Chapter 73 : Date with Chris (After)
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Chris-san was smiling happily as we walked with our hands entwined together. He was in a good mood. Our previous encounter with the young ladies seemed to not bother him in the slightest.
“Umm… Where are we going?”
I asked Chris-san since I haven’t heard him telling me what we were going to do today.
“Hm~ We’re having a shopping date. We did have a shopping date before but the only thing we bought were essentials for the quest, right?~ So I want to redo it… Or rather, going back to square one? Although that date served as a good memory but still~”
Which reminded me, we did go out just the two of us before we went to Calhea. I think Chris-san did say it was a ‘date’ too that time? I would have never imagined we’d end up this way back then. I guess you will never know what life has in store for you.
“I remember you also brought me to Ken and I had a lot of fun that day… By the way, where are we heading now?”
Rather, Chris-san hadn’t answered my question yet. I asked where we were going but Chris-san only said we were having a shopping date. Just where were we headed off to?
“I have a few places in mind but first, we’re going to a clothing store~”
“Clothes?”
“Yes, yes~ Ren-chan’s usual clothes is cute but since we’re going to visit the royal castle, might as well buy a new one~”
“Ah, you’re right… I have to buy formal clothes!”
That’s right!
The three of us were going to the royal capital to meet their families but that also meant I was going to have an audience with the king, Fer-san’s father! Of course casual clothes wouldn’t do… Uwah… Thankfully Chris-san reminded me about it…
“Hm~ This is a difficult choice~ Ren-chan is a support magician so I think a robe style would suit you but~ We’re going to go with you and it’s not an official audience so I don’t think you need to dress so formally~”
“That is true…”
“Ah, here we are~ The place is close, right?~”
Chris-san stopped walking. The store was indeed close to the plaza.
Opening the door for me, Chris-san prompted me to get in first.
「「Welcome.」」
“Eh? Are you sure we’re at the right place?”
As soon as we stepped inside, we were greeted with two beastman staff clad in casual clothes. The clothes in this store looked casual too. Huh? Weren’t we going to buy some clothes for me to meet with the king? I didn’t mean to be rude but could we buy something fit to meet with the king here?
“Fufu~ It looks dubious at first glance, right?~ But they do have some robe at the back~”
“Oh! Chris-san! It’s been a while!”
“Yup~ Long time no see~ I’m here to buy a robe for this guy but we’re going to meet with a high ranking noble so can you please give us something suitable?~”
Chris-san led me by hand toward the back of the store where a boy about the same age as me greeted us. Seemed like this boy worked for the shop, hence why Chris-san asked for the boy to recommend some clothes to us.
“Huh?! Is he the rumoured otherworlder?”
“Yup, that’s right. He’s my fiancée~”
Chris-san explained while browsing the nearby rack.
“What?!”
Uwah… The boy looked so shocked as soon as Chris-san mentioned the word ‘fiancée’. He was glaring at me so openly and Chris-san was none the wiser since he was still flipping the clothes in the rack.
Ah~ My fiancées are so popular…
“Nice to meet you. I’ll be in your care today.”
At any rate, I couldn’t do anything even if he glared at me. So I bowed my head and greeted him politely.
“Yes… Right! Robe! What do you think about this one?”
As expected from someone working in customer service. His scowl immediately disappeared, replaced with the typical lip-service smile. He quickly grabbed a robe from the rack and showed it to us.
“Thank you~ … I knew it. Ren-chan is too small. I can’t see whether this robe would look good on you or not because it’s too baggy on you.”
Chris-san took the robe and slung it over me but the sleeve was way too big for me and the hem was trailing on the floor.
“Yes… I think this robe looks nice but I will have to cast [Small] after I buy it…”
This navy blue robe had a beautiful embroidery with gold and silver thread on its cuffs, hem and the hood part. The color scheme reminded me of Chris-san, Fer-san and Sig-san’s hair color so I actually really liked this robe…
“I’ll take this one. It’s alright if I pick this one, right?”
I hadn’t looked at the other robe but I felt like I had to get this robe no matter what.
“Yup~ I also think this robe looks nice. If you compliment this robe with a fancy shirt, you will look really good~ Okay, can you please wrap this one up for me?~”
Before I could say anything else, Chris-san had taken his guild card out to pay the robe.
“Eh?! I will pay for it myself!”
“Hm~ Let me buy it for you as a present? Please?~”
I didn’t have much money before but thanks to our quest in Calhea, I at least had enough money to pay for my own things…
“Haah… I know you won’t budge either way…. Then… Thank you very much…”
When I saw Chris-san smiling so sweetly at me like that, I felt like I had no other choice but to nod. After I passed the test to become A-rank, I will definitely buy him something in return! With that determination in mind, I let Chris-san pay for the robe.
“Thank you for waiting! Would you like me to cast [Small] on it for you?”
“Nope~ We’ll do it ourselves so you can leave it as it is~”
“Alright!”
The clerk returned with Chris-san’s card and my robe. He offered to resize it for us but Chris-san politely declined and took both his card and my robe.
“Thank you for your patronage! We will be waiting for your next visit!”
“Okay, next let’s go to Luxury~”
“Luxury is the place where we bought our cuffs, right?”
Chris-san returned the card back and put the robe into his magic bag. He led me by my shoulder to leave the store. The shop assistant’s voice could be heard from our back as we went into the street. Chris-san told me we were going to Luxury next but I wonder what he planned to buy in Luxury?
“Yup, yup~ Ren-chan you’re planning to summon a magical beast, right?~ I want to choose the accessories for you to store your magical beast in~”
“Ah, right… What kind of ornament do we have to buy for it?”
We were talking on our way to Luxury.
By ornament… They meant accessories, right? I wasn’t the type that liked to wear accessories much. The only accessory I have were my engagement cuff and in another two months I would have another three oath cuffs. I wonder what kind of accessory I’d get this time?
“Hm~ There’s no particular rule for it but most people use ring for it~ People like me who use swords on daily basis prefer to have a pendant instead but people like Ren-chan who specialize in magic usually opted for a ring~”
“I see… I don’t use a sword so I guess I’ll go for a ring too?”
“Fufu~ Let’s take a look at the real thing first before we decide, okay?~”
It didn’t take long for us to reach Luxury, especially since we were engrossed in talking with each other. Once again, Chris-san opened the door for me.
“Welcome… Christian-sama, Ren-sama.”
“Good day, Ernst-san.”
Ernst-san greeted us with a gentle smile as we entered the shop.
“Unfortunately, your oath cuff is still in production. How may I help you today?”
“Yup~ We’ll leave the production process to you~ We’re not looking for the cuff today. You see, Ren-chan wants to summon a magical beast later so we’re looking for an ornament for him~”
“I see. If that’s the case, please follow me.”
After Chris-san explained our intention today, Ernst-san led us to another display case in the opposite direction of the display case for Luxury’s cuff collection he had shown us before.
“Ah, I knew it. You guys have a big collection for rings too. Are rings really popular for summoning?”
More than half of the display cases were filled with nothing but rings while things like pendants and bracelets occupied the rest of the display case. Just like what Chris-san had told me before, rings were the popular choice for summoning. But there was an empty slot in the ring. I guess that slot must’ve been reserved for a gemstone. I wonder if I could attach the ring I had bought with the gemstone of my choice?
“That’s right. The ornament for the summoned beast cannot be taken off until the contract with the beast expires after all. Hence why most summoners choose an ornament that won’t hinder them too much. A pinky ring is the perfect fit for this occasion.”
In response to my question, Ernst-san explained about the ornament in more detail.
“What?! You can’t take it off?!”
You can’t take it off?? What???
“Huh? Didn’t we told you so?~”
Chris-san had a genuine confused look on his face.
“I didn’t hear anything about that at all!”
Maybe they had explained it but I just didn’t catch it properly? Well I guess if you were to think about it… If you could easily take the ornament off, the summoned beast might be thinking something like “Even though I had taken all the trouble to make a contract with you but you-!!”
“Ren-chan, how is it? Do you want to call it quits now?~”
“No… I will do it! I don’t really mind even if I can’t take the rings off but let me put everything straight first… Other than the fact that you can’t take the ornament off and that you need to feed the summoned beast with your blood periodically, there’s nothing else that I need to be wary of, right?!”
I had no intention in backing down right now but now I suspect there were other demerits that I didn’t know in summoning. I guess it’d be pretty hard to explain everything clearly to me since in Alsar, even a child should’ve known about this. But still… It felt scary to know there were things I hadn’t known about summoning at this point…
“Ren-sama, you can rest assured because other than those two points, there are no other demerits in summoning. My grandson also has acquired a contract with a summoned beast so I’m very well acquainted with the pros and cons in having a summoned beast.”
Ernst-san answered my question with a chuckle.
“I see… Then! I will do it! Although I’m not sure I can successfully make a contract with a summoned beast in the first place…”
We were talking as if I’d definitely land a contract even though there were cases where the summoned beast rejected the contract, right? It’d be pretty lame of me if I couldn’t get a contract after all the talk I’ve done though…
“In that case you can return the items or have it reprocessed with us. Please rest assured.”
“How very kind of you…”
Ooh.. Turns out they have a cooling-off period in Luxury too. How nice of them!
“The ornaments for magical beasts are still incomplete in this state. The ornaments will be deemed as complete when a gemstone appeared in this slot after the summoned established the contract with their summoned beast. If you were to fail in obtaining a contract, that means you’ll be left with an unfinished product. Our store would feel deeply ashamed to see a customer with an unfinished product. Hence why we accept returns and we could even reporcess the ornaments for you by adding the gemstone ourselves. Although in this case, that means the ornaments will be reduced into ordinary ornaments.”
Ernst-san took one pendant from the display and pointed at the empty slot as he explained the details for me.
I guess their pride as a respected establishment wouldn’t allow them to have a customer leave with an unfinished product?
“I’m sure that kind of thing won’t happen to Ren-chan though~ Now, let’s start picking~”
“I hope you’re right…”
After long and thoughtful consideration, I decided to buy the ring Chris-san had chosen for me. The ring had a similar design to the engagement cuff Marcel-san had designed for me with the same silver color and ivy accent but the ring wasn’t as conspicuous as my engagement cuff. The rings were pretty thin in width so it didn’t stand out much. After a few alterations, we paid for the rings and Ernst-san saw us off as we left the store.
“Umm.. Why did we have to get 5 rings? Ernst-san said getting 5 rings is a matter of course but I don’t really understand why…”
This time as well, I lost to Chris-san’s persistence. Chris-san was the one paying for my rings and for some reason, we ended up buying five of them instead of just one. And of course, we were walking with our hands entwined together.
“Hm?~ You can only use one ornament to summon a magical beast but as you’ve already known, you won’t necessarily get to establish a contract even if you’ve successfully summoned one. That’s why we need five rings just in case~ Of course it’s fine if you signed a contract with five summoned beast but most people only have one~ We can return or have the rest of the rings reprocessed later too~”
“I see…I hope there will be at least one summoned beast who responded to my call…”
So that’s why… I wonder if I can successfully summon one? I’m supposed to try summoning them after the escort quest but I’m already getting all giddy and anxious now…
“Fufu~ I’m sure you’ll be fine. Summoned beasts like people with high magical power and I heard they’re more likely to respond to wizards or support magicians.
“If that’s the case then I hope everything will truly be fine. I’m looking forward to it.”
Blood was used as a medium and magic power was practically their meal, right? I guess that’s why they prefer someone with high magical power. If that’s the case, I guess it should be alright for me to have high hopes then….
“Yup~ Yup~ You better be~ Ah… It’s already 13.00… I got a recommendation for a cafe that serves good meals. Let’s have our lunch there~ After that, we’ll go watch a theatre play. I’ve already bought the tickets for the two of us~”
“A play?”
“Yup~ The genre is romance and I heard that play is very popular nowadays~”
“I didn’t know there’s a play going on! I’m looking forward to it, Chris-san.”
After shopping at Luxury, Chris-san took me to a cafe with a chic interior design for lunch. We went to see a play after taking our time talking and eating in that cafe. The play really touched my heart. I didn’t even notice I had already shed some tears as I watched it and what made it even worse, Chris-san had been staring tenderly at me… I was so embarrassed…
Chapter 73 : Date with Chris (After)
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Chris-san was smiling happily as we walked with our hands entwined together. He was in a good mood. Our previous encounter with the young ladies seemed to not bother him in the slightest.
“Umm… Where are we going?”
I asked Chris-san since I haven’t heard him telling me what we were going to do today.
“Hm~ We’re having a shopping date. We did have a shopping date before but the only thing we bought were essentials for the quest, right?~ So I want to redo it… Or rather, going back to square one? Although that date served as a good memory but still~”
Which reminded me, we did go out just the two of us before we went to Calhea. I think Chris-san did say it was a ‘date’ too that time? I would have never imagined we’d end up this way back then. I guess you will never know what life has in store for you.
“I remember you also brought me to Ken and I had a lot of fun that day… By the way, where are we heading now?”
Rather, Chris-san hadn’t answered my question yet. I asked where we were going but Chris-san only said we were having a shopping date. Just where were we headed off to?
“I have a few places in mind but first, we’re going to a clothing store~”
“Clothes?”
“Yes, yes~ Ren-chan’s usual clothes is cute but since we’re going to visit the royal castle, might as well buy a new one~”
“Ah, you’re right… I have to buy formal clothes!”
That’s right!
The three of us were going to the royal capital to meet their families but that also meant I was going to have an audience with the king, Fer-san’s father! Of course casual clothes wouldn’t do… Uwah… Thankfully Chris-san reminded me about it…
“Hm~ This is a difficult choice~ Ren-chan is a support magician so I think a robe style would suit you but~ We’re going to go with you and it’s not an official audience so I don’t think you need to dress so formally~”
“That is true…”
“Ah, here we are~ The place is close, right?~”
Chris-san stopped walking. The store was indeed close to the plaza.
Opening the door for me, Chris-san prompted me to get in first.
「「Welcome.」」
“Eh? Are you sure we’re at the right place?”
As soon as we stepped inside, we were greeted with two beastman staff clad in casual clothes. The clothes in this store looked casual too. Huh? Weren’t we going to buy some clothes for me to meet with the king? I didn’t mean to be rude but could we buy something fit to meet with the king here?
“Fufu~ It looks dubious at first glance, right?~ But they do have some robe at the back~”
“Oh! Chris-san! It’s been a while!”
“Yup~ Long time no see~ I’m here to buy a robe for this guy but we’re going to meet with a high ranking noble so can you please give us something suitable?~”
Chris-san led me by hand toward the back of the store where a boy about the same age as me greeted us. Seemed like this boy worked for the shop, hence why Chris-san asked for the boy to recommend some clothes to us.
“Huh?! Is he the rumoured otherworlder?”
“Yup, that’s right. He’s my fiancée~”
Chris-san explained while browsing the nearby rack.
“What?!”
Uwah… The boy looked so shocked as soon as Chris-san mentioned the word ‘fiancée’. He was glaring at me so openly and Chris-san was none the wiser since he was still flipping the clothes in the rack.
Ah~ My fiancées are so popular…
“Nice to meet you. I’ll be in your care today.”
At any rate, I couldn’t do anything even if he glared at me. So I bowed my head and greeted him politely.
“Yes… Right! Robe! What do you think about this one?”
As expected from someone working in customer service. His scowl immediately disappeared, replaced with the typical lip-service smile. He quickly grabbed a robe from the rack and showed it to us.
“Thank you~ … I knew it. Ren-chan is too small. I can’t see whether this robe would look good on you or not because it’s too baggy on you.”
Chris-san took the robe and slung it over me but the sleeve was way too big for me and the hem was trailing on the floor.
“Yes… I think this robe looks nice but I will have to cast [Small] after I buy it…”
This navy blue robe had a beautiful embroidery with gold and silver thread on its cuffs, hem and the hood part. The color scheme reminded me of Chris-san, Fer-san and Sig-san’s hair color so I actually really liked this robe…
“I’ll take this one. It’s alright if I pick this one, right?”
I hadn’t looked at the other robe but I felt like I had to get this robe no matter what.
“Yup~ I also think this robe looks nice. If you compliment this robe with a fancy shirt, you will look really good~ Okay, can you please wrap this one up for me?~”
Before I could say anything else, Chris-san had taken his guild card out to pay the robe.
“Eh?! I will pay for it myself!”
“Hm~ Let me buy it for you as a present? Please?~”
I didn’t have much money before but thanks to our quest in Calhea, I at least had enough money to pay for my own things…
“Haah… I know you won’t budge either way…. Then… Thank you very much…”
When I saw Chris-san smiling so sweetly at me like that, I felt like I had no other choice but to nod. After I passed the test to become A-rank, I will definitely buy him something in return! With that determination in mind, I let Chris-san pay for the robe.
“Thank you for waiting! Would you like me to cast [Small] on it for you?”
“Nope~ We’ll do it ourselves so you can leave it as it is~”
“Alright!”
The clerk returned with Chris-san’s card and my robe. He offered to resize it for us but Chris-san politely declined and took both his card and my robe.
“Thank you for your patronage! We will be waiting for your next visit!”
“Okay, next let’s go to Luxury~”
“Luxury is the place where we bought our cuffs, right?”
Chris-san returned the card back and put the robe into his magic bag. He led me by my shoulder to leave the store. The shop assistant’s voice could be heard from our back as we went into the street. Chris-san told me we were going to Luxury next but I wonder what he planned to buy in Luxury?
“Yup, yup~ Ren-chan you’re planning to summon a magical beast, right?~ I want to choose the accessories for you to store your magical beast in~”
“Ah, right… What kind of ornament do we have to buy for it?”
We were talking on our way to Luxury.
By ornament… They meant accessories, right? I wasn’t the type that liked to wear accessories much. The only accessory I have were my engagement cuff and in another two months I would have another three oath cuffs. I wonder what kind of accessory I’d get this time?
“Hm~ There’s no particular rule for it but most people use ring for it~ People like me who use swords on daily basis prefer to have a pendant instead but people like Ren-chan who specialize in magic usually opted for a ring~”
“I see… I don’t use a sword so I guess I’ll go for a ring too?”
“Fufu~ Let’s take a look at the real thing first before we decide, okay?~”
It didn’t take long for us to reach Luxury, especially since we were engrossed in talking with each other. Once again, Chris-san opened the door for me.
“Welcome… Christian-sama, Ren-sama.”
“Good day, Ernst-san.”
Ernst-san greeted us with a gentle smile as we entered the shop.
“Unfortunately, your oath cuff is still in production. How may I help you today?”
“Yup~ We’ll leave the production process to you~ We’re not looking for the cuff today. You see, Ren-chan wants to summon a magical beast later so we’re looking for an ornament for him~”
“I see. If that’s the case, please follow me.”
After Chris-san explained our intention today, Ernst-san led us to another display case in the opposite direction of the display case for Luxury’s cuff collection he had shown us before.
“Ah, I knew it. You guys have a big collection for rings too. Are rings really popular for summoning?”
More than half of the display cases were filled with nothing but rings while things like pendants and bracelets occupied the rest of the display case. Just like what Chris-san had told me before, rings were the popular choice for summoning. But there was an empty slot in the ring. I guess that slot must’ve been reserved for a gemstone. I wonder if I could attach the ring I had bought with the gemstone of my choice?
“That’s right. The ornament for the summoned beast cannot be taken off until the contract with the beast expires after all. Hence why most summoners choose an ornament that won’t hinder them too much. A pinky ring is the perfect fit for this occasion.”
In response to my question, Ernst-san explained about the ornament in more detail.
“What?! You can’t take it off?!”
You can’t take it off?? What???
“Huh? Didn’t we told you so?~”
Chris-san had a genuine confused look on his face.
“I didn’t hear anything about that at all!”
Maybe they had explained it but I just didn’t catch it properly? Well I guess if you were to think about it… If you could easily take the ornament off, the summoned beast might be thinking something like “Even though I had taken all the trouble to make a contract with you but you-!!”
“Ren-chan, how is it? Do you want to call it quits now?~”
“No… I will do it! I don’t really mind even if I can’t take the rings off but let me put everything straight first… Other than the fact that you can’t take the ornament off and that you need to feed the summoned beast with your blood periodically, there’s nothing else that I need to be wary of, right?!”
I had no intention in backing down right now but now I suspect there were other demerits that I didn’t know in summoning. I guess it’d be pretty hard to explain everything clearly to me since in Alsar, even a child should’ve known about this. But still… It felt scary to know there were things I hadn’t known about summoning at this point…
“Ren-sama, you can rest assured because other than those two points, there are no other demerits in summoning. My grandson also has acquired a contract with a summoned beast so I’m very well acquainted with the pros and cons in having a summoned beast.”
Ernst-san answered my question with a chuckle.
“I see… Then! I will do it! Although I’m not sure I can successfully make a contract with a summoned beast in the first place…”
We were talking as if I’d definitely land a contract even though there were cases where the summoned beast rejected the contract, right? It’d be pretty lame of me if I couldn’t get a contract after all the talk I’ve done though…
“In that case you can return the items or have it reprocessed with us. Please rest assured.”
“How very kind of you…”
Ooh.. Turns out they have a cooling-off period in Luxury too. How nice of them!
“The ornaments for magical beasts are still incomplete in this state. The ornaments will be deemed as complete when a gemstone appeared in this slot after the summoned established the contract with their summoned beast. If you were to fail in obtaining a contract, that means you’ll be left with an unfinished product. Our store would feel deeply ashamed to see a customer with an unfinished product. Hence why we accept returns and we could even reporcess the ornaments for you by adding the gemstone ourselves. Although in this case, that means the ornaments will be reduced into ordinary ornaments.”
Ernst-san took one pendant from the display and pointed at the empty slot as he explained the details for me.
I guess their pride as a respected establishment wouldn’t allow them to have a customer leave with an unfinished product?
“I’m sure that kind of thing won’t happen to Ren-chan though~ Now, let’s start picking~”
“I hope you’re right…”
After long and thoughtful consideration, I decided to buy the ring Chris-san had chosen for me. The ring had a similar design to the engagement cuff Marcel-san had designed for me with the same silver color and ivy accent but the ring wasn’t as conspicuous as my engagement cuff. The rings were pretty thin in width so it didn’t stand out much. After a few alterations, we paid for the rings and Ernst-san saw us off as we left the store.
“Umm.. Why did we have to get 5 rings? Ernst-san said getting 5 rings is a matter of course but I don’t really understand why…”
This time as well, I lost to Chris-san’s persistence. Chris-san was the one paying for my rings and for some reason, we ended up buying five of them instead of just one. And of course, we were walking with our hands entwined together.
“Hm?~ You can only use one ornament to summon a magical beast but as you’ve already known, you won’t necessarily get to establish a contract even if you’ve successfully summoned one. That’s why we need five rings just in case~ Of course it’s fine if you signed a contract with five summoned beast but most people only have one~ We can return or have the rest of the rings reprocessed later too~”
“I see…I hope there will be at least one summoned beast who responded to my call…”
So that’s why… I wonder if I can successfully summon one? I’m supposed to try summoning them after the escort quest but I’m already getting all giddy and anxious now…
“Fufu~ I’m sure you’ll be fine. Summoned beasts like people with high magical power and I heard they’re more likely to respond to wizards or support magicians.
“If that’s the case then I hope everything will truly be fine. I’m looking forward to it.”
Blood was used as a medium and magic power was practically their meal, right? I guess that’s why they prefer someone with high magical power. If that’s the case, I guess it should be alright for me to have high hopes then….
“Yup~ Yup~ You better be~ Ah… It’s already 13.00… I got a recommendation for a cafe that serves good meals. Let’s have our lunch there~ After that, we’ll go watch a theatre play. I’ve already bought the tickets for the two of us~”
“A play?”
“Yup~ The genre is romance and I heard that play is very popular nowadays~”
“I didn’t know there’s a play going on! I’m looking forward to it, Chris-san.”
After shopping at Luxury, Chris-san took me to a cafe with a chic interior design for lunch. We went to see a play after taking our time talking and eating in that cafe. The play really touched my heart. I didn’t even notice I had already shed some tears as I watched it and what made it even worse, Chris-san had been staring tenderly at me… I was so embarrassed…
