Episode(32): Let's go shopping, my prince!
SOVEREIGN OF DEATH~(32)
[I train every day and not to mention subjugating demons that get close to the capital every day. If not for this how could I be standing were I am today? Also, what genius am I when I'm already in my thirties?]
Mavis shook her head. If she still dared to call herself a genius at that age she would deserve a beating.
[Hee...]
Akane didn't hear the latter part of Mavis's words just yet. Instead, she thought about how hard it would be for her if she was in her position. But as she mulled over the words playing in her head, she was suddenly struck with a bolt of lightning.
[What!? You're in your thirties!?]
She was stunned.
[That's right~~did I not say perhaps?]
Mavis said furrowing her brows trying to recall if she ever said anything about it.
[Of course you didn't, I thought you were a teenager like me not an old hag!]
Mavis was suddenly struck with a wicked attack and felt like she wanted to spit blood.
[T-Thats rude!]
[I'm sorry, ehem....Elder sister!]
Correcting her words, Akane awkwardly scratched her head and looked at the beautiful lady that looked like she just entered her twenties.
[Well, I don't think you need to worry about your age when you don't even look it. It's seriously like you aren't even aging at all. But I'm curious what magic you're using? Can I use it too?]
If Akane had such a magic then did she even need to worry about getting old? Even as a granny she could have countless girls envious of her aging.
[It's not magic Akane]
Mavis felt like spewing blood. Even though it wasn't intentional and Akane was complimenting her, it just made her seem like an old hag that didn't know her age at all.
She let out a troubled breath before she turned her gaze to Akane again.
[Huh? It's not? That's a bummer]
Disappointment instantly spread through Akane's heart. Her dream of flexing her young appearance in the future had been flushed down the drain in an instant.
[No, you misunderstood....]
Mavis shook her head with a wry smile seeing how depressed Akane had become. She really wondered if this girl wasn't just doing it on purpose.
[At any rate]
She continued.
[When your mana level reaches over certain threshold you normally begin to age slower and no matter how old you get your appearance will stay the same...for example my mana is 1000 so I think you just have to get at least over 999 mana...though you'll soon have more than that so don't worry]
Akane instantly perked up again when she heard these words. All she had to do was accumulate a thousand units of mana? If that was all it took then even if it took several years she'd do it!
At the same time she was curious how much mana she currently had and decided to check.
'Status'
[Akane Fujimura–(Lv.10) ]
[Class: Master Thief]
[Trait: Item Loot(A+), Tracking(A)]
[Mana–200]
"Skills"
[Dagger Arts(D+)] [Swipe(C-)] [Switch(C)]
Item loot was the ability to loot the opponent's corpse. And as long as she was the one who killed it, she could choose any two loots to obtain from the enemy drops. Normally she would get low tier weapons or weapon materials or potion materials.
So far the skill gave her quite a bit of gold so it didn't matter much that the skill wasn't useful in battles. To begin with all she was facing was low rank opponents so it was no wonder all she had was low ranked loot drops.
As for tracking, she could place a marker on something using mana and there was no way she could lose its position as long as it was in a range of 50 to 80m.
Dagger arts helped her master her dagger wielding skills quickly while swipe allowed her to 'swipe' any object below the beginner tier without being noticed by others.
As for switch, it was sort of like teleporting but she had to have a medium to switch places with before activating the skill. It was a good skill but the rank was too low causing too many flaws so she didn't use it too often in battle.
Akane wanted to make sure she had complete control of the skill before she went ahead and used it in battle.
Akane looked at her stats with satisfaction, but after seeing that her mana was too low she shook her head.
[At any rate, is lady Aoi doing, okay?]
Mavis suddenly asked. Akane woke up out of her own world and as she thought about her 'Best friend, she sighed softly.
[Sigh...now that you mention it]
At first, Aoi was sad that she couldn't see her family again and that her childhood friend was 'Discarded' and was more than probably dead already. However after sometime, Aoi quickly got over it as if she had forgotten the whole matter.
When Akane asked, Aoi just smiled while saying she had nothing to do with a pervert.
'I know a rumor spread that he molested a girl'
But Akane, even though she didn't know much about him didn't believe he was such a person. She especially didn't believe it since the one who spread it was that guy, the despicable Renji!
[See, just the other day we found out he got two people pregnant]
In Akane's mind he was nothing but a perverted dickhead that had sex with anything that had a v*gina.
At first she naturally thought he was a pretty cool guy like other girls, but after witnessing his true personality it was like Akane had gained a wakeup call and ever since then she could only see him with disgust in her eyes.
It was because of this that she knew there was a high probability that Renji was lying to keep Aoi and Nagisa apart from each other.
[But when she found out he had gotten two other women pregnant even while knowing her feelings, it was quite a shock for Aoi. Now, even if Aoi refuses to look at reality she has to see that he's just a promiscuous lecher]
[Why not tell her of your dissatisfaction?]
Mavis didn't understand why Akane just let Aoi foster feelings if she believed that Renji was such a terrible person. If it were her she wouldn't even allow her friend to get near him.
However Akane gave her a strange look.
[A girl's love is too strong]
She shook her head as if it was impossible.
[If I tried to keep her away from him, it would probably make her want to get with him even more than if I just stood aside and watched it all play out. That's why, while it's cruel, I think it's better for her to look with her own eyes and see for herself that he's no good. I will step in if need be, before she gets hurt but before then it will just have to play out naturally]
Mavis nodded and finally understood her thoughts.
[And how is that coming along?]
She thought that with how confident Akane was she would say it was coming along great but she was taken aback almost instantly at the next second.
[Terrible!]
Holding her head in her hands, Akane seemed as though she was about to lose her mind.
[Never mind hating the guy, she's even more infatuated with the sleaze than before!]
Akane was helpless. Just the other day, Akane rushed to tell Renji about her feelings and she had no choice but to knock her out!
It was like something kept Aoi from seeing his true nature and it was baffling why she still had feeling for him.
[Oh well, let's stop talking about that and let's go check out the kitchen]
Akane sighed and said. She really didn't want to talk about this on an empty stomach. She was afraid she might have bad gas if she kept talking about Renji.
Mavis chuckled and smiled.
[Of course, that is what you wanted all along]
[Fufu, you know me so well!]
They both got ready. As for Akane, she wiped herself with a magic towel that had a clean enchantment on it that instantly cleaned up all the sweat and dirt. In a moment she was back to smelling like fresh flowers during springtime.
Akane couldn't help but smile.
'Magic really is convenient'
[Anyway, lets head out]
Mavis nodded. The two walked through the palace halls while the servant maids and butlers respectfully greeted them.
[Come to think of it there is a banquet being held later tomorrow for defeating that gargoyle, right?]
Akane asked suddenly. She had heard about the event when she went to take a bath last night. The other girls were excitedly talking about how they were going to attend a ball like princesses in novels and movies and it caught Akane's attention immediately.
She wanted to ask the other girls but they didn't know much of the details since they just heard it from the other maids.
[Well, that is the case but that's just a pretense. The real purpose of the ball is actually a welcome party for the heroes to mingle and form connections with nobles]
Akane nodded. Ever since coming to this world they had all just been cooped up in the castle and hadn't met anyone aside from those coming directly to the palace. It seemed just right for them to hold a welcoming party, but using the fact that they defeated a demon didn't seem to be a good move in her eyes.
To her, while they did defeat the demon they caused more harm than good. If news reach the ears of the commoners in the capital won't it just cause an uprising?
'Well, not like it's my problem'
[Still, I don't think we should waste time on a party]
Akane didn't want to go at all. She just needed a bottle of cola and a bucket of fried chicken with a drama series and that was enough for her to enjoy the night.
Mavis instantly saw through her reluctance and said firmly.
[That's true but you still have to go...]
[Ugh...but the nobles always look at us with filthy eyes. If I do go, I might end up poking out some eyes, are you guys okay with that?]
She really didn't like the disgusting gazes from the men of this world. It was as if they couldn't wait for the moment they could devour them whole and it made her terrified.
To that, Mavis didn't have much to say. It was true that most nobles had ill intentions for the female heroes.
[Don't worry, as a hero sent by the goddess if you don't want it what man would force you? Aren't they afraid of the heavens anger?]
True.
In this world, Gods weren't just a mere belief. They actually showed their might especially when others dared to bad mouth them. Have you ever seen a village get pulverized into ashes by lightning even when there was no sign of a storm?
Better believe it happened here.
If one wasn't careful they might just get banished into eternal damnation so unless you were a lunatic one wouldn't dare go against the gods of this world.
[Sigh...]
Akane knew that it was just like Mavis had said. Even if they had lustful thoughts, there was no way they could act on it. Even so, it didn't mean she was okay being looked at like some pork on display!
[Well, I'll at least help you chose a dress]
Mavis chuckled and said. It couldn't be helped, as a woman she also knew what it was like to be stared at with lewd gazes however the gazes on her were much more subtle because they knew of her ability and strength.
Akane's eyes lit up when she hear this.
[Really!? Can you also be my partner too...if the captain of the knights is my partner, then no one will try to even come close to me!]
[Are you sure that's okay? We're both women so wouldn't it look strange?]
Mavis raised a brow.
Akane laughed it off. While it wasn't wrong to say that she had indeed taken a liking to Mavis, they weren't romantically involved and she still liked guys so even if rumors spread, so what?
[It's fine, they can say what they want. Rather it's better to have them think I love women so they don't ever approach me!]
Mavis was stunned. But after a while she couldn't help but laugh softly.
[Fufu, I guess that is something you would say...alright, allow me the honor of escorting you, lady]
Mavis bowed slightly like a gentleman asking a lady out for a meal. It was like a movie scene where the prince asked the princess out and Akane couldn't help but break out in a smile.
[Please, my prince! Let's go shopping now!]
Mavis nodded and they both left to eat before leaving the palace to shop for clothes.
'At least I can avoid the scum now!'
Akane squealed in her heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Akane Fujimura–(Lv.10) ]
[Class: Thief]
[Trait: Item Loot(A+), Tracking(A)]
[Mana–200]
"Skills"
[Dagger Arts(D+)] [Swipe(C-)] [Switch(C)]