Like Sinking in a Swamp

I led Mimi inside one of the tenant shops inside the tall building we were

just talking about earlier. The shop was apparently named [Atelier Pure].

"So this is the place..."

"Yes."

I kinda hesitated to step inside it for a bit.

The one who proposed going here was undoubtedly me. It was me, but I

completely ignored what kind of place a shop which sells gothic lolita

fashion was like.

In other words, it was a fancy, frilly and fluffy place that the creatures

known as 'males' were known to avoid at all costs. It seemed to me that

within the shop's hallowed walls was a deep, dark space emanating a

dangerous [Boys Keep Out] aura, which even seemed thick enough to

have transformed into a kind of energy.

"We can't have you entering on your own huh, Mimi."

"Y-Yeah..."

"Let's go!"

"Y-You don't really have to force yourself like that."

I grabbed Mimi's hand and stepped foot inside the forbidden land. Maybe

it's because they just opened, but it didn't seem there were any other

customers inside apart from us. The gazes of the shop staff instantly locked

on to us.

There were three shop clerks wearing identical uniforms. They all gave

Mimi and me a once-over and smiled at the same time afterward. W-What

the heck's with this pressure!?

"Welcome, dear customers."

"Is this your first time coming here? Thank you for your patronage."

"We're delighted that you chose to shop here. We, the staff, will use all of

our being in order to drag you into the swamp… ehem, satisfy you to the

best of our abilities."

Did she just say swamp? Utilizing a mysterious movement technique, all

three of the staff instantly shortened the distance between us and them and

already had Mimi and I surrounded before we noticed what happened. She

really did say they would drag us into a swamp earlier, didn't she!? What

the heck is with these people!?

"Eh, ah, un. We'll be in your care."

I managed to utter a reply, but Mimi was swallowed by the overwhelming

aura of the shop clerks and clung tightly to my arm. Ah, those dangerous,

lethal weapons are sandwiching my arm... Alright, I've recovered folks!

"Do you guys… know what we're here for?"

"""Of course, dear customer!!!"""

The three shop clerks replied in cheery voices and gave us big smiles. What

can I say? They were quite quick on the uptake. Right now, my will and

those of the three ladies were mysteriously aligned for the first time. In all

sorts of meanings.

"To tell you honestly, I don't have any idea how much the clothes in this

store are going to be, but… I do have enough budget, I think."

"I see. How much do you think you can afford, by the way...?"

I considered the shop clerk's question for a bit. I honestly have no idea

about the market price for these things because I haven't visited shops like

these even back on Earth. Since I don't have a concrete basis, I can't just

carelessly name a price either.

"In general, how much would it cost to buy an entire set?"

"Well, let's see… it also depends on the brand, but orthodox items generally

cost about 1000 Enels."

"So about 10,000… no, 20,000 Enels, I guess. Please give us something

that would fit this girl here."

When I showed my available finances to the clerk, she paused for an instant

and smiled widely afterward.

"Would it be fine if we recommend items that go a bit over budget?"

"As long as you keep it in moderation. We'll leave if you propose nothing

but expensive stuff."

"Please leave it to us. Do come over here for a bit, dear customers."

The shop clerk who asked about my budget called over the other two

employees, who just finished taking Mimi's measurements, and told them

what we talked about. The other two clerks looked surprised and quickly

turned their gaze toward me. I nodded back at them, then turned towards

Mimi. The three shop clerks also focused their gazes on Mimi.

"Eh? Eh? W-What is it?"

Mimi became flustered when all of our gazes gathered on her. It was hella

cute. Mimi was led by two of the clerks further in, and I was guided to a

waiting area at the back of the counter by the one who remained.

"I understand that the atmosphere inside the shop may be a bit too much for

a man such as yourself, so please do wait here instead. I shall bring you

some refreshments right away."

"Ah."

Well, it certainly felt a bit difficult for me to walk about inside this frilly,

fluffy shop interior. I'm thankful for their consideration.

"Please leave the young lady to us. We shall coordinate the most exquisite

outfits for her. That, I promise."

"I'll leave her in your professional hands then."

After hearing my response, the shop clerk gave me the finest smile I saw

from her since we came to this store. She then excused herself. She used

that mysterious, squirmy-looking movement technique to boot. Just how do

they pull off those weird movements? Them suddenly disappearing before

one's very eyes in an instant also seems kinda scary.

Before I knew it, there was a cup of hot coffee, along with sugar and milk

placed on the table in front of me– Wait, just when did these get here

anyway? What's with this supernatural phenomenon? Horror? I'm seriously

starting to shake in my boots here...

I sipped my coffee in order to get rid of the shivers and busied myself by

playing around with the 3D dress-up app I got from the cosplay shop we

went to some time ago. I went at it for about thirty minutes.

"Thank you for waiting."

"A-Auuu..."

An angel has descended. She was clothed in a fluffy and cute white dress

with a lot of pale pink frills and had a large ribbon adorning her head. Her

feet and legs were covered in white tights and a pair of pink shoes. Mimi,

who was now wearing a costume that pushed the boundaries of her cuteness

to the absolute limits, was fidgeting in embarrassment with reddened

cheeks. So precious.

"...(I joined both hands and offered worship in silence)"

"It seems you have no need for words to express your adoration. As

expected of our dear customer. You really do understand."

"The theme we chose was 'sweet and cute'. Will you go ahead with the

purchase, sir?"

"...(I offered my data terminal in silence)"

"Thank you very much!"

I paid for the clothes and proceeded with taking pictures of Mimi from all

sorts of angles using my terminal's camera app. These can definitely be

used for an amateur idol video or portfolio. That's just how beautiful they

were.

"U-Uh… P-Please don't take pictures..."

"Not being able to preserve the visage of an angel this cute is utter

blasphemy!"

"Please control yourself, dear customer. There's more in store."

"Understood."

I stopped taking videos and pictures of Mimi and gave her a once-over

again.

"Truly an angel."

"T-Thank you very much, I think...?"

"Fufufu... Shall we have her change into the next outfit then?"

"Well then, young lady. Please come over here."

The shop clerks once again led Mimi inside that fluffy-looking space.

When I went back to the waiting area, I found some hot tea and cookies

placed on the table. Really now. Just how did these get here, man...? As I

thought, it's hella scary.

Perhaps the clothes have already been prepared beforehand. The shop clerks

brought a newly dressed up Mimi back almost immediately. The outfit this

time looked plainer. But it also felt like a classic design and radiated

elegance. How should I put it? It kinda feels like something a wealthy

young lady from a noble family would wear.

"Wonderful. It can even be used as casual wear to some extent."

"Yes. That is exactly this outfit's concept. Would you like me to prepare

some similar items as well?"

"Go ahead."

"Thank you very much."

"U-Um… I don't really need that much…"

"It's my hobby. And I'm a man who never compromises when it comes to

my hobbies."

I shook my head in response to Mimi, who was trying to persuade me not to

buy the outfits. We still have plenty of budget left. So there's absolutely no

problem. And if I can see a cute Mimi every day, nothing is considered

expensive.

"Fufu, wonderful isn't it? Now then, young lady. On to the next outfit."

"Y-Yes…"

The clerks took Mimi inside the store's interior once again. What type of

outfit would she come out with next? I'm really looking forward to it.

Oh yeah, I'll send the video to Elma as well.

I opened the messaging app and sent her a copy of Mimi's video I took

earlier. It took a few moments to upload, but it was sent successfully.

[So cute! Did you buy it?]

[I've already bought the one she wore in the video. I also bought

something a bit more subdued.]

[That's good. It would be nice if you bought something for me as well, you

know?]

[Something a little more adult would fit you better I think… Yeah, it

definitely would. Wanna come here together with me next time?]

[No, I was only joking. I think something so frilly is a bit much for me...

]

[I'll get even more motivated to bring you here if you react like that.]

[So you're that type huh.]

We messed around like that in the messaging app until Mimi returned.

"Oh… Fantastic!"

The shop clerks bowed down to me after hearing my reaction.

The outfit Mimi was wearing this time was a black dress. It was the epitome

of goth loli. It didn't expose much skin, and the frilly skirt went slightly

below the knees, with white lace accentuating the key points of the outfit.

She was also wearing a headdress made out of black and white lace.

"By the way, dear customer… This is the price of the outfit..."

"...Eh, what gives? Isn't it too expensive?"

The price she showed me was well over my proposed budget. This single

outfit actually costs a whopping 35,000 Enels.

"This outfit is made out of Hyperweave fabric that can block both laser fire

and live bullets from handheld weapons."

"Wait, hold up just one moment lady! Why the heck did they use that sort of

heavy-duty stuff for making a fashionable dress like this?"

"That's because a dress is a lady's combat uniform."

"I see, so that's it… Wait, that still sounds wrong, man! I think nobody

would attempt to jump into a battlefield wearing a frilly dress like this you

know."

"In today's era, no one can predict whether or not they'd be suddenly

thrown into a firefight. There may be terrorists running around the city. One

can also encounter pirates when they attack and capture civilian ships

during interstellar travel. This Hyperweave Battle Dress is made for those

times."

"Eh..."

The female shop clerk was acting surprisingly pushy.

"And please look at this as well. Just look at the young lady's visage.

Doesn't it suit her extremely well?"

"Well, yeah, it sure does."

"Doesn't it? Doesn't it? In other words, this is a great buy! By all means,

please get it."

"Uh, maybe not. I can't. Or rather, isn't there anything of a similar design

which is made from ordinary fabric?"

The shop clerks slowly looked away after hearing my tsukkomi. So you do

have one, don't you?

"Please get me one made from normal fabric. Oh, but we'll be getting

innerwear made from Hyperweave fabric if you have them. Just in case."

I think underwear would be cheaper than a full dress. The amount of fabric

used is way lesser after all.

"Of course. Please wait for a moment."

The clerks withdrew inside the shop while looking slightly disappointed. I

heard them say some things like 'As I thought, that outfit was a bit too

much.' or 'Rather, that outfit is certainly geared towards wealthy imperial

nobles, isn't it?' as they walked away. So imperial nobles normally buy

such outfits huh. How outrageous.

But, well, a dress costing 3,500,000 Yen would certainly be cheap for those

loaded with money, I guess. Although my sense of monetary value is

steadily being worn away since coming to this dimension, I still haven't

completely forgotten a normal guy's common sense. I can spend tens of

thousands of Enels to buy onboard equipment and upgrades for the ship, but

I won't use the same amount just to buy some clothes.

Mimi, who the clerks brought with them earlier, came back wearing an

outfit that looked exactly the same as the previous one.

"This is a dress made from normal fabric. If we include some Hyperweave

inners, this is how much it'll cost."

The price I was shown was way cheaper than what was shown to me earlier.

The Hyperweave underwear did cost significantly higher than the dress, but

it was still cheap if we consider the wearer's safety as a priority.

"I want two to three sets of Hyperweave inners, please. I don't mind if we

go a bit over budget."

"Understood."

The shop clerk had her smile back on. Maybe it's because she's happy

about selling Hyperweave underwear. I paid for the clothes and took a

good, long look at Mimi, who was wearing gothic lolita clothes.

"You're really cute."

"Yes..."

Maybe she's gotten used to it, but Mimi was a lot more composed

compared to the time she wore that pink dress earlier. But she still seemed

embarrassed since she lowered her gaze a bit while fidgeting… Man, she's

just so cute.

"So which of the clothes we bought do you want to wear right now?"

"...Eh?"

Mimi suddenly looked up while sporting a surprised expression. That's a

really nice face she's making.

"Since we're on a date, I figured it would be nice if you wore the new

clothes we bought. We can just send the clothes you wore earlier with the

rest of the new outfits back to the ship, right?"

"N-No, it's impossible for me."

"But this is the perfect chance to wear your new dress, isn't it? You won't

wear them inside the ship, right?"

"B-But, we're going to buy more things later, right? The bag I brought with

me doesn't fit the dress as well."

Mimi kept making excuses in a fluster in order to avoid wearing the dress

on our date. Hahaha, my dear Mimi. I won't be able to stop myself if you

react like that, you know.

"Please get me a handbag that would fit this dress. And get me bags that

would match all the other dresses as well please."

"Understood, dear customer."

It's the return of The BINTA (Cash Slap). I will shoulder any expense if it's

for the sake of realizing my desires.

"And don't compromise the quality while matching the design."

"Please leave it to us."

The presence of the clerk who suddenly appeared behind me slowly faded

away. I've become more or less used to their antics, it seems.

"There's no reason to be embarrassed. It really does suit you. You look cute

in it."

"Uuu..."

Mimi brought up both of her hands and covered her bright red face in

embarrassment due to my unreasonable actions. Hahaha. Just give up

already, young lady.