Today was the big shopping day, and the entire Cunning Hares crew was mobilized.
Although the prices at the mall in Lumina Square weren't cheap, the advantage lay in the sheer variety—everything they needed could be bought in one go.
Anby was interested in movie merchandise, Billy was after tokusatsu collectibles, Nicole was restocking her cosmetics, Nekomata came to buy cat food and canned goods, and Ignis… had submitted an enormous shopping list of food.
Everyone had their own objectives, so they split up to act independently—except for Nekomata, who followed Ignis straight into the supermarket area that mainly sold food and daily necessities.
Considering the larger physique of a Thiren, even though the supermarket was located underground, the ceiling was high enough that Ignis didn't feel cramped. The shelves were built with consideration too—products with massive packaging, clearly meant for Thiren-sized customers, were displayed on the uppermost racks.
Full-meat cat food, synthetic cat food, adult cat food, kitten food… The dizzying variety made Ignis's head spin. As someone who had never raised a cat, he simply couldn't understand why there were so many different kinds of feed.
And as for canned cat food and freeze-dried varieties—the options were endless.
Nekomata carefully compared two bags of cat food in her hands. "This one's got the best price-performance ratio… but this one tastes better and has a more balanced nutrition profile…"
"Which one should I pick?" The cat sighed, her big eyes darting between the ingredient lists and net weights of the two bags, both of her tails swaying restlessly.
"This is really hard to decide… What do you think, big guy?" She suddenly turned to Ignis, stretching her arms as far as she could to shove the two bags of cat food up toward his face.
Ignis took them, glancing briefly at the ingredient lists. Honestly, he couldn't tell the difference. Especially when Nekomata mentioned taste—had she actually eaten cat food before?
One bag was a budget, all-purpose type with a clear price advantage. The other had a higher percentage of meat and better nutritional balance.
"This one." Ignis lifted the more expensive bag slightly. "This looks like it's made with better ingredients."
"But it's also pricier…" Nekomata muttered under her breath, both tails curling up. "There are dozens of cats in that alley… Feeding them once already costs a lot."
"You running a gang out there now?" Ignis teased. "How're your little followers doing?"
"They're fine. Sometimes they bring me info or run small errands," Nekomata said, not sounding entirely sincere. Her gaze drifted up toward the larger cat food bags on the higher shelf.
"Can't see… ugh oh oh oh!"
The moment she said that, Ignis reached down, scooped her up from under the arms, and lifted her straight into the air.
"How about now? Can you see?"
"Put me down! You think I'm a cat or something?!" Nekomata struggled, but doing so only made her stand out more. Streetwise as she was, being held up like this was still far too embarrassing.
"Hurry up and choose. Once you do, I'll put it in the cart." Ignis exerted a bit of strength, enough to stop her attempts to wriggle free.
Ignis's heart was pounding hard—he hadn't felt this nervous since the days he fought for the Emperor. Luckily, Nekomata was too focused on comparing prices to notice that the giant's dark face had flushed slightly red.
But she wasn't exactly calm either. As a stray, Nekomata was always wary of physical contact. Other than Nicole, almost no one had ever gotten this close to her. This big guy had only ever patted her on the head before—so why was he suddenly acting so differently today? Though being held aloft like this was awkward, those huge hands—each nearly the size of her torso—made her feel uncomfortably warm.
Good thing I didn't wear that sleeveless combat suit today.
She was thankful she'd chosen a polka-dot dress for the outing; at least the giant's hands hadn't touched her bare skin.
And so the two of them froze in this strange pose. Nekomata stared at the ingredient list but couldn't process a single word.
Passersby began whispering among themselves, clearly puzzled by the odd tableau, and Ignis felt the pressure mounting.
"Nekomata?" he asked softly. "Have you decided?"
"Nyaa?!" Nekomata's ears and tails instantly shot upright in shock.
"Y-yeah! I've decided!" she blurted, hurriedly pointing at the twenty-kilogram bag in her hands. "Th-that one! Hurry up and put me down!"
She started struggling to free herself again, and to prevent her from falling, Ignis quickly set her back on the ground.
"Are you sure this is the one?" Ignis pulled two bags off the shelf, turning to confirm.
But Nekomata had already turned away, head lowered, walking ahead without a glance back.
"That's the one!"
She didn't even look over her shoulder.
Still, she remembered her actual errand and waited for Ignis by the meat counter.
When Ignis handed over his written list, the clerk's expression was one of disbelief. The giant had ordered hundreds of pounds of various meats in one go. The clerk immediately called the cold storage staff via his terminal, instructing Ignis to head to checkout while they arranged delivery.
As he waited, the rest of the Cunning Hares started trickling in. Anby was hugging a round, short-legged plush that looked like a chibi big-headed spider. Billy walked beside her, holding several Starlight Knight belts.
"Finally got them…" Billy sighed. "The new belts were sold out everywhere, but they restocked today. Managed to grab a few."
"Don't you already have a pile of those?" Ignis asked curiously—Billy's collection was practically a mountain of belts, yet he never seemed satisfied.
"They're different, okay? Every generation of Starlight Knight, every special edition—each one's unique." Billy tried to explain the differences to Ignis, preaching like a true enthusiast.
"Oh, that's pretty cute!" Nekomata actually praised Anby's taste for once.
"Yeah!" Anby nodded repeatedly. "It's from the movie [Roll On, Little Blastcrawler]. I spent next month's meal budget at the claw machine to get it."
"Wait!" Nekomata's ears twitched. "Isn't a Blastcrawler a kind of Ethereal? Those round ones with legs that rush at you and self-destruct?"
"Yep. That's the one. The movie's about one of them as the main character. It's super popular right now. Turns out the plush version is even deadlier than the real thing."
No wonder the Cunning Hares' finances are always in the red, Ignis thought to himself. Still, with his own appetite, their Engel coefficient wasn't exactly low either. If not for occasional commissions from the Blacksmith Assoiciation, his food expenses alone could sink their budget.
"Damn it! Why is everything so expensive?!" Nicole groaned, walking over with a delicate paper bag printed with the Calisté logo.
"How can just this little bag cost tens of thousands?" she muttered, holding it carefully as if it were made of glass.
"Boss, your cosmetics are that pricey?" Billy was shocked.
"The usual stuff's fine," Nicole replied. "But I've got a court appearance coming up. Can't use cheap brands for that—need something more high-end for a formal setting."
She pulled out a small, beautifully crafted glass bottle. "This one alone cost me five hundred and forty thousand! Unbelievable."
Guess that's what they mean by 'the upper beam not being straight makes the lower ones crooked,' Ignis mused.
The Cunning Hares' spending habits were absurd—but each in their own unique way. Compared to them, Ignis's expenses on food and gear almost looked reasonable.
When the cold storage staff finally rolled out two flat carts loaded with meat, the others didn't even blink. It was, after all, the most cost-effective thing they'd bought today.
"Right, let's stop by the secondhand market on the way back and pick up some used toys," Nicole said, tucking the Calisté bottle into her bag. "If we didn't splurge on this stuff, we could've gotten new toys for the orphanage kids instead."
Still, she didn't stay gloomy for long. Turning to Ignis, she asked, "You're sure you can handle that barbecue for the kids tomorrow?"
"I'll marinate the meat tonight and skewer it in the morning. Grilling's the easy part," Ignis shrugged. "Didn't expect you to be an orphanage kid yourself, though."
"I told you before—the Cunning Hares welcomes every lost child," Nicole said as Ignis finished paying. "I'll reimburse whatever portion's for the kids' share tomorrow. Think of it as a publicity event."
"Forget it, my treat," Ignis said flatly. He didn't mind feeding the orphans—it wasn't like he'd known about Nicole's connection to the place before anyway. "Besides, calling that 'promotional funding' is a stretch. Those kids shouldn't get dragged into this line of work. Better they find honest jobs someday."
"Fair enough."
With the help of several Bangboos, the meat Ignis bought was recorded and labeled for cold-chain delivery. The Cunning Hares' own truck didn't have refrigeration, so they had no choice but to pay a little extra for the mall's delivery service.
Ignis couldn't help but wonder what kind of place could have produced someone like Nicole Demara. What had happened there that made this cunning woman both so obsessed with money—and yet so willing to spend it so freely?