Brina's Wardrobe Crisis
The next day at the shopping mall. I'd just received my 6th Grade hunter license, which meant I could now enter dungeons 7th Grade or below on my own. I was planning to check out a new dungeon, but one problem cropped up.
"No clothes to put on her."
Brina, who had reached Stage 4 and gained physical abilities through the system, was coming with me into the dungeon this time. But the issue was that she had nothing to wear.
"No way she can just head into a dungeon with nothing but a single weapon..."
The only training clothes we had were devoured by Slami, so aside from the ones on my back, there was nothing suitable for Brina to throw on.
"Clothes aside, if I'm going to take her around as a summon from now on, she'll need underwear too. How the hell am I supposed to buy that?"
Last time I'd put one of my T-shirts on her, but without underwear, just an outer layer made her most important parts completely visible—a walking piece of pornography. Fine for my eyes alone, but I couldn't let others see that. Especially not other guys.
Brina was my property, not some eye candy for everyone else.
Anyway, if I was going to take Brina out from now on, I needed to buy her clothes. The problem? I'd never bought women's clothing in my life.
Plus, Brina's figure—her breasts and hips especially—was nothing like a regular human woman's, so I had no clue what size to pick.
And I sure as hell couldn't ask anyone for help. What would I even say? 'Help me buy clothes for my onahole?' Yeah, that'd sound totally sane.
If worst came to worst, I'd just put her back in that long-sleeved training hoodie set. Long clothes were actually uncomfortable for her anyway, so that seemed like the better option.
For weapons, she'll use my throwing daggers for now. Once Uncle Abigail gets back, I can get her proper gear fitted.
Uncle Abigail had taken Brina's demon army-issue dagger, saying he'd be right back, but no one knew when exactly. Brina said he'd be fine, so I figured he'd return soon. I'd drop by his place before long.
With that in mind, I stored Slami—who was still growing—and the still-naked Brina curled up in my arms into my inventory, then headed to a shopping mall downtown.
The mall was packed after so long away, a total madhouse.
"Haa, this ain't it."
After lurking around the women's clothing section for a bit, I bolted from the weird stares. No matter how I sliced it, a guy like me shopping alone for women's clothes was too suspicious.
Guess I'll just wrap her chest with compression bandages like before and grab some training clothes, I thought, turning to head that way—when I spotted a familiar face.
"Jeong-hwa?"
"Oppa? You here shopping too?"
Jeong-hwa, arms full of clothes like she'd been shopping, bumped right into me.
Out of everyone, why her, here of all places?
Jeong-hwa wasn't alone. Next to her stood a middle-school-aged boy eyeing me warily.
I played it cool and answered. "Yeah. Figured it was time for some new threads. Who's this guy? Little brother?"
I steered the topic to the kid who looked like her brother.
"Yep, out buying clothes for my little bro. Jeong-hu, say hi. This is the party leader I told you about."
"...Hi."
Jeong-hwa must've talked about me before, since the wariness faded a bit. But An Jeong-hu, her little brother, still seemed awkward around a stranger like me.
"Hmm, Oppa? Hold on a sec."
After the greeting with Jeong-hu, Jeong-hwa suddenly pulled me aside, a few steps from him, and whispered so no one else could hear.
"I've been watching since earlier... why were you hanging around the women's clothing section?"
Chilly. She'd seen the whole thing.
My mind raced through excuses, latching onto "little brother" for inspiration.
"Birthday gift for my cousin—little sis."
"Clothes for your cousin?"
"Yeah, uh, she's really into fashion. Thought clothes would be perfect, but now that I'm here, I got no idea what to get, so I was gonna pivot to something else."
"Hmmm, is that so?"
Seemed like it might slide, but Jeong-hwa wasn't done.
"If you don't know what to pick, I can help. Got a rough idea of your cousin's size? Favorite style?"
"Uh... eyeballed it, but no exact sizes or style names..."
"So you can kinda tell by looking?"
"Huh? Yeah, sorta?"
She grinned like it was perfect. "I finished shopping for Jeong-hu anyway, and was gonna grab stuff for myself. Might as well pick out her gift while I'm at it. You've helped me a ton—least I can do."
"Uh, wait—"
No time to argue; she grabbed her brother and dragged me into the women's section.
Panicking but rolling with it, I figured I could use the fake cousin excuse to pick stuff for Brina.
"Gotta start with size. How tall's your cousin?"
Brina's height...? Never measured, but she came up to about my waist—roughly a meter?
"Uh, around 1 meter?"
"Oh, like early elementary school? Kids' section then?"
Imagining Brina in little-kid clothes, I yelped. "No, no! Not a kid—she's an adult."
No way kids' clothes. Nothing would even fit her right, and it'd be dangerous in all sorts of ways.
"Huh? Adult... but only 1 meter tall?"
Shit.
Too hasty denying the kids' clothes. Blurted nonsense.
I bullshitted. "She's an awakener too. Her unique ability stunted her growth after childhood."
"Hmm... okay? Weird abilities exist, sure."
She looked skeptical but bought it. Problem solved?
Nope.
"How about this? Trendy style—works even if she's short."
The outfit was something women wore on the streets lately, but no good for Brina.
"Looks a bit small."
"Where?"
"The... chest area?"
It'd suit her height, but Brina's bust was way too much for it.
"...Your cousin's pretty developed, huh?"
"Eh? Yeah, kinda."
She stared at me hard, then parked Jeong-hu on a nearby bench.
"Jeong-hu, sit tight."
"Okay, sis."
With him out of earshot, she grabbed some pants and showed me.
"Pants? These work? Too small?"
"Kinda small."
"...How small exactly? Top too."
I pictured Brina's curves and gestured roughly with my hands.
"Top's about this big, bottoms this."
"...You know it awfully well. Kinda weird, no?"
Her tone iced over. Realizing my slip too late—I'd answered too casually.
"Growth stopped young, but that body? Breasts and hips that size? Come on, does that even make sense?"
"No, Jeong-hwa, it's—"
Mistake thinking of Brina's body so vividly. Should've just said I was browsing from the start.
"So what's the real deal? Not what I think it is, right?"
Whatever she imagined, my rep was tanking.
"...No clue what you're thinking, but it's not that."
"Then what? Explain."
"Not here—follow me?"
I sighed, leading her to a quiet spot away from crowds.
Wasn't planning to spill yet, but lies tangled everything. Better come clean now to dodge worse misunderstandings.
In the deserted area, arms crossed, she demanded: "So?"
"Was gonna explain tomorrow anyway... Turn around a sec?"
"...Fine."
She turned obediently. Double-checked no CCTV or people, then pulled Brina from inventory.
"Shh."
I clamped her mouth as she emerged, gesturing silence. Brina messaged telepathically.
Master? What's going on?
"Put this on first."
"Put what on?"
"No, not you! Don't turn—stay put."
Stopped Jeong-hwa from peeking, stripped off my shirt, and dressed Brina. Baggy but covered, I warned before showing her.
"One thing: don't scream, no matter how shocked you get."