I am back – Chapter 107

I woke up early this morning.

Last night, I didn’t have another episode.

In fact, I fell into a deep sleep without even dreaming as usual. Considering what was going to happen today, I should have been restless, but I apparently didn’t stay up late after all.

Lying blankly on the bed, I blinked while staring at the ceiling. I felt no drowsiness or heaviness in my body that usually accompanies waking in the morning. Suddenly, a chill ran down my spine, and I jumped up to check the clock; it was still six in the morning.

The tension in my body completely eased up. There were still two hours left until the meeting time. Besides, today I was supposed to meet my older sister at the subway station before heading to the amusement park. There was no need to take the subway for forty minutes like usual.

Well, my sister was right. If I went all the way to her house just to meet her, it would be a massive waste of morning time.

Even knowing that was the efficient way, I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.

Stretching and yawning, I got out of bed. Even if I’m skipping morning exercises, I’ll at least do some simple warm-ups. I know just how much that can impact my morning condition.

They say the military makes you do gymnastics every morning, and I can understand the reasoning behind it.

By the time the exercises were over, my mind was completely awake. I headed straight into the connected shower room for a light shower.

Even though I thought I had completely adapted to a woman’s body, there are still times when I find my reflection strangely awkward in the mirror. After all, it’s only been about three months since I switched from a body that I had used for over twenty years. Especially when I suddenly become aware of my previous height, that’s when I feel the difference the most.

At least, it’s a relief that I’m slightly taller than my older sister.

After drying off, I put on my underwear and vigorously dried my hair. Long hair, after all, takes quite some time to dry.

I thought about cutting it short because it was inconvenient, but… I’ve still kept my long hair.

I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I think long hair suits me better when I see my reflection in the mirror.

The curves of my body unmistakably scream ‘woman,’ and perhaps I’m unconsciously thinking that way.

…Such thoughts are something I can’t share in front of my comrades, no matter what. It’s not about losing my identity as a man or becoming more feminine in my gestures—it’s just embarrassing to say.

When I was a man, I often got remarks from my party members about my appearance. No, not about my looks, but about the way I carried myself.

Since childhood, I considered spending money on grooming to be a luxury, so my fashion sense has always been lacking, plus, in Irrelaysia, the clothes nobles wore were usually bright colors.

Blue, yellow, red, or even green. It was considered natural for men to wear flashy colors, and some nobles even stuck to clothes that were ridiculously close to hot pink by my standards.

With an already terrible sense of style, adding in the unique aesthetic sense from a different country… no, a different world, I really had no idea how to choose my outfits. As a result, whenever I tried to wear whatever I picked out to go somewhere nice, one of my comrades would always stop me.

Like going to a ball with hair that I hadn’t cut for a long time, or showing up to meet the king in worn-out shoes.

Well, now I’ve at least managed to pick some reasonable outfits after being told countless times, but back then, I made my comrades suffer in many ways. It’s something I feel sorry about when I think back on it now.

“…”

Having remembered my past clearly, I carefully checked my outfit again in the mirror.

A slightly flowing blouse. Aside from the perfectly fitting sleeves, the arms were a bit loose with slight wrinkles throughout. Moreover, the middle part of the body was similar; it wasn’t too saggy but looked relaxed. Tucking it into my pants evened out the balance nicely.

Below were my pants. Since I was going to the amusement park, I thought a skirt would be a bit inappropriate. It felt a bit short considering the weather… but I thought it wouldn’t be cold enough to die from it.

“I think this should be fine?”

Muttering to myself, I slowly turned around in front of the mirror and checked my look. At least to my eyes, there didn’t seem to be any issues.

If there were any problems, my comrades outside would point them out. Even if they came from a different world, they all looked pretty decent in their outfits. If others are turning their gazes to my comrades, it’s probably just because they are incredibly beautiful.

Thinking that, I opened the door and stepped outside, where a delicious smell filled the living room.

“Oh, you’re up!”

Dana, who had taken on most of the cooking duties since coming here, said.

There are often contexts in fantasy novels where the food made by mages tastes terrible, but at least that hasn’t been my experience. In fact, I had heard that such stereotypes were also common in Irrelaysia, and when I was first impressed by Dana’s cooking, she told me directly:

“When mixing potions, if even a little ingredient is wrong, it’s a disaster. But if you mess up in cooking, it doesn’t really matter. There are plenty of substitute ingredients. I don’t understand why a mage who usually mixes all sorts of potions and magical substances wouldn’t be able to cook. It’s just a recipe!”

Just like Dana said, it seems she really enjoyed trying out various dishes with the ingredients from this world.

Maybe that counts as a job-related hazard? Or rather, the opposite. She probably became a mage because she had such a disposition.

I was the last to join everyone at the dining table. But it didn’t seem like they were waiting for me. Just as I sat down, Dana began preparing the plates.

“Hmm.”

Kalia suddenly knitted her brows slightly as she looked at me.

“Uh? Why? Does something seem off?”

Seeing Kalia’s expression made me a bit anxious, and as I asked, Kalia hesitated, tilting her head as she decided whether or not to say what was on her mind. Eventually, she let out a deep sigh and spoke.

“No, it’s just… It might be a bit awkward to say to you since you were a man, but I think wearing clothes that show so much skin as a woman is a bit…”

“…”

Oh.

Ah… come to think of it, it seems like nobles in that world were covered up in many ways.

“…And now you bring this up?”

Pia asked in surprise, and Kalia seemed to realize that it was a bit too much to say something like that, letting out a slight groan before speaking. Admittedly, Pia had favored wearing clothes with similar exposure levels to what I wore since coming here.

No, considering she even wore short-sleeved or sleeveless tops, she probably has even more exposure than I do.

From Pia’s perspective, it might seem strange to point that out “now” given her choice of outfit.

“When we first came to this world, it was actually pretty hot during the day. I thought that kind of clothing was adapted to the weather…”

As Kalia spoke, Pia shot a look of disbelief at her.

“…I didn’t know the nobles were so conservative.”

“It’s not being conservative; it’s just that I can’t adapt.”

“Don’t worry!”

After hearing Kalia’s excuse, Pia looked at me and said,

“Since I’m one of those closest to the Goddess, it’s perfectly fine to show as much skin as you like as long as it doesn’t make people feel uncomfortable!”

…Well, I feel like the Goddess would say something similar to Kalia instead. I recalled the Goddess’s outfit that only showed a bit of her neck and hands.

When I first came here, all the clothing I wore was pristine and proper.

Well, I didn’t think the Goddess would impose any expectations, but at least I knew her preference leaned towards that direction.

“Well, I have to admit, I’m a bit awkward with revealing clothes too.”

As I listened quietly, Arna opened her mouth, and Kalia looked at her as though she were reinforcements, but Arna simply shrugged and replied.

“In the forest, clothes that expose skin are much more useful.”

…Well, I guess that’s true.

“Aren’t elves sexually conservative?”

Dana said as she brought over a bowl of soup.

“We only encourage premarital purity. Also, we become recognized as adults after we turn 150 years old. That’s way too long for humans, so it just looks like we’re conservative. In terms of the duration of chastity, it’s basically the same as humans.”

“…”

Ah.

The whole table fell silent.

Come to think of it, I heard that the appropriate marriage age in Irrelaysia is usually around 20 to 22 years old.