Chapter 25: *Dokidoki* — I’m a guy, after all

It’s been 10 minutes since we left old man Gallus’ shop.

『Here it is.』

「Frilly.」

As Fran said, looking through the store window a lot of frilly women’s clothing are displayed.

『Because it’s a shop specializing in women’s clothing.』

「Buying what?」

『What do you mean, what?』

「 ? 」

『Well, it’s fine. Let’s enter.』

My heart isn’t pounding just a little, currently. Well, I don’t have a heart to begin with but… Any man would react like this. In addition, this is the first time I’ve entered such a shop — I hadn’t done so even in my past life.

「Welcome!」

「Nn.」

「An? An Adventurer?」

Coming out from the back of the shop is a vulgar delinquent-like young woman. She has deep blue short-cut hair, and is wearing impressive cyberpunk-looking clothing, exceeding my expectations of a fantasy.

「And? What do you want? We’ve got underwear, lingerie, casual clothing, formal attire, pretty much everything. What’re you looking for?」

（What are we getting?）

『Just say as I say.』

（Understood.）

We’ll give the general idea, and then push rest onto the saleswoman.

「Underwear for 5 days. Easily washable: good.」

「Uh-huh.」

「Also, clothing and underclothes for under armor.」

「5 days worth of those as well?」

「Nn.」

「For underwear, I’ll assume the lowest size would fit. Got any preferences?」

「Appropriate.」

「That’s no good for a cute girl like you!」

This lady was once an Adventurer. She had conceded on getting sturdy underwear for the sake of adventuring, but she was dissatisfied with there being few cute ones to choose from, so she took action. Uniting with the storekeeper of this store, she had developed various articles for female Adventurers.

「For a fair-skinned, black-haired, black eared beauty like yourself, this one might be good.」

What? Black panties!? Moreover, one with a fascinating tail hole? Outrageous. Truly, outrageous!

「This series has a hole in it specifically for Beastmen. How is it?」

Well… Isn’t it a bit too mature for Fran? It’s still a bit too early. Cuter ones would be more suitable. While thinking such, the young lady introduces other goods.

「Or perhaps something like this?」

— T-Those are striped panties, no doubt about it. Moreover, they’re ones with stripes of light blue and white!

「These, too.」

Kuh — S-Stop! Don’t make me look at the modest-shaped cream colored underwear decorated with small ruffles and bows…!

More enchanting types of underwear are unleashed in sequence, all of which are strong yet elastic.

「We also offer a service to open tail holes in articles which don’t already have them, you know?」

「Then, these.」

「Ok, Ok. Anything else?」

Is there anything else needed? Girl stuff…… Cleansing foam? No, I suppose a face-washing tool?

「Facial-wash tools? If you have them.」

「We do. The ones at the side suppress dirt really well.」

「Then, please.」

「Got it.」

Apparently, there don’t seem to be any bras. Perhaps this country’s civilization isn’t advanced to the point where they exist yet?

Fran is small — perhaps similar to a cliff. Well, because she has that tsurupeta[1] attribute bras aren’t necessary for the time being.

「So: 5 days worth of underwear and underclothes, along with shirts and short pants made with materials permitting good airflow. Would you like any of those with longer lengths?」

「Yeah. Two long ones.」

「Alright. After that is facial soap and towels.」

There’s soap? Is it the same as the soap on Earth?

「I made the soap exclusively for the face with Alchemy. It’ll cleanse the skin and make it smooth; it’s also odorless for the sake of female Adventurers, you know?」

Really? That’s pretty good. You’d be discovered by a Demonic Beast in no time if you smelled of flowers while on the hunt, so it’s quite helpful if it’s odorless.

「Thank you for your patronage!」

I’ll have to teach Fran how to wash her clothes later. If I do a bad job, she might not have any spare clothing left over… I should do it? No way, that’s dangerous in various ways. She’ll have to do it for herself. I’d feel like dying if Fran saw my work and judged it as garbage, after all.

◇◆◇

30 minutes after everything was sorted out, we’re standing in front of an inn. The lady from the clothing store had recommended it when we asked. A lot of female Adventurers use it, it seems.

Its appearance is neat, so it doesn’t seem to be that bad.

Upon entering… Its interior is also clean, and there’re even flowerpots placed around. I use Telekinesis to scrub a small corner of the entrance, but there’s no dust. Mmh, it’s a good inn.

「Teacher: worrywart[2].」

『Wha–!』

I’m only like this for your sake! Fran!

「Welcome.」

At the counter is a young lady. She seems to be a bit over 20 years old.

「Rooms available?」

「Would it be a room for one?」

「Nn, alone.」

「Are there any people to serve as your guardians?」

As expected, is it no use for a child to go in all alone?

『Fran, take out your Guild Card.』

「Nn. This.」

「Eh? Is this real?」

「Nn.」

The woman stares at the Guild Card for a little while, and finally comes to the understanding that it’s the genuine article.

「Well, with this your identity has been cleared. It’s 300 Gorudo for a room without meals. 400 Gorudo will cover the room and two meals. Each room within the inn is private. So, what would you like?」

『A stay for one day, meals provided.』

「One night with meals.」

「Understood. Here’s the key to your room, please be careful with any valuables in your possession.」

「Nn.」

After that, she went through an explanation about the prices of commodities and such, like how Lanterns and hot water are provided through the use of Magic Tools. I was surprised when she mentioned toothbrushes, but it seems that they simply make use of Purification Magic somehow.

「You can exchange this tag at the dining room for a meal. The dining room is always open, so it can be exchanged at any time.」

While saying so, she passed us two exchange tags. They must have a good system in place to allow their guests to dine at any time.

Well, because I have a plentiful supply Demonic Beast meat, I could probably go without the meals anyways. From now on, perhaps it would be best to simply prepare our own meals instead… Any number of dishes can be placed in Dimensional Storage, so hot foods could be eaten at any time.

The only problem would be where to make the food. Roasted meals and soup would become boorish after a while, so order to prepare for various meals proper kitchen utensils will be required.

「Here?」

『This room isn’t that bad.』

There’s a bed, a desk, and a chest set to the side; the room is completely spotless. Furthermore, dancing clothes are provided, likely in order to spend time comfortably. Finally, there’s a spot on the wall in order to hang one’s armor. This inn has a service to be reckoned with.

「Teacher, alright here?」

『 ? 』

「Such a great room?」

Ahh, so that’s it. Fran has lives as a slave for more than four years, so this room of this level would probably seem incredibly luxurious.

This poor child! I will absolutely make her happy! But first, I should relieve her!

『This is our room.』

「Very luxurious…」

『No, it’s not that amazing. This is common.』

「Really?」

『Really. From now on, you can stay in rooms like this without reserve.』

「Uoー!」

Fran pushes both fists to the sky in a manly way and lets out a roar.

「It was good to follow Teacher.」

『Is that so?』

「Already: winners at life.」

『It’s to that extent?!』

「It’s my time.」

She’s already happy at an unreasonable level, and her spirits have risen. It’s hard to see from her facial expressions…

But it’s good so long as she likes it.

[1] “tsurupeta” (ツルペタ) is essentially Flat-chested. Otaku lingo is hard to translate.

[2] Fran calls Sword-shisho “sister-in-law” (小姑) or, separated: “little mother in-law”. It probably has a meaning in Japanese that isn’t present in English, so I changed it to this. It should be about equivalent… Probably.