Chapter 359
In the end, the atmosphere became sweetly awkward, but Nell thoroughly learned how to ride a horse.
Or rather, it seemed she already understood the basics, and once I handed her the reins, she mastered it easily.
So after that, being mindful of the horse's fatigue, the two of us went for a bit of a long ride.
In Japan, would this be considered a drive date?
The problem was the fact that after receiving Nell's affection, was it really okay to invite another girl next?
I'm not in a relationship with anyone, so it's not a problem, but what is this? I'm totally making a scumbag move right now, aren't I?
But I felt it would also be wrong to give Nell special treatment and not deepen my interactions with the other party members, so while wrestling with this internal conflict, I called out to the next member.
"Huh? Somewhere I want to go?""Yeah. Or even something you want to do, Amina, is fine too."
So, the next person I invited was the second member to join our party and a veteran member, Amina.Thinking it might be better to ask when she was alone rather than with others, I called out to Amina while she was practicing her singing on the roof.
That is, the scene of a date invitation on a roof, something unthinkable in modern times.
"Ah, is it because you went out with Nell just now, so you'll go out with me next?"
Her words mentioning Nell made my heart skip a beat.Going out with another girl and then asking the next one... that's usually not a good look from a girl's perspective.
"That's right... Did you hear about it from Nell?"
But I couldn't see any negative emotions like jealousy or disgust on Amina's face.
"Yeah! She said she had a ton of fun!!"
With Amina, her innocence comes before romance, so I could feel the guilt I'd been feeling until a moment ago fading away.If this keeps up, she'll probably suggest we all go out together, won't she?
"Well then! It's a date with me and Liberta-kun today!"
I'd thought that, but whether it's the girls of this world or just Amina who's precocious, I don't know.But she shot me a coquettish glance — the kind a young girl really shouldn't be making.
Her demeanor shifted from a cheerful girl to one exuding a womanly allure, making my heart pound.
I've conquered countless games, but sadly, when it comes to the game of romance, I never progressed beyond the beginner level.
"Yeah, well, I guess so.""Ah, you're blushing.""Well, of course I would be? If a cute girl like you says it's a date?""So you really do think I'm cute."
Even at a beginner level, you praise where it's due.Because I don't possess advanced techniques like playing hard to get, I should use the weapon of honesty.
"But even if we go out, there's nothing around here, right? Should we ride horses like Nell did?""We can go to the Royal Capital or the Spirit World, for now. Also, I anticipated we might go out, so I set up transfer points in several towns."
However, I possess zero applied skills when it comes to making date plans, which is why I'm asking her preferences like this.Women of the world might call me uncommitted, but I think planning together isn't so bad either.
"Hmm... I'd rather not go somewhere crowded with people.""I see. Then what should we do?"
So window-shopping was out. What to do instead?Amina's hobby, or rather what she likes, is music.
Then doing something music-related together might work, but...
"Should we sing together?""Hmm... I wanna do something a little different today."
She seemed unusually unenthusiastic about singing today, too.Uh oh, I'm stuck.
What do people do on dates with girls in this world?I was stuck with Nell, too, but times like this in a pioneer village are really tough.
What is there, isn't there something... I was racking my brain.
"Ah.""Did you think of something?"
Looking at Amina's hair, which had grown longer since we first met, I remembered a particular skill of mine.
"Well, I guess you could say I thought of something..."
But this is the kind of thing that varies from girl to girl whether it's a good idea or not.
"Eh? What, what?""Amina, do you have any particular preferences about your hairstyle?""Eh, not really."
It was a hairstyle change.Nell braids her hair into a three-strand plait for a ponytail, but Amina just trims it and lets it grow out normally.
She takes care of it, but she doesn't really style it meticulously.Judging by the shape of her hands, detailed work is probably difficult, so she keeps a low-maintenance style.
There was a period when I was obsessed with creating various characters in FBO, feverishly reading women's fashion magazines to craft my ideal character.
Creating characters using the game's hair patterns was fine, but there were many parts that felt off.What do players like that do? They do it themselves.
There are plenty of players who don't touch their real faces but are incredibly particular about their game avatars.
I guess you just want your other self to look cool/pretty.
"Well, if it's okay with you, Amina, let's try getting a little stylish today."
But still, the feeling between using presets and doing it yourself is quite different.Since it requires your own skill, there's obviously a gap between good and bad, and you need a sense of style, too.
Since she's a girl, she'd probably be happy to get prettier — I made the suggestion, but this required touching Amina's hair.They say a woman's hair is her life. Was it really okay to touch it so casually? I wondered.
"Okay, first, let's try something like this.""Wow! It's cute!!"
Seeing her get excited looking at her new hairstyle in the mirror, I knew that worry was unnecessary.
We moved to Amina's room in the house we live in at the pioneer village.There, I challenged myself to change her hairstyle, and it seemed my skills hadn't rusted.
I couldn't really cut it, so I started with a simple change using a comb and hair ties, but she seemed pleased even with that.
Right now, I made a quick chignon (bun), and the reaction was better than the ponytail I did before.
"For us (bird-people), taking care of our hair is a pain, so we usually keep it short. But when it's long, you really can do a lot with it, huh."
The time spent on a hairstyle change depends on how particular you are.
Gently handling Amina's hair with my hands, I tried out various styles while enjoying our conversation.
Marveling that this, too, was a form of dating, I next tried my hand at some detailed braiding.
"Want to try growing it out more?""Hmm... but my hands aren't really good at doing such detailed work, you know?"
It required delicate movements, so I couldn't do it very fast, but using numerous combs and hairpins, I steadily worked towards the finished look.
Idols and singers give the impression of being particular about their hairstyles, so I thought Amina could afford to be a bit more particular, too.
It's just that Amina's hands, being a bird-person, are shaped differently from human hands and are a bit ill-suited for delicate tasks.
"You could include that as part of your practice, you know. I can teach you how."
But I hoped she wouldn't give up just because of that.When I was creating game characters, I strongly felt that the desire to become beautiful is a wish to become the person you want to be.
Effort in that area builds confidence, too.
"Do you think... I could do it?""You can.""Somehow, when you say it, Liberta-kun, it feels like I really can.""Is that so?""Yeah. Actually, there are things I thought I couldn't do that I can do now."
And with confidence comes the chance to try various things.
"Like what?"
Amina's hair was gradually nearing completion.In this world, it's common for mothers to cut their children's hair, or in some cases, people just roughly cut it themselves and call it a day.There are hairdressers like Baldie-san, but only some wealthy families or women with a strong interest in beauty spend money on their hair.
Men are even more careless about it.
"Like being able to sing on such a big stage? Becoming friends with so many spirits is also pretty amazing.""Is that so?""Yeah, it is."
For a man like me to be meticulously changing a hairstyle like this would surely be considered beyond rare, maybe even abnormal, in this world.
"Well, then I guess I'll have to dress up even more next time I take the stage."
But, well, I can do it, so it can't be helped.
Finally, I fixed the hairstyle with a hairpin. Done.
"How is it?""Whoa! I look like a princess!!"
My technical skill, honed through character design using braids, hairpins, and other hair accessories.Just as Amina said, I was aiming for a princess-like image.
Although, it's more of a beautiful, slightly more mature princess than a cute one.
"Do you like it?""Yeah!"
The sight of herself, looking more beautiful than ever before.Amina's smile, excited by that sight, was as bright as a sunflower.
"Alright, might as well go all the way now."
If I can see a smile like that, it ignites my gamer spirit.I might as well go all the way and show her the finished product.
"Go all the way?""Clothes, makeup, the whole package. It's the 'Princess Amina Project'."
Fortunately, my Magic Bag has makeup tools, and as for clothes, there are prototypes made by the Lightning Sisters in Amina's closet.I started pulling out various tools one after another.
"Me... as a princess?""Yeah. I'll make you incredibly cute."
Amina, a commoner, becoming a princess.That's probably a path every girl walks at some point.It's something to aspire to.Hearing those words, Amina thought for a moment.
"Well then...""Yeah?""I want Liberta-kun... to make me the kind of princess he likes.""Huh? Uh, what do you mean?"
It took me a few seconds to process her words, spoken with a hint of shyness.
"I'm saying, I want you to make me look the way you think is cute."
Though, perhaps she got embarrassed after all; when I asked her to repeat it, she puffed out her cheeks slightly and averted her face.She wanted me to make her into a girl I liked.
Yeah, well, between Nell yesterday and Amina today...Having someone express affection for me really does make me blush.
"Is that... no good?""Are you really sure?""Yeah, it's fine."
And when a girl like that tells you to make her into your ideal look, at that point, you have no choice but to steel your resolve.
"Alright, then I'll give it my best shot.""Hehe, I'm a little excited.""Don't raise the bar too high.""Bar?""It means I get nervous when people have high expectations.""Even Liberta-kun gets nervous?""I do, I do."
A girl to my own liking — in other words, my own preferences.Having to materialize that... just how much courage does that take?
But I also feel it would be wrong to settle for something safe here.So I will not compromise at all on making Amina beautiful.
"Rather than a cute style, a pretty-style outfit would be better. Makeup to match that, too.""Wow! Amazing!"
What kind of impression this would leave was uncertain.The only thing I could say for sure was that I was enjoying myself with the feeling of doing character design.
And precisely because I was enjoying it for the first time in a while, I made no compromises.
"Heh... so this is Liberta-kun's taste.""......Yes, it is. Indeed.""Is it cute?""It's cute. And also, beautiful.""Yeah, thank you!"
And as a result, a version of Amina that struck right near the center of my preferences was explosively born.