kscans

Chapter 96 - It's Loungewear

After the noisy interlude, I received a direct explanation about the [Rabbit Dagger: Parabellum] from the mako artisan herself.

Once that was settled, Kagura-san stood up from her chair. "Alright then."

"I'll get started on the rest right away. One week—no, you'll need time to get used to them, so I'll have them done the day before. How about we meet here again in six days?"

"Yeah, please. What time?"

"The sooner I hand them over, the better, so in the morning... Let's see, how about six o'clock sharp?"

"Real-world time, right? Understood."

I'm making my debut as a university student tomorrow, but the first week or so should just be orientation and stuff, so I'll still have some free time.

If I can pick up the gear first thing in the morning, I can start getting used to it as soon as I get home. That's a big help.

"Ah, sorry. Nia-chan can't log in on that day."

Nia's schedule didn't seem to line up. She put her hands together in a light apology.

"Actually, my login times are going to be pretty irregular starting tomorrow... so, is it okay if I give it to you on the day of?"

"Shouldn't be a problem, right? Costume items don't have any special effects or anything, do they?"

"Eh?"

"Huh?"

Why?

"...This looks like it might take a while, so I'll be taking my leave."

"Oh, right. See you in six days, then."

I bowed my head again in acknowledgment. Kagura-san and Nia exchanged their own familiar goodbyes—"See ya," "Bye-bye"—and Kagura-san left the shop.

Left behind were one idiot who still lacked knowledge, and one indigo-haired girl who seemed somewhat restless.

"...Sorry, can I ask you to explain?"

"Oh, y-yeah, sure. It's fine."

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 different, but her responses seem fine, so I'll continue.

"When Kagura-san gave me this, I was told that costume items were just cosmetic items without any stat effects."

My memory shouldn't be wrong, but Nia still tilted her head at my words.

"She was probably just talking about that specific outfit, don't you think? I mean, of course you wouldn't put special effects on loungewear..."

"Excuse me? Loungewear?"

The word that came out of Nia's mouth made me look down at my own body in deepening confusion.

Loungewear? You mean loungewear? Th-This stylish fantasy fashion is loungewear!?

"Eh, no... I mean, you can tell it's not for combat just by looking at it, right?"

"But it has all these mysterious belts and stuff!?"

"W-Well, that's fine! It's cute, isn't it!"

Seriously? Nia-chan, were you a high-maintenance designer who demanded high fashion even for her loungewear...?

And does this mean I've been going into battle in my pajamas this whole time, acting like it's completely normal? If I look back now, every scene where I tried to act cool is going to have a '(lol)' attached to it.

"It's a clothing item, or rather, clothing equipment, you know? Of course, if you use good materials, you can add special effects just like with regular armor."

"Seriously..."

"Oh, but as a trade-off, if you add effects, it gets officially classified as 'equipment,' so its weight will be reflected. It's still much lighter than normal armor, though."

Well, that part's okay. By officially forming a partnership with Sora, my carry capacity problem has been more or less solved thanks to our shared inventory.

Coupled with the shocking revelation that Sora was only using about ten percent of her capacity to begin with, I've been told I can use nearly ninety percent of our combined total as I please.

Of course, I have to consider space for loot and such, so I have no intention of taking up ninety percent just because she said so. However, the fact that my maximum carry capacity nearly doubled overnight means my inventory has plenty of room now.

"Well, weight isn't an issue. What about these special effects? Are they just stat bonuses and things like that?"

"Umm, it's like a choice between two things... a stat bonus or a special ability. You have to pick one. Unique armor might have both, but with player-made stuff, that's usually how it is."

I see...

"Is one more common than the other?"

"U-Umm... It really depends on the materials. There are only a limited number of truly useful abilities, so if it's not one of those, I think most people just go for the straightforward stat bonus."

So if it has a useful ability, you go for that; otherwise, it's a stat bonus. Makes sense.

"So, what would those bird feathers do?"

Given the name [White-Shining Bird of Fortune], it was obvious it would be a Luck (LUC) related effect either way.

"Oh, those are prettyyyy good as a clothing material, you know."

"Huh... It didn't really seem like an enemy monster, and I could just hunt it one-sidedly, so I thought it was just a rare monster (lol) or something."

"Hey, now I'm super curious about how you hunted it. That taunting bird is supposed to be something you can only get through sheer luck."

I'm more curious about the amusing term 'taunting bird'.

Well, it's true, that thing always spawned about a hundred meters up in the air. Even I could barely reach it with a full-power jump from the top of that giant fantasy tree, so I guess hunting it normally would be tough.

"Well, I'll have you show me your crazy methods sometime..."

With a hard-to-read expression, Nia let her curiosity slide and pulled out one of the [True White Feathers of the Lucky Bird] from her inventory.

Yeah, I knew it, but it's huge. A single feather was big enough to hide half of Nia's small body.

"The effect this feather has... well, for stats, it's a Luck (LUC) bonus, as you'd expect. A coordinated top and bottom set would give you LUC+60... no, more like 50, I think?"

"For the set, huh? Seems more modest than I expected."

"That's completely unreasonable. You absolutely cannot use your weird ring and hair ornament as a baseline."

She jabbed a finger right at my nose and gave me a scolding.

"Basically, you don't often find a single piece of equipment that gives a stat bonus of over 50. Anything over 30 is considered top-tier, and over 100 is something you'd only find on a one-of-a-kind unique item, you hear me?"

So, an equivalent of LUC: 50 for a two-piece set is apparently quite excellent.

...Does that mean this indigo-haired girl is a first-class artisan not only as a jeweler but also as a tailor? Ugh... If only her personality was that of a graceful older sister...!

"Hey, you're thinking something rude."

"So, what about the ability?"

I ignored Nia, who was peering at me with a sidelong glance, and prompted her for an explanation while poking at the feather she was idly waving around.

Though she made a point of pouting, Nia, who is generally serious when acting as a craftsman, straightened her posture—

"Mmph... As for the ability, it increases your durability based on your LUC value—"

"Wait."

I grabbed the shoulders of the indigo-haired girl who had just casually dropped a bombshell.

"Eek!? Wha-what-what is it... what!?"

"Ah... s-sorry."

Seeing Nia's unexpectedly flustered reaction, I came to my senses and released the shoulders I had grabbed in my forward lean. Calm down, me. No matter how much of a goofball she is, that's just plain sexual harassment.

"I-It's fine, but... y-you scared me."

"My bad, that was just an unmissable bombshell... what were the specifics of that?"

Seeing her clutching the large feather to her chest, looking flustered, I couldn't quite hide my own agitation. She looks good, so if I get too self-conscious, it's not going to end well.

Before an awkward atmosphere could settle in, I steered the conversation in a serious direction.

"Even if you ask for specifics, it's just as I said... Normally, a player's overall defense power with armor is calculated in relation to their Vitality (VIT), right? But with clothes woven from this feather, the calculation is based on Luck (LUC)."

"So, with a LUC of 300, would I become considerably tough?"

"Ahaha! If you've stacked that much luck, a random glancing blow probably wouldn't even scratch you."

Oh.

"I hear the average LUC for a combat build is around 100. With that much, you'd probably be as tough as thin leather armor?"

I see.

"So yeah, it becomes a pretty sturdy piece of clothing equipment. It's easy to move in, light, and reasonably tough, which makes it a pretty ideal clothing material..."

Nia, who had been explaining things, must have noticed something odd about my unusually cheerful silence. She trailed off and stopped talking, looking at me suspiciously.

"Hey, you."

"What is it?"

"How many points have you put into Luck (LUC) right now?"

To her timid question, I flashed my most triumphant expression—

—and Nia's face twitched wordlessly as she saw my three raised fingers.

"Your stats are even weirder than I imagined..."

"Well, haha."

"I think you know I'm not complimenting you."

A few minutes after I'd shown my stats to Nia, since it didn't seem to matter anymore. She was now 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 zero points in Vitality before..."

"There's a saying: if it doesn't hit you, and all that."

Well... I do get hit quite a bit, and to be honest, I die pretty frequently. It's sad that I've gotten completely used to the ten percent stat reduction death penalty.

It does reduce my overall efficiency, so I am careful about it...

"Hmm, with that number, you should be about as tough as light armor... I think."

Nia slowly sat up, rubbing the bridge of her nose with a troubled expression.

"But, with VIT: 0, your body itself is like tofu... so no matter how tough the outside gets, you won't be that durable overall, you know?"

Meaning a clean, heavy hit would render it almost useless. I understand that part perfectly, so it's not a problem.

"Just being able to prevent a graze from leaving me on the verge of death would be a massive help—so, please make it with the special ability."

"The fact that 'on the verge of death from a graze' is a realistic scenario is just... Alright, roger that. Your request has been accepted."

She casually stored the feather she was holding in her inventory and, dangling her feet, switched her expression. "Now then."

"Let's move on to the design consultation. Do you have any requests, even just a rough idea?"

"Hmm... First, nothing bulky or that would hinder movement."

Take away my mobility and I'm just a soft surprise box. Any design that would impede high-speed movement is an absolute no-go.

"Of course. That said, it is possible to make it long-hemmed without hindering movement."

Nia's opinion that fantasy means long-coated swordsmen is something I can strongly agree with, but as for whether I myself have a yearning for that kind of look...

"Hmm."

"I see, you're ambivalent. In that case—"

And so, the design discussion progressed—

"...I think that about covers it?"

"Yeah. The rest I'll leave to your good sense, Nia."

When I honestly expressed my expectations to the serious-mode artisan—or rather, tailor—she gave me an equally honest, happy smile.

"If you say it like that, I'll have to do my best. You can look forward to it."

With a final touch of her usual theatrical flair, Nia hopped down from the tall stool.

"Well then, I'll be taking my leave. This is an important request, so I have to get it done in time."

"Hey, sorry about this. You were actually busy, weren't you?"

She had said her login times would be irregular, so she must be busy with things right now. The fact that she was pushing her own schedule to work on my request... I could only be grateful.

"It's an important request. I'm pretty fond of you, you know."

"...In that case, I'll take you up on your offer."

If Nia were always like this, I'm sure we never would have developed such a casual relationship.

I instinctively averted my gaze from her surprise-attack smile as I replied.

And I remained unaware—that the indigo-haired girl's cheeks were blushing a color opposite to her hair and eyes.