Chapter 7.3

Chapter 7.3

Then, she could hear a hum. It sounded like Haruna, just humming a song as she washed up. Even her humming was enchanting; all three in the tub stopped to listen.

「Haru’s singing is amazing.」

「I guess it’s only natural since she has the skills for it.」

「According to Sensei, her singing wasn’t much different in real life.」

Mio and Makoto whispered to each other when the humming had subsided. Aearis didn’t understand, and just looked confused. It was only natural, since she had no concept of Skills, or even these kinds of games in general. Haruna, who had tied up her hair to keep it out of the tub, approached the bathtub holding a towel in front of her body. Rayna was with her, as she seemed to have finished washing up at around the same time.

「Oooh…」

Haruna stretched in the tub, letting out a relaxed sigh. Seeing this, the eyes of the group were drawn towards her chest, where two glorious mounds rose to the surface. Exuding such immense presence (far superior to that of the other four women in the tub combined) attracted even the eyes of women and held onto them.

「Hey, Haruna.」

「Yeah? What’s up?」

「Can I lop them off?」

「…That sounds really terrifying out of the blue… What “them”?」

As she said so, Haruna covered her breasts (the stares at which she had instinctively felt) with her arms. She tried to, anyway, but her slender arms (which weren’t ready for this) couldn’t hide them, but instead squished her breasts into a bunch as to exaggerate their size even more. Her attempt to hide them had worked against her, as that exuded a strange sense of sensuality, triggering something within the women in the tub.

「…Haru.」

Mio started.

「I’m scared of how you’re looking at me… What is it?」

「Can I lop them off? I really think we should, actually.」

「But why? I ask you.」

「When they’re that big, there will be people poking them for a power-up.」

「…Personally, I don’t want to be near anyone like that…」

While Haruna’s interjection was justified, logic was useless against people jealous of the grass on the other side. It was a rare occasion for Haruna to remain the sane one, but unfortunately for her, she was the only one at this moment.

「Yep, it looks like we have to lop them off.」

「Uh-huh. If we don’t, they could shoot out lasers, supplying someone with energy.」

「You know I’m still human, right…?」

Haruna kept interjecting as she slowly walked back. She plead for some help in a desperate look with her blue eyes to Aearis, but even her (who usually would have defended Haruna) added:

「Why not, Haruna-sama? You’ll still have plenty left after we lop a bit off.」

「Et tu, Elle-chan?」

It seemed that even Aearis had something to say about Haruna’s immensity. She said all of that with a perfect smile, too. After Makoto and Aearis giving Rayna some looks, she finally went from being hesitate to determined:

「Besides, those must get in the way of swinging your sword. Why don’t we slice off the extra fat, just like Princess Aearis said.」

「The description are getting more vivid by the second, guys! And don’t call her Princess, Reena-san!」

Rayna did seem like she had some reservations about this, despite her not wanting to be treated like a woman. While Makoto guessed that that was precisely why she didn’t want to be treated like a woman, she decided to let it slide, as she didn’t want to derail from the current topic. Also, Haruna didn’t seem to notice that Rayna had been moving in accordance with looks from Makoto and Aearis.

「No one else is here, so that’s not a problem.」

「Don’t try to change the subject, Haru.」

「Okay, first of all I keep them strapped, so they’re not in the way, and lopping off sounds so painful! No!」

「How will you see, like, change on the ground by your feet? Or anything on your belt? So let’s lop them.」

The group seemed to be getting carried away as they piled joke upon joke. Haruna was beginning to actually be terrified by their insistent conclusion to lop off her breasts.

「Before you try to lop mine off, I think it would be more productive if you guys thought of how to make yours bigger?」

「That is an accurate assessment.」

「It’s only accurate for Princess and Mio, who still have some growing to do. Don’t you think?」

「You’re still fifteen, aren’t you? I’m passed twenty, you know. Mine aren’t getting bigger any time soon…」

「Wait. Maybe Sensei can make some potion for it.」

「Why didn’t we think of that!?」

With an outlandish conclusion, Makoto and Rayna left the tub. Sighing in relief that the danger of any lopping had been subsided (for now), Haruna decided to enjoy the bath a while longer. By the way, this conversation was heard loud and clear by the men of the house, so Hiroshi answered:

「Sorry to pump ya breaks, but something like diet pills or full-body modifications aside, I can’t whip up some potion or tool that’ll mess with just her breasts.」

Hiroshi had swiftly crushed the dreams of these two, who had barely dried off before putting their clothes on at supersonic speed before charging out of the changing room.

「You heard us!?」

「Hold on, you were eavesdropping!?」

「The rushed construction left a flaw in the structure, it looks like. When y’all scream as loud as you did, it all reverberates over here. I just think there’s a gap that connects the rooms, so I’ll check it and plug it up tomorrow.」

Hiroshi stated like there was nothing to it. Hearing that, they looked at Douga and Tatsuya to feel a luke-warm, indescribable sort of glance.

「Sensei, what do you mean full-body modifications?」

While not as carelessly as Makoto and Rayna, Mio rushed through the drying-off process and came out with a heap of question marks floating around.

「They had a paid item for doin’ that, remember? Resets ya appearances.」

「Oh, now that you mention it. I didn’t really look at them because I wasn’t interested in changing my appearance at all. Wait, can you craft them?」

Asked Tatsuya.

「Yep. Actually, it’s just thought they got nasty ingredients for ‘em. You can actually make all the micro-transaction items.」

Leaving the two girls burnt out from the knowing looks by the men, the rest continued that sort of conversation. Mio seemed to be pretending that the whole debacle didn’t happen. More accurately, though, she had taken a chance that they hadn’t heard the relatively quiet remarks she made. Of course, Hiroshi heard them all.

By the way, most micro-transaction items in Fairytale Chronicles were mostly cosmetic, and while they were difficult to do so, all of them could be obtained without a micro-transaction, in-game. Also, changing an avatar can be done for free once a year, as long as it was submitted to admin. So, the micro-transaction items were only for the weirdos to whom the once-a-year clause is too restrictive, but to whom the free route was too laborious. It was only acceptable because the game charged a monthly membership to begin with, providing a sustainable income.

「While we’re on it, I doubt there’s gonna be an editin’ screen or nothin’. Can’t recommend tryin’ to make your breast bigger in the full-body modification screen, either.」

「Yep. I figured as much.」

Haruna (who was taking down her blonde her after getting out of the bath) nodded with a chuckle. She figured that the item in question was a potion that changed one’s appearance as imagined. Use it without a reference, and it would most likely end in a disaster.

「By the way, Hiroshi-kun. How do the potions and accessory work that are tweaking the appearance of Elle-chan?」

「I just set the appearance for ‘em. With her face as a base, I tweaked her facial parts and colorin’, and an Illusion is applied so she really looks like that. So their body type, shape, hair, and all that are all the same as the real deal. Same mechanic with the potion.」

「I see.」

In other words, those tricks were useless for anyone who wanted to change their body.

「Life isn’t easy, is it?」

「Ya said it.」

Watching the two girls (who had become dead horses after a good kicking) Hiroshi and Haruna continued their nonchalant chit-chat.