"Um... I suggest you check your clothes first."
Facing Kiana's distrustful gaze, Aaron couldn't be bothered to explain.
Although Kiana was nicknamed "Tuna," she seemed to have her wits about her right now.
If she just felt the material of her clothes, she'd know what just happened.
"Clothes?"
Touching her clothes, Kiana's expression changed.
Then, she tried to rip her clothes with all her strength and found—it didn't rip???
Are you kidding me? I'm a warrior of the Kaslana family! When did I get so weak I can't even rip clothes?
Even when I was a kid fighting Honkai Beasts with my useless old man, I wasn't this weak!
Wait, if I didn't get weaker, then...
Punching herself in the stomach, Kiana was dumbfounded.
Her stomach was fine, of course.
Mainly...
She'd hit too hard, and her hand was numb.
"The ability I just got can strengthen 'weapons.' In other words, as long as I recognize your clothes as a weapon, I can strengthen them too."
Sighing, Aaron said to Kiana with a hint of sadness.
"I just wanted to boost my teammate's defense, and you treated me like a perv."
"Kiana, I'm very disappointed in you. I can't believe you see me like that."
"...I know, I was wrong! I'm sorry!"
After shouting in embarrassment, Kiana muttered under her breath.
'If you hadn't been secretly glancing at my chest the whole time, would I have reacted like that?'
Damn, she noticed.
But I really wasn't thinking about that... Ah, I'm too nervous. Did I forget how to be lewd?
This is kind of sad. Under the pressure of survival, I've actually forgotten my basic instincts... like hell.
Looks like I really am nervous, I'm just frantically roasting myself in my head instead of talking.
Kiana, seeing the silent Aaron and thinking he was still angry, grumbled again.
"Stingy. Still angry. You're a guy, be a little more generous."
Then, she grabbed Aaron's hand and placed it on the hot pants on her thigh.
"Alright, thanks! If you're going to enhance them, do it already!"
"Ah? Oh."
Looking at Kiana's slightly flushed face, Aaron, who hadn't processed the situation, asked, "Are you blushing?"
"Shut up! None of your business!"
What a pain. Why does it feel like our roles are reversed?
Completely baffled, Aaron finished enhancing Kiana's hot pants and walked toward the room's door.
"Put the bat away first—by the way, you know how to use the storage space, right?"
"Are you kidding? I'm a genius. Of course I know how to use it."
After storing the bat, Kiana, having managed to calm down, looked at Aaron, who was about to leave the room.
"What should we do after we go out?"
"Let's check out the surrounding area first. We'll be operating around here for a while. I told you to put the bat away because..."
Walking out of the room, Aaron added.
"This is an inn. You'll scare people walking around with a gleaming metal club."
"I feel like you're being a little *too* meticulous... Is that really necessary?"
Following Aaron out of the room, Kiana looked around the inn and found...
Ugh, maybe I misunderstood what other worlds are like.
This inn... compared to the hotels in Nagazora City, it's terrible!
After leaving the inn, the two began to walk the streets of the Imperial Capital.
Since it was the middle of the night, they saw almost no one else on the streets.
"Umm, is it really okay for us to just wander around like this?"
Gazing at the Imperial Capital's palace, Kiana suddenly looked eager.
"If we're looking for Teigu, we're not going to find anything just wandering these streets, right? Why don't we... go check out that palace?"
Unless you activate your Super Pufferfish Mode, with your current strength... just forget it.
Budo is still holed up in the palace. Anyone who goes there at this stage is just asking to die!
"Check your head. That place is heavily guarded. The two of us going in would just be..."
Before he could finish, Aaron's expression suddenly changed, and he tackled Kiana to the ground.
"Eh? Wh-wh-what are you..."
"Oh my, you noticed."
Just as Kiana was about to get angry, she suddenly heard a voice from nearby.
Where the two had just been standing, a figure slowly emerged.
Under the pale moonlight, the man's face was revealed, and he grinned a disgusting smile.
"I felt a bit of an energy fluctuation over in the rich district, and I was thinking of going to check it out for some fun. I didn't expect to find two naughty children, wandering around outside at night."
"You two, wandering around late at night isn't good behavior. And naughty children..."
"Must be punished."
............................