I'm back at the main plaza and close to the Booyah Base. The situation was the same as before: less Inklings and Jellyfishes around. Some of them were staring in front of the Turf War Station: they kept swinging this re-opening flag. I wonder since when that group was there…
I looked at the Jelly Fresh shop: it looks rather empty. The owner is going to be very pleased, from my presence. I approached the door and entered inside.
"Hello my customer!" He dashed towards me! "Luck is surrounded and you got it!"
Huh? Luck is surrounded?
"Lucky is you! Jelonzo rewards with cuts on clothes!"
C-cuts on clothes?! I… never understood a thing from this guy, ever since my first times.
"What Jelonzo will do today?" He rubs his tentacles.
"I just want a swimwear, mister." I started looking around, hoping to find it first.
"Swimwear? OH JELLY KELLY!"
I-is he panicking? Or jumping from joy?
"Inkling REALLY lucky! Lucky is girl and cut is a thing on them!"
M-my head! I'm getting confused! ACK: he grabbed my hand and pulls me towards another room!
"Swimwear a plenty! Yes, yes! Choose the favorite and speak!"
Ow, he hurt my hand! Th-this guy must be really desperate! Sigh, anyway… huh, he wasn't wrong: I never saw so many types of swimwear! Good, because I'm going to pick the most bland one and use it to not get any attention.
"Hey hey! Jelonzo is oh no on you!" He snatched that swimwear with his long tentacle!
"W-why?!" From far away, he puts the cloth back to its place.
"Cute is full of you! Delicate flowers equal delicate swimwear."
C-CUTE?! I-I blushed a lot.
"Get this one!" He took a… aaaa… …
It was green with darker stripes located to the bottom. The top was covered in layers of different colors, which form different flowers. It… i-it was… beautiful! Astonishing! Classy! PERFECT! I-I need to get it! I-IT HAS TO BE MINE!
"Ho… how much…?" My eyes were sparkling…
"Coins 2600. I cut a lot of coins!"
2600? No… n-no! I-it can't cost this much! It's an insult to beauty!
"A-are you serious?! No! I refuse to pay such sum!"
"Refuse? Bad choice! Price is low as ant!"
"I… I'M GOING TO PAY THREE TIMES ITS ORIGINAL PRICE!"
My words made the owner almost flip upside down.
"This piece of art can't be treated like any cheap second-standard, you see inside the most degraded shops! I, DEMAND, JUSTICE, FOR, THIS, SWIMWEAR!" I was breathing rapidly.
"… you… first… saying such wisdom… sniff…" Tears were coming down from his eyes. "you… understand… fashion… Jelonzo… reached true happiness… sniff…"
I-I was crying too…
"… Jelonzo… ACCEPTS REQUEST WHICH IS HUMBLE!"
YES! YES, I DID IT! MY PERFECT SWIMWEAR GETS ITS PERFECT PRICE!
"Fellow fashionist! Follow please."
I followed him, while taking out my ID card.
"ID card"
"Here!" I gave the card to him.
He quickly pass it through the cash register and look at the information appearing on a monitor. Jelonzo types something on its keyboard.
"Done is done!" He returns my card. "No gone now. Delicacy hates rudecy. Hold the wait."
Rudecy…? He wanted to say rudeness?! He took something under the counter. It's… a bag decorated with flowers… … my eyes start to sparkle once again.
"Theme matched! Bag added to the price, charge is free." He passes the bag to me.
"… th-thank you! Thank you for your kindness!" I hugged the beautiful bag!
"Jelonzo is thanked by you. Now go! Justice wear the world!" He pointed at the exit.
"Yes!" I nodded. "I'm going to wear this, so everyone could see the beauty and perfection incarnated!"
After putting away the swimwear inside the bag and carrying it on my shoulder, I walked towards the exit. Aaaah… I feel like I was floating in the air… as delicate as a perfect flower would ever be… … perfect? Wait… WAIT A MINUTE!
WHAT I HAVE DONE?! I ACTED WORSE THAN A SPOILED CHILD! I WAS SUPPOSE TO BE CALM AND SERIOUS! NNNNGGHHH! DRAT! I… I seriously hope this embarrassing scene of mine doesn't cost me the trial! I quickly took a look around: no one was walking in my direction.
Phew…! That was too close! Next time, I'm going to hold myself and remind me the real perfect behavior. Sigh, well… at least I got a swimwear and a bag. I'll store my clothes there, once I change myself up. Now, I need to buy the sandals…
I'll go to the Shrimp Kicks: like Jelly Fresh, it was almost empty. This time however, I'll make sure that no sandal is going to make me squeal like a little girl! I already did enough damage to my reputation… not counting the other times, of course.
I entered inside the shop: I saw the owner almost immediately.
"Yo, squiddo! Good to see a friendly face here!"
…
"Uh… someone hit hard your radio?"
This guy doesn't seem to know talking professionalism… at least, he's better than Jelonzo.
"No, I was just looking around." Actually, I did that right now.
"Yeah! That's the rap! Ask me anything to rock some shoes!"
Only now I noticed how many shoes he was wearing on his little feet. The owner may be more fanatic than someone could possibly imagine… anyway, I can't see any sandals around… only shoes perfect for a Turf War match or for the latest trends.
"Excuse me?" I asked to the prawn.
"Yeah?"
"I don't see any sandals around…"
"Sandals? Ooooooh!"
… that sound is making me frown a lot…
"Tough luck, lady! Sandals are as gone as your favorite song played on a radio station!"
"GONE?!" My jaws dropped. "No no NO! Please, check around again! There must be another pair hidden somewhere!"
"Look, I scratch my shop every day. No shoe or sandal escapes my dance. You gotta move on other horizons, kid."
"What horizons?! I don't know another shoe shop around the city! Not to mention, most of the stores are closed today!"
"Heh… true music... true music… " He massages his chin. "You need a pair now?"
"Yes, please."
"Then I can sell mine! Sounds edgy?"
"It sounds more perfect, than edgy."
"Nah, too boring… edgy is the new wave!" He goes inside a small room.
By the way, this guy is pure nonsense! What's the point of edginess if this is not-oh, he already got back.
"Here they are! As fresh as a Squid could ever wish for!"
I took a great look at them…
"They are too big, mister! I can't wear those!"
"I know, it's a little distortion on the edginess… but you didn't specify any additional instruments or something, so"
"But I'd look ridiculous! I have a reputation to keep clean and perfect!"
"Hey, chill out! If I knew your music tastes, I'd have reserved the freshest hits!"
"Sigh…" I started thinking about it. "… is it possible to modify them? Making them more suited for my feet?"
"Depends from the price, lady! Which is… hhhmmmmm… 5000 coins. Sounds Squidcore enough?"
"Ok, it's a deal."
"First, your album record."
I'm sure he's referring to my ID card. I showed it to him. He quickly pass it through a cash register and took look at the monitor. … was he getting worried?
"Ehm… I'm afraid we have some technical issues…"
"What?! But the machine is working just"
"No no, I'm not talking about the machine… it's about your credit." He showed me the monitor.
… WWWHHHAAAAAAAAATTT?! I ONLY HAVE 23 COINS?! HOW IN THE WORLD DID I HAVE… … oh… … curses.
"Sorry, lady. I can see in your eyes how much you wanted that CD… but with 23 coins, I can't even give you the cover list!"
"Please, reconsider the price! I-I need a new pair of sandals this morning!"
"Whoa, hold your tentacles! Why do you need them so badly, anyway?"
"Because" WAIT A SECOND! I can't tell him my intentions! Quick, think about something! "… today I want to go to the beach, with my friends. If I don't have a pair of sandals, I can't join them."
"Oh… it sure sounds psychedelicate."
"It truly is." I nodded.
It worked: he swallowed my lie without noticing. He starts thinking about it.
"Uhm… let's… oh, right! Maybe I can give you the sandals! Hold your notes, ok?"
He ran back inside that small room. I can hear some loud noises. What he was searching inside? The prawn is back holding a shoe box.
"All right, here's the music sheet: I want you to look at those shoes."
"Huh?! W-why?"
"Questions after the concert!" He opens the box, pulling off… a red-green shoe with a normal Squid logo on it.
I never saw this type of shoes, before. Even the logo looks weird: it's too bland to be a real one. Well, unless it's not a logo at all…
"Are those shoes patented?"
"They sure are, lady! You are holding the freshest news coming from the big hits!"
"Ah. Well, they look fine… not something I'd buy personally, but I can imagine the others buying it."
"Thanks for the cheers, but I didn't want to hear your singing."
"No? Then, what are their purpose?"
"To be worn by you!"
"M-me?! W-why?!"
"Because that's the part where I can give you a claw! You wear them and go around the city looking for fresh dudes and dudettes. Especially Inklings thirsty for fashion!"
"Ok? Is this my only task?"
"Not yet! You show those shoes to any potential clients, then you make them scan the Squid logo with their Shrimp Kick app. My computer will record all the applauses, so I can send them to the company asking me the service."
"Huh… I never thought that such system could exist."
"Neither do I, lady! Thanks to this magic, I can sell you the sandals in exchange of 20 scans! Deal?"
"20?! I-It'd take too much time!"
"Pffff! Be real! I'm sure you can find plenty of rockstars and skateboarders hanging around the parks!"
Except they are all hanging around the pool, which is impossible to enter.
"So, what are you waiting for? Play the instruments and come back with the loot!"
Sigh… this is going to be a problem, isn't it? Well, is either this or losing Hunley forever…
"Ok, it's a deal."
I did a hand-ops… I mean a CLAWshake to the owner. I wore the shoes: they fit perfectly with my feet.
"Hey, I guessed your foot size right! Now THAT's style!"
Or just experience…
"Well, you are on your own now! Don't ruin the shoes, ok?"
"I'll bring them back as good as new." I bowed down.
"Kelp yeah, lady! That's the rap! See ya soon, squiddo!"
I waved my hand in front of him: I hope this side-mission doesn't hurt too much my performance… or making me waste too much time. Ah, I can see Inklings near the Turf War Station: they must be the ones I saw earlier. I'll talk to them, first.