Should I Just Watch You Eat?

"So... what do you mean by this..."

About twenty minutes later, Archer's voice was filled with an almost overwhelming mix of "incomprehensible," "unbelievable," and "unfathomable" emotions.

In fact, she had every reason to look so bewildered.

The reason was their location: a clothing boutique...

Inside the roughly sixty-square-meter shop, clothes hung on racks, filling the entire space. It was a typical, small-scale clothing store.

Did you mean that desserts in China aren't bought at dessert shops, but at clothing stores?

How could that be! China might be socialist and Japan capitalist, but it's not so bizarre as to go to that extreme!!

Of course, you don't come to a clothing store to eat dessert!

Tsukahara Meiji had dragged Archer, who was in her Spirit Form, into this place and then enthusiastically started picking out clothes for her, as if his earlier tension had been a complete act.

Right now, he was holding a white tracksuit, marketed for its simplicity, with simple gold trim adding a touch of fashionable color, and holding it up against Archer.

"Oh? You don't like tracksuits? Then, how about trying this one?"

Tsukahara Meiji's brow furrowed with confusion beneath his dark hair. He casually put the tracksuit back and selected a light green dress from the rack...

Archer felt the lines of confusion on her face must be deepening.

What is my Master thinking?

First, he trusted that guy named Karl too much, then he suddenly agreed to my "let's eat dessert" proposal, only to drag me to a place like this. What did you even understand!

Facing her Master's strangely high spirits in picking out clothes for a girl, Archer gave a wry smile and said, "That's not what I meant..."

Archer felt her dissatisfaction growing.

She suppressed her feelings as best she could, stared at Tsukahara Meiji's face, carefully chose her words several times, and finally asked, "Master, what exactly are you thinking? What did you understand?"

"Hmm, is it hard to understand? Well, if you're in Spirit Form, you can't eat, right? I can't just let you watch me eat alone?"

A faint blush crept onto Tsukahara Meiji's face...

"Huh? You're worried about something like that?!"

Archer felt her eyebrows twitching uncontrollably.

However, for a girl with such a refined appearance, any expression she made would look cute in a boy's eyes.

It was true, whether Archer admitted it or not, she was a remarkably beautiful girl. Tsukahara Meiji couldn't possibly ignore such a lovely girl and stuff his face while she stood by.

It would be too awkward.

Eating dessert alone as a grown man was already a bit embarrassing, but having a woman standing next to him, and a particularly beautiful one at that, and a woman whom only he could see... the embarrassment would be more than doubled!

He had felt that awkwardness clearly when he watched Karl eat, and now it was going to be doubled? Of course, he didn't want to go through that again!

So, he came up with this idea: wouldn't it be enough to just have Archer materialize?

Moreover, honestly speaking, Tsukahara Meiji felt more at ease communicating with a materialized Archer than one in Spirit Form, allowing him to express himself more naturally.

And, helping a girl change clothes, wasn't that a kind of "raising" game scenario that didn't come around often? As a healthy man who didn't have a girlfriend yet and loved manga and games, he naturally couldn't pass up such a great opportunity—perhaps this was the only chance in his life to help such a cute girl change clothes!

From the shop owner's perspective, he saw more business opportunity than the entanglement between the two.

Although Robin Hood's hooded cloak attire when entering was strange, the owner had seen his fair share of things. The moment he saw the two of them, he immediately understood the situation.

(She's going through a chuunibyou phase, isn't she? Poor thing.)

That was a phase almost everyone went through.

During this time, boys would imitate their heroes, and girls would see themselves as princesses. The owner himself, in his youth, had tied a bedsheet around his back as a cape and used a table leg as a sword, only to get dirt all over the bedsheet and receive a severe beating.

He figured this young girl was probably in the same situation.

(What was that called again?)

(Cosplay? Yeah, that's probably it.)

That was why he hadn't approached them to make a sale. Chuunibyou, while the person themselves didn't see it as a problem, the foreigner next to her, who was clearly much more normal, was likely her guardian. Approaching them might make him uncomfortable?

The kind-hearted owner chose to silently watch over them, cheering Tsukahara Meiji on in his heart—though the reality was completely different from what he imagined.

"Well, Archer is so cute, wouldn't it be a waste not to dress her up properly?"

Tsukahara Meiji argued his case, continuing to take down clothes one by one and compare styles and sizes with Archer. Archer, on the other hand, looked like a playful child forced into labor, her face etched with impatience.

"Can't we just ignore this kind of thing? Materializing would incur a magical burden and the weakness of a physical form being vulnerable to enemies. It makes more sense to remain in Spirit Form."

Moreover... my appearance is very beautiful, which means if I maintain my materialized form, I will attract a lot of attention...

Wait?

Conversely...

If I use my appearance, I can easily draw the enemy's attention away from Tsukahara Meiji and onto myself, right? Coupled with my special skills, the enemy won't be able to easily detect me...

This was also a viable plan.

Archer silently agreed with Tsukahara Meiji's proposal in her mind.

Archer's fragmented words reached the shop owner's ears, mentioning things like "magic" and "entity," further solidifying his belief that this was a story about a normal older brother and his chuunibyou younger sister traveling, with the brother trying to correct her phase. The encouraging smile on his lips grew even more pronounced.

"Cheer up, kid. Ah, this is youth."

The boss clearly thought back to his own past, to the days when he'd used a bedsheet as a cape and pretended to be a great hero. Running a shop was a boring affair; if he didn't find ways to entertain himself like this, he wouldn't have lasted.

"Alright! I get it... a tracksuit is fine!"

Archer's slightly furrowed brow finally relaxed. As if she'd figured something out, or perhaps in a fit of resignation, she shook her head, snatched the white tracksuit from the beginning, and rushed into the fitting room.

Tracksuits were simple clothes, but not many people wore them on the streets. After all, China was a country that valued appearances. More than "is it comfortable" or "do I like it," they cared more about "do others like how it looks."

Especially for girls, they preferred long skirts to highlight their delicate beauty. If she went against the grain and wore a white tracksuit, it would draw more attention to herself.

Since she knew she couldn't escape, Archer decided to accept her physical manifestation and make the most of it. Besides, a tracksuit wouldn't hinder normal movement. It was obvious why the word "track" was added to the name in the first place.

Less than half a minute later, with a zi la sound as the fitting room curtain was pulled open, Archer had changed.

This clearly defied the mistaken notion that "women take a long time to get ready" from a man's perspective. In fact, to Robin Hood, she wasn't a woman but a warrior. Had you ever seen a warrior put on eyeliner, draw their eyebrows, change clothes, and spray perfume before going into battle?

To her, it was just a troublesome and meaningless task.

If enemies were to attack, a Servant's Noble Phantasm was made of mana, and she could re-arm herself in less than half a second. She wasn't worried about the tracksuit affecting her combat.

The white tracksuit fit Archer's slender frame perfectly. Beneath the slightly loose fabric, her graceful curves were subtly outlined, visible yet hidden. The loose folds actually emphasized Archer's delicate posture.

On the bottom, she'd casually put on a pair of white shorts, her two long legs exposed to the air. Her skin was radiant, giving the illusion that her skin was even whiter than her clothes. With this combination, although Archer wasn't particularly tall, she gave off an impression of neat, elongated grace. Combined with her now calm brows from accepting her fate and her clear eyes, free from lingering resentment, it further highlighted her dignified aura.

"How is it? Master."

She asked stiffly, without any expectation in her tone. As she spoke, she zipped up the tracksuit to the highest point, raising the collar to hide the lower half of her face, looking rather sulky. Yet, she turned around with considerable confidence, making it seem less like sulking. Hiding half her face instead emphasized a captivating, veiled beauty, making her even more attractive.

"So, so beautiful!"

"I won't be happy just because of compliments like that."

Archer snorted dismissively. Unlike the "tsundere" characters in anime, it was clear from Archer's tone that she genuinely wasn't happy. To her, beauty was merely a tool. Moreover, her beauty was a given; if she weren't beautiful, how could she act as the eyes and ears for the entirety of Robin Hood?

"Ahaha, sorry, sorry. Then, let's go!"

Tsukahara Meiji cheerfully went to pay, finally figuring out the price with his rudimentary English and gestures. As for their British Pounds, they had been exchanged for Renminbi as soon as they arrived in China, so there were no currency issues.

This time, there was no need to say it; the Master's target was undoubtedly the dessert shop.

Seeing him so enthusiastic and re-energized, Archer could only sigh. Men were so foolish, always happy or sad because of women. And her Master was clearly a typical man...

Should she call it... fortunate?