Chapter 24 - The legendary clothes shopping development

After our serious conversation, it had gotten late, so we had food brought up to our room. The meal was simple and hearty fare, as could be expected for an inn that was used to serving working people. Alongside a firm yet stretchy bread was a stew-like food that honestly seemed strange to me. Instead of being soupy, it was thick to the point that it was almost like congee. It seemed as though it was thickened with some kind of grain. However, it tasted divine to my overworked taste buds that to this point had been cruelly subjected to monster meat.

Hot tears of relief streamed down my face, to the point that Rea got worried and flustered, asking, "Ava-sama, is everything alright?? To be crying...is the food not good? Rea likes it though..."

"No, Rea, you misunderstand. I've been eating that terrible monster meat for months now...to finally have food that I actually like is too much of a miracle that I'm tearing up..."

"Ah, so it was something like that. Maa, Ava-sama, sometimes you too have your childlike moments, ne?"

"Oya? Is Rea getting a little bolder, huh?"

"Tehe, who knows..."

Chatting in a light-hearted way like this, we made our way through dinner.

Afterwards, we decided to turn in for the first full night of sleep for either of us. I had thought that perhaps with my habit of sleeping one hour at a time at different points during the day, I would not be able to get to sleep too easily, but as I lay on the bed next to Rea, before we knew it, we were opening our eyes to bright light coming through the curtains.

"Nn...is it morning already?"

Soft breathing answered me. I turned over and saw Rea's sleeping face as she snuggled into my side, looking as innocent and guileless as ever, her face peaceful and rested. I couldn't help but smile. Hesitating, I leaned over her face, gently kissed her forehead, and lay back down to wait for her to wake up.

However, another hour passed and this sleepy kitten was still deep in dreamland. I gently touched her shoulder and said, "Rea, it's already daytime, time to wake up."

"Five more hours..."

"Rea, if you don't wake up we can't go out."

Her eyes fluttered and she slowly opened them. Blinking slowly, she seemed to emerge from sleep. "Ah, Ava-sama...eh? It's already morning?"

"Nn, it's probably closer to noon. We've both been very tired recently, so we've been asleep forever. Come on, let's get cleaned up, and then head out."

Seemingly reinvigorated from her long rest, Rea replied energetically, "yes!"

The first place we headed was the Adventurer's guild. I turned in a couple of [Good] C-rank [Mana Cores] to get a few more loose silver coins, then asked about the ranking examination.

"Ah, the B-rank examiner is currently away, but the A-rank examiner is our own branch head, who is himself A-rank. Would you like to take the examination now?"

"Hmm...when will the B-rank examiner be back?"

"That...hmmm. It seems that he will be here in a couple of days. Would you like to wait and take the test together?"

"Yeah, we'll do that. Thank you, Cariya-san."

"Alright, then. Please come to the guild in two days, both examiners should be available then."

"Oh, by the way, where is the shopping district?"

"Ara, are you planning on bringing your girlfriend shopping? Maa, what a sweet date."

"Ca-ri-ya-san~ Please don't make unfounded assumptions, ne? Furthermore, you saw that we have the same last name, didn't you?" I narrowed my eyes and leaked out a hint of [Killing Intent].

"Hyaaa! Apologies, Ava-san. Still, no matter what you say, it does look a bit like a date...I mean, Rea-san over there is already all red..."

I clutched my forehead and sighed at the innocent Rea. Of course, for us who had been born and lived in the [Labyrinth], the only clothes we had were furs. Mine came from the [Hydra Wolf] that I found a long time ago, and Rea's was from her transformation. Therefore, shopping for clothes was a necessity.

"Cariya-san, let's leave this aside for now. So, where's the shopping district?" I prompted her, handing over the map she gave us yesterday. She placed a few brackets around a number of streets not far from the guild, then handed it back to us.

"These are the streets that make up the shopping district. Ah, but it can get pretty expensive, so take care alright?"

"Thank you, Cariya-san. We'll head there now."

"Mou, 'Cariya-san' sounds so distant. We're some of the only girls in the guild, why don't you just call me 'Cariya'? We gotta stick together, you know?"

Pouting a little, Cariya said so.

"Ah, then Cariya it is. Just call Rea and I the same then. See you, Cariya."

"Mmm! See you, Ava, Rea!"

It seems we had made another friend, of sorts. She seemed to wanted to be a little closer to the two of us since women were rare in the capital city's guild branch. Well, I didn't have that much experience living as a woman so I hoped that would be okay with her but...I guess neither did Rea. Although her maiden power was certainly destructive.

Thinking that, we made our way to the shopping district. Even though the sun was high in the sky and it was relatively hot, there were throngs of people milling about the shopping district. The moment I entered though, I understood. Temperature control crystals were hanging from the eaves and rafters of every shophouse, changing the temperature in the area to a comfortable and cool level.

"First off, Rea, we're gonna go get some underclothes, alright?"

"Yes, Ava-sama!"

Seeing a store that specialised in women's underwear, I pointed it out to Rea and told her that. We headed into the store and spoke to the manager.

"Manager, the two of us would like to get measured and fitted, is that alright?"

"Ara, what cute girls. You also seem to have nice figures, so I'll do my best!"

Umm...I hope by do her best she meant doing her best to fit us. When we had entered the city, my [World Handbook] had levelled up, giving me information on the Empire of Daceli. I also gained information on the different races of people living in this world. Cariya, for example, was a [Slira], the most humanlike of people in this world. In fact, they were nearly indistinguishable from humans save for the two small horns on each ear. The manager of this store, though, was a [Camilar], which could be seen from her small rounded ears and thin stature, along with seven thin fingers on each hand. While [Camilar] are bodily diverse, the small ears and seven fingers were a constant through the race. [Camilar] have an affinity for craftsmanship related skills, so I imagine that all the items in this store were made by her.

"Please step into these changing rooms, I'll have you both measured in no time!"

We followed her instructions. Following that, she instructed us to take our clothes off, and took out a tape measure to get our sizes. As many of these kinds of stores were managed by [Camilar], all of whom took their craftsmanship very seriously, there was no unified sizing system. At every store, it turns out, you would have to get measured for clothes separately.

After taking our sizes, and we had put our clothes on again, the manager brought us a few different sets for each of us, saying, "it doesn't look like either of you have worn these before. These should make a good start. Do you need me to teach you how to put them on?"

"Ah, teach Rea. I'm good."

In my past life, I couldn't help but give in to the desire to wear women's clothes sometimes. So, I was familiar with how women's underwear worked and it seemed that the underwear in this world was much the same. I went into the changing room and put on a pair of panties and a bra, looking into the mirror at my body.

"Pretty.." my voice leaked out unconsciously. I had never seen myself in a mirror before, and my appearance honestly shocked me. When I was in the [Labyrinth], I did think that I seemed to have a pretty good figure, but it wasn't till I looked into the mirror that I understood just how beautiful this body was. With dark hair and golden eyes, the contrast would already be striking. However, I also had amethyst-coloured skin, which made the contrast even more intense. I had large eyes, a thin nose, and small lips. Looking downwards, my shoulders were narrow and my arms were slim, on my chest were modestly-sized breasts and beneath that a narrow waist. My hips were ever so slightly wider than my shoulders, and the fleur-de-lis crest on my navel glimmered gold. I also had long legs. Mm, that's right, a classic beauty.

The underwear she had given Rea and I were mostly black and white in colour, to match our skin tones. I had put on a set of black underwear, and marvelled at how comfortable it felt. Unlike the mass-produced underwear on Earth, there was no pinching and tightness. There also wasn't an underwire digging into my skin. The cups seamlessly transitioned into the band, following the natural contours of my breasts while supporting them. Truly, the product of a master craftswoman. Furthermore, to accommodate our wings, she had given us racerback bras instead of standard ones.

The panties too, were soft and gentle on my skin without rubbing or chafing any sensitive bits. Ah, that reminds me...I had to get some menstrual products somewhere. While in the [Labyrinth], I didn't really care about that since I'd be bleeding from a wound somewhere anyway, so what did it matter if I was also having my period? In the end, I could just use [Clean] to scour away any residual blood. However, now that we were in a city, it'd probably be best to use some menstrual products instead of free-bleeding anywhere.

I put my clothes and armour back on, and left the changing room. Standing outside was a slightly embarrassed Rea. That look on her face really made me want to tease her, but I held it back. The first experience with underwear for a young woman was definitely going to be a little sensitive as a subject.

"All good, Rea?"

"A-ah, yes, Ava-sama."

"Alright then. Manager-san, we'll take what you've suggested. Ah, just in case, do you also sell menstrual products?"

"Ara? Are the young ladies out? I do sell them here, it only makes sense."

Having purchased our undergarments and about six months worth of menstrual products for the both of us, I placed all our items into my storage and left the shop with Rea.

"Rea, next we're going to get some nice clothes, okay?"

"Mmm! Even though I got this fur coat after my transformation as a kind of equipment, as I thought it's a little strange to just be walking around in it."

"Exactly. I too am also just wearing the first clothes I made back in the [Labyrinth]. I'd love to get some proper clothes to wear. After all, we have to look cute, right?"

"Ehehe, Ava-sama is already pretty enough, though?"

"Ah, if you say that then isn't Rea already cute enough?"

"Mou, Ava-sama..."

Lightheartedly bantering (flirting?), we found a row of shops selling women's clothing. Over the next few hours, we bought over two gold coins worth of clothes. Rea's tastes were more in line with long dresses, which we requested come with a low-cut back so her wings wouldn't get in the way. My tastes, on the other hand, fell more in line with skirts and long-sleeved shirts. Again, I requested that the shirts had most of the back part removed so that my wings wouldn't get in the way. The reason that these clothes were so expensive is that they tended to incorporate the scales or bones of strong monsters within them, and were refined and enchanted to provide protective effects. Some of them were even stronger than my wolf pelt.

Now, we really looked a lot more like two ojou-samas out on a shopping trip. The next stop, though, was shoes. Rea chose a few pairs of shoes that looked like smart, fancy low-cut boots, while I picked up high-kneed boots with a slight heel. Perhaps it might seem impractical, but most of the time when fighting I would be flying anyway, and these shoes gave a comparatively huge [AGI] buff. They were also enchanted to feel as comfortable as walking on flat ground.

By the time we finished shopping, the last rays of sunlight were peeking over the horizon. We concluded our trip, and headed back to the inn.