Ch.361[Episode 361] Interlude

Sir Dominic joined Heroes of the Secret with a skin.

Of course, he wasn’t going to start right away.

“I don’t know the exact schedule yet. But it will probably be around next week.”

Francisco said this as he handed Sir Dominic a skin exchange voucher.

“Let me know when it’s confirmed.”

“I will.”

After telling Francisco to contact him when the schedule was set, Sir Dominic went back out to the alley.

The stone wall that had been open until just now closed again as if it had never been open, and the alley became a dead end once more.

“I may have been a bit hasty.”

Sir Dominic said this while looking at the skin exchange voucher in his hand.

After staring at the voucher for a moment, Sir Dominic put it in his inventory and started walking.

Toward the store where he usually bought T-shirts.

…

Sir Dominic bought a rather comfortable tunic at a casual clothing store.

He wasn’t sure why a casual clothing store would sell tunics, but it was a cool blue tunic that made his mind feel refreshed.

“Now I can finally use this as casual wear.”

Sir Dominic said this and immediately changed into the skin.

Though it was somewhat plain due to its not-so-high tier, it was a skin that suited Sir Dominic well.

In fact, Sir Dominic had been in a kind of dilemma since creating his skin last time.

This was a problem that arose because Sir Dominic’s mythical tier skin turned out too well.

To put it metaphorically, it felt like wearing a formal suit as casual wear.

You could wear it in formal settings and in everyday life, but it felt a bit excessive.

That’s why Sir Dominic wanted clothes like sportswear that he could wear quite casually.

That was the context in which Sir Dominic wanted the skin exchange voucher.

“Now I feel more at ease.”

Sir Dominic felt comfortable with the soft fabric touching his skin.

All the skins he had worn until now had been so full of power that he was feeling a sense of security in this relatively shabby clothing.

Like the comfort of lying on the floor at home wearing a stretched-out T-shirt and feeling the breeze from a fan!

Having obtained such a useful casual outfit, Sir Dominic returned home.

Since he had visited the Shepherd Johan Expedition Clan headquarters too early in the morning, it wasn’t even lunchtime yet.

If he walked a little faster, he could eat at home.

It would be fine to eat out today, but in this comfortable mood, he wanted to eat comfortable home-cooked food.

…

“I’m back.”

Sir Dominic announced his return out of habit when he got home.

But there was no one at home.

Come to think of it, hadn’t Sir Dominica also said she was going to sign a contract with the Eastern Union today?

It seemed the contract hadn’t been completed yet.

Realizing this, Sir Dominic went straight to the kitchen and washed his hands at the sink.

Then he took out various ingredients from the refrigerator and started preparing them.

This is indeed comfortable, Sir Dominic said, satisfied with his new skin.

Think about it. Cooking like this while wearing a mythical tier skin.

No matter how you look at it, it would be nothing but awkward.

Sir Dominic thought this as he started preparing onions and garlic.

There was some meat left, so he planned to stir-fry it all at once to make a meat stir-fry.

Sir Dominic fried the onions until they were mushy.

Sir Dominic liked onions cooked until they were soft and mushy.

Sir Dominica, on the contrary, liked onions that retained their crunchiness.

Frying onions like this wouldn’t be to Sir Dominica’s liking, but what could he do?

Sir Dominic was the one cooking now.

Sir Dominic placed the meat stir-fry on a plate and put it on the table.

Then he placed the bread he had just cut in half on the pan with a little oil left in it.

The result was a delicious toasted bread, moist with oil yet warm.

Sir Dominic put the meat stir-fry between the bread and took a bite.

The soft bread and meat, along with the onions and garlic, blended smoothly in his mouth.

It might have been a bit dry, but the fat from the meat and the bread soaked in that fat made it more easy to swallow than dry.

Cooking the onions until they were mushy was the right choice.

If he had preserved the crunchiness of the onions, they would have remained in his mouth even as the bread and meat went down his throat, losing the balance of flavors.

After putting the last bite in his mouth, Sir Dominic started toasting a new piece of bread.

One wasn’t quite enough.

“I’m back.”

Just then, Sir Dominica returned.

“Your clothes changed? So you did get a skin?”

Sir Dominica immediately noticed that Sir Dominic’s clothes had changed.

“It looks quite comfortable. Seems like you got a good one.”

Sir Dominic nodded at Sir Dominica’s words.

Even Sir Dominic himself thought this outfit was really comfortable and nice.

Sir Dominic was secretly pleased with the blue tunic.

“By the way, did the contract go well?”

“Ah, yes. But what’s this smell? Did you cook meat?”

Sir Dominica answered with a somewhat uncomfortable expression.

As if trying to avoid a detailed explanation, Sir Dominica showed interest in the meat stir-fry Sir Dominic had made.

But soon she frowned at the sight of the mushy fried onions.

“Is this your protest against my usual light frying of onions?”

“Well, there is that.”

Sir Dominic said this as he placed another halved bread on the pan.

Seeing her interest in the food, it seemed Sir Dominica was hungry.

Sir Dominic again put the meat stir-fry between the bread and handed it to Sir Dominica.

“Would you like one?”

“It looks good this way. Thanks, I’ll enjoy it.”

Sir Dominica took the meat bread from Sir Dominic and took a bite.

It was a simple but quite pleasing taste.

Except for the onions.

“It would have been better if the onions had more crunch.”

That was Sir Dominica’s critique.

Sir Dominic shook his head at Sir Dominica’s words.

As if he simply couldn’t understand.

But Sir Dominic didn’t voice these thoughts.

Instead, he asked Sir Dominica about the contract with the Eastern Union.

“Are you also participating in Heroes of the Secret?”

“Yes. They want me to go with the concept of a knight from the West who came to observe Eastern swordsmanship.”

“Concept?”

Sir Dominic tilted his head at Sir Dominica’s words.

Francisco from the Shepherd Johan Expedition hadn’t mentioned anything about that.

“It’s a mode, after all. So the concept seems to be quite free. Remember Unchant? Or was it Enchant? Anyway, the game where we first appeared as playable characters.”

“Ah.”

Sir Dominic immediately understood what Sir Dominica meant by concept.

Back then, hadn’t Sir Dominic become a game character with the concept of a pirate knight?

It seemed this was similar.

“I see. By the way, what skin did you receive?”

Sir Dominic nodded in agreement with Sir Dominica’s words, then suddenly realized that Sir Dominica hadn’t changed at all.

“Ah, well…”

Sir Dominica trailed off vaguely.

She seemed reluctant to talk about the skin.

“If it’s alright, could you show me?”

“It’s not alright.”

Sir Dominica cut off Sir Dominic’s words.

It seemed Sir Dominica really didn’t want to show the skin.

Sir Dominic shrugged at Sir Dominica’s response.

“Well, alright. I was just curious.”

Sir Dominic said this and took another bite of his bread with meat.

It had cooled a bit, but it was still tasty.

Seeing this, Sir Dominica let out a deep sigh.

Come to think of it, Sir Dominic would notice the existence of the skin in about a week anyway.

According to the contract Sir Dominica had signed, she had to participate wearing that skin.

This was largely influenced by Tsuki’s wishes, who admired Sir Dominica.

“Well, I’ll have to show it next week anyway, so it doesn’t make a difference if I show it now.”

Sir Dominica said this and changed into the skin.

“Here.”

Sir Dominic looked at Sir Dominica and almost choked on his bread.

That’s how shocking Sir Dominica’s outfit was.

“…Does this match the Eastern Union’s concept?”

Sir Dominic asked Sir Dominica with a puzzled expression.

“I don’t know. But they said someone strongly insisted on it…”

Sir Dominica trailed off.

“Well, in a way it might suit you, but… but… that…”

Sir Dominic seemed so shocked that he could barely speak properly.

What kind of skin had Sir Dominica received that even surprised Sir Dominic?

…

“So this is Gachaland.”

Gachaland train station.

A woman got off the train there carrying a huge bag.

She had quite distinctive white hair, and overall she was quite a slender beauty.

“The report definitely said it was here…”

The woman looked around the prosperous Gachaland and recalled someone’s face.

Brown hair.

An emerald-colored single eye.

A bright smile.

Just from this much, you all will recognize.

The person she was thinking of was none other than—

“Wait for me, Sir Dominic.”

It was Sir Dominic.