Chapter 9 : Problems

I went to the barbershop earlier and went inside.
"And then she said...Mister Hades."
Veene seemed to be chatting happily with the barbershop owner while drinking tea together. I breathed a sigh of relief. Veene ran to hug me, her hair neatly cut down to her shoulders and tied back into a high ponytail. Her hair is more fragrant and smoother.
"Thank you for taking care of her."
"It's okay, Mr.Hades. She reminds an old man like me a lot about my grandchild."
Veene and I waved to him and left the shop. Before closing the shop, I noticed tears rolling down his face. The two of us continued to the clothing store. On the way, I noticed Sophia...
"Sister Soph...Mister Hades?" I grabbed Veene by the shoulder in order not to draw attention to ourselves.
Sophia is surrounded by two people who look quite like delinquents while holding Puff in her hands. This is also a fairly deserted street, so it's easy for those delinquents to rampage here. Suddenly, Sophia, without her rifle, and two delinquents entered a dead-end between two houses. Veene and I stood in front of the dead-end to see what happened and were ready to raid the two delinquents if anything bad happened.
"Hey, elf, why don't you give us some money so I can leave you and your little fox alone ?" The big guy said with a proud and arrogant face.
Then the skinny guy next to him spoke up.
"That's right girl, you probably don't want your long life to end so quickly."
In contrast to the nervous Veene and I felt, Sophia, looked rather calm and a little annoyed.
"Tch. I thought we were talking about business. I would be willing to do business with anyone as long as I make a profit and it suits me but this is unexpected. Puff..."
"Hehehe. Do you think we'll do business with you, and what do you plan on doing with that fox ?"
"That's right, you think..."
In the blink of an eye, Puff transformed into a full-grown big fox, leaping at the big man and biting off his nose. He fell to the ground screaming in pain while his nose was bleeding non-stop. I covered Veene's eyes to avoid the horrible scene unfolding before my eyes as Puff spit out the other guy's nostrils.
"Arrrgggghhhhhh"
"Damn elf, you dare..." Before he noticed, she has pulled out a pistol from her right thigh.
"Get out, I don't want to see you two anymore."
Those two men led each other away while still bitterly upset about losing Sophia. After the two left, she noticed two bags of money.
"Wow, well, you guys dropped your bags without looking back. Guess this isn't a bad idea after all." Sophia smiled in a sinister way.
She took two bags of money and put them in her pocket. Puff returns to its small form. She picked Puff up and wiped the blood from his mouth with a towel while walking out.
"Puff, I will treat you to a real meal today...Hades, Veene ?"
All this time, Veene and I just stood transfixed with amazement at the battle, no it was more like a massacre. Sophia's eyes lit up when she saw Veene's flowing hair.
"Not bad, Veene. Your hair is so smooth and shiny."
"Thanks for the compliment, Miss Sophia."
"I said...Never mind, but what are you two going to do?"
"Ah, we were going to buy clothes when we saw you surrounded, I was about to take it to my hand, but it turns out you can take care of yourself."
"Really."
Sophia thought for a moment. Then Sophia motioned for the two of us to go to her cart.
"I can help you two choose some clothes."
"It won't be free, will it ?"
"Exactly."
I chose only 2 purple regular clothes, while Sophia chose for Veene two cute black and white maid suits and a set of pajamas.
"A maid outfit?"
"I have a good eye for fashion. Did Veene like this?
"Yes, I like it."
"We will need a pair of boots, a backpack, and two coats. I think I need a black glove."
"Veene's boots seem to be too big, but I think other things work just fine."
"It is because..."
I want to destroy everything that I took from those guys' bases as soon as possible. There's a good chance they'll come looking for this place, after Veene and I escape.
"It's because I want to erase the past."
"Hmmm."
"To be able to look to the future."
"Hmmm, whatever."
Sophia brought out what I asked for.
"Anything else."
"At least for now. How much is all of this."
"Hmmm, it's all 1 silver and 20 iron coins."
"Can I work for you to pay for it?"
"Of course, I think it will take you three days to pay in full."
"Okay."
"But first, shake my hand so we can form a contract."
I took Sophia's hand, and in the blink of an eye, there was a white aura around us and then it went out.
"What is that?"
"It is Contract Formation. It is a special skill of the merchant profession."
"Will something bad happen?"
"Unless you break the contract, everything will be fine."
"Now let's go find an inn to spend the night."