Talisa urges me back to my room with visible anticipation.

  I can already think of what she has in mind.

  Ever since I got here, she has made it her purpose to regularly make me a completely new set of clothes.

  Heck, now I'm changing into a new outfit more often than I'm wearing the same stuff.

  At least, Talisa seems to have the opinion that it's more natural to make new clothes with her silk than to wash the old ones.

  By now, I have so many dresses that I could supply a medium-sized village.

  Not to speak of that, given the material and craftsmanship, every single one of these should fetch a small fortune.

  No, scratch the "small".

  I suppose it's rather well-meant, although I find the idea that a spider finds it so great to play dress up with me slightly unsettling.

  Yet that's no real reason to deny her kindness.

  "Here, Neri. I made you a new dress." (T)

  I mean, look at her face.

  She's almost beaming while presenting it to me.

  "I worked all month on this. I'd even say it's my best work by now. That means something! You have to try it on! After all, it's been specially designed for you." (T)

  What does she mean by that?

  I look at what she brought me here.

  Different from many of her previous works, this dress looks a little bit more practical.

  The skirt only has medium length and looks like something I could run in.

  It's not quite as pretty and is clearly not intended for showing off.

  Unlike the others, this one even has a bit of a grey shade, a color she usually avoids using, as it doesn't look very fancy.

  However, the way it's made up of several smaller pieces shows that a lot of thought went into assembling it.

  The intricate patterns she created by weaving thicker strands through the whole dress might be a bit much, but it isn't all too visible.

  It almost looks like something I could wear in public and not draw everyone’s stares.

  Not like I'd get the chance to do that, though.

  "Weren't all your dresses custom-made?" (N)

  "Ehm, yes. But this one is supposed to be a bit more flexible. It's woven to accommodate any form of quick, violent stretching and folds itself away from the strain." (T)

  Quick, violent stretching?

  Why would I need that?

  "It should also be very resilient to punctures, tearing, and the like, and therefore be great for outdoor activities. Maybe you should try running around the forest a bit. Masiabi always found this pretty elating. It's supposed to make you feel excited and divert your mind from trouble. You have been, for quite a long time, hiding yourself down here. This way you could stretch your legs a bit." (T)

  "I'm not really the sporty type, and wouldn't pants do better for that?" (N)

  "Uh, I didn't mean..." (T)

  Oh my White Lady!

  "THAT THING IS FOR WHEN I TRANSFORM!!!" (N)

  She wants me to move in my spider form!?!

  "Uh, yes, but I had hoped for a less-repulsed reaction." (T)

  "You basically already have in mind that I transform again!" (N)

  "Didn't last time show you that suppressing your true form isn't feasible on a permanent basis?" (T)

  "No. No! Absolutely not! No!!" (N)

  Does she seriously think that because I somehow got through this terror, I would want to repeat the probably most traumatic moment in my life!?

  Okay, aside from when my parents got killed in front of my eyes.

  Or when spider legs pierced out of my body.

  Or when I found out there are spiders under my skin.

  Or how all these adventurers got massacred in front of my eyes.

  Or how I was locked in a room with countless huge spiders after finding them in my bed sheet.

  Not to forget when a huge wall of spider doom forced me into a room with more spiders...

  Why do I have so many major traumatic memories again?!

  Though, I'd at least give the transformation one a solid two on my inner ranking list.

  Yep.

  Parents come first, then the transformation!

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  "It was just a suggestion. You know that you'll eventually have to change again, right? That time might come even sooner than last time. You can’t ignore your true form forever." (T)

  My true form... I seriously didn't need to hear this.

  "Now that you did it once, the next time should go a lot easier for you, as you ripped through all your physiological barriers. This means that next time shouldn't be as uncomfortable for you, but also that the transformation will come a lot easier to you. Or in other words..." (T)

  Pure dread overcomes me, coupled with a single revelation.

  "...I'm more likely to transform again. That's what you're saying, right?" (N)

  "Hence the dress! I know you dislike being without clothes, but with this, you needn’t worry. You can just slip out during the transition, attach it to your body, and you'll still have something to wear after your next full transformation!" (T)

  "But I don't want to! I don't want to be a creepy spider! I don't want spider legs to pull all my body away as if I'm going to skin myself! I don't want to think and feel like a spider!" (N)

  That had to be said!

  I'm not just going to swallow everything.

  The next days are already going to be hard enough with the upcoming emergence.

  I don't have to...

  What is with Talisa?

  She has a solemn expression, almost as if she's hurt.

  Is she tearing up?

  "Neri, please. I know it isn't something you're comfortable with, but ignoring this part of yours just won't work. Please! I, I just don't know how else to make you more comfortable about it. If you ignore it again, the strain will have very bad consequences on your body. I don't want this to happen to one of my sisters. It was already terrible enough the last time. So if there's anything I can do, please, tell me. As long as it helps you accept this, I'm fine with anything." (T)

  Anything?

  This is quite a huge promise.

  Especially, from a top-tier monster that supposedly can topple countries.

  Yet can there even be something that would help me?

  On the other side, I’ve never seen her like this.

  So, honestly vulnerable.

  Thinking about it, she must have worked for such a long time to prepare this dress.

  There are no bad intentions about it.

  She’s entirely genuine here.

  But what can I do?

  I still feel bad.

  "Neri? I-is there truly nothing?" (T)

  "I don't know, okay? I have no idea how I could ever come to accept this. This... body. I don't want to." (N)

  Now she looks rather sad after hearing this.

  "Maybe, maybe you don't have to? I mean, maybe it's enough if you at least confront yourself with the idea. If you could face the idea, you might slowly build some resistance to it. This would already be something. You don't have to like it, just, uh, tolerate it." (T)

  That sounds already much less forceful than how I got to know her at the start.

  "You mean this?" (N)

  "Of course! I want you to be healthy. We might start small and slowly increase it to a certain level. If we can get you so far to enable you to spend a few minutes in this state, your accumulated strain could be alleviated. It doesn't have to be more than the bare minimum. Also, I promise, your coming transformations won't be quite as intense as the first one." (T)

  Uh, spending even a few minutes as a spider sounds like horror.

  How could I ever be comfortable with this?

  Yet she does have a point.

  I don't need to be comfortable.

  The pain back then was nothing I wish anyone to ever experience.

  If this could be avoided, it makes sense.

  Can I do this?

  Maybe with baby steps.

  "Alright. Just give me that dress. I'm gonna wear it." (N)

  "You will?! Oh, I'm sure you're gonna love it! I thought about you the whole time while making it. It wasn't supposed to be too flashy, as I know you don't like that so much, but I'm sure you're gonna like this. It has some great features!" (T)

  Since I was, due to a number of incidents, repeatedly naked in front of Talisa, I lost a bit of my shyness regarding changing in front of her.

  Her evident excitement whenever I finish changing into one of her dresses may also play a part.

  Once I get the shirt on, I need to say it's a neat fit.

  Not tight, but snug, and flexible enough that I can slip it off whenever I wish with a little force.

  It apparently was perfectly customized to fit my size.

  The skirt is even stretching a bit to accommodate my shape just right around my hips.

  The same goes for the short-length underpants.

  Seriously, if not for all my other troubles, I’ve never been more comfortable.

  "And? ..." (T)

  She's truly very excited.

  This piece must mean a lot to her.

  Even more than all the other dresses.

  "I like it. It feels very comfortable to wear." (N)

  "Oh, I'm so relieved to hear this! It was made so it wouldn't restrict your movements in any way, or even scrape against your skin. Not like it would hurt, but it could be uncomfortable." (T)

  As I said, it appears like lots of thought went into this one.

  "Thank you. It's just right." (N)

  Showing gratitude for a gift is just proper manners.

  "Oh, you didn't see the best part yet!" (T)

  What does she mean?

  Promptly, she comes closer and lays her hand over the patterns, before swiping upwards.

  "See, if you do like this..." (T)

  Suddenly, the surface of the patterns starts to glisten in a far more vibrant form of its grey color.

  Or maybe it's rather...

  "Yep! I wove silver into it! And some adamantite I still had in store. So it would gain this nice color if worn the right way." (T)

  I have no idea what adamantite is, but if my past experiences are anything to go by, then it's not some low-quality material.

  Sigh.

  I knew it was asking for too much to expect a completely normal dress.

  "And? Do you like it?!" (T)

  Why is she so enthusiastic?

  As if I could possibly say no now.

  "It looks very nice. But is there a way to restore the former color?" (N)

  I prefer not to glow in silver.

  It kinda ruins the point of it being less fancy.

  "Certainly. That's the special feature after all. You only have to scrape down instead of up. By the way, every part of the dress is like that." (T)

  Just now, I become aware of the many more lines.

  Not just the obvious ones on the skirt, but in truth, there are so many more fine patterns woven into all the fabric, if this legendary item can even be called such.

  Nothing concrete, but mostly artistic lines weaving into ever more complex forms, creating greater patterns, leading back to the smaller, until the eyes get dizzy trying to follow them.

  If I'd stroke all of it up, I'm sure I'd shine like the stars in the night sky, which I'm sure is the intended effect here.

  All of this remains hidden if you don't touch it.

  Huh, I don't know how to take this.

  I seriously shouldn't get surprised anymore by Talisa's skill as an expert tailor.

  Suddenly, my door opens, and Eritu rushes in.

  "Neri! Bad news!" (E)

  "Ertitu, what is your reason for coming?" (T)

  "Talisa!? Never mind! Neri, your familiar is trying to run!" (E)