Chapter 149: [149] Blind Tailor

Although Agnes was blind, she proved to still be a very capable Player.

Not all players participated in dungeon raids or tower climbing. There were awakeners with utility aspects that focused on arming other players, or even bettering society at large...

And although Agnes’ ability was not a utility aspect at first, she had more than honed it for that use.

In less than half an hour, she had made five different sets of clothes, each one now circling around him...

Both she and Soo-jin sat in front of the drawing room, while Isabella and Satella stood patiently behind them.

"Alright!" Soo-jin excitedly clapped her hands. "Let’s see the first one."

Ark let out a tired sigh from behind the curtain as he stared at the clothes.

’Why am I doing this again?’ He had only left his house because his sisters had basically sold him off like a slave...

Sure, he was interested in going for the meeting, but no one said anything about playing dress up!

"Arkkkkk... we are waitingggg..." Soo-jin said in a low, but dragged-out voice.

"Be quiet, I am coming out."

Ark pushed the curtain aside to reveal the first set of clothes.

It was a sleek, black suit with flaming, blue patterns on its collar, intricate patterns that would only appear in the right shade of light, and a pristine white shirt within.

The moment they saw him, the entire room went silent.

Even Satella, who barely showed any emotion, stared at him with wide eyes.

"..."

"What, why isn’t anyone saying anything?" Agnes turned around in their direction. "Don’t leave me in suspense! Does it look good?"

Soo-jin smiled, then covered half her face with her hand fan as she stared at him.

’Why are they looking at me like that?’ Ark mused.

Soo-jin pointed a finger at him, then let out a breath as she made a swirling motion with her hand.

Ark raised a brow. "What?"

"Turn around."

She paused briefly.

"I— I need to see your backside."

"You must have a death wish."

Ark got back into the dressing room and slid the curtain shut as he got ready to try on the next cloth.

He was not too keen on the idea, but Agnes had taken her time to make them, it felt disrespectful to let her efforts go to waste.

"So?" Agnes pinched Soo-jin’s arm. "How was it?"

Her smile broadened. "Perfect. It was perfect."

Ark went on to try the remaining clothes one by one, getting varying reactions from the girls each time he stepped out from behind the curtain.

Soo-jin would nod with approval. Isabella would clap with a smile, while Satella would avert her gaze, just before Soo-jin said, "Next."

But when he had gone halfway through them, Ark completely gave up.

"I’m done." He got out of the dressing room with a frown. "You said we were going to the awakener party, and here you are treating me like some sort of runway model—"

Before he could finish speaking, Soo-jin raised her hand in the air, and a dark book materialized, causing Ark’s voice to trail off.

It was clearly no ordinary book. It had runic patterns on its aged cover, and Ark could sense a faint mana coming out of it.

He frowned. "What is that?"

"You already know what this is..."

She was right, from the moment he felt the mana, he had realised what it was. "Why do you have a Skill Tome?"

Soo-jin waved it in the air. "Not just any skill tome, an A-Rank Skill tome."

Ark twitched. A-rank skill tomes were very difficult to come by, and they were also extremely expensive.

"If you agree to test out all the clothes, I’ll give it to you for free." She smiled, her crimson eyes bearing a mischievous glint. "So, what do you say?"

Ark clicked his tongue and folded his hands across his chest. "Did you really think you can bribe me with an ordinary A-rank skill tome?"

Soo-jin’s eyes narrowed.

"Yes."

"..."

"Two more clothes."

"Ten."

"Two."

"Ten."

"Five."

"Deal."

Ark sighed and returned back to the room to test more clothes, and by the time he was done, Soo-jin already had another bundle of clothes on her lap, waiting for him...

As well as another skill tome...

"Here, these are some excellent clothes you should try as well. You will be mingling with high society a lot, you know?"

She smiled.

"You should try them on..."

At this point, Ark was sure she was just using him to satiate her eyes. He gave her a wary stare, then glanced at Satella with a pleading look in his eyes.

’Help me!’

Satella cleared her throat. "Miss Soo-jin, any more than this and we will be late."

"Oh." Soo-jin frowned and stared at the clothes. "I guess nothing can be done about that."

Ark had expected them to leave immediately, but he had to wait in the car while the girls spent another thirty minutes getting ready.

Soo-jin picked out a red gown that highlighted her lovely figure. It went down to her feet, and had a long slit that went up to the point just above her knees.

Her sleeves were made of see-through lacy material that went from her wrist to parts of her chest.

Isabella, on the other hand, wore a black flared gown with red patterns. The dress made her look cute, but Ark had seen what she could do to monsters with those delicate-looking hands...

Finally, Satella wore a silky, purple fitted dress that was sure to turn heads at the occasion.

Ark had considered wearing one of the more casual clothes, but seeing how elegant the ladies looked, he was happy he had gone with the suit...

"I’ll drive," he said as he slid into the driver’s seat. He could not afford to have Soo-jin request any other stops.

And besides, it seemed like the gentlemanly thing to do, even though he was anything but a gentleman.

Satella was about to protest, but Soo-jin nodded. "Alright then, do as you please," she said as she sat in front.

Finally, after a nearly two-hour detour, they arrived at the association headquarters.

<•••>

Ark and the girls were walking towards the entrance of the hall when Soo-jin suddenly stopped.

He could feel a buzz of mana around her as she turned her attention to something in the distance, then smiled.

’Is she using her skill?’ Ark mused.

"It seems you will have to go ahead of us, Ark, we’ll catch up to you soon."

Ark stared in the direction she was looking at, but he could not see anything, apart from the darkness in the distance. "Is there a problem?"

She shook her head. "No, I just have a little business to take care of."

Knowing that Soo-jin would not reveal what it was, no matter how much he pestered her, they went their separate ways.

But when Ark arrived at the entrance, he was faced with a little trouble.

"Where is your invite?"

The two guards in front of the double doors stared at him, patiently waiting for him to present it...

"Invite?" Ark blinked.

...But when it was clear that he did not have it, the first man frowned.

"This isn’t a public event, you need a ticket to get in."

"I know, I know..." Ark waved his hands dismissively in the air.

’How did I forget? How did Soo-jin forget?!’ He was her plus one, so he relied on her invite to get through.

If he had been with her, they would have likely let him pass based on her family name alone, even without seeing the invite.

Ark clicked his tongue. ’Don’t tell me I’m going to have to wait...’

"Hey, if you don’t have an invite, step aside, you are holding up the line." Someone complained from behind him.

"I actually came here with Soo-jin Fable, I’m her plus one... but she had some business to attend to at the last minute."

"..."

The guards gave him blank stares.

"If you know Soo-jin, then I must be Lady Freude’s husband." The first guard hissed.

"And I must be married to a busty blonde elf, living my best life with three children and a dog." The second guard added, leaving Ark dumbfounded.

’Well. That was oddly specific...’