117 Traveling Black

" I hope to see you again soon, Silva."

Pyrrha gave her goodbye to me as she went to return to her home, and I went to see if the girls were finished shopping yet. The reason I decided to stop at Argus first was to get the information I told the polite Spartan I wanted for the road, plus have the girls get some new gear for themselves that is better suited for roughing it in the woods as they did not think to get anything in Vale while I was away. The twins' usual dresses would get ruined if they went camping in them, so I told everyone to get some new clothes that they wouldn't mind getting dirty in and were comfortable moving around in.

I went to the Argus Mall to hunt them down, and it wasn't difficult to find them. Neopolitan was at the game center with her shopping bags at the side while she played around. I found Emerald at an old bookstore, getting some new books unique to Mistral. Argint was with the twins as they continued their shopping spree, and they were using her as a dress-up doll to try some Mistral-style clothes on her. I gathered them up and opened a portal back to the Drake to start the trip in earnest.

As I drove along the western coast, the girls' enjoyed the scenery while either doing their own thing or chatting to pass the time. I was starting to feel a bit bored, so I started singing a song from Earth to suit the situation.

( Insert, Life is a Highway, by Rascal Flatts)

The girls went quiet at me, suddenly singing, which brought a smile to my lips at the stunned expressions I saw from the rearview mirror as I sang. I wasn't a bad singer in my previous life, but since my very liberal use of Soul Archive, I learned how to sing more professionally after using it on some musicians I came across. On that note, I know how to play most instruments as well, and I briefly considered making some AIs to bring all the songs I know from Earth to Remnant as I drove and sang. As I thought about this venture, I realized that it could be a pretty good money-making idea.

Some Artificial Intelligent Digital Idols to not only sing some songs I loved from Earth but also use them as a base to make new songs through a songwriting program for different genres. The more I considered this idea of mine, the more I saw that I had the necessary skills to pull it off, thanks to the knowledge I got from Atlas's scientific community. I could funnel the money earned into the research programs I am planning on tackling with Arthur Watts as a partner. Another thing to add to my to-do list.

After repeatedly singing the same song a dozen times, the girls started to join in until evening rolled around, and it was time to set up camp. As they got changed, I set the large tent with a heater in the middle because while I made some significant distance from Argus, we were still in the northern area of Anima, which was more than a little chilly, with winter just around the corner. The heater was something I built to test my Aura-powered tech on non-combat uses overall, and it works pretty well, and a full charge of my Aura will keep it running for a few days at least.

The girls were still not done changing, so I went ahead to make some dinner before I went to train Willow. I got out of a portable camping stove and decided to make some soup to warm everybody up. Grabbing some clean water from a nearby stream, then added some chicken jerky plus veggies after I felt the water boiled enough to get rid of any unwanted factors in it, and the soup was finished. I soon heard the twins call out.

" Silva, we're done changing!"

I went out of the tent to see everyone's new outfits. Melanie and Miltia, we're in matching long sleeve kimono tops with obi wrappings and form-fitting shorts over their stockings and knee-high high-heel boots. Black and red coloring for Miltia. White and cyan coloring for Melanie. The more polite twin has her hair in a ponytail with a red hairpin holding it in place. The brasher twin also had a ponytail but was held up by a white comb-like accessory.

Neopolitan was in a schoolgirl-style sailor uniform with some modifications clearly performed on it. It was mainly white in color with pink accents and a brown scarf. The tri-colored girl modded the sleeves with zippers so that they could be taken off if needed, and another change I noticed was that brown and pink kilt patterns were sewn to the skirt on opposite sides. She also kept her two-tone boots and had some brown leggings.

Emerald was wearing a green turtle neck that matched her hair with a white jacket unzipped over it and, of course, white leather chaps over white pants. The mint-haired girl loves her leather chaps; they have a diamond green quilted on them. She was wearing some white high heel boots.

Argint was wearing a full black kimono with a white apron over it and traditional wooden clods over some thick socks. Her silver-gray hair hung loosely and looked smooth and silky. While I do adore how the vampire bat girl looked like an orient-style maid, I asked with annoyance, as it wasn't practical to wear where we were right now.

" Who had Argint dress like this?"

" Is there a problem with what we picked out?"

Melanie asked with her arms crossed with a frown, and Miltia had a neutral expression. I then told them bluntly.

" I said to wear something that you wouldn't mind getting dirty, durable, and easy to move around in because we are camping out in the woods. What part of Argint's current outfit matches what I said?"

" Oh, is that all? Despite how it looks, Silva, it matches all your requirements as it is durable and easy to move around in, plus it's easy to clean."

" Really?"

I asked skeptically as I went to take a closer look at Argint's outfit and felt the material. Melanie then told me.

" In case you are wondering, Silva, all our outfits are Huntsman/Huntress grade, as we got Wayfarer Brand that calls Mistral home and that all native Huntsmen/Huntresses get in the kingdom."

I dropped the matter when they brought up one of the mainstream brands of clothes that cater to Huntsmen and Huntresses, as I am not worried about the quality if it's from any of those brands. I usually go for the Wanderer Brand in Vale, as most of their clothes are my preferred style over other brands. Speaking of which, I need to get changed as well, as some of my stuff is starting to feel right because of my recent growth spurt. I went to the Drake to change as well and told the girls.

" You all look beautiful, by the way, and I have soup in the tent if you are hungry or cold, so eat up while I change as well."

I changed into a new dark-gray muscle shirt with a lighter gray hooded long jacket which I tore the sleeves off as my fur kept my arms more than warm enough. I got on some black tactical pants and got some bigger combat boots that I added some features that I wanted to test but later. On the jacket, I added my emblem, which serves as a secondary means of identity for huntsmen that became a tradition after the Great War, along with the color-themed naming to express oneself. My emblem was a ring of white leopard spots with a 5-prong claw scratch in the center.

I left the Drake to see if there was any soup left for me and talk in earnest with the girls about the route I was taking for our trip, as I was aiming to take out some bandit tribe while getting some eyes on unique and powerful Grimm for my Schnee friends for their summoning Glyphs to portal to at my leisure.