Strawberry Devil in a Fantasy World

The rain stopped at the end of dusk. With the clearing of the rain clouds, glittering stars slowly began to illuminate the night sky.

There had been no fighting since I left the battlefield. Beastfolk soldiers were now patrolling the streets and searching buildings for any remaining enemies and stragglers. There were also some regular folks who were part of the cleanup team.

None of that stuff had anything to do with me.

Once I was satisfied with the amount of mana I had condensed, I returned to the inner city to report my findings to Kanoko. I probably should have done so earlier but I didn't feel like it. Even though I had not condensed as much mana as I would have liked, delaying my report any further might be a bad idea.

"Ah right, almost forgot about that mobile suit at the entrance... I can't just leave it there."

I hurried over and removed all my vines and whatnot which left only that hulking lump of metal there. Even though it looked cool and all, I was no longer in the mood to keep it. I wasn't sure why but I had lost interest. It was too heavy for me to carry and the thought of paperwork required to keep this thing just wasn't worth it.

The beastfolks could keep it for research purposes if they liked. Eventually I would hear about it and maybe they'd let me play with it.

"It's safe. You can keep that thing if you like," I told one of the commanders in charge of cleanup in this area.

Since the entrance gate was now open, I walked into the inner city to meet up with Kanoko.

"Kanoko! I'm back!" I waved at her who was doing paperwork in her temporary office.

She glanced up with a faint smile, "Berry, I'm glad you're safe. How was it? Were there a lot of them? Were you able to repel them? Tell me everything, every single detail. Nothing is to be missed."

What!? She wasn't in the least bit surprised to see my new dress and my new looks? What's up with that? I put in so much effort...

"There really wasn't much..."

"There must have been. Tell me everything!" Her determined eyes met mine.

And so, I recounted an epic tale of my heroic deeds, vanquishing monstrous humans and neutralizing their weapons of mass destruction. A little bit was embellished here and there but everything was the truth! Of course, I excluded anything related to my abilities and traits.

In the future, perhaps there would be songs and tales about my...

"Mhmm... What can I say? As expected," she nodded in contemplation while sizing me up, "I see you levelled up. Did you lose some abilities and traits?"

"Ah, something like that."

"I see you gained a |tactician| trait and |enhanced physical| trait and nothing else. What's going on? Did you obtain something to hide your other abilities and traits?"

I did? She should be able to see [creation], [subspace], and |creator| as well? What's going on? Maybe I should just keep it to myself for now. I wonder if Smoothie can see them?

"Eh, I don't know about that. Maybe you don't have enough level to see?"

"If you have seen my status, you should know that I have |assayer|. This trait allows me to see status without level restriction. It's the inferior version of what King Dolan has which allows him to examine abilities and traits. If he is still here in the city, I would ask you to come with me."

I learned something new.

That king, I should avoid him at all cost. My new abilities and traits must be quite troubling. If I got mixed up in the wrong way, I could become a fugitive! My easy life would disappear along with that light at the end of the tunnel.

"Uh, no, it's fine. The abilities are still the same. It's probably just an error in the system." I mumbled just barely audible on the last part.

Somehow, she heard me, "What system?"

"Eh, it's nothing! It's really nothing. I just meant the whole status thing. Anyway, how are things here? By the way, you should tell the soldiers not to venture into the tunnels because of the poisons."

I quickly tried to change the topic. If I was smart about it, I should have figured that the status system was completely natural to them as the air they breathed. To inhabitants of this world, they probably didn't consider the status to be something foreign. But to me, this interface was completely artificial just like a videogame.

"Thank you for reminding me, I'll be right back. Make yourself comfortable around here, and don't cause any troubles."

"Take your time!"

I wasn't going to stick around in her office. There was nothing to do and I didn't want to explain any more than I had to.

I decided to visit the library where Smoothie was. Even now, I could still see her figure with |tactician| active. Given that her dress was made by me, I could actually see every curve on her body. There weren't that many curves.

Ehehe... My chest isn't flat. I win! Time to show off!

Now, should I teleport or walk? I don't want her throwing strawberries around again.

In the end, I decided to just stroll over to the library. There were a few glances coming my way, but they were the good kind.

I've become an idol. Mm! I'm so proud of myself.

"You look pretty enough to be edible, no?"

"Thanks! I'm popular now. Hey, do you want a fancy dress like mine? If you look nice enough, I'll eat you!" I replied happily to Smoothie's comment.

"I want it! Super want it!"

"Sure, give me everything and I'll make you something nice. It's a delicious exchange, no?" I said with a grin.

"Eh? I have to give you my soul? No thanks!" She crossed her arms with displeasure.

"I only meant the knowledge..."

"Ahaha, I know. I was just messing with you, Mother."

This brat!

"Rude! I have a weak heart, you know? You can't do that to me."

"Sure... I know you're heartless."

I sighed, "Haah... Smoothie, check my status and tell me what abilities and traits are visible."

"Okay."

She listed all the abilities and traits I could see except for [subspace], [creation] and |creator|. This was the same case with Kanoko.

"Did you lose some or did you gain the ability to hide them?" She asked.

Hide? I wonder if this these abilities and traits have hidden tier system. If that's the case, things would make sense. Let's keep the lid on it a bit longer.

"Yes, something like that to confuse the enemies."

"Amazing, what's the name of it?"

Damn it, I can't lie or else her ability might detect it. Yes, avoid the topic!

"It's a secret! Super secret!" I gave her my killer wink.

"Gross..."

"Wahh... I thought that was supposed to be cute."

"Now give me a pretty dress."

"Alright, alright. Hmm... What would look nice on you?"

What do children like to wear? I have no idea. Whatever, anything should look nice on them, right? I mean, they're children.

"Close your eyes and no abilities, it's going to be a surprise!"

"Okay."

Remodelling clothing was easy with [creation]. To be precise, it was only easy after some practices. Knowing the procedures was important too. A software was only as good as the user.

Anyhow, I remembered there were shows that young girls loved to watch back in my previous world. It was something like magic girls or whatnot that was supposed to be cute. Since she had mint colored hair, the outfit would have to be green to compliment. So, that would make her something like "magical girl green"?

Then, there were other options. Children loved watching those stuffed animal shows or something like that. Going by that train of thought, perhaps dressing her in a panda outfit would be pretty neat. Maybe a bird costume would look nice as well. However, those were usually worn as pajamas, right? Wearing it casually might be a bit rude to those beastfolks, or perhaps they would find my taste quite gruesomely unpleasant.

If animal costumes were considered rude, then I could also create plant costumes. Celery sticks and carrot sticks were nice substitutes.

I had so many ideas flowing through my head.

"Are you done yet?" She asked while standing next to me.

"Ahh... Almost! Be patient!"

Fairy of the library. How about a broom? No? I'm done thinking. Let's just go with a bear costume that covers all but her face and hands. Yep.

There was an option to modify things within the [creation] menu. This allowed me to skip the step where I normally would use [absorption] to break down existing material. It was quite convenient.

Within seconds, visualization was complete, and within a minute, the dress she wore transformed into a cute bear outfit.

Mm. My personal teddy bear. Maybe I can finally get a good night's sleep.