Book 1: Chapter 37: Patch 7.0: Pirates and Scholars

“I just hope Bone and Olly don’t get in trouble. If they’re expecting this place to be full of raunchy and rough pirates… it’s not going to end well for them,” Fenrir says to the girls.

“We’ll back them up if anything happens,” Serra says with a thumbs-up.

“You’re getting pretty confident there. What, do you plan on firing a bunch of cannons into the city to help out?”

“We’ll steal those big ones on the cliffs.”

Fenrir has to stop and look at her.

He’s worried that he and the other guys are beginning to rub off on her. Sure, he’s proud of her for having no issue with causing the mass destruction of a city, but he’s worried that the fire within her is going to grow uncontrollably.

She reminds him of himself when he was younger.

He gives her a thumbs-up. “That’s what I’m talking about.”

Cassiel facepalms. “Can we not be on the run from two of the biggest factions in the game, please? I’m fine with just running away from one of them.”

“You got it, Cass Cass,” Fenrir says.

“Wh-what? Cass Cass? What kind of – what kind of idiotic name is that?”

“I think it’s pretty cute. What do you think, Serra?”

“Cass Cass is cute,” Serra says, giving Cassiel a thumbs-up now. Even Rock looks like she’s in agreement with them!

Cassiel is blushing even more now as she tries telling Serra not to agree with him.

“It’s nice to see them getting along, isn’t it?” Fenrir thinks to Saya.

“It is, Onii-chan! They’re fun to watch,” Saya says, her voice ringing within his mind.

“Glad to hear you’re enjoying yourself up there still. I’m sure being stuck in my head is just horrible.”

“I know you’re being self-depreciative for the sake of humor, Onii-chan, but it really is horrible.”

“You’re not supposed to agree with me.”

“I know, but it’s better for comedic effect if I do!”

“What’re you spacing out for?” Cassiel asks Fenrir.

“Sorry, was talking with my virtual assistant,” he explains. Switching back to his thoughts, he thinks, “Talk to you later, Saya.”

“Have fun!” Saya says back.

“Anyways, looks like there’s a clothes shop up there, so let’s go,” Cassiel points, leading the way up a paved dirt road. The building she's pointing at has glass windows with rows of clothes visible behind them.

The trio plus Rock make it up to the shop. When they try walking in, one of the assistants rushes up to block Serra from coming in with Rock.

“No animals allowed inside!” the assistant shouts.

“She’s made out of rock, don’t worry. She won’t shed or anything like that, so she won’t be getting hair on anything,” Fenrir explains, assuming that’s why the assistant is upset.

“No animals!” the assistant repeats.

Serra pouts since she's the one still holding onto Rock. “Here,” Fenrir says, stepping back outside and taking Rock from Serra’s arms. “I’ll wait out here. I don’t need new clothes anyways.”

“I’ll be quick, sorry,” Serra says.

“Don’t apologize, you didn’t do anything wrong. And take your time.”

The assistant steps aside, letting Serra inside with Cassiel.

Fenrir catches Cassiel looking back at him through the entrance. She actually looks like she feels bad.

“Cass Cass is such a tsundere, isn’t she?” he asks Rock. Rock barks and licks his face.

Inside, Cassiel looks through various rows of clothes trying to find a good outfit for Serra. Despite this being a fantasy setting where technology is clearly not up to par with reality’s, there are still many similarities. It looks just like the inside of a clothing store in reality. There are metal racks running throughout the store with clothes hanging from them on display, lights hanging from the ceiling, tall mirrors to check themselves out in, and even changing rooms!

“How about this?” Cassiel asks, holding up a frilly and pink dress.

Serra looks very unimpressed.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Too girly,” Serra replies.

“Haah? What do you mean it’s too girly? I think it looks—” Cassiel stops herself when she sees how Serra is looking at her. “Wh-what?”

“I didn’t think you were into girly things, Cass Cass.”

“Shut up! You’re a girl too, so – so…”

Serra picks up what looks similar to a pirate’s jacket and a cape. Cassiel has no idea where this is going.

Serra picks up a few more things and then heads into the dressing room in the back. A minute later and she comes out with not only a jacket on that isn’t even fully closed over a white and short dress, but a cape that hangs over her right shoulder and back, a cap that looks like it’s going to slide off from the top of her head at any moment since it’s just sort of sitting on the very top of her head rather than being pulled down around it, and a red scarf hanging down over her dress. To top it all off, she’s wearing thigh highs that stop low enough to show just the right amount of bare thigh between where they stop and where her dress begins. There’s even a completely unnecessary belt over her jacket to complete her busy, anime-esque look.

Despite the very… unique look, Serra looks incredibly pleased with herself. She has a satisfied smile and bright eyes, looking to Cassiel waiting to be complimented. “It looks… complex,” Cassiel says. Serra looks unimpressed with her. Cassiel feels as if Serra must think she’s the most boring person alive to be getting stared at like this.

“You look great!” the shop’s assistant says. Cassiel glares at the assistant. If the assistant is that happy, it means Serra’s choices must be expensive. “That’ll be three gold and twenty silver!” Cassiel's jaw drops.

“Hey, she didn’t say that she’s buying. And what's up with that price?! There better be some great bonuses built into those if--” Cassiel starts talking but stops when Serra happily hands over four of her gold coins.

“I’ll be right back with your change!” the assistant says. They come back with eighty silver coins. Serra takes them and shoves them into her new jacket’s pocket.

Serra has a happy skip in her step as she leaves the shop.

The assistant looks at Cassiel with an annoying smile. Cassiel wants to punch them. Or cut them. Either works.

With a defeated sigh, Cassiel follows after Serra.

“Woah, Serra, you look awesome!” Fenrir looks ecstatic with Serra’s style. “You look cool! Like, you look cute and feminine still, but you also look badass! A hat, a jacket and cape, thigh highs – you’re like,” she’s just like an anime girl, but he can’t say something as cringy as that, “you’re just awesome.”

Serra’s smile is practically reaching from ear to ear now.

Cassiel doesn’t get it. She doesn’t get the appeal in wearing such a complex, confusing outfit with a bunch of unnecessary parts that do nothing other than cost more money. She’s even more surprised when Serra looks back at her with a smug smile. It just makes Cassiel’s jealousy over Fenrir’s praise even stronger!

“She gets it, you like how she looks,” Cassiel interrupts him.

That was the wrong move.

Fenrir looks up at her with a knowing smile.

She just gave away how jealous she is.

“Don’t worry, Cass Cass, you look pretty cool too. You might not have a hat or cape, but you’re still our badass tsun,” he says.

“The hell does ‘tsun’ mean?” Cassiel asks. They can tell they’re getting to her from how flustered she sounds.

“Tsundere,” Serra says, nodding her head.

“Wait, you know what that is?” Fenrir asks, looking down at Serra.

“Did research,” Serra says with a nod of her head. “It also helped me choose these clothes.”

“So you… purposely made yourself look anime?”

She nods.

“Why?”

She blushes and looks away.

“I asked a question, you know!” Cassiel shouts at them and stomps her foot.

“Right, sorry. Anyways, it means you act cold to people and then warm up after you get to know them,” Fenrir explains.

Cassiel calms down. “Yeah, I guess that explains me.”

Fenrir blinks a few times. “Never thought you’d admit it so easily.”

“Why wouldn’t I? Unless it means something you’re not telling me, it just sounds like my personality.”

“I… guess without the usual context it’s used in, you wouldn’t really understand why it’s surprising.”

“And what’s the usual context exactly?”

“Uhh, don’t worry about it,” Fenrir says, scratching his forehead.

“Anime,” Serra answers for him.

“The hell is anime?” Cassiel asks.

“Japanese cartoons.”

Serra’s answer makes Fenrir want to cringe. Whatever research she’s done, she clearly didn’t do enough to know to never call anime cartoons. At least she didn’t call them Chinese cartoons. That meme is just the worst.

“Whatever. Let’s get some cards,” Cassiel huffs.

Serra and Fenrir look at each other. They don’t say anything, but they come to the mutual conclusion that they might have teased her too much. She seems actually upset, not just playfully upset.

Cassiel is already storming off without checking to see if they’re keeping up with her.

Serra runs up to her and walks by her side. “Thanks for trying to help me with clothes,” Serra thanks Cassiel.

“Haah? It’s not like you liked my choices anyways, so I don’t know why you’re thanking me. I didn’t help at all,” Cassiel explains.

“We have different tastes… but I still appreciate you for wanting to help me. Thanks.”

Cassiel glances down at Serra with a bright blush on her face. “Shu—… you – you’re welcome,” Cassiel says with a hushed voice.

Fenrir can’t hear what they’re saying, but going by Cassiel’s posture being more relaxed and Serra’s thumbs-up to him, he knows that the situation is better now.

“It really is nice to see them getting along,” he says to Rock.