"Excuse me~! Anyone in there!?" Tiona's voice rang out from the outside of the shop.
"How did you notice her before she even called out?" Riveria faced Kisuke.
"I told you, right? Ki is an innate power that almost all living being has and emit."
"So you're also able to detect other's Ki? That's very useful... I don't know why she's here, but what do you want to do?"
Kisuke stood up and went back to the kitchen, "Invite them in. They're going to know sooner or later that you came here and it's better to just show yourself to them." He then grabbed more chicken and some shrimp from the fridge to fry more to accommodate the additional guests.
Riveria nodded and stood up and exited the room.
.
.
.
Ais has been overthinking the mysterious man's words who they met on the deeper floor, 'Single-minded pursuit without losing sight of those around you... But I don't have anything left or any time for other things aside from getting stronger as soon as possible...'
Tiona noticed her staring blankly towards nothing in particular and if this is the Ais that she knows, she'll be diving in the Dungeon as of now. She doesn't know what she's thinking, but she doesn't like the expression Ais is making so without further ado, Tiona suddenly invited her to go shopping with her along with the forcefully dragged Tione and Lefiya.
"Why'd you force me to come with you?" Tione asked her sister while yawning.
"Isn't it nice once in a while? Nothing like shopping to get you going!" Tiona replied with a carefree smile on her face.
Lefiya then curiously asked, "Tiona-san, what do you plan on purchasing?"
"Clothes! Let's go clothes shopping! You okay with that, Ais?"
"S-sure." Ais could only agree.
"There's a place that Tione and I go to all the time~."
"Eh-!?" Lefiya suddenly got a bad feeling, "A place you two often visit..." And just as she expected, they arrived at the shop called Terra Frime, "This... This place is..." Lefiya muttered with a shaking voice. They just entered a shop that sells clothes for Amazoness and Amazoness clothing doesn't really cover very many skins. By just looking at the line up of clothes, Lefiya and Ais couldn't help blushing.
"It's been ages. Maybe I could let loose a little~." Tione commented and came to Ais's left side.
"Ah, new designs are in! Come on, Ais, Take a look!" Tiona came to the other side of Ais.
Since she's just standing in front of the store, Tiona and Tione dragged Ais to enter the shop, "A-Ais-saaan!!!"
Tiona and Tione kept offering Ais 'clothes' and Ais could only mutter incomprehensible words in embarrassment while Lefiya used her own body to block the two Amazoness. The group ended up not buying a single thing because Ais is very reluctant in wearing any of them so Lefiya suggested the shop she's frequenting.
Opposite of the Amazoness shop, the Elf shop is full of frilly dresses. Lefiya kept grabbing heavy clothes and pushing them to Ais. Although Ais could wear them, she thinks that those clothes are actually heavier than her armor.
While Lefiya is looking around for more dresses, Ais sneaked out of the shop and started walking aimlessly thinking about Kisuke's words again, trying to understand them, 'I don't know this area... I always head right back into the Dungeon even after expeditions... So this is new to me... Why am I not in the Dungeon now? Getting stronger should be more important than anything...'
In the middle of her contemplation, Tione, who's standing in front of a certain shop and product suddenly called out to Ais, "Oh Ais, what's wrong?"
Ais was pulled out of her thoughts, "...Tione..."
"This street really has all kinds of shops so I went exploring." Tione took back her gaze and put it back on the displayed dress in front of the shop, "See any clothes you want to try?"
Ais looked down, "... I don't know. I've only ever thought about how to get stronger... I don't know anything else..."
Tione could only smile wryly hearing that "I see."
Ais then looked towards the dress that caught Tione's attention, "Isn't this... A wedding dress? Do you want to wear one, Tione?"
"Hmmm? Back in the day, I wasn't interested in men either. My sister and I were considered strange among the amazons. Even the first time I saw the captain, I thought he was just some Prum."
Ais nodded in agreement, "Mm... But Finn's really strong."
Tione continued her story, "There's a tapestry of a Goddess hanging in his office. Her name is Phiana, a mythical Goddess that many Prums believed in with all their hearts.
"Eventually, a group of Prum knights united under her banner despite never seeing their Goddess. And of course, when the real Gods descended, there was no sign of her.
"The Prums were devastated, spirits broken, their civilization fell into ruin almost overnight. Nowadays, you don't hear many stories about Prum heroes or legends. Even as Adventurers, most of them end up as supporters or working in the rear. The entire race is in decline.
"The captain came to Orario on a mission to revitalize his people. He's fighting for the sake of every Prum in the world and every Prum that will be born in the future. He's risking his life for a chance to become their new pride."
Tione then smiled brightly towards Ais, "Once I learned about the enormous burden he carries... For the first time in my life... I fell in love with a man. I wanted to become special to him. That's why my goal now is to someday wear this dress next to the captain~!"
Just for a moment, Ais thought that she saw Tione wearing the wedding dress on display and she's shining brightly.
"...Ais... Once I met the captain... I found a goal other than becoming strong within Loki Familia. Tiona and Lefiya are spreading their wings... Finding things just as important to them as their own growth. So there's only one thing that I can tell you now, why don't you try finding something that you can treasure aside from your singular wish of getting stronger?"
Ais' eyes opened wide but she immediately closed it again, "Is that so... I see... Maybe... But for me..." 'For me, I've already lost everything... Only getting stronger is left..."
Tione figured that Ais is thinking that she doesn't have anything else aside from getting stronger, so she added, "You know, I really think the reason we go into the Dungeon as a party isn't just because it's more efficient. Everyone comes with their own reasons and history... But no matter the situation, no matter the place... If we're together, we can fight without throwing that away."
She brushed Ais' cheek with her hand, "Ais, we're here with you. You were never alone. It would be really wonderful if don't just consider us as fellow Familia or party members, but friends that you can rely on and share your feelings."
"My feelings?"
"Yep~. Your feelings! You should be more vocal about it so that we can understand each other better! And maybe down the road, find a man that you can be with... Wait... Scratch that... Loki will probably kill that guy. Look, what I mean is, I can fight at least 50% stronger whenever the captain's around. Doubling when he's watching me!"
Ais touched her cheek where Tione brushed, 'Single-minded pursuit without losing sight of those around you.' She then looked towards Tiona and Lefiya who're running towards their direction and accidentally bumped into a short twin-tailed Goddess who's carrying a white and blue dress, 'Somehow... Although not entirely, I understood what he meant...'
"My bad, Amazon-kun! I'm in a hurry!"
"Ah... Hestia-sama... Okay..." Tiona could only blindly stare at the leaving figure.
"Are you all right, Tiona-san?" Lefiya asked in concern because she suddenly stopped, "Look, Ais-san is right over there."
"That's Hestia-sama... Right? The one we met in the pub?"
"...Yes."
"I didn't notice it until now... The cute little Goddess... Her chest was so huge!" Tiona cried out.
Tione and Lefiya ignored Tiona's cries and planned for their next destination.
"Grrr!! Don't ignore me! The two of you betrayed me once already!"
"What are you even saying...?" Tione asked in an exasperated tone.
"Like I care! Because our next stop is the lingerie sho 'Nudist'!"
Just the name of the shop startled Ais and was pulled from her thoughts again as she watches the rowdy bunch.
"I refuse to be seen at such obscene establishment! If we must, we should go to my usual place, 'Pure White Lingeries'!" Lefiya immediately retorted.
"If it's underwear, I know a good store too. Lots of sexy one for grown-ups." Tione suggested.
Ais honestly think that what they're doing is very embarrassing and couldn't help but look around to change the topic. By doing so, a dress caught her attention, 'Everyone is with me... So I'll try... To treasure my feelings and find that important thing...' She then called everyone's attention, "Uhmm... I want to go to that shop."
The three girls stopped bickering at each other and looked at Ais with surprised expressions before smiling brightly. Finally, the naive stoic swordswoman of their Familia wanted something outside of battling.
Ais came out of the shop wearing a white one-piece dress with golden linings which heartened her golden hair. Looking at the group of girls watching her, a smile went up to her face and said, "Thank you, everyone."
Because of that smile, they descended into the chaos of who should hug Ais and a few minutes later, they decided that they hadn't had enough and continued shopping for all sorts of things since this is also a rare chance for Ais to take it easy.
Around noontime, because of Ais insistence, the group arrived at the deserted eastern shop that is near the abandoned church on the east side of Orario.
But even after Tiona called out, nobody came out.
Outside, Tiona, Tione, Ais, and Lefiya are peeking through the door of the shop but saw no one inside, "Are they closed?" Tiona asked.
"But the doors are open... So the shopkeeper is probably just inside getting something." Tione replied.
"Ais-san... Just what do you need from this place?" Lefiya asked.
"...Pepper spray." Ais answered. But more than that, she wanted to know more about the effect of the time stasis on her body.
"Pepper spray? Why does that sound familiar?" Tiona asked.
"That's the first time I've heard of that though? What's pepper spray?" Lefiya asked again in confusion.
"Did you seriously forgot?" Tione sighed at her sister's poor memory, "It's the thing that blinded Bete and the reason he's in debt."
Tiona indeed recalled a scene like that, "Ah... The pepper spray! Wait... Isn't the owner of that..."
Tione nodded as she knew who is she thinking, "Right... The pervert who... did that to Riveria last night."
"What!?" Lefiya exclaimed, "Let's go home now and not disturb him! There's no one here anyway, so he's probably in the Dungeon."
The three indeed thought that maybe Kisuke is in the Dungeon and was about to go home, however, before they can turn around, someone, who they are never expecting, came out of the shop, "You're making too much noise, Lefiya."
Then all of them simultaneously exclaimed, "R-Riveria!!?" "Riveria-sama!!?"