Actually, the things in that house were already fairly complete.
Right now, Akimi and the others were mainly going to add some interior decorations to the rooms.
Hmm… mainly because Asuna felt the rooms were a little too plain at the moment, so she wanted to buy some decorative items.
As for Akimi… his opinion didn't matter.
When it came to decorating the house, Asuna had taken full control—he didn't even have the right to make suggestions.
Although when shopping, Asuna would symbolically ask Akimi, "What do you think about this one? How about we just go with it?"
Whenever Akimi heard this question, he would always respond with the same words: "You decide, it's fine."
He was wise enough not to answer seriously—just from her tone, you could tell she wasn't actually asking for his opinion!
That said, Asuna's taste in aesthetics was still trustworthy; the decorations she chose were all quite nice—after all, she was the daughter of the CEO of RECT Inc., and had received an elite education from a young age.
The "joyful" time passed quickly.
Akimi glanced at the time, pulled a bitter face, and said to Asuna, "It's already noon, and we've pretty much bought everything we need. Let's go have lunch first…"
Asuna's steps paused slightly, and she replied with a hint of reluctance, "Hm? So soon?"
The corner of Akimi's mouth twitched, and he couldn't help feeling helpless—sure, in Aincrad, shopping wasn't like in the real world where you'd be burdened with heavy bags, but still… for most men, wandering around shops could get boring.
"But Lomba—no, I should say the entire 27th floor—doesn't have any restaurants with good food." Asuna glanced around, shrugging as she spoke.
Though it sounded hard to believe, the 27th floor really didn't have much in the way of decent ingredients—here, it was nothing but rocks, rocks, and more rocks.
That was because the entire floor was covered with solid rocky mountains; the streets and towns were all carved into the mountains themselves.
On the plus side, this meant ore and mineral-based items were very easy to obtain, so many life-skill players tended to gather here.
Small blue-stone workshops, shops, and inns stood side by side under the glow of warm orange lanterns, creating a scene that was both dreamlike in beauty and lively like a festival.
But under normal circumstances, anywhere serving food on this floor would only have things like black bread.
Just as Akimi and the others were preparing to head to another floor for lunch, a playful and teasing voice called out—
"Well, well… looks like Aki-bou and Asu-chan are in need of my help, hehe…"
Alright, just from the tone, they could tell exactly who it was.
With a flash of grayish-yellow, Argo suddenly appeared and clung to Asuna like an octopus.
Seeing Argo's actions, Asuna hadn't even said anything yet when Akimi hurriedly rushed over and pried Argo away, muttering under his breath, "I haven't even hugged her like that yet…"
Argo didn't resist.
She simply went along with his force, stepping back, then flipped back the hood of her cloak, wiped her nose, and said, "Aha, looks like Aki-bou is jealous again—well then, big sis won't compete with you!"
But the moment Akimi stepped back two paces, Argo suddenly hooked her arm around Asuna's again with a snap! and pulled a face at Akimi.
"Just kidding~! Asu-chan's so pretty, there's no way I'd let go so easily."
Then, with a pair of expectant eyes fixed on Asuna, she spoke in a bubbly, singsong voice: "Aaah, Asu-chan', it's been so long~ Did you miss me?"
Asuna gently pushed away Argo's face, which was getting far too close, and said with a weary sigh, "Don't make weird jokes like that… Besides, if I remember right, we saw each other just four or five days ago at the strategy meeting."
"Ehehe…" Argo didn't look the slightest bit embarrassed and continued, "To me, even a single day without seeing Asu-chan feels like three years~~"
The shameless woman even dragged out her words while, with her other hand, pressing against Asuna's very generous chest—yes, those ( · )( · ).
At that, a sharp cross-shaped vein mark appeared on Asuna's forehead, and without a moment's hesitation, she punched Argo.
Although the blow was blocked by the protective violet barrier of the safe zone, the resounding bonk! still startled Argo.
She gave a couple of dry laughs, then casually released Asuna's arm and stepped back a few paces.
"Ahem, just now you two said you were heading to lunch, right?"
Argo stroked the whisker-like markings on her face and grinned. "Actually, there are some unique dishes here in Lomba… Whatever else you might say, the taste isn't bad. Want to give them a try?"
But at her words, both Akimi and Asuna's faces showed clear doubt—back when they were clearing the 27th floor, they had searched for any restaurants serving something different, but came up empty-handed.
Back then, Asuna had to spend time every day cooking herself.
Of course, Asuna's cooking was better than many NPC-owned restaurants anyway—after all, her Cooking skill proficiency had already reached over 500.
Among all chef players at this stage, she was undoubtedly the highest ranked.
Faced with their skeptical expressions, Argo raised an eyebrow, planted her hands on her hips, and said indignantly, "Hey, hey! What's with those faces?! You might not trust other people, but you can trust me, Argo the Rat, can't you? At least half of the good restaurants you've been to before were recommended by me!"
Akimi and Asuna exchanged glances.
The doubt in their expressions eased a little, but given their strong impression of the 27th floor, they still found it hard to believe there was a decent restaurant here.
Argo didn't bother wasting more words.
She simply grabbed their hands and dashed off toward a small alley.
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