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Volume 9 Chapter 5 Part 4

「Is that so? I think that a little bit of struggle is just the right thing to have, but I don’t think that we’re going to have any problems with that. and if it does happen and we really start to struggle, then we can just go back to the lower floors for a bit.」

Your belligerent judgement is truly frightening, Roxanne. If you want to feel the thrill of danger during the Labyrinth encounters then that’s fine, but for me the most important thing is always the matter of us returning back home safely.

「I know, but since going back o the lower floors to fight there is not going to be beneficial to us anymore, we have no choice but to continue forward while making each decision with great care.」

Essentially, we would have to proceed forward according to Sherry’s suggestions.

Levelling up is much quicker on the higher floors than on the lower floors, and the faster you level up, the stronger you’re going to get. As we are living right now we shouldn’t be experiencing any problems, but if we take into consideration the possibility of things like accidents, incidents, injuries and illnesses occurring when you least expect them to, it is much better to become as strong as we possibly can.

We don’t need to rush anywhere, however. We can take things slowly and methodically.

「Let’s do it, desu!」

「I think we’re going to be alright.」

At some point I realized that I pretty much can’t rely on the opinions of Miria and Vesta because of how useless they are. The only one whose opinions I can trust is Sherry.

That being said, I really have to look out for doing anything by the method of voting, because if I take the wrong approach to a majority vote, then I might run the risk of being outvoted two to three. I have t make sure to never take any action requiring a solution like that.

For that not to happen, I have no choice but to listen to Sherry’s opinions carefully and slowly. As long as I take things slow, then we should probably be alright.

But thankfully, I’m not talking about making any such decisions right now. Until such a day happens, we will continue to fight on the twenty-second floor of Quratar’s Labyrinth. Since the weakness of the majority of the monsters that are present here is Earth Magic, then there won’t be any problems for us.

「Okay, I think it should be fine for us to leave things like this for today.」

「Understood.」

「Yes, desu.」

「Now, let us go to the Imperial City.」

It’s still a little early for us to be finishing the exploration, but nevertheless we decided to call it a day for today. Today should be the day when Vesta’s maid uniform should be finished, so I have to go to the clothing store in the Imperial City to pick it up.

「Imperial City?」

Huh? Roxanne and the others don’t seem to know what I am talking about? Since this is supposed to be the day when the clothes for Vesta are going to be finished, so I would like her to at least remember that much.

Or maybe it’s because she actually dislikes the maid clothing? No, no, no, that simply cannot be. She’s going to wear them properly, right? Or maybe she’s going to do it reluctantly in order to not make me feel bad? No, of course something like that would never happen.

Generally speaking, my impression was that Vesta did not dislike the maid uniform. Even now when she’s standing in the middle of the corridor in the Labyrinth, she has the same calm, reliable look on her face that she always has.

On the other hand though, Miria had a pretty complicated look on her face.

「Ah, we can go hunt Mabreams tomorrow.」

I understand the reason behind her expression very well. Since we have defeated the Floor Boss and advanced to the next floor, we were supposed to go hunt for the Whole Fish for the celebratory dinner.

「Tomorrow, desu.」

When I told her that we are going to go hunt the Mabreams tomorrow, she replied cheerfully. Or maybe she’s saying that because it was unclear if we’re going to be able to break through the twenty-first floor and it was unclear if we’ll be able to go hunt for the Whole Fish at all.

Well, whatever the case, tomorrow we’re going to go to the twenty-second floor where the Mabreams are going to be present, so we’ll be able to hunt them as much as we want.

After convincing Miria, we then warped to the Adventurers Guild in the Imperial City and moved on to the clothing store from there.

「Welcome back. The clothes that you ordered are ready, please wait a minute.」

The shop clerk immediately receives us when we enter the shop. Last time, I wasn’t given any such thing as a receipt, so it seems they remember their customers pretty well. Can this be expected of a high-class shop in the capital of the entire empire?

I move forward to the counter.

When the shop clerk heads inside, I manage to steal a peak behind the counter. There’s a number of clothes inside.

All these clothes look like they are custom-made. Does the shop clerk remember what every single customer ordered? Because if so, then I respect him for that. Something like that would be impossible for me, at least. There must be a register somewhere, though.

The shop clerk comes back with one set of clothes. Since it looks like a maid outfit, I don’t think there’s any mistake.

Huh?

Inside, there’s something similar to Uchikake. There is also a matching white dress for that Uchikake. It looks strangely Japanese. It looks like a white kimono. Is it really possible for this world to have something like this? No, is it a gown? It might be something similar to a bathrobe. It is not exactly a furisode either.

「Is that a gown?」

「Does it look like that?」

I ask, pointing my finger to it, but Roxanne doesn’t know either.

「Umm, that’s…」

「Oh, do you know what it is, Sherry?」

Sherry seems to know about it. As expected of her.

「This outfit is lent to the people who apply to the Priests’ Guild to become Shrine Maidens. Do you want to have a shrine maiden outfit arranged?」

It’s a shrine maiden’s clothing? No wonder it looks overly Japanese then. So it’s like that, huh?

「A daughter of certain family plans to become a shrine maiden so they asked for one to be made for them.」

The shop clerk explains after he brings the maid outfit. Is it a tradition of Shrine Maidens? Which reminds me, Sherry tried to become a Shrine Maiden at one point in the past, too. She didn’t have sufficient level to acquire Shrine Maiden Job though, so it must not be a pleasant memory for her, I believe.

「So it’s like that, huh?」

「If you order it from our shop, we will use silk to make it soft and comfortable. Also, we will make the clothes to be perfect fit for the person. In the training to become a Priest or Shrine Maiden, one needs to meditate under the waterfall. Beside being fashionable, it’s functional as well; a lot of people order it. So, what about you? Are you going to order one for yourswlf as well?」

「If I get the opportunity, I guess.」

To acquire Shrine Maiden Job, I need to perform waterfall meditation. Do I need to be in white clothes to perform waterfall meditation as well?

Am I supposed to wear it before entering the basin under the waterfall?

It is white and made from silk, so it’s probably not that thick. What would happen if I were under the water, wearing these thin white clothes?

Most definitely 「that」would have happened.

「In the Priests Guild, the ascetic training is conducted at the waterfall separately for males and females. As long as the lower half of your body is properly covered, there will be no problems.」

The shop clerk tells me quietly. Are you an esper or something? This clerk, he’s good.
「I’ll be visiting again soon.」

「We will be waiting for you to come again.」

I receive the maid outfit from the clerk and leave the shop.

Since I have received the clothes, I return home for the time being, warping us home from the Imperial City’s Adventurers’ Guild.

「Then I will change my clothes.」

When we get back home, Roxanne starts taking her clothes off immediately.

Wait, wait, wait!