Let me consult with Dea-kun right away

"And so, I was thinking we should have you enter the tournament too, Dea-kun."

Having regrouped at our base after leaving the inn, I immediately consulted with Dea-kun.

"… But I don't have any combat ability?"

"If it's a party battle, I can support you, Dea-kun. Plus, look, there's this kind of tournament too."

I showed him a copy of the flyer that had been posted on the guild's bulletin board.

"A Tamer tournament… you say?"

"That's right! If you and Arthur enter as a pair, all you have to do is shout 'Go, Arthur!' and rake in the prize money! Easy peasy!"

"Huh, me?"

Hearing his name called, Arthur hopped over.

"Well, it's true that Arthur wouldn't lose to any ordinary familiar."

"Of course! I'm a Thunder Dragon, after all!!"

Arthur puffed out his chest proudly while conversing through his word cards.

"And just in case, if you wear that Gothic Lolita Dress the Five Elders Workshop made, it'll be perfect."

"I think that's equipment that really shouldn't be shown in public though."

"But nothing is more important than your safety, Dea-kun. It can't be helped, right?… Don't worry, don't worry, if worst comes to worst, I'll step in and stop things!"

The Gothic Lolita Dress, crafted by the Five Elders Workshop.

It deflects most magic, and on the physical side, even a full-power hammer swing gets reduced to feeling like being stroked with a cat toy. On top of that, attacks from Dea-kun get enhanced to the point where a simple finger flick could pierce solid rock.

However! If you go wild wearing this, you'll be hit with tremendous muscle soreness the next day!

"… The fact that's the only drawback makes it way too overpowered. How does that thing even work?"

"Apparently they skillfully combined curses to neutralize each other."

For example, the drawbacks of 'becoming extremely violent' and 'having aggression extremely suppressed' activate simultaneously and balance each other out to plus-minus zero. It's super equipment born from cramming tons of those pairings together.

"The thing is, because of that, it's balanced so perfectly that if even a single frill comes loose, the whole thing will collapse and cause a massive explosion or something."

"See, that makes it equipment that definitely can't be shown in public!"

"It's fine! Apparently the wearer takes no damage even if it explodes! Think of it as the equipment's last resort? It's basically a safety feature."

A device that secures safety by eliminating enemies within a one-kilometer radius through explosion. Safety device for short!

And it's also a safety device in the proper sense, since it removes the equipment before the balance breaks and some kind of drawback kicks in.

"… The more I hear about it, the more outrageous that equipment sounds."

"Everyone was bragging that only the Five Elders Workshop could pull off something like this. I want to see Dea-kun fighting in that outfit… wouldn't that be great?"

"I'll get terrible muscle soreness though."

"That can be healed with Ruu-chan's potions anyway. That's exactly why it was left as the final remaining drawback effect."

Even that was deliberately left in case the equipment got stolen and misused.

After going wild once, you'd be immobilized by muscle soreness.

Once they went wild, their location would be obvious, and by the time you arrived, the incapacitated thief would just be lying there helpless. That's the plan.

Truly a piece of equipment with no wasted elements, like a work of art.

… Or so you'd think, but actually it's tuned specifically for Dea-kun alone. If anyone else wears it, the balance breaks and the drawbacks come flooding out.

It was Dea-kun-exclusive equipment from the start. And specifically for the current Dea-kun. Once he grows, even Dea-kun himself would start experiencing drawbacks.

(According to them, "Since he's an elf, he can use it for plenty long, right? We went all out making it!")

So even if it gets stolen, there's nothing anyone can do with it anyway. The muscle soreness was left in for no reason.

… Well, watching Dea-kun writhe in muscle pain would be cute too, so it's not entirely pointless!!

"So you should wear it now while you still can!! … Wearing cute outfits is part of your rent, Dea-kun!"

"… Geez, fine. It's excellent equipment regardless, so… just this once, okay?"

"Yay!"

I get to see Dea-kun all dressed up in an official setting!

Hehehe, this is gonna be the start of the strongest beautiful elf girl tamer story…!

"But it would be weird if only I'm dressed up like that, so Onee-san should dress up too."

"Huh?"

"Let's have the Five Elders make you an extra-cute outfit. Don't worry, when it comes to equipment for Karina-oneesama, those people will whip it up in one night."

And so, we ended up entering the Coliseum tournament all dressed up together.