After bathing, I went to a shop that sells high-end clothes to buy something suitable to wear for my dinner appointment with Luna. On a day I have an appointment with a woman, wearing my usual clothes seems improper, and I might need clothes for formal or special occasions in the future, so I decided to buy a nice suit on this occasion.
"Feels like getting a suit fitted after high school graduation. Did I pay 3 million won back then?"
Upon entering the clothing store, a woman who appeared to be an employee saw me, was startled, then composed herself and bowed politely in greeting.
"W-welcome, sir. How may I help you?"
"I've come to buy a suit for a special occasion. I have an appointment this evening, so I'd like to see ready-to-wear items I can wear immediately. Could you show me some?"
"Understood. Please wait a moment."
I sat waiting in a luxurious chair provided in the store. Meanwhile, the sound of female employees chattering suddenly came from the next room.
"Hey, hey! The future hero is in our store right now!"
"Lately, he's being called the 'Silver Flash,' right?"
"I, I saw his face, I think I'm going to faint... He's so handsome!"
"Should I try asking him out for a meal?"
"Get a hold of yourself, look at your face!"
"You witch!!!"
'Hey, hey, I can hear you... But what's this "Silver Flash" now?'
They said something like that at the guild last time too. I think I made my appearance too handsome. And thanks to my recent exploits, it seems I've gotten a chuunibyou-like weird nickname. "Silver Flash" reminds me of that character from One Punch Man, making me laugh. Have I become a fantasy world hero now?
After waiting a bit, the employees came out with various clothes.
"These suits here are currently popular among nobles, featuring stylish ruff collars."
Looking over the suits, they all had a ridiculous shape like the white lace cloth wrapped round the neck like a frilled lizard from old Western times. It looked like they had placed a cake on their necks.
"Um... is this what's in fashion these days?"
"Yes, it's thought that a high ruff collar symbolizes great wealth and authority, so nobles seek them out a lot."
Imagining myself wearing that, I could only laugh. If Kazuma and Aqua saw me, they'd probably tease me for years.
"Are there any suits with a calm design, not this flashy style?"
"Then, I'll show you suits that can be styled with a cravat instead of a ruff collar."
I have no idea what she's talking about. Let's just go along with it.
"Yes, understood."
Waiting a bit more, the employees came out this time with suits of a design similar to the one worn by the Demon King general, Vanir.
'Oh~ These are a bit more normal this time.'
One of the suits the employees brought this time caught my eye. It was mostly a charcoal navy color close to black, with silver embroidery beautifully and tastefully stitched.
"I'll take this one."
"Understood. Then, for tailoring, we need to take your measurements. Could you come this way?"
Following the employees' guidance, I had my measurements taken. After waiting about 30 minutes, I received the altered suit, changed, and came out. Seeing me, a female employee fainted, which took some time, but I was able to buy the suit and shoes I liked without issue.
Feeling it would be awkward to go empty-handed, I went to a flower shop to buy flowers. The flower shop girl saw me, her face turned red, and she started babbling. Just wearing a suit made the women's reactions stronger than before. Was it the synergy between my looks and attire? Anyway, I bought a nicely wrapped bouquet of roses and headed to the guild.
Upon entering the guild, it fell silent for a moment.
"Isn't that guy the Silver Flash? I thought royalty was making a visit." "I'd believe it if you said he was a prince from some country." "When a truly handsome person dresses up, it's like a halo shines." "Huh? What are those flowers? Is he confessing to someone?"
All eyes in the guild were on me, whispering.
'Wow! This is a bit burdensome...'
I walked quickly to the reception desk where Luna was.
"Hello, Miss Luna. Huh? Miss Luna?"
Luna's face was as red as a beetroot, and she was frozen, staring at me without saying a word.
"Huh? Ah! Yes, Cassian."
Only when I kept calling did she seem to snap out of it and answer.
"Did I come too early?"
"Ah, no! I'll get ready and finish work too. Please wait a moment."
Luna talked briefly with her fellow guild receptionists and then went inside the reception area. I sat in the guild and waited for a full hour. I guess it takes women a long time to prepare for such a day.
"You waited a long time, right? I'm sorry. The female colleagues helping me prepare were so enthusiastic, I didn't know it would take this long."
Luna came out wearing light makeup and a silver dress that showed off her figure well. Luna, already a beauty normally, now with makeup, her beauty shone even brighter.
"Ah, not at all."
"This is my first time wearing such an outfit too, so it's not familiar."
Luna's face turned red as if embarrassed.
"This is a gift. I saw a flower shop on the way, so I bought it."
When I handed her the bouquet of flowers I bought, Luna's already red face turned even redder as if about to burst.
"Th, thank you."
"Shall we go now?"
"Yes~"
I offered my elbow, making it considerate for her to naturally take my arm. Then Luna also gently took my elbow and stood by my side. As we walked toward the entrance to leave the guild, voices of male adventurers mixed with lamentations were heard.
"Ah... Not Luna!" "Give up, the rival is too strong." "Damn it! You shouldn't lay a hand on Luna! She's the light of the guild."
Leaving behind the resentful glances of the male adventurers, we went outside and were able to comfortably move to the restaurant by carriage, prepared through the guild's consideration.
"We get to use the carriage the guild prepared for nobles or important figures."
"Indeed. We should be thankful to the guild staff who prepared it."
While chatting about this and that, we arrived at a restaurant that looked high-end at a glance, to the point where I was worried about the financial situation of Luna, a guild receptionist.
"You're not overdoing it because of me, are you...?"
Seeing the expensive-looking restaurant, the thought slipped out. I was worried Luna might take offense.
'Oops, did I make a mistake? What if she misunderstands my words as "With your measly salary, how could you afford a place like this?"'
"Lately, I've only been working overtime, so I had no chance to spend money. While it's partly to repay you, Cassian, it's also a reward for myself for working hard, so don't worry too much."
Luna bent her arm as if showing off non-existent muscles and entered the restaurant with a confident expression that said, 'Just trust your big sister and follow.' I guess I worried for nothing.
Entering the restaurant, an employee neatly dressed in a suit guided us to our reserved seat. Like in the guild, all attention in the restaurant focused on us. Perhaps because it was a high-end restaurant, no one was being loud, and everyone was whispering among themselves.
"Because you're so cool and handsome, Cassian, I'm experiencing this kind of attention. I've only ever received lecherous looks at the guild."
"Haha, you flatter me. You're quite a beauty yourself, Miss Luna."
Then the staff brought the food.
"Here is your butter-roasted lobster, smoked wild Paoari, and vegetable salad made with asparagus. Enjoy your dinner."
'So this is Paoari.'
The Paoari in Konosuba looks somewhat similar to Farfetch'd from Pokémon, but probably due to copyright, it's not a regular duck but a monster in the form of a mallard duck carrying a leek. It gives good experience and tastes good, so they are sometimes caught and raised like chicken farms, but wild Paoari are said to give more experience than artificially raised ones. In the original, Megumin strangled cute Paoari to death twice to learn Explosion magic, and Yunyun, who witnessed it, was greatly shocked.
"Huh? Aren't you going to eat?"
"It's my first time seeing Paoari."
"Ah, Paoari are somewhat rare monsters, so they're hard to see in the wild. As for places that raise them, I've heard the Crimson Demon village breeds them as alchemy ingredients."
"I'd like to see one since they're said to be cute."
"There's also a story that because of that cuteness, they survive for a long time. They say they're hard to kill."
"I see."
Having worked as a guild receptionist for a long time, Luna knew a lot about monsters. Taking a bite of the Paoari, it was quite delicious, like a concentrated, protein-rich version of regular duck. Looking at the cabbage incident from before in the Konosuba world, it seems ingredients with high experience points also taste good.
"Are there any difficulties working at the guild?"
"I wish there were fewer overtime shifts. When I work overtime a lot, I get too tired to do laundry or clean, so my home starts to smell... Ah, I feel so comfortable with you, Cassian, that I'm talking about such things during a meal... I'm sorry."
"Not at all. On the contrary, such talk is interesting. It feels like we've gotten closer, which is nice."
"Really?"
At my words, Luna's face turned red. We finished our meal while interestingly sharing stories about episodes at the guild or my activities as an adventurer.
After finishing the meal, we used the carriage again to go to Luna's house. I also gave a generous tip to the coachman who worked hard.
"The meal today was delicious, and I very much enjoyed our conversation, Miss Luna."
Luna hesitated for a moment, then with a red face,
"...Um, if it's okay with you, would you like to come in for a cup of tea?"
'No way! Is this the "Want to come in for some ramen?" moment?'
Hearing Luna's words, my heart pounded.
"Yes, then I'd appreciate a cup."
I entered the house following Luna's guidance. While Luna brought out the tea, I looked around the house. Luna's house was a two-story house with a staircase.
"It's cleaner than I thought? Earlier you said you were too busy to clean..."
"Ah, thanks to the Demon King generals, guild work has decreased lately, so there's no overtime. I gave the place a big clean yesterday. Did the piled-up laundry too."
"Demon King generals can be helpful sometimes. Like this, I even got to see your house, Miss Luna."
"Hehe, that's true."
After that, the two of us sat without saying anything, just sipping tea. Whether from nervousness, the sound of my pounding heart echoed in my ears.
When I looked at Luna, she was looking back at me with a red face. It didn't seem manly to hold back here, so I decided to act on instinct.