"This one, and this one, and these over here—please wrap them all up for me."
Alice stood before a stall, pointing at every beautiful piece of fabric on display and buying them all out.
Nowadays, Alice had money—lots of it—and she could buy whatever she pleased without a second thought.
The stall owner deftly packed up all the goods and handed them over to Alice.
With a casual flick of her wrist, Alice passed the bundle stuffed with assorted fabrics to Loki.
"Let's go, next stop!" Alice's enthusiasm for shopping was at an all-time high.
Normally, such pretty fabrics and all sorts of decorative trinkets were hard to come by.
But this Monster Feria was a rare chance, and Alice had the coin to spare, so she'd decided today was the day to indulge. Anything she laid eyes on that could be used as crafting material was going straight into her possession.
Alice was over the moon.
But Loki… Loki was suffering. Right about now, she was regretting not bringing Ais and Lefiya along. If those two had come, at least they could've helped share the load.
Over the years, Loki had heard plenty of horror stories from the male members of her own familia and other male gods about the agony of accompanying women on shopping trips.
She'd always brushed it off as exaggeration—after all, she was a woman herself, and shopping didn't seem nearly as terrifying as those guys made it out to be.
But now… now she understood completely. That crazed frenzy women got while shopping—Loki was living it.
"Hey… Alice-chan… Can we take a little break? Or maybe just use your spatial magic to stash all this stuff away?"
Loki's voice was weak, drained of all energy.
"Ara? Didn't Lord Loki volunteer so eagerly to carry my bags when you heard I was going shopping? Tired already?" Alice turned back, a faint smile playing on her lips.
In the past, money had been tight, so Alice rarely went shopping. After meeting Lili, funds weren't so much of an issue anymore, but since Alice wasn't too familiar with pricing, she'd mostly left the shopping to Lili.
But now… Alice was rich. No budget constraints, no need to worry about prices—if she saw something she liked, she bought it. Simple as that.
Loki set down the mountain of packages, large and small, and gave a strained laugh.
"I just didn't expect you'd buy quite this much, Alice-chan. Normally, when you're on a date, isn't it supposed to be about two people happily strolling around, maybe picking up a few accessories, snacking on treats, and just having fun together…?"
She'd been so looking forward to this date with Alice, and yet all Alice did was shop—and not just anything, but loads of flashy fabrics.
Sure, Alice was a puppeteer, so buying this stuff made sense. But this much? And there'd be plenty of time to buy this later—did it really have to be today, of all days?
Loki's heart sank deeply.
She'd fantasized about everything they'd do today. Of course, reality wouldn't match her dreams exactly, but she'd hoped at least one or two of those sweet moments might come true.
But instead…
Loki let out a heavy sigh. She couldn't shake the feeling that today, she was just a pack mule.
"Alice-chan, the Monster Feria only comes once a year. It's such a rare event—can we please not spend the whole time shopping? Can't we just enjoy it like normal people?"
Loki decided to reason with her. Shopping could happen anytime, but the Monster Feria? This was it for the year.
"Alice?" When no reply came, Loki glanced over in confusion. Just a moment ago, Alice had been right beside her—but now she was over at another stall not far away.
It looked like she was buying an assortment of buttons—the kind of thing ordinary people wouldn't look twice at, but Alice seemed utterly fascinated.
"Aghhh…" Loki felt all the strength leave her body.
She plopped down on a bench along the street meant for public rest.
A short while later, Alice came back cheerfully holding a small box, looking quite pleased.
"Loki?" Alice seemed a little surprised at Loki's state. "What's wrong? You look like a black-and-white manga character."
"Ahh… Alice-chan… I'm burnt out… completely spent…" Loki draped a white cloth over her face, her voice still weak.
Seeing Loki like this, Alice couldn't help but find it amusing.
"Alright, I've bought everything I wanted. Let's go enjoy the festival properly now." Alice's cheeks flushed slightly with guilt.
She'd been the one to agree to Loki's request to spend the day together, and yet from morning until nearly noon—the whole first half of the day—she'd dragged Loki around on her shopping spree without a thought for how Loki felt.
What's more, she could've stored everything in her Gap, but instead she'd made Loki carry every last package. Using a god as a pack mule—in all of Orario, probably only Alice would dare.
"Loki, is there anything you'd like to eat? I'll go buy it for you." Alice opened her Gap and tucked all the bags, big and small, inside.
"Hmm… I want takoyaki… and taiyaki… and grilled squid."
Loki still sounded listless, but Alice could tell she was already a bit more spirited than before.
"Okay, okay, I got it." Alice smiled in reply. "Then wait here for me, Loki. I'll be right back. Don't wander off, alright? It'd be a pain if you got lost."
"Who's the kid here?" Loki lifted her head, the cloth falling into her lap, and shot Alice a slightly sulky look.
With a light laugh, Alice headed off.
Leaving Loki alone to rest on the bench.
"Mmm…" Loki stretched out on the bench. After half a day of shopping and playing the pack mule, she really was tired.
A good stretch made her feel noticeably better.
"Come to think of it, maybe I should've just gone with her… If I'd stuck by Alice-chan's side and whined a little, maybe she would've even fed me a bite or two…"
Loki's mind began to wander into fantasy.
But just as she was lost in her thoughts, the crowd in the street suddenly erupted into chaos.
"Everyone, run! Monsters have come up from the dungeon!"
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
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