Alex not only took the dolls, but also some more iron pipes and a cylindrical piece that looked like it could be used as a damper. He already had the metal plates stored in the basement. The no-longer-buff guy missed having a stove to cook on, so he decided to build one. They would also need a chimney for the stove, but with Merumeru's slime powers, it shouldn't be too difficult of a project. Alex returned home and made dinner. Despite his claims of getting gender-rolled skills, the pink-robed man didn't hesitate to step up and do culinary tasks.

"Alex, you're a great cook!" Fufi complimented, flapping her wings.

 

"I appreciate it, but a proper kitchen would be much better. I miss having hot food. If we could build a wood stove, it would give us more options. I have a series of pipes that we could use to make a chimney. If we connect that to a metal box, we could do things like boil water or grill fish," Alex said.

 

“That sounds like a great idea,” Fufi replied. “I’m glad to hear you’re thinking ahead. You should start drawing up plans so we can help out.”

 

"I had intended to. However, it is difficult to create blueprints with only paper and a quill. It could be worse; we could be using flat stones and a piece of charcoal. My drawing abilities are lacking. Thank you for being lenient with me on the concept drawing for Lily and Rose." Alex glanced at the paper and grimaced slightly.

 

"It was nothing." Fufi waved it away. "I can't draw very well either. Not having hands means I’d have to use my beak.  Nobody wants to see that.  What are you doing for the next doll?" Fufi also glanced at the paper.

 

“I don’t think I can finish it in one day,” Alex said. “I have some ideas, though. The main thing is that we have two ranged dolls. Lily is an archer, and Rose shoots water. I think the next one should be a different type.  I have a couple of ideas, but I want to get a little further along with the other dolls before I decide.”

 

"I can listen and give feedback." Fufi offered.

 

Alex didn’t mind bouncing ideas off of the pink bird. "Sure. The first problem I noticed was with Lily. She can't aim up or down. This is my fault because I'm still learning how to do this. Her legs are fused to her torso, so I need to redo her lower half so that she can rotate up and down as well as left and right. There are some examples of how to do this in the book, but I wanted to try to keep things simple. The downside of this is that it reduces flexibility and functionality. It also adds another dimension of complexity. Luckily, there is some weirdness going on with the rods that slot into the dolls to control them. If I had to manually control how fast they were spinning, it would be too much for me. That the game table works with different designs of dolls at all is a mystery to me. Maybe it has someone in the walls watching everything and quietly keeping stuff on track hidden in the walls or basement or something. Who knows?"

"Ru ru meru meru?" Merumeru interrupted.

 

"Huh?" Alex looked at the slime girl in confusion.

 

"Merumeru rururuuuuu" Merumeru insisted.

 

Alex chuckled and patted Merumeru's head. He had no idea what that meant.

 

"Alex, that outfit you brought back. What do you think of it?" Fufi asked.

 

"The corset and skirt? I believe there is also a type of undergarment, but I am not familiar with the proper term. It appears that clothing from that period is quite intricate. I believe it would be perfect for a woman attending an event where everyone is dressed as if it were the 19th century. What do you call that?  Victorian maybe? It is unfortunate that there is no place to purchase clothing. I miss my collection of flannel shirts and jeans." Alex pondered Fufi's unusual inquiry.

 

"Alex, what does your heart say?" Fufi asked.  She sounded serious.

 

Alex replied, "My heart tells me that it would be nice to wear something that feels comfortable and doesn't restrict movement. Something that doesn't get in the way when fighting monsters or moving around. I'm not sure if a corset, which is laced around the chest and tightened until it's hard to breathe, fits that description."

 

He then asked, "What does speaking to your heart have to do with clothing choices?"

 

"I see. Well, I was hoping you would at least try it. The fact that it was right in the main hallways of the dungeon makes me think that it might be important to clear the dungeon. You never know." Fufi explained. “I’ve said it before but cuteness is at the heart of being a magical girl.”

 

"Alright. If you insist." Alex would take any possible advantage at this point. The pink bird had been pushy since they arrived in this world but she’d been the only one he could talk to for days now so ignoring her wasn’t an option.

 

"I do. I really want to see how you look in it." Fufi insisted.

 

"Fine. Just this once." Alex shot Fufi a look.  She was acting suspect. "But no more. I get sick just thinking of wearing it."

 

"Thank you, Alex." Fufi purred and led him off into a room to get changed. The room didn't have a door like the rest of the guild but Fufi promised she wouldn't peek. 

Merumeru just said, "Meru meee" in approval, cheering him on.

 

Alex undressed and put on the underdress first. Then he slipped on the corset. He had to pull the laces as far apart as he could to get it on. It was a struggle and his arms were getting tired. The front of the garment was tight against his chest without even having to pull on the laces. Lastly, he put on the skirt, which had its own difficulty. There was a large loop of string attached to the back of the waistband that he had to tie to keep it from falling down. It was a bit tricky, but he managed. The whole time he was struggling with it, he was thinking of ways to escape.  When he was done with the outfit Fufi came in and walked a circle around him. He felt like she was inspecting him from every angle.

"You did it." Fufi smiled. Admiring the feminine attire.

 

"I feel like a stuffed doll." Alex complained.

 

"No, you look amazing." Fufi assured him. "I want to take a picture to show Luna. She will love it."

 

"I'm not so sure." Alex grumbled.

 

"I'll bet you anything that Luna loves it." Fufi told him.

 

"That is what I'm afraid of." Alex grimaced.

 

"I'm going to go get your phone." Fufi told him and headed out.

 

"Wait! Don't show Luna!" Alex begged, following her.

 

"I was just teasing." Fufi agreed. "I just wanted you to check your stats and see if this outfit gives any bonuses."

 

"Oh, yeah. Okay." Alex replied. Alex wasn’t sure what to think of the sudden backpedal.

 

Fufi presented the phone to Alex in her beak.

 

Name: Alex Parker

Class: Magical Girl

Sex: Male

Strength: 13

Constitution: 14

Dexterity: 12

Intelligence: 7

Cuteness: 1

 

Skills:

Cleaning: 2

Cooking: 1

Toymaking: 2 (+1 from equipped items)

Sewing: 1

 

Feats: Empower Doll

 

Merumeru peeked through the doorway. She stared at Alex, her big blue eyes full of wonder.

 

"Meeeruuuu!" Merumeru squealed and ran over to hug Alex.

 

"Stop!" Alex cried. "Don’t just ambush me like that."

 

"Ru ru meeee." Merumeru chirped happily and hugged Alex again.

 

"I'm going to ground you from the water pipes." Alex tried to say sternly.

 

"Meerrrrrruuuuu." Merumeru laughed. She either didn’t understand or didn’t think the threat was enough to stop her glomping attack on the black-haired man.

 

Alex was trapped in the grip of the slime girl. He was being squeezed in an embrace that he couldn't break. For a little girl her hugs were impossible to escape.

 

"A little help here Fufi?" Alex pleaded.

 

"Merumeru, let Alex go." Fufi chided the slime girl firmly.

 

"Meerrruuu." Merumeru said sadly and let go.

 

"Thanks." Alex said and rubbed his arm.

 

"Now that you've had your fun I'm going to get changed. A little privacy please?" Alex looked between the two who were still eyeballing him.

 

"Okay. We'll leave you alone now." Fufi nodded.

 

Alex went to change. He had to ask Fufi to come back in and help him get out of the outfit. Even with the more slender build, his shoulders were too broad to get it back over his head and he couldn't reach the lace on the back on his own.  Once Alex was dressed in his normal pink robe he sat down and took a deep breath.

 

"Alex? Are you okay? You look pale." Fufi asked.

 

"I just need a moment. It is hard to breathe in that thing." Alex confessed.

 

"That's because you're not used to it yet. Once you get used to it you should be able to breathe normally. Besides, it looks good on you." Fufi told him.

 

"Really?" Alex looked down at himself. "I don't know. It doesn't suit me at all. I guess I'll have to at least wear it though for crafting dolls though. I really want to clear the rift dungeon and every little bit helps right?" Alex thought crossdressing to win seemed like an odd theme for a dungeon.

 

"Right. You can wear it while crafting. Oh there is one other thing that we should check out. That card you got, have you tried to use it yet?" Fufi mentioned.

 

"No. Why would I do that? It's just a card. I figured it was just for collecting or something." Alex pulled out the card and set it on the table.

 

"Well, if you look closely there is an inscription on it." Fufi brought the card over and set it in front of Alex on the table. He squinted at it and noticed the inscription.

 

‘Use in an open area,’ the inscription read.

 

"Hmm, maybe we should take this outside and try to use it." Alex said, picking up the card and heading outside.

 

"Do you know how to use it?" Fufi followed him out.

 

"No. Hopefully it is not hard" Alex said when they were standing outside the adventurer's guild. Like usual, the street was empty and abandoned.

 

Alex held the card in front of him and closed his eyes. Nothing happened.

 

"Try to focus." Fufi suggested.

 

Alex focused. Still nothing.

 

"Maybe you need to try doing something cute?" Fufi voiced a random idea.

 

"Like what?" Alex questioned.

 

"Well, you could make a face like a cat, then a dog, and finally a pig. Then you can hold your hands in the shape of a heart." Fufi rattled off random ideas.

 

Alex gave Fufi a look. “You’re being silly,” he said. In frustration, he threw the card on the street. There was a flash of light, and the cart from the picture appeared. For some reason, bubbles floated along with the cart.

 

"What the heck?" Alex blinked in disbelief.

 

"Well it looks like you figured out what the card does. It summons a cart." Fufi said.

 

"Let's see what it does." Alex inspected the cart and saw that it had a large wind up lever. The handle was a crank and the wheels were made of wood. Hoping for the best, Alex wind up the cart. It made a ticking noise like a watch while he did so. Was he winding a spring? Alex decided to move it back towards the side of the road and found that it was really easy to move. The whole thing made a ticking noise while he did so. It seemed impossible that he would be strong enough to wind a spring that would be strong enough to move a cart designed to carry a person but this was a world of magic so he took it in stride. When the cart was out of the road he pulled the lever out. There was a flash that caused him to close his eyes. The card was sitting there on the ground where the cart was moments before.

 

Alex picked up the card. "Huh? Neat!"

 

"Not a bad treasure." Fufi told him.

 

"I never thought about what the card actually was. I just assumed it was some kind of trophy." Alex boggled at the concept of cards that could become carts and then go back to becoming carts again.

 

"You didn't even notice the writing." Fufi pointed out.

 

"I was a little disappointed in the reward to be honest." Alex shrugged. "Thank you for figuring out that this is more than what it just seems to be."

The three conversed for a bit before retiring for the evening. The next morning, Alex donned the uncomfortable corset and skirt with Fufi's assistance. He then made his way back to the rift. Alex planned to upgrade his two clockwork dolls and begin work on a third. He was becoming more proficient, but he didn't think he could complete the third doll in a single day.