As a result of receiving Chrisâs tackle, I ended up with injuries that would take about fifteen minutes to fully heal. The power of the medical pod is incredible, isnât it? Dr. Shouko told me that if I had relied on natural healing, it would have taken at least three to four weeks to heal completely. When I asked if that meant that I had broken a bone, she responded with a vague smile.
ăChris, make sure you have perfect control over your enhanced body before you get married. Donât slack off on your control training, okay?ă
ăYesâŠă
When I moved from the Black Lotusâs medical room to the lounge area, Chris was getting a lecture from Elma. It was no surprise. Even if she had a reason like being busy, skipping daily training and ending up injuring someone is a serious matter. Iâm willing to forgive her, though.
ăYou are still in your growth phase, Chris-kun. Even if you think you are used to your enhancements, your control can slip because of the fast growth of your body. Make sure you train diligently every day, alright? Otherwise, on your wedding night, you might accidentally snap Hiroâs ribs, spine, or hip bones.ă
ăThat sounds terrifying.ă
ăIt happens sometimes. There are stories about noble ladies who arenât usually physically active breaking a few of their husbandâs bones on their wedding night. Serena, being a soldier, probably didnât have that problem since she trains regularly.ă
Dr. Shouko, who had come with me from the medical room, gave Chris a warning, and Elma started telling a scary story after hearing that warning. Wait, isnât the husband in that story a noble with a reinforced body, too? If even nobles with enhanced bodies end up breaking a few bones, doesnât that mean someone like me, who doesnât have any enhancements, would be in even worse shape?
Come to think of it, nobles with enhanced bodies can exhibit strength comparable to or just a little weaker than power armor. If someone used that kind of strength on me while having sex, my bones would definitely get crushed.
ăChris, work hard on your training, okay?ă
ăYesâŠă
Chris, who had been full of energy after finally getting a break from work, now looked like a wilted leaf. She seemed really downcast. Well, if you hurt someone due to your own carelessness, I guess thatâs how youâd end up feeling.
ăIt did hurt, but Iâm all healed now, so no problem. Since Chris apologized, letâs consider this matter closed. Sound good?ă
ăIf Hiro says so, then Iâm fine with it. How about you, Mimi?ă
ăOf course!ă
With a smile, Mimi hugged the dejected Chris. Yeah, yeah, itâs nice to see everyone getting along.
ăAlright, weâre done with Chrisâs thing. So, where we hanginâ out? Got any ideas?ă
ăHow about we go buy some clothes for Neve-chan? Now that sheâs out of the pod and starting to live normally, she canât just keep wearing those simple hospital gowns forever, right?ă
ăThat sounds great! But wait, if sheâs still in the pod, she canât try anything on, can she?ă
ăI have her exact measurements, so thatâs not a problem. But we should probably get something with a little extra room. As her treatment progresses, she might gain a bit more muscle and fill out more.ă
The crew members who were interested in fashion were all excitedly chatting about what clothes we should get for Neve, in contrast, there were three people who had gone noticeably quiet. The first was me, the second was Elma, and the third was Kugi.
ăYeah, that sounds good. While weâre at it, if anyone finds something cute, they should buy it as well.ă
Since Iâm the type to stock up on a lot of clothes of the same design and rotate through them, I wasnât particularly interested in shopping for new clothes. Elma was the same as me, and Kugi always wore her shrine maiden outfit. In Kugiâs case, it wasnât like she wasnât interested in fashion, but her physical characteristics made it difficult to find clothes that fit herâthe fox ears on her head werenât a problem, but her three fluffy tails did cause some issues. Most of the clothing templates available in the Grakkan Empire werenât designed to accommodate her tails.
Of course, there were other species with tails or similar appendages, so specialty shops catering to these races existed. But such shops were rare. You might find one occasionally in a bustling trade colony, but on a planet like Dexer III, mainly populated by humans, the local clothing stores probably wonât have much to offer.
ăWell then, maybe Iâll go collect some of Dexer IIIâs fine liquors.ă
ăI will accompany my Lord to wherever shop he wants to go.ă
ăIn that case, why donât we go to a shopping complex that has everything, from clothes to alcohol?ă
I nodded at Chrisâs suggestion but then found myself lost in thought.
ăDo nobles actually go out to shop in stores? Donât they usually summon merchants to their estates?ă
ăWe can do that if you want, but donât you think that takes away from the feeling of going out and having fun? Plus, youâd be dealing with merchants who are all smiles and flattery, trying to win you over with every word. It would feel almost exactly like what we were doing yesterday.ă
ăBetter not, letâs go to the shopping complex.ă
Chris nodded deeply in agreement with my quick reply. I donât want to spend any more time dealing with greedy people who are only trying to leave a good impression for their own gain.
ăIf weâre going out, Chris is going to need a disguise, she is too well-known, the last thing we want is to attract attention. Letâs pick out something from my or Mimiâs wardrobe that might fit her, we should change up her hairstyle too.ă
ăLetâs go with something that looks like a mercenary outfit!ă
ăLeave her makeup to me.ă
ăIâll help too!ă
With that, Chris was whisked away by Mimi and the others. Left behind were Me, Mei, Tina, Dr. Shouko, and Neveâthe five of us.
ăâŠIâm not really good with makeup or fashion stuff.ă
Tina mumbled, possibly sensing my questioning look as to why she wasnât going with them like Wiska had. While saying this excuse she sat next to me, and Dr. Shouko took the seat on my other side.
ăAs you know, Iâm not really into that kind of thing either. And Mei-kun is fully committed to wearing a maid outfit.ă
ăI think everyone should wear maid outfits.ă
Thatâs actually a fantastic ideaâif you set aside the matter of how people might look at me for having everyone wear maid outfits. I would love to see everyone dressed up as maids. The problem is that doing so would probably cement my reputation as someone with an excessive love for maid outfits, which might not be the best look for me.
ăCaptain, should I wear one too? A maid outfit? ă
ăThat sounds great! How about we have Mei-kun pick out maid outfits for everyone next time?ă
ăIf Master allows it, Iâll acquire the perfect maid outfits for everyone.ă
ăIâll allow it.ă
Public image? Who cares about that! Being fawned over by multiple maids is every manâs dream, right?! Well, we just need to do it inside the ship, no one will know if we do it in the Black Lotus.
ăYa really like this stuff, donât you, BossâŠ? Wanna try out some other costumes too?ă
ăLetâs do it. Iâll cover the budget. Out of my own pocket money.ă
After that, we headed to a shopping complex with the newly disguised Chris. We bought clothes for Neve, stocked up on Dexer IIIâs alcohol and specialty goods, and went on a spree buying cosplay outfitsâor rather, costumes for cosplay.
Whatâs the difference between cosplay outfits and costumes for cosplay, you ask? Well, the difference is that these werenât cheap, flimsy lookalikesâthey were the real deal. The shop staff gave us some weird looks, butâŠ
Well, what can I say? I couldnât resist my desires.
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