"This is easy to fix. Let's just buy something in the market..." Cyra suggested. Nicola's clothes were too revealing now, so couldn't be seen in public. The two of us had to cover for her as we awkwardly made our way back to the hotel.
"Are you kidding me?" When Cyra and I returned from the market with two sets of clothes for Nicola, she could only stare at us in disbelief.
"We had no choice. The fire last night also affected the market. We searched and asked so many clothes shops, but could only find these two types..." I exchanged a resigned look with Cyra. From her eyes, I saw the same deep helplessness.
"But these are kids' clothes! How could you even bring them back for me?" Nicola grabbed one set, took a look, and threw it on the ground in anger.
"Hey, wait a minute..." Cyra reached out to stop her, hesitated, then put her hand back down.
"If that's the case, then you'll just have to wear what's left..."
"An adventurer outfit?" Nicola's expression turned even more ugly as she picked up the other set of clothes.
Although this outfit had some small differences from the one she took off, overall the color and style were basically the same. Considering the discrepancies from Quintina's account, it was still within the scope of the prophecy.
"But the other one really can't be worn..." After all, we had no choice but to try and see if Nicola could fit in the kids' clothes earlier, which is why we brought them back. But now, after the actual comparison, we could rule it out.
"Hearing you all say fate is unchangeable, I didn't feel much at first, but now I'm starting to find it really creepy..." Cyra gave a wry smile and said to me, "I'm witnessing the power of 'worldline convergence' now." Just as she finished speaking, she opened the door to run outside again.
"Or I can ask around for other locals, maybe borrow or buy some used clothes from them?" She clearly wasn't ready to give up yet, and seemed determined to find some clothes this time.
"Wait, I'll go with you!" Nicola must have felt uneasy. She took off the ruined clothes and changed into the new adventurer outfit, then left the room with Cyra.
"Don't leave me behind!" I quickly spoke up too. I didn't actually have much hope for this endeavor, just didn't want to be left alone in the room.
And indeed, after leaving the hotel again, we encountered all kinds of unlikely events. For example, the people we found refused to lend us their old clothes, and many even thought our intentions were unsavory - they wouldn't sell to us even when we offered high prices...
"This is just ridiculous, completely defies common sense! They won't make money even when we're paying?" Cyra couldn't help but curse. After asking two or three households, we kept getting the same results.
"You shouldn't have rushed up to them asking for unused clothes right away. It might've gone better if we were more natural about it?" I thought for a bit and offered a suggestion. Although I didn't have any confidence myself, we still had to try our best.
"Nicola, if it's not women's clothing, it should be fine for you, right?" Staring at the passersby on the street, Cyra suddenly asked thoughtfully.
"Not women's clothing?" Nicola also started pondering. This proposal did seem somewhat viable.
The women we'd asked earlier clearly had conservative attitudes, and were unwilling to give their personal belongings to strangers. But with men's clothing, those concerns wouldn't be as serious...
"But isn't it too abrupt for us to go asking men for their clothes? It might give the wrong impression!" I still felt a little inappropriate. Of course, if absolutely necessary, we could swallow our pride and do it.
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"Don't worry! Why do we have to ask others? In this emergency, there's no need to be so polite..." Having been rejected a few times already, Cyra didn't want to repeat the same mistakes. She and Nicola exchanged a knowing look and nodded.
"Let's pick that guy, he looks easy to bully..." The three of us hid in a street corner alley, observing the pedestrians walking by. When a weak looking young man passed in front of us, at Cyra's signal, she and Nicola rushed out and dragged him into the alley.
"Feliciana, don't just stand there! Help hold him down!" With their wings hidden, it was hard for just the two of them to restrain him while also covering his mouth to stop him from yelling. Cyra could only ask for my help.
"Quick, sit on his legs so he can't struggle!"
"Oh, okay!" I dared not slight her and reluctantly became an accomplice. I plopped down on the captive young man's legs, finally immobilizing him.
"This is a robbery! And don't make any noise, or we'll drag you to the river and chop you up!" Cyra took out some rope to tie him up good, then started intimidating him.
"Don't worry, we just want your clothes. And there'll be a huge cash reward afterwards, so you won't lose out!" Nicola also joined in coaxing him. She and Cyra played good cop, bad cop, and they were pretty convincing.
"Of course, if you still resist or call for help, then there's no other way..."
"Mmm mmm...!" The young man stared at us with frightened eyes, and could only nod repeatedly. Only then did Nicola dare to tentatively remove her hand covering his mouth.
"You're female sex fiends? A group operation? I don't really care what you do, but can you go one by one? I'm afraid I can't handle it all together..."
"..." We were a little embarrassed by the young man's question and didn't know how to respond.
"Looks like you're pretty perverted! Didn't we already say we just want your clothes? What female sex fiends! Do you want to die?" Cyra gave him an annoyed kick, then urged Nicola and me, "What are you standing there gazing about for? Hurry up and take his clothes off!"
"Yeah, hurry!" Hearing that, Nicola immediately regained her senses and started stripping the young man's clothes with me.
"But this feels kind of weird..." I pulled his pants down. Although with our experiences changing sex, we weren't too bothered by this stuff, but honestly, even when I was a guy before I never did anything like this...
"What's there to be afraid of? Practice makes perfect. Don't forget this is your ordeal, if even you aren't proactive, who are we supposed to rely on?" Nicola had already stripped off the clothes and reminded me.
"I know, but what do you mean by practice makes perfect, is there going to be a next time?" I rolled my eyes. Without waiting for her reply, I stood up and said to Cyra, "We're done, let's go!"
"Let's retreat! Ten thousand silvers, consider it your compensation!" Cyra nodded, tossing a gold coin to the man lying on the ground. Then she glanced down below him and suddenly chuckled.
"Just that little thing, yet daring to boast about taking us one by one..."
"..." Nicola and I felt a little embarrassed at Cyra's twisted sense of humor, and quickly led the way out of the alley...
"We really changed the prophecy? Even if just a part of it..." After getting back to the hotel, I still felt a little disbelief, but we did manage to obtain different clothes - that was a fact! Although it was men's clothing, Nicola had it on now. As for the previous adventurer outfit, Cyra had taken it out separately to dispose of again, though not daring to burn it this time.
"We'll have to wait three more days to know for sure. It might not be so simple..." Nicola thought for a while but couldn't draw a definite conclusion either.
Going back and forth took up over half the day, leaving us all extremely exhausted. And these tense days would continue for another two to three days. We really didn't know what to do next.
But relatively speaking, the daytime was safer. We either stayed in the room or strolled around town, carefully avoiding the "dangerous" riverside area. Soon the first day ended.
"Huh? I... This is... No way!" In a daze, I seemed to hear someone talking. I opened my bleary eyes and sat up to see Cyra sitting in front of the dressing mirror, looking at herself in surprise and murmuring.
"...Cyra, what are you doing?" Glancing out at the pitch black night, it was clearly still the dead of night without a hint of dawn. And the time was...
"It's only just past midnight! Aren't you going to sleep?"
"Ah!" Cyra heard my question and seemed startled. She immediately jumped up from the stool.
"I... You..."
"??????" I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open. I had no idea what she was up to, and could only stare blankly as she rushed out of the room.
"...What's up with her running outside in the middle of the night?" It took me a good while to regain my senses. Looking at the open door, I hurriedly shook Nicola sleeping in the bed next to me.
"Wake up quick! Something happened with Cyra, she suddenly ran out alone!" This was a triple room. Although this room wouldn't be too fancy, we chose it because of the three beds - to ensure nothing happened to me at night!
But who could've thought I wouldn't be the one to have an accident, it was Cyra that something went wrong first.