AN: A short summer side story.
How is everyone spending their time?
Are you enjoying the summer?
Just like with the Christmas one, I wrote this on impulse.
Please understand that I ignored the timeline and finer details, and just ran wild with it.
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The season was… summer, or at least it might have been. The sun blazed down relentlessly, making the days hot, suffocating, and unbearable.
On one such day, both Hayato’s group and Makoto’s group happened to be coming to Einzheil, so I invited them over. With the house having grown bigger, we decided they would stay for several nights.
Some drank tea in the living room, others trained together in the yard, while some formed temporary teams and went on quests. Everyone spent their time freely.
Meanwhile, we sat together in a pitch-black basement, the lights turned off, with a single candle burning in the middle between us.
「So… how goes the plan?」
「Yeah! Progressing without issue」
「I see… well done. May our glory shine upon the world!」
「Yeah! May our glory shine upon the world!」
Shuba! We tapped both hands to our chests, spun around, and struck a pose together, Makoto and I.
「…ano, what exactly is that?」
「What, don’t be such a killjoy. Didn’t you see it? ‘Strategy no Zuzu’!」
「Ah, the anime? I’ve heard of it, but… I never actually watched it. Club activities always clashed with the time slot」
What… he hasn’t seen that masterpiece anime?
Sure, it was aired on weekday evenings, but after a friend recommended it, I got hooked and never once missed setting up my recordings.
「Well, if you don’t know it, it can’t be helped. Anyway, how’s it actually going?」
「Smoothly. Look here」
Hayato said that as he pulled something out and placed it on the table. It was a piece of cloth… no, leather.
「Oh. So this is… the one」
「You’re still going with that? Yes. This is the hide of a Water Dragon Lizard (Seadran). It was more like a dragon imitation, but fighting it near water was troublesome… especially since he refused to cooperate at all」
「What are you talking about! You’re the one who kept getting in my way!」
「Right tool for the right job. If you’d blocked the first strike properly, it would’ve been over quickly…」
「Hey now, enough fighting. We’re comrades here, bound by the same cause, right? And besides, we got our hands on the goods. Let’s not spoil things with an argument」
Still, so this is the rumored Seadran hide…
Not too thick, and the texture isn’t bad.
It seems water-repellent, and even as ordinary fabric it’s top-grade material.
「So, aniki, are your preparations good on your side?」
「Of course. Why else do you think I took sewing skills?」
I had no intention of becoming a tailor, and with Wendy already possessing sewing skills, there shouldn’t have been any need for me to take them as well.
But if I wanted to recreate things from our old world, it made more sense to make them myself rather than trying to explain my picky requests to a professional seamstress.
「Seriously? I went through a lot of trouble gathering all that info, you know? Right, Hayato?」
「Eh? I just asked and they told me」
「Tch… damn ikemen! Aniki, you struggled too, right!?」
「Well… I can usually tell sizes just by looking」
「What’s with that! I’m jealous! Don’t tell me you had cheat abilities from the start!?」
「No, there’s still some margin of error. But when I checked, most of it matched up… though it was tough getting Sorte and Wendy to tell me」
Wendy always fussed about her waistline, so I had to practically beg her until she finally gave in.
As for Sorte, I whispered compliments into her ear while she was dozing beside me, which turned her face bright red until she eventually mumbled the details.
「Damn it… I had to go so far as to dogeza before Misa-nee just to get Mika’s sizes too… I owe her big now… and that’s terrifying」
Yeah… having a debt to Misa-chan would definitely be scary.
Still, I had a hunch something indecent might happen that would ultimately work out in Makoto’s favor.
…Not that Makoto would ever realize it himself.
「Well, anyway. Look, I’ve already got the patterns and design drafts done. Take a look and get hyped. They should match what you guys requested」
I pulled out several patterns and sketches from my magic storage and handed them over.
I’d asked them in advance and worked out the designs together.
For Hayato, I went with things like one-pieces, pareos, and frills around the chest to suit the girls.
For Makoto… he wanted maximum exposure. At first, the fabric coverage was laughably tiny, but since we’d be around and the girls would never agree to wear them, I managed to negotiate it down to bikinis.
「Oh, wow. You drew these yourself, Itsuki-san!? They’re exactly what we asked for… Whoa, this one’s cute. It’d look great on Letty…」
「Aniki! The fabric! There’s way more fabric now! Why!? How come!?」
「Because obviously, if the girls refuse to wear them, what’s the point?」
「But still, these are cute too, don’t you think?」
「Well, yeah… I matched them to Mika and Misa-nee’s image after all… I’d really like to see the two of them in these…」
Fufu, good. Seems like there aren’t any issues.
Now the real challenge begins.
I had to make several dozen swimsuits.
Normally, I’d have wanted Wendy or Chris to help me, but… this was a surprise.
If I didn’t push forward with momentum, swimsuits that were practically indistinguishable from underwear would never get worn. That’s why this plan had to be kept secret.
Failure was not an option.
And so, Hayato and Makoto still had work to do.
「Next, we’re short on slime membranes. You two head near Yutopola and hunt slimes. Especially the rare Mirror Slime, make sure you take them down. And don’t come back with just one, either」
「「Yes!」」
With this, we can make beach balls and float rings.
Next… a parasol would be nice too.
And sunscreen is a must.
They say you can make sunscreen from Mirror Slimes… if I mix it with regular slime lotion… fufu.
「Aniki!? Your face looks indecent!」
「Idiot. Of course it does, I ‘am’ thinking indecent thoughts」
「Aniki! You’re way too honest!」
「Well… it’s Itsuki-san we’re talking about」
Hayato sounded exasperated, but he’s the same kind of guy.
He’s a comrade who gathered here because he wanted to see the girls in swimsuits too.
Honestly, at first I thought of running this plan with just Makoto, but when I invited Hayato, I never expected him to be this eager.
Still, it’s understandable.
Chris with her figure that looks even better in clothes, Emily with her elf-like proportions, Letty with her modest build, and Mii with her healthy body, yeah, they’re all very attractive.
Mm-hm. Being honest with your desires is a good thing.
This old, no, this ‘oniisan’ is proud of Hayato for growing up.
As for Makoto, well, that goes without saying.
He’s a pervert too. His tolerance is low, but…
I get it. If those two wear swimsuits, it’ll be sexy.
And really, that love of black hair, it’s in a Japanese man’s nature.
The girls here might look different from those in our old world, but back there, the two of them would be considered absolute beauties.
So, we’ll both get our eye candy.
「Hey Aniki… do you think this plan will really work?」
「Just leave it to me. I want to see it too, no way I’ll mess this up」
「Aniki… I don’t know why, but at times like this, you’re so reliable. So cool!」
「Yeah. You really… look alive」
Of course I do.
Listen… back in our old world, you students had summer vacation. But I was a working adult.
Do you know what that means? For working adults, summer breaks are short, even in summer.
After grueling work, the summer holidays were either spent going back to the countryside for grave visits, or just collapsing to recover.
Sure, if I had gone to the beach or pool, I could’ve seen swimsuits… but I never had the energy.
But here, in another world?
There’s no harsh workload, no summer break schedules.
If swimsuits don’t exist, then we just make them!
Alright, let’s do this.
Our summer begins now!
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AN: Originally, I had planned to release these back-to-back like the Christmas chapters, but since too much time has passed since the last update, I decided to post just part 1 first.
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