Shopping

Milky-white liquid residue lingered inside the glass tube as Mu Kongyi rubbed her fully satisfied stomach.

“Drank my fill—still tastes just as awful as ever.”

“That’s what you get for skipping the morning banquet.

Nutrient solutions are never going to taste good,” Abigail said without even turning her head as she held her own tube.

“And whether you go to the pointy-eared folks where you can eat natural fruits and vegetables, or to the furry ones where it’s an all-meat feast, either option sounds way better than coming here.”

“Not really.

They’re an elf representative and a beastman representative right now.

If I go looking for them, it could easily turn into a diplomatic incident.”

As she said this, Mu Kongyi collapsed onto the table.

“Better to find Florna.

Back when it was just the three of us in the party, Florna always took care of our meals every day.”

Abigail set down the nutrient solution and her pen, sighing in agreement.

“Exactly.

If she knew the two of us were holed up in a magic workshop drinking nutrient solutions, she’d probably blast us straight out.”

“Abby.”

“What?”

“I miss Florna.”

After hearing that, Abigail fell silent.

How could she not?

Defeating the Demon King meant the disbanding of the hero’s party, everyone going their separate ways.

Companions who once laughed together had become strangers.

Everyone now had their own factional stance.

Everyone had reasons they had to leave.

With the major powers currently in confrontation and the air thick with tension, Abigail sometimes wondered whether defeating the Demon King had truly been the right choice.

But before she could dwell on it, Mu Kongyi spoke up.

“I have a bold idea.”

She raised one finger.

Just missing a pair of glasses and a goofy grin—

and she’d be a classic meme.

“I have a magic spell that clears your thoughts,” Abigail said, pulling out her staff.

Mu Kongyi flashed forward and hugged Abigail, pleading.

“Don’t do it!”

Abigail tried to struggle, but how could a mage who never exercised break free from a hero’s grip?

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking.

You just want me to redraw a reverse summoning circle, then run back to your own world to go play with Florna.”

But if the hero runs off, who’s going to deal with the Demon King afterward?

And besides—

If anyone’s going to look for Florna, it should be me alone.

Why should a scummy hero get to compete with her for Florna?

“Please, Abby…

You think I’d say something like that?”

Mu Kongyi broke into a wicked grin.

“Mages need to be especially careful not to let enemies get close.

And right now, you’re being hugged by me.”

“Let’s see how you like it when I tickle you until you beg for mercy!”

Just as Mu Kongyi was about to make her move, the Abigail in her arms went bang—

turning into a wooden log.

“When a mage gets close-quarters, there are plenty of ways to escape.

Do I really need to teach you that again, Miss Hero?”

Good thing she’d been prepared.

During their travels, Mu Kongyi’s shamelessness had been obvious to the entire party.

This was someone capable of kidnapping the Demon King’s daughter to try and blackmail him.

If Florna hadn’t talked her out of it, Abigail didn’t even dare imagine what an enraged Demon King might have done.

Sensing the mana density rapidly rising behind her, Mu Kongyi stiffly turned her head.

She saw a staff stacked with six layers of magic circles.

“Tch.

Can we talk this out?”

“Go negotiate with my magic circles!”

Before the array detonated, a shadow lurking in the workshop quietly left the danger zone.

From afar, she watched the overlapping magic circles explode into white light.

“Florna running off alone to the hero’s world—

that’s really good news.”

…

While the hero and the mage were roughhousing in a faraway fantasy world, Kirishima Shiro and Hoshino Sakio were having an argument over here.

Kirishima Shiro came over holding a light-gray hooded sweatshirt paired with shorts.

“Florna, take a look at this one.

What do you think?”

She gently draped the hoodie over Florna’s shoulders.

“The hood can be pulled up to block the sun.

Way more convenient than using a headscarf.”

Hoshino Sakio came up from the other side holding a light-blue dress.

“Try the one I picked first!”

She lightly swayed the hem of the skirt.

A ring of tiny white daisies was embroidered along the neckline.

“A hoodie won’t do.

In summer, you’ve got to wear something breezy.”

“Mine’s a lightweight one.

It works for summer too.”

“So what?

A dress suits Florna’s vibe much better.”

“Try mine first!”

Both of them spoke in unison, looking straight at Florna.

Sitting in a rattan chair inside the clothing store, surrounded by the two of them, Florna forced a stiff smile as the clothes crept closer.

“Um, let’s not rush.

We can try them one by one.”

Grabbing the clothes they’d chosen, Florna fled into the fitting room like she was escaping.

“Don’t forget to come out and show us!”

As soon as she finished speaking, Shiro and Sakio locked eyes.

Competitive sparks flared between them.

“Let’s go pick out a few more outfits that suit Florna!”

At this moment, Florna was completely unaware of the terror that awaited her.

Inside the fitting room, she stared helplessly at the two outfits in her hands.

If she tried the hoodie first, Sakio would be unhappy.

If she tried the dress first, Shiro would be unhappy.

It felt like a lose-lose choice no matter what she wore!

She couldn’t exactly wear the dress and then layer the hoodie over it—that would just look strange.

So why, exactly, had she ended up in this situation?

Florna fell into deep thought.

The reason it all started was because Hoshino Sakio noticed that Florna was always wearing a nun’s outfit.

After asking out of curiosity, she learned that Florna literally had nothing else to wear.

And so, the two of them spontaneously proposed taking Florna to buy new clothes.

Florna herself had been planning to try modern fashion anyway, so she happily agreed.

Everything was fine at first.

But it seemed that Shiro and Sakio had different tastes in clothing, and the two of them ended up arguing.

As for Florna’s own preference, the hoodie fit her image of modern clothing better.

She’d try the hoodie first, then the dress.

As for Sakio being unhappy—

“I’ll give Sakio a gift later,” Florna thought of a perfect solution.

Yes.

Florna couldn’t let Shiro and Sakio buy clothes for her for nothing.

That would be no different from freeloading.

Just like living at Shiro’s place, where Florna took care of her in return.

If she accepted their clothes, she naturally had to give something back.

After changing into the hoodie, Florna stepped out of the fitting room and looked around.

Weren’t they supposed to look?

Where did everyone go?

As she wondered, Florna suddenly saw two “small mountains” made of clothes charging toward her.

“Huff!”

The “mountains” stopped steadily in front of her.

The two girls popped their heads out from behind the piles and said in unison.

“Hurry up and try these!”

Their voices were full of anticipation.

“(°ー°〃)”

So many clothes—

how was she supposed to try all of them?!

“All of these… are for me?” Florna tried to salvage the situation.

Maybe some of them were meant for themselves?

“Of course.”

One sentence shattered Florna’s illusion.

“I think the first outfits were already pretty good.”

Only after Florna’s strong insistence did the two of them give up on making her try every single piece.

“This store really doesn’t have that many styles.

Let’s go check out another one.”

“Huh?!”

There were more stores?!

Florna’s eyes went wide, the light in her pupils dimming.

That day, Florna truly came to understand—

just how terrifyingly resilient urban women could be when it came to shopping.