Chapter 6: The Date in Progress

“Hum hum hum hum~♪”

“Um… Miss Ayase, you seem to be in a really good mood today…”

In the bustling commercial street at the center of Amamiya City, a teenage boy and girl were making their way through the crowd.

The boy’s face wasn’t particularly handsome, but his outfit was decent enough, just your average passerby type.

In stark contrast stood the girl beside him.

She appeared to be about the same age as him, yet even in her plain tracksuit, she couldn’t hide her breathtakingly beautiful face.

This often caused the boy to receive disdainful glances from other guys.

“Is that so?”

Wan Mie turned her head, having noticed this herself.

But the thought of receiving a hundred Coins plus a mysterious reward after completing their mission made her excited.

To Wan Mie, a mysterious reward was like a single gacha pull—if she got an SSR, it would be a huge win.

She was more eager for the mysterious reward than the hundred Coins themselves.

“Hmm… By the way, Miss Ayase, you’ve been wearing that tracksuit the whole time. Do you like loose clothes?”

“Well… that’s part of it…”

Wan Mie answered with a bitter smile.

There were two main reasons she always wore tracksuits: first, they made it easier to move around during missions; second, and more importantly… she was broke!

The cost of living in Amamiya City was absurd—a slightly nicer outfit would cost tens of thousands of yen.

She had finally been reborn as the beautiful girl she had always dreamed of in her previous life, and naturally wanted to dress up, but her wallet just wouldn’t allow it…

“Itsuka, take Ayase to a clothing store.”

On board Fraxinus, Kotori issued the order through the invisible earpiece on Shidou’s body.

Although Abysm’s sudden date request was a bit unexpected, this was a golden opportunity—whatever her motives, they had to make the most of it and charm her fully.

“Eh? But I don’t have much money…”

A poor, resigned sigh came from Shidou through the command room speakers.

Kotori shook her head in exasperation, silently wondering why her brother was such a failure.

“Don’t worry about money, Ratatoskr will cover it. Just spend as you like.”

“Really?”

“Of course! I’m Ratatoskr’s Commander-in-Chief—would I lie to you?”

“Shidou-kun, are you feeling unwell?”

Wan Mie noticed Shidou tilting his head strangely but quickly realized he was following Kotori’s instructions.

Just now, he must have been contacting her.

Suddenly, Wan Mie had a mischievous idea.

“N-no! Miss Ayase, how about we check out a clothing store? It’s such a waste for someone as cute as you to always wear tracksuits.”

“Is that so? But before that, I want to look at a lingerie shop. My chest has been feeling tight lately…”

Wan Mie put on a troubled expression and glanced at a lingerie store nearby.

Shidou’s face immediately flushed as red as a monkey’s backside.

Seeing his reaction, Wan Mie finally understood why mature female characters in anime loved teasing virgins so much—this feeling was surprisingly enjoyable.

But Wan Mie wasn’t done yet.

She shyly asked, “Shidou-kun, can you help me pick something out?”

“Th-that’s… not really appropriate, Miss Ayase…”

“I don’t care what you think~”

Wan Mie leaned close and blew gently into Shidou’s ear. He jumped back a few steps as if shocked by an electric shock.

Playing with a virgin definitely brought a strange, indescribable pleasure.

Satisfied with Shidou’s reaction, Wan Mie, sensing a weird new attribute awakening inside her, ignored his feelings and dragged him into the lingerie store.

If it had been before, Wan Mie might have felt as embarrassed as Shidou did now, but after becoming a girl, she was no longer sensitive to these things.

After all, lingerie was just a daily necessity for girls, nothing to be shy about.

But boys tended to associate it with something else.

The store carried a wide variety of items, all relatively expensive.

But since it was a necessity, paying a bit more was acceptable.

Wan Mie checked her remaining Coins on her phone and felt a bit down—today’s mischief with Shidou was truly a costly one…

Meanwhile, on Fraxinus, there was a commotion as three options appeared on the command room’s large screen.

A. Hmph, don’t you even know what you want to wear yourself?

B. Without hesitation, pick the sexiest lingerie.

C. I’d rather see you without anything on.

“Pfft… what kind of options are these…”

Kotori couldn’t help but groan at the absurd choices.

But these were system-generated selections guaranteed to increase Spirit favorability.

As long as they chose correctly, the chances of unsealing Spirit Power would greatly improve.

“Everyone, choose now!”

Despite the complaints, Kotori knew that with the elite members on Fraxinus voting together, they could come up with the best result.

About ten seconds later, the votes were in.

Option B surprisingly received the most votes, followed by C, and then A last.

“Shidou, pick B.”

Kotori gave the order through the earpiece without hesitation.

Wait, wait, isn’t that going to make her angry?!

Shidou wondered if he’d misheard, but comparing the other options, this seemed the most reasonable.

Reluctantly, he sighed and nervously grabbed an item from one of the counters, handing it to Wan Mie.

“Miss Ayase, I think this one… suits you very well…”

“Shidou-kun, you’re really conservative, aren’t you.”

“Eh?”

Shidou was a little surprised by Wan Mie’s reaction.

He looked up and saw she was only holding a shapewear piece, which relieved him.

If he had picked something truly daring, he might have been branded a pervert…

“Shidou! Why didn’t you follow the options?!”

On the other side, Kotori exploded, her anger palpable even through the earpiece.

“I can’t, Kotori, I really can’t…”

Shidou was equally frustrated.

Coming to a lingerie store was already his limit; now he had to pick out lingerie for Wan Mie too…

“What a waste…”

Kotori sighed in exasperation, but Wan Mie’s favorability didn’t seem to budge, so the matter was dropped.

In the end, Wan Mie herself decided on the purchase.

After all, shapewear was useless for someone whose figure was almost perfect—except for her flat chest…

The second stop on the date was the clothing store, which was much easier than the lingerie shop.

Wan Mie also seemed genuinely happy.

“This dress is so pretty!”

“This little skirt is nice too!”

***

Wan Mie excitedly browsed the store.

In her previous life, as a normal otaku, she knew quite a bit about girls’ fashion.

But since being reborn in this world, she’d been held back by her empty pockets and had never had the chance to dress up.

But now was different. On Ratatoskr, to keep Spirits calm, they often indulged all their requests.

Wan Mie knew this well, so today no matter what she picked, Shidou would foot the bill.

It felt a bit shameful, but who could resist the temptation of cute skirts?

Still, with so many options, Wan Mie didn’t know what to choose.

She once again turned to Shidou.

“Shidou-kun, can you help me pick again?”

***

“All members, attention! Begin choosing!”

The moment Wan Mie asked, the Fraxinus system immediately generated options, and Kotori gave her command almost simultaneously.

A. Bunny girl outfit

B. School swimsuit with dog ears

C. Tiny bikini with maid apron

Ten seconds later, the results came in.

“Shidou, choose A.”

At this point, Shidou didn’t even know how to respond.

Was this really supposed to increase favorability?

This would clearly lower it, and socially kill him too!

But since it was an option, he had no choice but to bite the bullet.

“Mi… Miss Ayase, what do you think about the bunny girl outfit?”

After speaking, Shidou closed his eyes.

Normally, the next moment would be a slap to the face and a shout of “Pervert!” as the person ran away, but Wan Mie did nothing of the sort.

“Oh? So Shidou-kun likes bunny girls, huh~”

Wan Mie said teasingly. Shidou was surprised and blushed, replying, “N-no, no, I… I was just joking!”

“Don’t say that. If it’s Shidou-kun, I’m willing to give it a try.”

“Th-this…”

Watching Shidou fidget awkwardly, Wan Mie felt an inexplicable joy—teasing a virgin really was fun.

Still, Wan Mie didn’t plan to try it on.

Although she was curious to see herself in the bunny outfit, this was a crowded mall, and the embarrassment was too much.

Just as Wan Mie was enjoying the pleasure Shidou’s presence gave her, the Spacequake Alarm suddenly blared.

Chaos broke out in the mall, and Shidou became alert.

“Kotori, what’s going on?”

“Looks like some troublemakers have arrived…”

Kotori stared intently at the screen.

On the horizon over Amamiya City, a fast-moving black dot appeared.

Zooming in revealed a blonde beauty equipped with a CR-UNIT heading in the direction of Shidou and Wan Mie.

“Ellen Mira Mathers…”

The strongest human mage under DEM Corporation.

But why was she here?

Kotori bit down on her lollipop, frowning deeply.

It seemed she had triggered the Spacequake Alarm herself.

Her target was very likely Abysm.

“Shidou, return to the teleport location immediately.”

“But Miss Ayase…”

“Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to her.”