Chapter 270: Chapter 285: Water Panther Leather.

“Siya…”

“You’re wondering why you’re the only one in the guild I haven’t given a task yet is that right?” I said back to Isy as we waited in my room for Bear.

“Well… I kind of think I know why…”

‘I doubt it… Otherwise, you wouldn’t be making that sad face…’ “It’s because you are going shopping for armor and weapons with me and Bear.”

“I don’t have any money…”

I sighed, leaning back in my chair. ‘I kind of figured as much… She had a whole lot of fancy stuff in her room when it got trashed, but all she bought to replace it was a single set of pajamas from a commoner store… And I probably can’t just pay for everything… My mom gave me a decent amount on account of me stopping our family from going bankrupt and everything… But… My family needs to at least stay afloat for another few years while I’m here… Not to mention buying things for another noble would be seen as pandering at best, and an insult at worst… But…’ “You’re just a little bit bigger than me. So I figure if I buy armor in your size, then you can use it for a bit, and then when I grow it will already be broken in for me.” ‘Another slight bending of the rules, if you will.’

Her eyes dropped slightly from my face for a moment. “How very… Optimistic of you…”

I leaned forward, the front legs of my chair hitting the ground as I growled. “I could always just get a new set of armor and make you wear my old one until you can afford something better…”

She chuckled nervously. “I find that plan equally optimistic…”

‘I bet…’ I shed, leaning forward on the table. ‘Now that I think about it…’ “How did you even fire that bow in the first place?”

Before my mouth got me into another awkward conversation, Bear knocked on the door, and after leaving the bow in our room, we headed out. Since he grew up there, he knew to wear all the armories and shops that serviced the guards, a group of armed commoners that worked to enforce the law. Since they weren’t nobles, they tended to want armor more than they wanted to show off how they didn’t need it, so that was really the only group of people in the area that even used any. In other words… Our supply would be limited, and most likely designed for a man. On the bright side, finding leather armor for him and some metal gauntlets was easy… But for Isy, we needed to go somewhere else. After a bit of wandering around we found an old weapon smith who specialized in armor once upon a time, he just stopped making it when people stopped having a need for it. He was a dwarf, so he certainly had the lifespan for it at least.

He didn’t even need to take her measurements or anything, getting to work right away… And finishing under the hour. Since he just modified some recycled armor he had made already in memory of the good old times, I was even able to haggle down the price. Although… None of that was to say things went smoothly per se.

Isy put it on, using the shop's bathroom to change and make sure it fit… But when she came back out she was walking more… Timidly than before, and suddenly becoming very fidgety, wearing her clothes over it. “It’s… A little tight…” She murmured.

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The blacksmith, proud of his work, didn’t see a problem. “Of course it is, it’s made from water panther hide. It will feel extremely tight because it strongly resists change coming from the outside, but it allows change coming from the inside pretty well, this contradiction causes extreme compression, without any negative effects. For instance, you can breathe fine, am I right?”

She took a deep breath tugging at her shirt while puffing out her cheeks, checking before shyly nodding.

“And when moving around, the leather should stretch with your body, rather than rubbing against it, so that way there shouldn’t be problems with chafing as some other materials would have. It’s great because it means there are no joints or weak points.”

I slowly looked between them. He seemed proud of his work, and what he said made it sound great, but this was Isy wearing it and… ‘I’m not sure chafing is the thing she’s worried about.’

“It should also significantly improve body awareness.”

‘Oh?’ “Isy, close your eyes and do the thing.” She furrowed her brow, hesitating, but ultimately figuring out what I meant, and sure enough her arms raised to the proper height, both in line with one another. ‘I’m sure it’s more than just the suit, but it will still probably be extra helpful.’ “Nice.”

When she opened her eyes she froze, wiggling her fingers a little to make sure they were actually her hands she was seeing before she almost broke out into tears, at which point we promptly left.

Although it took her a while, eventually her stride straightened back out again as she got used to it. Although, we made it all the way back to the room before she so much as said a word. Timidly waved bye to Bear as he separated from us sometime before that.

‘I thought she was just blushing because she was happy at how much her coordination improved… But…’ “Ok, what’s wrong…”

“N-nothing!” She blurted out.

“I thought you would have gotten used to it by now, is it that bad?”

“No, it’s fine, really.”

“Ok… Let me see it then. And if it is uncomfortable still, I’m sure we could adjust some laces or something.”

She stared blankly at me, unmoving. “Can I just… take it off now…”

‘It’s that bad? She’ll have to wear it for long periods of time while we are at war, so that’s… Really not ideal…’ “Let me see it first, if there's an issue, we should try and fix it, then you can change into whatever you want for the rest of the day.”

She looked to the side, letting out an uncomfortable groan as she untied her shirt and finally showed me the armor, giving me more of a sense as to why she felt the way she did. The armor was emerald green and black with intricate lace patterns on parts that made it look… Less like armor shall we say… Although the hardened leather plates and stitching, tight and thin though they were, at least covered everything. She had said it was tight, but what she didn’t say was that it wrapped around her body exactly like a second layer of skin, which, while still being fairly thick and protective… Somehow also left little to the imagination so to speak… On the one hand, I was almost embarrassed for her, on the other, I was more than a little fascinated by how it worked. I mean, he had only slightly modified it supposedly, and yet it almost looked like she was naked with how exact the fit was, I wasn’t even sure how she put it on without help.

“Can I take it off now…” She murmured again.

“Hold on a minute, first, try and loosen up, it’s not supposed to restrict your movement but we should be certain, if it does then those are the areas we would adjust right?”

I had her jump up and down a few times, and stretch, moving through various positions. I was checking the range of motion sure, but really I was just hoping she would get used to it after moving around in it a bit. Just by watching I could tell the armor did actually seem to support her movements, and it wasn't like any of them hurt… ‘If anything she’s more flexible. If nothing else it is functional.’ “Jump in the air again quick.”

She whined, waving her arms around her like wet noodles. “Why…” She groaned as she listened to my request.

‘Boing…’ After a moment I slowly cleared my throat. “I was just… I guess you could say my curiosity got the best of me, but it’s not important. You can change now…”