ch21-ch40 · 044-ch38

Chapter 38

The teasing of Sai — or rather, the explanation of Hexaria's charm — was over, and it was time to try on the clothes Hiyori and Mio had bought.

"Hmm. This world's clothing is quite good, is it not."

She now wore a wide-brimmed hat, a jacket, and a shirt, all made in Japan.

Only her pants were from the other world, due to issues of length.

Her legs were too long, so the off-the-rack pants they'd bought didn't fit.

At any rate, it was good that the hat hid the High Elf's long ears.

At a glance, she now looked like nothing more than an overseas celebrity.

"I've thought this since I first met her, but she's way too beautiful..."

"So this is what they mean by someone who looks good in anything..."

Hiyori and Mio were entranced by Saria.

"So this is Sensei's wife..."

"Sensei, you'd better treasure Hexaria-san."

For some reason, the criticism came toward Sai. Unbelievable.

Hexaria, having taken a liking to the Japanese-made clothes, seemed very pleased.

"Hmm. You've prepared fine things. I thank you."

"Hehe, you're welcome~♪"

"Hmm. I cannot only receive gifts. Let's see..."

Saying that, Hexaria rummaged around in her Item Box — her vault.

"From what I can see, Hiyori is from a purification-type family line, and Mio has magical talent... These should be about right."

What she took out looked, at first glance, like nothing more than shirts.

Seeing them, Sai went, "Oh."

"Are they silk shirts?"

"So there's silk in the other world too. Hmm, but it doesn't seem quite like silk?"

"The texture might be similar to silk, but it's quite different."

"Similar but quite different?"

The girls looked confused at Sai's explanation.

"Yes. They are clothes woven from thread spun by spirits living in the spirit trees of the elven forest. I made them quite durable, and then I personally wove in every resistance I could think of. Since I made them to my own size, they might be a little large for you two, but as this man's disciples, you likely face battle often. Wear them as an underlayer beneath your armor."

Hiyori and the others didn't know much about the other world.

But the words "spirits living in spirit trees" and "every resistance I could think of woven in"...

From the battle called the Shinjuku Majin Frontline, they knew firsthand how valuable the accessories Sai had lent them were.

In a video game RPG, these would be items you'd obtain in the latter half of the story.

They were clearly far too valuable.

"Wh-Whoa!? Hexaria-san, we can't accept something this fine!"

"Heh heh. It is a reward. Keep it."

"More importantly, Hexaria-san. Did you say you wove them yourself...?"

"Yes. I am an engineer. Whether it be magic or arms and armor, I make everything myself."

"Honestly, most of my equipment was made by Saria too."

Hiyori and Mio both knew that Sai's equipment was special.

They'd assumed that kind of gear was standard in the other world, but it turned out to be handmade by Hexaria — a special existence even there.

"That equipment was made by Hexaria-san... amazing..."

Hiyori murmured that with pure admiration.

Though Hexaria was fundamentally misanthropic, she was a little gentler toward people who purely appreciated what she created.

"Hmm. You've sparked my interest. I'll adjust the length to fit you two."

"Oh, we couldn't possibly, we can do that ourselves..."

Since it was clearly very high-quality fabric, they'd have to be careful, but it was within their ability. They tried to offer humbly, but Sai stopped them.

"Ah, it's fine. The method for hemming is completely different."

"Wh-What do you mean?"

"Behold, my little maids. Tailor these clothes to fit them."

When she snapped her fingers, small, adorable spirits appeared.

Spirits that attended the High Elf Hexaria.

Not drawn by her supernatural charm, but by Hexaria's developer spirit.

The so-called "little maids."

Once given instructions, the spirits worked quickly.

Immediately, one spirit smoothly unwove the fabric's threads.

Another spirit looked at Hiyori and Mio, checked their builds, and communicated to the other spirits.

Yet another spirit pulled threads from a part of the cloth and used them to adjust the size.

There was even a spirit that gathered the removed threads with a spool into a single bundle.

Patterns rose to the surface of the adjusted shirts.

These patterns were the resistance enchantments she had woven in.

When Hexaria touched the enchantment, the patterns unraveled and were reconfigured anew.

Hiyori and Mio looked on in wonder at the collaborative work of spirits and a High Elf, something out of a fairy tale.

In less than ten minutes, the fantastical scene came to an end.

"Yes. I commend my little maids. You have done excellent work again."

Praised by Hexaria, the small spirits high-fived each other in joy, then bowed gracefully and vanished.

"It is roughly like this."

The finished shirts were handed from Hexaria to the two girls.

They both stared at the clothes, unable to hide their surprise that they fit their sizes perfectly.

"Um, Hexaria-san! I'll treasure this shirt!"

"Me too! Thank you so much, Hexaria-san!"

Both of them held the shirts as if they were precious.

"Yes. That is the spirit."

Seeing their faces, Hexaria looked satisfied.

"I almost forgot. I have something for you too."

"Huh, me?"

What Hexaria then took out was the blade Sai had dropped in the other world's ruins right before his teleportation.

This blade was also made by Hexaria.

It had been sharpened and polished, gleaming like new.

"Honestly, leaving a masterpiece of my making behind — what a fool."

"Yeah. Thanks, I really appreciate it."

Since it was a weapon made by Hexaria, it was one of his most treasured pieces of equipment.

He took a sheath from his Item Box and stored the blade away.

Having his beloved blade back in his hands, Sai felt a wave of relief.

With the clothing matter settled, Sai and the others began discussing how Hexaria could enter Shinjuku Tower.

An adventurer license was required to enter Shinjuku Tower, but to obtain one, you needed either a family registry or a passport. Hexaria had neither.

After looking it up online, they realized that since she was married to Sai in the other world, they might be able to get a spousal visa.

...But when taking the identification photo, her characteristically long elven ears would be pointed out.

"I could fool the photographer with concealment magic, but you can't fool a camera..."

Concealment magic could mess with people's perceptions, but it couldn't fool a camera.

"Honestly, to think entering a single dungeon would be this troublesome. Perhaps I should just command..."

"That would cause even more problems."

Unable to think of a concrete solution, they called it a day.

◇

That night. The Ichijō residence.

After returning home from Sai's house, Ichijō Hiyori was called by her father.

In his study, her father was looking at a photograph with a troubled expression.

The way he stood in the retro study looked like a scene from a drama.

Hiyori's father, Ichijō Hayato, was an exorcist.

Along with Hiyori's grandfather, he served as a coordinator for the Japan Exorcist Alliance. During the recent Shinjuku Majin Frontline, he had been in a position to command the exorcists.

To be honest, Hiyori was stronger than him as an exorcist in combat.

But everything else about him was formidable.

Since Shinjuku Tower's appearance, as phantoms and monsters had been gaining power, he had devoted himself to developing and advancing exorcism techniques, held influence in political and financial circles, and served as a liaison with various industries.

A man like that was now making a troubled face.

"What's wrong, Papa?"

"Hiyori-chan, there's something I want to confirm."

With that, he showed her a single photograph.

The first photo she was shown was of a blonde woman flying through the air.

It was hard to tell due to the resolution, but it was very likely Hexaria.

No, it was clearly Hexaria herself.

"You know about this person... don't you."

"Aha... ahaha..."

Hiyori gave a hollow laugh. Her father had stated it as a certainty.

The fact that he deliberately showed a slightly blurry photo was probably Hayato's way of being considerate.

There was no way she could brush it off. Though Hiyori had no intention of doing so anyway.

"Papa, if you're asking like that, you have other photos too. Show me everything."

"Yeah."

A large number of photos came out. Her flying through the air. Her in a crowd, but no one paying her any attention.

There were even clear shots of her going out with Sai.

A long-eared woman was right beside him, yet no one cared.

It was utterly inexplicable.

"Not long ago, I received an inquiry from government channels. Asking if she might be a demon..."

Calling an elf a demon was quite a stretch.

"And this was the decisive evidence."

In the lobby of the Shinjuku Adventurer's Guild. There were Hiyori, Mio, Sai, and Hexaria.

The place where they'd first met Saria.

"Hiyori-chan. This is Sai-kun and Mio-kun, right?"

"Aha... yeah, it is~"

Unfortunately, pleading ignorance wasn't going to work.

When it came to this, there was only one move Hiyori could make.

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Thank you for reading.