Submission (#8382) Approved

Now that lessons were over, Chiro was finally free… to explore! She threw the notes she had taken (under Mizuki’s watchful eye) into the air with an exaggerated motion, which only earned an ireful expression from Mizuki as she quickly dodged another of the undine’s patented forehead chops.

She stuck her tongue out and quickly raced towards the door, only to be stopped by Mizuki’s tail, and a smack on the head.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

“Out! You said I could! Stuff about ‘you should familiarize yourself with everything Ealei has to offer, as well as the best locations for finding various materials and trinkets.”

Ok, so she wasn’t exactly out to play, as Mizuki had wanted to test her ability to be able to find the best scavenging and foraging spots, and if her own declaration for having an eye for quality was up to snuff, but if so, why was she stopping her now??

“Yes, I did say that, but is that all you’re bringing?”

The older undine gestured at Chiro, who having drank a manaberry potion, was now in her gijinka form, but other than the clothes she was wearing, she didn’t seem to be carrying anything else.

“Um, yes?”

“And where will you be putting the things you’ve found?”

“M-my pockets?”

MIzuki gave her a skeptical look, as Chiro’s form-fitting clothes clearly lacked any sort of pockets.

“You don’t bring any bags with you!”

“Well yes, because they’re stored within my shadow by Biri. I would give you the benefit of the doubt if I actually SAW yours do so, but given that both your personalities and mentalities for tidiness are roughly the same, I’m not so sure.”

Chiro opened her mouth to object, but then closed it. She wanted to say that Biri wasn’t much better, considering that pomu was whimsical and also easily distracted, but she grudgingly had to admit that ironically, that pomu was impeccable at categorizing stuff quite well within Mizuki’s shadow, no doubt due to her strict nature, which was probably an impressive feat considering pomus weren’t usually known to be trusted to store anything of value. She definitely couldn’t say the same for her own, as the last time she had tried giving her pomu something to put away, she either couldn’t find it after or it had ended up broken. Mizuki still hadn’t forgiven her for that broken teacup, and was pretty sure the pale undine would take any chance she could to remind her of it.

With a reluctant sigh, she grabbed a bag, stuffing it with miscellaneous essentials such as rope, a lantern, a blanket, some snacks… Mizuki watched on as she furrowed her eyebrows, and then walked away. Chiro frowned as after stuffing everything into the bag, this barely left any room to put anything new in, but this was what Mizuki wanted right? Since she left, maybe it was fine to just ditch the backpack when she wasn’t looking, and was about to do so when she returned.

“Use this instead.”

Mizuki was carrying a slightly larger backpack, with soft pastel colors and floral patterning. It had some twined rope hanging on the outside with sleeping gear strapped beneath. A small lantern hung on its side, and upon opening the backpack, there was a wrapped bundle of cloth that contained a packed lunch and some cookies. There were some more cloths and pouches, which she assumed was meant for carrying slightly more fragile items she may come across. There was even a compartment below that fit a pair of shoes that were meant to make it more comfortable to trek inhospitable terrain. All in all, the style was actually very cute, and didn’t at all scream that standard basic adventuring gear in drab browns and outdated leather.

“I can have this?”

“You may borrow it, though if you bring back a substantial amount of materials, I may consider getting something similar commissioned for you.

“Deal!!”

Before Mizuki could object, Chiro quickly grabbed the backpack and raced out the door.

The colorful undine took in a deep breath as she stepped outside, and exhaled. Ah, she couldn’t get enough of the scent of the sea. The pristine clear waters seemed to twinkle and glimmer, reflecting bits of sunlight that filtered through the thick clouds and canopy above. While she wasn’t fond of all the twisting mangrove roots, she was able to avoid it mostly by hovering, but perhaps it would be best to swap over to the shoes Mizuki had prepared.

It took her a moment to switch out of her sandals, and Chiro couldn’t help but marvel that the provided shoes fit perfectly. That was clearly no coincidence, and it was clear Mizuki had thoroughly prepared, which made Chiro feel a little bit guilty about all the trouble she gave her. Just a little.

She began to climb over the twisting roots, noting that not only were the shoes quite comfortable, but also waterproof. After clambering over a few of the rocky outcrops, she was now at the edge of Ealei, and was taking a quick break munching on some manaberries. Hmm, Mizuki said she often frequented Paradise and Rainbow Reef, so she was generally familiar with these areas, but Chiro wanted to show she would be able to find even better materials than her. She may not have an eye for various flora, but stuff like shells and trinkets were up her alley.

Alrighty, time to get to work, and-

Chiro paused, feeling like something felt off. She then realized that she had left her sandals behind. She quickly checked the bag, and not seeing them there confirmed her suspicions. She raced back, only to see something make off with them.

“Hey!!”

Needless to say, Chiro spent most of the day chasing down the creature. It seemed she was going to have to work quite hard to improve Mizuki’s impression of her.