“I’m really sorry! Please forgive me!”
“It’s fine. An fixed the door, so don’t worry about it! You’re okay too, right Setsuna?”
“Well, I was surprised, but I don’t really care.”
Quite a few people ended up gathering in the room, as Melt kneeled and apologized to Yuugo and Setsuna.
Since Melt was more upset about it than he thought, he tried to console her. And when he looked to Setsuna, expecting her to agree, she also seemed unbothered and comforted Melt.
But as everyone thought about how Melt really was rash and jumped to conclusions, Marcos asked Setsuna an obvious question.
“But what’s going on here? Why did you think to ask Yuugo’s opinion on your miko attire?”
“That would be a long story. I would have to start by explaining this attire.”
Setsuna answered with a somewhat annoyed tone, while wearing an orthodox miko attire. White on top, deep red at the bottom.
Raiha stepped in to help with a simple explanation.
“Setsuna wants to evolve her miko attire into something better. Part of the reason why she is studying abroad is so she can use techniques of this country to improve it…”
“Improve your attire? I’m not an expert in clothes, but that looks pretty high quality to me.”
“I guess. This attire with the blessing of loong has resistance against many elements. If I had to point out a weakness, it would be a weapon with the same loong element… But I don’t want to fundamentally change its performance.”
Setsuna half agreed with Angel’s thoughts as she stared at the attire, but she took over from Raiha and explained the other half.
“We combat miko wear the same attires and fight… Do you have any thoughts on that?”
“Hn? Not really…?”
“…Marcos Bolg, you are as obstinate as I heard. Well, we could see that as a negative effect of your tough defense.”
“Hey, are you making fun of me? Why do I have to hear that all of a sudden!?”
The sudden criticism left Marcos indignant.
Angel, a technician, explained while smiling awkwardly.
“I see. It’s a great attire and provides defense, but it’s strange for everyone to wear the same. Or like, there’s no specialization.”
“Exactly. I understand why people call you a great technician.”
“I see. It makes sense, the three of you each use your own magic items and have your own elements. And so Kogarashi is saying it’s strange for them to have the same exact attire, right?”
Claire reached the same conclusion as Angel, and Setsuna responded with a big nod.
At this point, Marcos also understood Setsuna’s point.
Sakura, who fought up close, Setsuna, who used a bow from a distance, and Raiha, whose role was mostly support, all used the same attire.
Setsuna agreed that this was a reflection of how good it was, but could not accept simply stopping there.”
“Modifying them to boost each element, balance them in tune with the individual magic items for a good balance of mobility and defense, using less cloth to make it easier to move… Those are the ideas that come to mind on the spot. But hard-headed people from old families won’t allow for the traditional and formal miko attires to be modified.
I admit that they are great, but something that’s superior now won’t necessarily stay that way forever. Things have to be updated with the times!”
“I agree. Technology is always advancing. Those attires have a history of hundreds of years, and they were always excellent defensive equipment, but their performance began to lag the moment they stopped advancing.”
“Ah, but don’t speak ill of the people of Yamato. We combat miko have the role of connecting loong and people. The people of Yamato deify loong, and not a small number of them see abandoning humanity and becoming loong as the ultimate form of evolution.
Since we are seen as the boundary between people and loong, there’s more importance placed on tradition than us, like changing it would be a blasphemy towards loong. That’s why there is so much opposition…”
“That tradition can eat shit. You agree, don’t you, Raiha?”
“Buh…!?”
Everyone was surprised by the foul language coming from a combat miko, who they all pictured as being prim and proper. But Setsuna smiled and turned to Yuugo.
“When I asked Yuugo, he said pretty much the same thing. You really matched my expectations.”
“Well, I saw it one time. I got all excited about seeing a magical girl transformation, so I didn’t really think about it, but it’s true that it’s important for your equipment to match you as individuals.”
The magical girl heroines he liked had similar traditions in regards to their costumes, but they were not exactly alike.
He thought back to how they were designed in accordance with their weapons and fighting style, and Setsuna was very pleased with his answer.
“Well, one thing we can do right now is change the color of the hakama underneath. Dye them so they match your colors.”
“Change colors… Yes, that would make it easier to tell us apart, as opposed to us being dressed the same. We just joined this academy, so having that sort of easy to see mark would lead to less confusion in battle…!!”
“And since you’re good at long range attacks, how about we have a left and right asymmetry and add more functionality to the arm that holds the bow? How about something like armor that won’t hinder your movements on your shoulder? Like certain energy people who use bows.”
“Take away the unnecessary parts, and add new functionality wherever necessary… Yes, that’s what I’m after! You say some things I don’t understand sometimes, but I think that’s also wonderfully interesting!!”
“S-she’s really excited…!”
Setsuna was fired up to the point where her usual cool demeanor was nowhere to be seen, and reacted positively to Yuugo’s thoughts.
Meanwhile, Melt looked on dumbfounded, and Angel smiled awkwardly next to her, but whispered she understood.
“I finally understand. Setsuna became interested in Yuugo because he uses an armor type magic item.”
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Moving from a mass produced unit to an ace custom is always exciting