51 - First Outing 2
At a tailor shop facing the main street, Leonardo orders several outfits. He does ask for my preferences, but the colors I choose are too plain, and I only pick cheap fabrics, so he shoots them all down. In the end, I'm only shown the design sketches. I pick a design I like, and then Leonardo and the tailor discuss and decide on the fabric and color to go with it.
...How much does one of those cost? I'd be too scared to wear them...!
While Leonardo talks with a man who seems to be the shop manager, a female clerk offers me juice, and I gaze out at the street. At first glance, most people wear what seems like typical medieval fantasy clothing, but looking closer, I see an old woman with cat ears, and a young man in a strangely impractical outfit focused more on design than function.
...Are there no rules for clothing or anything?
There don't seem to be taboos like skirt length changing with social status, or women not being allowed to wear pants. Just watching the main street, I see people in all kinds of clothes, girls in hot pants, girls combining miniskirts with pants, and so on.
...Come to think of it, hairstyles seem free too?
There doesn't seem to be any unspoken rule like men keeping their hair short and women keeping theirs long. Speaking of my parents, my father Saro had long hair, and my mother had short hair. I haven't seen any women with completely shaved heads, but there are people with eccentric hairstyles everywhere that I'd only see in 2D in modern Japan.
...But I don't see anyone with pink or blue hair, though.
There are people with cat ears, people with asymmetrical hairstyles. It feels a bit like peeking into a cosplay venue, but I don't see anyone with hair colors that feel out of place.
"See anything interesting?"
I must have looked very bored. Another female clerk who brought me baked sweets speaks to me, but when I turn my gaze to her, I'm stunned speechless.
...Why a Japanese-style maid!?
My head fills with question marks at the female clerk's outfit, which in my previous life I'd only see as cosplay or at some specialty store. What's going on with the clothing in this world?
...Ah, could this be the influence of reincarnators... or something?
How should I ask a question to resolve my confusion about this chaotic cityscape of clothing, without revealing that I'm a reincarnator? No matter how much I think, I can't find the words, so I just stare fixedly at the female clerk in her Japanese-style maid outfit. My intense gaze apparently makes her think I'm interested in her clothes. She lets me touch her outfit.
...It feels like a cheap cosplay costume made just to look vaguely like a kimono.
The texture feels off if I touch it thinking it's a kimono, but the fabric feels nice so it's probably not cheap. The female clerk shyly lets me touch it, so maybe it's something she's proud of.
My head is full of curiosity and discomfort as I observe, but the clerk seems to think I'm looking quite seriously. After I finish examining the clothes and let go, she goes over to Leonardo and whispers something to him.
Once the order is finished and we leave the shop, Leonardo immediately picks me up and carries me into another store. It's a different tailor that handles kimono-like clothes and frilly outfits.
...Ah, it's Wa-Goth. I never thought I'd see this even after being reincarnated into another world.
And I realize. What the female clerk said to Leonardo earlier. She must have told him I seemed to like her outfit. Leonardo ignores my opinions about keeping costs down, but he lets me freely choose designs. Though of course, Leonardo ends up ordering even frillier clothes than what I pick. As for the Wa-Goth, he must have heard from the clerk that I seemed to like it and came straight here.
...I don't have the guts to cosplay at this age...!
I retort internally, then remember. In this life, I'm still at an age where I could be called a little girl, so even if I wore a somewhat flashy cosplay, people around me would probably take it positively. A little girl wearing a Cinderella dress. They'd accept it with the warm fuzziness of "How cute." If I just had the courage, I could wear Wa-Goth now. Fortunately, my face in this life is quite lovely. Enough to pull off even somewhat outlandish outfits.
In the end, I politely decline, but he takes it as modesty and orders the Wa-Goth anyway. It seems summer clothing orders are backed up, so it won't be ready until autumn. That's why he chose slightly thicker fabric. Leonardo did.
...Leonardo, you do remember that once my relatives are found, we'll part ways, right!?
Even if he prepares several new outfits for me, there's a chance they'll go to waste, but Leonardo shows no sign of considering that. I stop him from ordering even more clothes, and to distract him, I ask for second-hand clothes instead. I plead that children grow quickly and sizes change, and I'm scared of getting nice clothes dirty, so reluctantly he takes me to a second-hand shop. After buying several outfits there, apparently having achieved his essential goal, Leonardo's pace slows down. I think he'll finally put me down on the ground, but he keeps carrying me. He shows me safe streets where a little girl can walk alone, and forbids me from using other roads. Of course, back alleys and the like go without saying. They're forbidden.
"Ith it danjerouth for a little girl to walk alone?"
"Kidnappings decreased after it became illegal for anyone other than guardians to sell people... but well, there are people everywhere who enjoy bullying the weak."
For that kind of person, no particular reason is needed. Just the presence of someone weak enough to take out their frustrations on, someone they can bully without fear of retaliation, is reason enough. A little girl walking alone would be perfect prey.
"I undershtand. I'll only go on the thafe thtreetth you showed me, Leonyaldo, or when I'm with thomeone."
When I make that promise, Leonardo's face shows some unease. Given that there's a precedent of me who should have been at the mansion turning up in the fortress's isolation ward, he probably doesn't find my word very reliable.
Whether it's because he's tired from carrying me everywhere outside the shops, or simply because he's a bit hungry, Leonardo enters a restaurant with terrace seating. It might be called a public dining hall as an establishment that serves food, but the atmosphere is different. It doesn't seem like a place commoners can casually enter. Judging by the clothes of the clientele, this is probably a restaurant for the wealthy. It's a bit strange that there are young women among the customers, but good establishments also pay attention to security. People trust that it's a safe restaurant for women to visit alone. It has the feel of a high-class place you'd go to for a rare indulgence. Or so it seems.
"Thorry to keep you waiting. Here'th your ananabu omurette with plenty of caramel, and a thweetly rethrained pumpkin mont blanc, nyath."
There are many things I want to comment on. First, "ananabu" seems to be banana. I haven't eaten it yet so I can't say for sure, but it looks exactly like the bananas I saw in my previous life.
The mont blanc looks just like the mont blanc cake from my previous life. I've heard the name mont blanc cake comes from a mountain, so it's strange that the mont blanc cake in this world is also called mont blanc. But given this world has so many signs of reincarnator influence the more I learn, I suppose it's possible that some reincarnator somewhere named it mont blanc.
And the final straw is this waitress.
The waitress is wearing a miniskirt cat-ear maid outfit, which is concerning enough, but is it really okay for someone in customer service to add "nya" to the end of their sentences? Or is this just that kind of special establishment? But I seem to be the only one surprised by the cat-ear maid waitress. Neither the other customers nor Leonardo show any particular reaction.
...Am I the weird one for caring about this? Tell me, Aurelia!?
I wonder if the doubts I'm feeling are unique to reincarnators, and I silently plead with the only reincarnator I know, Aurelia, for help. Not that it'll do any good.
"...What's wrong, Tina? Don't you like ananabu?"
"I don't know, I've never eaten it before."
My mind is too busy with a festival of internal retorts to care, but Leonardo, who chose the menu, seems worried that he might have picked something I can't eat. Since I can't read the menu myself, I had him pick something suitable. It looks like banana, so I push my questions about the waitress to the back of my mind and take a bite-sized piece into my mouth.
...Ah, it tastes like banana too. Ananabu is definitely banana.
Thin sponge cake with fresh cream and banana sandwiched inside, topped with caramel. Of course it's delicious. Seeing my mouth naturally relax into a smile, Leonardo looks somewhat relieved.
"Ith it good?"
"Yeth."
We enjoy the omurette in silence for a while. Curious, I try to get a bit of Leonardo's pumpkin mont blanc, but when he tries to order another one, I stop him. I just wanted a small taste. With my current little girl-sized body, eating two cakes would be difficult. When I explain that, he scoops up a spoonful of mont blanc cream and feeds it to me.
"The waitreth's uniform ith cute. She hath cat earth and a tail."
Also, the fact that none of the customers seem to react to the "nya" at the end of her sentences bothers me. Is that normal here?
"...If you want accessories like that, should we go back to the tailor? It's still early for the God King Festival, but people who want to wear them wear them all year round anyway."
"Do people in the city wear cat earth for the God King Fethtival?"
The God King Festival is, simply put, something like New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. It's in the middle of winter, and people hold a festival celebrating the new year. In Meiyu Village, it was a day for gathering with relatives and neighbors to share a meal to celebrate the new year, but of course in my ostracized household, it was just a day of eating together with the Daltowas. There are no events like getting New Year's money or visiting shrines.
"Ith it different in the village and the city? On the night of the God King Fethtival, to avoid being taken by thpiritth, it'th decided that both adultth and childreth dretth up in animal cottumeth..."
...Dressing up. That sounds like Halloween. I don't know much about it, though.
If I looked it up, apparently it's something like the Western Bon Festival, but for many Japanese people, it's just a day for making a ruckus at night in ghost costumes. For children, it's also a day for going around getting candy.
"At the fortress, the God King Festival includes a ceremony to honor the war god Herkeires... but this year I'm planning to go to Mandez. Tina, let's travel to Mandez together in winter."
"No."
I answer almost reflexively. Even thinking calmly, I don't want to go out of my way to travel in winter. I feel bad for Leonardo, who looks shocked, but if he keeps changing where I live so often, I can't settle down.
"If you want to go out, Leonyaldo, I'll thtay home and watch the houthe."
So please go out without worry, I say, and Leonardo seems to recover his spirits a bit. He says he'll leave the house in my care, but still not ready to give up, he adds, "You can tell me anytime if you want to come along."
"...Thpeaking of which, Tina, what do you want to do from now on? Of courthe I'm rejecting the orphanage, but until we find your relativeth, how do you want to thpend your time at the manthion?"
"How I want to thpend my time?"
Suddenly hit with a therious topic, I think for a moment. I don't know about the future yet, but how I want to thpend my time under Leonardo's care. That's eathy.
"It feelth bad to juth be thupported by you, Leonyaldo. I with there wath thomething I could help with..."
As a little girl, the things I can help with are really limited. And even those few things I can do, Tabitha and Bart are already at Leonardo's mansion as servants. There really isn't anything I can help with.
"...Ah, I want to learn to read. The library at the manthion hath lotth of bookth, but I can't read them becauthe I can't read the letterth."
"You want to learn to read, huh... Then for reading and writing we can go to the Menhishumi Church, and for English we can hire a tutor."
"I don't need Englith, though?"
I don't think I can learn now what I couldn't learn in my previous life. Sure, I vaguely think that if I learned English I could talk with Aurelia, but Aurelia can actually speak this world's language too. I don't need to go out of my way to learn English now.
When I firmly decline, Leonardo furrows his brows in confusion.
"English is part of a well-rounded education, you know?"
"You thaid that wath for nobleth, at Aurelia's houthe, Leonyaldo. I'm not a noble."
If I don't need to learn English, I don't want to study it. As someone who was Japanese in my previous life, I have an ingrained aversion to English that not even being reborn has washed away.
"Even if you're not a noble, the Black Knights learn it too."
"If it'th abtholutely neceffary, I'll try, but if not, I'd rather juth know the langueth of thith country."
I'm not very confident in my studies. I don't want to get confused by trying to cram incomprehensible English on top of trying to learn the local writing system, which I haven't even mastered yet. If I absolutely must learn, I'd like to do it one at a time.
"...You should learn English."
After a pause as if thinking, Leonardo mutters that. It's rare for him to firmly overrule my "no" like this. I look up at him curiously, and his gaze wanders slightly.
"If you learn English, you'll be able to talk to reincarnators, which is useful. You can even talk to Aurelia."
He didn't use anything but English when dealing with the Black Knights, but Aurelia can properly speak this world's language. That's a weak reason for me to learn English.
"...Do I have to learn it?"
"Why do you hate it so much?"
Why, he asks. If I had to force a reason, it's probably because I couldn't learn it in my previous life. Even the language used in this country in this life, I'm not confident in my pronunciation and can't speak it well. I don't have the mental bandwidth to take on English too. But I can't honestly explain all these reasons. Aurelia told me to be careful not to be discovered as a reincarnator.
"I don't have confidence I can learn two langueth at onthe."
"...Then after you learn this country's language, okay? That's fine, right?"
Honestly, not really. But this is probably the compromise point.
"If you say you can't learn it, I'll put it off... and there are other things to learn too."
"Other thingth to learn?"
I tilt my head. As general education, learning about this country's simple history and religion would probably be good to know. I think that, but what Leonardo has in mind as "other things to learn" is completely different.
"How to speak, etiquette, basically all the manners a girl should learn."
I'm surprised as Leonardo crosses his arms and starts thinking about how to find a teacher. "All the manners a girl should learn." That's not something someone who's temporarily looking after an orphan should be thinking about. That's something a father or mother should consider.
"How far do you plan to raithe me, Leonyaldo?"
"Until you're a lady I can send off anywhere without shame? I want to give you all the education that Saromon-sama would have given you if he were alive, and if relatives are found, I want to deliver you to them properly."
He says it will be painful to let go since he already thinks of me as his sister, but if it's someone he believes will lead to my happiness, he's prepared to let me go properly. Though given how excessively he dotes on me, buying multiple outfits, giving me mountains of sweets, I wonder if he really can let go.
"...What if the relativeth who are found thay they don't want me?"
"Then that's just as I'd hope. I'll take care of you until you come of age as my little sister, so rest assured."
Even after I come of age, until I can stand on my own, until I marry, he says he intends to take care of me. After taking me in, he left me alone for an entire season, and he's a bit lacking in forethought and planning, but I feel like I can trust Leonardo's sincerity.
...Maybe I should make up my mind soon too.
Instead of always saying I'm an orphan, or he's someone else's big brother, maybe I should treat Leonardo as real family. Lean on him, rely on him, support him. Because Leonardo calls me his little sister and accepts me.
I think that, but I still have a strong sense of Leonardo being an outsider.
...How do you become family?
Perhaps because of my previous life's memories, even right after being born into this life, I couldn't see my parents as family. It was like being presented with a foreigner of a different color and told "from today, this is your family." It took eight years until we parted by death. I could only think of them as family around the time I could exchange broken words. I began to feel fond of them as Father and Mother around the time I started interacting with the Daltowas as my other family, and began to see them like grandparents.
...It'll probably take time, in my case.
Leonardo seems to have accepted me as family from Father's single word "sister." But even if I'm introduced as "sister," I can't immediately think of him as family.
...For now, maybe I'll start with the form?
I think of ways to meet him halfway within my current ability, and straighten my posture. Gathering a bit of courage, I try calling Leonardo's name without the honorific.
I'll fix typos and errors later. Next was supposed to be an interlude from Jean-Jacques's perspective, but there's also a possibility that a Leonardo perspective interlude will be inserted instead. I feel like Leonardo's screws are going to fly off from Tina's first attempt to meet him halfway.
I've fixed the typos and errors I found.