After a lot of effort, I managed to buy the book I needed. Ideally, a general history book like the ones on world history would have been a good starting point.
However, since history books were hard to come by in this world, finding a foreign book right away might have been considered lucky.
I had a hunch that if we went to the capital, we might be able to find books about the history of the Hodgkin Federation and its pre-foundation era, considering it was our own country.
I carefully put the book into my backpack and then went off to buy clothes for the women as they had wished.
The shops in the city were numerous, catering to a wide range of needs—from women’s and men’s clothing to those designed for larger races like the Warwick, or barrel-shaped body types like the Noin.
“Sensei?”
“Hmm?”
“By the way, we’re going to attend the ceremony, right?”
“…Ah, right. As for formal wear… well, we can get that once we get there, can’t we? In Japan, the choice of clothing varies from suits to tailcoats depending on the occasion.”
“Hmm. That’s true. But, shouldn’t we buy some nice clothes in case we want to go to a stylish restaurant?”
“Ah, yes, that makes sense…”
I began to feel a bit excited about buying clothes for myself. At a women’s store, Kimishima and Sakuragi seemed to like the designs there. Since it would probably take a bit longer, I asked them to choose clothes for Vito as well, and Nishina and I headed to a store for men.
Shops in the city often had a tendency to cluster together, and this street was full of clothing-related stores. Nishina and I looked for a good shop for men and began to search for suitable options.
I considered clothing that would be practical for Iaido. Given the days I spent walking through the underbrush of Galal Blue, something like hakama was not a feasible choice.
What would be suitable?
Since my current shirt and slacks were fine for Iaido, I sought something similar. The store clerk told me that the type of shirt with a typical fold-over collar was not common in the Hodgkin Federation. However, they had stand-collar shirts without folds, so I bought one. Pure white materials, like those in Japan, were a bit expensive, so I chose a shirt with a cream-like, linen appearance instead, avoiding patterns as much as possible.
For pants, my stretchy slacks were not available, so tight pants might not work well. Instead, I chose something like Aladdin pants, which didn’t hinder leg movement and weren’t fluttery like hakama. I liked them well enough.
I also bought underwear and socks, realizing once again that I should have purchased these clothes earlier.
As I was satisfied, Nishina wanted to visit another store. Likely, it was a store with younger designs. She bought several outfits there as well.
The legend that women’s shopping took a long time had been told to me before. Indeed, when Nishina and I finished our shopping and returned to the women, they were still selecting clothes.
“Oh, Vito! You look great!”
“Really?”
“Yes, now you won’t be mistaken for a boy.”
“People make mistakes, it’s fine.”
Though she said she didn’t mind, when Nishina and I complimented Vito, who was being dressed up like a doll, Vito looked a bit pleased. However, it seemed she had never worn anything like a skirt before and felt uncomfortable with the fluttery sensation.
While I was talking to Vito, Sakuragi emerged from the fitting room, flaunting her new outfit and eagerly asked Nishina, “How do I look?”
“Sakuragi, you’re so short and you’re going to get hurt in the bushes.”
“Hmm. Takato-kun will heal you, right?”
“Eh? No…”
“Hehe. No way. You’re covered in magical power, so leaves and branches won’t hurt you.”
“Oh, oh. I know.”
Well, Sakuragi was definitely on her own path.
But it was true. To cut through strong magical beasts, magical power was necessary because those beasts themselves were enveloped in magic. We had acquired magical power since coming to this world, and as we climbed the Ladder, it grew stronger. Before we knew it, we had developed a toughness where even if we fell, our knees wouldn’t get scraped.
“Sensei?”
“Oh, what is it, Kimishima?”
“Isn’t it better to avoid very short clothes, from your perspective?”
“Eh? Hmm… about knee-length.”
“Got it.”
For men, there was also a sense of reassurance from reduced exposure.
“Sensei, those sarouel pants are cute!”
“Sarouel? Ah, yes. I thought of them as a closed hakama.”
“I’ll buy one too.”
“Sure, that sounds good.”
Once our clothing shopping had settled down a bit, we decided to head out for lunch. I had heard there was something like a food stall village nearby. As I walked through the unfamiliar streets of this foreign land, I was a little excited and noticed a small cart on the sidewalk selling something that was being grilled.
As I approached to see what it was, I found that they were roasting something that looked like chestnuts in a large pot. At first glance, it resembled the sweet chestnuts from Japan, but the grains were much larger, and the aroma was subtly different. The vendor, noticing me stop, immediately called out.
“How about it, buddy? One bag for 500 Ern.”
“What is this?”
“Hmm? You don’t know? It’s baked Bodz. Just freshly harvested Bodz roasted plain, but it’s delicious.”
“I see… Well, I’ll have one, please.”
“Alright. Here you go!”
The vendor used a small scoop to ladle the Bodz into a paper bag. There was more than I expected. “I gave you a little extra,” he said as he handed it over, and I thanked him before taking it.
When I turned around, everyone had eager looks on their faces, so I handed out the bag. Each person took a roasted Bodz from it. The fact that we could comfortably handle the hot Bodz with our bare hands was likely thanks to the Ladder. Only Vito, who hadn’t climbed the Ladder at all, was struggling with the heat and rolling them desperately on her hands, so I peeled them for her. Inside the dark, hard shell was golden, delicious flesh.
“Be careful not to burn yourself.”
“Thanks.”
Seeing this, the vendor handed us a small bag for the shells, so we put the discarded shells into it.
“Oh, this is really tasty. What is this?”
“Of course it is. It’s delicious, right? You can turn it into cakes or other things, but eating it plain is the best.”
“Yeah, it is.”
The taste was indeed similar to chestnuts but richer. It had a creamy, sweet flavor reminiscent of roasted sweet potatoes.
After finishing the Bodz, we asked the vendor for directions to the food stall village and headed there. By the time we arrived at the food stall village, we had eaten all the roasted Bodz.
The food stall village was similar to a food court. We bought food from various stalls according to our preferences and ate together at a single table. Nishina, happily slurping noodles, chatted excitedly.
“I’ve never been abroad before. Everything is so fascinating and delicious. It’s the best!”
“Yes, the food here is stimulating in a way I’ve never experienced before. I don’t dislike Dudur Valley, but it’s nice to occasionally come to a city.”
“Exactly. I want to ride my own beast like Reg-san someday and travel to various places!”
Seeing Nishina so excited, Sakuragi commented.
“But you know, Sensei, you guys still have to travel all the way to the capital. That’s great.”
“We had to persuade Yazzak-san to come this far. Don’t make too much trouble.”
“I understand. But Sensei, can we stay another night?”
“Eh? …Well, Yazzak-san didn’t specify a number of days, but…”
“Sensei, it’s okay, right? Takato-kun, you think so too, don’t you?”
“Eh? Ah, yes. Sensei, is one more night alright?”
Sakuragi’s request got Nishina on board. Well, Nishina was responsible, and the city seemed safer than expected. There were Federation soldiers patrolling the streets regularly…
“Make it just one more night. Vito, I’m counting on you to keep an eye on these two.”
“Got it.”
In the afternoon, we visited stores for armor and other equipment, gradually preparing our gear. Since the kids didn’t have much money, I paid for everything without any argument.
Why did I have so much? Every month, I received a stipend of 1,000,000 Ern from the Church for Celestials. The Federation Army salary was around 3,000,000 Ern. Kimishima had mentioned that a monthly salary was about 300,000 Ern, which made me acutely aware of the weight of my rank.
…And living in Dudur Valley had cost almost nothing. It had been less than four months since I came to this world, but I hadn’t expected to manage finances so easily.
