They had gotten lucky. The two of them had stumbled upon a train station after getting through the small forest. Thanks to the money they had gotten from the dead guard back in the prison, they had managed to buy two tickets for a train heading east. They weren’t sure where they were going, but they figured that anywhere was better than staying in that city.
It was the middle of the night when they boarded and the train was mostly empty, so they were the only ones that the ticket puncher had to approach. He approached them carefully, clearly off-put by their clothes and generally disheveled appearance. He glanced at Sora and his face went beet red. “T-Tickets please!” he managed to get out, holding out his hand.
“Here!” Both Sora and Gale said in unison, handing the poor guy their individual tickets at the same time. For them, it had been done in the spur of the moment, but for the collector, it was quite terrifying seeing two different people speak at the exact same time. He grabbed their ticket and quickly punched holes in them, before handing them back and scurrying off into the car in front. Both Gale and Sora watched him go, which didn’t help his nerves.
The two let out a sigh at the same time, running a hand through their hair while watching each other. It was like performing in front of a mirror, except your reflection was incorrect and you could also feel whatever your it was doing.
During the fight with that monster, they had to essentially pivot control between each other. They still weren’t used to controlling two bodies at a time.
The train’s intercom crackled to life. “Hello, this is the train’s conductor. Currently, we are en route to the northwest city of Turm. The time of arrival is another 5 hours at 7 AM. Thank you for riding Brigade’s national train service.”
Gale pulled the train tickets from his pocket and Sora mirrored his movements, but she just awkwardly clawed at the seat since she had no pockets. Both sighing, Gale checked the destination printed on the tickets to find that the destination printed on it was Turm.
Well, they had five hours and the train car was empty. In that time, they could practice control.
They didn’t get up and practice swinging their weapons or shouting their magic. Rather they practiced maintaining a simple conversation with each other.
It was harder than it might’ve seemed from the outset. It was kinda like talking to yourself. You could certainly formulate or simulate a back-and-forth conversation within your mind, but it turned out that the simulated conversation would lack a fundamental exchange– an exchange of information. Most of the time, Gale and Sora’s attempted conversations would trail off into some unsatisfactory conclusion or just go on forever with short simple statements like, “Ok,” or “No.” It lacked character.
Finally, around the end of the five-hour mark, when the sun had started to peek up from underneath the rolling hills, they had managed some semblance of progress. Gale initiated the conversation by asking, “So, where are we going?”
Sora folded her arms. “We’re going to Turm. Turm, Brigade. But, what should we do there?”
“We need some clothes,” Gale answered. “People are going to think we’re strange if we walk around with brown sacks around me.” He winced. Flubbed that line a little at the end. “How do we do that?”
Still, they carried on. “We can ask the conductor,” she continued. “He might know. But after we get clothes, what should we do afterward?”
Gale’s eyes shifted to the katana beside Sora. “We should go to Megumi,” he said firmly. “We have some connection to Aozora. It might be a clue to what happened to us. But how do we get there?”
“The train,” Sora answered. “Megumi is to the east.”
With that, the conversation sort of just ended there. It still needed work. The conversation still felt rather stiff and unnatural, but it was still an improvement.
As the train pulled into the Turm Station, the ticket puncher returned to their car. He looked surprised to find them still awake. “I thought for sure you’d be asleep,” he admitted.
This was the second test. “Um…” Gale thought quickly, as Sora made sure her mouth was firmly shut. “We-We weren’t that tired.” A lie, technically, as Gale had gotten on the train drained of energy, but just sitting down on the leather seats and moving minimally had made him feel better. He turned away from the ticket puncher so that Sora could continue the conversation.
“Apologies but I have a question for you,” Sora said to the ticket puncher, eyeing the nametag that read, “Jacob Sullen.” She stood up so that she was a little below eye level with the young man.
Jacob blinked. “Shoot.”
“Do you know of any good clothing store nearby? One for clothes for me.” She winced. She had flubbed that bit again. The same mistake.
His eyes lit up. “Oh!” He pulled out a small business card from his pocket and handed it to Sora. “I have the perfect place!” he exclaimed, with a grin. “My younger sister owns a woman’s clothing shop near this station. She’s got the best prices and the customer service is fantastic! Definitely, the best place to buy clothes!”
“Um…” Sora scanned the business card, feeling a bit like they were being advertised too. “Thank you. But do you know of any male clothing stores?”
“Eh.” Jacob shrugged. “I’m sure there’s a couple on the same street.”
They had been right. He had been trying to bring business to his family.
Sora checked the business card, finding an address, but they didn’t recognize the street name. “Do you mind giving me directions?” she asked, leaning in a bit.
Jacob flushed and looked away. “Y-Yeah of course.” He launched into a spiel, describing the route they would need to take. A left here, a right there, and then go straight… quickly they realized that he hadn’t been entirely truthful about how close the store was.
Still, it was the only store they knew about. Sora thanked the young man, and they disembarked the train, using Jacob’s directions to navigate the winding and clogged streets of Turm. During the journey, they caught some glances from others directed towards Sora, but they couldn’t think of anything strange they were doing. But regardless, it took them about fifteen minutes to finally reach the address.
It was a tiny store, dwarfed by the buildings around it, and tacky with its bright pink roof and differently colored hearts that dotted its outside. It looked less like a clothing store and resembled more a house. The only thing that marked it as a store was a small paper sign, hanging by a lone piece of string that read, “Hearts ‘n Armor.”
They had been scammed.
“Hey-lo~!” A girl, about fifteen or sixteen of age with dark pink hair and of short stature, threw open the door. Before they could react, she had bounded towards Sora, grasping her hands. “Finally, a customer!”
They blinked. “A customer?” Gale echoed.
The girl ignored that; her attention focused squarely on Sora. “Please come in! Come in! What are you looking for?! A shawl? A hat? A wedding dress?!” Her expression grew more giddy the more she said.
“Um…” They were a little thrown off by this girl. “A…” They racked their brain for something for Sora to say. “Can I get… everything?”
The girl blinked. “E…Everything?” She seemed to finally focus on Sora’s form, a blush forming across her face as she stumbled away. “Y-You’re not wearing a bra!”
“I’m not?” Gale said.
The girl snapped her head towards Gale as if finally registering his presence. She threw herself in front of Sora, her arms held behind her as if protecting her from… Gale. Which was strange from their perspective. She was literally protecting someone from themselves.
“Who the hell’re you?” she spat, her expression turning something fierce. “You some sort of creep?”
“What? No!” Gale recoiled. “I’m here to buy a bra!” It was only later that they realized what Gale had said only made things worse.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“You are a creep!” the girl accused, grabbing Sora’s hand, and dragging her into the store. When Gale attempted to follow, the girl turned towards him, her palm outstretched and glowing slightly. When it slammed into Gale’s gut, they both recoiled from the sudden pain. It felt like a thousand needles had been rammed into their gut. It was only thanks to their shared pain, that both remained standing.
The girl looked momentarily surprised that Gale hadn’t collapsed but took the chance to pull Sora into the store and shut the door behind her. When they recovered, Gale tried the door only to find that it was firmly locked.
The girl turned away from the door to face Sora, from inside the house. They both involuntarily tensed, as the girl extended her hand out to Sora. “Name’s Maria,” she introduced herself, with a rather smug grin. “Maria Sullen. I’m the owner of this five-star establishment. Nice to meet ya!”
They relaxed. “Um... I’m G-!” They froze, as it had been Sora talking. “I mean… I’m Sora.” Sora took the girl’s hand shaking it. Gale turned away from the door with a sigh. There had clearly been a misunderstanding, but they doubted Maria meant any harm to at least Sora. For now, it was better to have their attention focused on Sora. As such, Gale headed for a nearby bench to rest, as Sora investigated the inside of the store.
Though it was less a store and more of a small house. Sora could see a kitchen and bathroom nearby, after all, and there was a table with steaming hot food placed atop it. Sora turned her attention back to Maria, who had been patiently waiting for her to speak. “Um… I was hoping to buy some clothes for myself?” she explained, a little meekly. “But I have little money so I apologize…”
Maria waved her off. “That’s fine!” She clasped Sora’s hands within her own, her eyes shining. “Just promise me! Promise me you’ll advertise my merchandise.”
“S-Sorry?” They were confused.
Maria sighed. “I’m sure my brother sent you here. It’s the only possibility. I mean it’s pretty obvious that this isn’t exactly a high-end establishment. But if I had some loyal customers… I’d be rich!” Her mouth watered a little, which she quickly wiped away.
This girl… she’s a bit… strange. They couldn’t help but think.
“But first we should get you some underwear. I’m surprised you were going without with that creep nearby. You should really be careful about who you’re next to. There are all kinds of perverts out there.” She looked over Sora, head to toe, before turning away to flick through a nearby rack with lingerie.
“Um… He’s not a creep…” Sora tried to defend themselves.
“As if!” Maria laughed. “I know a creepy pervert when I see one. A boy who talking about women’s underwear in public only has lewd thoughts.”
Every assumption hit their pride personally. “I… I’m not…” Sora tried to say.
“Here we go!” Maria pulled a pair from the rack and held them out to Sora. “You can go try it on in there.” She pointed to the nearby bathroom.
Sora stared at the clothing she had been handed, a sudden thought occurring to them. “You want me to…” they hesitated. “You want me to strip?” The thought hadn’t occurred to them, but suddenly the idea of getting naked while a guy watching, if even they were that guy, felt perverse.
“Uh…” Maria rolled her eyes. “Yeah? How else are you going to put that on?”
“But... then I’ll be naked!”
“I’m not going to be there, girl. You’re older than me, you can change by yourself.”
“R-right…” Sora nervously looked around. It’d be too hard to explain her situation. She stepped into the cramped bathroom and placed the lingerie and her katana on the closed toilet seat.
Right. The obvious solution here was to have Gale close his eyes. That way he couldn’t see her change and they wouldn’t find it embarrassing.
As Gale closed his eyes, causing a portion of their vision to go black, she realized a problem. She would need to keep her eyes open in order to change. So regardless, there be someone watching her change. That person was themselves, sure, but that didn’t make it any more awkward to them.
“Hey! You awake?”
Sora blinked. Was Maria calling her? She peeked her head out from the bathroom to find the young girl moving from rack to rack checking each price tag, but Maria glanced at Sora when she opened the bathroom door. “Are you done?” she asked.
“No?” Sora frowned. “Did you… did you say something?”
Maria shook her head. “No. I didn’t.”
Dammit. It was then when they realized their mistake. Someone was talking to Gale. Gale opened his eyes, as Sora returned to the bathroom, locking the door once again. Quick. Just change without really thinking about it while distracted by another conversation.
There were two people facing Gale. A young woman with dirty blonde hair that stretched down to her waist and wearing a rather plain beige t-shirt and dark blue skirt. A wooden two-pronged staff hung on her back. She was the one speaking, waving a hand in front of Gale’s face. When finally opened his eyes, she beamed. “Oh, good you’re awake!”
The person behind her, a male about the same age with dark skin and scruffy black hair, let out a sigh and shook his head. He was wearing a conspicuous outfit, covered in light cloth and a dull scarf wrapped around his neck. “He was probably sleeping, Zana. You’ve disturbed him.”
“Oh shush, Vikram!” Zana scolded. “You were also curious!”
Vikram grumbled something to himself that Gale couldn’t understand. Zana turned on him almost immediately. “What did I say about mumbling?”
“Not to,” He replied, with a roll of his eyes.
“Exactly! So, stop it! In another language too! You’re being rude!”
“I’m sorry.” Gale finally found his voice, as Sora attempted to put on her bra. “But who are you?”
Zana blinked. “Right, we haven’t introduced ourselves.” She placed a hand on her chest. “My name is Zana Kosova. And this brooding fellow here…” She jabbed a thumb at Vikram. “Is Vikram Laghari.”
Vikram cleared his throat. “I don’t brood,” he said, pointedly, before giving Gale a nod. “Nice to meet you.”
Gale blinked. “Nice to meet you too,” he said a little awkwardly, before realizing that he had failed to introduce himself. “I-I’m Gale.”
“No last name?” Zana noted, to which Gale shook his head. She looked unperturbed by that revelation. “Well, that’s predictable. Everyone says rune magic users are really strange!”
He blinked. “Rune Magic?”
“On your arm,” Vikram said, pointing to Gale’s left arm. “Those are runes, are they not? It’s why Zana wanted to talk to you.”
“Right!” Zana extended her arm out to Gale. “I want you… to join the Highway Robbers!”
There was a long period of silence as Gale digested those words. However, the only thing they found him doing was awkwardly tilting his head with a confused expression. “Huh?”
Sora stepped out of the bathroom, finally managing to get the underwear on. “Um,” she said nervously, as they were still baffled by Zana’s sudden proposal. “Is this right? Am I wearing this properly?”
Maria placed a hand on her hip, looking unimpressed. “Yeah, I guess.” She smirked. “What have you never worn underwear before?”
Sora didn’t answer.
Maria’s smirk fell. “You’re supposed to say, ‘no,’ you know.” She shrugged halfheartedly, as she turned to the rack. “I suppose you want some armor, huh?” When Sora looked surprised, Maria pointed to the Aozora she had left in the bathroom. “You have a sword. I’m guessing you know how to use it.” She let out a sigh. “Though I dunno why you didn’t just cut that creep in half.”
“I’m not a creep!” Sora said.
“I was talking about that guy you were with, girl.”
“I’m not a creep,” Gale muttered.
Vikram sighed. “I think he’s got the wrong idea, Zana!”
“No, no, you don’t understand!” Zana waved her hands in front of her frantically. “We’re both adventurers! That’s our team’s name!”
“Your team name is… the Highway Robbers?” Gale asked.
“I told you that was a stupid idea,” Vikram grumbled.
“Are you insane? It makes total sense!” Zana held a finger up. “We’re the Highway Robbers! We rob the monsters of their lives and protect the highways for the citizens of Brigade.”
“Too poetic and convoluted,” Vikram pointed out.
“Sorry,” Gale managed to say, as Sora was handed another set of clothes from Maria. She stepped back into the bathroom to change. “I still don’t quite understand. Adventurers? What are those?”
Zana let out a rather pitiful whine, hanging her head, but Vikram looked a little more understanding. “It’s fine, there aren’t a whole lot of adventurers in Brigade anyway. They’re more common in other countries like Tepla.” He shrugged. “Just… think of us like mercenaries. We’re usually hired to defeat any problematic monsters outside the walls.”
Gale nodded, the general idea getting through to him. “You want me to become an adventurer,” he summarized, looking down at his tattoos, just as Sora finished dressing herself.
She looked herself over, using a small mirror there for her reflection. She was wearing some sort of white and light green sailor uniform with black stockings and what she could only describe as combat boots. Maria had also given her a belt around her waist where she could attach Aozora to her side.
Sora stepped out. “Um…” Their faces were a little red. “Does… Does this look alright?”
Zana blinked. “You’re looking a little red, Gale. Do you have a fever?”
Gale recoiled. Their embarrassment was clear on both of them. “No, no! I’m just honored by your offer! It’s just… I don’t think I can fight monsters. I don’t have a weapon… or any armor.”
Maria, who had been looking out her window, finally glanced in Sora’s direction. She smirked. “Looks amazing!” She brushed her hair back. “My talent as a weaver is unmatched! The best in the city! Stylish! Comfortable! Perfect as defense armor!” She placed her hands on Sora’s shoulders, her mouth drooling a little. “M-Make sure you tell that to everyone you meet! Mention my store! B-Bring me more mon-customers!”
Oh god, this girl was crazy. “O-Of course!” Sora attempted to pull her off, but Maria’s grip was surprisingly strong.
Zana and Vikram exchanged a look. “Of that should be fine. You’re a Rune Mage, you don’t need a weapon. And if you need armor, we know someone who’ll make some for you,” Zana said.
“She’ll be a little annoyed,” Vikram said with a rather halfhearted shrug. “She prefers making cute and beautiful things. She made my armor under many protests.”
Maria began to drag Sora towards the door. “Come on! I’ve got to show this new outfit to my friends!”
“Huh? Friends?” Maria couldn’t have meant…
Vikram folded his arms. “I’m surprised she’s not here yet,” he said, looking in the direction of the clothing store. “What’s taking her so long?”
Gale and Sora could barely say and do anything before Maria threw open the door and pulled Sora, by her hand, outside. She raised her hand to call to her friends, only to freeze when she noticed they were talking to Gale.
“Who’s the girl?” Gale caught Vikram mutter under his breath.
Zana looked like she was about to say something when Maria jabbed a finger in Gale’s direction. “Y-You’re that pervert!”
“Oh.” Zana’s face fell.
“Wait!” Sora cried, knowing that she needed to defend themselves. “It’s not like that! We can explain!”
“Again…?” Vikram pinched the base of his nose. “Gods I hope this doesn’t take too much time.”
Zana had a rather strained smile on as she addressed Gale. “I suppose we should take this conversation somewhere better, huh?” she asked, as they noticed a couple of people staring their way.
They could only nod a little pathetically.