A Perfect Fit
So the night passed without incident, as if nothing had happened at all. Sunlight began to warm the city, brightening the sky above. While Esmar busied himself with morning preparations, I slipped the previous night's spoils out from under the bed for a quick look.
"Huh?"
The boots felt different from yesterday. My hands and mind registered the same odd sensation. The pair I'd pulled from under the bed was noticeably smaller than when I'd first grabbed them. Small enough, in fact, that they looked like they might actually fit my feet right now.
Weird. Had they always been this tiny? No, definitely not. I distinctly remembered picking them up because I figured they'd drag on the ground if I tried to wear them. Game correction? Some kind of world mystery? Now that I thought about it, how did characters with completely different builds even share equipment in the first place? I never expected to find out like this.
Anyway, I slipped on the now-perfectly-sized boots and tapped the toes against the floor. They felt less like proper footwear and more like thick socks. An uncontrollable grin tugged at my lips.
"You coming down or what~?"
Esmar's voice from outside the room snapped me out of my boot-fitting trance. I called back in a rush.
"Yeah, I'm coming down!"
I kicked my old worn boots under the bed, hiding them from view. If I walked out carrying them, someone would definitely notice. It bothered me a little, but I left them there and headed downstairs.
Esmar had already finished settling the bill and was ready to leave the inn. He tilted his head when he saw me.
"What were you doing up there for so long?"
"Didn't feel like getting out of bed… heh."
He let out a resigned sigh at my childish excuse and started toward the stable where we'd left the wagon. From the look of it, he hadn't noticed my boots had changed at all. Not surprising—he wasn't exactly responsible for me like a real parent would be.
Just before we left the city streets, I glanced back at the second-floor window of our room.
"He won't notice the boots changed when we get back, right…?"
The thought made me swallow nervously. I suddenly appreciated how convenient inventories were in games. Back in the village, I never had to carry much, so the lack of one felt especially glaring now. In any game, I'd just shove everything into my inventory without a second thought.
The wagon felt emptier without goods filling it. Every bump in the cobblestone road jolted straight through my backside. It was like walking on the stones with my rear end. Painful.
"What are we doing today?"
I leaned forward and asked Esmar about our plans. He answered like it was obvious.
"We sold everything, and the wagon's empty. Time to buy more stock, don't you think?"
"Ehh…"
He sounded genuinely excited, his voice rising and falling with merchant's glee. I responded with a half-disgusted mutter. Were all merchants like this? Buy low, travel far, sell high, then repeat. It wasn't some old trading sim game, but here we were. Still, I couldn't complain—he'd shown me kindness without asking for anything in return.
I stared out at the city while the wagon rattled along the uneven road. Everything looked so much more alive in three dimensions than it ever had in-game. The fishmonger's loud calls, the vegetable seller dozing in the sunlight with arms crossed—it all felt real. Even the bumpy road under me was real. Yet familiar objects kept appearing, blurring the line between game and reality.
"Ah, the goddess statue."
The stone figure stood proudly in the center of the town fountain. In the game it had just been labeled "goddess statue"—a fast-travel point and save location. Of course, bowing to it wouldn't rewind time on death or instantly teleport me to another town's statue. Those miracles were probably reserved for the protagonist anyway.
Out of nowhere, I wondered what name was actually carved on the statue that had only been called "goddess statue" in the game.
"Mister, who is that statue modeled after?"
Esmar scanned the area instead of looking at the large stone figure.
"What goddess statue?"
After a moment he followed my pointing finger and finally spotted it.
"Oh… that thing?"
He let out a long sigh, then answered with clear disinterest.
"I don't know if it's a goddess or what, but whoever it was must've been important. Every city has one."
"So that's the setting, huh…"
He didn't care about the name, just assumed it was some great person. It seemed odd that he wouldn't know about something every city supposedly had, but it clearly wasn't common knowledge like a single universal god. More like something you only learned if you were interested.
"I'll take this, that, and… ah, that one too."
We stopped at a weapon shop. Esmar casually picked out weapons he had no intention of using. Ten silver, twenty, fifteen—months of living expenses vanished before my eyes. The shopkeeper sighed as he watched Esmar load the heavy gear onto the wagon like he was clearing the shelves.
"Hah, judging by how you're shopping, you're headed for the capital, aren't you?"
"Ahem, is it that obvious?"
The capital. My eyes lit up at the word. It was the first city where the player— the protagonist—began their journey. It also housed the academy where you could build base stats for the first three years. If you raised affinity high enough, the character with the highest affinity would follow you after graduation.
The problem was that the female companions you could recruit from the academy were all pretty mediocre in terms of performance. Even at max level they were below average, each with their own flaws. The developers probably thought it made sense—"new graduates wouldn't have amazing stats!"—but honestly, who would use them except a few weirdos?
As a result, the protagonist's habit of hanging out with guys instead of romancing girls spawned the whole "gay protagonist" meme. Since most of the game was from the protagonist's perspective, his appearance wasn't described much, but the meme established him as silver-haired with blue eyes. Instead of investing time in female companions, players focused on grinding stats with male characters. There were even overseas memes about it—disgusted reactions for any female event, and enthusiastic ones for stat-pumping sessions with guys.
If you cared about performance, there was no real need to obsess over academy life anyway. Decent companions could be recruited after graduation, and some of them could drastically lower the game's difficulty.
Once the two adults finished talking, the wagon started moving again. I leaned forward and asked Esmar directly.
"We're going to the capital?!"
"Yeah, but it'll take a while to get there."
Nice! I clenched my fists. If we reached the capital, I might be able to observe how the protagonist lived—anyone making a noticeable impact there. Even if he'd already graduated, I could probably hear rumors if his grades were good. From my second playthrough, I already had a decent mental map of the capital, including the mansion's location. My heart pounded harder at the thought.
Please… let the protagonist be handling everything well so I don't have to get involved.