The Fashion Disaster of Vivaldi
Vivaldi Territory was a city of artists. And among those artists were countless fashion designers. Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Dior, Prada, and more. The headquarters of every luxury brand known throughout the Elemental Kingdom were clustered in this city, which hosted fashion shows every year and set the trends for the entire nation. To some it was known as the City of Music or the City of Art, but to Jealousy it was the City of Fashion.
Though he had come here unintentionally, almost against his will, Jealousy decided that since he was already here, he might as well squeeze every last drop of enjoyment out of it.
"Oh, this is truly elegant and utterly fantastic."
The first store he entered greeted him with a shocking sight the moment he stepped inside. His confident stride came to an abrupt halt.
'What the hell is that bastard doing here...'
Unable to control the trembling in his eyes at the rather shocking scene, he stared straight ahead.
Had he wanted an image change? The usual ragged black hood that he wore like a dirty rag was nowhere to be seen. In its place, Professor Karlsen stood draped in a cloak as colorful and flamboyant as a male peacock's feathers. Jealousy was rendered utterly speechless.
"As expected of Vivaldi. Even my eyes, which were completely ignorant of fashion, feel like they've been opened."
Yes, this was the perfect scene to prove just how utterly ignorant he was of fashion.
Perhaps the fabric had been treated with special magical formulas. The garment's color subtly shifted depending on the angle of light and the wearer's posture. It was an incredibly bold and extravagant outfit that drew all eyes to its wearer. Unfortunately, because the clothes had stolen all the attention, Karlsen's natural gloominess stood out even more starkly.
His complexion looked worse than a hospice patient on the verge of death. The deep, dark circles under his sunken eyes clashed horribly with the flashy outfit, killing any possible merits and amplifying every flaw to an extreme degree.
'Isn't that a runway-exclusive piece? Why is he wearing it?'
Fashion show garments occasionally went into immediate production, but most were meant to showcase the designer's vision — "This is the kind of atmosphere I'm going for." When ordinary people watched fashion shows and thought, "Who could possibly wear that outside?" it was usually because the clothes were still unfinished concepts. They typically took anywhere from a few months to several years to become commercially viable. In a way, fashion shows were previews of trends that would become popular in the future.
In other words, that outfit was still far too avant-garde for modern people to accept. It was the kind of piece that even people confident in their fashion sense would struggle to pull off. And if the clothes themselves were that extreme, imagine someone completely unsuited to them wearing it. It was truly the worst. Professor Karlsen's current appearance could only be described as the Worst of the Worst Fashion of the year.
'Well, if he likes it, I guess that's what matters.'
Behind him, the person who appeared to be the designer was clutching the back of their neck and collapsing from shock. But Karlsen paid no attention to that and pulled out his wallet, apparently intending to buy the outfit anyway.
Jealousy had no intention of butting in and stopping him. He was, however, slightly curious. The man ate nothing but cup ramen every day, yet somehow had enough money to buy such an expensive garment. Perhaps those cup ramen meals weren't born of frugality after all, but of genuine preference.
'I'll have to come back here later.'
The argument between Karlsen, who kept insisting on purchasing it, and the designer, who kept repeating that they could never sell their child to someone like him, showed no signs of ending. The atmosphere was hardly conducive to peaceful shopping.
Thinking this, Jealousy quietly turned to leave the way he had come.
"Oh? Who do we have here?"
Perhaps he had been a beat too slow in trying to escape. As Jealousy's shoulders twitched, familiar footsteps slowly approached from behind.
When he turned his head, he saw Karlsen smiling brightly with a sinister grin. It seemed he had won the argument with the salesperson and successfully obtained the clothes he wanted.
"Professor Clara. You're here early. There's still some time left before Professor Vivaldi's concert."
Look who's talking.
Jealousy's mood grew extremely uncomfortable at Karlsen's words. But he made sure none of it showed on his face. As Clara, he answered in his usual languid, feminine tone.
"Since I was coming anyway, I wanted to do some sightseeing~"
"Same here. It seems we're of one mind."
"It does, doesn't it~"
Being of one mind with this guy. I really want to kill him, it's so annoying.
Including the fact that they had run into each other in the very first store he entered.
"Are you here to shop?"
"That's right~?"
"Then may I ask why you tried to run away without even greeting me when you saw me?"
"......"
Oh, so you knew I was trying to run?
He had spoken so casually that Jealousy thought he hadn't noticed. If he knew, why didn't he just let him escape? Why stop him? There were so many things he wanted to say, but he held them all in and simply offered a sweet smile as Clara.
"More importantly, Professor Clara. What do you think of my outfit?"
Perhaps because reactions like Clara's were all too familiar in his personal relationships, Karlsen casually changed the subject as if nothing had happened.
"It's terrible~ The absolute worst~"
Clara answered without the slightest hesitation, as if she had been waiting for that exact question. As the greatest fashionista in the underworld, Jealousy could not, even as a lie, say that Karlsen's fashion sense was good.
"......"
Karlsen's eyes widened into perfect circles, as if he had never expected such criticism. At the same time, a massive shock struck the top of his head like a thunderbolt.
"Oh my god... How can this be..."
It seemed he had taken more damage from this than when he realized he was being ignored. Just how much confidence had he had in that monstrous outfit? His fashion sense was truly incomprehensible.
"I was certain that even His Majesty the Death King would pass by, be amazed, and applaud me."
"What part of that outfit made you think that~?"
Is our master insane?
Their master was definitely in this city, so it was possible they might run into each other. But there was no way he would applaud Karlsen while he was wearing that. If anything, he would probably cover the young lady's eyes so she wouldn't have to see something so hideous.
"Professor Karlsen, I think your usual clothes suit you best~"
Don't ruin perfectly good clothes for no reason and just stick to your usual gloomy fashion sense.
It was a rather harsh and hurtful thought to have about another person, but Jealousy couldn't care less.
"Oh, is that so?"
The shock that had clouded Karlsen's face cleared up again at Jealousy's words. Not that it made much difference — his face was still as gloomy as storm clouds on a rainy day.
"I see. Then I'll trust Professor Clara's judgment and return these clothes."
At Karlsen's decision, the designer's face, who had been listening to their conversation from behind, brightened more than the sun itself. Tears streamed down their face as they looked at Jealousy with eyes full of worship, as if greeting a savior. The burdensome gaze reminded Jealousy of how Pride looked at their master, and he shook his head, letting out an involuntary dry laugh.
'What the hell am I even doing right now?'
He had just come to do some shopping to relieve stress. The fact that he couldn't even manage something so simple was irritating him to no end, constantly scratching at his patience today.
It had already been three days since Kain and Arina arrived in Vivaldi Territory.
"Uncle! Look over there!"
No matter where they went in the streets, all sorts of songs could be heard. Kain was starting to get tired of it — his ears were beginning to hurt. Yet Arina, after spending three whole days bouncing around everywhere, still didn't seem satisfied. With a bright smile, she grabbed his hand and ran off somewhere.
What she pointed at was a large monitor connected along the street. Designed to look as if the hands of the dead rising from the ground were holding it up, the monitor displayed a cute animated character blowing a trumpet while running around everywhere — just like Arina dragging Kain around.
"It's the character that symbolizes Vivaldi Territory — the singing raccoon 'Lala Raccoon,' apparently."
If the character that symbolized the great city of Emulin was the Emerald Turtle, then here in Vivaldi, it was Lala Raccoon. At the general implication of those words, Kain let out a dry laugh and thought to himself.
It didn't matter who was singing, but they really should decide whether it was a raccoon or a raccoon. The name and appearance were clearly raccoon, so why add the title "singing raccoon" in front? Did the Vivaldi viscount who created this character lack basic biological knowledge?
"So, are we still far from arriving?"
Deciding to stop worrying about a mystery that wouldn't be solved by thinking alone, Kain asked Arina, who was looking at the map on her smartphone.
It was already July. Walking continuously under the midsummer sun was exhausting. As an Absolute Being, his body instinctively maintained homeostasis in any situation and didn't sweat, but he still felt like his head was overheating. At this rate, he almost wanted to attach an ice phoenix that lived in the frozen tundra to his back like a portable air conditioner.
"We're almost there. If we go a little past that 'Greedy Civilization' over there, we'll reach Melody Street right away."
So that's what it was called — Greedy Civilization.
If he had to guess, it was probably meant to represent countless people reaching out because they wanted to own the monitor. Looking at it that way, it was actually a rather intuitive piece of art. Much better than modern art these days, where people just placed a broken toilet on display and forced meaning onto it.
"They say there's a nice cafe at the entrance to Melody Street. If you're tired, should we rest there for a bit before going?"
"No need."
There was no way a cafe wouldn't be crowded on a hot summer day like this. They'd probably have to stand and wait dozens of minutes just to get one drink. It would be much better to just keep walking. If he got thirsty, he could just stop by a street convenience store and buy a beverage.
"I heard that cafe is famous for its Lala Raccoon latte art."
"......"
"They also have Lala Raccoon character bread. I wonder what it tastes like?"
"......If you want to go, just say you want to go."
Why did she have to beat around the bush so much? One simple sentence would have been enough.
'Is that character really that cute?'
No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't understand. Kain frowned slightly as he stared at the raccoon — or was it a raccoon? — singing merrily on the monitor screen. No matter how many times he looked, he couldn't see it as cute. He couldn't even understand why the raccoon was only wearing blue overalls. If they were going to dress it, they should have given it a top as well.
'I should buy her a doll of it on the way if they have one.'
Regardless of what he thought, the important thing was that Arina seemed to really like the character. Since they were advertising it so openly on the streets, there were probably at least a few character goods being sold along the way. Thinking this, Kain let himself be dragged along by Arina's hand, each step filled with annoyance.
"Ah."
Suddenly, a voice came from the side, and Arina's footsteps, which had been pulling Kain along, came to an abrupt stop.
Arina turned her head for some reason toward the exclamation that might have been directed at her. Then her eyes widened as she met the gaze of a woman wearing sunglasses that covered more than half her face and a hat pulled down low.
"You're Arina, right? What a coincidence running into you here."
Layla Ruby. One of the biggest stars in the current Elemental Kingdom. At the unexpected encounter with her, Arina forgot to feel happy and simply froze on the spot in shock.