"Ah, huh?"
"I had it specially made; I thought you'd like it."
It had been mentioned before that Leticia's headphones were cat-ear style. Perhaps Melanie had a slight misunderstanding, as this girl thought Leticia was particularly fond of such things.
However, in reality, Leticia only bought those headphones because she happened to get an exclusive discount when she was choosing them, which led her to bring home headphones that looked better than they performed.
"The quality matches the price I paid, and the appearance is a plus. Buying it at full price would definitely be a huge loss." That was Leticia's evaluation of those headphones.
But the headphones in Melanie's hands now were different; they were far superior in quality to the ones Leticia was currently using.
And it wasn't just the quality; the appearance also completely crushed them.
"Wow, these weren't cheap, right?" Leticia opened the packaging box, feeling somewhat uncomfortable under Melanie's pleading gaze.
She had originally wanted to refuse directly, but Melanie's gaze made her soften for a moment, and by the time she came to her senses, she was already holding the white box in her hands.
Since she had already taken it, she might as well open it and take a look.
As soon as she opened it, Leticia knew these headphones were definitely worth a lot. The feel of the materials, the level of aesthetic beauty—it was all just too perfect.
The headphones were black and red, with a black main body and some red accents on the cat ears, looking quite cute.
"Try them on," Melanie said to Leticia.
"First, tell me how much you spent. I won't accept anything too expensive." Leticia demanded that Melanie tell her the value of the headphones.
She liked them, of course, but she wouldn't just accept Melanie's gift like that. Their relationship hadn't reached the point where they could accept each other's gifts without any reservations. At least, that's what Leticia thought.
"It didn't cost anything," Melanie said in a low voice, poking her fingers together. "I mentioned your cat-ear headphones to someone, and then they gave me these today. I wanted to pay, but they wouldn't accept it."
"Huh?" Leticia carefully examined the box and the headphones from top to bottom, but indeed couldn't find any trademark.
There was no trademark, but there was a Hero Association logo. This thing was a product of the Hero Association? The association had this kind of technology?
However, this did make Melanie's words a bit more credible. It was highly likely that the Hero Association wouldn't take money from Melanie; this Miss Sword Saint was a pillar of the Hero Association (even if she was already retired), so charging her money would be too distant.
"By the way, these headphones are wireless. Let me help you set them up." Seeing that Leticia had already started looking for a way to plug the headphones into the computer, Melanie quickly said.
Then, under the increasingly strange gaze of Kira, who was watching from the side, Melanie naturally pressed close to Leticia and connected the headphones to the computer for her.
"Oh, oh, oh! The sound quality is a huge upgrade, and they're much more comfortable to wear!" Leticia said excitedly.
She didn't notice that as her mood became excited, her cat ears also slowly turned a very bright red.
This change caught Kira's attention. She reached out and touched her sister's cat ears, asking curiously, "What's the principle behind this?"
"I don't really understand either; it's probably in the manual." Melanie shook her head, indicating she wasn't too sure either.
Leticia blinked, not understanding what riddle her sister and Melanie were talking about. A Leticia like this looked exactly like a confused little kitten, making one really want to reach out and pet her.
After Kira explained it, Leticia realized that her cat ears could also change color. She opened the manual and flipped to the last few pages before finding the principle behind this color change.
"It can detect the wearer's emotions?" Leticia stroked her chin, thinking this thing was actually quite interesting.
So, she took off the headphones and placed them on Melanie's head. She wanted to see what kind of mood Melanie was in right now.
This action led Leticia to discover another strange feature of the headphones: their color could actually change according to the wearer's hair color.
When worn on Melanie's head, the headphones turned white, and the light on the cat ears also changed, becoming a pale blue full of fantastical color.
This color also seemed to give off a feeling of happiness, which meant Melanie was quite happy right now.
"These are amazing, but in that case, I can't just accept this gift casually," Leticia said to Melanie. "You should take them back and use them yourself."
The blue light on the cat ears suddenly dimmed, as if telling everyone that Melanie's mood was a bit low now.
"Why?" the girl asked.
"They're too valuable. If these headphones were sold, they would cost at least five figures. I don't have the audacity to accept them," Leticia explained very seriously. "I know you want to hit on me, but I don't want you to hit on me, so I can't accept your things for no reason."
She and Melanie wouldn't just give each other gifts; their current interactions were basically transactions.
Leticia helped Melanie beat people up, and Melanie spent money on Leticia; Leticia helped Melanie counsel Eriko, and Melanie lent her manga account to Leticia.
In Leticia's view, these all counted as equivalent exchanges, without any personal favors mixed in. Although these headphones were really quite good, Leticia didn't know what she could use to trade for them.
"Not for no reason?" Melanie thought about how to make it not be "for no reason," and soon, she thought of a solution.
"I was originally going to the Hero Association tomorrow to check on the training of the juniors. Now, I would like to invite you to go with me."
"Sister Bai, my sister isn't really in a condition to go out and be active right now, is she?" Hearing Melanie's words, Kira quickly reminded her.
"I've recovered quite a bit already, and besides, I can have Luna accompany me." Leticia stared at the headphones on Melanie's head, feeling a bit conflicted.
She really liked these headphones, and if it was just accompanying Melanie to the Hero Association, it didn't seem unacceptable.
As for whether Melanie was luring her into a trap? Leticia didn't believe Melanie would do that. If she really didn't trust Melanie, she wouldn't have come back before her body had fully recovered.
She currently had absolutely no combat ability; coming back meant she had full trust in Melanie. She believed that Melanie would not harm her.
"I can help Sister buy the headphones," Kira said again.
Leticia might not have money to spend, but Kira didn't lack money.
In any case, she wouldn't let her sister, who hadn't fully recovered, go out just like that.