Chapter 821: December X0th: While Touting Immortality Is Far Off, Touting Eternity is Not Unwarranted. Also,

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Having somehow managed to convince them regarding my somewhat unfavorable end-of-term test results with, "Even Papa-ue and Mama-ue sometimes lose their groove when your favorite lures or beetles go missing or die, right?", I succeeded in securing my gaming life for the rest of the school year, albeit with the terrifying penalty of having my commercial-use VR system listed on a flea market app if my scores are bad on the next test.

"I seriously need to study for the next one, or I'm in trouble............"

What's really troubling is that commercial-use system—it's quite traceable. I mean, the only person in the world who owns a VR system with that specific custom illustration on it is probably 'No FaceMe'. Since my privacy is on the line even before my gamer life, I really have to take the next test seriously.

Having temporarily settled the "worries" that were too large to ignore, I checked my various emails while turning on the VR system and preparing to log in.

First, the first email.

This was from Elysion, who half-forced me to exchange email addresses "so I can report to you the moment it's finished"............ The contents were, unsurprisingly, "The greatest maid outfit in history has been completed." However, the fact that this was the only thing written in the body of the email was actually creepy; a long, rambling email would have at least let me mentally prepare myself...... I wonder what on earth he's produced.

One moment he was sewing in a corner of the undersea colosseum, and the next he was making thread using some futuristic gadget. The last time I saw him, he was doing a back-bridge while shouting something. I asked Imron if, on the off-chance, doing a back-bridge was necessary for sewing-type armor production, but I received a "like hell it is" in response.

The second email.

This was from Pencilgon. Since I had distanced myself from the secular world, I had barely been involved, but a massive PvP event is currently being held on the Old Continent. It's not like participation is mandatory, and since Avengers are apparently supposed to be non-interventionist, I've been operating on the New Continent with an eye toward the decisive battle with Goldunine. But a draft notice arrived from Pencilgon.

Apparently, Katzo is working hard on the Raid Monster side so that's fine, but the PvP...... that is, the offensive from the New King faction's players is worse than expected, so she's telling me to get over there and work too.

Honestly, I could just reply, "Please handle your ugly worldly disputes yourselves," but we also need manpower on this side. After all, the enemy is a garbage boss that could be described as a humanoid monster capable of generating swarms, currently accompanied by four super-massive serpent-type monsters. Quantity over quality is essential—or, if I'm being greedy, high-quality quantity is essential...... basically, it's like a raid battle that involves almost the entire player base.

Therefore, it would be better to sell her a favor here......... Even though following the contents of Pencilgon's "instructions" is extremely reluctant, or rather, I really don't want to do it.

And the third one. This isn't an email, but an SNS message...... from Rei-san.

"Plans for the 24th, huh........."

It's likely not asking if I'm free on the 24th, but what specifically we'll be doing on the 24th. I've heard that Rei-san, having acquired a hidden job, has been participating in the Kingdom Turmoil while sorting out her skill build for the coming day. The reports flowing across SNS saying, "I got trampled by a knight on a horse near Thirdrema," along with blurry screenshots of what appears to be an unusually burly horse, are probably proof of her exploits......... Sounds like a horror game.

Anyway, while Rei-san is active in the Kingdom Turmoil, she's also properly thinking about our Unique Scenario EX. While sending her a tentative "schedule," I resolve myself to the fact that intervention in the Kingdom Turmoil is unavoidable after all. I down an energy drink while I'm at it.

"Alright!"

Preparations complete. All that's left is............. damn it, I thought I'd never open this again.

".........Can't be helped. I have to repay my debt to Elysion, too."

Last time was an unforeseen accident. This time──────

......

............

..................

"You've arrived, Patron-dono."

"Yeah, mm-hmm. So, is it finished?"

Quiet. Elysion Haute-Couture, who had previously spoken about maid outfits so passionately, fervently, and suffocatingly, welcomed my login with a terrifyingly quiet demeanor.

"First, my gratitude. Thanks to you......... maid outfits have arrived beyond the very cutting edge of the era...... Go Beyond......"

"Ah, right........."

He seems to be operating normally. That said, his skill as a crafter is guaranteed by Imron; if that player is making such a bold declaration, it must mean it's at least better than your average armor.

......No, that's suspicious. He's the kind of guy who says "maid outfits are superior to armor" with a straight face, so there's a strong possibility his base premise is Average Armor <<< Maid Outfit.

"Lapisteria Star Crystals are not suited for crafting armor. Because it is nearly impossible to deform them or alloy them with other metals, and even if one were to succeed, they would merely become foreign contaminants."

The item he had gone out of his way to set up a desk in the corner of the colosseum to craft...... Elysion unfolded the obsessively, neatly folded garment with a rustle.

───It was a single piece of clothing made of the deep navy blue born when a pitch-black night sky is lit by the brilliance of stars, combined with pure white fabric like snow illuminated by the morning sun. In short, as expected, it was exactly what I thought it would be......... a maid outfit.

"───A long skirt. I chose the orthodox, classical style."

"Ah, yeah, okay."

"If I were to talk at length it would take a while, so let me explain it concisely."

Much appreciated.

After Elysion spent three minutes carefully folding the maid outfit back up, he showed me something placed next to it...... A belt? And some strange object.

It's awfully small for a belt...... at the very least, wrapping it around the waist seems a bit difficult. In that case, the arm...... the neck...... no, could it be the thigh?

And then, a mysterious metal chunk. Depending on how you look at it, it resembles a bullet, or perhaps a lightbulb. At the very least, given its starry-sky-like radiance, it's certain that Lapisteria Star Crystals were used in it.

"This maid outfit...... the Duelling-Grade Maid Outfit 'Eternity' series, utilizes five accessory slots in addition to the head, torso, waist, and leg armor slots."

"Five slots!?"

No, it's not like I can't open up five slots, but...... five slots is still ridiculous. That’s enough room to equip the Levin Trigger: Hazard, the Vestige of the Raging Storm Emperor: Extreme, and the Star Cloak of Lapistella, and still have two slots open.

"It can technically be operated by consuming four slots, but considering the worst-case scenario, I recommend consuming five...... Think of this 'Cartridge Accessory' as a sort of battery. By loading it into this 'Cartridge Strap', it repairs the damage sustained by 'Eternity'."

"This is the countermeasure against the Scar?"

"Exactly. The Scar is a time-limited form of equipment destruction that operates outside of normal durability. There are similar effects among curse debuffs, but destruction itself is the self-destruction of the equipment...... and it is possible to prevent destruction via external interference. Because the base fibers of 'Eternity' are made from Lapisteria Star Crystals, it can avoid equipment destruction through compensation from the accessory. Truly an eternal maid outfit!"

I see. I don't feel like that was concise at all, but in short, by instantly repairing damage using the accessory, it prevents destruction caused by the Scar or from normal durability depletion.

"I mostly get it. So, how long can this hold out at maximum?"

"Assuming you take absolutely no damage and only nullify the damage from the Scar, it can prevent destruction three times per cartridge. About ten minutes per cartridge. Therefore, if you equip four cartridges fully, you can operate for about forty minutes."

"Taking no damage is definitely a theoretical value......... So realistically, a generous estimate would be thirty minutes."

"......I was going to say twenty minutes at a generous estimate, but I see, you were an evasion-type attacker."

Considering battles against monsters, that feels unreliable...... Ah, so that's why it's a Duelling grade. A maid outfit suited for battles that can be settled in thirty minutes. I wonder if it'll be useful in the battle against Goldunine...... No, having even one useful piece of equipment gives me another option. It never hurts to have more.

"As for resistances, it is strong against most attacks other than blunt impacts. However, please be careful of attacks that melt clothes. If you don't remove the cause of continuous damage, you'll end up consuming cartridges endlessly."

"I see......... Got it. For now, thank you for making it. I won't be using the leftover materials or whatever that weird machinery is, so you can have them."

With this, I've received everything I needed to receive. And I've mostly finished everything I needed to do. So, I suppose it's about time I get going...... "Wait"? Yes?

"What is it?"

"You're forgetting something important, Sunraku-kun."

"What?"

"───The fitting."

Ah, I see.

So that's why the Dress-Up Squad was standing by over there, fully prepared to take screenshots.

Author's Afterword

Duelling-Grade Maid Outfit "Eternity"

The original concept was that it would absolutely never break by replacing damage with an "undamaged" status, but after receiving Isana's words, "If we had established that kind of technology, we'd have used it on the Leviathan long ago, you idiot," and realizing that the properties of the jewel fibers crafted via Jewel Weaving were more interesting than expected, Elysion completed a maid outfit that would never break through a regeneration speed so fast that repairs are completed before external damage can destroy the maid outfit and interfere with the physical body, and because it is a classic maid style that covers most of the body, the majority of it is constructed from Lapisteria Star Crystal FiberFiber, which, by penetrating the mana supplied from the cartridges as quickly and optimally as possible, completes repairs within 0.1 seconds after an impact detonates, and as a secondary effect it acquired extremely strong resistance against attacks that would destroy its shape as a maid outfit, such as slashes or instantaneous combustion, although because it is ultimately clothing it is almost entirely powerless against "surface" impacts like blunt force, or attacks like freezing where the damage goes directly to the body even if defended against by the clothes, and furthermore it displays a vulnerability against attacks like continuous combustion or melting, as the mana supply from the cartridges will trigger endlessly and consume its time limit, and incidentally, this time it is a classic maid style because a player like Sunraku can manage some unreasonableness even with a long skirt and, since it is ultimately armor, it follows the basic principle of armor, protecting the wearer's life, which does not deny the existence of mini-skirt type maid outfits, but by the way, this "Eternity" has one voice recognition function, a mechanism attached to the cartridge strap, which generates a mana supply bypass to (omitted below).