“Hajime, stop flirting with Remia and ignoring us,” Yue said, pouting.
“Hang on, is it just me or is there a huge crowd now?” Shea asked, glancing over at the onlookers.
“This is...our fault, isn’t it?” Tio muttered. The three of them had changed back into their normal clothes and left the changing rooms. Hajime took all of the clothes from them that they wanted to buy and shrugged as he looked around.
“It’s because you’re all so pretty. Plus, you were basically doing a fashion show by trying on all those different outfits, so of course we attracted attention.”
Hajime scared away people trying to sneak pictures of Yue and the others, or those who tried to hit on them, but he had no desire to intimidate innocent onlookers who just wanted to watch. After all, he needed to return to being a regular Japanese citizen and not the evil Demon Lord he was back in Tortus.
“I’d like to buy all of these, please,” Hajime said, walking up to one of the registers.
“O-Of course... Incidentally, our store is looking for models to—”
“Just ring me up, please,” Hajime said with a business smile.
“Oh, my apologies.”
Seeing how easily he cowed the clerk, the onlookers started to realize Hajime wasn’t just some ordinary guy.
“H-He’s so cool... Just who is he?”
“There are a bunch of people who tried to scout those girls and he sent them all away. Is he the son of some rich CEO or something? He seems so used to this.”
“Nah, just look at how he carries himself. He’s probably the son of a yakuza boss or something. I thought I was gonna die when he glared at me earlier.”
“You really think he’s yakuza?”
“Shit, man, if he is, there’s no way I’m gonna risk hitting on a yakuza member’s girlfriend.”
In truth, Hajime was far more dangerous than a regular old yakuza boss. It seemed that his aura helped keep people at bay. He might have reverted to his old appearance, but he still couldn’t change how he carried himself so easily.
Hajime himself was disappointed that he couldn’t become perfectly normal yet, but a good number of the women watching found his deadly aura quite alluring. It helped that his expression became unbelievably gentle whenever he was hugging his daughter or looking at Yue and the others. He had both an intimidating presence and a fountain of boundless love. As a result, the men found him dangerous, and the women found him charming.
“Mrr, I can tell some women are batting their eyelids at you, Hajime-san,” Shea said, frowning.
“He he, it appears we need to be on the lookout for vultures just as much as master is,” Tio said with a chuckle.
“Hmph, it’s only natural that my husband charms everyone he meets,” Yue said, puffing her chest out proudly.
“Daddy’s popular?” Myu asked, looking up at Remia.
“Ufu fu, he certainly is. It’s because he looks so cool. You think he looks cool too, right, Myu?”
“Yeah!” Myu said happily.
Some of the girls who overheard their conversation blushed a little.
“Well, it’s past noon now, so we should get some lunch and then get back to shopping. Let’s get out of here before—”
Yue grabbed Hajime’s sleeve and tugged on it, interrupting him.
“There’s somewhere important we need to go first.”
“Hm? Is there something you want to check out? If you’d told me, I would have taken you there first,” Hajime responded, cocking his head.
Shea wagged a finger at Hajime and said, “He he he, that would ruin the surprise. You see, this is our present to you, Hajime-san.”
“Hm, what are you talking about?”
“Underwear, of course,” Tio said.
“Didn’t you guys buy some earlier?”
“We did, but you didn’t pick those out for us. In fact, you refused to set foot in the store.”
“I mean, the other women in there would feel uncomfortable if a dude like me went in. Besides, that let you guys practice paying for stuff.”
“Yes, and we appreciate the lesson. However, dear...” Not caring if others overheard, Remia boldly said, “We haven’t bought any sexy underwear yet.”
“Excuse me?” one of the spectators said, and everyone turned to stare at Hajime.
“Mother did say that every good wife should have a few pairs of sexy underwear to please her husband!” Yue said.
“I really did not want to know mom said that.”
“We already have plenty of pairs from Tort—Ahem, I mean from our overseas vacation, but when we told mother that, she said that wasn’t good enough, and honestly, we agreed.”
“I’m not even sure how to respond to that.”
His mother told them to buy sexy underwear?! What the hell is wrong with that boy’s family?! the onlookers thought, aghast.
“Would you rather we didn’t get any, Hajime?” Yue asked, looking pleadingly up at him.
Hajime immediately replied, “No, I’d love it if you got some,” with a straight face.
The other guys watching muttered, “Yeah, I’d say the same,” but the women gave him cold looks.
Of course, Yue and the others were more than happy to oblige.
“Good...because I’ve already looked up which store has the best reviews. Let’s go.”
“Hold up. Myu’s still too young to go into a store like that. I’ll wait outside with her, so—”
“Oh, come on. There’s no point if you don’t choose, Hajime-san!” Shea said.
“It’ll be good for Myu’s education to learn these things now,” Tio said.
“Tio, shut up! Stop trying to corrup—”
“I wanna learn!” Myu shouted.
“Myu?!”
“When I get older, you’ll need to buy underwear for me too, right?”
“Hey, do something before they corrupt your daughter,” Hajime said, glaring at Remia. However, Yue and Shea grabbed onto both of his arms and steered him away.
“Come on, Hajime, let’s go.”
“Make sure you pick out some good ones for us!”
Both of them were smiling brightly at him. They had zero intention of letting him escape this time. This was, in fact, the main reason they’d come shopping today. Hajime looked up at the ceiling and let out a long sigh.
“Haaah, fine, fine. Honestly, I’m kind of happy that you want me to pick them out so badly.”
“It’s important to be true to your desires!” Tio said happily.
“Yeah! Be true to your desires!” Myu repeated.
“My, my... Ufu fu.”
Shea and Yue marched Hajime out of the store with Tio, Remia, and Myu following behind them.
The crowd parted before them like the Red Sea. No one wanted to say anything to them because of how determined the girls looked. They watched, dumbfounded, as the girls took Hajime to an adult underwear shop.
“Thank you very much! Please come back again! Also, we still have those fall outfits the girls bought in stock, so if anyone else is interested, please check them out!” the store clerk said, returning the crowd to their senses. It was honestly impressive how she managed to stay professional despite what everyone had just seen. For days afterward, rumors spread about the group of mysterious beauties who’d come to visit this clothing store.