Author's note.
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All Characters in the story are 18 years of age and above...
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Chapter Thirty Two: Measurements...
"Ah, here we are," Zarra spoke up with a delighted smile even as the carriage they were in came to a stop.
As it turns out, the one that had been at the door when the blonde thief did her disappearing act, wasn't this woman. Instead, she had sent one of the younger manservants to deliver the clothes Greg would be wearing. Greg had smiled and thanked the man, all of which was politely acknowledged by him. Any attempt to get any information out of him about Zarra or her husband, however, was met with a wall of silence. The guy didn't become mad, annoyed, or hostile in any way, he just simply wouldn't speak. When Greg asked about anything else that didn't involve the family, the servant would politely answer, but anything even tangentially about the family, and he would turn silent as a statue. In the end, Greg had worn the clean clothes brought to him and allowed himself to be led to the front of the house where Zarra had been waiting for him by the carriage.
The carriage drew to a stop and Greg was first to alight. Moving around to the other side of the carriage, he pulled open the door for Zarra. Greg held out a hand to her which she received as she stepped down. Because they were in public, Zarra maintained a calm, elegant air, not showing much expression. Greg, however, could see the joy in her eyes and the slight color that tinged her cheeks. Apparently, while servants were expected to do most things for their employers, the idea of having one's door held open for them wasn't among the things expected of a servant. When Greg had suggested doing it for her, Zarra had been skeptical. Looking at her right now as she fought off a blush and a smile, trying her best to appear nonchalant, Greg knew that she liked it.
Fein's Finest Fabrics.
That's what the sign above the building read. The two of them walked into the building just in time to see a man of a tall and slender frame come out from the back office with a woman beside him. There was nothing lewd or raunchy about the scene. From what little glimpse Greg had caught of the room behind them, it was clear that they had been working. Behind them, an attendant came out and moved to join the two other attendants in the store. From the look of it, when the attendants had caught sight of their arrival, one of them had scurried off to inform the owner.
"Madam Zarra," The man called out with such delight you might have thought that she was his long-lost daughter. "To what does my shop owe the pleasure of your radiance this morning," he gushed. Greg had to give it to the guy, he had one slick tongue. Before they even knew what was going on, they had been ushered into a side room where Madam Zarra was urged to have a seat and given a few refreshments while Greg stood beside her as her manservant. Meanwhile, the man continued to keep the charm at eleven, every second statement rolling off with a casually inserted complement to Zarra. And from the way she was smiling, it was clear she was eating it up.
Despite the question being asked at the outset of the conversation, ten minutes of the two talking passed before Zarra got around to why they were there. By this time, Greg had picked up on a few things. The first is that the man was the owner of the store and the woman at his side was his wife. While he was the owner, they helped each other in the work. From their talk, Greg also learned that this store only served the highest echelons of society. As a result, the guy seemed to be aware of a lot of the on-goings in the noble circles. He didn't share anything that might harm anyone's reputation, but Greg could see in him the sharp look of someone that knew more than he was letting on.
The only flaw that Greg noticed about the man, was the slight air of snootiness about him. From the moment they'd stepped into the shop, he'd acted like Greg was completely invisible. Forget acknowledgment, the man had barely even glanced his way from the moment he stepped into the shop. In fact, the only time Greg had noticed his mask of geniality slip a little was when Zarra told him why they were there. Being the informed man that he was, the man knew about the dinner the Mayor was planning to have. He assumed that the woman had come in last minute for one of his dresses. When he learned that she instead wanted him to fashion a uniform for Greg, the man looked at Greg like he was a fly that had landed in his food. Part of Greg understood his thinking. One of his dresses being worn to the dinner party by the already attractive Zarra, would draw a lot of attention to his store. None of the nobles, however, would be bothered to learn where a servant got their uniform. Still, this didn't make the man any less of an asshole in Greg's mind.
Despite his displeasure, however, there was no way the tailor could decline Zarra's request without offending the merchant's wife. Given the stature of the one making the request, he also couldn't offload it to one of his attendants as it wouldn't show the due regard that Zarra commanded. As such, he did the next closest thing to ignoring Greg, he set his wife to the task. "Dear, would you be so kind as to take the young man's measurements?" The words were a question, but the tone of his voice made it quite clear that there wasn't really a choice to be had in the issue. And while the words employed were polite, there was none of the effusive warmth that he'd directed towards Zarra. Once the instructions were given, the man once again ignored Greg's very existence and continued to talk with Zarra
Despite his increasing dislike of the man, Greg smiled at the wife when it became clear that she would be the one he'd be working with. Much to Greg's surprise, there was a bright blush that spread across the woman's face at his gaze before she turned away and meekly indicated for him to follow. If the two beside them had been even a bit more attentive, they'd have noticed the odd reaction from the woman. They, however, were too absorbed in their talks to catch anything. Had this been the first time he'd seen this kind of reaction, Greg would have been confused. However, in the real world, Greg had just finished an event where most women had been giving him this very same look.
Greg had to exercise a lot of self-control to keep his expression natural and prevent his eyes from going wide. With the dungeon restricting the use of any of the external items Greg had come to rely on, he had simply assumed he had no powers to bring to bear in this arena. It now occurred to Greg that he might have become a bit over-reliant on magical items. How else could he have forgotten that not all the titles he had were dependent on the items? After cashing in his first feat of lust, Greg had bought the innate title of AROUSING from the system. The first rule had been quite clear that only innate abilities could be carried over into the dungeon. And given the fact that the title was attached to him directly and not through an item, this single title was still active even within the dungeon!