บท 27: Birthday Suit

The bell rang. It made a pretty noise. The inside of the building was a lot quieter than the busy streets outside. I was thankful for the reprieve, the noises did hurt my ears and the information overload was simply unbearable. Buddha's Wisdom blessing triggered with every new sight and experience, making Mind's Eye very busy. The notifications flooded my senses and I couldn't react very well.

Thankfully, the goddesses were familiar with this area and we reached our destination fairly quickly. The queerest thing was how a path was made automatically by the crowd as the goddesses walked. Everyone seemed to know of our arrival and moved aside for us to pass. I wonder why.

Even in the shop, the moment Freya told the shop assistant her name, the poor half-dog man shot off like a bullet to fetch the owner of the establishment. Yes, half-dog because he had the head of a dog but the body of a man. Quite a strange happenstance but there was nobody as strange or extreme as Gaia so I held my tongue.

A man slightly shorter than my current self hurried over on his stumpy legs. The man was generally round and had saggy skin. The tip of his ears were pointed like Sedna's but he wasn't covered in scales. What's fascinating was how his hair was orange. Mind's Eye gave me some information and it looked something like this:

[Master Tailor] Grem Lee

Race: Fairy-Gnome

Age: 246 years old

Skills: Handless Stitching, Puppet Master, Legendary Merchant

"Goddesses!" Grem panted. "Why didn't you inform me of your arrival? Also, who's this charming young lad in his birthday suit?"

Birthday suit? I tried to search Mind's Eye with Wisdom's help but nothing showed up. It must be a local term.

"Sorry," I whispered. "What is a birthday suit?"

Grem Lee paused to turn and looked at me. He squinted and frowned, humming a low sound that made me slightly nervous. Was there something wrong?

"You look completely human but you're not. What are you? I've lived for a long time but have never come across a species like yourself."

Sedna was the first to place a hand on my shoulder and answered the perceptive master tailor. "He is someone of importance. Unfortunately, we cannot disclose any information to you unless he desires so."

Freya nodded. "He requires clothes suitable for travel in the human world for various occasions. We apologise for the lack of notice but it is of utmost importance."

Grem nodded and called for an assistant. She was a pixie with green hair and according to Mind's Eye, her name is Jen. Her status display looks a little like this:

[Grem's Apprentice] Jen

Race: Pixie

Age: 58 years old

Skills: Ambidextrous Stitching, Beginner Linguist

"Take his measurements at the back and show him around. I need to discuss with the goddesses here about the order."

Jen smiled and led me to the back of the room. I was a little nervous about parting with the goddesses so soon in a foreign place but Isis' nod assured me that they will be there with me soon.

Measuring was a process that was strange. With my lack of awareness about the body parts, Jen had to show me how to move so that she could take the measurements. Fortunately, the girl was patient and did not comment much. In fact, she seemed keen on helping to answer some of my questions.

From our short chat, I found out that we were on a different planet and the town here was called [La Boutique], famous for the best shops from food to fashion. According to her, food was something that can be absorbed by the body. I simply must try them later. Hopefully, the goddesses can help me with that.

Jen has been working in Ruban x Pointes (apparently the name of Grem's shop) for about thirty years now. Grem took her in when she was a child on one of his travels. The poor pixie girl was banished from her pixie village for her lack of magical powers. Normally, pixies were able to use magic to cast spells and fly. However, Jen's magical powers were so weak that she was unable to fly. The only spells she could cast were Transformation that allowed her to change her size at will, and Telepathy, a way to communicate with others without speaking.

"Is that how you know so many languages?"

Jen looked slightly startled. "Oh, that's not how it works. Telepathy only conveys my message from my mind to another person's mind. It does not translate the language. Language is simply one of the things I'm curious about and I've picked it up over the years by reading and chatting with the customers who come here. So far I think I speak common which is the language of human majority although there are minority human languages, gnome common, dawn pixie dialect, fairy speak and archaic serpent tongue."

Whoa! That's a lot... it sounds very difficult too! Then again, what are we speaking now? We chatted for a bit more and Jen served something called dew tea.

I looked at it and inspected it with Mind's Eye.

Dew Tea [Magical Grade]

Tea brewed by a pixie. Imbued with slight magical properties. Effect is random each time, depending on the pixie's mood.

Effects: Calming +1 (5 minutes)

Calming +1? Oh well, I guess it wouldn't hurt since it isn't something permanent.

Without thinking, I touched the cup with the tip of my finger and begin to absorb it. The space around the dew tea contorted and opened a vortex to both our surprise. The dew tea and cup set was absorbed and I stared at the space the cup occupied previously. Was that how everything looked like whenever I absorbed something? No wonder Sedna was so frantic when she found me. It must have been a terrifying sight to absorb a huge portion of her sea.

[You have consumed Dew Tea and gained a temporary effect [Calming +1] for 5 minutes.]

The effect wasn't very obvious but I soon felt more comfortable sitting in the room with Jen. We didn't speak much after this but it the awkwardness didn't last for long. Someone was knocking on the door to the measuring workshop even before the effects of dew tea ended.