“Miss Laiwei, who are you, really?”

The middle-aged man looked seriously at the girl before him. He didn’t believe she was a bad person.

But a girl with abilities like hers, and who was so beautiful, couldn’t possibly be an ordinary person.

“I woke up deep in the forest, and then I met Hill. I don’t remember anything from before that.”

I took a small sip of tea, then slowly began to speak.

“So you’ve lost your memory?”

The middle-aged man shook his head helplessly.

He knew she was a kind girl, but was it really okay for Hill to be with someone whose identity was a complete mystery?

“Uncle, you’re mean! How dare you yell at my sister!!”

Hill pouted unhappily beside us, kicking the middle-aged man in the shin over and over.

“Hello. Here are the sugar-glazed noodles you ordered. Please enjoy.”

The server spoke politely, then smiled and left.

“All right! Time to eat!”

Hill stared at the food in front of her, drooling.

The middle-aged man was treating us today, so I could finally eat as much as I wanted!

I looked around the simply decorated restaurant. It was laid out like a Western-style diner,

but it also had a few old-fashioned decorations. Beautiful landscape paintings hung all around the place.

“Un... we can ... #@￥@.”

Hill suddenly started mumbling incoherently, as if she’d just remembered something.

“Hey, can’t you swallow before you talk? Miss Laiwei, are you sure you don’t want to order a proper meal?”

The middle-aged man stared, utterly exasperated, at Hill, who’d sprayed noodles everywhere. Then he turned to me and asked in confusion.

“No, I’m fine. The cake I ordered earlier is enough.”

I patted my flat stomach to show that I was full. In truth, I wasn’t full at all...

If I hadn’t seen the middle-aged man stumble in shock when Hill ordered that portion of noodles,

I might’ve ordered a proper meal too.

But everything in this restaurant seemed pretty expensive, so I’d better not order anything else.

“Uncle! Let’s go buy some clothes for Vivi after this!”

Hill swallowed her food and spoke excitedly.

She’d wanted to pick out some proper clothes for Vivi for ages. And it looked like Vivi still hadn’t worn one of those, either~~

“Hmm... You’re right. She should buy a few decent clothes.”

The middle-aged man listened to Hill and looked over my shabby, old-fashioned clothes.

They were a lot better than the blood-soaked clothes I’d been wearing when we first met, but they still looked pretty tacky...

“Huh? I think what I’m wearing now is pretty nice.”

Watching the two of them discuss it, I spoke up timidly.

That little brat definitely wouldn’t let me choose my own clothes. Who knew what sort of stuff she’d pick?

“This one! Try this one!!”

Hill excitedly held something in her left hand and kept holding it up against my chest.

Her right hand was holding several more of the same thing, in all sorts of colors and sizes.

“H-Hill... Any one of them... is fine.”

I covered my eyes, afraid to open them.

All this was a bit too much for me.

“How can you say that?! Underwear is really important for girls.”

Hill was clearly unhappy with my attitude.

This was the most sacred part of a woman’s wardrobe, after all. How could I not care about it?!

‘But I’m a fucking man!!!’

If I could, I’d have roared those words.

“Excuse me, could you help us, miss?”

Seeing that I had no intention of cooperating, Hill planted her hands on her hips and called over a store employee.

“Hello there, little miss. What can I help you with?”

A woman who looked to be around twenty smiled and gently patted Hill’s head.

It seemed Hill was popular wherever she went.

“My big sister won’t cooperate. Could you help me, big sis?”

Hill gazed pleadingly at the saleswoman.

She hoped the woman would help her teach her stubborn big sister a lesson.

“Of course. I’d be happy to help.”

“Your adorable little sister is right, miss. Underwear really is sacred to women.”

“So please, take this seriously. Come with me to the fitting room and try some on!”

The saleswoman smiled and agreed to help Hill.

Then she gave me a serious look and lectured me on the importance of underwear.

Without another word, she grabbed me and led me toward the fitting rooms.

This is a misunderstanding... It really is a misunderstanding...

Ten minutes later...

“You’re so shy. Even if your chest is small, you shouldn’t be this resistant to wearing underwear.”

“I understand how you feel, but you’re beautiful enough to make other women jealous.”

The saleswoman joked. When she’d seen this young woman’s face in the fitting room,

she’d thought a princess from some far-off country had come to experience ordinary life...

...

..

“Why have Miss Laiwei and Hill been in there so long? What’s taking them?”

While things were getting lively inside, the middle-aged man stood outside, utterly bewildered.

Was buying underwear really that much trouble?

His own wife had never taken this long.

Could Miss Laiwei be trying on all kinds of different styles?

His mind kept filling with visions of Helawei’s graceful figure dressed in all sorts of underwear.

Suddenly, he felt something warm slowly trickling from his nostrils...

“No, no, honey, let me explain! It’s not what you think...”

The middle-aged man abruptly pressed his palms together and muttered to himself over and over, trying to stop thinking about underwear.

But once a man’s imagination gets going, can he really stop it so easily?

Apparently not. Before long, he had tissues stuffed up his nose.

He gazed at the azure sky, utterly defeated.

“Honey, I’m sorry...”