Damn It, Commander! What Is This Drug! (2)

Watching the whole scene unfold from the side, Marianne casually stepped in as if she were about to cut a deal with Griyanaar over costume production.

...If I screenshot this later and drop it in the gallery, the reactions might actually be pretty solid.

Who knew — maybe someday the players would start holding costume contests of their own, and every bizarre, unhinged design imaginable would come crawling out of the woodwork.

"That's an excellent outfit. But is this everything you've prepared so far?"

"Unfortunately, Belial, Ignis, and Tiamat have all been so busy I haven't even gotten their measurements yet."

"Is that so..."

"Jessica's measurements are still pending too, so I haven't been able to make anything for her either."

"I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠see..."

"So, Commander — if you want, would you mind lending them all to me for a bit so I can take their measurements?"

Since things had already come this far, I decided to go along with Griyanaar's plan to slap reverse-bunny skins on every last Super I had.

"Just checking — does this eat up a lot of resources?"

"Of course not. Just look at it — barely any fabric goes into these things."

"...Now that you mention it, that does make perfect sense."

I'd asked about the cost out of old gaming habit, thinking of paid skins — only to get a look from Griyanaar like I'd just said something completely unhinged. It left me with a strangely complicated feeling. Even if this place was under the system's control, there were still parts of it that worked like the real world.

Either way, if Griyanaar was willing to put in the work, every Super under my command would end up with a full reverse-bunny skin set.

"Commander, I heard you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠called for us... is it because of that?"

"U-ueeh, isn't that a little too revealing?"

"...Says the person who walks around without panties on a daily basis."

"Are you sure it's okay for me to go that far too?"

"Of course. It'd be weird if everyone else got one and you were left out."

I sent Belial, Tiamat, and Ignis — all freshly back from finishing their daily quests — along with Jessica over to Griyanaar so she could get them into their skins.

And only after packing every last one of them off did I finally get to kick back and enjoy a proper, manly New Year's gathering with the shaggy old pirate.

And so the guys settled into the VIP lounge, ogling the absolute feast of bodies on display while toasting each other for all the hard work so far.

"Oof, nature's calling... excuse me a moment."

"Sure."

The moment Liran — who'd been chugging straight liquor like water — lumbered off to the bathroom, I found myself alone.

This is it... the lonely solo drink...

I cracked the solo-drinking bit while sipping a sickeningly sweet soft drink, gazing out through the VIP lounge's exterior window at the base sprawled below.

I'd been savoring that solitude for maybe a full minute when—

"Commander~ we're back!"

"That was fast."

Griyanaar's voice rang out — the same Griyanaar who'd vanished earlier with all the Supers under the pretext of taking measurements. I turned my head from the window toward the lively call.

And the moment I did, what filled my field of vision was...

"O-Oppa... h-how do I look...?"

"Oh..."

Holy hell, she's hot.

The pirate hat she always wore, the signature pirate coat, the blouse, the hot-pants-adjacent shorts, the boots — all of it had been stripped away. In their place, a rabbit-ear headband matching her hair color sat perched on her head.

True to the "reverse bunny girl" design, the top half looked almost like a normal blouse... until you looked lower. From the collarbone line all the way down to her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lower abdomen, there was nothing. Not a single scrap of fabric. Pure, unobstructed bare skin, on full shameless display.

Damn.

Below the waist, aside from stockings held up by some physics-defying method, the only thing covering her was a single heart-shaped red sticker. Compared to the rough-and-tumble outfits she usually stomped around in, the transformation was nothing short of catastrophic.

And on top of all that, the sheer difference from her everyday look seemed to have completely thrown her off.

"Auuu..."

"Pirate Empress, if you just keep covering yourself like that, the Commander won't be able to see anything."

Where had the bold little sister of the entire pirate world, the Pirate Empress herself, gone? In her place stood a bashful, girlish Marianne, squirming in her reverse-bunny outfit. Looking at her, I felt a strange emotion I genuinely couldn't put into words.

But I shoved every messy feeling aside, and the first thing out of my mouth was—

"...You're beautiful. Yeah."

"Huet."

"My, my."

That was it. I wasn't a eunuch. What else was I supposed to think, watching someone this embarrassed still muster the courage to come show herself off to me?

Heh. Well now. My little friend down there just got rock hard.

I couldn't put the finer details into words, but one look at her was enough to tell me exactly how Marianne felt. So I offered nothing but honest praise, saluting her courage with genuine admiration.

At my reaction, Marianne's expression went blank for a second — then a full, radiant smile bloomed across her flushed face.

"...Heheh, even just hearing that makes me so happy, Oppa!"

She looked absolutely delighted.

...But even so, why was one arm still stubbornly covering her chest?

Just a moment ago, the other girls — and Griyanaar herself, who'd come along — all had stickers stuck right on their chests. If she'd put one on down below, shouldn't she have one up top too? That was the normal assumption.

So I decided to voice the question that had just popped into my head, aimed at the Marianne still covering her chest.

"By the way, Marianne."

"Yes, Oppa?"

"Why are you covering your chest so hard? You've got a sticker on too, don't you?"

"...W-well, about that..."

At my question, a cold bead of sweat rolled down Marianne's face. She looked thoroughly cornered, her already flushed cheeks turning a deeper, brighter red as she clearly scrambled for an answer.

Then, a moment later, she edged closer, shoulders trembling as she barely managed to steady herself — and whispered carefully into my ear.

"Th-the thing is... th-the stickers... they only had small ones left..."

"...?"

"M-my chest... it doesn't cover everythingggg..."

"What."

In that instant, I learned a secret about Marianne I had never known.

...Those stickers aren't that small. And even those aren't enough to cover her?

I felt what it must be like to grasp a fundamental truth of the universe. At the same time, the little subordinate down below — already half-stimulated on a regular basis — seemed especially determined to throw a full-blown fit today.

And at that very same moment, in that very same place — while Icarus was suffering the torments of lust — what exactly was Griyanaar, who'd arrived with Marianne, up to?

You're doing great, Pirate Empress.

While Icarus's gaze was completely stolen by Marianne's devastating reverse-bunny-girl look, Griyanaar had already slipped off even her shoes and was stealthily circling around toward the table where Icarus's drink sat.

And right around the time Marianne was making her confession to Icarus — something along the lines of "I'm a big pieyyyy!" — Griyanaar had quietly closed the distance until she was right in front of his drink.

One drop is enough. Too much and the color changes — it'll be obvious... and it wouldn't even mean much more anyway.

From some hidden pocket of her reverse-bunny outfit — god knows where — she produced a faintly moist ampoule-dropper and, with extreme care, administered a single drop of the "3,000x sensitivity aphrodisiac-whatever" into Icarus's drink.

Of course, before doing so, she made sure to double-check that Icarus wasn't about to turn his head.

The moment the drug was in, Griyanaar looked up again — and locked eyes with Marianne, who was still whispering into Icarus's turned back. She flashed a V-sign with her fingers and grinned, signaling that the operation had succeeded. Then she tucked the ampoule-dropper away and, just as quietly as she'd come, slipped back from the table to her original position.

As she went, Griyanaar found herself replaying the conversation she'd had with Marianne before they arrived at the VIP lounge...

At first, Marianne had not only reacted negatively to the method — she'd outright threatened to go tell Icarus everything.

But once she'd put on the reverse-bunny-girl outfit Griyanaar had poured her heart and soul into making, and once the detailed plan mentioned that "the Commander, all worked up, is going to jump you first!"—

"In the end, even though you have the physical advantage, the reason you haven't made the first move is because the Commander wouldn't like it, isn't it?"

"Ugh..."