Chapter 29

1.

Time passed idly, and several days had already gone by.

Ribel was more than capable of helping me in the kitchen, and since she was learning along the way, she’d helped me cook for several days straight.

Seeing her like this, she seemed like such a sweet, puppy-like girl who followed me around. I had no idea how she’d developed such an outrageous fetish.

Even if I was the reason, I’d never accept her advances, so I hoped she’d find herself a nice woman. Or a man, for that matter. Maybe she was bisexual.

Anyway, cooking together meant Ribel and I spent about two hours together every day.

Since she’d been learning to cook, Ribel asked me if there was anything she could do for me in return.

And what I asked her for was,

"Ah, Big Sis! I finished fixing it!♡"

I’d asked Ribel to repair the bracelet that had been half-destroyed during the Leviathan incident. She’d told me that the staff was also a magical tool made by her company.

I remembered her explaining that it needed to be recharged periodically. It was expensive, but Hero equipment that wasn’t an artifact was ultimately a consumable item.

Anyway, I was at the laboratory run by Ribel’s company to pick up the bracelet she’d fixed.

"Thank you, Ribel."

"Try it on quickly!"

Ribel approached with sparkling eyes. She seemed a little too close, so I pressed my palm against her forehead and pushed her away.

She looked dejected with a little "Aww," but when I opened the case holding the bracelet, anticipation welled up in her eyes.

The bracelet in the case had changed slightly in design.

"A thread... bracelet?"

Inside the case was a bracelet woven from golden thread. It was woven so tightly, with such care, it looked as if a master artisan had painstakingly made it stitch by stitch.

I wondered if I could even call it a thread bracelet. It wasn’t just made of golden thread—the tiny gems set here and there were shining faintly, too.

It was practically showing off that it was artifact-class. I could feel as much magical power from it as from the necklace around my neck.

"I upgraded it to artifact-class! I paid special attention to its durability...!"

Ribel spoke with her eyes sparkling. Apparently, she had a bit of a techie streak.

It seemed Ribel had personally overseen the repair and enhancement of this bracelet. Maybe she was the project lead.

Come to think of it, Ribel had also bragged about the Nano Suit she’d made. She really was a techie.

It reminded me of a certain movie hero...

I took the bracelet out of the case and slipped it onto my wrist. The long strand wriggled a little, then snugly wrapped itself around my wrist.

"Does this have magic that won’t get in the way of daily life, too?"

"Yes! I gave it the same basic spells as the necklace Esper-sama ordered. You don’t even have to take it off when you wash!"

So the necklace Dojin ordered was made by this company, too.

What a monopoly. No wonder smartphones were packed with technologies that used magical power. This company must have its hands in everything from magical tools to artifacts.

In this barren world, with only a few cities, I guess a company had to be this powerful to be called a conglomerate.

"I left it so you could choose the activation word yourself, Big Sis. Just pour in your mana and choose a word to activate it."

It felt like reading a manual. Before, I’d only had to pour mana into it, and it would turn into a staff and fit snugly in my hand on its own.

This time, I needed an activation word, too.

Maybe it would even make me transform.

"Hmm..."

I thought about it for a moment and poured in some mana.

Nothing came to mind. No matter what I picked, I’d probably be embarrassed.

"Shine."

The bracelet flashed, and... began to envelop me.

"Huh?"

The light that had enveloped me vanished almost instantly. That wasn’t the important part, though. What mattered was that my outfit had completely changed.

The first thing I noticed was the navy-blue cape coat. Surprisingly, the sleeves stretched freely, making it easy to move my arms.

When I lifted the coat slightly, I saw a sleeveless dress with a white base and light-blue patterns. Since the cape coat covered my upper body anyway, they’d apparently gone bold and made it sleeveless.

The dress reached about halfway down my thighs. I also had white over-the-knee socks held in place by a white garter belt, framing that enticing strip of bare thigh.

And I was now holding a staff a little over a meter long.

It didn’t seem to be made of wood, but metal. It felt like it weighed less than a kilogram. Was it really durable enough?

"Hmph!"

Ribel looked proud as she watched me.

"A staff alone wouldn’t be enough to protect you, Big Sis, so I made you a battle outfit myself!"

"Design by Ribel!" she declared, puffing out her chest. She looked incredibly proud.

Now that I thought about it, the cape coat looked like the design I’d admired when I went shopping with Ribel the other day. When had she noticed?

Anyway, I’d been unhappy about not having proper battle gear or armor, either.

Especially after that doppelganger had beaten me so easily. I’d even been wondering if I should look for a defensive artifact.

But Ribel had put so much care into modifying and making this artifact for me. I’d ended up receiving an incredible gift.

"The whole outfit is woven from 'mana-absorbing thread'! It’s engraved with shape-memory and restoration magic, so even if it gets damaged, it can be restored anytime as long as you have mana. That’s its biggest advantage!"

Ribel praised the outfit, saying it deserved to be called her masterpiece.

...This is my outfit, right?

"And it’s all engraved with mana-barrier amplification spells! They’re designed to strengthen the barrier you already have, so there won’t be any interference!"

"I set it up so only your outer clothes change with the costume-change spell, leaving your underwear up to you! It all switches over with spatial magic!"

"There’s a body-temperature adjustment spell, too. And stockings tend to slip down so easily, so I added garter belts to hold them up! Oh, and you can choose between white and black, depending on your taste. The sexiness is a bonus!"

"I removed all the staff’s unnecessary functions and left only the shape-locking and mana-amplification functions. Plus, the material is an adamantium alloy containing a whopping 30% adamantium!"

Ribel was enthusiastically giving me a review of my outfit. Anyway, thank you for the product pitch, saleswoman.

Since it was a dress, I pinched the hem of my skirt and gave her an elegant bow.

"Thank you, Ribel. Thanks to you, I won’t have to ruin my clothes every time I fight."

"Oh, it’s nothing, Big Sis♡ I’m happy just knowing you’re wearing an outfit that’s my type!"

Hearing it put that way, I wasn’t sure I wanted to wear it...

But putting the design aside, its performance was incredible. I liked the design, too. It was cute and sexy.

If I showed Dojin this outfit, I’d probably end up moaning and crying beneath him until I passed out that very day.

That didn’t sound bad. Cosplay was a famous and popular way for couples to break up the monotony.

I must have been grinning, because Ribel looked at me with a sulky expression.

"You seem pretty eager to do it with Esper-sama while wearing an outfit that’s my type..."

"I-I am, though?"

But I couldn’t deny it. I couldn’t bring myself to deny what I’d do in the future just because I was embarrassed about making love with Dojin.

It was better to admit it and feel embarrassed afterward. Dojin was so wonderful and successful that I had to keep throwing myself at him to have any hope of staying by his side; this wasn’t the time to play hard to get.

I couldn’t make the mistake of holding back just because I was embarrassed!

Ribel collapsed face-first and started wallowing in despair. A gloomy mood settled over her.

"M-my baby is going to be defiled..."

"I guess it probably will get dirty... If it gets restored, will that stuff get erased, too?"

"It’ll be erased. Not just traces of sex, but any foreign substances like blood or dust, too. It’ll be as clean as if it had just been made."

That was a relief to hear.

When I fought Iris, I’d definitely have to draw blood. Whether it was mine or Iris’s.

It would be such a waste if blood stained this pretty outfit and ruined its beauty.

...Now that I thought about it, that was still better than losing my life.

"Then, shall we test its performance?"

"Huh? Haven’t you already tested it?"

"I told you. It’s designed to amplify your mana barrier. It’s set up to support you by amplifying as much of it as possible, without getting in your way!"

"Oh... Right."

Blue particles gathered in Ribel’s hand, forming a huge sword. It was a massive greatsword that looked over two meters long, but Ribel held it in one hand as if it weighed nothing at all.

"Durability test, begin!"

The greatsword cut through the air and came down toward my head. Ribel’s physical abilities were on par with those of a woman who worked out intensely. Then there was the physical enhancement from mana, and the boost from Ribel’s Nano Suit.

It wasn’t my imagination that the greatsword seemed to swing so lightly. With Ribel’s current strength, even a greatsword must have felt light.

But the greatsword bounced off with a soft thunk.

"Stage Two!"

The greatsword turned into particles and vanished, while particles gathered in her other hand to form a handgun.

The gun fired with a bang, but the mana bullet bounced off.

"Stage Three!"

This time, it was a rifle.

"Stage Four!"

A large-caliber sniper rifle.

This one was a little dangerous. Without thinking, I focused my mana to strengthen my defensive barrier.

Of course it was scary. Ribel was attacking my face. Even if I trusted my defense, this was going too far.

Ribel seemed to notice that, too.

"Still, that’s impressive for an unconscious barrier. If you use your ability to reduce the force, I think it’ll hold up to Stage Eight!"

By now, Ribel knew all about my ability, too.

Hadn’t she said they thoroughly investigated A-rank Heroes at the company, so it was only natural they’d learn the type and extent of their abilities?

Since they were apparently the only company that made magical tools and artifacts, information must have accumulated quickly, too. Maybe it was because they never had to worry about rivals trying to keep them in check.

"Thanks for your hard work! Is there anything else you need?"

"Hmm, I’m not sure..."

I poured mana into the bracelet and thought about taking out my smartphone. A round ball of light appeared in my hand, then turned into my smartphone.

When I casually thought about putting away the staff, it turned into a ball of light and slipped into the bracelet.

Artifacts are amazing... This means my handbag really is just for show. The storage function is incredible.

My smartphone was full of messages from Dojin. He seemed pretty worried about Ribel.

"Dojin said he’s coming to pick me up. Would it be all right if I headed out first?"

"Tch, Esper-sama is so oblivious..."

Keep it down, keep it down.

Ribel grumbled, then quickly changed to a smile and spoke to me.

"Sure! Call me again sometime, Big Sis!"

"Then I’ll get going. Thanks for the gift, Ribel."

"Then, could you pet me just once?"

Petting her, huh...

It counted as physical affection, but it didn’t have much of a sexual meaning. Of course, I knew it could be taken sexually, since Dojin had done that to me a few times.

Especially when he petted my head while I was giving him a blowjob, the mental satisfaction was so euphoric that I’d climaxed without meaning to. ...Was that too much information?

Since I hadn’t done anything special with Ribel, I patted her head to show how proud I was of her.

After all, this artifact’s performance was incredible. Even if she was its project lead, Ribel had put so much care into making it for me. I found it admirable, and I was grateful.

A person who knows how to be grateful is a truly good person, isn’t that right? Showing gratitude to someone is very important, and only natural.

"Thank you for putting so much care into this."

"Hehe... Thank you for indulging me, Big Sis."

As she said that, Ribel tried to sneak in for a hug. I lowered my hand from her head and gently pushed her forehead away with the heel of my palm.

No hugging.