The Pseudo-Kunoichi from Another World (Part 17): The Lily-Scented Punishment

“Finally, we cracked that altar’s last secret…” Dan says as our party sits together at a table. “This ring turned out to be the key.”

It’s been some time since we returned from the dungeon and back to Port Sazan.

The first thing we did was punish Walter. I needed to set an example if I was to hire him in the future, after all (hahaha).¹

Then, we brought the model of the city back from the dungeon and took it to the Magic Guild for an appraisal. A week later, the report was ready, and Dan went to pick it and the model up on our behalf.

For delivering reports, claiming the rewards, and sorting through the spoils of battle, there is a popular bar in the city that adventurers like to use: the Lucky Beans. It was here that we listened to Dan’s findings.

“If you put on this ring and take the model off the altar, the trap won’t activate,” he said. “Seem it’s proof you’re the dungeon master. So, if you keep them both, you can freely open and close the dungeon from here on out.”

Dan laid out the model and the ring on the table before me.

“But to make a dungeon to conquer the city?” I said. “… It’s crazy and the seems like too much effort for the purpose.”

“You can’t expect that sort of sense from someone with crazy amounts of power to summon a greater demon, like Dowan,” Dean said.

“… And of course, there’s you who can recover other’s MP just by shaking hands,” Dan said.

“The two of you,” Nellie said. “Lady Shino is ‘outside the norm’ not ‘crazy’.”

Ah, Nellie, you’re my only ally… it didn’t matter if there was only a subtle difference between those two words.

“Let’s get back to business,” I said. “The quest was completed with the best possible results. In addition to exploring the dungeon to its lowest level, eliminating all threats, and getting a grasp on its systems… I give you both an S rating.”

“Well, the monster-slaying was mostly thanks to you, Ms. Shino,” Dan said.

“Yes, I was keenly aware of how much more training I require,” Dean said. “I’m ashamed to call myself a Holy Knight now.”

“No, no, don’t talk like that,” I said. “I wouldn’t have been able to find the hidden doors and staircases with Dan, and Dean’s Holy Knight skills let everyone return home alive. And if Nellie hadn’t shot that greater demon in the back, I would have had a harder time fighting him.”

“… Huh, since you value our work that highly, and with the greater demon included, what’ll you say is our reward?” Dan asked.

“I think 10 gold coins per person including additional rewards are appropriate,” I said.

Dan whistled.

“That’s…” Dean muttered. “Ms. Shino, are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” I said. “I believe the dungeon model and the magic circle control key are worth the extra 2 gold coins.”

“… In that case, thank you,” Dan said.

My remaining balance is about 70 gold coins.

“Now, that quest rewards have been given out…” I said. “What about the loot?”

“To sum it all up,” Dan says, “we found 20 silver coins, 1 small heal potion, 5 medium heal potions, 5 magic gems (small size), 6 magic gems (medium size), 9 skill scrolls, and the Greater Demon’s magic gem (extra large size)… I’m satisfied with the reward earlier, so I’ll leave distribution up to you.”

That seems about right for our loot. I briefly wondered if there would have been serious problems if anyone felt they didn’t get a fair cut in our party.

“Hmm… can I get 7 of the skill scrolls and the Great Demon’s magic gem?” I asked.

“Seven of them?” Dan said. “We don’t mind but… are you sure about that?”

“Yeah, the magic gem is huge and it might even be a little too much for me,” I said. “Also, if you’d like, I can put skills on the other two scrolls—what would you like?”

“… Ah, I appreciate the thought, but those are Master Level scrolls,” Dan said. “Only those who’ve reached level 50 can imbue them with skills.”

“Yes, so as I was saying…” I reply.

“… Eh…?” Dean mumbles. “Ms. Shino… are you saying that you’re… level 50?”

“… Or, at least you’re at a level where you can use it anyway?” Dan asks.

They weren’t wrong in both cases. I was Level 85… no, 86, actually, after the battle against the Greater Demon.

“Huh, alright, in that case…” Dan said. “I’d be grateful to receive a skill… but what are you giving us, exactly?”

“Huh, maybe I should limit it to combat skills?” I offer. “My crafting skills have this, ah, tendency to destroy this world’s economy in a lot of ways.”

It’s mostly because I’ve raised its level so high, but if I pass the skill on, it’ll probably happen sooner or later.

“This world…?” Dan muttered. “Don’t know what you’re talking about, exactly, but sure: what kind of combat skills do you have?”

“It’s better if I show you,” I said as I activated my guild card and moved to the skills page. “Ah, but could you please look only at the skill page?”

“We will,” Dan and Dean said.

I don’t want them to know for sure that I’m above level 50.

“There’s a lot of them, though, so it might take a while,” I warned.

“How many of them do you have, exactly?” Dan said as he read my skills page. “… Oh, it’s going onto the next page… and the next… o-oi, how many pages are there, exactly?!”

“What is this…” Dean mutters as he looks in from the side. “It’s a masterpiece… even if you told us to choose from this…”

Since Sengoku Online was an older MMORPG, the client has been updated many times, with the number of skills going up alongside the version number.

“Oh, I can’t sort through this within a day…” Dan mutters. “Ms. Shino, could you recommend something for me?”

“Hmm…” I hum. “How about [Life-steal Blade]? 20% of your physical damage to opponents will be given to you as HP. The MP cost is decent and it can be used with a crossbow.”

“Oh! That sounds nice… it’ll help me keep on dealing while there’s no healing,” Dan said.

I smiled at Dan’s little rhyme. “As for Dean… you should get [Recuperate]. If you use it before a battle, you can heal your HP little by little for about 10 minutes. You could also use it during downtime when you’re eavesdropping on the enemy or the others are also healing.”

“Ms. Shino…” Dean says, looking so happy he’s about to cry. “That you’d go so far to choose the right skill for me…!”

“If you two don’t have any complaints, let’s get right to it,” I said as I lay the two scrolls out on the table. “… Uh, how do I do this, exactly?”

Silly me for not thinking this through that far.

“Ah, right…” Dan said. “From what the Magic Guild told me, you should hold the scroll and think about the details of the skill, which will infuse it with magic power.”

“Understood.”

Sounds easy enough. It’s normal for ninjas to deal with scrolls like this, anyway.

I take one and let my magic flow into it while thinking of the concept of “Death and Killing”. … Ah… the white scroll is gradually turning pale blue… did it work? In the same way, I took the other one and thought of “Healing”… this one ended up turning light green.

“I think I did it correctly,” I said as I handed it to them. “Do you want to try it now?”

“Oh, don’t mind if I do,” Dan said as he excitedly opened his.

“Since you asked so nicely,” Dean said, just as excited.

The scrolls glow their respective colours, the light disappearing into their respective readers.

“Hmm, oh?” Dan says as he looks at his guild card. “Yep, it seems like it worked, new skill ready to go here.”

“To think I have something like this now…” Dean mutters.

“It was a real pleasure to work with you, Ms. Shino,” Dan said. “This skill is a reward in itself, for adventures like us.”

“Yes, please feel free to ask for my assistance again,” Dean said. “I am available for you any time you desire… My Lady.”

“Mm, it’s been a pleasure as well,” I said. “I hope we can have another adventure in the future.”

It was starting to get crowded; as a popular bar, the Lucky Beans also served lunch. Well, we were already here, so, “Let’s make this something to remember—let’s have a victory feast!” I said.

The mood gets livelier as the others clap.

“Ah, this is great,” Dan said. “I feel like drinking as much as I can.”

“Then let’s order…” I said, scanning around the bar. “Oh, Miss, the one with the red hair? We’d like to order please!”

A beautiful girl of about 13-14 with bright eyes and shoulder-length red hair comes to our table. She’s wearing something like an orange mini-skirt, quite unusual in this world.

“Oh, I’ve never seen you before…” Dan says, looking down and away. “Welcome to the Lucky Beans, little lady.”

It wasn’t that he found her unattractive, it was more like a courtesy you extended with your sister or daughter.

The red-haired waitress started acting suspiciously at that. “R-Right away… so, what’ll you have?”

“Oh, no, I’m not ordering,” I said quietly. “Just reminding you that you’ll lose your salary if you disobey me again, Valorie.”

“Yes, you wasted money, broke a promise, and above all, you put Lady Shino’s life at risk…” Nellie added, her cold eyes terrifying Valorie again. “Please, do your best to earn it all back.”

As you might have already guessed, this beautiful girl is Walter after I used my [Disguise] skill on her. If you were the victim of it, you wouldn’t be able to break the spell unless your mental strength was superior to the caster. And since mine is 1.8 times that of hers…

… Well, she wasn’t turning back to normal anytime soon, that’s for sure.

The other patrons around us notice Valorie and speak up.

“Hey, isn’t she that girl from before?”

“Ah, she looks so cute again… ah, no, she always looks cute.”

“Fufufu…” I hum. “That’s right, that’s right, and it’s all because of my hard work. Especially that uniform.”

The apron is tied just underneath the chest to emphasize the breasts along with cute orange ruffles. I suppose you could say I just iterated on Anna Miller’s uniform.² Additionally, though the skill’s name is [Disguise], it’s a magic spell that consumes MP, so I suppose a better name would have been [Transform].

Valorie’s face is almost untouched, but her figure is much more feminine and her chest is also real (for the most part).

I took her to the Lucky Beans in this uniform for a part-time interview, she got hired immediately, and after making a huge impact on her first day, the daytime patrons coming just for her became almost overwhelming.

It seemed they couldn’t resist the promise of a beautiful girl wearing a maid uniform of luxurious material (with a miniskirt and features to emphasize the chest) entertaining you.

Valorie was very aggressive and harsh on her first day of the part-time job, which ended up turning into gap moe³ because of her elegant appearance, which unfortunately resulted in her getting sexually harassed.

Now, however, if you behave as much as possible, in time, a beautiful girl in pretty clothes will serve you—and the men were certainly willing to wait.

Seems Valorie was making moe culture bloom with the men of Falyias, who hadn’t imagined such a concept until now.

“M-Ms. Shino, please set me free already…” Valorie whispers.

“Wee-ee-lll… it has been a week and nobody seems to have found out yet,” I muttered. “Alright, as promised, I’ll dispel it.”

“But it’s such a waste,” Nellie said. “You’re so popular, and women’s clothes look great on you.”

“No, please, Big Sis Nellie…” Valorie whispers. “My manhood is on death’s door, here.”

“Hmm… is that because you looked at your boobs and suddenly got a nose bleed…?” Nellie hums.

“Waaa…!” Valorie screams at the top of her lungs, trying to shut Nellie up. “Waa…! Waaa…!”

… Oh, come on, something this good happened? Why didn’t she call me then?

“Alright, for now, just take our order,” I said. “I’ll dispel it at the inn later tonight, okay?”

“Please do so, Ms. Shino…” Valorie whispers. “I swear I’ve reflected on my mistakes.”

“Fufu, focus on safely making it to the end of your shift right now,” I said. “So, let’s start with three mugs of ale and an orange juice, an order of fried chicken, plus some meat-and-veggie stir-fry on the side…”

Male patrons around us stare in jealousy as we chat with Valorie so casually.

“Oi, oi, who are those guys? It’s so easy for them to get our Val’s attention!”

“Val’s usual ice-cold smile is so soft, too.”

“… That beautiful woman in black, with the simple but fine clothes… maybe she’s a fallen noble that Valorie used to work for?!”

Seems they were coming to their own crazy conclusions about my relationship with Valorie.

“… Is something wrong?” Valorie asked.

“Hohohoho…” I said, smiling, “I would have helped you as much as I could if you’d only accepted my love like a good girl… you know you didn’t have to run away this far, don’t you?”

“Ah, if only the heavens would allow two women to freely be together…” Nellie laments.

“What are you talking about?” I say to her. “Isn’t my love true? The heavens would forgive me then.”

“Oh… my Lady…” Nellie swoons.

What a dramatic development!

“Yuri! It’s Yuri Moe…!”⁴

“I’m sure it’s mutual…!”

“It feels so nice just to watch over them…”

“Agreed!”

Shout a little louder and I’m sure we’ll hear you, gentlemen.

“… Please, set me free…” Valorie says, looking pitiful. “I’m about to hit my limit here…”

It seems she heard them just fine.

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After Valorie stopped working at the Lucky Beans, her uniform was spread among the populace as a “style for restaurant waitresses, as designed by Countess Anna Millers.” It ended up being a major trend here in Port Sazan.

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1. The original text used the Japanese version of “lol”: 笑 
2. A chain restaurant in Hawaii and Japan, famous for its uniforms. See picture example below.
3. Moe roughly means “Cute and Precious” and generally refers to themes and series that focus on being as sugary sweet, fluffy, and adorable as can be. Gap Moe is a concept where a cute character does unexpectedly harsh and un-cute things, or vice-versa. The dissonance between appearance and action is found to be amusing or adorable in their own ways.
4. Same as above, except specifically for romantic interactions between females.

An Anna Miller’s waitress in uniform.

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