Sitting in Rayla's room in the very early morning, Nekara calls in a strategy meeting.

  Looking like a military's instructing chef, she begins, “Alright you two, we have two big silver coins at our disposal to buy clothes for Rayla. We’ll need two sets of casual wear, one set of formal wear as well as winter clothes. For both the winter and casual wear clothing we’re looking for things that can both be worn on a job and in private, so elegance paired with functionality. Do you understand?”

  “Yes Ma’am!”

  “Yes Ma’am!”

  “Good. Make sure not to be fooled by flashiness. We need to get clothes that will last the next ten to twenty years and preferably survive being worn on the job. We’re looking for high quality materials. Now any questions or suggestions? Yes, Thoma.”

  “I can get us discounted silk if we need it.”

  “Really? That’s very good! With a discount on silk we’ll be able to have beautiful formal wear tailored for her. Anything else? Yes, Thoma again.”

  “Do we need all this strategizing for clothes? Rayla is very pretty so she should be fine with whatever she wears, right?”

  Blowing air out of her nose that makes her whiskers bounce, she answers, “There is no such thing as ‘Just clothes’. A young woman like Rayla needs to be clad in clothes befitting of her appearance, personality and occupation. The first thing people judge you on is your clothes, then your appearance, then your smell and lastly your personality. She needs to be able to show people the kind of person she is just from the clothes she’s wearing. If she can’t do that, she will have failed as a woman!”

  “I’m sorry for my ignorance, Miss Nekara!”

  “You are excused, soldier. Now, we’re about to enter the battlefield that is the cloth market. We will have to fight our ways through hordes of people there for the same purpose as us. I warn you it will not be easy. You need to especially watch out for old ladies, they’ll steal the fabric out of your hand and then pretend they were always the one carrying it. Stay vigilant at all times!”

  “Yes Ma’am!”

  “Yes Ma’am!”

  We then spend the entire day finding high quality cloth at great prizes as well as going to different tailors, having Rayla measured and getting designs drawn. Overall it will take about three days for her first set of clothes to be done and the rest will be finished over the next few weeks.

  Back at the Cat's den, Rayla rests her head against a wall,“Gaaah…Why is buying clothes more exhausting than going on a quest? Window shopping barely costs any energy but this…”

  “There were so many little grannies grabbing at the cloth I was carrying…I think I’m scared of old ladies now.”

  “Hahaha, you two are now battle hardened veterans. Come on, sit down, I’ll make you something nice.”

  “Ah…Finally, my legs.”

  As Rayla, rips her shoes and socks off to put her feet on a chair, I ask,

  “By the way Rayla.”

  “Huh?”

  “What do the six tails feel like? Is it confusing?”

  She leans props her head up on her arm while she thinks and her tails wiggle, “To be honest, right now I don’t really have any control over them. They just kinda do their own thing.”

  “They look so fluffy…Like a nice bed.”

  “Pfft, well from today on we can sleep next to each other again so you can tell me if they feel like one. Oh! Also, can you help me with taking care of my tails? It’s fine if it’s just one but with this many brushing them all thoroughly by myself will be a problem.”

  “Oh sure, I don’t mind helping you out with that.”

  “Thanks, you’re a lifesaver. It would probably take an hour every day if I did it by myself.”

  Sliding over two plates each, Nekara interrupts,

  “Alright, here you go. Freshly made seafood and salad.”

  “This looks great as always, Miss Nekara!” I say excitedly.

  “Aw man…Are we going back to healthy foods? I kinda miss the junk food.”

  “Don’t be rude Rayla! Miss Nekara’s cooking is great. She makes everything taste good!”

  “Daaaw, thank you Thoma. I’m doing this for your own good Rayla. It’s important to have a balanced diet where you get all the nutrition you need. Once you start traveling you will be on your own. Most of what I cook for you two is simple stuff that you can cook on your own even while traveling.”

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  Very interested, I ask, “Wait, so you have been cooking things we can use for our travels? Can you teach me Ms. Nekara?”

  “Sure, I doubt she’s going to cook so I’ll gladly teach you!”

  Over the next three days, while we wait for the clothes to be done, I inform the guild that we’ll be coming back and would like to go through the promotion interview and I also buy some silk from Mr. Kelly together with Miss Nekara. Miss Nekara also starts teaching me more about cooking and preserving food on travels.

  Then, on the fourth day, we go back to the guild together. Rayla is now wearing her new casual wear, a clean white blouse and green form fitting pants, her tails flowing behind her like an open fan.

  Waiting outside the guild's entrance, Rayla seems really excited as she puts her hands on my shoulders. Her tails almost look like an octopus the way they wag around.

  “Alright, we’re going to do it just like we practiced!”

  “Are you sure this is necessary, Rayla? You said you don’t want to marry anyone in the guild and the men on the street were already staring at you.”

  “True, but I only get one chance for a first impression! So we got to do this my way!”

  “Sigh Fine…”

  Entering the guild I loudly exclaim, “Oh? Who is that? Looks like a celebrity or a rich client.”

  Rayla then enters theatrically, “Ara? Oh my, don’t you recognize me Thoma? Did I really change that much?”

  “I’m sorry Miss, you must be one of the rich merchants’ daughters. Unfortunately I do not remember you.”

  Putting on a saddened expression and hiding her eyes under her arm she answers, “Oh Thoma…It’s me Rayla.”

  “Rayla!? Woah but you are so pretty and mature looking!”

  Klara the dwarven secretary then walks up to us, “Look guys, no one is looking and your acting stinks. The guys are way to xxx by the new Elf lady over there to care anyways.”

  “New Elf lady?”

  I quickly look over to the corner of the room where a half moon of lovestruck men has formed around a beautiful looking Wood Elf woman with dark green hair. She’s wearing expensive silk clothing similar to what a noble would wear and seems to flirt with Jason, the nice blue haired adventurer that taught me about boosts.

  “This isn’t right…”

  Rayla fletches her teeth, “Yeah, like why does she get all the attention!?”

  “No that’s not what I mean…”

  Determined, I walk up to their table and tell Jason, “Get away from her. This isn’t right.”

  “Woah, woah, come on Charcoal. I’m just having a nice conversation with her. I’m not forcing her into anything, I'm just inviting her for dinner.”

  “I know you’re not doing anything bad, but she is. She’s way too old for you.”

  Taking on a saddened expression the Elf says, “Oh my~ Now that is not very nice. It’s true that I am older than him but us Elves also mature slower than Humans.”

  “Shut up pedo granny.”

  “P-pedo? Excuse me!?”

  Putting his arm around me, Jason says, “Charcoal! You can’t say stuff like that. You hang out with the guildmaster a lot right? So you should know that it’s fine if she’s a few hundred years older. We’re both adults.”

  “Yeah but she’s not just a few hundred years old she’s probably a few tho-Mgh.”

  The Elf quickly puts her hand over my mouth, “Please, no more. Are you trying to hurt my feelings? Please excuse me gentlemen, I’m going to have a talk with this kid in private about his anti Elven prejudice.”

  She then drags me up to a quiet part of the stairs and whispers, “What the hell is your problem?”

  “My problem is that you’re ancient and flirting with humans that don’t know that.”

  Taking on an innocent expression, she answers, “What are you saying? I’m probably younger than your guildmaster.”

  “Pfft. Am I really supposed to believe that? You’re probably four times her age.”

  “Tsk Fine, even so, they’re adults and so am I. It's not illegal for me to have some fun.”

  “It might not be illegal but it’s immoral!”

  Taking two of her finger and letting them walk up my chest, she answers playfully, “Aw come on, what’s the problem with it if they want to have fun with me as well?”

  “The problem is that they wouldn’t, if they knew that you’re a pedo granny. Why don’t you go downstairs and tell them your real age and maturity level?”

  She shrugs and plays innocent, “Because it really isn’t necessary, it’s not like they can tell. If they don’t know they won’t care.”

  “I’m reporting you to Uli.”

  “Uli? Wait…Are you…”

  I then run up the stairs and try to enter her office but I get held back by the pedo granny,

  “W-wait a sec, we can talk about this, right?”

  “Let go of me! Uli! There is a-”

  She puts her hand over my mouth again and whispers, “Look let’s not involve the guildmaster, we wouldn’t want to-”

  “Wouldn’t want what?” Uli says angrily, staring at the both of us.

  “Oh…Haha, I was just telling this kid about- Ouch! You little twerp! You bit me!”

  “This pedo granny is trying to court the humans by lying about her age!”

  “Stop calling me that!”

  “Why should he? It seems like a fitting nickname for you, pedo granny.”

  “Aw come on Shara Seleen…I went all the way here because my precious student wanted someone to help teach her precious students magic and now I’m treated like some sort of criminal. Don’t you believe in justice? Right now it’s just word against word, isn’t one of the pillars of a just society the presumption of innocence?”

  Uli lets out a long sigh, “Rayla, you saw everything didn’t you?”

  “Yep, Thoma is in the right. I saw and heard everything. She even accused him of racism against Elves in front of everyone. Klara probably heard it as well.”

  Uli then gets a furious look on her face, “Don’t throw false allegations like this out lightly! Are you fucking dumb? It took us so long enough to be recognized as people again and you go around lessening the weight behind real racism against us!?”

  “I mean…To be fair, he just looks like a Human. How was I supposed to know if he actually knows what he’s talking about or if he just has anti demi-human opinions? It’s not like Humans can tell how old we are just from looking at us.”

  “Ah yes, the famous anti demi-human advocates that run around with their Beastfolk friend. We’re going downstairs now and you’re going to explain to the guild that you are a liar, that Thoma Ahad is not a racist and that you’re a pedo granny. Also, you are banned from any romantic activities with people in this guild. If you want to be a pervert then do it somewhere else!”

  Annoyed but ultimately carefree, the pedo granny answers, “Fine, fine…”

  Uli then starts dragging her downstairs but when she passes Rayla she stops for a second and with a smile says, “I’m sorry about the circumstances but I just wanted to say that you have grown into a very beautiful woman. I’m sure without her around, the men in the guild will be all over you.”

  “Eh…Thank you guildmaster.”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  She then goes back to dragging the pedo granny downstairs.