“...All set to go?” He asked. 

Mary looked back at him briefly, “We…” she spoke between pants, “Should stop by my place…I don’t have any clothes that fit you, but I can make something…”

“Make something?”

“Just…follow me,” Mary answered quietly between breaths.

As the blue-haired, kind adventurer stood herself back up, she flipped her skirt down, though there wasn’t any hiding what was done by the smell of lewd acts and the sweat that clung to both of their bodies. 

They took a low, hidden route to her home, with him completely following her lead. The best he could do to cover up was use the mantle lent to him from her to cover his most personal bits. 

Eventually, through walking along the edge of the Avnim city walls, Mary let out a sigh of relief as they reached a tucked-away, humble cottage at the backmost, quietest part of the city. 

A few trees neighbored the yellow-brick home, casting a nice, comforting shadow over it as Mary retrieved the key from her pocket, unlocking the front door. 

“This is your house?” He asked. 

“Mhm,” she glanced back with a smile before opening the door. 

“It’s…nice,” he smiled as well. 

Entering inside after her, he looked around to find a neatly home; the wooden floorboards were covered with colorful carpets, and the walls lined with paintings of sceneries he could only imagine were of this new world. 

“You live here…alone?” He asked. 

He only asked because she seemed sort of young, at least a bit young for complete independence like this, but he remembered the adventurer insignia she showed him. 

“Mhm,” Mary nodded with a smile, “I’ve lived here for a few years now. It used to be one of my grandmother’s houses, actually. When she saw an adventurer.”

“I see,” he said, looking around. 

After a minute of eyeing the place curiously, his attention was caught by Mary as the blue-haired, young woman retrieved a bundle of fabric, placing it on the flat, wooden table before extending her hand forward. 

“Invoke: Tailor.”

It wasn’t any sort of magic that sounded familiar to his RPG-playing brain, but he witnessed it be manifested in the form of manipulating the raw fabric as it contorted and stretched, weaving into an actual, complete outfit. 

“Imbue: Protection. Leather.”

Another incantation from Mary as she swayed her index finger caused a mystical air to surround the fabric, morphing it into a set of black garments that were accompanied by light, leather armor.

“...And, done!” Mary smiled, letting out a relieved breath. 

A black tunic, light-gray trousers, boxers, and even boots came alongside the warm-seeming, protective leather armor that also came with a cape. 

“I tried to match the clothing to your type of body, but…it’s my first time,” she said.

He was left surprised, not hesitating to try it on as it was a perfect fit, sliding his arms through the sleeves and strapping the light-brown, leather armor. 

“No, this is great!” He said with a smile, “Really!” 

“Is that so…?” Mary smiled, though trying to hide her joy. 

After getting dressed in his outfit that made him look like a true and proper adventurer, he turned towards the girl, “What was that magic you just used?”

Mary twirled her light-blue, fluffy locks around her finger with a bashful look, averting her gaze a bit, “...”Tailor magic”, it’s something that my family specializes in. It’s not much of use in battle, but–”

“It’s amazing,” he told her. 

She was shocked at his kind words, looking at him as he was still enamored with the fantastical garments supplied to him with his dark-brown, unkempt locks nearly covering his hazel eyes. 

“You think so?”

“Yeah,” he said, “you made something this nice with a snap of your fingers? How is that not amazing?”

The words seemed to catch the already meek girl into a fluster as the growl of his stomach broke the awkward still. 

“Oh, you must be hungry!” Mary said, bringing her hands together. 

“...Yeah, I totally didn’t think of that until just now,” he embarrassedly rubbed his head. 

Mary smiled brightly, “Hold on! I’ll cook something up for you! If you’re really not from this world, then I want to leave a good first impression!”

I think we’re past “impressions”, he wryly thought. 

“Alright, then,” he smiled.

Left to sit on the comfortable sofa in the small, but cozy living room, he watched Mary disappear into the kitchen, hearing her use an incantation–”Invoke: Fire!” to seemingly use to cook. 

Is that a responsible use of magic? He wondered.

As he was left with nothing to do but wait, he was tempted to test out the fire magic he overheard, but opted not to as he didn’t exactly know how to “turn-off” magic, and fire was a whole lot more destructive than water–especially in somebody else’s home. 

After the wait got a bit too far, hearing the sound of food sizzling and some sort of fragrant, appetizing smell filling the house, he got up and inspected the bookshelves that occupied the room. 

Surprisingly, the books were all in a language that he could understand, but it wasn’t Japanese or English–it was something completely foreign, and native to this world. Yet, he was already fluent in it. 

Wait, they’ve spoken the same language as me–don’t tell me…is there some sort of natural understanding I came here with? That’s convenient, I guess, he thought. 

Most of the books seemed to contain knowledge on magecraft, while others went between children’s stories and fantastical epics, some of which he guessed were likely true in a world of magic. 

As suspected, each and every figure he found in a quick flip of one of the books was female, and for some reason, genitalia seems to play some sort of major role in this world. 

I mean, sex was pretty important on Earth too…but it seems like it plays a direct role into your position in this world, he thought. 

Looking back to make sure Mary wasn’t approaching, hearing her still cooking in the kitchen as the aroma of fresh, fragrant food became more potent, he slid the peculiar-looking book from the shelf. 

“Grimoire of Felsafar,” was written on the front. 

It was wrapped in a loose, leaf-like fabric, giving off an odd aura that he felt was likely residual magic. 

Maybe she won’t mind if I take a quick peek…He thought. 

Flipping it open, he found pages inscribed with knowledge of spells. More importantly to him, as he didn’t exactly comprehend the structure of magecraft, were the necessary invocations. 

Memorizing a few, he was promptly forced to shut the grimoire and quickly place it back as he heard Mary’s steps coming down the hall. 

“It’s all done,” Mary stepped in with a smile, “it’s just got to cool down for a minute–oh, were you looking at the books?”

“Yeah,” he answered with a nod, “I’m surprised that I can understand your writing–it looks unfamiliar, yet…familiar at the same time.”

Mary stepped beside him, looking at him for a moment, “Listen…I think it’d be best if you kept your coming from another world between us.”

He scratched his head, “You’re probably right. Unnecessary problems, right?”

She nodded, “...I’m a bit more…open-minded about stuff like this. In honesty, I’ve always believed the tales of otherworlders, but others think it's just a fairy tale. The problem isn’t people not believing it, though…I think some might try terrible things if they knew how special you were.”

“Special, huh?” He looked at her. 

A blush came over her cheeks, “I’m not talking about that! A-anyway, come on, don’t let your food get cold…”