The Rabbit's Den
"It's a theater troupe."
"No, didn't you hear what the guard Murphult said? He said he heard it while talking to the Baron. They're here to sell clothes!"
"They're selling clothes like that? That's insane. The Goddess herself would strike them down for such indecency. No matter how much the world has gone to hell, we shouldn't be sinking into the abyss like this."
The residents began to argue back and forth about the identity of the merchant group. While those in the know were aware of a wealthy merchant group's visit, no one had expected that they would be composed entirely of women—and that they would be wearing outfits so scandalous they bordered on vulgar. Despite most of them expressing discomfort at the visit, they were slowly starting to reveal their true colors.
"...But, wasn't that actually kind of pretty?"
"Their faces are all so pretty, and their bodies... wow."
"Did you see them when they came in earlier? Walking so confidently like rabbits, and one of them even winked at me and waved. Damn, I want to sleep with one of them."
"You're crazy. ...Me too. I want to make my wife wear one of those and try it out."
The bunny girl outfits quickly became the talk of the town among the men. They mobilized every bit of vocabulary they possessed to praise the appearance of the bunny girls and the beauty of the women to those who hadn't seen them yet.
"How vulgar."
"How can they walk around in outfits like that? At a time when the Human Alliance is in an all-out war with the Demon King's forces?"
"It's not like they're out selling their bodies... tsk tsk."
In the areas where women gathered, the conversation was dominated by condemnation of the bunny girl fairies. Comments about someone having an ugly face or stretch marks on their sides were mild; most were busy insulting the bunny girls for their lewd attire.
"But what about those... black pants? Are they an undershirt? I saw them wearing something underneath."
"Are those even pants? You could see right through them."
"...No, but aren't they kind of pretty?"
"......They'd be perfect for driving my husband crazy in bed. If you just pull them slightly to the side, isn't it designed so you can just stick it right in? Heh, crazy."
And a very small minority of women began to critique the clothes they were wearing. Even if they were jealous of the bunny girls' beauty and figures, they were surprisingly level-headed in their critique of the garments.
"...Doesn't that look like it would be good to wear under armor so your skin doesn't chafe?"
"You, a 190cm-tall brute, want to wear everything from the rabbit ears to the heels? Are you insane?"
"......Should I try it?"
...Though there were some strange individuals among them, the ripple effect caused by the bunny girl fairies was beyond imagination. Spica Castle regained its vitality for the day, with everyone talking about the merchant group, briefly forgetting about the problems regarding the Demon King's army.
"You truly came here to open a tavern... and a general store?"
"Yes."
Meari was unhesitatingly confident even in front of the Baron. That confidence was displayed by her broad, open shoulders, and the Baron, despite being a much higher-ranking existence, felt her shoulders shrink back at the sheer presence facing her.
"I have already secured the buildings. You brought so much money that I was able to buy two of them. Baron, it's a staggering amount..."
"I know..."
The Baron gulped at the sight of the gold chunks Meari's merchant group had brought. As the Virgo territory suffered from chronic deficits, they lacked the funds to survive even until tomorrow. The money paid as a deposit to the adventurers had evaporated as they became ghosts. It wasn't a situation where they could collect taxes, and soon, a precious guest from the Pisces Earldom was coming, and they had to host them.
"Hmm..."
"Are you perhaps bothered by the fact that an unidentified merchant group appeared at such a timely moment?"
Meari took the initiative. The Baron felt slightly displeased as if her inner thoughts had been read, but she sensed that Meari was not an easy opponent. The difference was immediately apparent just from the clothes they were wearing. While she, the lord, was wearing a modest dress that she couldn't even wear to a social gathering, the other party was wearing a design that would lead the trends in the capital's social circles.
'Why are such people in our territory?'
The Baron placed the stockings she had received as a gift on the desk.
"...I will ask one question. Where and how did you get these clothes, these stockings?"
"I cannot speak directly about the distribution network and supply sources. I am merely the person in charge of this Virgo branch. However, I can tell you this."
Meari pulled a feather from her bosom. It was a feather from a black monster bird, one that would make the Baron shudder.
"Those stockings are made by plucking the feathers of a monster."
"......No way?"
"Yes. A crow monster called Andras. We enter the dungeons where those things appear and periodically 'harvest' the materials. But coincidentally... we heard rumors that they started appearing here."
"The feathers of a monster...? How?"
"Trade secret. And as you saw earlier."
Meari lifted one leg. Her slender leg, which made one wonder how it supported such large breasts, revealed her beautiful leg line, and the Baron gulped again for no reason.
"Like this."
Whoosh.
Flames suddenly erupted from Meari's hand. The flames began to burn above Meari's knee, and the Baron jumped up from her seat in surprise.
"Are you okay?!"
"......."
Meari's eyes widened at the Baron's shrill scream. The Baron, seeing Meari looking perfectly fine, cleared her throat and sat back down.
"..Ahem, ahem, cough!"
"......Yes, I am a mage. And at the level of a very low-grade fireball, it doesn't even burn me; it's just warm."
Splash.
This time, Meari created a mass of water in her hand and extinguished the fire on her knee. At the sight of the stockings becoming moist with rising steam, the Baron gulped once more.
"Baron. Why don't you try wearing them yourself?"
"Pardon?"
"Hehe, if it comes to it, I can help you. These stockings will be the icon of modesty and sexiness that will lead the new fashion world."
"W-what does that mean...?"
"Look. Since it covers the legs like this, can't you wear a shorter skirt? Hehe."
Meari stood up and pointed to the hem of her skirt. What would be visible under the black skirt, which was slightly longer than a finger's width, stimulated the Baron's imagination. And she imagined herself dressed like Meari.
'At the very least, men would go properly crazy.' If her late father had seen it, he would have bought all the stockings immediately to put them on his lovers. The Baron's heated head cooled down as she thought of the previous Baron.
"...Ahem, so, I understand the commercial value of the stockings. But I have no choice but to speak about the attire of your merchant group's employees."
"Of course."
Meari smiled as if she had been waiting.
"I cannot approve of such vulgar attire."
"It will be the attire for the waitresses selling alcohol. It's a form of solicitation. Of course, the things you are worried about, Baron, will 'absolutely' not happen. They are women who sell smiles, not women who sell their bodies."
"......But men full of lust might do who knows what."
"They are all former adventurers who can take care of themselves. They can overcome any man. Even if the opponent is a goblin or an orc, they can easily handle them 1:1."
Graey, who had been silent, let out a 'kuh' sound and laughed. The Baron frowned at Graey's state and warned him.
"Are you finding this funny?"
"...My apologies. It's just that the idea of them fighting orcs in those clothes..."
"Well, from your perspective, that might be the case."
"Indeed. Didn't you send the crows packing with just a sword? Hehe."
"...Ahem."
At Meari's joke mentioning that he had been kidnapped once, Graey showed discomfort and closed his mouth. The Baron took a short sigh and pulled a piece of parchment from her drawer.
"I approve. But I will be watching for the time being. I will assign guards... Graey, keep a close watch."
"An excellent choice, Baron."
Meari smiled broadly. The Baron felt slightly terrified, as that smile seemed to have been seen somewhere far away for some reason.
Foot Jabber, a middle-aged man born and raised in Spica Castle in the Virgo territory, is a bachelor. He had a lover, and at one time he even had a wife, but she—no, that bitch—ran away with all of Foot Jabber's property under the name of eloping with a young bachelor. In the end, he raised his rabbit-like child alone and sent him to the academy, and he had been living a solitary life for years. He had been starving for so long that he couldn't even remember the last time he smelled a woman's skin.
'It's a lost cause for tonight.'
Foot Jabber sighed as he looked at his angry member for the first time in a while. Since he had been assigned to guard duty after getting shot in the knee with an arrow, this was the first time he had seen a visitor cause such a stimulating visual terror.
The rabbits were all dressed in such lewd outfits that it made one suspicious of 'that side,' and Foot was having a hard time voyeuristically watching them through the eye slits of his helmet. 'Are they really those kinds of people? But then the Lord wouldn't have let them in.'
The first task the Baron of Virgo did as soon as she ascended to the barony was to sweep the back alleys of the castle. Thanks to that, the brothels were cleaned up quite neatly, and Foot agreed with that part. It wasn't that he had an aversion to prostitution, but thinking about how his ex-wife ran away after falling for the crotch of a young man who worked in prostitution made his teeth chatter.
Tremble.