of course, I have no intention of actually occupying ninety percent just because she said I could, especially considering space for loot and other things. However, the fact remains that my maximum capacity has nearly doubled overnight, so I have plenty of room in my inventory now.
"Well, weight isn't an issue. What about these special effects? Is it just normal stuff like status boosts?"
"Umm, it's kind of a choice between two things... either a status boost or a special ability. Unique armor might have both, but for player-made stuff, that's usually how it goes."
I see...
"Is one more common than the other?"
"W-well... it depends on the materials, really. The number of truly useful special abilities is limited, so if it's not one of those, I think most people just go for the straightforward status boost."
So, if it has a useful ability, go with that, otherwise take the status boost. Makes sense, I guess.
"In that case, what about those bird feathers?"
With a name like the White-Shining Bird of Fortune, it was obvious the effect would be related to Luck (LUC) either way.
"Oh, those? As a clothing material, they're reeeally good, you know?"
"Huh... It didn't seem like an aggressive enemy, and since I could hunt it one-sidedly, I just thought it was some kind of joke rare monster."
"I'm super curious about how you hunted it. That 'taunting bird' is supposed to be something you can only hunt by pure luck, you know?"
Right now, I'm more interested in the hilarious term 'taunting bird.' Though, now that she mentions it, that thing always did pop into existence about a hundred meters up in the air. Even I barely managed to reach it with a full-power jump from the very top of a giant fantasy tree. I guess trying to hunt it normally would be a pain.
"Well, I'll have you show me just how ridiculous you are some other time..."
Nia brushed aside her curiosity with an indescribable expression and took out one of the already-deposited [White-Shining Bird's Pure White Feathers] from her inventory to show me.
Wow, I knew it, but it's huge. A single feather was big enough to hide half of the petite Nia's body.
"The effect this feather has... well, first, for the status, it's a Luck (LUC) boost, just as you'd guess. A coordinated top and bottom set would give you LUC+60... nah, more like 50, I'd say?"
"For the set, huh. Seems a little on the low side?"
"You have no common sense. You absolutely cannot use your weird ring and hair accessory as a baseline, you hear me?"
She jabbed a finger right at my nose and gave me a scolding.
"Basically, you almost never see a single piece of equipment with a status boost over 50, okay? If it's over 30, it's easily first-class, and anything over 100 is a one-of-a-kind unique item, got it!?"
So, a LUC boost of 50 for a two-piece set is apparently quite excellent.
...Does that mean this indigo-haired girl is not only a top-tier artisan but a first-rate tailor as well? Ugh... If only she were a gentle, older-sister type on top of all this...!
"Hey, you're making a disrespectful face."
"So, what's the ability like?"
I ignored Nia peering at me with a sidelong glance and poked the feather she was idly waving around, prompting her for an explanation.
Although she showed me an obvious pout, Nia was fundamentally serious when acting as a craftsman. She straightened her posture and—
"Hmph... As for the ability, it increases your defense according to your LUC stat—"
"Wait."
I grabbed the shoulders of the indigo-haired girl who had just casually dropped a bombshell and stopped her.
"Eek!? Wha-what-what, what is it... what!?"
"Ah... s-sorry."
Seeing Nia's unexpectedly flustered reaction brought me back to my senses, and I let go of the shoulders I had grabbed so forcefully. Calm down, me. No matter how much of a jokester she is, that's straight-up harassment.
"I-It's fine, but... y-you scared me."
"My bad, it was just a bombshell I couldn't ignore... Could you be more specific?"
Seeing her clutching the large feather to her chest, looking all flustered, I couldn't completely hide my own agitation. She was easy on the eyes, so if I let myself get too conscious of her, it would probably lead to trouble.
Before a strange atmosphere could settle in, I steered the conversation back to serious matters.
"Even if you ask me to be specific, it's just as I said... Normally, a player's overall defense with armor on is calculated based on their Vitality (VIT), right? But in the case of clothes woven from this feather, it's calculated with reference to Luck (LUC)."
"So, with a LUC of 300 or so, would I become pretty tough?"
"Ahaha! If you've stacked that much luck, you probably wouldn't even get a scratch from a glancing blow."
Hoh.
"I hear the average LUC for a combat build is around 100, and with that much, it'd probably be about as tough as light leather armor?"
I see.
"So yeah, as far as clothing equipment goes, it's in a pretty sturdy category. It's easy to move in, light, and reasonably tough, which makes it a pretty ideal clothing material..."
Perhaps she sensed something odd about my unusually cheerful silence. Nia, who had been explaining things smoothly, trailed off and stopped talking.
"Hey, you."
"What is it?"
"How many points do you have in Luck (LUC) right now?"
As she asked me the question timidly, I turned to her with the smuggest look I could muster and—
The sight of my three raised fingers—a peace sign—made Nia's face twitch, and she fell silent.
"Your stats are even weirder than I imagined..."
"Well, haha."
"I'm pretty sure you know I'm not complimenting you."
A few minutes after I decided it didn't matter anymore and showed Nia my status. She was slumped over the counter looking utterly exhausted, her indigo eyes narrowed in exasperation as she looked at me.
"I've never seen a combat build with no points in Vitality (VIT) before..."
"There's a saying: if it doesn't hit you, it doesn't matter."
Well, I do get hit a fair bit, and to be honest, I die quite frequently. It's kind of sad how I've gotten used to the death penalty of a ten percent stat reduction.
It definitely lowers my overall efficiency, so I am trying to be careful...
"Umm, with those numbers, I think it'll be about as tough as light armor."
Nia slowly sat up, her expression troubled as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.
"But with VIT: 0, your body is basically tofu... so even if the outside gets tougher, you won't be that much more durable overall, okay?"
She meant that a clean hit from a powerful attack would render it almost meaningless. I understood that part perfectly, so it wasn't a problem.
"Just being able to avoid near-death from a graze is a massive help—so, for the effect, I'll go with the special ability, please."
"The fact that 'near-death from a graze' is a realistic scenario is just... Okay, roger that. Your request has been accepted."
She deftly stored the feather she was holding into her inventory and changed her expression, dangling her feet as she said, "Alright then."
"Let's move on to the design consultation. Do you have any requests, even just a general idea?"
"Hmm... first, nothing bulky or that gets in the way of movement."
If you take away my mobility, I'm just a soft jack-in-the-box. Any design that hinders my high-speed movement is an absolute no-go.
"Of course. That said, I can make it long-hemmed in a way that doesn't impede movement, you know?"
I could definitely get behind Nia's opinion that fantasy means long-coated swordsmen, but if you were to ask me if I personally yearned for that look...
"Hmm."
"I see, you're on the fence. In that case—"
And so, the design consultation progressed—
"...That should about cover it, I think?"
"Yep. I'll leave the rest to your sense of style, Nia."
When I sincerely placed my trust in the serious-mode artisan—or rather, tailor—she, in turn, showed a genuinely happy smile.
"If you put it like that, I'll have to give it my all. By all means, please look forward to it."
Adding her usual touch of theatricality at the very end, Nia hopped down from the tall stool.
"Alright, I'll be taking my leave then. This is an important request, so I have to make sure it's done on time!"
"Sorry about this. You were actually busy, weren't you?"
She did say her login times would be erratic, so she must be busy during this period. The fact that she was pushing her schedule to work on my request... I could only be grateful.
"It's an important request. I'm actually quite fond of you, you know."
"...In that case, I'll graciously accept your kindness."
If Nia were always like this, I'm sure our relationship would never have become so relaxed.
I returned her words, averting my gaze from her unexpected smile.
And I remained oblivious—to the fact that the cheeks of the indigo-haired girl, who had said something she wasn't used to, were blushing a color opposite to that of her hair and eyes.
This doesn't mean anything in particular, but love at first sight is nice, isn't it? The characters look lovely, and the sound of the words is somehow cute.
It doesn't mean anything in particular.