Liza Was Hesitant

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It was hard to imagine that they could make clothes from scratch in a day.
But I at least wanted clothes that she could wear tomorrow before we left.
After thinking about it for a moment, Mr. Halton nodded and said that it could be ready in a few hours.

He then called to one of the workers in the back of the store, and a woman appeared.
She was carrying a measuring tape which she used to take Liza’s measurements.
In the meantime, Mr. Halton called over a different woman, who then started to discuss something with Ms. Claire.

Apparently, they were talking about undergarments.
It was for such things like this that I was glad that Ms. Claire had accompanied us.
But then I started to hear things like, ‘You’ve grown so much!’ Uh, were they talking about Ms. Claire now?

“And the total cost will be…”
“Yes, here it is…”
“Thank you.”

After everything was finished, it was time to pay.
It all ended up being a little more expensive than when I had bought clothes, but she was a beastkin, so it had to be a special order.
I then took out my money and paid Mr. Halton.

“Mama!”
“Wuff.”
“Ms. Lyra, Johanna. Thank you for watching over Leo.”
“Not at all. Good Leo waited very quietly here.”
“And we were able to pet her.”

As soon as we exited the store, Liza ran to Leo and threw her arms around her.
I suppose she felt some kind of sense of freedom seeing Leo, after being surrounded by strangers.
I walked over to them as well, and thanked Ms. Lyra and Johanna.
While Ms. Lyra was used to being around Leo, Johanna did not have much opportunity to be with her, and so she seemed quite pleased.

Her usually cool expression was now a big smile.
I suppose that in spite of the air she gave off, she liked cute things.

“Next is the general goods store.”
“Yes. Mr. Haines’s store.”

And so we left the clothes store in order to head to our next destination.
…Previously, we had been intercepted by Nick and some other ruffians.
It was only a few months ago, but felt like the distant past now.

“Welcome. It’s been too long, Lady Claire. And you too, Mr. Takumi.”
“Hello, Haines.”
“Hello, Mr. Haines.”
“…Hello.”

We went into the gigantic building and greeted Mr. Haines.
Liza greeted him as well, though she stayed behind me.
Apparently, she still felt hesitant when meeting new people.

This time, Ms. Lyra and Johanna came with us into the store.
Nicholas stayed outside with Leo.
It had been decided that the other two women should come, because we would be buying things for a girl.
It was best to have as many opinions as possible… Even though it might make the trip longer.

“And what brings you here today?”
“We are here to buy some things for this child here.”
“Oh, a beastkin. In that case…”

Mr. Haines looked at Liza with some surprise, but then started to recommend various items.
And so we went around the store and looked for things that Liza might need.
As it was such a large store with so many things lining its shelves, Liza couldn’t stop looking around her as we walked.
She would occasionally stop, but when I asked her if there was something she liked, she would just shake her head.

“Mr. Takumi. What about this? Isn’t it perfect?”
“That’s a nice bag. Liza, what do you think?”
“Hmm… I’m fine…”
“I see…”

I picked up a bag that Ms. Claire suggested and brought it to Liza.
It was a shoulder bag, and too small for an adult like me or Ms. Claire. But it seemed like the perfect size for Liza.
There was even a flower decoration on the clasp.
However, Liza took one look at it and shook her head.
Even though she was staring at the flower part as if she liked it…

“Liza, you don’t have to be modest about it. If you want something, we will buy it for you.”

Unlike the last time I was here, I had money now.
More than I could even use.
Perhaps I was just showing off now that I was called papa, but I intended to buy whatever she wanted.
Of course, unless she wanted everything in the store…

“I’m…not…”

She shook her head again.
But she was still looking at the bag.
It was obvious that she actually wanted it.
Well, I would like it if someone that young was good at lying.

“Liza. You’re just being modest, aren’t you? It’s fine, I have more money than you think, alright? You really don’t need to worry about that.”
“But… You paid for the other stuff as well, papa. Grandfather told me that money is important and that it shouldn’t be wasted…”

After asking her about it, Liza began to hesitantly tell me the reason.
Apparently, it was because of what her grandfather had taught her.

Indeed, he was not wrong. Money was important and not to be wasted.
However, there was something more important for me.

Next Chapter

My Beloved Dog is the Strongest in Another World