Reborn: From Nothing

I was awoken by Olivia knocking on my door. She brought me breakfast from the tavern. I never asked her to do this, but I shouldn’t complain. Rather, I should probably express gratitude.

“Thank you Olivia… I appreciate it.”

In my past life, I was too prideful and self-centered to express gratitude. I was stupid, I was afraid that showing appreciation was showing weakness. Because of that, my parents probably died never knowing how much they truly did for me, or perhaps they did actually know, I could never comprehend the mind of a parent.

“You’re welcome. Please enjoy it,” she responded. I would appreciate it if she could talk to me the way she did everyone else. I hope this barrier between us does not remain standing forever.

What can I do to lift the tension? I don’t really know what’s causing this in the first place. I’m sure Cassius could break the barrier in seconds, but I’m not him… I’ll just go about the day as normal, maybe I’ll get some type of clue eventually.

“What should we do today?” I ask her.

“It is up to you.”

“I suppose we should find a tailor. There should be one in this town.”

Merchants of all kinds are coming to this village. Because it is the first spot the wealthy immigrants are coming to, there is a great deal of money to be made.

The ground was wet, covered in mildew. I could feel it through the hole in my boots. Dawn had just broken and the scattered clouds left the red sun untouched. My companion's blond hair obtained a pinkish tint under this light.

We approached an intersection on the roads. Children sprinted out in front of us, I stopped just before running into them. The smiles of these children were so bright, I almost felt blinded. I found myself thinking back to my old life, it was only during my adolescence that I ever felt happy. Would those emotions ever return to me?

Autumn will come soon, but it is still summer. The air is cooler here than it was in Amidonia. While the weather shifting is part of the reason, moving north also explains this change in environment.

I enjoy these temperatures quite a bit. I am always wearing long sleeves and a cloak. I sweat far less in this climate than I did in the southern one.

“Excuse me, sir, we are looking for a tailor. Preferably one with higher-end garments, would there perhaps be one within this village?” Olivia asks a man who appears to be a local.

“Ah yes, there is. Go two roads down and to the right. You will find it down that road, a big sign in front that says ‘Arya’s Fashion’, you won’t miss it.”

“Thank you, sir!”

“Haha, don't mention it. If you are looking for any traveling food, come to my shop to the east called ‘Cellarius’ butcher shop’. Kind young ladies like you will get a discount in my shop.”

“Thank you very much! We will of course come by!”

I exchanged nods with the butcher and we went on our way.

We moved from an area primarily filled with inns and taverns to one with many shops. The people here get up bright and early and start their work soon after.

I walk by someone chopping wood, and then someone loading up a mule with cargo. People all over are talking, and chatting about trivial things to make their work go by quicker. All the distinct noises filled my ear… until…

A clash of metal unto metal. A familiar sound, one I had grown to fear.

I thought this village was safe!? Who was fighting and why? Are they going to try and kill me? Where are they? What is going on?

Beads of sweat shook off me as I trembled. I thought I had escaped the war even for a little while, had they followed me here? I will need to-

A gentle hand on my back interrupts my thoughts.

“Please relax Cassius. It is just a blacksmith.”

When I loosen my focus I, notice a man in a thick leather apron striking hot metal with a hammer, he is making a fire-poker.

Why did that freak me out so much? It’s not like this is my first time hearing a blacksmith… is something wrong with me?

I catch my breath and we continue walking. It is about 10 more minutes until we reach the tailor. The sign was quite noticeable, if this person is a traveling merchant from another city, I wonder how they transported this?

After walking past the large sign with a detailed toga engraved into it, we entered the store. Inside was a half-asleep woman in her mid-30s wearing a purple and red toga. The ringing of the bell attached to her door woke her up.

It has been a while since I have seen someone wear a toga. Not even the generals wore them during the war, and neither Marcus nor Claudia ever dressed that extravagantly. In most of the places I lived, it was never practical.

Along with her monstrously expensive toga, she had her brown hair up in curls under a thin purple veil. She even wore make-up. In every possible way, this woman defined the word ‘stylish’.

The store had a pleasant smell, she must have been burning some form of incense. It had both a cinnamon and vanilla scent.

“Welcome! How can I help you today?”

“We are looking to get some clothes fit for travel. A butcher told us your shop is the one to go to.” Olivia replied to the shopkeeper.

“Well, I better thank him! To send such cute kids my way. I never had more perfect subjects for my work! Come here, you first.”

She grabs Olivia and drags the girl into a fitting room. While this store didn’t resemble clothing stores in my world, it still had a counter and a room to change clothes in. Just enough to remind me of the days I went clothes shopping with my parents in my old world.

My father would style my hair the morning before we went out, and my mother would run around department stores finding a bunch of outfits. They essentially turned me into a dress-up doll for a short period of time.

I never took their clothing recommendations. I opted for sweatpants and T-shirts… perhaps that played a role in my lack of attention from women.

I snap out of the nostalgia when Olivia is pulled back out of the fitting room. She is wearing an all-black toga. It has one shoulder strap and ends at her shins, just short enough to show off the black sandals she is wearing.

The black cloth accompanied her dark eyes perfectly. Her blond hair stood out a great deal in this outfit and the color choice gave her a more mature look. It was safe to say, this tailor knew what she was doing.

“Please miss, I cannot buy this outfit. It is far too expensive.” Olivia protested.

“No, it isn’t, we will take it. However, make the rest of the outfits fit for adventuring please.” I contradicted Olivia’s words without hearing a price tag.

“Wonderful, now then, how many adventuring outfits would you like me to prepare?”

“Four should be enough.”

Olivia seemed distraught by my decision. Either she is uncomfortable with me spending so much money on her, or she is just frugal, who knows?

They pick out a few more practical outfits. When I hear the total cost, I am surprised by it being cheaper than expected. Though I haven’t bothered to convert this country’s currency to USD yet, so I base my interpretation on intuition alone, which is unreliable.

“Alright, now your turn young man.” She smiles while staring at me.

“Ah, no, I just need the clothes I’m currently wearing repaired.” I didn’t really care for buying any more clothes.

“No no no, come back here with me.” She demands.

“Yeah Cassius, go back with her,” Olivia added with a scary smile. She seems upset that I forced her to buy all of those clothes.

I can’t fight back in this atmosphere.

She runs around her store for a few minutes throws an outfit into the dressing room and shoves me in after. Without even bothering to look at the outfit, I put it on. Though… something feels on.

Ah, these aren’t pants…

Huh?

Before I can finish my thoughts, I get pulled out of the dressing room. There was an initial look of shock on Olivia’s face, which quickly turned into a grin. The tailor had a glow in her eyes.

I was wearing a dress. A silver-blue one, exact same color as my hair. There were many overlapping folds in the material, giving a sense of depth to the dress.

The important question was… why am I wearing this!?

“It’s so cute!!”

“Right!?” The girls agreed.

I retreat into the dressing room with haste. Before I can put back on the grey robe I came in with I hear the tailor's voice on the other side of the door.

“Sorry sorry, but I had to see you in that!”

“...whatever.”

I am still quite embarrassed, and she is showing no remorse. It is only natural that I brush her off a little.

“Anyway, here is your actual outfit. I am seriously sorry!”

She opens the door a crack and slides an outfit through. I check this time and see it’s actual men’s clothes.

I put on a short-sleeve white tunic and thick wool pants. There is a silver-blue coat in there as well. The outfit goes together well and the fabric is sewn with extremely fine precision.

I come out of the fitting room in this outfit. I receive some modest appreciation for this one and get handed a few more casual outfits by the tailor, but I just buy them without trying them on. She could tell my size with just a glance and has hit the mark with every outfit so far, I will just trust her.

“Come back in one week for your robe. This material is very high quality, I will have to sew it together without having any extra material. I’ll make sure to have it looking brand new, but it will take some time.” The tailor told me.

Olivia hands over the money for this shopping spree with a sigh. Perhaps she is frugal after all. Well, it would probably be a good idea to save as much as we can. With how useless I am, making money will be difficult.

On the walk home, Olivia kept looking at me with a grin and giggling. I give in and ask her,

“What is so funny?”

“Sorry, you just looked so pretty in that dress.”

Ah, she is making fun of me.

She messes with me like this all the way back to the tavern. The change in attitude towards me was shocking, but the conversation with her felt much more natural than ever before. It felt as if a grand wall between us crumbled in an instant.

Over our lunch, I couldn’t help but ask,

“Hey, Olivia… you seem a lot more confident around me than before… what happened?”

She looked at the soup in front of her with a relaxed smile and responded to me in a soft voice.

“I’m sorry, but I was afraid of you. You showed up alongside a conquering army, and killed two people, how could I not be afraid of you?”

Ah, I really am an idiot. It’s so obvious… how socially inept can I be?

“But, with how nice you have been to me, and how fragile you are, there is no way I could keep seeing you as a threat… especially not after you dress up like such a cute girl. When you had that blushing face in a frilly dress, all my fear of you dissipated in a second.”

Her grin turned mischievous once more as she brought it up again, but hearing that didn’t embarrass me this time.

“So… with that, are we friends now?” I ask.

“Yes, we are,” she responds.

This must be what it means to show vulnerability. I thought my patheticness would naturally drive people away, instead, it showed them that I am just as human and fragile as them. To Olivia, my patheticness was a humanizing trait, not a dehumanizing one.

I followed the guidance of Cassius and built a relationship with another, and the result is… satisfying.

I just hope next time I build the relationship in a less embarrassing way.