章節 99: Return to Form

Though the interim wasn't without incident, it only took a few weeks for things to return to as they were before Will's departure. Therese, Ryza, and Amira had returned, Tim and Dorothy had fully acclimated to life back at Oirthearhall, and due to his power and preparatory education, Will had little trouble cementing his position in the Elite Class. Ohta struggled a bit with the academic side of things, but she was making rapid progress with their late-night study sessions.

In order to secure the finances to make good on his promises and do as he pleased, Will settled on acquiring iterative blueprints from the System Shop, optimizing existing Duelist League equipment, and marketing them as his own. Axial had a deeply rooted celebrity culture, and if you had the connections to get into it, fashion was an exceptionally cost-effective way to make money, as the materials were peanuts compared to what the final product could sell for.

The unfortunate consequence of Will's decision was that devising combat attire for female Duelists was dozens of times more profitable than doing the same for males. As such, once it became known what he was working on, it wasn't long before Alessandra approached him with the proposition of becoming his model and poster girl, spurring many of the other girls he was sponsoring to do the same.

Fortunately, Will had used a decent portion of his funds to hire students proficient in production and sewing, so it wasn't like he had to personally measure and perform fittings for the girls who volunteered to assist with his research and promotion. You would think this would lower the quality of the final product, but since the job paid well and many of the students in question were Third or Fourth-Years starting to feel anxious about their futures, they treated the job like an internship, hoping to work for Will and the Oirthear Constellation full-time once they graduated.

To sweeten the deal further, Will promised the members of his production team a kickback on every piece of equipment they completed, with those who consistently produced high-quality items receiving up to 50% of what they sold for. Most surprising was that he didn't include a non-compete in their contracts, meaning they could theoretically innovate off his designs and sell them to existing companies if they didn't mind betraying the trust of the person who had provided them the opportunity to flourish in a field that typically predated its talent and paid employees the bare minimum.

What distinguished Will from most designers was that he had no intention of mass-producing products. He wanted his brand to represent the ideals of the Oirthear Constellation, so he had his production team prioritize the principles of quality, reliability, and performance over commercialization. That way, even if one or more betrayed him or jumped ship to work for an established brand, it wouldn't matter as he could purchase a better design from the System Shop...

...

With Lyra taking a keen interest in his burgeoning line of sports equipment and wanting to help him earn the funds he needed to repay his family, Will was sitting in a lavishly decorated drawing room, patiently waiting to meet the person she had said could solve all his problems. As Princess, she had the opportunity to network with many of the most powerful and influential people in the Capital, particularly in the Central District, from an early age, so while he could make an educated guess, Will had no idea who Lyra had arranged for him to meet until they arrived.

Feeling an immense power approaching the drawing room alongside Lyra, Will compelled himself to remain calm as an exceptionally slender woman with short, spiky, blue-black hair with a prominent blue tuft sticking out of the top of her head entered the room. Her sharp and confident eyes were among the bluest that Will had ever witnessed, but the most eye-catching thing about her was her physique, accentuated by a predominately black, skin-tight bodysuit that left little to the imagination. She wore a white and blue half-vest over it and a pair of custom white polymer shoes, but it was clear she didn't mind garnering attention as the front-facing zipper of her bodysuit was partially unzipped, exhibiting her modest breasts, cleavage, and the electric-blue push-up bra emphasizing them.

Recognizing the woman as the showboating Horito's older sister and, more pertinently, the current wielder of the Storm Trident, Adhal Albali, making her one of the Thirteen Braves, Will couldn't help exhibiting a bit of shock. Her proper name was Caldaria Zieger, but to the people of the Astralis Kingdom and the world abroad, she was known as Tsunami, the All-Crushing Wave.

Sizing up Will with a glance, Caldaria gave a slight, approving nod and remarked, "I can see why Lyra is prepared to go heels over head for you. You're far from the most handsome prospect, but you have an incredible body and clear eyes unpolluted by desire. Even when you took a fleeting glance at my breasts, you only gave the impression of being taken aback. Most others I meet, especially Nobles, can't help leaking pheromones and letting their imaginations run rampant..."

"I told you he was different," appended Lyra, adopting a faint smile and puffing out her chest with a hint of pride.

"Being different may make someone exceptional, but it doesn't guarantee their competence..." countered Caldaria, waltzing up to and stopping right in front of Will before gazing up at him with her hands on her hips. Despite recently entering her nineteenth cycle, Will was several centimeters taller than her at 166 compared to 160. Caldaria found this slightly annoying, but her bitterness was outweighed by how impressed she was by his ability to calmly hold her gaze even as she narrowed her eyes and used the fingers of her right hand to tentatively pull at her zipper.

Catching Will a little off guard, Caldaria, rather abruptly, asked, "Are you secretly attracted to men...?"

"No...?" responded Will, raising his right brow in genuine confusion. He could understand why Caldaria was asking such a question, but he still found it abrupt and somewhat absurd.

Though she was wearing earrings that would vibrate if the person she was speaking to lied, Caldaria started to suspect that Will had a way of deceiving such devices, as even an Ascetic would react if a woman were standing right in front of them. She didn't regard herself as a bombshell, but she wouldn't be regarded as one of the Capital's Top-Ten Beauties if her appearance didn't appeal to the opposite sex.

"Caldaria...please don't make things more difficult than they need to be..." entreated Lyra, worried that her friend might say or do something extreme to break Will's composure and confirm his character.

"Hmmm..."

Hearing Lyra's request, Caldaria contemplatively hummed as she and Will continued to engage in a staring contest. Her mother and Lyra's had been best friends growing up, so she had always viewed the Fourth Princess as her younger sister. She was aware of Lyra's plan to use Will's status as the forthcoming Lord of Eastwarden to lobby for some much-needed reforms, but if he had no interest in women or sex, Caldaria wasn't sure what could be leveraged against him for his continued support.

Formulating a plan within her mind, Caldaria broke the silence by stating, "I heard from Lyra that you were starting up a line of unbranded made-to-order equipment for the Duelist League. I have a Ranked match six weeks from now. Think you could prepare something before then?"

"What are the specifications...?" asked Will, prompting Caldaria to tap the watch-like device on her right wrist, causing a bodysuit similar to the one she was wearing to appear in a flash of bluish-white light.

Handing the nearly weightless piece of fabric to Will, Caldaria explained, "There are few things more important to a Duelist than form, function, and familiarity. I don't care what options you add, so long as the feel is similar and the functionality is improved. Do that, and I'll spread the word among the Pros that you're legit."

"Do you mind if this is destroyed in the process...?" asked Will, tentatively stretching the remarkably elastic fabric by its sleeves, leaving Caldaria at a slight loss. Even the chairs she sat on for fan meets would occasionally find their way into auction catalogs, so it felt weird seeing Will stretch out one of her worn, incredibly expensive uniforms without care. It might not look expensive, but the fabric used in its construction was valued at more than three million Astra per square meter.

Spreading her hands, shrugging, and shaking her head, Caldaria gave up on thinking of Will as a normal person and answered, "Do with it what you will. But if your product is inferior or uncomfortable to wear, I may invoice you to cover the cost of its replacement."

"It won't be," assured Will, nodding confidently. Before that, Caldaria had considered warning him about getting in over his head, but since the only thing she saw in Will's gaze was certitude, she decided to see how things played out. Then, as she had slinked away from a promotional video being filmed to hype people up for her coming match, she ruffled Lyra's hair and departed before her Manager blew a gasket trying to find her...

...

"A new friend of yours...?" asked Ohta, sporting a half-lidded expression as she watched as Will labored to fit a mannequin that looked identical to Caldaria with her bodysuit.

"If you can believe it, this is actually one of the Braves..." explained Will, finally getting the fabric past the mannequin's butt before starting on the markedly more difficult process of getting its arms through the bodysuit's sleeves. Its defensive stats were incredible for how thin the material was, so he wanted to test its effectiveness before altering or repurposing it to make something new.

"You met a Brave without me...?" asked Ohta, her half-lidded expression morphing into a deep frown.

"You know full well I had no idea who I was meeting..." reminded Will. "Besides, it was a meeting arranged by Lyra. Do you believe she would have me meet with someone who would harm me?"

"..."

Unable to refute Will's words, Ohta silently made her way over to help him with the mannequin. It was a little uncanny how much its figure reminded her of her own, especially around the hips, waist, and butt, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing as she found the faux Caldaria fairly attractive.

"She's pretty skinny, huh...?" remarked Ohta, taking the initiative to adjust the mannequin's realistic-feeling but featureless breasts before promptly zipping up the bodysuit. In response, Will briefly considered why she was asking such a question before nodding affirmingly, expressing, "Yeah, but I think she wears it well. Some girls are just naturally suited to having slim builds."

Realizing that Will must have realized she was fishing for compliments, Ohta rolled her eyes but didn't challenge his claim. Instead, she gave the mannequin's butt a squeeze for later comparison before droning, "Just try not to drill any conspicuous holes in it..." as she departed for the kitchen.

"It will be difficult, but I'm confident I'll manage," responded Will, causing Ohta to snort. Fortunately, she knew he was kidding, lest he lose both the mannequin and bodysuit before he could complete the Quest he received the moment Caldaria issued her request...

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[Tsunami's Favor]

Rank: B-S [Linked Quest]

Objective(s): Tsunami, the All-crushing Wave, has entrusted you with the spare copy of her highly-coveted wetsuit. If you can improve upon it, you may be able to earn her favor and support.

Optional Objective(s): Wear the wetsuit in public(0/1), Secretly sell the wetsuit to Tsunami's Not-so-Secret Admirer(0/1), Leave a gift within the wetsuit before returning it to Tsunami(0/1), ????

Reward(s): 1,000 Karma, [Mark of the Shameless]x1, ????, ????, ????

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