"New clothes? Very well~ But your Master will be the one choosing them~"
That line of Lilith's kept echoing around Elena's head, and she was suddenly beginning to regret asking for this compensation.
Because right now Lilith had led her around in circles, the passers-by had grown fewer and fewer, and a town that ought to have been busy had abruptly turned desolate.
Lilith had brought her into who knew what forgotten corner. Was there really anywhere here that sold clothes?
Elena had serious doubts, but she did not dare ask, and did not dare say so either.
After passing through one alley after another, Lilith finally stopped.
It was a dead-end alley, and yet there really was a shop in this deserted lane.
Though calling it a shop was generous; it was more like somebody's home, and that one door was the only one in the entire alley.
For a moment Elena even wondered whether Lilith had taken a wrong turn, and had her suspicions that the woman might have no sense of direction.
But Lilith looked at that shop and gave a small smile, which convinced Elena that this really was where Lilith had meant to go.
This wasn't some underground facility for disposing of captives, was it? Lilith hadn't gotten bored of her and decided to get rid of her?!
The instant that possibility occurred to her, Elena's body shrank in on itself.
Lilith happened to turn around just then, and seeing how frightened Elena looked, could not resist teasing her.
"What's the matter? My little maid has suddenly gone this frightened — did you think your Master was going to sell you off~?"
"Wh-who's frightened!"
There was a slight tremor in Elena's voice, even though she knew perfectly well Lilith was teasing her.
But Lilith spending all that time coming to a place this hidden, just to buy clothes? Nobody would believe that!
"There now, don't be afraid. I couldn't bear to sell off a little maid this cute."
Lilith smiled.
"Come along. This shop belongs to an old friend of mine, and her craftsmanship is genuinely good. Everything you're wearing right now is her work~"
With that, Lilith stepped forward ahead of her. Elena, left behind, looked around at the utter emptiness.
A gust of chill wind blew past, drawing an involuntary shiver out of her, and in the end she chose to follow.
It was not that she feared villains or ghosts or anything of that sort; if it were only that, she had every confidence in her own ability.
What she was really afraid of was Lilith. Heaven only knew what Lilith would do to her if she disobeyed.
Following Lilith inside, Elena was somewhat taken aback by the shop's layout.
The space within was far larger than she had imagined. The plank door outside was barely wide enough for one person, and yet the interior was enormous.
Besides clothing of every description, the shop also held a great deal of jewelry and accessories. That sort of thing was not enough to shock Elena, of course.
What was genuinely absurd was this... the walls of the shop were hung with strange implements — or rather, weapons.
Whips, rods and paddles were one thing, but there were also longswords, battleaxes, short bows, staves and more.
On top of that there was combat clothing such as armor and mage robes, all of it engraved with peculiar magical patterns across the surface.
What kind of general store is this? No, wait... this is an arms dealer??!
Elena could not help remarking on it inwardly.
Lilith, meanwhile, walked all the way to the counter at the very back and rapped on it three times.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
After the three raps, it was not long before a somewhat languid woman's voice came from the room behind the counter.
"Coming."
Then a woman in a black gauze gown, tall and willowy, with the same silver hair and crimson eyes as Lilith, walked out.
On a careful comparison, this woman was even slightly taller than Lilith, though the possibility of heels could not be ruled out.
She had to be the owner of this shop, and by the look of her, she was a vampire as well.
The moment she emerged and saw Lilith, a flicker of surprise crossed her face, though it faded quickly.
"Oh? A rare visitor. What made you suddenly think of my place?"
"Business to take care of, and I thought I'd look in on you while I was at it. And order a few outfits, incidentally."
Lilith's tone in conversation with the owner shed the leisurely quality it had with Elena and became a good deal more normal. The two of them talked like old friends who had not met in a long while.
That left Elena, the outsider, a little uneasy, and all she could do was stand quietly beside Lilith and pray the two of them would forget she existed.
But how could an act of cowardice like Elena's possibly succeed?
"The clothes are the real reason, aren't they. For whom? You've got more than enough already..."
The shop owner had not finished before she noticed Elena trying to hide behind Lilith.
And in that instant of seeing her, her expression grew complicated.
First surprise, then puzzlement, and finally, after looking Elena over carefully, she gave a sudden laugh of something like relief.
"It's her, isn't it? The likeness is remarkable... What's your name?"
The sudden question left Elena nowhere to hide, and she could only answer honestly.
"Elena."
"Elena... heh heh. My name is Severina. I'm the owner of this shop, and Lilith's big sister."
Severina put extra weight on "big sister," as though she were saying it deliberately for Lilith's benefit.
"Big sister...?"
That, if anything, left Elena unable to believe it. This old hag had a big sister?
The two of them certainly did look very alike, but she still could not picture that old hag Lilith calling anyone big sister.
"Don't listen to her nonsense. She's just a friend of the same race — though going by birth date, she is indeed a little older than me."
Lilith shut the topic down hastily, giving Elena no chance to ask anything further.
"Fine, fine~ Little sister Lilith is embarrassed after all."
Severina teased her with a laugh, then looked back at Elena.
"Tell me, little cutie, what sort of clothes would you like~? Or if you'd rather, big sister can design something specially for you~"
That question genuinely stumped Elena; she had never given any thought to what sort of clothes she wanted.
She had simply been thinking that buying clothes would leave Lilith less room to meddle.
Something designed specially, though...
Elena thought about it for a moment. That seemed like a decent option — as long as this Severina did not share Lilith's nasty streak.
"Um... please design me a set, then. I'd like everyday clothes and nightwear. Oh, and make them ordinary!"
Elena laid particular stress on the word "ordinary."
"Certainly~ Leave it to big sister."
Severina nodded.
"And these as well. Make them all together."
Lilith took several sheets of paper out of her pocket, which appeared to be clothing designs.
Elena promptly tried to lean in for a look, and was blocked quite naturally by Lilith — though she still caught a glimpse.
Except... what she saw was faintly odd. It looked like a cat's ear, and a cat's tail.
"Understood. Lilith, your taste is as ever entirely..."
As she spoke, Severina shot Elena a glance, and Elena noticed it, though she did not understand it.
"Do treat this child well... Don't go frightening her off again."
"Go and get on with your work. I have my own thinking on this, and it absolutely won't happen again..."
Their exchange left Elena, standing to one side, completely at sea.
What are these two talking about? Why can't I understand a single word of it?
And it struck Elena just then — hadn't Severina, right at the start, looked at her and said "the likeness is remarkable..."?