Chapter 40 A Moment of Respite

Once Cleo left the inn. Valerie tries to start a conversation with Leah since they rarely talk with each other even though they were together for weeks now. She finds the situation awkward since unlike Cleo, Leah does not have a way with her words unless she's talking to Cleo.

"If you don't mind me asking. Where did you guys came from before the Crestfallen Guild?" asked by Valerie trying to break the silence.

"Not here." replied by Leah with a straight face.

"I-I see" says by Valerie with an awkward smile. "So how did you meet Cleo?" she added trying to keep the conversation flowing.

"Naturally." replied by Leah with a straight face.

"Oh yeah right. So who approach who first?" followed by Valerie, still trying to salvage the conversation.

"I stalked him." nonchalantly replied by Leah.

"That's romantic in its own way, I guess?" replied by Valerie. "H-how about we visit the store here?" she added, finally giving up to make the conversation flow.

"No." replied by Leah.

"Come on live a little. We can go to that dress shop I saw yesterday. You can wear it on the auction day and surprise Cleo." says by Valerie. She also wants to stay in the inn however holing herself up make her think more of the past. She wants another form of distraction since she doesn't have anymore business in this town and they can't leave before the auction starts.

Leah hesitated at first however the offer is too tempting and the bland novice gear didn't help as well. After pondering for a few minutes she reluctantly agree with Valerie's proposal. They both leave the inn towards the same destination but different reasons.

Venundarr is a huge city, the roads are more developed here compare to Crestfallen Town. The population is almost quadrupled as well and the diversity is more profound. Most of the Orcs do the manual labor like carpentry and escort duties, Elves mostly prefer indoor making them the perfect manager for an Inn, Dwarves focus more on blacksmithing or ale supplier. Humans that reside in this city are mostly adventurers, the lucky few who manage to established a business here chose to focus on alchemy.

After an hour of walking and sight seeing the pair arrive at their destination. Its a boutique shop that looks luxurious. Instead of walls the front of the shop is covered by glass walls to showcase their products. The glass alone is enough proof that the owner valued aesthetic over cost efficiency since glass is an expensive material in this world, most of the residential and commercial building in this world doesn't have glass in their windows.

In front of the boutique shop, a handsome young man stand tall. This also enforce the manager's priority considering they prioritize the looks instead of the efficiency of an Orc guard. The pair are welcome by the handsome young man by opening the door and making a bowing gesture.

Valerie blushed a little by his gesture while Leah just looks at the young man disdainfully. The handsome young man notice this however he is a professional and just replied with a genuine smile.

The pair enters the boutique shop they were then greeted by an alluring mature woman who wore an azure one piece dress that has a slit to showcase her enchanting thigh. She has a beauty mark below her right eye enhancing her charm.

Valerie blushed once again however this time its more noticeable. This is the first time she saw a beauty of this caliber. Valerie's looks cannot be scoff at either however she chose to prioritize training and the missing eye doesn't help her case as well. She didn't regret her choice but deep down in her heart she is a woman as well.

"How may I help our pretty ladies." greeted by the alluring woman with a welcoming tone.

"W-we want to buy clothes." says by Valerie with a nervous tone.

The alluring woman heard her tone and tries to ease the tension. She lead the two to different aisles the contains a variety of clothes ranging from a simple tunic to a more luxurious that was embedded by gemstones and to some mannequins that displays elegant dress.

They spent almost an hour getting dragged by the alluring woman and forcing them to try different apparel. Valerie hesitates at first to buy a dress since this is her first time wearing such an elegant looking clothes however since she's the one that made this plan she resigned and bought one.

Leah on the other hand is more enthusiastic, its a stark contrast on how she was acting back at the inn. The thought of Cleo's reaction to her dress motivates her. She decided to choose a dress that enhances her behind rather than her bleak future. She also bought a set of suits for Cleo to match her attire in the upcoming auction.

After splurging a decent amount of gold coins for their attires the pair depart the premise, leaving a satisfied shop owner. They avoid buying expensive jewelries for now since they have no idea how expensive the slotted armor in the auction house will be.

"Thank you Leah. I needed this. How about we go eat dinner together?" says by Valerie with a cheerful tone. She didn't care about the dress she brought but the solace of their shopping provided.

"Sure." replied by Leah. The reply is still dry however unlike before she has a much more relaxed expression.

The pair decided to eat in a luxurious restaurant as well to finish the day on a high note. They enjoy a steak, Valerie likes her steak well done while Leah opts for medium rare since she's more use to this in her previous world.

After enjoying the dinner the pair return to their respective room. This is a good distraction for Valerie and a good change for once ever since she was framed. This is almost a perfect day for Leah as well if she's with Cleo instead of Valerie.