Waking up in an unfamiliar room, I groggily remembered what I had done 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, got attacked by monsters, went into town to register to become an adventurer, paid an inn for a room, and took a nap.

I didn't want to get up from the comfy bed, but I felt like I had 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 fewer 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 leave, I better wash all the sweat and dirt I accumulated on the way here.

I left my room to fetch some water from the well I saw outside the window and brought 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 of the inn’s tavern, where most of the people staying there were already eating breakfast.

Growl. I felt my stomach rumbling when I smelled the food being served. I was really hungry.

There was a wooden sign that listed what they had 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 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 that despite it looking rundown, it had decent-looking weapons, but no one was going into it for some reason.

Opening the door to 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 you're 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 was 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 was 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 appeared to be a short sword for an adult but was the perfect size for me.

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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 Kaiju, specifically a long sword as our main weapon.

It was common for Aiases to use melee weapons because it was easier to transfer 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 upon 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 by 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 has some good-quality clothes at a good price.”

“Okay then”

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

In a clothing shop, I should really buy some extra sets of clothes since I have no spare.

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 with 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. Anyway, is there anything specific you want to miss?”

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

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

He puts his hands slightly up in the air with a wry smile, like he is used to it and has 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…? A 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 asked Hutch if Kinwall knew 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 I 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 them or not.

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

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

In the end, I ended up buying four 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, which he packaged in wrapping paper.

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

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

I think this is enough shopping for today. I should go back to the inn and then to the adventurer guild for my card.