One Punch Man: Neutral Grounds

Chapter 180

"Where is he located?!" Tacki scowled with irritation. "That silk guy...we should have gotten a card from him."

"Well, he was nearly butt-naked when you took all the silk from him. I wouldn't take a card if he pulled it out of his ass," Kamikaze grunted and chewed on the stick in his mouth.

"Seriously?" Tacki rolled her eyes at him. "Anyways, Inichi offered to help us just now. He's in City R. Just along the beach border to City S. Let's go!"

"Are we gonna run there?" Kamikaze asked. Then he found himself in one of Cold Snap's flickering specs with Tacki. It looked like a bubble on transport, but everyone else would see an odd snowflake falling out of nowhere to reveal them again within seconds. "I see..."

"Hmm..." Tacki scrutinized the small shop they were in front of now. A small outdoor area with a garden of mulberry trees was around the back. There were various stages of silkworms in levels of growth neatly set in specialized containers. There were around forty of the white with black marking, specialized worms per mesh container. They were all carefully maintained up to their cocooning phase.

"Oh! I...didn't expect you here..." the silk man said when he saw them outside. He was dressed in sandals, jean shorts and a basic shirt of purple coloring to show he was maintaining the shop. If he was expecting visitors, he would have been dressed far more properly. "I know I never came by the restaurant yet, but I was ordering and growing a very specific breed of silkworm. I wanted to have the cloth ready to show you, but the worms had to grow first. I always keep at least one container of cocoons to let the moths breed out."

"To continue the life cycle. I get that," Tacki nodded. "What do you have right now? I'd like to see it."

"I did have enough silk created to make a nice gown," he nodded. "I wanted to make a complimentary tuxedo suit before approaching you. The gown took most of my silk reserves."

"We never did get your real name. Just, eh...Silk Man..." Kamikaze grunted out. He did pause at a beautifully done haori in deep blue with vibrant red lining. "Okay. This is nice..."

"I'm glad you approve!" the man chuckled. "You can call me Naito."

"Nice to know your real name!" Tacki beamed. She was shown the golden dress with shimmery sleeves of graceful silk on a rolling floor mannequin. She felt the quality and texture through her fingers. On tracing the pattern of the silk, she gave a pleased sound. She studied how the dress would hug one's figure and scallop down in rich rolls to the floor.

A gentle belt sash was elegantly tied around the waist of the mannequin, and the back of the dress had a flowing scarf attached to it. Small, glittering sequins were stitched in various areas to add a touch of sparkle when one turned in it. It would give a daring, plunging neckline when worn, and was practically sleeveless. The entire dress glowed with enchanting power and was definitely catching to the eye of any who would gaze at it.

"That is one hell of a dress," Kamikaze chuckled.

"Yes. I had made it with the new silk I got from the silkworms I purchased. Then I dyed it in a specialized dye that contained golden powder to make it truly seem like one is wearing gold. What do you think?" Naito asked. Tacki was studying every stitch and hem of the dress with incredible scrutiny.

"I want to get this dress for Lady Mitsumi. I was just told that she needs to go to an event in City H in a couple days. Even though we may have removed a threat, another event is going to be staged of sorts for Hero Association awareness. This dress is perfect. I will give you 500,000 yen for the dress. Right now," Tacki grinned widely. Kamikaze looked at her with small frown.