“Okay, next up is Yuzuha. Which one do you…hmm, might as well do both.”
Yuzuha could use the monster-type and human-type equipnt. Preparing both would make it possible for her to have the equipnt available no matter what form she was in.
Equipnt she wore in human form was not removed when she turned into monster form: she could equip items in a way impossible for humans as well.
“Then, do this one first.”
Yuzuha, who had been just listening in small fox mode until now, turned into human form. When she did, she usually turned into a child-like size, but this ti she changed to her most mature-looking form, which appeared to be in the late teens.
“You’ll use that form this ti?”
“In child form, it’s harder to make quick decisions.”
Yuzuha apparently judged the small fox mode to be unsuited for battle.
Her tone was different than usual, as well as her behavior and atmosphere: she was more calm and composed, closer to how Shin rembered the Elent Tails.
He recalled her monster form tone to be a little more archaic, but it probably changed depending on the degree of her transformation.
“Have you grown again?”
Shin noticed that Yuzuha looked a bit more mature than he last saw her.
“A little. I am returning to the Yuzuha you knew.”
Yuzuha had previously said that, as she beca more familiar with the energy she absorbed, her body would grow too. At this stage, however, her growth was not so easy to notice anymore.
Shin had witnessed her rapid growth a few tis already, so he felt relieved.
The reason was that every ti she experienced a bout of rapid growth, a bizarre phenonon occurred: all of her equipnt would co off, leaving her naked.
Yuzuha usually wrapped herself in Shin’s blankets, and that phenonon often happened while she was sleeping. Because of that, Shin would end up seeing her like that while they were in bed together.
Things were different when she was still child-sized, but now that she looked almost like an adult woman, it was a big problem for him to discover her naked under the covers. Yuzuha did not even try to hide anything in those situations: if anyone saw them, Shin would be hard-pressed to find a believable explanation.
“Okay, choose the design then. The size will adjust automatically, so I can do the rest by myself.”
Shin took out samples of the designs he made until now and showed them to Yuzuha in the form of a pamphlet, materialized from the item box.
Tiera and Milt had decided the design they wanted after seeing the designs of the spares made for Schnee and Filma, so Shin was showing the samples for the first ti.
“I want this.”
“This one…? Frankly, I wonder how I changed it this much.”
So samples were completely different from the default design, making one wonder if they were even the sa equipnt.
There was a lot of freedom, but also videoga-like limitations. For whatever reason, however, equipnt ant for specific environnts, like the sand sea gear, had less strict limitations.
The design Yuzuha picked was one of those. It was basically a ladies’ hakama with a piece of cloth draped over the shoulders. No Arabian traits to be found anywhere.
Yuzuha also requested for the lower body design to be changed to a mini skirt and long boots. She was used to wearing a hakama, but when she wore other kinds of clothing she felt uncomfortable if she couldn’t let out her tails. Even if her requested design was basically a hakama, according to Yuzuha they were not exactly the sa thing.
“About the monster form equipnt, here is a set of claws and one accessory.”
The claws would allow Yuzuha to run on the sand for a limited ti, even without using Skills. The accessory could not let her run on the sand sea, but would save her if she fell in.
One item to help her stay out of the sand, another to rescue her if she ever fell in. In the ga era, only one could be used at the sa ti, but in the current world such limitations were no more.
Shin had Yuzuha changed to monster form and upgraded her desert gear to 『Exploration Claws Plus』, then put the 『Liquid Band』 on her right ear.
Now she would have an easier ti staying out of the sand sea and also getting out if she ever did. If they also added sticking-type accessories, she would be fully ready to face the treacherous sand waves.
“Hmm, feels good.”
Yuzuha waited until the equipnt was ready and wore it imdiately. Back in human form, she twirled happily, showing off the costu.
The smithy was rather narrow, but she was not so clumsy as to bump against anything.
The one thing that concerned Shin was that with every twirl, Yuzuha’s skirt would rise higher.
The length was adjusted to Yuzuha’s preference, but it was pretty short. Apparently, it would feel oppressive if it was longer.
Shin couldn’t see the parts hidden by the skirt, but other people probably could. Yuzuha was originally a monster, but when she was in human form he wanted her to mind such things more.
“If you want to see, go ahead.”
Shin warned her to be careful, but Yuzuha’s reply was all too nonchalant.
“Don’t start acting like Milt now.”
“Ow!”
Yuzuha was about to lift the edges of her skirt, but Shin’s light chop was faster. He knew she was joking, so he just poked her lightly.
“By the way, when you grow you retrieve so of your mories too, right? Have you recalled anything about this world?”
Yuzuha was holding her head, glaring dramatically at Shin, when he asked this question.
She could not rember much when her powers were still mostly gone, but she might know more now. Shin bet on this faint hope, but Yuzuha shook her head in reply.
“The most important, precious mories are sleeping deep within . If I temporarily turn into my adult form I can rember a lot, but not everything. I still can’t recall the things you want to know.”
“It won’t be that easy, huh…hey, I just asked in case you rembered anything, don’t make that face.”
Yuzuha all too clearly expressed how she felt sorry, so Shin patted her head. Shin really ant that he thought it might be a lucky chance if she rembered anything: he had no intention of accusing her at all.
“Okay, it should be ti for dinner, let’s go back.”
The equipnt was ready, they just needed to cross the sand sea. Shin and the others thoroughly enjoyed Schnee’s cooking and took a good rest to be ready for the next morning.
“First, the ship.”
Shin combined parts to make a ship, like he did in Barbatos.
The ship was also customized for the sand sea: it had special propulsion devices, equipped with Fla, Water, Wind, and Earth magic enchantnts, set in pairs on each end of the ship. The propulsive power of the ship was extrely high, enough to make a normal ship spin around.
The reason why they needed sothing so powerful was that any object over a certain weight would be greatly influenced by the sand sea: ships with sails could not advance unless Players used powerful Wind spells. So Players rumored that this special effect was a trap set in advance by the creators.
“Next, the equipnt.”
Shin distributed the equipnt to the party mbers.
Part of the equipnt turned out to have risque designs, so Shin thought of changing it. Milt and Tiera had requested that particular design, so even if Shin changed it for Schnee and Filma, he would get accusatory looks either way, so he gave up on making any changes.
He would be on the receiving end of funny looks anyway, once the original design was found out.
“…it’s embarrassing, after all…”
After changing, Tiera blushed fiercely and squird, hiding her body. Because of the equipnt’s design, that gesture made her look even more seductive.
“I prepared a more moderate design too, just in case.”
Since Tiera was not exactly in her “right mind” when she picked the design, Shin had also prepared the conservative version.
“…no, thank you. I chose this myself.”
Tiera glanced at Schnee, then rejected Shin’s proposal. Just like Milt, Schnee and the others wore the equipnt without any particular embarrassnt.
“Your mistake is thinking that it’s embarrassing. Just treat it as swimwear…”
Tiera was mumbling, trying to convince herself. Shin thought it best not to stimulate her further and looked at the others. Just then, soone clenched his shoulders.
“Hey, Shin? Why does everyone other than have that design? Basically, you’ll only let soone wear it if they have certain assets of a certain size?”
The tone was calm, but terribly intimidating. Naturally, it was Sety.
Excluding Yuzuha, currently in monster form, all female mbers of the party wore the sa design — except Sety.
“Wait, wait, wait!! It’s not on purpose!! Tiera and Milt saw the design of Schnee and Filma’s equipnt and said they wanted the sa! We barely ever used your sand sea equipnt, didn’t we? So it just stayed as default. You wouldn’t like to change it to sothing with more exposure either, would you?”
Cold sweats were running down Shin’s back. Looking at the party mbers, lined up on the ship’s deck, there was no need to clarify which “asset” Sety was referring to. It jiggled every ti they moved, further enhanced by the costu’s unique traits.
“Reeeally? That’s all?”
“Of course!! I showed the other designs to Milt and Tiera, it’s not like I forced them to wear that!!”
Shin desperately defended himself against Sety’s vehent accusations. All the other party mbers knew that the size of that “asset” was a matter she was particularly sensible about.
Things may have been different if there were other mbers with a physique like hers, but in this party, the average size was quite high.
Other than Tiera, however, their proportions were all set by the Player who created them: with such stark differences, it wasn’t strange for Sety to feel there was sothing behind it, or so Shin thought.
“Please, Sety, do not trouble Shin like this.”
Schnee knew that Shin avoided using this equipnt after gathering materials at the sand sea, so she lent him a helping hand.
In the ga era, only Schnee and Filma had experienced the sand sea multiple tis. Their stats were already high at the ti, and since in the sand sea it was more effective to gather materials by sneaking in small numbers, they decided to move in small groups.
Girard, Shibaid, and Sety had been in the sand sea before, but had not participated in many material-gathering trips like Schnee and Filma. Sety’s equipnt thus still had the default design.
Shin had changed Schnee and Filma’s design because of the eye candy it could provide.
“Ngh…that is true, but…”
Sety knew what Shin said was true, but could not accept it so easily.
Was she gazing at Schnee’s impressive assets or the veil that wrapped them? Probably both.
“Why not make sothing special for Sety, then? Even if you didn’t do it on purpose, it’s true that she’s the only one left out.”
“T-That’s not why I’m angry, though…”
Sety objected to Schnee’s suggestion, but her words trailed off.
The “killing intent” she showed before was definitely real: as Schnee said, she probably disliked being left out.
Feeling apologetic, Shin agreed to craft equipnt for her too.
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