What is Clothing? (1)
Time had passed since Angelica's assault on the old school building, and we finally reached Friday.
"What happens to us over the weekend, Instructor Esta?"
"Unfortunately, you won't be going out."
After regular classes wrapped up through Friday, Instructor Esta dropped a bombshell during our weekly wrap-up meeting.
"Even on the weekend...?"
"Especially because it's the weekend."
"I've heard you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket, though."
Rydmila voiced a hint of dissatisfaction with her analogy. We'd come to the old school building for a mission, but everyone needed personal time on weekends, after all.
"We can't even go to the Terminal shopping district?"
Rydmila, in particular—who'd arrived with literally just the clothes on her back—had all sorts of issues when it came to daily necessities and odds and ends.
"Didn't you hear to pack as much luggage as possible when you first arrived?"
"I did pack some, but it's true that we need more supplies."
"The basics provided to students should be more than enough, no?"
"Training gear, spare clothes, personal items like that, Instructor."
Rydmila advocated more aggressively than I'd expected. Part of it was for her own sake, but—
"Right! I even made a list of stuff I wanted to buy for my first weekend at the academy...!"
—it was also because her charge, Unia, was eagerly hoping for an outing.
"You have a list? Perfect timing, then. Submit it, and the academy will handle the purchases."
"No way!"
Instructor Esta reached out toward Unia, but Unia firmly shook her head.
"Even you go shopping sometimes, right, Instructor?!"
"......."
"Uh...."
A moment of silence.
"Instructor, have you ever even... shopped...?"
"She's so practical, she'd probably just bulk-order everything if she bought anything at all."
To preserve Esta's dignity, I decided to throw up a shield for her on this point.
"Instructors have way less personal time than we think. Going out shopping or enjoying hobbies would be tough."
"Oh, r-really...?"
"That's right. Isn't it, Instructor Esta?"
"Hm."
Instructor Esta crossed her arms and fell silent. I knew the wardrobe in her room consisted solely of t-shirts, hot pants, underwear, and the like—in just three colors: white, gray, and black, with matching designs. Not that I'd seen it myself, but there was an in-game event where you opened her closet.
'Probably the same in real life right now.'
Esta was the type who kept fashion at arm's length. And Unia—
"I was so excited because they say there are tons of cute clothes at the Terminal near the academy and in the nearby city!!"
—was dead serious about clothes. More precisely, she'd never been able to dress up properly before, so she was hyped to seize this chance and glam herself up.
Why? Because she grew up in the countryside?
"Miss Unia. I know there are lots of pretty clothes at the Terminal, but did you come from some remote village where getting clothes was a real struggle?"
Evangeline asked carefully. Quite considerate for an imperial princess of the New Empire. After studying together the past few days and learning how to handle non-attribute mana through Unia, Evangeline had no need to be prickly toward her anymore.
"N-no, not exactly. There was a Silverstar clothing store there, even."
Just one issue.
"But Silverstar's sizes... don't fit me."
"...Ah, I see."
Not a mana pouch size difference or anything.
"W-well, ready-made clothes are all like that, so...."
Unia glanced around the classroom. Esta had her eyes peacefully closed, while Rydmila and Evangeline locked eyes. The two were about two handspans taller than her, but when it came to mana pouch capacity, they'd struggle against Unia even 2-to-1. Apples and oranges were big and all, but they couldn't compete with a full-on watermelon.
"Um, hey...."
In the end, Unia's gaze landed on the one person still looking right at her—
"Mr. Phoenix?"
"Yeah?"
—me.
"Don't you need to buy anything, Mr. Phoenix?"
Unia was looking for an ally. Someone to go weekend shopping with.
"Tons of stuff. Even just window-shopping through the stores has its own value."
"R-right?!"
"Gotta scout what they sell ahead of time so you know where to get what you need next time. What do you think, Instructor Esta?"
"...It makes some sense. But—"
"Even if you're worried about old school building students being exposed outside, they should at least have the freedom to pick out essentials themselves, right?"
Instructor Esta closed her eyes at my words. She fiddled with the magic pad on her wrist, clearly pondering.
"Even students have personal items they need to buy."
"But—"
"For example."
Before Esta could push back, I struck first.
"I need to stock up on several pairs of underwear in my size."
"Wh-what...?!"
A pretty embarrassing topic, depending on how you heard it.
"U-underwear...?!"
"Yes. Men's underwear. The kind you wear down there. It's the first thing touching your skin—you can't just wear any old thing, right?"
"......."
"Even if the academy provides underwear, it won't match personal tastes. I wasn't planning to wear the basic student-issue stuff anyway."
Dorm students get minimal essentials provided. It's basic welfare for commoner students, and Esdinas does put some thought into it.
But.
"The academy's men's underwear is just basic tank tops and briefs. Not really my style."
"Wh-what...?!"
If only that consideration extended to quality or personal preferences.
"My female classmates get basics issued based on mana pouch size at enrollment, so no big deal for them. But guys... well, things are different down there."
"Wh-what kind of difference?!"
"It happens."
I pretended to thump the desk with my hand.
"!!"
Instructor Esta's face flushed red, like she'd guessed exactly what I meant. Back when we went to meet the Ludbekia Marchioness, she'd dragged me into an alley and experimented a bit to probe my intentions.
She got it right away.
"To put it bluntly, unlike women, guys sometimes outgrow their usual size. That's why."
"......."
Silence blanketed the classroom. Unia rolled her eyes side to side without a word, while Rydmila stared blatantly at my crotch. The uniform pants were thick enough to hide details, but she was clearly trying to gauge what lay beneath.
"H-hey."
Evangeline pointed at me, her face pale.
"H-how... big is it...?"
"It's rude to ask anyone that, but I guess I owe my classmates an answer."
"No way you're telling us?!"
Evangeline shot up from her seat, jabbing a finger at me.
"You're insane!?"
"What's there to be embarrassed about?"
"Stuff that's embarrassing is embarrassing!"
"My body's like a work of art. Revealing what I've kept hidden is basically flaunting true beauty."
"Stop with the crazy talk!!"
"Alright, alright."
I spread both hands wide toward a trembling, fist-clenched Evangeline.
"Roughly... this much?"
"Wh-what...?"
With one hand fully extended, I tapped the tip of my middle finger with my other hand from below.
"That's the situation. Academy average-sized supplies don't cut it for me."
"......."
"See, Instructor Esta? Makes sense, right?"
"...I get that part, but the circumstances being what they are..."
Instructor Esta eyed her pad with a sour expression. Probably seeing negative opinions flooding the faculty chat network about letting us visit the Terminal.
"If you need stuff, just tell us. The academy can prepare it and deliver to the old school building. ...Not like it'd be low-quality—we can stock the best available."
"Ah, ahh...."
Unia pouted, shoulders slumping. If it was something 'special' or awkward to admit in front of others, it'd be hard to speak up.
'Subtly—no, blatantly—adult designs that suit her tastes.'
How do you even request that? A matching set of red lace underwear with antique black frills?
"Mr. Phoenix?"
"Hm?"
"No, just... you had that face like you were thinking something naughty about me."
"If I were having naughty thoughts about you, Miss Unia, it'd be more like pondering how to deal with guys who think that way about you and plotting countermeasures."
"Not really a problem, but the way you beat around the bush makes it suspicious...."
"Suspicious or not, I won't say."
I tapped my head.
"I can expose others' desires, but not my own."
Since the Angelica incident, they'd seen my abilities.
"Desires, huh. What is it? Just wanting underwear in your preferred style?"
"No."
If someone accessed my dreams and glimpsed my core desire, the mental shock would probably kill them.
"If a dream-revealing spell exposed my desires, there's only one I'd show the world."
The desire bubbling up from the depths of my heart.
"You wanna go home?"
Return. I'd go back to my original world and claim that 200 billion prize.
But.
"Home...."
"Might as well build a harem on the way out."
After coming to this world, a personal desire had formed.
"Feels like a waste to just head home alone now."
If possible, I wouldn't return solo.
We'll load up a magic truck with goods from the Terminal and bring them here. It'll be like a mobile shop... but bear with it for now.
After dinner, back in our rooms.
The academy had arranged for a truck from a general store-convenience shop or clothing outlet to deliver straight to the old school building. We'd been assigned—not quite homework, but close—to list our needed items and submit.
"Hm."
Honestly, I didn't need much. Clothes? Mana-clay them. Food? All provided by the academy. Maybe some snacks, but I couldn't list stuff without knowing what's available.
'Just write something.'
I had to play human. Even if I didn't need them, humans require certain essentials.
So.
'Maybe copy Unia's list and submit that.'
Reference hers and it'd be fine. I stood and opened the door.
"Uh, wha...?"
Outside the door.
"Ah, you're still up?"
Unia, in very light attire, greeted me awkwardly with a wave.
"Um, Mr. Phoenix."
"Yeah? What?"
"...I'm really sorry, but."
"No idea what it is, but come in and close the door first?"
"...Okay."
Unia stepped inside and shut the door.
Click.
Correction. Locked it.
"Mr. Phoenix."
Unia pulled something from her bosom with a resolved expression.
"Could you... add this to your list of needed items?"