Lola clapped her hands together, “Shopping!” she yelled as we exited the coffee shop. “OK, leave everything to me! What do you need first?”

 

I was unsure of what to make out of her reaction so I hesitated in responding, “Well… This armor is literally my only set of clothes… Wait, before any of that, I need to ask you to do a promotion test on me. The results will determine what I get. If I don’t get increased to at least E rank I won’t even be able to hunt in the great forest anymore.

 

She slowly reached out and grabbed my jacket. “So… So you want to buy clothes right?”

 

“That’s not at all what I said…”

 

She squealed, unable to contain herself. “Leave everything to me!” Before I knew it she was leading me into a store I had never been to, dragging me along by the hand.

As I walked in I saw the shelves filled with fancy dresses and formal wear. The shop also seemed to sell men's clothes as well, they were just not displayed as much. They weren't as fancy… but honestly, I thought they looked more comfortable to wear...

 

“This isn't exactly what I had in mind…”

 

“Come on it'll be fun, you look like a boy all the time, don't you ever want to be seen as a girl?”

 

I looked closer at some of the dresses that exaggerated the feminine figure… Which if I was being honest I still didn’t have… And all I could do was let out a sigh. “Not really, for humans, girls are small and weak compared to guys… I'm looked down on enough as it is, so I take it as a compliment if someone thinks I'm a guy…” ‘Besides… When would I ever wear a dress? I mean, if it was armored maybe, but these?’

 

Her enthusiasm suddenly tanked again as she let out a long groan. “Alright alright, I should have known this shop wouldn’t do, let's go…”

 

I know what I said, but there was actually one dress that caught my eye. It was a Tartan ball gown that reminded me of my father's Kilt. That was the one exception. It was relatively cheap too… Only 1,000 talons… a whole silver coin. Literally the price of a whole set of leather armor.

 

The next shop we arrived at was tucked away further down one of the streets and seemed to sell only girls' clothes. It was much more inviting, cheaper, and at least in my opinion, fashionable, if that was a word I was even allowed to use.

 

“What do you think, better?” Lola said with a groan gesturing to street clothes that filled the displays.

 

I slowly looked around. “Yeah…” Before long I had everything I needed. Two hoodies, one that was tighter, with baggy sleeves and hood, and one that was sleeveless, but loose fitting and soft. 

 

I also got a set of baggy pants that used a strange thick but soft rope as a belt, and another set that was designed to be worn with knee-high boots, which of course was convenient since those were the only shoes I had.

 

Lola sighed as she saw the clothes I was picking out. “How is it… That is a shop filled with only girls’ clothes… You still manage to pick out all the clothes that make you look like a boy…”

 

“Thanks…” I said jokingly, referring back to our earlier conversation… No matter how much I hid it though, it was starting to get to me. “I actually like them though… Is there anything wrong with them?” I looked at them again. ‘No… I mean this should be fine right?’ “You know what, it's my money, so I'll buy what I want.”

 

She sighed, rolling her eyes. Fine, fine, whatever, is this all you wanted?”

 

‘Clothes that make me look more girly…’ I grabbed a pair of pink pajama shorts. “These too…” I muttered. ‘There's no way she’d make fun of me for these right? They’re cute.’

 

She visibly cringed. “You're… weird… you know that?”

 

“But… But there pink? And they’re soft, and they have little bears on the sides… Hey, what’s wrong with them…”

 

She cupped her hands over her mouth to hide her expression, but I could tell from her voice she was smiling wryly. “Chika you grabbed those, from the kid's section…”

I felt my face start to turn red. “S-so what?” ‘how can there even be a kids section, it’s not like this store only sells clothes for humans…’

 

Her hands moved over her eyes for a moment as she slowly rubbed her face. “I can’t tell if you're doing it on purpose to look adorable or if you're just actually this dense. How are you going to find a boyfriend if everyone thinks you're either a boy… Or a twelve-year-old? Well, I guess it’s not black or grey, so that’s something.”

 

“No one asked you… And… Come on, I mean… There’s like what, 5 Million people in Rothet It can’t be that hard to find a guy that’s into little girls.”

 

“I worry about you sometimes…”

 

“I didn’t!—I meant like… You know like halfings…” I muttered. “Ahg… Shut up! And what’s wrong with black Anyway? Have you ever seen anything look bad in black? No. Besides, it’s cool, the color doesn’t fade, and it doesn’t get stained so easily.”

 

She just let out a sigh, ignoring me. “Yeah, yeah, you already said you were going to buy whatever you wanted so just hurry up…”

 

‘There's nothing wrong with the clothes I like…’ I looked back, noticing another hoody. It was basically the same as the sleeveless one I was holding but was more of a mint green instead of pale grey. “Fine, I’ll get this one instead…”

 

I walked up to the counter and made the purchase before she could say anything bad about it. Altogether it cost me about 200 talons… And a couple of strange looks from the clerk… And my dignity from the clerk thought I was Lola’s daughter going through a phase. When all was said and done though I managed to cool my head in the cold air.

 

‘I can’t see why anyone would ever think shopping was fun… Well, that’s not true. I could stare at armor and weapons all day long.’ “Let’s see… There are a few more things I need still.” I said softly, sorting out my thoughts as the embarrassment died down.

 

“Like new clothes…” Lola grumbled.

 

“I’ll wear anything if you buy it…” I grumbled back ‘I didn’t almost die so I could buy ugly and uncomfortable clothes…’

 

“Anything?” Her eyes started to sparkle again, and I couldn’t help but rethink my words. I was so used to her never giving me things that I had never actually thought she might take the offer.

 

“U-uhm… Anything that’s not inappropriate.”

 

“So I can make you look like a girl?”

 

“I’m already regretting this… But… Sure… If you buy the clothes… Just… No frilly dresses please…”

 

She grinned. “You said anything.”

 

“Ok but…”

 

“No buts! You don’t get to take it back!”

 

I sighed. “Fine fine, but can you hear me out? If it’s something I’m not going to wear that often then you have to store it, and two… Can you wait a couple of weeks? I’m still gaining my weight back.”

 

Her sparkle died down, but her smile stayed as wide as ever. “Sure, no problem.”

 

“Hey… Can I ask you something?”

 

“Sure go for it.”

 

It was hard to look her in the eye and ask directly. I couldn’t even figure out the right words to say. ‘I can’t just ask why she suddenly cares so much…’ “You seem… Different. Like, you want to buy me things now… Its…”

 

She looked up at the bright sky. “Ah, that… My little brother died two weeks ago.

 

Chills ran down my arms “Oh… Cool…”

 

She laughed it off. “It’s not cool Chika…” She said, her smile finally softening.

 

“Sorry, I just–”

 

“I know…” After an awkward silence, we wound up back in the town square sitting on the side of the massive fountain. “So… The wargs yeah? You never told me how that went.”

 

I could feel the undertone the whole time we were out. ‘So that’s what she was after this whole time…’ I sighed.

 

“6 Wargs, one was an alpha, 7 spiders, and over 20 Serd Lilies. All that for 3 silver coins.”

 

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

 

She was right, I knew exactly what she was getting… I just didn’t want to talk about it. “Tell me more about the monster infestation, I heard a B-rank monster was in the lake now?”

 

“Ugh… Now you’re making me talk about work?” After another awkward pause, she let out a soft sigh. “Ok… You know, they raised the whole area to threat level C.”

 

“That explains why the rewards were so high, so they raised it by two levels then. Back when the spiders stayed in the dungeon they were only ranked D, the same as the dungeon. Why did they raise it higher?”

 

“Right. I guess this is important too… You know how wargs are rank E, alpha wargs are rank D. However… If monsters start fighting for control then both species grow stronger… Not only that, but minitours are in the area, and you weren't wrong, somehow there ended up being a Mishipeshu in the lake.”

 

“So… Your saying…”

 

“That’s right, an underwater panther. Stay far far away from that lake, at least until someone deals with it… Now, are you going to stop avoiding the question?”

 

“Maybe I should just hunt the Mishipeshu. That’s worth like what… 20k?” Looking at back at her frightening gaze I let out a sigh, “Only joking…” I muttered.

 

“You still haven’t answered.”

 

 thinking about it for a while as I leaned forward on my knees. ‘So I’m afraid of dying and no one caring. Is it really such a big deal? Isn’t everyone afraid of dying?’ I slowly stood up and placed my hands in my pocket looking out over the horizon as my foggy breath met the orange glow. “Nope, I’m good.”

 

“Chika…” She growled.

 

“Just, not today alright. Some other time maybe.” I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Tell you what, if it happens again on this next quest I’ll spill, deal?”

 

She just rolled her eyes. “That implies you surviving…”

 

My feet carried me backward as I started to walk away. “Come on, who do you think I am?”

 

“I feel underqualified to answer that question, maybe you should ask the doctor when you finally get your head checked!”

 

I stuck my tongue out. “Only if it’s free!” I yelled as the distance grew between us. Turning around I lifted a hand to wave without looking back. ‘I don’t need a doctor to tell me there's something wrong with my head, pretty sure everyone knows that already.’