[Nightmare]

"Let's stop here." Helix smiled.

"Here? There's nothing here." Marie asked in confusion.

The four were walking around the city.

Contrary to expectation, Helix led the three down an unpopulated alleyway away from the shops.

He was currently standing in front of a wall.

Helix gave her a slight smile.

"The tapestry is pretty thick, so don't release it until you've entered." He warned.

The women looked at him in bewilderment as he turned around.

Helix pulled out a small disc from his pocket with his left hand and grabbed the wall.

The wall rippled and pulled away like a tapestry to the three's shock.

It was the most bizarre, alternate-dimension-esque scene they had ever experienced.

"Come in. Samma will be displeased if I remove the magic barrier." He chuckled.

The three nodded in a haze and walked into the blackness.

When they stepped through the area, their eyes sparkled.

"Is this…." Marie gasped.

"That's right." Helix smiled.

"Don't you know it's not good to spoil your girlfriends?

You'll only obtain our wrath if you buy more and treat less." Charlotte warned.

"Are you saying that you want to leave?" Helix chuckled.

"Hell no!" She replied and walked forward.

"Keep it down, please. If you—"

"Hmmm? You got a deathwish or something, boy?" An older woman barked.

Marie, Charlotte, and Riley froze.

"No, Ms. Samma. I assure you that I'm not walking my girlfriends into certain death." Helix sighed.

Samma frowned.

She was wearing a stylish, luxurious purple dress.

Her eyes locked onto each of the women that entered the room.

"So these are the ones, boy?" Samma asked with a suspicious gaze.

If you're cheating and I find out about it, I'll make it impossible for you to cheat again."

Helix shuttered.

"Ms. Samma. Since we met, these are the only girlfriends I've been talking to you about." He sighed.

"My name is Marie. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Samma." Marie curtsied with her light yellow sundress.

"Charlotte. Nice to meet you!" Charlotte followed.

"My name Riley, Ms. Samma." Riley added quietly.

Samma eyed Marie up and down.

"I see… you're the one he's always talked about…." She muttered.

Charlotte glared at him, prompting him to put his hands up in surrender.

"Hah. Don't worry, girl. He talks about all of you." Samma chuckled.

"It's better to say I'm the person always asking about Marie."

Marie's eyes widened with confusion.

The other two glided their eyes between Helix and Marie in confusion.

"Haaaaaah. You didn't even tell them about me?" Samma chuckled in disbelief.

"I get surprises, but that's pure recklessness."

"I'm told that I'm an idiot more often than I'm told I'm sensible." Helix chuckled while scratching his cheek awkwardly.

Samma sighed in defeat.

"Okay, okay. Come in, girls. Welcome to Samma's Exotic Fashion Bizzare.

Let's get you dressed up."

Their eyes started sparkling in confusion and awe.

The three were in a room the size of a mid-sized shop on earth.

It was lined with clothing of every description and color.

Helix sighed and found a chair while Samma hauled them away.

Samma led the three into a small room in the back of the store.

"Wait…." Charlotte gasped with wide eyes.

"No way… how…." Marie whispered.

"Hoho. It seems that your boy toy wasn't lying after all." Samma chuckled.

"Putting said the term [boy toy]...." Marie grumbled.

"What… do you mean?"

Samma gave Charlotte a mocking glance, then averted her gaze.

"He wasn't lying when he said that these were clothing designs found on earth." She chuckled.

The room was lined with clothing styles from [earth].

There were dresses with spaghetti straps, v-necks, short shorts, cardigans, suits, ties, and various forms of underwear.

"Well, yeah… oh, I guess you wouldn't be able to confirm that. Would you?" Charlotte asked.

Samma nodded.

"Ms. Samma? Why are all of these clothes here?" Riley asked quietly.

"Oh, that. As part of Helix's training in drawing magic circles, Tilo has Helix draw as training." Samma explained.

"Helix always drew you three, and Tilo got annoyed.

But then he had an idea. He sought me out and asked if I'd like to buy clothing designs from another planet." She chuckled.

Marie, Charlotte, and Riley's eyes went wide.

"I told him to get the hell out of my shop." Samma laughed.

"But he showed me some drawings of you and others, and it intrigued me."

"He better not have drawn us with cosplay!" Charlotte huffed.

The other two giggled.

"Cosplay?" Samma asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Shhhhh! Charlotte. What have you done!?" Marie cried under her breath.

Charlotte put her hands up in surrender.

"But Marie, what if Helix likes cosplay?" Riley asked.

The other two looked at her with awkward confusion.

On second thought, it wouldn't be so bad to introduce cosplay if it made him happy.

That's the thought going through their mind.

Charlotte sighed.

"Ms. Samma… has Helix drawn frilly maid's dresses or anything… unhuman before?" She asked.

"Hmmm. Not really. Oh! There is one exception.

He's modest about what he's willing to design.

I've often had to bargain with him.

That's why this stands out." Samma replied while leading them to the back.

"Hahahaha! Haha! Hah! Hahaha!" Charlotte howled.

"I didn't know that Helix liked…."

"How much! How much, Samma!? Hahaha." Charlotte cried while wiping tears from her eyes.

"I feel obligated to treat you, women. However, these are difficult to make and not for sale yet…." Samma replied with confused eyes.

"But since you're why I have them, I'd part with one Alzerian gold coin each."

All three women opened their interfaces, and gold coins started dropping out of thin air.

"We want every pair you're willing to part with."

The older woman's light brown eyes stared at the gold coins in disbelief.

She knew about the item storage that the Knights had because of Helix.

However, the young man was broke when she met him, so it was confusing how rich his girlfriends were.

She examined the gold coins on the ground and verified their authenticity.

"Do… you think I should make a large quantity of these?" Samma asked with wide eyes.

The women giggled.

"I doubt it will become a hot trend.

However, some people would pay a [fortune] for these.

If you part with these, I'll send you the coordinates to a group of men in Alzeria that would pay ten gold coins a pop." Charlotte grinned.

Samma looked at Charlotte with bewilderment in her eyes.

"I-I see… you're not joking about those numbers?" She stuttered.

"Put them up for auction, and you'll get at least twenty." Marie giggled.

"If you only send ten, I wouldn't be surprised if it's fifty." Riley added with a serious expression.

"F-Fifty!?" Samma cried.

"We're not lyin' to ya, lady." Charlotte shrugged.

"We're talking about loaded nobles with nothing to spend their money on.

As long as those thirty-something lunatics are still there in a couple of months, we'll help you make a fortune."

Samma's eyes went wide.

"We are staying here for the next month.

We really can help you if you want." Marie suggested.

"You would?" Samma asked with shock in her eyes.

"If you send a merchant with us… I can't see how it would hurt." Riley commented.

"Oh my… well, in that case, please look around."

The young women shopped through Earthian clothing for a couple of hours.

Samma didn't sell her clothing to very many people.

However, when she did, she took good care of them.

"Alright, ladies. I'll be tailoring these items.

Please come back in a week." Samma announced with a smile.

The young women nodded.

"How much do we owe you?" Marie asked hesitantly.

She could tell that everything in the store was pricey.

Samma chuckled when she saw their hesitant eyes.

"In exchange for Helix designing more personal items, I agreed to treat you all to clothing.

That boy will do just about anything if your names come up." She smiled.

"So everything you've picked out is yours, free of charge.

Rather, he already paid for it a long time ago."

The eyes of the young women lit up and sparkled after hearing those words.

"Alright. Off you go. Enjoy your date.

I'm sure you're just as excited as he is."

"Thank you, Ms. Samma!"

"Thank you!"

"I can't wait to see you again!"

The three walked out of the magic entrance with sparkling eyes.

Helix chuckled and walked after them with a warm gaze.

Later that night, he found himself waiting outside of their bedroom by request.

"You can come in!" Charlotte called out.

Helix walked into the bedroom with suspicion in his eyes.

"Where are you?" He asked.

The bedroom was empty.

"We're in the changing room.

Just get ready for bed, and we'll do the same." Marie called out.

Helix shrugged his shoulders and prepared for bed.

The group had gone to a hot spring earlier that day, so he was clean.

So he stripped off his white v-neck shirt and black pants before jumping onto the bed.

After last night, he wasn't as shy about his body anymore.

As if by cue, the dressing door opened.

"Uh… no…." Helix uttered.

His entire face flushed red with embarrassment.

However, no matter how much he wanted to cover his face with shame, his body wouldn't let him.

"What do you think, Hellie? Are we puuuuurrrfect?" Charlotte purred deviously.

"I… do… you think I'm cute, Helix?" Marie asked with a blushing face.

"You're supposed to end your sentence with [nya]! Or [meow[!

What type of failed female otaku are you?" Charlotte chastised.

"Wait… aren't you supposed to combine the words?" Riley asked.

"I thought you were supposed to enunciate the words with your meeeeouth, like this."

Helix stared at the three with a truly pitiful expression.

"You're supposed to warn me…. If this were a light novel, I'd be coughing out six pints of blood and dying of blood loss right now…." He replied.

A young woman's palm pressed against the bed.

"Are you complaining, nya?" Charlotte asked.

She wore a pair of cat ears Samma made from some of their drawings.

Hers were bright pink and perfectly matched her pink glasses.

They had white fur on the inside and were egregiously cute.

"No. I'm not. I'm just—"

He couldn't keep his attention.

The other women were crawling to the floor on their hands and knees.

Each was wearing only their bras and panties.

"You do like this, right? Um… meow?" Marie asked shyly.

Marie had dark brown ears with red and white highlights.

They were the ears that he designed for her specifically.

"I feel like you three have opened my closet of embarrassing secrets and then cosplayed what you found inside.

But… I'm absolutely in love."

Riley blushed with a happy expression.

She was wearing bright white cat ears with black and white fur lining.

Helix grabbed Charlotte's hand and pulled her body on top of his.

This was the last night before their teachers unleashed hell upon their lives.

Therefore, he resolved to make the most of the night.