Hikaru stretched as the morning sun streamed into her face. As she did so, she noticed a familiar weight on her chest. Glancing down, and sure enough, Amy was using her breasts as a pillow again. The scene was rather familiar to her, but this time she was resting in a decent bed. It wasn’t the best she had ever had, but it was far more comfortable than the tent. Given that she had been sleeping in tents for a while now, she found that she just wanted to lie here in comfort. She felt no real urge to move and remembered that Amy suggested she meditate daily. Yesterday she had done it on her own but had let herself get so lost in the relaxing sensations of it that Amy had stolen her panties without her notice.

She didn’t want that to happen again. This time Hikaru tried to keep some focus on her surroundings as she was meditating. Only to fail miserably, and sometime later she was brought back to reality with Amy waving her panties in front of her face. She turned bright red and tried to snatch them back. Only for Amy to pull them out of her reach while saying, “Didn’t I say to pay attention to your surroundings when meditating?”

Red-faced Hikaru nodded. Amy handed the panties back, and replied, “I’ll let you have these back, but you really need to start paying at least some attention to your surroundings while meditating. Otherwise, someone could do whatever they wanted to you, and you wouldn’t notice.”

Hikaru intellectually understood the point, but that didn’t make what just happened any less embarrassing. Having it happen to her twice just made her feel worse about it.  She also had the distinct impression that Amy was going to keep messing with her until she learned how to pay attention while meditating. 

After she calmed down, Amy ushered her along in getting ready for the day. This time since she couldn’t just change back to being to a man without raising questions that would be awkward to answer, she had to learn how to brush long hair. The temple provided room came with basic amenities like brushes. Amy ended up having to help her with using the brush to get the tangles out of her hair after Hikaru had managed to tangle the brush up in said hair. As they left the room, she found herself wondering how the girls with truly long hair dealt with it. Shoulder length hair was already a pain, but she suspected she would get used to it eventually. Just she wasn’t sure she wanted to. It also occurred to her that for the first time she was going to be spending an entire day as a girl. Something that might prove to be quite interesting. Just like any young individual, she had always been curious about what it was like to be a member of the opposite sex, and so far she hadn’t really been able to explore what it was like to be a girl.

Her mind was already creating a list of things to experience, and a shopping trip would be great. She could try on cute clothes, and sample the local cuisine. Then it occurred to her that she might end up going to the restroom as a girl. That was an experience she would rather avoid, but there was one experience she wanted to try but hadn’t because she was afraid of being caught. The very thought of being caught doing it was rather embarrassing. She quickly suppressed the thoughts and hurried to follow Amy.

They met up with the old priest in front of the temple. He gave them a kind smile when they approached. Hikaru took a look at the temple. She hadn’t really paid any attention last night since it was dark. It was the only building in the village made from stone. The stone was clearly treated with great care, and each stone placed with consideration. Two majestic dragon statues were placed facing each other in front of the temple entrance. On either side of the front door were a pair of pillars with carved dragon figures wrapping around it. They were carved to give the illusion that they were ascending into the sky. The attention to detail was astounding, but she wasn’t shocked. Every village and town she had visited in the kingdom paid a similar amount of attention to their temples. Unlike kingdom temples, the clan temple was not open to the sky, but instead had a domed roof with majestic dragon images carved into the stone, and painted with painstaking care to detail. The images seemed alive, as the dragons flew through the sky.

As for the village itself, the buildings were wooden with straw roofs. They were roughly built, and not much care had been placed in their appearance. It was early morning, and she already saw young women and children milling about, but aside from the occasional old man, there weren’t any men around. Given this was a farming village those young men were likely working in the fields at this hour. One thing she noticed was that the women around here seemed to favor a lighter style of dress. Most of them had a great deal of skin on display. The priest kindly showed them around the small village, and when they finally reached the market, she began noticing a few young men working the few stalls in the village.

The market had a few houses that were set up to double as shops, but it wasn’t a very big market. He led them to the side of the market square, to a smaller house on the side of the market square.

“This is the home of the local seamstress. I figured you might want to stop here first, and buy some extra clothing. Her husband is the local leatherworker. He can make you some proper boots to replace yours, they are looking rather worn. If you need anything else, I’ll be at the temple if you need me.”

As he departed, she glanced over at Amy and said, “I guess we should go in.”

Amy nodded, and replied, “Let’s go. We both need some new clothes.”

Amy knocked on the door, a moment later younger woman who looked to be in her early twenties or mid-thirties answered the door. She was wearing a simple skirt and a top that barely covered her modest breasts as her only clothes. Her belly was swollen and it appeared that she was a few months pregnant. She had lightly tanned skin, and long hair kept in a simple braid. In the background, a young girl’s voice was calling out asking mommy about who was at the door.

The woman gestured for them to enter, and asked, “What can I do for you two?”

Before Hikaru could even consider an answer Amy was speaking, “We need two new sets of traveling clothes, two sets of casual clothing, and a week’s worth of underwear each. We lost our old sets to a monster attack. We also need some new travel packs, and maybe some new boots.”

The woman yelled back, “Cleo, bring me my measuring kit, and tell your father we have customers!” Then turning to them, “If I can have your boots, my husband can look at them. Maybe he can fix them, if not he can replace them if you are willing to wait a couple of days.”

What followed was a rather interesting experience for Hikaru, as Amy quickly took control throughout the entire exchange. Hikaru had been with the seamstress when the leatherworker came into the room. At the time she had been half-naked and was being measured with a surprising amount of attention to detail. Something that made the experience rather awkward for her. Not that she had much of a way in alternatives seeing as ready-made clothes in preset sizes were a foreign concept in this world. As a result, Amy spoke with the leatherworker, who took a look at their old worn boots. He conducted some repairs and even offered them a new set as spares.

After the measuring session came the more interesting, and somewhat embarrassing dress-up session. During which Hikaru ended up modeling a few different designs for traveling clothes, and casual clothing. Of the two, she found herself greatly preferring the traveling clothes. They were sturdier, made of thicker cloth, and covered far more in order to protect the wearer from the elements. The casual designs they offered were certainly cute, but they covered less skin than she had imagined earlier. Hikaru was beginning to understand that the dragon clans seemed to consider it more appropriate for girls to wear rather revealing clothing. At least the outfits were still tame compared to what that loli demon had been wearing.

They left around noon, their pockets a few silvers lighter, and their packs a bit lighter as well. Amy had apparently sold the few rabbit hides they had while she was being measured. They still had the horns, but a leatherworker didn’t have use for the horn of a horned rabbit. The market wasn’t all that busy when the left the seamstress’s place. Well, she was more of a tailor, but what she was called really didn’t matter. Looking around they quickly noticed why it wasn’t busy. A small village like this had market days, and this was clearly an off-market day. As such, there was very little in terms of available goods. Hikaru was feeling hungry after leaving that first shop, so after a preliminary search of the stalls, she asked Amy about lunch. They had eaten breakfast at the temple, and that had been a while so she was hungry as well.

In a village like this one, it didn’t have a tavern or cafe. Instead, the only place you could order a meal that you didn’t have to cook yourself was the inn which doubled as the local tavern. Amy mentioned that since they were full, it was likely to be crowded.  Then she mentioned that they were low on silver, and argued that it was better to buy some food at the market. Then before she knew it, she found herself being dragged into another shop.

This shop was attached to the local smithy. The sounds of an active forge could be heard reverberating through the walls. A bored-looking young woman was sitting in a chair against the rear wall. She was quite small, maybe a hundred centimeters tall. In fact, she seemed to be a little under that height, but she had a decent bust and figure. Signs that she was, in fact, a fully mature young woman. She had a cute face that was framed by loose pink hair, and she smiled cutely when she saw them.

Displayed on the walls were a few simple weapons and farm implements. The only weapons on the wall were a few different spear designs, simple axes and even a couple of staves. The farm implements were more numerous, but all of them were simple ones that have been in use for ages. Hikaru wasn’t all that familiar with farming implements, so she couldn’t identify all of them. Well other than the shovel, and the hoe that is. Then again she had little interest in the tools anyway. Against one wall, were a number of utensils, cooking implements, pots, pans, and even a few metal bowls, and plates. All of which were crammed onto display shelves.

Hikaru again wasn’t the one to take charge here. The pink-haired girl was the first to speak, “Good to meet you, and before you ask, I am half-dwarf and one-quarter elf. Name’s Ruri, and you are?”

“I’m Amy, and this is Hikaru. I take it everyone asks about your heritage?”

Ruri nodded, and said, “Yep. Every single new customer asks. Not that many come to this backwater dump of a village. Anyway, what can I do for you?”

Amy gave a cute smile, and replied, “We had some trouble on the road with monsters, and need some new supplies. A hunting knife, cooking gear for travel, a new firestarter ...”

Ruri interrupted, “Basically you need an adventurer’s starter kit. I can have one ready for you by tomorrow. Also, may I ask where you are planning one going, after this?”

Amy nodded, and then replied, “My goddess wants me to clean up corrupted mana zones, and after that we will be heading for the mountains where she says we will guide someone for her through the mountains.”

Hikaru wasn’t sure Amy should have said all of that, but the dwarf girl’s eyes seemed to sparkle. Then excitedly she said, “An adventure! That sounds so much better than staying in this boring village! Do you have an opening in your party? I am very good at maintaining equipment and am skilled with melee weapons.”

Hikaru was a little stunned with the offer, but without even consulting her Amy confirmed that they had an opening in their party. Hikaru had wished she waited before saying that they have an opening, but she couldn’t deny that they needed an extra member. Just she wasn’t sure Ruri would be a good addition to their party. That, and then there was something else that would be awkward to explain.  Amy then glanced at her, and said, “We could definitely use a front liner, both of us are rear liners. I am priestess with powers over ice, and Hikaru here is an apprentice healer.”

Hikaru wanted to protest what Amy was saying, but held her tongue. Now she was starting to feel trapped. Given what Amy had just said, there was only one thing Hikaru could say without revealing her male form or looking like an idiot, “I guess we could use a new member, but do you have a tent?”

Ruri with a smile confirmed that she had some gear of her own. She had been planning to leave the village for a long time and was just looking for the right opportunity. By the time they left the shop, Ruri had agreed to join their party.  Hikaru had even learned that she did indeed have pointed ears, and Ruri had kindly demonstrated her skills. She was actually quite good with a shield and short sword, and deceptively strong for her small frame. The dwarf was also fairly decent with a mace, but wasn’t all that good with large weapons. Regardless, as she followed Amy out of the shop, she was thinking about that talk she needed to have with Amy. 

The rest of their shopping trip was fairly uneventful, aside from the brief break because she needed to pee. That was something she didn’t really want to think about.