The Next Day When I stopped by the
"Hi hi~! The clothes are done~. I pulled an all-nighter for the first time in a while."
Despite that, the tailor looked wired and full of energy. She fetched
It was a white dress with a basic color scheme of white. A blue ribbon adorned the center, with touches of blue throughout for contrast — simple, but clearly well-made.
How should I put it. It had that "simple is best" vibe that might be picky about who wears it.
"Master~ I get to wear this?"
"Yeah."
"Wheee!"
Filo, who had been draping a cloak over herself until now, started stripping naked on the spot.
"Stop right there."
"Aww."
I waited inside for them to finish changing.
"Make sure you transform into your monster form too!" the shop clerk's voice called from the back.
"Why~?"
"Otherwise the ribbon will dig into your flesh."
"Nooo!"
Don't say mildly terrifying things like that.
"Okay~"
I heard the poof sound of transformation, and then.
"Mmm... yeah, it really does look good on you..."
A blissfully dreamy voice drifted over.
"Alright, let's go!"
"Yeah!"
The girls emerged from the back of the shop.
I looked toward Filo.
...Yeah. Maybe it was because her base appearance was already gorgeous, but she looked practically like an actual angel.
A white dress, pure white wings... a blue ribbon at her chest as an accent — how to describe it.
She looked like a 2D little angel heroine.
"Master~"
"Hm?"
"How is it? Does it suit me?"
"Sure, it suits you."
To think the otaku-ish tailor could make clothes that leveraged Filo's appearance specs this well — you're quite the talent yourself.
"Hehe."
Filo giggled shyly, making the dress flutter and sway.
I'd already paid the old man at the Weapon Shop for the outfit.
What a ridiculous expense.
To head back to Ryuto Village, our base of operations, I had Filo pull the cart.
That dress had a remarkable trick — when Filo transformed into her monster form, it would vanish, and the ribbon would convert into Filo's collar. You get what you pay for.
"Oh, Shield Hero."
I ran into the Magic Shop granny by chance as we were leaving
"Are you heading to Ryuto Village?"
"Yeah."
"I've got some business there myself. Would you mind giving me a ride?"
The old woman from the Magic Shop proposed with a smile.
Well, we were passing by anyway, and she'd done quite a few things for us, so it felt wrong to refuse.
"I can't guarantee a smooth ride. Is that okay?"
"That's fine."
Raphtalia was already staring off into the distance, bracing herself against motion sickness.
"Then I'll excuse myself."
The Magic Shop granny climbed onto the cart.
"Alright, Filo — keep the speed down."
"Yesss~"
Passersby kept staring at Filo with surprise. Talking monsters must be rare.
The cart clattered along the road.
Seriously, these past few days had felt incredibly hectic.
Well, I was always busy, but this was something beyond my usual level.
And all of it revolved around Filo, which was... something.
"How's it going? Making progress with your magic studies?"
"Uhh..."
The Magic Shop granny hit me right where it hurt.
Honestly, I couldn't say I was.
I wanted to snap back that things would go better if she just gave me a crystal ball, but she'd made the thread for Filo's dress cheaply, so it was hard to complain.
"I'm from another world, you know — I still can't read the writing."
"Is that so... I'm sorry, dear."
The old woman looked genuinely apologetic. Which was exactly why I couldn't bring myself to grumble about my own study shortcomings either.
When someone did something for me, I repaid them.
In good ways and bad ways alike.
If the granny had shown me goodwill, I wanted to return the favor.
I had to memorize as much as I could.
I didn't have the kind of knowledge that damned Hero had. That was precisely why I had to keep learning.
And to survive the Waves, I needed to get my hands on the best equipment possible.
Forget about translating or unlocking recipes for now — I'd set those aside.
It would probably take a long time, but I decided to try memorizing things.
"Heavy..."
Filo mumbled between yawns while trotting along and pulling the cart.
Was it really that light with three people riding on it?
Good sign. I already had a certain idea in mind — something only possible with Filo.
When we arrived at Ryuto Village, the Magic Shop granny handed me twenty-five copper coins.
"What's this?"
"Payment for the ride."
"Oh, right."
I'd file this under considerations too.
Ryuto Village was, as always, still under reconstruction. When I stopped by the inn, the owner welcomed us warmly.
I offered an apology for the chimera meat situation.
He was reasonable about it — since there was nothing to be done about it either way, he accepted, which was a relief.
"Now then, we're heading out to train Raphtalia against motion sickness and haul lumber."
As compensation for the meat, I'd promised to help with reconstruction. He mentioned there'd be a small reward too.
"Wha!?"
Raphtalia made a face. Well, if it was about overcoming a weakness, there was no avoiding it.
"Our main transport is going to be the cart Filo pulls from now on. Get used to it."
"Y-yes."
"Yesss~!"
"Filo, you're the one pulling."
"Yeah!"
Filolials really did love pulling carts. Filo's eyes were sparkling like crazy.
"Um... did you have something in mind?"
"Yeah. I was thinking about starting a peddling business."
"Peddling?"
"The selection won't be great, but I want to build around medicine, and maybe courier services — cast a wide net."
"Huh..."
Raphtalia didn't seem to get it. Well, I couldn't tell if it would succeed either. But it was about time we started moving around more anyway.
We had a cart now. It would be foolish not to use it.
"So, if we're doing courier work too, that means running at Filo's top speed with the cart. If you collapse from motion sickness every time, that's a problem for me too."
"I understand the reason, but..."
"I know a place that's supposedly not so bad for nausea. You should get used to it there first."
"Such a place exists?"
"Yeah."
And so, before we started the day's work, I loaded Raphtalia onto Filo's back — the spot supposedly least likely to cause motion sickness.
"Master's the one who should ride me, so why does big sister get to ride on my back..."
Filo grumbled to herself while Raphtalia climbed on.
"The feeling is mutual, you know. This is... pretty embarrassing."
With Filo's owl-like body in a crouched position carrying Raphtalia on her back, it looked kind of weird.
"Is it too heavy?"
"Nah. It's easy~"
Maybe it was because the posture was close to her natural form, but Filo didn't seem to have any trouble.
"Ready?"
"Yeah!"
Filo took off, pulling the cart while carrying Raphtalia on her back.
Given the combined weight, it shouldn't have been easy — but according to her, it wasn't that bad.
In the meantime, I set about deciphering the Intermediate Recipe book, translating as I went.
...Rumble rumble.
......Rumble rumble.
With the pleasant sound of cart wheels as background music, I was focusing on the impossibly difficult otherworldly language when— "Um..."
............Rumble rumble.
"Ah, um..."
Hm?
I glanced over at Filo and found that she'd somehow transformed into human form and was now carrying Raphtalia on her back. Raphtalia had been trying to talk to me repeatedly with a troubled expression on her face.
A passing group of adventurers were whispering to each other while pointing at us.
"Don't do things that'll start weird rumors!"
Having a slave girl carry another girl on her back while making her pull a cart — forced labor of the highest order. If word got out about something like that, my reputation, which had finally started to improve, would tank again.
"Aww..."
"Don't transform into human form when pulling the cart either."
"Fineee."
Filo nodded with a grumble and shifted back to her monster form.
She was probably bored. And Raphtalia hadn't gotten motion sick yet either.
In that case, pushing harder should be fine.
"Alright, speed it up."
"Wheee!"
At my instruction, Filo perked up with excitement and broke into a run.
Clatter clatter clatter!
The cart wheels rattled as they spun.
"Whoa!"
Raphtalia cried out in surprise and clung tightly to Filo.
Well, at this rate we'd reach our destination in no time.