Chapter 228:
Clothes-Crazy?
I was sitting on a chair in the shop to rest my weary legs. Why did shopping for a cloak have to be so tiring?
“This one just screams Ivy.”
“I like that one, too, but I think this color is better.”
“Yeah, I think that one looks good as well.”
“Oh, but this one would also be nice!”
How strange… These are my clothes, and yet everything’s being decided for me. I’d set a budget. I had to, otherwise Druid and this shopkeeper would go crazy and buy everything. And it was try this on, now try that on… Why did I have to try on so many different things all at once? We should just pick the clothes and cloaks that are the most functional for me. Who cares about the cute buttons or the embroidery or the print on the fabric? I definitely didn’t care.
“Ivy, what about this one?”
“Mr. Druid, I don’t need six of them. Five is more than enough.”
“But this one’s really cute.”
“Like I said…”
“Don’t worry, we can afford it.”
Um, that’s not the issue. And come on, are we really within our budget here?
“Have you picked out your cloak yet, Mr. Druid?”
“Yeah, I’m having it altered to fit me better. I’m having yours altered, too, Ivy.”
When did he find time to do that? I feel like he’s been spending all this time choosing clothes for me.
“Did you ask them to make mine a little on the bigger side? I’m still growing.”
I did seem to be going through a growth spurt. It was definitely important for me to make sure I was getting enough to eat.
“We can always have them alter your clothes after you grow. And if they can’t do that, then we can just buy new ones.”
“But that’s so wasteful.”
“The clothes from this shop are so popular they’ll easily sell in other villages and towns. Don’t worry about it,” Baluka assured me with a smile. Baluka, who owned the shop and designed all of its clothes, was a longtime friend of Dola’s. He looked about ten years younger than Dola, but he was actually the same age, which surprised both me and Druid.
“Ivy, how about a skir—”
“I absolutely do not need one!”
“Aw, too bad…”
For some reason, Druid kept pushing skirts on me. A skirt during my travels was just completely out of the question. Why did he keep urging me to buy pointless things?
“Mr. Druid, I think we should finish up.”
“Just a little bit more.”
I looked at the clock. We had been in this store for over two hours. To be honest, I wanted to leave Druid there and go back to the inn. But if I did that, I knew he would just buy whatever he wanted, so I was stuck.
“We’ve had this conversation three times now.”
“Just a bit longer, please? You can go lie down on the sofa in the back if you’d like.”
The nap on the sofa sounded tempting, but I was glued to my spot because of all the clothes the two were bringing me. Looking at the pile, there was no way we were within our budget. As I stared at the clothes, Druid and Baluka stared at me. I shook my head, causing them to sigh in unison and put everything back. Yup, staying here was definitely the right call.
“Oh well, I suppose we’ll end things here for today.”
Ahh, it’s finally over! That took so long. Wait…“for today”?! I must have heard wrong…
“I’m sorry to hear that. I just know she’d be adorable in any of these outfits.”
“Yes, she would be.”
Could you please not just casually say embarrassing things like that? And why does Druid look so happy? Is buying clothes for me really that exciting for him?
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Are you having fun?”
“Yes, I sure am.”
Well, great. When you smile at me like that, I don’t know how I should feel anymore.
“Ivy, you know that last dress I brought out for you—”
“The answer is no!”
Not even that smile could make me say yes. I looked at the desk near Baluka, which had a pile of clothes sitting on it. Did they really all fit in our budget? I’m worried.
“Are you sure this is going to be okay?”
Druid, seeing where I was looking, gave my head some soothing pats. “Ivy, you know what our budget is, don’t you? You helped me make it.”
“I know.”
I’ll admit that the clothes at this store were less expensive than they looked. It would be more accurate to say they also had some cheaper options. These clothes cost much less because they had little mistakes in the embroidery. They’d been sewn by someone who wasn’t quite skilled enough to create the highest-quality clothes sold there. This was all explained to me while I shopped, although the “defective” embroidery looked just fine to me.
“Everything will be okay, I promise,” Druid assured me.
And I would just have to take Druid’s word for it. To be honest, I was happy that he was buying me clothes; I’d only ever gotten my clothes at the dump, so it meant the world to me.
“Mr. Druid…thank you.”
“Ha ha ha. You’re welcome,” Druid chuckled as he patted my head.
Baluka returned with our final bill. The cloaks were one radal each, which was a bit expensive. I faltered for a moment, but since we couldn’t afford to underestimate the cold of winter, we had decided to go with the more expensive cloaks. This winter was definitely far too cold to take any chances. For the additional clothes alone, our bill came to five whole gidal. This included Druid’s clothing budget…though the clothes were mostly for me.
“That will be five gidal and one hundred twenty dal.”
Ah, we’re over budget!
“Well, I think we can let a mere hundred and twenty dal slide.”
Guess we have no choice?
“Just this once, okay?”
“Ha ha ha. So, when would you like us to settle our bill?” Druid asked.
He just laughed it off, didn’t he?
“You could pay when you come pick up the altered cloak.”
“Okay. When do you think it’ll be done?”
“Let me see… We have other alterations to make, so please come back in two days.”
I could see the staff working in the back, and they did look quite busy.
“Got it. We had a lovely time shopping here today, and I’m sure we’ll be back.”
“Thank you! We hope you’ll buy all your spring fashion here as well.”
“Oh, of course. Ivy will need some new clothes by then.”
What?! I angrily turned my head toward Druid, but he just patted it in reply. The pats were nice and all…but still.
As we left the shop, a cold breeze blew right through us. Since we had been in the warm shop for two hours, it felt like ice!
“I’m looking forward to the day after tomorrow.”
“Me, too. By the way, are you really going to buy me spring clothes?”
“Well, yeah. We should start buying our clothes at proper stores now, Ivy.”
“Are you sure we’ll have enough money?”
I suddenly felt something move in the bag my slimes were in. With a start, I looked down at it.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It just jiggled all of a sudden.”
“It jiggled?”
“Yeah. I wonder what’s up?”
“They’re probably mad that you’re worried about money, Ivy.”
“Huh? Oh, please.”
I tried to laugh it off, but my bag jiggled again. What? Was it really because I was worried about money?
“Did it just jiggle again?”
“Yeah.”
“Guess that means they want to take care of our money problems.”
I thought that couldn’t be it, but my bag jiggled yet again, and Druid noticed it, too.
“How uncanny,” he marveled.
“Don’t encourage them! If I rely on them too much, I won’t be able to take care of myself.”
“Nah, Ivy, you will be okay.”
What did he mean by that?
“If your creatures offered to bring you money, you’d stop them, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course I would. I want to do what I can on my own—including earning my own money!”
“Yeah, and that’s why you will be okay.”
Druid pumped his fist and promised to help me with my hunting and gathering. But I still didn’t understand what he meant by “that’s why.”
At that point, I finally noticed that Druid had relaxed a little. In the shop, he had looked more excited and energized than I’d ever seen him before.
“Mr. Druid, have you calmed down?”
“Oh, yes. I’m fine now.”
“Good to hear. You surprised me a little back there.”
“Ha ha ha. Sorry. It’s just fun picking out clothes for someone else.”
I looked at Druid and saw he had a shy smile on his face.
“Next time, please let me pick your clothes for you, Mr. Druid.”
All the clothes Druid had chosen for me were so cute. Even though they’re bound to get dirty and torn up on our adventures. I better do my best to wear them with care.
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