“You look perfect!”
“Ehehe, thank you~ Oh, that reminds me. Your clothes got ripped up as well, didn’t they?” Nanami had taken a bad gash around her chest area, which left her outfit looking quite promiscuous. Upon noticing her current state of dress, the girl yelped a charming little “eek!” and pulled at the cloth around her chest. “I can give you an outfit of mine. If you don’t mind wearing my clothes, that is.”
“An outfit of yours, Lady Ristia? You wouldn’t be offering me... an Artifact, would you?”
“Why, of course not.”
“Really, Ma’am?” Ristia felt the young girl’s stare casting copious amounts of doubt upon her.
“Why are you so doubtful?”
“I mean, you said that the dress you were originally wearing was enchanted, correct? So I’m guessing that the sundress you’re wearing is also enchanted in some way, shape, or form?”
“Yes, well, it is enchanted to a normal degree. It only has, um, let’s see... It reflects ultraviolet rays above a certain degree, has built-in temperature control, along with the abilities of making the inside of the skirt invisible and being able to mend itself, but that’s really all.”
“That’s absolutely an Artifact!”
“Wha...?” It was the basic enchantment that Ristia always gave to clothes she made. I don’t know about calling them Artifacts just because of that... Ristia thought, feeling at a loss. “Either way, you don’t need to worry.”
“I-I couldn’t possibly! I will be fine. I have a change of clothes with me, so if you’d be so kind as to wait...” Nanami hurriedly started to change her clothes.
“But... you really don’t have to worry...”
Yay, me and Nanami get to be twinsies! Ristia had initially thought, but she found herself murmuring disappointedly instead. Before long, Nanami had changed into a simple outfit and called out to Ristia.
“Thank you for waiting, Ma’am.”
“Oh, not a problem. Then, if we’re all set, let’s go above ground.”
“Right... Oh, you don’t seem to be carrying any luggage.”
“I have all of my essentials in my Item Box, so I’ll be just fine.”
“You never cease to impress, Lady Ristia!” It seemed that Nanami’s respect had reached the level of religious devotion. Though, I sure would like her to fawn over me like a sibling and not a servant... Ristia thought, slightly disappointed.
“Lady Ristia? Is something the matter?”
“Oh, no. It’s nothing. Right, to the surface. Shall we?” Ristia took the lead and started to trek onward. Nanami scrambled to catch up to her, taking her place by the princess’s side.
The underground labyrinth Ristia had burrowed out with her magic seemed to be just an enormous yet otherwise run-of-the-mill cave at first glance, but the walls could withstand any attack thrown at them. To be more accurate, they wouldn’t withstand an attack the magnitude of what Ristia dished out earlier, but they would easily stay sturdy against normal attacks since magic was protecting the entire cave. And Ristia and Nanami made their way through that very cave. Along their way, they were attacked by the occasional monster dwelling within the dungeons, but Ristia made short work of all of them. She was highly motivated in doing so, thinking, Protecting Little Nanami here is totally Big Sis material!
“By the way, Nanami?”
“Yes? What is it, Ma’am?”
“It’s... well, that. The way you’re speaking. It’s so stiff and formal. You’re free to dial it back to something more casual, you know.”
“I shall do no such thing!”
“You won’t?!” Not prepared to be so quickly shot down, Ristia was hit hard. “B-But why?”
“Because it would be inconcievable of me to address you, an angel, in a casual manner.”
“A-Angel? That’s quite a jump from simile to metaphor, don’t you think?” She was no longer “like an angel”; Rista was now a full-blown divine being, whether she liked it or not. Don’t tell me she actually has me mistaken for an angel... Is that it? Ristia thought, a single line of sweat dripping from her brow.
“Don’t worry. I am not misconstruing things.”
“Well, as long as it’s not...”
“You are undoubtedly an angel, Lady Ristia.”
“That is misconstruing things, though!” Ristia vehemently denied, but Nanami appeared to be turning a deaf ear, continuing on. “Even seeing you be modest is incredible! I’d expect nothing less from you, Lady Ristia, what with you being both an angel and a True Blood!”
But you’re wrong~! Wrong, wrong, wrooong~! I’m just a True Blood vampire princess; I swear I’m a normal girl! Ristia screamed inside of her mind, completely unaware of how utterly bizarre a premise that was. However, at the same time, feelings of resignation started to set in within her. If she were to aggressively deny Nanami’s assertion, there was a chance that Ristia might scare the poor girl again. She came to the conclusion that it was safer to let things run their course, considering that risk.
“...Gah, okay, enough~! ...Anyway, why did you come to this labyrinth in the first place, Nanami?”
“We were a reconnaissance team sent on a mission by our guild to investigate the ruins of this labyrinth.”
“Reconnaissance? Here?” Ristia’s face shifted into a look of confusion upon hearing that Nanami had been doing an investigation on the labyrinth she built during her magic practice.
“My apologies. Having your home invaded and investigated must not feel good at all.”
“Well, this isn’t my house, so I really don’t mind. It’s just... you know there’s nothing here, right?”
“No, there was an angel hidden away here, Lady Ristia. That’s you.”
“O-Oh, stop, you. But aside from that, there’s nothing else here. Right?” Ristia felt like the more she denied that claim, the more she would sink even further into the quagmire, so she tapped into her small reserve of zen-like patience and moved along.