Didn’t sleep at all. The morning dew sticking to my body makes me feel extremely cold. The fact I am sitting naked in the middle of an alley doesn’t help. I can’t help but look up to the sky and think how unfair this whole deal is. I am a naked, powerless, little girl lost in a completely different world. I cannot defend myself and I cannot ask for help. This is really bad. Spending the whole night alone with my thoughts made me feel even more anxious about what happened yesterday.

Staring at the clouds, I fail to notice someone had entered the alley. I hear a voice calling me. Startled by the figure standing next to me, I try to get up but end up tripping on my own legs and falling on my butt.

“A-Are you okay? I didn’t mean to scare you” The big breasted elf from yesterday quickly stepped back and created a bit of distance between us. My sudden reaction seems to have scared her. After showing some doubt, she extended her hand to help me stand up.

It takes me a few seconds to realize it. As I sit on the floor with a blank stare on my face, her expression turns from slight fear to one of worry and asks me if I am injured. That’s when I notice. I can understand what she is saying now.

“No, I am fine” Judging by her reaction, it seems she can understand me as well. I accept her hand and get up. That’s when the elf turns her gaze to the side with a troubled look on her face. She must feel uncomfortable talking to me like this. Aware of my own body for the first time, I use my hands to cover my nakedness. Seeing this, the elf takes off her cloak and wraps me with it.

“I was worried sick after what happened yesterday. I looked everywhere but couldn’t find you” She says. That is a blatant lie. With how much I screamed yesterday that had to be a lie. My throat still felt sore. I repeat I am fine and try to fake a smile.

I need to play my cards right. This may be a good opportunity to get some answers and maybe even a benefactor. I should introduce myself and explain my situation. No, she would never believe I am a 30 year old man from another world. Worse case scenario I end up in some asylum or as a slave. I am a little girl now. I need to come up with a story that would earn me her sympathy.

“My name is li… lily? Yes, Lily! My name is Lily” I stumble with my words a little but manage to come up with a girly sounding name on the spot. “I got separated from my family… some bandits attacked my village! They kidnaped me but I managed to run away” This should explain why am I naked and how I got here. Furthermore, it is the kind of sad backstory a girl would not want to talk about, meaning they shouldn’t ask too many questions. I think to myself I must be a genius to come up with something like this.

“Lily?... I see. Must have been very difficult for you” She just stares at me with eyes full of doubt. Did she realize I was lying?

“Y-Yes, it was hard. I made it all the way here after escaping and now I am lost. I have no idea where this village is or how many days has it been. I am also very hungry” I move my hands to my stomach and look up at her, trying to act cute. I need information. Where is this place? What day is it? What kind of world is out there? Getting a free meal or some clothes would also be nice. I put my feminine charms to work.

“I understand. Please come with me, we need to get you some clothes first” With those words, the elf starts leading the way. It worked. She took the bait.

We walk the main street and after taking a few turns we are back to the store from yesterday. I tried to talk to her a few times but she kept walking in front of me and I had to focus all of my energy on following her on these short legs without losing her in the crowd.

The old clerk greets the elf happily but her smile disappears when she notices me behind her. I stand still near the door while the two argue behind the counter. After a few minutes the elf tells me to come inside. I try to introduce myself to the old lady but she cuts me out.

“Here, take these” She throws some cheap looking clothes at me. A plain beige t-shirt, a pair of hard shoes, a small backpack and some trousers, all the same boring colour. No underwear. The elf must have thought I could not dress myself because she helps me put the clothes on. She then informs me I can keep the cloak and gives me a small bag with some coins.

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“There is an inn back at the main street, just walk straight and you will find it” The elf ties the cloak for me and pats my shoulders. There was still a lot of things I wanted to ask but I assume this is the end of their generosity.

“Wait! I’d like a weapon to defend myself” After what happened yesterday, I understand that I need to be able to protect myself. The elf seems very troubled by this. Maybe she doesn’t want to give a sword to a kid. Maybe she doesn’t want to sell me a sword because she knows I am homeless. Either way, after some hesitation she gives me an used dagger. It is not what I wanted but I thank her anyway and exit the store.

The sun is high on the sky. With some coin to my name and new clothes, I decide explore a little. This village is very small. Only a few stores here and there but nothing that could be considered a touristic attraction. Most buildings seem to be family homes. All roads seem to lead to the main street, the whole village seems to be built around it. Most of the people walking the streets look like something from a fantasy book. "Some of them are definitely adventurers!" I think to myself. There is also the dudes in silver armor. I try to avoid most of them, just in case. Outside of the village a sea of yellow trees.

After deciding there is nothing to see, I head towards the inn. What I find is a rundown, medium size building with an “inn” sign on the front. Lowering my expectations as much as possible I get inside. The place is brimming with life. Macho men with giant swords laugh loudly with drinks on their hand. Beautiful women clad in robes chat among them. A handsome elf working on some book stops writing to stare at me. Catgirls wearing collars run among the chaos delivering food and drinks to the tables. After questioning whether it is safe for me to enter a place like this or not, I walk to the counter and ask for prices. The people working there ignore me. Their hands seem to be full with the other costumers.

Some time passes and one of the catgirls walking around finally notices me. Both her hands are filled with empty glasses and a mountain of dirty plates balances on her arms. She apologies and signals someone behind the counter with her tail. After that, a fat old man approaches.

“I’d like a room and something to eat!”

“Do you have enough money?”

“I…don’t know actually, how much is it?

“A room is 1 silver. The cheapest lunch is 15 copper”

“How much is this?” I show him my coin bag.

“21 copper, that’s 1 silver. You can have the room or the food, not both”

For real? What am I supposed to do now? The bag was filled with coins so I was hoping it would last a few days. Maybe buy proper armor and a real weapon. With this little money I can’t do anything. After thinking for a while, I decide to buy some food. Sleeping in the street sucks but it is doable. If I don’t eat I may get sick or even starve to death. Securing food is the priority. I can spend another night on the streets. I tell myself it is only one more night.

I sit on an empty table on the back. After a few minutes a catgirl arrives with my food. A big plate with some yellow soup and a glass of water. I thank the waitress and start eating. This is definitely the cheap meal. It doesn’t taste bad but it is extremely bland. After looking around I also confirm my plate is actually quite small compared to what the others are eating. It only looks big because I am small. Better not think about it.

Behind me I can hear two creepy adventurers talking about weird happenings in the surrounding forest.

“For real?”

“I’d never lie about something like this, I swear is true”

“But an army of goblins is unheard of. Those things are too dumb to work together”

“The forest has been acting weird lately…Like that light yesterday for example! I’ve never seen something like that!”

“Don’t be stupid, that could easily be done with the XII Magick”

“Then what about the bodies they found near the stables? Something is happening. I know it!”

“Those corpses were burn to a crisp. That’s definitely a wolf attack and not a goblin attack”

I’d like to join the conversation but I was never the type to eat with other people. I don’t know how to break the ice. I think to myself that this could be a nice opportunity to learn about the world but it could also be dangerous. Those men look scary and with how little knowledge I have they could easily fool me. Better stay away. I finish my meal in silence and laze around until the waitress asks me to leave.

With a full tummy I decide to return to the place where I slept last night. With nothing better to do, I stare at the clouds above.

“I accomplished a lot today, I can worry about money tomorrow" I drop my body to the floor and rest against the wall. "Only one more night!”

Like yesterday, as soon as the sun sets the temperature drops. I hug my legs but the cold doesn’t go away.

“If this continues into winter I may freeze to death…”

I don’t sleep that night.