NOVEL NEXT C97
Chapter 97: A man in a suit and a woman in a mini dress (4)
Dating…the act of spending quality time together as lovers, or people with mutual interest or affection.
As a virgin male with only two sexual experiences, I was expecting something a little saucier and erotic⋯but the reality was different.
“Yeah. Good food sells fast, so it’s a good thing we went early…!”
Diana, a beautiful woman carrying a shopping cart filled with various fresh vegetables and meats, smiled with a big smile.
“Woohoo, yes⋯”
I put down the shopping cart in both hands and wiped off my sweat.
‘So this is a date?’
It wasn’t what I thought it would be.
I’d been frantically following Diana since early morning.
She’d sneak past the butchers slaughtering animals in the corners of the market area to get the freshest cuts of meat.
I watched her skillfully haggle with the vegetable vendors and cheered her on as she backstops a spice vendor who sells black sesame seeds as pepper.
⋯Come to think of it, I didn’t do much, except take some of her luggage and hold it for her.
“Thanks, Balkan. You made this go faster than usual.”
“No, I didn’t, I just lifted a few bags.”
“I usually have to go back and forth several times because I’m alone, but today was much easier.”
-Thump.
With that, Diana pushed her cart into the carriage.
She waved and the coachman nodded.
-Purr!
The wagon rolled away with the sound of horses clattering.
Fresh produce would be delivered to the doorstep of the inn by a horse-drawn courier service.
“Did you go grocery shopping like this every day?”
“Yes. I’ve been doing it ever since I retired⋯ over ten years now.”
‘Not just anyone can be a gourmet innkeeper.’
Despite the occasional curse that turned her into a female who masturbated all day, Diana was normally a sincere and cozy woman.
I was grateful for her graciousness as she ran around to make the food a little better for the customers.
“Now that we’ve bought all the ingredients, let’s go shopping for clothes.”
“But it’s not easy to find clothes that fit me.”
I remember wandering around the market area in my raggedy, uncomfortable clothes just to find one.
“⋯⋯⋯Yes. Definitely⋯”
Diana carefully placed her hand on her chin and looked at my body.
Her eyes were tightly closed, but I could feel her gaze subtly scanning my body.
I wondered if she was sizing me up.
I spread my arms wide to give Diana a better look at my body.
Ten minutes passed like that. Diana was mesmerized, her eyes fixed on my body.
“Diana?”
“Uh, huh? Well, don’t worry. It’s a place where they make custom-made clothes⋯! Oh, there’s a lot of people watching. Let’s go.”
There were many other people on the street in the morning.
“What a couple, doing that in the street. They’ve gone beyond good taste and gotten lecherous.”
“If you’re envious, say it out loud. What other man in the world would show his body so openly like that? It must be out of love or affection.”
“That’s great! I wish I could find a true man and make love to him!”
“Wake up. The only place you can go is the brothel in the outlaw district. Go and get a slave prostitute. There, if you have money, you can have 3P and even have noble-like sex.”
The explorer-looking women continued their lecherous conversation, sending me lustful glances.
I’d gotten used to it by now. My hand slowly reaches for my axe.
But I’m unarmed now, having left my armor to Zernier to repair.
“Come on, let’s go.”
Diana, who blushed at the words, gently grabbed my wrist and dragged me along.
I glanced down at her walking ahead of me for a moment, then carefully lowered my arm to take her hand.
-Hmph.
Diana’s shoulders shook slightly.
After a moment’s hesitation, her delicate hand twitched slightly.
Her fingers moved cautiously in my grasp, and then they intertwined.
“⋯”
“⋯”
We walked down the street, our fingers interlocked in silence.
Even though neither of us spoke first, I realized we shared similar feelings.
I tried to control the emotions that threatened to overflow from my chest and focused all my attention on this sweet moment.
Healing? Relaxation? Peace of mind?
Just walking down the street with Diana was enough to send my healing gauge through the roof.
“Ahhh.”
Diana moans in frustration.
I looked to the side and saw that she was looking up at a building.
[Arachne’s Miracle]
It was a tailor’s shop, with mannequins dressed in stylish suits and beautiful dresses standing in the windows.
“⋯Well, we’re almost there.”
“⋯Yes.”
There was silence again. We looked at each other for a moment, and neither of us spoke first.
“Shall we walk a little further?”
I asked, and Diana smiled warmly and snapped her fingers again.
We circled the city three more times before we entered the tailor shop.
***
‘You’re really giving me a hard time.’
Silanes, the owner of Arachne’s Miracle Tailor and a mid-level explorer, frowned at the couple in front of her.
The man and woman who had exchanged glances at the door whenever she was out front, wondering if there were customers, strolled down the street once more.
The man’s helmet made it impossible to make out his face, but she could almost see the kind of eyes he would have in such an atmosphere.
Not once, not twice, but three times, the sweet movement made her sides tingle.
“Thank you for your visit. We carry only the finest clothing made from Arachne silk, so please feel free to browse.”
But there was no point in flirting with him.
It was time to make money, and the customer in front of her was a different kind of customer.
‘Diana Ordia⋯!’
Silanes, a mid-level explorer with a long history of exploration, recognized Diana.
When she first saw her, she was nervous.
She had only seen her once before, when she announced her retirement in the vague past, so she couldn’t immediately match her appearance.
‘She looks like a completely different person than when she retired.’
Silanes couldn’t help but feel the instincts of a clothing store owner.
She scanned Diana’s body instinctively.
Gone were the fierce, piercing eyes and sharp, toned body, replaced by soft eyes and a curvy, sexy, fleshy body.
But it wasn’t for nothing, either.
It made her sick to her stomach to see that she had gained weight only where she needed to as a woman.
‘She even has a man next to her!’
She couldn’t believe it, but the man next to Diana was just as bad.
The clothing store owner’s instinct was to focus on the man’s body rather than Diana’s transformation.
He was wearing a tight cotton tee, and his muscles were barely visible.
‘Is this really a man⋯or is it a human?’
She couldn’t help but look up at his enormous height. His muscles were packed tightly into his huge body.
Yet, nothing is too much, and everything is harmonious and ideally blended.
Even the torsos made by the sculptors of the time seemed to pale in comparison to this man’s body.
It was a body that could never have been created by nature.
‘It’s like a body made by God himself.’
“Hmph.”
Realizing that Silanes was staring at Balkan’s body in admiration, Diana let out a low moan and tightened her grip on Balkan’s arm.
“I’ll fit you into a nice suit. Anything you like.”
With a shy territorial marker that said, “This man is mine,” Diana flaunted her wealth.
She didn’t work at the inn for the money. She had plenty of money saved up from her time as an explorer.
She could have said, “I’ll take everything from here to here,” but that would have been too much for Balkan.
“What? No. These are my clothes, I have to buy them.”
As expected, Balkan was sensitive to favors.
“It’s okay. It’s an expense that I wouldn’t normally make, but I’m buying it for Ellie’s graduation. If it’s too much of a burden, you can think of it as a bar uniform and buy it. Choose as much as you want without feeling pressured!”
“Mmm⋯ then⋯”
Balkan nodded at the excuse Diana had prepared all night.
It was hard to say no when she was talking like that but he didn’t know how to choose.
“Do you have a particular outfit in mind?”
Silanes saw Balkan’s indecision and interjected at just the right moment.
“I’m going to the Academy’s graduation ceremony, and I need a suit that matches the dress code.”
Balkan’s words caused Silanes to look back and forth between Balkan and Diana in confusion.
“⋯Oh my. Seriously⋯?”
She’d thought the atmosphere was odd, but she hadn’t expected a child⋯a child big enough to graduate from the Academy.
Silanes couldn’t control her expression when she heard a truth that would make people faint if they knew it.
“⋯Ah⋯”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯”
Balkan looked flustered, not knowing where to begin, and Diana blushed, her stomach twisting in knots.
‘Balkan’s child⋯?’
Diana gently rubbed her lower belly.
She remembered the day she’d been crushed by Balkan’s body, her legs spread wide like a frog’s, her thighs soaking up his cum.
‘If only. If I had taken it into my womb instead of my thighs⋯’
Her female body shuddered at the thought of the possibility of a life swelling inside her.
Then she thought of her daughter, who had recently made progress in their relationship, but was in a bit of a bad mood.
‘Ellie is an only child too⋯’
Balkan looked at Diana’s pensive expression and spoke up on her behalf.
“Hmmm. I’d like to see what clothes you have first.”
“Uh, okay. This way, please.”
Silanes nodded appropriately and led Balkan and Diana away.
Being the professional she was, she kept her mouth shut.
‘She must have mated and gotten pregnant. As expected from Diana Ordia. He must have been ruthlessly trained to make that body that was like a work of art. The child must have grown up, but the couple still has that kind of atmosphere? Successful people in any field are different. Ha. I want a cigarette⋯’
⋯Her thoughts were a bit free-spirited.