Shortly after lunch, Cáit and I went into town. First, I was given a brief introduction to the most important things I needed to know about my current home. So far I thought I was in a town called Yorkchester. The idea just made sense to me because in my old world there were towns called Manchester, Leicester or Chester. However, it turned out that I had woken up in the Duchy of Yorkchester, in its capital called Dubstep. The Duke's name was Maximilian Chamberbride, and one of his closest allies was the leader of the Adventurers' Guild, Jeffrey Porter, who was also in close contact with the rest of the nobility. With this information, I could see why the Adventurers' Guild was so influential. 

The treasure hunters' base was a massive city mansion in a suburb of Dubstep. As soon as we left the HQ, I noticed the impressive facade, which stretched majestically along a quiet cobblestone street. It reminded me a little of England's historic old towns. Elegant arches, delicate decorations and tall, slender windows protected by cast-iron grilles were everywhere. What really stood out were the large copper-coloured pipes that snaked along the facades, amplifying the faint hiss of steam. Brass fittings and gears adorned the walls as if they were parts of a giant clockwork. Some of the windows also had etched glass showing intricate gears and steam engines. The sight left me speechless for a moment. 

"When you're done staring at the wall with your mouth open, let me know," Cáit joked, "you'll have this sight in front of you every day for the time being anyway."
"You want your shirt back so badly?" I asked her, but she just shook her head, "Nah, I don't wear crop shirts." In other words - the shirt was too small for her. In this case I knew she was exaggerating because I could wear it as a dress.
"Then perhaps you'd like to tell me why you're in such a hurry?" I asked, irritated.
"It's simple - you're going to need more clothes. And we have a pretty full schedule," Cáit giggled. 
I hated shopping, and somehow I had a feeling it would be even more annoying this time. So I asked cautiously, "Can't we narrow it down to two or three shops? It sounds like you're trying to drag me all over town.
"I'm just crazy, not stupid," Cáit replied amusedly, "we should get most of the stuff from my favourite shop nearby. But since you also need new shoes, I will have to take you to one of the shoemakers in the main square. And that's half an hour's walk."
"What's wrong with my shoes?" I asked her and Cáit muttered, "Do you really want me to start talking about all the reasons why it's best to throw these ugly things away?"
I loved my worn, dirty chucks. But I had a feeling Cáit wouldn't understand, so I just ignored her comment and followed her. On our way to the main square we passed some strange looking carriages, but Cáit preferred to walk. 

Dubstep turned out to be bigger than my former hometown of York, and as Cáit tried to show me all her favourite places in the city, it definitely took us more than half an hour to reach the shoemakers. But Cáit seemed so proud of her native city that I didn't want to interrupt her. The closer we got to the main square, the busier the streets became, and at one point Cáit simply grabbed my hand and said in all seriousness: "I don't care if it makes you uncomfortable, but I don't want to have to look for you here." Unlike in the dungeon, where Cáit's cold hands had been really uncomfortable, this time it didn't bother me.

After several minutes of weaving through the crowd, we finally reached a shop called Tony's.
"We're here," Cáit grinned, and as we approached the door I suddenly heard a loud hiss before the doors magically opened. "Sliding doors?" I said in surprise and Cáit suddenly had a sweet smile on her face, "I knew you would like that."
Sliding doors weren't exactly impressive to someone from a more technologically advanced world, but I hadn't expected to find anything like them here. "And don't worry about the money. The shoemaker is a close friend of mine," Cáit whispered in my ear before we entered the shop. Cáit knew money wasn't an issue, but I suspected she was doing a favour for a friend.

"Tony. Are you in there? I brought customers," Cáit called across the shop.
"How many times have I told you not to shout like that?" an elderly man said as he walked leisurely towards us from a back room. He wore a smart black suit, a monocle and the finest leather shoes.
"Come on. Stop the hoo-ha. My girl here needs proper shoes," Cáit smiled, "and please. Don't even think about selling her the cheap stuff."
He gave me a suspicious look, but then said, "As you could hardly have missed, my name is Tony. And as you can probably guess, I'm a shoemaker. What can I do for you, young lady? And please do me a favour and don't point out the obvious."
There were leather boots and shoes all over the shop. 
"All I really need is a pair of size 4 work shoes. But somehow I get the feeling that Cáit won't let me leave with just one pair."
Cáit's mischievous smile confirmed my theory. The shoemaker looked at me confusedly and said, "I'm afraid we'll have to take some measurements. I've never heard of a size 4". 
Spoiler alert: I heard similar comments several times that day. 

He asked me to sit down and take off my shoes before he started measuring my feet. "Length 9.1 inches, width 3.5 inches," he said to himself before explaining, "I have flat boots in that size. They are very similar to Cáit's. If you prefer heels, I will have to make the shoes first."
"Actually, I would like to have shoes similar to mine," I murmured, "since I never wear heels, I would like to try the flat boots."
"It would be best if you brought her several pairs," Cáit grinned, and a few moments later Tony returned with some beautiful handmade leather boots. Cáit then made me try them all on and I have to admit I have never worn boots that fit so perfectly. The excitement on my face was obvious when Cáit suddenly said "She's taking them all."
"Wait a minute," I had to interrupt, "What am I going to do with three pairs of boots? And what's the price?"
"Put them on?" Cáit said, sounding like I'd asked an incredibly stupid question.
"150 Yorkies a pair," the shoemaker said, "But as you are a friend of Cáit's, I can give you a discount if you really take all three. That would be 400 in all."
"Cáit will probably kill me if I refuse this offer. We have a deal," I nodded, and while I was paying the bill the shoemaker suddenly offered me something, "I could try to make a copy of your worn shoes. As far as I can see, the biggest problem would be the material for the sole. I've never seen anything like it. The rest doesn't look too complicated."
"You would really do this for me? I would have no problem paying a bit more." I asked, touched, and the man nodded, "I am a shoemaker after all, and this thing here is obviously something like a shoe. I should be able to copy it somehow." 
I had to bite my tongue for a moment. This "thing" was simply one of the most popular shoes in my world, and I had five pairs of them at home. But as I wanted to find out if the man was really capable of copying my beloved Chucks, I hesitantly gave him my shoes. "I'll come back to Cáit as soon as I make some progress," the shoemaker nodded as I put one pair on and put the others in my item bag. As nice as the shoes were, they didn't go with the rest of my outfit. In my world, I would probably have just been called a fool for that.

"Next stop, lingerie shop," Cáit grinned as we left Tony's.
"Wouldn't it make more sense to get the other things first?" I mumbled slightly embarrassed, but Cáit made no move to change her plan, "It's on the way. I'm certainly not going to fight my way through the crowds twice."
I wanted to protest, but Cáit had already taken my hand again and simply dragged me down a quiet side street not far from the shoe shop. As I entered the lingerie shop, the unbearable smell of perfume made me want to turn around. It smelled like someone had taken a bath in cologne. "Stay here," Cáit grinned as she pulled me towards the lingerie. The selection in the shop was very similar to home. 

"How can I help you?" a voice suddenly came from nearby, and the source of the perfume overkill was suddenly standing next to us. It turned out to be the shopkeeper, and she was obviously wearing one of the items on display in this shop, which wasn't a problem in her case, as she had the necessary curves. If I had to guess, I'd say she was in her 30s or 40s, but I couldn't be sure because of all the make-up on her face. I had a rather uncharming answer on the tip of my tongue, but as I didn't want to prolong my stay here unnecessarily, I just mumbled, "What would I want to buy in a shop like this? Panties and bras. Cup size B." 
The woman muttered something along the lines of "I've never heard of that, we'll have to measure" and before I could protest she asked me to come with her to one of the back rooms. By the time we reached the room, she had a tape measure in her hand and instructed me to unbutton my shirt and remove my bandage. "You are not as small as you looked in that shirt and bandage," the woman said to my breasts. Then she quickly measured my bottom and went back into the shop. "Oh my fucking God," I muttered as soon as the woman was out of sight, giving Cáit an angry look, but she seemed to be enjoying the spectacle. "She may be a bit quirky, but you won't find a better shop in Dubstep," Cáit winked at me, "just trust her, or would you have preferred Hannah or I to take the measurements?"
Come to think of it, I definitely would have preferred that option, as I was feeling rather uncomfortable in the current situation. 

Shortly afterwards, the strange woman returned from the shop and brought me the finest lace lingerie. "What am I going to do with this?" I asked Cáit in disbelief, but she just looked at me and said, "Oh, trust me, you don't want to look at the cheaper stuff.” 
As I had an idea of what Cáit was suggesting, I remembered from films in my old world what kind of underwear there was 200 years ago, and suddenly fine silk and lace underwear was not the worst option.
"I'm afraid I don't have much in your size. But I think a few shades of black and grey should fit you," the saleswoman said, "Please try them on. If they do not fit, I will have to look again.”
I did as she asked and found myself wearing the finest silk underwear for the first time in my life.
"Wonderful," she said excitedly, "I can make even small things look great."
This time, too, I swallowed a harsh remark. I was in a real hurry to get out of the shop as the smell of perfume was starting to get to me, so I just bought all the panties and bras she put in front of me, costing me almost 300 Yorkies. Annoyed, I buttoned my shirt, put my shopping away and muttered, "Cáit, I'll get you for this," as I left the shop.
"I can hardly wait," Cáit grinned, "if that was uncomfortable for you, then wait for the tailor. There's a reason I haven't put the bandage back on you yet."
"I thought it was because I was already wearing one of the bras," I giggled.

I had the feeling that off-the-peg goods didn't seem to exist in Cáit's world, but one look at some of the poorer townsfolk was enough to understand why Cáit had only dragged me into the finer shops so far. Compared to what I could see at the moment, all the members of the Treasure Hunters' Guild were wearing very expensive clothes. I guess that's why I thought that this was the normal standard of dress in this society. Therefore, I did not really pay attention to my surroundings. Now, however, I noticed that more and more people were dressed very simply, and unfortunately, in this case, simple didn't mean shirts and jeans, but torn blouses, dirty jackets, strange dresses, or ugly linen and leather trousers. 

On the way to the tailor, we made a quick detour to a shop that sold socks. Although socks was probably the wrong word. Knee-highs were a better description. And how could it be otherwise, the stockings were only held up by garters and suspenders. While I still enjoyed buying the shoes, it was after buying the lingerie and stockings that I missed my old, simple life for the first time. The clothes were beautiful and I would probably have had to spend half a fortune on them in my previous life, but I would never have thought of buying them there. There was just too much on offer.

"It might get really expensive now, by the way," Cáit sayd before we enter a shop not far from the headquarters, "but I don't see any other way unless you want to walk around in cheap rags for a few days."
I didn't really have a problem with buying cheap, but I felt a bit as if cheap was synonymous with inferior in this world, and just mumbled, "It doesn't really matter now." As soon as we entered the shop, we heard a young woman's voice: "Here you are at last, Cáit. Sara already announced you. That's why the shop is still open." A jittery young woman with medium-length red hair and brown eyes came straight towards us and suddenly grinned at me, "And she said that I should prepare the smallest things that I currently have ready. Now I understand what she meant.” 
"Always on the little ones," I muttered, until I realised that the only reason the girl was half a head taller than me was because her heels were far too high. Otherwise, she wore surprisingly simple clothes compared to Cáit and the others. I liked the white blouse the girl wore half unbuttoned and I also liked the simple layered brown skirt held up by brown leather trouser straps.

"You must be Em," the girl said, "Kirsty O'Donnell. But just call me Kirsty - part of the Treasure Hunters guild, but not on active quests."
"Much like Abby," Cait explained, "both too valuable for the guild to risk."
"I'm not really that important," Kirsty grinned, "I'd even like to do more quests, but my old man's always bitching about me wasting my time on cheap collecting jobs." Before I could ask the question, Cáit added, "Her father is Angus.”

"Enough chitchat," Kirsty said suddenly, closing the shop abruptly, "We need to get our little beauty here properly dressed. Since I assume Cáit has already done the unimportant errands with you, now the real fun begins."
It hasn't happened very often in the last few years that I've been called a beauty and when it has, it's usually by some arsehole who just wanted to see all my tattoos.
"I guess I'll have to take my clothes off again? Because you don't know what to do with sizes like small, medium and large?"
"I don't give a shit," Kirsty said rather plumply, "Yes. It would be very helpful if you take your clothes off as soon as I start my work. But I'm not going to take your measurements. Sara was pretty clear when she pointed out the urgency."
"She makes the most important things for us with ether. She has mastered a special form of crafting magic," Cáit grinned, "Basically you just have to choose what you want and she'll make it fit in no time."
"I'll just do the most important things that way. I'll have to make some of the other items by hand for you," Kirsty nodded, "My supply of ether isn't exactly huge."

Kirsty went through some of her designs with me and I quickly found a few things I liked. To my surprise, she also had a few things that reminded me of belly-baring t-shirts. At that moment, however, I remembered the temperatures in the dungeon and opted for the slightly warmer, longer version. "I think I'll take that one," I pointed to the sketch, while I also picked out something that looked like a blue bomber jacket with a matching skirt. "Interesting choice," Kirsty said, "I was going to suggest something similar because, frankly, making good-looking leather trousers in your size would be a pain. At the end of the day, you have to like the things, but I also like to be a bit proud of my work".
"I just don't like super tight clothes," I muttered, "Cáit might be able to wear something like that, but it would look miserable on me."

After showing Kirsty the other things she had to make for me, the moment came when I had to stand in front of her in my underwear with my arms outstretched.
"Don't talk so badly about yourself," Kirsty said, "you're actually quite cute."
Kirsty didn't seem to notice that I had turned bright red at that moment, but Cáit couldn't help but giggle. I've never been good at taking compliments. The tailor was snipping with her fingers, concentrating on making my clothes with ether, which looked almost as impressive as my repair skills, as nearby objects came flying from all directions and the clothes were fitted to my body step by step. I watched the spectacle in disbelief. "Why didn't we come here first?" I asked Cáit, but she just said, "Because we're certainly not going to waste Kirsty's ether making you underwear."
"That would be a bit pointless actually," the tailor muttered, completely focused, "Not even I make my own underwear and I think I'm qualified enough to do it."

The whole process took half an hour. Afterwards, I stood in front of the others, fully dressed. "Excellent work," Kirsty congratulated herself, and Cáit nodded, "Now you are really presentable."
I looked at myself in the mirror with satisfaction. The clothes looked great, and for the first time since I'd arrived in this world, I didn't feel out of place. Kirsty looked a little exhausted, but I had to ask her, "If I draw something for you, will you be able to make it?"
"I'll adjust the other orders to your size, then we'll talk about what else you want. I can make almost anything. That's the advantage of specialising in sewing. If it is not too complicated, I can probably make it without ether. You are just limited to leather, wool and other materials I can use a sewing machine for.”

After Kirsty handed me the bill, I understood why Cáit had warned me before we entered the shop. I was going to spend half a fortune on all these clothes. "I should be done with the rest in a couple of days. Since Sara wanted me to hurry, I assume you live at headquarters?"
I nodded and Kirsty smiled, "In that case I'll bring the finished things to Abby. No problem."

Feeling a bit tired, we postponed the last stop on our shopping tour and headed back to HQ where Abby was waiting for us. "Big Sis has gone to the bathhouse. But she asked me to tell you that she has organised everything as agreed. The places are reserved and you can go to the Adventurer's Guild tomorrow to register".
"Is our bathhouse finally fixed?" smiled Cáit, but Abby shook her head, "No. She went to the public bathhouse nearby."
"Damn. I hate these places. I'd rather have peace and quiet when I bathe. Or at least not dozens of strangers around me," Cáit muttered. After the shopping experience, I was a little surprised that Cáit seemed to have some sense of shame after all. "If only we knew someone who could fix things."
I rolled my eyes, "Message received. Maybe I can have a look at it in the next few days." Abby and Cáit both giggled. 

Afterwards, Abby showed me my room, which, as agreed, was the room next to Cáit's. "If you need anything, just let me know. You can usually find me downstairs. The room for guild members is 500 Yorkies a month - all included."
"That's really cheap," I muttered and Abby nodded, "This house has been in the O'Neill family for decades. It's too big for big sis and me, so we allow guild members to book rooms here. I know it has definitely seen better days, but what do you expect from a 200 year old mansion?"
At first glance, the building didn't look too bad for its age, but the carpet and wood panelling were probably deceptive. 

Walking into the room, I immediately noticed the similarity to Cáit's, with the slight difference that this room was tidier. "So this is what the floor looks like," I giggled as I looked around. The room was definitely less furnished than Cáit's, but otherwise it had the same atmosphere. I put my new jacket on the armchair next to my bed and took a few minutes to carefully organise my purchases in the wardrobe. "The room is definitely a lot smaller than my one-bedroom flat in York," I thought, "but since I don't seem to need my own kitchen here and there seems to be a bathhouse, the size should be fine. I don't really need that much space anyway.”
All I really wanted to do was lie down on my bed and enjoy the peace and quiet for a few moments. The recurring monotonous sound of steam flowing through the pipes and the effort of the last few days ensured that I fell asleep relatively quickly.