As soon as they reached the tailor shop, Arthur and Eden left her alone. This time with a loud warning of “Follow the damn sign!” before they left in a hurry. Aediva pouted as she looked at their shrinking outline at the horizon of her vision.

“Tch, treating me like a kid” she said, a little sulky as she entered the shop. The instant she looked at the shop’s interior, she was stunned. She was sure the outside of the shop is just like two-storey and still relatively small. Is she imagining the large interior of the shop?

Aediva stepped outside and looked back at the exterior of the tailor shop before walking inside again. She blinked her eyes as she looked around, poking at Cath’s cheek but he refused to wake up and snuggle into her sweater.

“Oh my~ Welcome to Calmaderie! I’m Lisa! How may I help you, little miss?”

Aediva turned her head from looking outside as she stood in between the door - quickly turning beet red when she was caught behaving oddly by the lady named Lisa. A young woman with aquamarine hair and eyes, looking straight at Aediva with an amused look. A short giggle escaped the young lady’s lips as Aediva closed back the door, flinching at the sound of the bell as if she just noticed it after entering and exiting the building so many times.

“What a refreshing sight. You look like a child who had just noticed magic!” Lisa giggled. Aediva’s face turned even more red from embarrassment.

“Um… Um… I’m here for… The secretary told me to…” the embarrassed girl fumbled with her words. Lisa only smiled knowingly.

“Oh, I know who you are. Maya already contacted me yesterday night about the arrangements for your uniforms set” Lisa said.

“Maya?” out of everything Lisa said, that name caught her attention.

“Yes! The rigid office lady who worked as the principal’s secretary. Fufu~ Come now. Come. I’ll prepare some tea for you. Sit down by that table” Lisa pointed at the chair nearby which Aediva quickly walked to and sit down. Her eyes simply trailed along at the bunch of cookies and plates coming out of nowhere and landed gently on the table with a faint sound. Floating teacup and teapot made her look with intrigue in her eyes as it was served for her.

“Sugar?” Lisa asked, snapping Aediva out of her focused attention.

“Ah, yes please. Four, please” she said. Aediva blinked as the teaspoon stirred itself in the teacup before landing at the saucer already in front of her.

“So!” Lisa quickly snapped Aediva out of her stupor and suddenly looked at Aediva closely. Her eyes look at the bump in Aediva’s sweater, prompting Aediva to loosen the zip of her sweater and revealing Cath that she caught before he fell to the table.

“Aww, that’s adorable. Does he need a uniform too?” Lisa asked, walking towards the counter before moving to take a few things from the table at the back.

“No, he’s probably just going to throw it away after a minute wearing one” Aediva said. Lisa nodded, humming “I see. I see,” before returning back with what seems like a book for Aediva which the girl took as Lisa walked away again towards the counter - this time rummaging something behind the counter.

Upon opening the book, Aediva found out the various kinds of uniforms or rather, the catalogue of fabric and whatnot. From normal school uniforms to robes to gym outfit and even dorm uniform design?

“Whoa… there’s a lot” Aediva commented as she flipped the pages when Lisa suddenly popped from behind the counter with a loud, “Aha! Found it!”

Aediva looked at Lisa as she tittered and made her way back to Aediva.

“So, first of all. What sort of uniform do you want?” Lisa asked, gesturing at Aediva to stand up and stand straight. Aediva looked a little startled at the sudden question as Lisa started to measure her body.

“Um… Something comfortable? And warm” the girl answered after a short while of thinking. Lisa hummed.

“Hm, it must be your powers. I can feel the air around you is cooler. Do you feel cold right now?” the tailor asked.

“Ah… Well, yeah…” Aediva answered. Lisa moved to measure from Aediva’s waist down. After Aediva pretty much only listen to what Lisa was mumbling about. After taking her measurements, Lisa stepped away from Aediva and jot down on her notebook.

“Right. So how much uniforms do you want?” Lisa asked.

“How much?” Aediva asked back. Lisa chuckled.

“Normally students ordered up to ten sets of normal school uniforms. You must know that there are three types of uniform shirts. One normal long-sleeved shirt with normal thickness for spring and autumn. One short-sleeved for summer. Another one is long-sleeved with thick fabric. The vest and blazers are the same for any season. Ah, would you like to order custom pantyhose too? You can order undergarments as well if you like” Lisa chirped happily while Aediva looked taken aback by her last sentence.

“N-no. I don’t think I need until undergarments…” the girl said, a little troubled when Lisa giggled.

“I’m just teasing you. So, what are your orders?” Lisa said.

Aediva who had been thinking passively since earlier suddenly struck by a thought. Her lips tugged at each side as she tilted her head at Lisa.

“... Are my uniforms paid under the scholarship as well?” Aediva asked. Lisa placed a finger on her cheek.

“I don’t think so. Most students with scholarships that came to me, paid with their own money or aid funds from certain organizations… Should I ask Maya about this?” Lisa asked Aediva back. Aediva nodded.

“Of course, please do” the silver-eyed girl said, smiling like an imp when Lisa turned to her back and reached out for the phone. After a series of “Yes” and “Of course” then “I’ll be sure to contact you about the bills”, that smile widened.

“Alright, so about the payment. It seems that the principal is paying for you. My, what a surprise” Lisa said. Aediva smirked. What a surprise indeed.

“So, your orders?” Lisa said, turning to Aediva who pointed at the catalogue with a gleeful smile.

“I’ll get three normal shirts, three thick ones. Two blazers. Five pairing skirts and one pair of pants. Three pairs of thick pantyhose for the winter. The robe and the gym outfit, normal. But since I’m not really from any dorms… I guess I won’t be having the coloured embellishment, huh?” Aediva said.

“Fufu, that’s a large order! And don’t worry about the embellishments. I’m sure you’ll like what I’ll come up with. Do you confirm to go with all your said order?” Lisa said. Aediva turned to look at the young woman with aquamarine hair and nodded when she was presented with an odd thing. Aediva immediately looked confused.

“This is…”

“A hand spool” Lisa quickly said. Aediva blinked as the tailor placed the spool on her palms.

“... Eh?”

“For all your orders, you’ll have to create 1000 spools of mana thread. Here, let me show you how to use it” Lisa said. Aediva stood frozen.

“Eh?”

“You simply need to pull this thread here and embed it with your mana. Then you pull and let go. Easy, right? It’ll sort itself out no worries” Lisa taught Aediva.

“EH?”

“Usually, potential students would’ve done this a few months before they entered the academy as part of their enrollment tests. Since you're a special case, I suppose you could at least try to complete half of the requested amount of spools in one week okay?” Lisa said again.

“EHHHHHHHHH?!”

“Fufu. Good luck, Ms. Aediva. I’ll send the principal the bills myself later!”

The time Aediva left the shop, the feeling of spite and anger filled her every system.

“DAMN IT!!!” she shouted.