Only a Real Man Can Crossdress
Yohan explained the world he used to live in until quite late into the night. True to his background from the Corporate State, Charles quickly grasped the various modern concepts Yohan introduced along the way. Thanks to that, Yohan found himself actually enjoying the storytelling.
"So... when did you pop out?"
The only issue was the Goddess. Intrigued by Yohan's tale, she had materialized at some point and was now sitting right next to him with her arms crossed.
Now, now, hurry up and finish your story, the Goddess urged, patting Yohan on the back.
"Sigh. Anyway, besides cars, there are several other kinds of wheeled vehicles..."
In the end, he spent the wee hours of the morning lecturing the two kids on the brilliant scientific achievements of modern civilization.
After their conversation had blossomed for quite some time...
"Yohan... you seem to miss your home very much," Charles said, looking at Yohan. His eyes were half-closed, heavy with sleep.
"Uh... me?" Yohan asked back.
Charles nodded once in response.
"Hmm."
Homesickness. Yohan chewed on the meaning of the word. Well, it wasn't exactly wrong. While this godforsaken fantasy world had its own charms, Yohan had constantly kept his original world in the back of his mind. In the first place, one of the reasons he had refused to die and made a contract with the Goddess was the faint hope that her power might eventually allow him to return home.
Of course, the primary reason was to gain the strength to exact revenge on the bastards who had stabbed him in the back.
But then, Yohan realized an important fact.
Compared to the day he first met the Goddess, he was now much closer to his goal of returning to his original world. Although she wasn't at her peak, the Goddess had recovered a significant amount of her divinity. She was now at a level where she could easily perform ultra-long-distance teleports from one end of the continent to the other.
If traversing vast distances within a single world was as easy as pie, then traveling to an entirely different world... might actually be within the realm of possibility.
Come to think of it, that damn Single-room of his was technically a different world altogether.
"I suppose..." Yohan began, intending to answer Charles.
But in that brief moment, Charles had already slumped to the side, breathing softly. He had literally fallen asleep the second his head hit the floor.
At the same time, the nagging voice of the Goddess, who had returned to her spiritual form, echoed in his head.
"Yeah, I really should. *Yawn*..."
Truth be told, sleep was catching up to him as well. Yohan let out a long yawn, picked up the sleeping Charles, and gently laid him on the bed. Then, he lay back down on his blanket, closing his eyes and falling into a deep sleep shortly after.
"Oh, crap. I'm screwed."
The moment Yohan snapped awake, he realized that far from being early morning, it was already well past noon.
"Hey! Would it have killed you to wake me up? You're a god, you don't even need to sleep!" Yohan grumbled, glaring at the ceiling.
The Goddess's reply echoed in his mind.
"Sigh, whatever."
It wasn't like they were in a desperate rush anyway. According to the invitation to the Corporate State he had received from the printing press owner, there was still plenty of time before the party.
Might as well prepare thoroughly before we head out, Yohan thought as he folded the blankets and tidied up the bedding on the floor.
"Wake up, kiddo. The sun's already high in the sky."
"Ugh..."
He lightly shook the sleeping Charles by the shoulder. Charles groaned softly and slowly blinked his eyes open.
"Yo... Yohan...?"
"Yeah, it's Yohan."
Still half-asleep, Charles mumbled Yohan's name with bleary eyes. It took him a few moments to fully wake up before he scrambled out of bed in a panic.
"Since we both overslept, let's just pack our bags thoroughly and head out."
"Y-yes, sir."
While they could store most of their luggage in the Single-room through the Dimensional Portal, Yohan couldn't just open the portal anywhere. Besides, wandering around a foreign land completely empty-handed would only make them look more suspicious.
"Let's eat first. We have a ton of food thanks to our pointy-eared friend."
After eating a late breakfast, Yohan and Charles packed their travel gear into their respective backpacks and stepped outside.
"Morning. You woke up pretty late."
As they walked out the front door, they found Falco waiting for them for some reason.
"Falco! It's good to see you," Charles greeted her warmly.
"Yeah. Glad to see you're doing well."
While Charles was simply happy to see Falco, Yohan felt a sudden wave of tension as he looked at the backpack slung over her shoulders.
Did this girl seriously wait outside the door the entire time I was eating breakfast? Yohan wondered, watching her exchange greetings with Charles.
"So, what brings you here first thing in the morning... or rather, in the middle of the day?"
In truth, judging by her outfit and the pack on her back, it wasn't hard to guess her intentions.
"You said you had business in the Corporate State."
"Yeah. So I'm taking the kid along since I'm going anyway."
"I'm worried about sending just the two of you. I'm coming along."
Yohan's eyebrow twitched at her declaration. He didn't mind people worrying about him, but he couldn't stand this reckless elf doubting his reliability.
"Hey, what the hell are you talking about..."
"A slick-looking guy and a kid who looks like they could be a boy or a girl traveling together are bound to draw attention."
"Oh, sure. And adding a trigger-happy elf who draws her blade at the slightest annoyance is going to make things better?"
It certainly wouldn't. If anything, she would draw even more eyes.
And yet... Yohan had to admit that Falco's stubborn argument actually had a point worth considering. Specifically, the part about Charles.
"Hey, kid. Didn't you say your family runs a pretty famous merchant group in the Corporate State?"
"Y-yes, that's right. But why..." Charles tilted his head, questioning the sudden inquiry. But he quickly seemed to realize why Yohan was asking.
The Corporate State was a country where a massive population lived in a relatively small territory. On top of that, the party venue was located in the Capital, the heart of the nation.
"Hmm..."
Yohan looked back and forth between Charles and Falco.
Come to think of it, these two had a few things in common.
First, regardless of their race, they had almost the same hair color and very fair skin.
Second, they both had delicate, pretty features.
Charles, whom Yohan had mistaken for a girl when they first met, was a given. But even Falco, despite her fierce temperament, was an elf who looked incredibly cool and elegant when she kept her mouth shut.
"Right."
Yohan nodded vigorously, as if a brilliant idea had just struck him.
"First, we need to stop by the Royal Capital and buy some girls' clothes," Yohan said, looking down at Charles.
Regardless of Falco's stubborn insistence on joining the trip, her words had sparked the idea of disguising Charles to hide his identity.
Yohan immediately used the Goddess's power to teleport to the Royal Capital, purchased a full set of girls' clothing from the market, and returned to the village.
As soon as he got back, he headed straight to Falco's house, where Charles was resting.
"Here, change into this, and let's do something about your hair."
"W-wait a minute!"
Yohan thrust a shopping basket filled with girls' clothes at Charles without warning. Upon checking the contents of the basket, Charles's face turned paler and more flustered than ever before.
"You know how it is. The Corporate State is incredibly cramped, and the party is in the Capital. If your face gets recognized, we're in deep trouble."
If Charles were to run into his older brother or other members of his family at the party, it would cause a massive headache.
"If it were up to me, I'd have made you wear a wig too, but I held back."
"Yeah. It's all for your safety, so don't take it the wrong way," Falco chimed in from the side.
Faced with both Yohan and Falco double-teaming him, Charles stood frozen, utterly at a loss, before he began to glare at Yohan.
However, Yohan was absolutely convinced that this was the best way to ensure Charles's safety, and Falco didn't seem to disagree.
"H-how am I supposed to wear this? Crossdressing...?"
"Kid, think about it for a second."
Yohan suddenly pulled a dress with a cute design out of the basket and held it up against Falco's body.
"If a girl your age wears this, what happens? She's just wearing normal clothes. But if you wear it, the story changes a bit."
This time, he held the dress up against Charles.
"See? Only a real man can crossdress."
"..."
Charles stared at Yohan with an expression that screamed he had just heard the most absurd thing in his entire life. If his previous look was a relatively polite protest of 'are you picking a fight with me?', his face now looked like he was genuinely questioning Yohan's sanity.
"And in a few years—maybe even just a year—your voice will crack, you'll shoot up, and your body will fill out like mine. This is literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
In fact, Charles had already grown quite a bit compared to when they first met. He looked about a thumb's width taller. It made sense, given that he was at the age where kids grew rapidly, and Henry had been taking excellent care of him.
"A... once-in-a-lifetime opportunity..."
"Exactly. An opportunity that will never come again. And you have a rock-solid excuse for it, too."
But that wasn't what was important right now. Yohan thrust the dress right in front of Charles's nose with a meaningful smirk.
"I... I suppose so?"
Swayed by the relentless persuasion, Charles finally gave in.
"Great. Let's get you changed right away. Hey, what are you doing? Out you go."
"W-wait, this is my house—"
"Whatever, out you go!"
Yohan kicked the homeowner, Falco, out of her own house and helped Charles change into the girls' clothes.
A few moments later...
"Whoa..."
Neither Yohan nor the Goddess could hide their astonishment.
The dressed-up Charles looked exactly like a high-class young lady dripping with elegance. His hair was a bit short, but there was no need to force a long wig on him. If it came down to it, they could just put a wide-brimmed hat on him.
*Click—*
The front door opened, and Falco walked back inside.
"Are you done chang—oh my goodness."
Even Falco, who rarely showed emotion unless she was angry, seemed genuinely amazed.
"Pfft—"
But her amazement was short-lived. She suddenly let out a snort of laughter, causing Yohan to tilt his head in confusion.
"What's with that look?"
"He's pretty, sure. But not as pretty as me," she replied with a smug smile.
At her words, the other two let out a heavy sigh in unison.
"Sigh, you're really something else."
"Falco, please. Don't embarrass me any more than this."
Both of them gave Falco a piece of their mind, speaking from the bottom of their hearts.
"Well, anyway. Now that we're set, let's decide on our roles."
It was time to get back to business.
"The most natural setup would probably be..."
After a brief silence, Charles was the first to speak.
"Yeah. A married couple with an only daughter," Falco naturally chimed in.
"Okay. Let's go with that."
And with that, Pharmacist Martin became a married man with a precious darling daughter.