Hikari was back in her room. She disassembled her suit and weapons, then her inner shirt and boot socks that were dripping sweat.
She stepped into her shower area. There were two tubs of water. One soaped and one plain.
Placing her hand in one, she pulled the soap water and coated her body with it.
Then she created a vortex around her body. The force scrubbing away all the dirt and sweat.
The same for the second tub and she's fully refreshed.
Bedding made of hay. No blankets as they will tear. Hikari tucked in.
"Hikari? Are you awake?" Ria's voice came from outside.
"One moment."
Hikari pushed the curtain aside. Plain white wool blouse and yoga pants. Grey socks and her white flats.
She was greeted by Ria's bright smile.
Hikari : "Morning, lady Ria. Welcome to my humble dwelling."
Ria : "Oh, It won't be humble after today. Come with me."
Ria mounted her horse.
Ria : "How are you holding up Hikari? You have been taking on quite the load."
"I'm fine. They have yet to pose a challenge."
Ria : "wow. Each of those were thousand gold bounties that could wipe out an entire town. Not to mention the mana crystals and relic drops that would fetch thousands more."
Hikari blushes : "you're flattering me."
Ria : "I'm not. You'll see. "
Hikari and Ria arrived at a rectangular stone building larger than even the Razenheir estate itself.
Hikari : " Those seams between the blocks… "
Ria : " You're good. This is assembled using blocks and welded together using rune crafting just like your armour. They could be taken apart and rewelded on demand since we don't know how much more you will grow. "
Hikari examined her new home. "It's good. But shouldn't we spend the money on weapons and armour?"
Ria : "oh, there is a new armour being forged. Quite exotic from what I hear. Shall we go in?"
The interior was simple but complete with the essentials.
The bed , the couch , a proper shower, an open wardrobe , an armour rack, an exercise mat, a stove, a water tank, and even a magic circle in the middle. All scaled up three times their normal size to match Hikari.
Ria : "It's nothing grand. But you should live quite comfortably now."
Hikari : "Thank you, my lady. You really shouldn't have."
Ria : " oh enough with that. You will be bringing more gold than what we will be spending, let's put it that way if you prefer."
Hikari nods uncomfortably.
Ria : "Now, we have something important to do."
Hikari followed Ria to the wardrobe area.
A Hikari sized open drawer. Each compartment is filled with a neat stack of rectangular cloth pieces.
To cope with her growth spurts, her clothes and armour were crafted in pieces. The weaves cast their weaving enchantments which causes the fibres of neighboring pieces to entangle and unentangle on demand.
Then there is also the telekinesis enchantment. Allowing a telekinesis user to move objects that are enchanted that way with way more precision and energy efficiency.
Hikari was pleasantly surprised by a layout of black silk pieces, together with a set of blood rubies embedded in rare silver Runium metal.
"This is.. "
Ria : "try it on. I think you will like it."
Hikari slowly lifted several small pieces and carefully assembled them on her biceps. It fit nicely, wrapping around exactly the circumference of her arm. The silky cloth was delicate at first glance, but as she squeezed, it was able to extend to over twice its original size with no sign of buckling.
"Hmm.. not bad"
Slowly, she assembled the rest of the outfit.
Long silver hair, black Runium hair pin with ruby as its center piece. Black blouse ruby on the chest, a hint of her cleavage and shoulders exposed. long gloves, from the elbow on, fingers exposed. Long dress, extending down to her shin. Two cuts, revealing each thigh as they move forward. High heel, open toed. black straps and a pure red ruby to accentuate the immaculate skin on Hikari's feet.
"How do I look?"
Ria was staring at Hikari, completely lost for words. Natural beauty. A simple black dress and a touch of jewellery. In all of the high society banquets she attended, she had come across none that could match what she saw. A beauty that she could never dream to match.
Martial prowess as a knight was one thing Ria could never best her at. Heck, she probably can't beat most run of the mill knights. But being hopeless outdone as a woman, it just makes her feel so inferior, so far below her.
Ria dropped to her knees.
"My lady?"
Ria : "Oh Ahem! You look, umm.. Presentable! Yes. This certainly meets … umm… the high standards of our house!"
"Thank you"
Hikari walked around the room. Click! Clack! Click! Clack!. The sound of her steel heels with the full weight of several horses smashed against the stone ground. Each step shakes Ria to the core.
Miraculously, the shoes and the ground below held. Feeling playful, Hikari bent her knees and did a round house kick. The burst of wind blew Ria back and caused her to lean on her arms.
Click! Clack! Click! Clack! Hikari walks back to Ria. Her head was below the level of her heel straps.
"Stand"
Ria flinched. She was embarrassed again.
"Umm.. Yes! Shall we go now?" Ria scrambled to her feet.
"After you"