The three Spirits departed the area together.
They had been discussing various complex matters among themselves, but it seemed they would return tomorrow. Since they had all left at once, a sudden, heavy silence fell over the group.
"……Ehehe."
Penpen let out a servile, self-deprecating giggle. Despite being the largest of the three physically, she was the most timid at heart. She simply couldn't endure the awkward atmosphere.
However, her laugh was the perfect catalyst to break the tension.
"……Penpen. The Lord Spirits have high expectations for you. You need to deliver," Alto said.
"Hiu…… I-I’ll do my b-best……"
"Tria will help too. Anything for the Lord Spirits. So, Penpen, what exactly is 'swimwear'?"
"E-e-err, they said it’s clothing you wear when you go into the water. I don’t know much about it myself, but the Lord Spirits made a prototype. Do you want to come back to my Home? I… I’d like to take your measurements, too."
"Yes, let's go."
"Shall we? Proper preparation is essential if we’re going to provide the perfect swimwear the Lord Spirits desire."
At her invitation, they headed toward Penpen's Home to try on the prototype garments and undergo the fitting.
＊ ＊ ＊
"……Penpen, isn't this just underwear?"
"E-eh? No, well…… I suppose it is. I tried to make swimwear, but they said it would just end up looking like underwear anyway…… Fuhehe……"
It was underwear. There was no doubt about it. The room in Penpen's Home where she kept her prototypes had been completely transformed into a high-end lingerie shop.
"Hey, Alto. Do you know anything about swimwear?" Tria asked.
"Well, I was a merchant's daughter once. But this is completely different from any swimwear I’ve ever seen."
"It-it’s apparently swimwear from the Spirit Realm…… Ehehe. The Lord Spirits want us to wear… to wear things like this…… Fuhi! I’m so happy, so happy, so happy……!"
Penpen’s face suddenly took on a look of such rapturous ecstasy that an outsider would have worried for her sanity, but among the Spirit-possessed, this was a perfectly normal reaction.
"You're right. Being able to learn the Lord Spirits' personal tastes is the absolute best."
"……Do I wear it like this?"
Tria attempted to loop a Penpen-sized bra over her shoulder like an accessory. Naturally, she was doing it wrong.
"A-ah, s-sorry, Tria-chan! I only have my size ready right now. Also, that’s a Breast Hider."
"……!?"
Taking the bra back from Tria, Penpen held it against her own chest over her clothes. It was a perfect fit.
"……I see. Breasts that Tria does not possess."
"Don't you think this ribbon would suit Tria better?" Alto suggested, picking up a red ribbon. It was shaped like a loop—or rather, two loops connected together. It thickened slightly in certain sections. Alto tilted her head at the strange construction, wondering how it could possibly function as a ribbon.
"Oh, that’s the Slingshot Swimwear."
"This is swimwear too?! ……It’s not just this one piece, is it? What else do you wear with it?"
"Eh? Just that."
"……J-just this? It’s practically all string."
"Yes. They said that’s the kind of swimwear it is."
Penpen held it up, demonstrating how it was meant to be worn and what it was supposed to cover, but to the others, it looked as though it covered absolutely nothing at all.
"……In other words, do the Lord Spirits wish for us to be naked?"
"Yes. B-but, if we’re wearing it to get into a bath, it’s much more convenient that way, isn't it?"
"Ah. Now that you mention it, that was what they were talking about. That makes sense."
Apparently, they weren't being asked to wear these in public.
Of course, if the Lord Spirits commanded them to wear such things in front of others, they wouldn't dream of refusing, but it would certainly require some mental preparation. They were prepared for many things, but this required a very specific kind of resolve.
Tria held the Slingshot Swimwear up against her body.
"……Does it suit me?"
"Tria, I'm sorry. I thought it was a ribbon, but I guess I was mistaken."
"It-it suits you! You look cute, ehehe!"
"Indeed. Tria is cute. Because that is how the Lord Spirits made me."
Tria puffed out her chest with a proud snort, though her torso remained a flat precipice.
"A-a-anyway, I’ll start the measurements. Once I’m done, I can prepare the mannequins, and then adjusting the sizes will be easy…… Fuhi."
"Mm. I leave it to you."
"While we're at it, should we measure our lower halves too? Since you'll be making our equipment from now on, it's better to have accurate data, right?"
"A-a-ah, then, could you both take off your clothes and strike this pose? Um, well, everything. Underwear too. It’s… it’s for the sake of the swimwear."
"I understand."
Tria and Alto both struck a "T-pose," stretching their arms out wide to their sides.
Alto felt a flicker of embarrassment, but Penpen was a woman, and the Lord Spirits had expressed their desire for the swimwear to be made. Proper measurements were a necessity.
"Full Scan! ……Nnn, alright. You can put your clothes back on now. I’ll get started on the mannequins."
"Do measurements always finish that quickly? That’s incredible. It took much longer whenever I had clothes made in the past," Alto noted.
"I-it’s because this is my Home, so it’s a special ability. Also, since you took everything off, the data is perfect…… Fuhi. I’ve perfectly recorded everything from the size of your areolas to the number of wrinkles on your anus."
"!? Hey! What was that?! I didn't agree to that!"
"Hyau!? I-eh, a-ah, I won't use the data for anything bad! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
As Penpen cowered, Tria stepped forward and gave the agitated Alto a gentle, grounding pat on the shoulder.
"It's alright. Alto is as cute as Tria. The number of wrinkles on your anus is surely to the Lord Spirits' liking. You should be proud."
"……Muu. Sorry for shouting all of a sudden, Penpen. I suppose it would be a disaster if the parts that need to be covered by the swimwear weren't properly measured…… But you absolutely must not let that information out, okay?!"
"Hya-ii!"
While getting dressed, Alto apologized to Penpen, who was still trembling with teary eyes.
Ultimately, the dignity of a Spirit-possessed was something they had already offered up to the Lord Spirits anyway. It was a small price to pay.
The mannequins were finished in under a minute. Two of them—white cloth figures without arms, legs, or heads. Including Penpen's own, there were now three lined up. Large, small, and none. Well, best not to specify what those labels referred to.
Looking at the mannequins, Tria suddenly imagined herself without her own arms or legs again and felt a wave of nostalgia. It hadn't even been half a month since her ordeal, and she still kept her crushed, original limbs in her inventory. She could recall the experience vividly. It was the "good memory" of the day she finally met the Lord Spirits.
Yes, it wasn't an exaggeration to call it the best day of her life.
"T-Tria-chan? Are you okay? D-did something happen with the mannequin?"
"Hah. I was just thinking about the Lord Spirits."
"You had such a blissful look on your face that I figured it was something like that. I don't quite understand why a mannequin would trigger that, though," Alto remarked.
Regardless, the measurements were done and the mannequins were ready. The rest could be left to Penpen. Their primary task for the day was complete.
"……Um, uh, w-would you two like something to eat?"
"No thanks. I want to keep my stomach empty for the Lord Spirits," Tria said.
"Me too."
"Right…… We don't really get hungry, do we? But, but! You have to eat a lot so that you can expand your stomachs! You have to be able to eat a lot when the time comes, okay?"
They all remembered the Lord Spirits, who had been moved to tears when faced with the mountain of meat the girls couldn't finish.
Tria and Alto had assumed they should keep their stomachs empty to prepare for the next feast. However, a muscle that isn't used will wither. The same applied to the stomach. If you wanted it to grow, you had to train it.
In fact, Penpen had easily polished off the meat that Tria had been unable to finish! That had been the result of her dedicated training—ensuring she could eat whenever the Lord Spirits commanded her to.
"……! You’re right!"
"As expected of Penpen…… There’s a reason the Lord Spirits called you a genius…… Let’s eat, Tria! Penpen!"
"Mm. Tria will eat a lot. And then I’ll just hunt more to work up an appetite."
"We can raise our levels at the same time. It’s a real 'killing two birds with one stone' situation."
"Two birds with one stone? Alto, what does that mean?"
"It’s a phrase the Lord Spirit used when he brought down two flying monsters with a single shot. It basically means something is very profitable!"
With that settled, the Spirit-possessed girls spent their time eating heartily, hunting monsters, and enjoying themselves until the next Advent of the Lord Spirits.