Chapter 5

Waking up to an unfamiliar room, I groggily remember what I did for the last few days.

Let's see… I escaped the mansion, granted it was surprisingly easy, traveled here which was way harder than expected and got attacked by monsters, went into town to register to become an adventurer, paid an inn for a room, and I took a nap.

I really didn't want to get up from the comfy bed but I feel like I have to do something today.

Oh right, I was supposed to pick up my adventurer card for today.

Reluctantly I got up to see that it was already morning, yawned and looked out the window.

It looks like I slept through the entire day yesterday.

I mutter in a still groggy voice. “What should I do today?”

I should go to the adventurer guild in the afternoon because there will be less people around, so that leaves the morning free.

Going around town and looking at the shops seems like a good idea, maybe I’ll buy some gear with the extra money I got from selling the horned rabbits.

I noticed that there was a bucket from yesterday that had some rags in it. I think that is what commoners use to wash themselves.

Before I should leave, I better wash all the sweat and dirt I accumulated on the way here.

Leaving my room to fetch some water from the well I saw outside the window and bringing it back to my room. I soak the rags in the water and begin cleaning myself.

After I was done, I went down to the first floor to the inn’s tavern, where most of the people staying here were already eating breakfast.

Growl. I felt my stomach rumbling when I smelled the food being served, I’m really hungry.

There was a wooden sign that listed what they have for breakfast. I sat by an empty table and one of the waitresses asked me for my order.

I ordered the option that had bacon, eggs, and bread, which surprisingly cost 3 coppers with the adventurers discount of 50%.

When my food arrived, I was already groveling, my stomach was already starving for some food.

Taking the first bite, I ignore most of the table manners I was taught as a noble and immediately start scarfing down everything on the plate.

Who knew it would taste this good after a while of not eating a proper meal.

After I was done eating, I left the inn and I roamed around town.

Looking at the shops in this town, I saw many people entering and exiting them but one caught my attention.

It was a shabby looking shop in a back alley, it had a wooden sign with an image of two hammers on it.

I guess this is a blacksmith shop, what got my attention was despite it looking rundown, it had decent looking weapons but no one was going into it for some reason.

Opening the door into the shop I heard the clanging of metal reverberating throughout the shop and I saw that it was filled up, a bit messily, with weapons.

I heard a deep gruff sounding voice in the back of the store.

“Come in, just give me a minute, I’m in the back, look around if your interested in anything”

Looking at the weapons that were displayed all over the shop, they cost at least 2, 3, or even 5 silver coins. All of them are way out of my price range.

I looked around the shop some more and luckily I found a barrel filled with swords. There was a label that said one silver coin, I guess this is the bargain box.

Going through the barrel, it was full of various kinds and types of swords. There was even a katana in there for some reason but that is not what I was looking for.

I’m looking for a sword, preferably a European style, that is short enough for me because I’m a kid and all the other ones were too big for me to use.

Eventually I found something close to what I was looking for, I pulled out a sword that appears to be a short sword for an adult but the perfect size for me.

Partially unsheathing the sword, it has a slightly narrower blade than what I would like but it will have to do.

I held the sword with nostalgia, it brought back memories of my previous life. I was trained to use a sword as our primary weapon alongside Norn against kaijus, specifically a long sword as our main weapons.

It was common for Aiases to use melee weapons because it was easier to transfer over Ori energy to the weapon than something like a gun and would require specialized anti kaiju ammo that would take a large chunk of energy away from the Aias to be fired.

“So you got something you like”

I stopped reminiscing, replying “yes”, turning around to the person I replied to but was a bit surprised when I saw him.

“Hey, what are you looking at?” with a scowl on his face

He was short, stocky, and stout with a large beard.

A dwarf… aren't they extremely rare to see. Even when I was a noble, I only saw them a handful of times. They almost always focus on their work and usually never leave their villages inside the mountains.

“Don’t dwarfs usually live in the mountains?”

“I got my reasons and are you going to buy anything?”

“I need a sword and this one looks good”

His expression turned into a grin hearing me praise this sword.

“Good eye, I was experimenting with that one and it turned out okay but didn’t sell, so I put it in that barrel over there. Names Kinwall and I own this shop”

“My name is Nyx”

We went to the counter and I paid for my sword.

“Is there anything else I could help you with?”

I thought for a moment. He might help me in recommending some decent shops to go to since he knows the town better than I do.

“Could you recommend any good shops?”

“Hmm…”

He placed a hand on his beard and stroked it in thought.

”Don’t know about the others but there is a clothing shop down the street, he really have some good quality clothes at a good price”

“Okay then”

I say my thanks to Kinwall for telling me about that shop.

A clothing shop, I should really buy some extra sets of clothes since I have no spares.

Walking down the street to the clothing shop Kinwall told me about, it looks relatively inconspicuous. I entered the store that was named Hutch’s Clothing store.

“Hello my name is Hutch and welcome to Hutch’s clothing store, how may I help you”

I was greeted by the owner of the store in a very enthusiastic greeting. He looks to be in his mid 20s with brown hair and eyes.

“I want to buy some clothes, Kinwall told me to come to this shop”

“So Kinwall told you about my shop”

“Yes”

Curious, I ask how they know each other.

“Oh, we’re good friends. I helped him move into his shop around a month ago. Anyways, is there anything specific you want miss”

Hearing the word miss, I immediately was on guard and put my hand on the hilt of my sword I bought from Kinwalled, readying to draw it. How the heck does he know that I’m a girl?

In a threatening tone I ask “How do you know”

Putting his hands slightly up in the air with a wry smile like he is used to it and done it one too many times.

“Sorry, sorry. Please calm down miss and don’t worry, I won’t pry or tell anyone”

“Again, how do you know?” in an even more threatening tone.

He spoke in a very calm tone as I glared at him.

“Well… this isn’t the first time. Let's just say this is a secret specialty shop and I've got a knack for noticing, like from how you walk or the way you talk”

Specialty shop…? Realization came in as I had an equally shocked yet disturbed expression on my usually expressionless face.

“Heh?!”

Why are there other people in this town who are crossdressers? Just how many crossdressers in this town other than me would warrant such a shop like this.

Just what kind of shop did Kinwall send me to?

Wait… does Kinwall know I'm a girl since he recommended this shop to me?

I ask Hutch if Kinwall knows what kind of shop this was.

“Does Kinwall know?”

I let go of my grip on my sword but I still had my guard up.

“No, he doesn’t”

“Good, that is a relief and sorry…”

I sigh in relief, thankfully Hutch doesn’t know I’m a girl.

“It’s fine, I’m used to it”

That is not normal, this shop is strange.

“So you need some new clothing that makes you look like a boy and I'm guessing you also like some female underwear as well?”

Well he got it right on the mark, I refuse to wear men's underwear because that just feels wrong.

It also saves me the trouble of making up some sort of excuse and getting weird looks from people buying some.

Hutch led me to a mirror and went around the shop to gather some clothes. Then he enthusiastically held them in front of the mirror for me to see if I liked it or not.

“How about this one or why don’t you try this blue one”

Seeing the clothes being shown to me I thought why not, I do need some new clothes anyways.

In the end I ended up buying 4 sets of clothes and some underwear.

I left the store enjoying the time after trying out some of the clothes. Thanking Hutch, I held my new clothes where he packaged it in wrapping paper.

However I noticed that my coin pouch was noticeably lighter than usual. I checked in it and I found out that I blew through most of my money in it.

Whoops, I had ended up spending 8 bronze coins in Hutch’s shop without noticing. 

I think that is enough shopping for today. I should go back to the inn then the adventurers guild for my card.