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Volume 8 Chapter 1 Part 3

In any case, I am just glad to see that all of the girls are enjoying the meal that I have prepared for them yet again. As such, the Tatsuta-age vanishes from our plates rather quickly.

 

But now that the first serving of it is gone, not only Miria, but also Roxanne and even Sherry are holding out their plates in front of me, clearly requesting more of my delicious food to be given to them, and while I would like to do nothing more than to oblige them ang give them what they want, I had to show them that there was only a little bit of it left, which caused Roxanne and Sherry to hold themselves back.

 

Miria, however, looked like she was still intending to go very much at it while not paying attention to how everyone else felt. However, she was not the only one who was gunning for it, because I also stretched out my hand forward, hoping to get that last slice for myself. Can I please have it…….

 

「……….」

 

Oh God damnit.

 

「Go on Miria, you can have it.」

 

Miria was looking at that fish so intently that I just couldn’t help it but to cave in and let her take it.

 

「Okay, desu!」

When I allowed her to have the last slice of the fish, Miria gleefully stuffs the last piece of tatsuta-age into her mouth. There’s just no winning with her when she’s looking so cute while eating her favorite food without a shred of a care in the world.

 

She moves her jaws slowly, savoring every last piece of the fish as if she was never to eat something delicious like that ever again, and once she was finally done eating it, her shoulders have dropped noticeably. Ahh, it’s okay Miria, I perfectly understand how you feel, because I am feeling exactly the same, since the Tatsuta-age that I made today was simply that delicious that I feel like there’s a hole in my heart now that I stopped eating it.

 

「Do not be sad, Miria. We’re going to make another celebratory feast like that when we’re going to break through the fifteenth floor of Haruba’s Labyrinth, I promise.」

 

「Eat more fish, desu!」

 

When I announce that we’re going to e eating more fish like that again, Miria’s eyes immediately brighten up. That way, I have ensure that she’s going to be showing that much more enthusiasm whenever we’re going to be heading to the Labyrinths, even if we’re not going to be facing fish-type monsters. In other words, that a perfectly balanced carrot and stick method.

 

The next day, we went to visit the clothing store in the Imperial City in order to learn if they were going to be of any help in making the aprons for the girls. After all, this is the store that specializes in selling gorgeous-looking outfits for women, and the one in which I ordered Miria’s maid uniform to be made, so hopefully they will be able to assist us in this matter as well.

However, when I went in and looked around, it looked like there was no aprons being sold there. Could it be that even despite selling all kinds of woman’s clothing, aprons are still the kind of an item that cannot be put on display and be sold in such a shop?

 

Well, there’s no need to be discouraged just yet. Even if they’re not being put on displayed, that does not immediately mean that they cannot be tailor-made, so all I have to do is to ask the clerks working here about the possibility of making it.

 

「Excuse me, I’m going to need an apron, preferably the one that’s made out of a thin fabric which can be put on in the kitchen while cooking.」

 

「An apron, sir?」

 

「Yes, an apron. Ideally, it should be the one that covers only the front part of the body. It should also have some kind of strap or other mechanism that would allow it to be tied around the back. Oh, and lastly, it should be the one that has frills exactly like the ones on the aprons used by the imperial maids.」

 

「Oh, I can see that you truly know what you want, sir.」

 

The clerk whom I asked about the possibility of custom-making the aprons was the very same one who gave me advice about Miria’s maid uniform the last time when I was here. If there is anyone who should understand what kind of apron I am talking about, then it definitely should be this guy.

But still, even if he understands what is it that I am looking for, then I doubt that he’s going to truly comprehend the splendor of a good apron. After all, he probably only knows about the aprons of the Imperial maids from this world, while I possess the knowledge about the aprons from modern-day world where I lived previously, a world where the tailoring techniques and styles of making aprons should be much more advanced than the ones employed in this game. I wouldn’t necessarily go so far as to calling myself an apron connoisseur…. But I definitely know more about them than any average person in this world does.

 

「Is it possible to make one here or not?」

 

「Similarly as with the maid uniforms, that depends largely on the kind of fabric that you would like to use in the process of their creation. If you want a really thin fabric, then the best possible option available would be to use silk.」

 

「As enticing as that sounds, the aprons are likely to get stained a lot while working in the kitchen, so I would need them to be made out of a material that can be easily washed and not get damaged too much in the process.」

 

An apron made out of silk, huh? Like I said, the idea itself sounds great, but it would not be practical. Looks alone are not what I am looking for here, I also want them to be functional.

 

「Hmm… in that case, I think that we would have to design one from scratch, which means that an additional cost is going to have to be charged accordingly. Rest assured, however: that additional cost is not going to be much more than the cost of the fabric itself. To give you the rough idea of the costs, aprons made out of ordinary fabric cost about thousand Nars per apron, while the one that are made of silk cost fifteen hundred Nars.」

 

「Hmm… I see. So that’s how it is with them, huh?」

 

For a single apron, that price is quite high. Maybe because I’m actually commissioning them to make an entirely custom order instead of ordering an already existing one? Not to mention that if I opt for having the one made out of silk, the price is going to be ramped up even higher.

 

「Which color would you like the aprons to have? Because if you like, then we can arrange for a color that matches the sheen of the silk perfectly.」

 

「White will be just fine.」

 

Man, he’s a persistent one, isn’t he?

 

「White would be a great choice of color indeed. It should go perfectly with the natural sheen of the silk without looking too artificial.」

 

「Y-Yeah, my thoughts exactly.」

 

Except that I don’t care about it all that much. All I care about is getting my hands on the aprons themselves. Their color and the fabric that they are going to be made of are secondary matters at best to me.

 

「But really now… is it really going to be that good?」

 

「Of course! Just try imagining it. Body wrapped from chest to knees in smooth silk. Silk that is so soft to touch and glossy in appearance that it’s going to be stealing the mind and soul of whoever lays their eyes upon it. We promise you on our professional pride that we are going to deliver you the best product possible!」

 

Dude, could you cut it out already? What do you think I am, some kind of moron who doesn’t know even the simplest things like that? He really must be taking me for someone like that, right? Otherwise, he wouldn’t be trying so hard to describe all of the good qualities of silken apron to me. Well, tough luck for him, because I already know both how an apron made out of silk looks like and how it feels like, so I’m not going to be falling for any of your marketing tricks no matter how hard you’re going to be trying to shove them down my throat.

 

*Ekhem!* In any case… even though a silken apron is going to be an expensive purchase, I still end up ordering it anyway.