Chapter 203(1/2)
Inside a particular high-class clothing boutique in the Kugamayama city’s lower district, the head manager of that boutique, Kashua, was wondering about the customers frequenting her shop lately.
Her revenue did go up and there were more people coming to her shop. In short, her business was doing well. If she was allowed to make any complaint regarding her business, it would be that the customers coming to her shop were not the kind of customers that she was hoping for.
It was not like the customers were rowdy or anything like that, as a matter of fact, they were all well mannered to an extent, they would not do anything as rude as degrading the shop. They also properly paid a good amount of money. Basically, there was nothing to complain about them. The only problem was that they were not exactly the customers Kashua was hoping for.
[...Considering that there are more of these kinds of customers coming here, I wonder if they have something to do with Viola?]
Kashua was actually more or less correct, these people were officers from gangs and other organizations from around the slum city. They caught a glimpse of Sheryl’s dress and got interested in it, then after a short conversation with Sheryl, they found out that Sheryl got that dress from Kashua’s shop.
If they caused any trouble in the shop, it would bring in the security companies guarding the area. Not to mention, damaging the shop that Akira and his friends frequented might cause more trouble. Since they knew that very well, rather than bringing people to rob the shop, they only dared to bring a small number of bodyguards when they visited that shop. When they were there, they made sure to behave themselves. With respect to mannerism and appearance, they were actually even better than the people that Viola came with the other day.
[Personally speaking, I’m actually hoping to attract the people from the inner wall who come to the outer wall from time to time. And it would be ideal if the reputation of my shop spread around starting from those kinds of people. But well... I wonder if it’s too late for me to think like that since we don’t turn away Hunters.]
In the eastern district, being a Hunter was thought to be a crook’s occupation. As a matter of fact, it was used as the main example of a bad occupation. But many of the well-earning Hunters had a good connection with the Corporate Government, as such, they had some knowledge and mannerism to deal with common people and shops treated them with a certain level of respect because of that. Of course, the opposite was true too. Poor Hunters were treated like insects. It was nothing rare for shops to turn away Hunters. If the Hunters wanted to be treated as proper customers, they needed to earn well first.
The shop’s door suddenly opened, the bell rang and Kashua saw a familiar Hunter coming into the shop as she smiled and welcomed him.
It was Akira along with Sara and Elena. Akira was using his usual augmented suit. While Elena and Sara were wearing a rather stylish dress. From her experience, Kashua could immediately tell that Sara and Elena were actually Hunters too, but since they were wearing rather good quality dresses, she skipped treating them as Hunters and went straight to treating them as potential customers.
“Welcome! Thank you for coming to our shop. What are you looking for today?”
Akira nervously replied.
“Uhh, I’m here to order a custom suit.”
“Certainly. Let us know about your preference and wishes. But before that, please let me call our prized staff first, so please wait for a moment.”
As Kashua offered them a seat, Sara suddenly said to Akira.
“We’ll be looking around the shop in the meantime.”
“Okay.”
Seeing Elena and Sara walk away, Kashua looked a bit confused. Akira noticed Kashua was misunderstanding something and apologetically said to her.
“Ah, sorry, it’s for me.”
“I-I see, I’m really sorry.”
Kashua smiled, trying to hide her surprise, as she went to call for Celene. When she returned with Celene, she left Akira with Celene and went to tend to Sara and Elena.
Compared to Kashua, Celene was not that adept at tending to customers. But she understood that she at least needed to have a certain level of communication skill in order to ask for the customer’s wishes. So then she politely bowed and said to Akira.
“Please let me introduce myself again, I am Celene. I’ll be in your care.”
“Ah, yes, I’ll be in your care too.”
In contrast to Celene, Akira was utterly lacking in his communication skills. Not only because it was not an essential skill for a Hunter, but it was also his first experience, that was why Akira was looking rather nervous.
“First of all, let me ask you what kind of custom clothing you are looking for?”
Akira was a bit surprised by that completely normal question. After a short pause, he then awkwardly replied.
“Well, I’m sorry, but I don’t really know it myself. Uhhh, what can I say, things happened which somehow ended up with me thinking about ordering a custom suit. So, it’s not like I have a clear image of what kind of suit I’m looking for... Ah, but it’s not like I don’t want to get a custom suit and it’s not like I’m doing this because I’m forced to either...”
“Please don’t worry, it’s not that rare for customers to come with that kind of thought.”
Celene smiled and said so as she thought of her next move. Seeing how Akira took the first step to be one of those customers who put a vague order, complained about the result, and did not pay the full price, Celene was thinking about how to get Akira away from that route.
“In that case, where are you planning to go with that suit? What are you planning to do with that suit? And who are you going with while wearing that suit? Let’s start with these questions first. In the end, clothing is something that you use to leave an impression on others. Thus, of course, the design of the suit would depend on the dress code, goal, and other things regarding where you are going, and what you are going to do with that suit.”
Celene was expecting to wait for a bit since Akira would take some time to think before answering. But on the contrary, Akira replied back firmly almost immediately.
“I see, that does make sense. That’s exactly what they are for in the first place after all. Well, so, I’m planning to go to a restaurant in the upper part of the Kugama building... If I’m not mistaken, the name of that restaurant is Sterian... And I’m planning to go there with some close friends and someone to whom I owe a favour. So basically, it’s a suit to go for dinner there. I guess that’s all?”
historical
“That restaurant, huh... And these close friends are the other two who came here with you today I presume?”
“Yes, and another one too. So I’m planning to go there with a party of four.”
“I see... In order to get a better image for a suitable suit, is it okay if I inquire more details?”
“Sure.”
Akira then started telling the chronology of how he ended up deciding to get a custom suit.
The one who recommended Akira to order a custom suit was Shizuka. When they were talking about eating out together somewhere, Shizuka noticed that Akira had no outfit that could be called a casual outfit.
Even when he was not doing any Hunter work, Akira was usually using his augmented suit. He also used the same augmented suit when he went out eating as well, thinking that it was just another extension of his job as a Hunter. When he was not exploring ruin and had nothing to do, he spent most of his time training in the wasteland. His only free time was basically when he was taking a bath or sleeping. But considering he did that to maintain his body in tip-top shape when he went to explore the ruin or for training, even those could even be said to be an extension of his job as a Hunter as well. If someone asked him about his opinion about his lifestyle, Akira would reply back that he had no complaints at all.
From Akira’s point of view, he only saw himself as giving all he had in order to repay back the huge debt that he had to Alpha. But of course, he could not mention anything regarding this subject to Shizuka and the others, so he had no other choice but to stay away from that subject and come up with another excuse.
But if he did not explain, Akira would seem like a madman, spending all his time for the sake of being a Hunter; as if he was possessed. Hunting for relics and exploring ruins were both equally dangerous. Going out to such a dangerous place again and again would no doubt affect Hunter’s psyche. Those who had fallen as far as going to such a dangerous place by pure hobby were definitely crazy. So for Shizuka, who often did business with Hunters, or even for Elena and Sara, who were also fellow Hunters, they could not say that Akira had any semblance of a decent lifestyle.
Shizuka thought that it would be a good idea to let Akira experience something outside just being a Hunter, to let him know that he could use his time and money for something else other than doing anything connected to being a Hunter. Otherwise, he would not be able to stay sane for long. Shizuka worried that Akira would one day die thinking that it was a normal thing without even noticing the mental fatigue that he was suffering.
On the other hand, Shizuka knew well that giving a warning to Akira regarding that matter had close to no effect. Since it was a good chance, she then suggested he get a custom suit so that he would leave behind any connection to being a Hunter when they went out for dinner.
Shizuka only made that suggestion casually. Akira was at first not sure whether to take that suggestion, but since it was not like he had any problem with money and for some reason, could feel Shizuka’s worry from behind her smile, he decided to take that suggestion.
Akira did not include most of that in his story to Celene. Due to his lack of communication skills, in the end, it sounded like he decided to order a custom suit out of a whim. Thankfully, Celene, who was not as dense as Akira, more or less understood what Shizuka was trying to achieve.
“...I see. Sterian is a rather high-class restaurant even among the Hunters, so it’s not rare to find them dining there still in their augmented suits. But, on the other hand, it’s also a place to enjoy a normal relaxing day compared to the usual harsh daily lives of a Hunter. They can even book a seat away from other Hunters who are doing business there and Hunters can even rent a normal suit to get away from their usual battle suit.”
“Ohhh, so they even have that kind of service, huh...”
“I also believe that it would be a good chance to take a rest from the harsh daily life of a Hunter. It would be great if the suit that I create is able to help you achieve that. Now then, I will base my design to be suitable for that restaurant. Do tell me if you have any wishes regarding the design. I have some samples too if you would like to see them.”
Celene operated her information terminal and showed Akira some examples of custom suits. Akira could see the picture of models wearing all kinds of designs starting from a cool looking sleek suit to a flashy suit. He hummed for a bit and looked slightly troubled, he then said with a serious look.
“Is it possible to just leave the design fully up to you? I won’t complain about the result.”
“It’s not like we can’t do that, but a custom suit’s main characteristic is that, unlike normal standard clothing, you can customize it to your heart content. But once we move on to the production, it would be difficult to make any big changes afterwards. If it’s just a small change, I’ll do my best to do it, but of course, there’s a limit on how far I can go. So, are you really okay with no particular wish regarding the suit?”
Celene said so to avoid getting complaints later. Akira thought for a bit before replying back with a bit of hesitation.
“I don’t have any fashion sense, or more like, I think I’m very insensitive about fashion. That’s why I don’t want to make any demands just to end up with a weird suit. I’m even doubtful that I can recognize a weird design when I see one. But even so, back then, when I came here to refit Sheryl’s dress, I at least could recognize that it was well designed. So, if I have to make any demands, I want to get something amazing that can even make someone as insensitive as me able to recognize that it is a good design. Is that okay?”
Celene was taken aback. She was indeed happy to hear someone praise her work, but at the same time, if someone asked her to make something similar, she could not say yes right away.
“That dress was originally refitted from an old-world dress. So if I have to make something similar, I would have to use good quality fabric, and that would not be cheap...”
To be honest, Celene wished Akira would not put his hopes too high in case he complained about the result after he made such a demand, which kicked the price of the suit up. But Akira replied back casually.
“Expensive, huh? How expensive exactly? As expected, I would hesitate to pay if it goes up to 100 billion Aurum or something like that though...”
“O-Of course it won’t be that expensive. That is, as long as it’s not an armour that looks like a suit from the outside or anything like that. In the first place, our shop doesn’t handle that kind of clothing.”
“Ah, I don’t want anything like that. A normal suit that has nothing to do with fighting will do just fine.”
“C-certainly!”
It reminded Celene that she was talking with a Hunter who was earning a healthy amount of money. Even if that Hunter had to pay 100 billion Aurum, it would be difficult, but not impossible. She was dealing with that level of Hunter.
She was questioning herself if she would be able to make a suit that would satisfy such a Hunter. That fear caused Celene to waver, but making a custom suit for such a person might allow her to use as much money as she wanted to realize the design that she had envisioned. That temptation overpowered her fear and completely wiped out any hesitation from her heart.
As she made her resolve, Celene told herself that if she backed out here, it would be the end of her as a tailor.
“...Very well, but considering that you are a Hunter, it would cost about 6 million Aurum. If you could pay that much, I’ll do my best to answer your expectation.”
“Sure, uh, you do accept Hunter ID for the payment, right?”
To be honest, Celene was half-expecting Akira would say no, but he casually said so and handed over his Hunter ID. Celene received that Hunter ID and used her terminal to process the payment. The payment went through smoothly.
“Thank you very much. Let’s move on to the measurements, shall we? Come over here, please.”
She had received the payment. There was no turning back now and she had no plans to step back in the first place. Celene was smiling as her soul of a tailor was burning hot. She then guided Akira to one of the rooms inside the shop.
After Akira moved to Celene’s workroom, he removed his augmented suit and undressed to only be in his underwear. Although he was from the slum city, he had been eating better food lately and had been tempering his body to the point that some doctors suspected him of trying to become a superhuman, hence Akira had a good body build. Celene could not help but to send a meaningful glance at him.
Akira noticed her glance and found it weird. He made his own guess and asked.
“Should I remove the rest to get a better measurement?”
“Ah, no, you’re okay like this.”
Celene banished that thought from her mind as she started taking measurements. But it did not take long for that thought to come back. Akira noticed it too.
“Uhhh, does it look weird? It’s originally an old-world relic, so it might have a weird design. But I have nothing to complain about as long as it is comfortable.”
The skin-tight underwear stuck close to Akira’s skin and completely followed the contour of his body build. It was made of a mysterious material that would not tear no matter how he moved, while at the same time, it was also comfortable to use. This was exactly the reason why many people would spend a lot of money to get old-world clothing articles.
Celene flusteredly replied.
“No, not at all! I just thought that you have a good body... No, I mean, that’s not it.”
Celene’s real thoughts slipped out since she was so flustered. The moment she realized her blunder, it only made her even more flustered. But instead of finding it weird, Akira seemed to get what she said.
“Ah, I see. Well, I had some close calls recently and got hospitalized afterwards, so I believe most of my injuries and scars were removed back then. After that, I’ve been using some expensive medicines too, so it must have completely healed all the smaller wounds.”
Akira had misunderstood, thinking that it was weird for a Hunter not to have any old scar.
“Back then, when I did not have an augmented suit, some of my wounds left scars. There was also a time when I was forced to heal my wound when a monster bit me, so it left me with a rather large scar. But now I have an augmented suit, as long as the monsters are not strong enough to break through its defence, normally, I don’t get any scars anymore. Although I’m pretty sure when I face something strong enough to break through my augmented suit, forget leaving a scar, it would definitely kill me.”
“I see, as expected, that kind of treatment must be pretty expensive, right?”
“Yeah, the one when I got hospitalized was 50 million Aurum, while the medicines that I’m using right now is about one to five million Aurum per box.”
Akira said casually as if it was an insignificant amount. He had been earning and spending a huge amount of money on a regular basis and it had dulled his sense of money.
Celene realised it was no wonder Akira paid 6 million Aurum without any hesitation since he was earning that much.
“...As I thought, it’s pretty expensive.”
“Well, it’s indeed expensive, but there’s nothing more expensive than life, you see. And that’s true for equipment too. It would be meaningless to be frugal about it if it ends up getting myself killed.”
“You have a point there.”
There were many Hunters who splurged on momentary pleasure. After all, they could die anytime. Even for Akira, there was no guarantee that he would return back alive after placing that order for his custom suit. Celene was listening with great interest to the story of a Hunter, who was living in a completely different world than her despite being around the same age, while still continuing to take measurements.
Once she finished taking measurements, she escorted Akira back to the shop’s main hall and returned back to her room. She then took a long deep breath.
“...Alright then, let’s do this!”
She pumped herself up in order to challenge herself to make a suit that would surpass her past masterpiece and started working with a huge grin on her face.
Elena and Sara were browsing the clothes in the shop with Kashua as their guide. Even now, they were looking at the mirror with the dress that Kashua recommended to see how they looked. But then Elena sounded disappointed as she said.
“Hmmm.”
“It doesn’t really suit your fancy, I guess?”
“It’s not bad, but I actually have a similar dress and I have no plans to get another one.”
“I see, if I may, how much is your budget for today?”
“We haven’t really decided on the budget. We’re basically here just to accompany Akira. Ah, is it like you have some special articles that you only show to suitable potential customers?”
“It’s not like we’re keeping them secret, but we do have those kinds of articles. As an example, we have some old-world underwears which of course we can’t just show to all of our customers.”
Using the words ‘as an example’ was actually a calculated move from Kashua to pull up the shop’s worth. It made it sound like other similar articles had been sold in the past and there was no guarantee that she would be able to get the same clothing article again.
Kashua was about to continue by saying that she might offer them if Elena and Sara would be one of the shop’s frequent customers, but Elena then casually said.
“Ahh, in that case, I don’t really need them. Sara and I already have enough for the spares too. So we have no plans to buy more at the moment. I’m really sorry.”
“O-Of course, it’s no problem at all.”
Kashua was calculating the total money needed to achieve that in the back of her mind and was slightly taken aback.
Elena and Sara actually bought them from Shizuka when Akira brought them to her shop. Since they bought them before they were moved to other merchants, they actually did not pay that much money. But of course, Kashua did not know about it.
[...Last time, that Hunter Akira brought with him someone who had a 100 million Aurum budget too. I wonder if everyone around him is that loaded? They’re completely out of my target customer range. As expected, I don’t have that level of expensive clothing in this shop, I guess I’ll start with recommending the most expensive dress that I have huh...]
When Kashua was thinking about what was her best option to tend to Sara and Elena as her customers, Akira, who had finished taking his measurements, returned.
“Elena-san, Sara-san, I’m sorry to make you wait.”
Sala smiled to welcome Akira but noticed something bothering her.
“You’re done? That was rather fast. What kind of suit did you order? I thought that you would take longer, you know.”
“Ah, I basically left the design to the tailor, so I only needed to take the measurements”
Elena tilted her head.
“It’s not so often that you order a custom suit, you know. Are you really okay with it? You sure you’re not getting tricked?”
Elena thought that Akira was tricked into agreeing to that, then it was her time to show her skill in negotiation, but he happily replied.
“It’s fine, it’s more like I pushed it to her. She said that she would make an amazing suit that even someone with a bad fashion sense like me would be able to recognize its greatness. So I’m kind of looking forward to the result.”
“Ohhh.”
Judging from Akira’s reaction, it seemed that it was something that he could really look forward to and there was no need to worry about the result. Elena and Sara always thought that he leaned more towards being one of those more paranoid Hunters. Because of that, if he even went to say that far, it made them rather curious instead.
Kashua picked that slight change as she said with a friendly smile.
“If the premade dresses don’t suit your taste, then how about ordering a custom dress? I’m sure that our prized tailor would be able to create a satisfying result.”
Sara replied first.
“Hmm, well, since we’re already here, might as well order one, huh. Since it’s custom, I should be able to put some custom details in after all.”
With the size of her chest, Sara usually had a limited number of choices. Not to mention that the size would change depending on her nanomachine reserve, it even further narrowed her options. If she could order a custom dress that took care of that problem, she did not mind paying more than usual.
“That’s true. I might as well order one too. Since Akira even went as far as to say that too. We’re going for dinner together, it might be a good idea to get a custom dress with a similar design.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea.”
Kashua hid her smile since it went just as she had planned.
“Leaving aside whether to order a custom dress or not, how about both of you try to have a talk with our tailor first to get a good view of what you can expect? I will bring her here, so please wait for a moment.”
Kashua was excited, expecting that she would be able to get 3 custom clothing orders that day as she went to Celene’s working room.
Celene, who was putting all her focus into working on her design, frowned when Kashua told her the news.
“Onee-chan.I’m sorry but can you refuse that order? I want to focus on Akira-san’s suit.”
“Celene, didn’t I always tell you to call me manager when you’re on duty. And also, are you seriously asking me to refuse it? If it goes well, they might be our regulars, you know? I won’t let them get away, you’ve been saying that you’re bored working on refitting dresses all the time, right? So why are you saying no to a custom order now?”
“It’s not like I don’t want to do it. It’s just that the timing is bad. Not to mention, if it’s a similar design to Akira-san’s, it won’t be cheap... Onee- Manager, you do know that very well, right?”
“Of course, but it’ll be fine. I know that you’re worried since Akira is a Hunter who is earning well, so it won’t be weird for him to order an expensive suit. But don’t worry. The other two are also great Hunters. They said that they even have enough old-world clothing as reserves, you know. As I thought, successful Hunters are so different from those common Hunters.”
Seeing her excited sister, Celene then said with a serious tone.
“Manager, check the order history first. If they are really going to order a similar design, make sure to let them know that it would take some time. If they’re still okay with it, then bring them here for measurement.”
Kashua found it a little weird and checked the order history. The moment she saw the recent order, she could not hold back her surprise.
“6 million Aurum?! Celene!! What the heck were you thinking?!”
“He said that he wanted an amazing suit just like the refitted old-world dress that I did before. I need at least that much money to be able to do it. But even after I warned him, he still accepted it. So what’s left for me to do is just to give my best to answer his expectations. That’s why I want to focus on this job.”
Kashua started ruffling her hair, seeing which Celene lowered her tone.
“If you still accept that order as the manager of the shop, then as the staff of this shop, I’ll do my best to complete the order. It’s my job as the tailor to work on the custom orders after all. So similarly, I’ll leave the negotiation part to you since it is your job.”
Kashua did want her shop to flourish and she also wanted her sister to be able to use her talent with no obstruction. After calculating how much burden it would put on Celene and how much reputation of her shop was on the line, then, considering the risk of damage in case if they lost this gamble, Kashua then asked Celene for her confirmation.
“...Even if I got them to put the custom orders, you won’t make any compromise regarding the quality, right?”
“Yes, as long as you can get me enough time.”
“Alright then.”
It seemed that Celene had made her resolve as a tailor, so Kashua also made her resolve as the manager of the shop.
After that, Kashua ended up getting custom orders for 4 people. Elena had contacted Shizuka, who also ordered a custom dress with a similar design as well.
Elena and Sara were surprised when they heard that the price was 6 million Aurum. But it was nothing strange considering that it would be as good as an old-world dress. Since they did not want to look pathetic in front of Akira, and not to mention that Akira looked happy for some reason too, they did not hold back on their custom dress. They then finished taking their measurements and scheduled Shizuka to come there another day to get her measurement.
As Kashua watched Akira, Elena, and Sara leave the s-->>