Chapter 11: To the Gala

Chapter 11:
To the Gala

 

IT WOULD BE A WHILE before our plan to open a family shop came to fruition, but father was already working hard on it. I’d have to collect as many monster materials and rare items as I could so we had something to sell, but for now, I was struggling to decide what to wear.

“Father, do you have any clothes that are suitable for a high society event?”

Today was the day of the party I’d agreed to go to with Emma. As a baronet’s son, I didn’t have a lot of experience with these things, and I was, let’s say, unenthused, but I had made a promise. So I turned to my father for help.

“I do, technically,” my father said. “But I’m not sure it’s what you’re looking for.”

I didn’t know what he was talking about, but size couldn’t be too much of an issue, so I borrowed it anyway. It was a formal black suit, but it was strangely dirty and it smelled…odd.

“Father, how long has this been sitting around?”

“I last wore it several years ago. I think I spilled my drink on it.”

“I’ll just…buy some new clothes…”

There was no way I could wear this, and I had plenty of time before the gala, so I headed out.

After a little stroll, I met up with Emma.

“Mornin’.”

Emma ran over as soon as she saw me. She seemed to be in a good mood.

“Morning, Emma. Turns out I don’t have any good clothes for this thing.”

“Then let’s get some. I’ll pick them out for you.”

“You’re a lifesaver.”

So we went off in search of a clothing shop that served the nobility. It was a fancy place, located near the part of town where the nobles lived, with a sign outside that read: “We reserve the right to refuse service to the unrefined.”

Enh. I suppose that went with the trade.

The bell rang as we opened the door, and a man with slicked-back hair came out from the back of the shop. I shifted anxiously. Was I even allowed to be in here?

“My my,” said the man. “If it isn’t the Lady Emma.”

“Heya!”

I shouldn’t have been surprised that he knew her. After all, Emma was a wealthy baron’s daughter. Her parents had probably brought her here many times.

“Are we in the market for anything particular today?”

“Not for me. I need a tuxedo that will suit my friend Noir here.”

“Certainly. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir.”

“Yes, er, very good,” I replied nervously.

He immediately took my measurements and had me try on several items. I felt like a doll, being dressed up like this.

“I don’t think this is very me…”

“Oh, perish the thought,” said the shopkeeper. “You are absolutely overflowing with elegance. You wear it wonderfully.”

“Yeah,” Emma agreed. “I think you look cool! Formalwear really suits you.”

She was probably just saying that to make me feel better. It…did make me feel better, though. I tried on several more ensembles until I found something that was comfortable as well as attractive.

“How much is this one?”

“That would be three million rels.”

“Th-three million…”

That was, uh, a lot. I was still going to buy it, but it was far beyond what someone like me could normally afford.

“I’m the one who invited you,” said Emma. “Please, put it on my tab.”

“It’s okay, Emma. I might need it again later, so I’ll pay for it.”

I pulled some money out of my Pocket Dimension, and the clerk raised an eyebrow.

“You have a Pocket Dimension?”

“Yup.”

“How wonderful… And how desperately I wish I possessed such a skill. I hear it even slows down the deterioration of anything you place in it. Imagine all the clothes I could store there! For now, I have to make do with the Storage Room skill. It’s far less powerful.”

I looked up the skill he was talking about. It was inexpensive to produce, but it only allowed the user to send items to another area in the same dimension. There, they would continue to deteriorate at the normal rate, and the user couldn’t even use the skill to retrieve them. You had to actually go to wherever you’d put them to get them back.

“Where is yours connected to?” I asked.

“My personal residence. It is rather convenient to send items there directly…but it has filled my home with clothing that I do not particularly need.”

Looking into it, producing the C-Grade Pocket Dimension skill would cost me 400 LP, and Bestowing it on him would be another 200. Presumably, it was so cheap because he already had an affinity with his existing storage skill.

“Um, so if I could, hypothetically, give you a Pocket Dimension skill as a gift, do you think I could have this ensemble…on the house?”

“I would happily do so,” said the shopkeeper. “But I believe that’s quite impossible.”

“Now, this is just between you and me, but it’s not impossible. If you don’t mind a C-Grade version, I can give it to you. You’ll be able to use it right away.”

His eyes sparkled. “That would be marvelous!”

I gave him the skill and a brief explanation of how to use it. Within a few minutes, he got it to work.

“A-am I dreaming?” he said.

“Even the C-Grade version gives you a medium-size room.”

“This is wonderful! Thank you so much!”

“So,” I said. “About that tuxedo?”

“Of course! Consider it a gift, Sir Noir! Please, take this bowtie, too.”

I wasn’t going to say no.

“Please do come again,” he said. “I’ll give you a special discount in the future, Sir Noir.”

He really seemed to like me. Next time, I’d have to bring the rest of my family.

We left the shop, and Emma poked me in the cheek.

“You can be shrewd when you want to, huh? I’m happy to see you act so responsibly!”

“What are you, my older sister? We’re the same age, remember?”

“I’m more mature than you.”

She flashed me a pearly white smile. It was pretty cute, and I stuck a finger in her ear to mask my embarrassment. That wiped the smile right off her face. I smirked.

“Ugh. Hey, wait, you must’ve used a lot of LP doing that.”

“Only about 600. I still have about 3,000, it’s fine.”

“But wouldn’t it be better to recover what you lost? I mean, you don’t know what could happen. What a shame! I guess I’ll just have to hug and kiss you.”

“Erm, Emma? I’m right here…”

“Great! So let’s go to the clocktower.”

She grabbed my hand and cheerfully ran off. It was a little forward of her, but of course I didn’t resist. Mood was always the important thing with Emma. We performed many LP-restoration rituals together, and I ended up with over 4,000 LP.

“In the end, all you need is a best friend!” I said, red as an apple.

It was Emma’s favorite phrase, and right now I wholeheartedly agreed.

As the sun started to set, I changed into my tuxedo and we made our way to the gala. It was taking place in a huge, fancy building that the earl hosting the event had built just for this purpose. I wondered how much money he had.

A beautiful blonde couple were standing near the entrance.

“Hey, Noir! It feels like it’s been ages.”

“My how you’ve grown!”

This was Ladan and Romy—Emma’s parents. I’d known them since I was a little kid, although they didn’t look much older than their twenties.

“It really has been too long,” I said. “I’m happy to see that you’re both doing well.”

“No need to be so formal. You wet yourself on my lap when you were small—not many share a bond that close.”

“You were such a bad boy, Noir.”

“I’d…really rather forget that whole incident…”

It would be too easy to get swept down memory lane. We chatted for a while, then went inside. As we climbed the stairs, Ladan leaned over to whisper in my ear.

“Did Emma tell you anything about today?”

“Tell me about what?”

“I’ll…take that as a no.”

“Oh, she did mention there might be dancing, if that’s what you mean.”

“She really didn’t say a word…? What’s a father to do in this situation?”

Ladan was still at a loss when we reached the main hall.

An expensive chandelier hung over the numerous tables, each of them covered in white tablecloths piled high with sumptuous food. The hall was bustling with ladies and gentlemen in fine formalwear, but my attention was drawn to the people lining the walls. They looked more like adventurers, and one of them in particular caught my eye…

Leila…?