“Alright, just to confirm your request, lady Isabel, you want two rooms with two beds each with one room having an extra bed, right?” The beautiful innkeeper asked in a very mature voice. One that matched her ladylike appearance, unlike Liz.

“If you don’t have a spare bed, he can sleep on the floor,” Isabel adds, pointing at me.

“Do I at least get a pillow?” I asked sarcastically.

The innkeeper giggled and shook her head. “Don’t worry, we provide spare beds. New Summoners always underestimate how many Spirits they could actually summon. Enjoy your stay.”

I won’t lie to you, despite feeling worried that I almost ended up sleeping on a floor, I was sort of geeking out about how much the inn had a fantasy feel to it. On the first floor with the registry was a sort of pub with multiple round tables filled with people of all shapes and sizes. They were all clearly adventurers of some sort who were refilling their energies after a day of doing adventurer stuff.

This really is a fantasy world. How I wish I took over my MMO character instead, I’d fit right in.

“Rin are you coming?” Roy’s voice brought me back to Eart- I mean, Lastaria as he called out to me from the top of a flight of stairs.

“Yeah, on my way,” I replied as I finally peeled my eyes away from the exciting fantasy scenery before me.

The inn-keeper showed Isabel and Liz to their room first, which made sense as they were both females.

“We’ll leave again in a couple of minutes to get clothes and equipment for everyone, just don’t do anything that would cause trouble,” Isabel instructed as she closes the door.

The inn-keeper then led Roy, Hilde, and I into the room next door.

Wait, Hilde?

Once the inn-keeper held the door open for us, Hilde excitedly ran into the room and jumped onto a bed. I thanked the kind inn-keeper and headed into the room with Roy, however, there was a certain problem.

Roy and I looked at each other with concern, we both had the same thing on our minds, and it was a matter of who was going to bring it up first.

Finally, after an intense staring contest between Roy and me, he sighed and asked the question we both wanted to ask.

“Excuse me, Hilde, aren’t you a lady?” Roy asked sternly.

Hilde, who had built an impressive fort with our pillows, looked up at us with a confused look on her face. “Of course not, I’m a man.”

“Ehhh!?” Roy and I exclaimed.

You might think that being a person who has watched much anime and seen many of the tropes, meeting a trap (someone who looked like a girl but was a boy) wouldn’t be too surprising. However, during my time in this new world, finding out Hilde is a man was right there on the list of biggest surprises I’ve encountered along with discovering that this world had 2 moons. Judging by the fact that Roy had also reacted the same way I did, it would be a surprise in this world as well.

“Ahaha, you guys really thought I was a girl?” Hilde laughed at us as Roy and I sat on our beds in embarrassment and shock.

I wanted to argue that his clothing style and overall look made him look like a girl, but the more I came to terms with that Hilde was a boy, the more I realized that if he were to dress like a guy and perhaps rock a ponytail, he would be kind of handsome in a sense.

“You can’t exactly fault us. Your clothing and armor don’t exactly suggest that you are a male.” Roy worded out what I held back on saying.

“Well, as an assassin class, I need to move around better than a heavy class like you. Less armor is the way to go for me.” Hilde responded.

Her- I mean, his response made sense. I guess if you excelled at mobility, why would you wear something heavy?

“Alright then,” I added, “What about your clothing? Uhm, suggestively feminine clothing doesn’t really help with anyone realizing your gender.”

“Don’t you think they’re cute though?” Hilde replied as if it was normal.

Well, I won’t deny that I thought he looked cute… If he was a girl! What am I supposed to do with these feelings?

I collapsed on the bed, mentally exhausted.

“I haven’t even done much today, but I feel extremely tired right now,” I complained.

“I would have to agree with you. For some reason, I feel like I had just explored a dungeon that was twice my level.” Roy said as he rubbed his head.

Hilde meanwhile, was full of energy as he continued to work on his pillow fort.

* * *

“Hey, why do I get less money?!”

I was furious.

After experiencing two near-death scenarios, I finally get to buy and try out fantasy clothing without people judging me or calling it cosplay, but now I was given less money compared to my fellow party members.

Isabel, of course, was the one in charge of distributing the money once we arrived in the middle of a plaza.

“Just be thankful that I’m giving you enough money to buy clothes, Shielder,” Isabel answers with annoyance resonating on her face.

“What if they break or get lost? Surely this isn’t enough to buy spare clothing!”

“You’re a defensive Spirit, aren’t you? Just defend them.”

Wait, does it work like that in this world?

I slump my shoulders and decide to graciously accept the small coin pouch. Beggars can’t be choosers after all.

“Meet back here once you’ve got your fill of clothes. If you end up waiting for more than 30 minutes, you’re allowed to head back to the inn. I’m just going to look around for extra equipment.” Isabel announces to us Spirits.

I look at my party members, Hilde is as energetic as usual and Liz is already dragging Roy by the arm into a women’s clothing store. Seeing as Roy appears to be the chivalrous type, he would probably faint in a women’s clothing store.

Hang in there, Roy.

I look back to Hilde and was about to ask him to pair up, but he was nowhere to be seen, he had completely vanished to buy more cute clothing I assume.

I didn’t mind being alone, I was a loner before university after all, and I was too excited to try out fantasy world fashion to even care about shopping alone anyway. I straightened my posture, breathed in the fresh fantasy air, and walked towards the first clothing store I saw.

“Oh, hello sir! Welcome to my humble boutique!” A fairly young woman in a beautiful green dress with long sleeves greets me as I enter the door.

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I smile with excitement as I look around the clothes-filled store to find that it was divided into 4 sections: Women’s Casual Wear, Women’s Outdoor Wear, Men’s Casual Wear, and Men’s Outdoor Wear.

Th-There are so many fantasy-themed clothes! Is this a cosplay store?!

My weeb fantasy was coming true. I’ve always wanted to try out cosplay but was never good at it, and fantasy clothing is pretty much outdated on Earth. I stared holes into mannequins that wore capes, robes, tunics, coats, and dresses. My mind was going a hundred miles an hour with so many choices to choose from!

“Looking for something that’ll fit you?” A woman’s voice whispers into my ear.

I jump in place as the store lady’s voice brings me out of my thoughts. She was looking at me with a kind smile on her face, but her eyes were staring at me just as intensely as I was staring at the mannequins.

“I, uhm, there’s just so many choices. I don’t know which to choose.” I admit to the lady.

The lady gently brings a hand to her mouth and giggles.

Woah, who knew a giggle could be so…beautiful?

“Let’s see here, you have a slimmer build compared to most adventurers.” The lady hums, “Oh, are you a Spirit by any chance?”

I nod my head.

The lady walks around me and places a hand on my chest, moving her hand down to my stomach. I held my breath as I tried my best to not blush. The lady then moves her to my bottom and sizes up my, well, bottom.

What is this situation? I’m not against it, but what is happening?

Just as I was about to question the lady, she nods her head and stands up.

“Follow me, I believe you’ll fit well with this set of clothes.” The lady grabs my hand and drags me to the Men’s Spirit Casual Wear. She retrieves a pair of long grey pants and a slightly darker grey linen shirt. She then brings me to the Men’s Spirit Outdoor Wear and brings out a long white coat with a hood, long sleeves, and purple linings. She also brings out a pair of thigh-high boots and gloves, both also having thin purple details.

“Go on, try these on! I think these will match your tall but slim build, and your white shield with that beautiful purple jewel in the middle. I’m absolutely excited to see how it’ll turn out!” The lady pumps her fists with enthusiastic eyes.

Completely charmed by her enthusiasm, I nod my head and took the set of clothes from the lady, and headed into the changing room. I removed my current clothes that came with me when I was summoned and put on the new set of clothes the kind store lady asked me to try on.

After a couple of minutes of dressing up and figuring out how to wear each piece of clothing, I finally got my first ever fantasy clothing set on.

Woah, I look…cool.

I guess it makes sense. She wouldn’t be a clothing store owner if she didn’t have a sense of fashion, but with just a feel of my body, she made me look so cool. With excitement welling up in my chest, I rushed out of the changing room with a big smile on my face.

“Ma’am, you’re amazing! I look so cool!” I exclaimed as I did a couple of poses with my shield.

The lady giggled beautifully again and rests her hands on her hips.

“I’ve been wanting to use those set of clothes on someone for quite a while now, but you’re the first person I met that has a fitting build and a weapon with a perfect color scheme to go along with it.”

“It’s amazing, it feels so comfortable, and fits surprisingly well!”

“Well of course it does! Clothes for Spirits are embedded with a magical type of material that allows them to summon their weapons and armor without tearing or damaging the clothes!” The lady excitedly informs.

I walk over to the register with the lady and hand over the small coin pouch to the lady.

Wait, do I have enough?

Panic starts to build up in my chest as I begin to recall that I haven’t checked how many coins were in the pouch or the cost of my outfit. I would feel terrible if the lady gave all her enthusiasm into my outfit, only for me to not be able to cover the costs.

“Hmm.” The lady spills out the gold coins onto her table and slowly counts them.

With each coin she puts into a pile, the more I start to panic until finally she stops counting and smiles at me.

“Looks like you just have enough for everything.” She says as she puts the remaining change back into my coin pouch.

I sigh a sigh of relief and thank the kind store lady as I head out the door with my brand-new outfit on.

“Woah, you look totally different.”

Hilde instantly spots me as I exit the clothing store. She- I mean, He was wearing a navy-blue butler style vest with a white dress shirt underneath, and long black pants accompanied by brown boots. He looked like a female butler, in a strong and pretty way.

He’s a man Rin, calm yourself down.

“I must say, your outfit choice surprised me. I thought you’d rock up in a dress or something.” I joke.

Hilde holds up a bunch of paper bags for me. “I did buy some dresses! I can show you them later tonight.”

“I’ll think about it. Shall we head back to the meeting place?”

“Lead the way, Rin!”

When we arrived at the meeting point, Hilde and I realized that we were the first ones to finish with our shopping.

Hilde spots and points to a nearby café which was filled with other adventurers, or were they also Spirits?

We decided to grab something to drink with the remaining coins that we both had.

Once we were seated, I looked at the menu and was hit with another reminder that I was in another world.

I don’t recognize any of these drinks! I guess I’ll order the “Cocoa Supreme”, Cocoa and Supreme are the only words I recognize on this menu.

After letting Hilde know what I wanted to order, I hand him what is remaining of my coin pouch and he leaves the table to go order the drinks.

Once he returns, he taps my hand.

“Hmm?” I raise an eyebrow.

“Which world are you from?”

Huh?

The sudden question caught me off guard.

“W-what do you mean?” I ask Hilde, regaining my composure.

“Oh, you know, Spirits are from different worlds! I’m originally from this world, Spirinall. I assumed you were a human from this world as well, but after seeing your reactions to everything, I could tell you were a Spirit from another world.” Hilde says with a bright smile on his face.

At first, I panicked when Hilde asked me the question, but from what he said, I figured that people were aware that others may be from another world. I sighed at the reassuring thought and relaxed back into the chair.

Could I meet other humans from Earth here? There’s got to be a chance.

“Well, I guess if it’s not a secret to people here, I’m from Earth,” I reply as a waiter in apron hands our drinks to us.

I thank the waiter and look back at Hilde, who has gone as pink as the berry shake he ordered.

“Hilde? What’s wrong?” I ask.

“I uhm, never really read a lot about Earth.” Hilde admits, avoiding eye contact with me, “It just seems… boring there.”

I thought about what Hilde said for a while.

Pre-teen me would have agreed with him right then and there, but I was having quite a lot of fun in my first and technically last year of university. I guess a world with no magic or mystical creatures would appear boring to an energetic person in this world such as Hilde.

“Oh, so this is where you two were.” A familiar voice booms.

Hilde and I turn our heads to where the voice was coming from and saw a short, beautiful woman next to a tall, muscular man.

Roy and Liz had finished their shopping trip.

Liz wore an elegant purple sleeveless dress with the back extending longer than the front in different directions, almost like tails. With her arms bare, I noticed a long red dragon tattoo that snaked along her left arm. She looked almost like a celebrity ready to walk the red carpet.

“Woah Liz, you’re beautiful!” Hilde excitedly exclaims, “and Roy… you’re uh… normal?”

I had to agree with Hilde. In contrast to the elegant Liz, Roy wore a blue tunic that defined his muscular build, and a pair of long brown pants that, like his tunic, also defined the muscles on his legs.

“I couldn’t bring myself to spend so much money.” Roy sighs.

Well, give it to me then.

Roy and Liz sit down beside us and begin to tell us how their shopping trip went. Apparently, Roy had attracted a crowd of females who were fawning all over him, Liz spent most of her time trying to get the ladies to back off him.

“That’s just what happens when you bring a guy as good-looking as Roy into a women’s clothing store.” I sigh.

“Argh, what about you?” Roy groans, “I had no idea you had a knack for fashion. I almost couldn’t recognize you.”

“Wait till I buy myself a razor for my hair, I’ll show you how much a hairstyle can impact a person’s appearance.”

“You know how to cut hair?” Hilde asks with a curious look on his face.

“Only my hair, I don’t trust myself to cut other people’s hair.” I admit, “Lis- I mean, a good friend of mine thought me how to style and cut my own hair. She always wanted to be a stylist for models.”

I begin thinking back on the time Lisa dragged me into her room and sat me down in front of her room mirror.

She gave me a razor to cut my hair with and began instructing me on how to style my bangs. I failed miserably at first as I underestimated the sharpness of the razor and had to wear a hat since I was embarrassed about my failure. After my hair grew back to a certain length, Lisa offered to cut my hair for me and give me a tutorial so that I could also do it myself.

I wonder how Lisa is doing, I hope she’s doing fine in her studies.

Who am I kidding? She’s going to be at the top of the class again for sure.

“We’re being summoned,” Roy says in a tense voice, catching me from my happy memory.

Hilde and Liz look down almost in sync with one another. I follow their gaze and realized that our bodies were slowly disintegrating from the bottom.

“You’re right. Prepare for battle, Summoner might be in trouble.” Liz says, as her dress suddenly changes into a purple armor with her midriff exposed.

I look at Roy and sure enough, his armor seemed to have materialized over his clothes. Hilde in the meanwhile summoned his bear traps in his hands.

My breathing becomes ragged as I watch my body slowly disappear, a truly terrifying sight to witness. I close my eyes as my head is left to disintegrate.

…

The bill! Did we pay the bill!?