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Nico's tone made it impossible for the rest of them to contain their giggles, though Emilia quickly realized that all the discounts were only on accessories, after all.
'Well, I suppose it makes sense. Accessories are the cheapest and easiest to obtain, and one can only use ten of them at a time.' She sighed. 'Not to mention, that's not their only restriction!'
Despite her thoughts, though, Emilia didn't stop her team from pooling their resources together.
"So… keeping some silver and copper aside for lodging and stuff, we have forty-five gold coins in total. And if we factor in the discount…" Danielle grinned. "We can really get that thing!"
The crimson-haired girl obviously didn't mind lending them her leftover seven gold coins, as she was sure that Crystal wouldn't care. But Danielle and the others flatly refused to take it.
"We already have what we need, so it's fine."
Emilia could tell that Danielle had already made up her mind, and knowing how stubborn the girl could be, she wisely decided to just give up. Anyway, although she knew plenty of ways to make gold in Arcadia, having a little bit extra in her pocket wouldn't hurt.
Danielle was obviously very satisfied with her attitude, and nodded with a smile. 'For once, this smug little brat didn't do the exact opposite of what I want her to.'
Sometimes, she really wondered how she managed to hold back from hitting Emilia, but then Danielle realized that the girl was a bit too nimble for her to easily catch.
Shaking the strangely frustrating thoughts off her mind, the drill-haired girl coughed. "Alright, since the funds are ready, let's go!"
"Wait!"
Emilia watched curiously as all the girls in her team except for herself and Crystal huddled together to argue in hushed voices. Vaguely, she could hear her own name being mentioned from time to time.
"They're not really criticizing me, are they?"
Crystal giggled. "What do you think?"
Emilia obviously didn't feel that anyone would dare to do something like that right in front of her, but then again… she didn't dare to get closer to the group to make sure.
Anyway, since she had indeed been intentionally annoying from time to time, she could only pretend not to see it this time.
'Now that I've already achieved the goal of bringing them closer together, the next time they dare to slander me…' Emilia narrowed her eyes in thought. 'I'll definitely have to teach them that this princess is not so easy to bully!'
Crystal found the whole situation quite funny, but unaware of the 'danger' that they'd unintentionally attracted, Danielle and the rest of the team happily continued arguing.
"Red suits her the best, obviously!"
"But her earrings are green, and they look good on her!"
"So? Her belt is silver, and her boots are white, what does it matter? That's just how those items were, and she will probably replace them later. How can we base our gift off of those disposable things!"
"I hate to say it, but Sylvia is right."
Sylvia almost rolled her eyes, but considering that Robin was currently supporting her side, she quickly swallowed her protest.
Danielle coughed. "Alright, alright… since we're evenly split on the issue, how about letting the captain decide?"
Sylvia scoffed. "Because you're the captain?"
The drill-haired girl smiled. "You know what? I'll look past that attitude, and we can just let the one who's going to buy it make the final decision."
Before the situation could escalate, Nico coughed. "A-Alright, captain, I've changed my mind. Emilia's hair is definitely way more gorgeous than any of her accessories, so let's just go with that."
Now outnumbered three against one, Danielle could only give up with a sad sigh. "Fine, then, you go get that thing, and ruin her perfect color theme."
Sylvia couldn't help but roll her eyes. 'This stingy girl!'
When Nico quickly rushed back into the store, Emilia became certain that it must be a necklace that the team was after.
She hummed thoughtfully. "Everyone is already loaded with accessories, but… well, it's fine to gear up a little more at the start, I suppose."
Of course, saving up to buy good weapons and armor would have been a 'better' choice, but since most of the 'best' weapons and armor couldn't be bought from the shops anyway, Emilia didn't really mind it too much.
Anyway, since they were so far ahead of everyone else, there was no need to be too stingy with their gold.
'It's a good thing that we can all just share a single room at the inn as long as we can fit on a bed, but…' Emilia hummed. 'I wonder what it was that made them so decisively empty all their pockets…'
Looking at her girlfriend's curious expression, Crystal secretly grinned. 'Does she really not realize how strange it is that none of them were even a little reluctant to part with their gold?'
Although it might seem obvious for everyone on the same team to share all their resources freely, the fact that Danielle and the others only 'exchanged' items was enough to prove that they still valued what they considered their own.
The blonde girl smiled confidently. 'They're definitely buying something for her.'
When their giddy little healer, Nico, finally returned and handed Emilia a silver choker with a smile, her guess was finally confirmed.
The crimson-haired elf blinked, obviously stunned. "…?"
Nico grinned. "It's… our gift!"
Sylvia, Danielle, and Robin also nodded with a smile.
"For you."
"For being our lucky star."
"And so cute!"
Danielle and Sylvia immediately stopped smiling.
"Moron."
"Idiot."
Obviously, although she could roughly understand what they meant, Emilia was still stunned.
The four of them had been whispering and arguing about it for so long, so how could the item that they finally agreed on be so… strange?
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—Hibiscus Heart—
Quality → Green
Type → Accessory (Choker)
Effect → Has a mild calming effect on the wearer's mind, which is slightly boosted under abnormal stress.
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No matter how she thought about it, none of her teammates would benefit much from this kind of effect.
She couldn't help but purse her lips in thought. "How much did this cost, again?"
Before they could respond, however, Emilia quickly shook her head in denial. "Wait, don't answer me! Since it was a gift, I'll treat it as your heart."
Thinking about it this way, although the item's effect wasn't particularly amazing, its name was actually quite fitting.
Emilia couldn't help but smile, and face the 'Crimson Witches', her eyes brimming not with her usual playfulness and mischief, but complete sincerity.
"Thank you."
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