“Are we going home now?”
Luke, exhausted from wandering around to buy summer clothes and carried on Dayton’s back, said weakly.
Sorbi shook her head as if it was out of the question.
“What are you talking about? Next, we have to go look for swimsuits.”
“What? Swimsuits?”
“Are you talking about swimsuits?”
Luke and Dayton asked almost simultaneously.
“Yeah, actually, Luke suggested we go watch the solar eclipse, so we’re picking out clothes to wear for that.”
“Oh, so we were getting ready to watch the solar eclipse.”
“That’s right. Nowadays, people watch solar eclipses at the beach, right? I’m actually quite interested in solar eclipses.”
Luke always had a grandfatherly tone in his speech.
But honestly, isn’t that just an excuse and he really wants to go to the beach?
Even if Luke speaks like that, he often has childish parts in him.
“Well, speaking of which, is it already time for the solar eclipse…?”
Indeed, there are quite a few people who go to the sea this time of year to watch the solar eclipse.
The sea…
While Luke watched Dayton’s expression as he lost himself in thought, he asked instead, “So, is there actually a separate outfit for swimming?”
“Of course!”
At Sorbi’s words, Luke recalled the past.
In the past, there wasn’t really a concept of swimsuits.
You would either go into the water wearing your clothes or fully undressed.
The former was when someone fell into the water, and the latter was when someone was bathing.
Because of that, playing in the water wasn’t really an activity recommended for adults.
Even so, if one insisted on playing in the water, they would just go in wearing light clothing.
Also, such water play wasn’t done unless it was by large-bodied kids like Renie or Kail, so it was difficult to understand the concept of buying new clothes for swimming in the first place.
“Is it not permissible to swim in the clothes I’m wearing now?”
When he asked that, Sorbi and Yerna were adamant.
“Of course not! How can you swim in that?”
“Right, who would go into the sea wearing those clothes? Plus, it’s a new outfit. That would be such a waste.”
“Hmm… Is that so?”
After all, he knew nothing about the common sense and concepts of swimming, so to others, he might seem strange.
In arguments put forth by the majority, sometimes you have to push back and sometimes you have to concede; in this case, it was something to concede.
It has been newly defined in this era that “to play by the water, one must wear a swimsuit.”
Though it isn’t written in law, it’s like a ‘promise’ among the majority.
That is what it means to adhere to unwritten rules.
Such unwritten rules have changed with each era, as common sense and rules shift.
Moreover, if you’re going to get into the water, it’s indeed true you need a change of clothes…
“Well, if that’s the case…”
Swimming is still a bit of a hesitance for him, though.
“Yeah, then let’s go buy swimsuits too!”
At Yerna’s cheerful remark, Luke nodded and replied.
“Alright, let’s do that.”
Having come to that conclusion, Luke suddenly looked at Dayton’s expression.
Since Dayton had just seen Yerna’s smile right in front of him, he seemed almost out of his mind, so Luke felt the need to bring him back to reality and raised his voice a little.
“Dayton, don’t you want to go to the beach as well?”
“Umm, w-well…”
He wanted to go, of course, but he wasn’t sure if it would be okay.
If he had thought about it, Yerna would have probably asked him before coming shopping; he was hearing about it for the first time here.
That would mean he didn’t particularly want to call him, wouldn’t it?
Isn’t it burdensome for a woman to go to the beach with a man who isn’t even her boyfriend?
As Dayton struggled to formulate an answer and hesitated, Luke picked up on that feeling and called to Yerna.
“Hey, Yerna. How about we invite Dayton to join us for the solar eclipse?”
Yerna opened her eyes in slight surprise.
“Dayton too? Is that alright? Can we go together? You don’t like solar eclipses that much.”
Solar eclipses?
Indeed, he didn’t particularly like them.
To be precise, he disliked them.
But did she remember that and withhold the suggestion on purpose?
Honestly, he felt a bit hurt, but at least it seemed she had made an effort, so he didn’t feel too bad.
Yet, right now, he didn’t care about that.
“That’s fine! No problem at all!”
“Great, then let’s all go together.”
With the sudden opportunity, Dayton nodded vigorously.
Before long, he was letting his imagination run wild.
The beach with Yerna!
Wasn’t this a ridiculously bold suggestion?
Just imagining it made Dayton’s heart race like an adventurer who stood before a great treasure.
Moreover, he would get to see Yerna’s swimsuit!
There’s no way he wouldn’t feel excited about that!
What kind of swimsuit would Yerna like?
A traditional bikini? No, she might not want to wear that due to sunburn.
Then perhaps a practical swimsuit? Maybe she would just wear a rash guard.
Still, Yerna could probably pull off anything. The mere thought of playing at the beach with her filled him with exhilaration.
At that moment of delightful imagination…
“Oh, right. Dayton, can you swim at all?”
“Eh?! Wh-what did you say?”
Dayton, who had been lost in thought while imagining Yerna’s swimsuit, suddenly jolted at Luke’s voice, wondering if his expression had been noticed.
Luke tilted his head, slightly confused, and asked again.
“I was asking whether you swim well.”
“Sw-swimming? Oh, swimming, right.”
After taking a moment to collect himself, Dayton confidently answered.
“Of course. I’m quite good at swimming.”
“Oh? Really?”
“Yeah. Before becoming a Forest Keeper, I even worked as a lifeguard at a pool.”
“That’s impressive.”
That was a sincere compliment from Luke.
In fact, he didn’t know how to swim at all.
To explain himself, there was no real need to learn how to swim unless one were a sailor.
Luke himself had never found himself in a situation where he could drown, as he was a great mage.
He could freely move underwater using magic, after all.
But now, that wouldn’t be the case for him.
He might just find himself in danger of drowning.
In such a case, having a reliable ally who could swim would be such a comfort.
It seems like accepting Dayton into their group was a good choice.
“Then, have you ever rescued anyone from the water?”
“Come to think of it, I haven’t. Actually, I didn’t do it for long. Originally, Diana wanted to learn to swim, so I helped her out, but I got bored with swimming and quit quickly.”
“I see. So how about swimming in the sea?”
“Let me see…”
When was the last time he went to the sea?
His memories were quite distant.
It must have been when he was 16.
After that, he lost contact with his parents and became busy with various things, so he hadn’t gone.
Ah, wait. Then does that mean Diana has never been to the sea?
Dayton soon asked Yerna with a serious face.
“Then, would it be okay to take Diana along? I think it would be her first time at the beach.”
“Of course, I would love to!”
With Yerna’s enthusiastic consent, Dayton smiled and nodded.
“Thanks.”
As Luke watched them, he tapped Dayton on the back.
“Huh? What is it?”
“I still haven’t heard your answer, so I’ll ask again. When was the last time you swam in the sea?”
“Umm, I’m not sure about the sea…”
“….”
That wasn’t a very reassuring answer.
…Can Yerna swim well?
—————–
At the swimsuit store they arrived at, Luke thought,
“Hey, how about this one? Does it look good?”
“Umm, I think it’s a bit better than that one from earlier.”
“Really? Hmm, I’m in a dilemma…”
It looked like they were joyfully picking out ‘swimsuits’, but no matter how he looked at it, that was the case.
The attire revealed the body’s form indisputably, covering only the private parts.
Yet, they showed no intention of hiding the belly button, making it extremely indecent clothing.
“If that’s the case, isn’t this just underwear?”
Luke wondered if he had mistakenly entered a lingerie store, checking the sign a few more times, but the letters saying “swimsuit” didn’t change.
As he pondered what this could mean, he soon came up with a plausible excuse in his mind.
“Perhaps ‘swimsuit’ doesn’t refer to a separate outfit, but is something like underwear worn under clothes?”
That would make sense.
Otherwise, why would they take on such a lingerie-like shape?
When Luke asked that, Sorbi tilted her head as if puzzled.
“No? Usually, you just wear a swimsuit.”
“Haha, enough of the jokes, Dayton.”
“I’m not joking, it’s true.”
“Really?”
Since Sorbi didn’t have much credibility, it was easy to ignore her, but Yerna’s expression was one he couldn’t distrust.
However, still, it was difficult to easily believe it.
If it were underwear that one wasn’t supposed to show in public, that would be one thing, but why should swimsuits, which were meant to be worn in public, look so scandalous?
Surely in this era, exposing one’s naked body or underwear was still considered shameful.
But why should swimsuits that looked identical to that be accepted?
Naturally, it was better than being completely naked, but it wasn’t exactly a great outfit either.
With doubts, Luke asked,
“Are you really saying you could go out like that?”
“Umm… Of course not. Who goes out wearing just a swimsuit…?”
“Haha. Look at that. So it was like that.”
As expected, those two were clearly conspiring to tease him with made-up tales to see him in a difficult situation wearing just a swimsuit.
It seems they thought it was amusing to see how much he expressed his emotions lately, making him their toy.
After all, he was a mage, and unless he checked things directly, he would never easily believe them.
If that attire were common, he would have seen at least one person wearing it, but he had never seen anyone walking around dressed in garments that resembled underwear.
That’s probably because it’s not common.
“You’re planning to have me believe that if I stepped outside dressed like that, you’d enjoy my reaction to it, clearly thinking of how to make fun of me. I won’t fall for such shallow tricks.”
As he spoke confidently, stroking his chin with a smile, he noticed that both Sorbi and Yerna exchanged subtle expressions before bursting into laughter.
“Why are you laughing so hard?”
“Ahahaha! Luke, what on earth are you saying right now?”
“Pfft! That sounded so ridiculous!”
Of course, while no one would dress like that outside, when they went to the beach, everyone wore such clothes.
But at this moment, no matter how much they told him, Luke seemed unwilling to believe it.
Is it really that embarrassing?
Though everyone is a bit shy when wearing swimsuits for the first time, Luke seemed a little unusual.
However, if he saw the sight when they went, he would have to believe it.
Also, if everyone were dressed similarly, it wouldn’t feel particularly embarrassing.
He would likely get accustomed to wearing swimsuits soon enough.
