I was feeling surly, my now cut hair no longer reaching my mid-back but my shoulders instead. It was now shoulder-length, layered, and I had a rather full set of bangs that I now found myself blowing or brushing out of my eyes every other moment. It didn’t take us long to travel out to the Tailor. Apparently, as adventurers were a common customer, it was located relatively close by. Entering the store for the first time, it looked as one may expect. Displayed in the storefront were a variety of clothes, some older-style mannequins. Adventuring clothes on one spot, a dress on another, a suit in the far corner, and simple robes displayed near the counters were just a handful of the outfits displayed.

The place seemed empty compared to its normal use. There was no smell of dust or mildew, it was clean and well-cared for. Somewhere in the building, you could hear the impact of shoes on a wooden floor aside from the sound of our own. Not a few moments later, Lorn had moved to the counter and tapped a small bell on its surface.

“Usually, she’s upfront. Guess she doesn’t have anyone else working here at the moment.”

Lorn seemingly appeared bored at the lack of a greeting from the owner.

“Well, can’t really expect her to be. All the help she has is temporary.”

Hatsumi said, letting go of my hand and moving to the counter next to Lorn.

*Ding*

Lorn had tapped the bell again, and the sound of footsteps began quickening, making their approach.

“Coming! Sorry, I was stocking some of the fabric! So how may I help y- Oh, it’s you Lorn, what now?”

From a doorway behind the counter came a red-headed human woman that appeared to be in her forties, her face adorned by a thinly framed set of glasses and wearing a simple v-neck blouse and leather trousers. Around her waist appeared to be a cloth belt filled with a variety of tools needed to make adjustments to clothes or fabric.

“Is that any way to greet a customer! Your mother would be rolling in her grave if she knew you were a slacking!”

Lorn had teased at the woman now greeting them at the desk.

“Oh ha-ha. My mother would be rolling if she knew the worn-out elf gramma was hanging around her store too.”

The woman responded with her retort, sticking her tongue out at Lorn before sighing.

“So how can I help you, Lorn? And you too, Hatsumi? It’s been a while since you’ve been here too.”

Hatsumi motioned my way.

“We’re in need of a handful of fresh outfits. Clothes for Kiyomi here.”

“Oooh, this one’s a healthy one. Apprentice?”

The tailor asked, eyeing me up briefly.

“Fortunately not, Claire. Hatsumi took guardianship over this one.”

She seemed to tense up at Lorn’s words for a moment before relaxing.

“Ah, that so? So outfits for different occasions?”

“Whatever any other child would need.”

Hatsumi said.

“Okay, and what tastes are you looking for, little miss?”

The woman leaned towards me, continuing to look me over as if to estimate measurements before the actual work started.

It should be fine if I’m just a little bit willful here, right?

“Uhm, warm color.”

I found myself pausing for a moment.

“And-Uhm. No frills?”

She ended up shaking her head for a moment as if she was disappointed.

“That won’t do for a cute girl like you. How about this, we keep the frills to skirts? That sound good?”

She ended up proposing a compromise, flashing a warm smile that seemed like she was content.

“Those requirements okay with you, Hatsumi?”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Claire asked, righting her posture before stretching her wrists.

“Those work. We’ll need a formal gown, something for sleeping, someday wear, and a few sets to wear outside of the walls. She’ll be training with Callum and me both by the end of the year.”

Hatsumi instantly gave specifications for what was needed, ears twitching as the words rolled from her tongue.

“Oh, along with those. A winter coat and a sturdy satchel!”

She added, raising her finger as to bring up a point.

“Of course, right this way.”

After Hatsumi gave her final word, Claire turned around and directed us to follow.

She led us to a small set of changing rooms located in the back of the store, away from the eyes of any additional customers that may enter.

“Since this is for you three, Lorn, I’ll close up the shop while you're all here. That way I can give you my full attention. I’ll bring some sample clothing back with me.”

Saying so, Clair left the room, and the eyes of the other two women present immediately shot to me.

They’re giving me some creepy grins. Why do I feel like my life is in danger? Back! Leave me be, devil women! I’m too young!

Moments later, I found myself nearly bare, with only a shirt to cover myself. They had given it to me so I wouldn’t have a fit. It still didn’t help my peace of mind as I stood there shaking from nervousness. Even my tail was shaking and moving haphazardly. Apparently, taking the clothes off of me was so Claire could use them as a base since they fit me almost naturally. She didn’t need to take any other measurements since I had no breast to speak of yet. Roughly ten minutes later, Claire had come back with an armful of clothes.

“Alright, I’ve got some samples ready! Let’s get her dressed!”

She said in a cheerful tone.

Why do I feel like this is going to exhaust me?

Three hours later and we were finally wrapping things up. I was trying on the last outfit, which would be the clothes I’d have for wearing both inside and outside the walls from this point forward. We had settled on this outfit being for both, so I’d be able to have one for around home. From the bottom up, it consisted of a set of mid-calf leather slouch boots with leather soles. A fitting set of what looked like some hide pants; they were like the ones I’d been wearing when I originally woke up in this world. The top seemed familiar for some reason, a peach-colored short-sleeve tunic with dark red accents; paired with it was a simple leather belt and cloak. The only defining feature of the cloak is it was merged in the front. It was worn similar to a poncho, from what I could tell. This was my daily outfit from now on. It wasn’t bad, but it was definitely out of the norm for me.

Goodbye fatigues, hello skirts. Huh, I could already kind of tell, but I’m one cute kid…God, am I vain?

*Sigh* “ I guess I look good in this? I think I could work with it; at least it’s not the dress.”

“What was that?”

“N-nothing!”

“Hatsumi and Lorn are both waiting for you upfront with the other clothes unless you want them to leave youuuu.”

Claire had been keeping me company for the last outfit, and she was currently teasing me, nothing new considering she had teased me through the entire process. I had gotten past embarrassment, thankfully, and now it’s just tiring.

“Almost done!”

I ended up looking at a mirror to the side, brushing aside the front of the cloak and twirling some before nodding at myself in the mirror.

Now flick the tail.

*flick*

Yep, I’d be a child star if this were earth…god, I need help.

Brushing my bangs slightly, I took a breath and finally moved the curtain to the side. Claire’s eyes lit up with satisfaction.

“I knew I wouldn’t disappoint. You’ll definitely make friends even in this.”

Claire nodded to herself.

Even in this?

“Well, you should hurry along. You’ll all be late for dinner if you stay here fooling around. I’ll have plenty of time to dress you up nice and pretty later.”

I shivered from her trying to usher me out. I didn’t want to think back to the dress. I still felt embarrassed by that one.

Hatsumi and Lorn both looked at me, slightly surprised when I came outside. Lorn was holding my sword, and Hatsumi was holding the rest of the clothes in a couple of cloth bags.

“Woooow, Claire, she looks good. I thought you were just going to give her something typical.”

This isn’t normal?

“She shouldn’t have any issue with it outside the city. And she should be safe from pickpockets from in the walls, even without the cloak.”

Lorn added.

“I try my best. She’s cute but stuffing her in a dress all the time wouldn’t be practical or safe given what you’ve told me.”

What did they tell her?

“We will look forward to coming back every now and then for spares and alterations.”

“Thank you for the continued patronage.”

With that, Clair bowed, prompting Lorn to hand me my sword before taking half the bags from Hatsumi. From there, we left and made our way back home, just in time for the sun to turn the sky into a vibrant pink and orange.

When we headed into the guild, it was much calmer than it was in the morning. The bustle that had overtaken it was now nothing but the occasional person taking an additional request so they could start fresh in the morning. Avery was still at her spot behind the carving counter, cleaning up blood and mopping it into small drainage grates on the floor. Of the clerks, only three were left, and they were sitting at a table going over some papers together. Only maybe a third of the tables were taken up by Adventurers, all catching an evening meal before either going home or starting a night hunt.

“Mistress Lorn, Hatsumi! Dinner is ready, and the other three are seated! Your meals will get cold if you don’t quicken your pace!”

Maria had suddenly made herself known from the entrance to the live-in quarters. She yelled down to us from the balcony waving one of her hands.

“Well, Hatsumi, you two head up. I’ll just be checking some things before I join you.”

Lorn nodded to us, handing Hatsumi the other bag of clothes before heading over to the three clerks.

“C’mon, Kiyomi. Time to meet the others~.”

Hatsumi said, signaling for me to follow.

“Just as my legs were starting to hurt, whew.”

I complained.

“Awww, don’t worry, after dinner, we’ll head right to bed.”

Hatsumi patted my head, trying to assuage my worry of further strain.

I was happy the tour was finally over. I made the mistake of assuming this body could keep up, which was clearly wrong. The whole thing was aching, and I found myself clenching the sword like I did my rifle back on earth to distract from the dull pain.

I’ll definitely have to train back up to where I was before. But for now, let’s get some dinner and wind down~.