Brew Town

The next day.

Vivian was lying down on her bed when she heard the sound of someone rustling and breathing hard.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw someone lying on Marie's bed, pressing their face on a pillow and breathing hard.

Sniff…!

Sniff…!

Sniff…!

Vivian's eyes blinked a couple of times because no matter how she looked at it, the person wasn't Marie because they weren't tall and didn't have brown hair.

Instead, it was a woman about 5'7" in height and with short blue hair.

"Oh Marie…!"

"I can't get enough of your scent…!"

"Arrrggghhh…!"

The person was none other than Elena.

Vivian shifted her body to the opposite side.

Lord…

Please don't let me be part of a murder mystery…

She went back to sleep.

***

Some time later…

Vivian woke up from the sound of people talking.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Marie, Elena and Kara trying out different clothes, accessories and makeup.

One day I'm going to kill these inconsiderate bitches…

Can't they see someone is trying to sleep…?!

"Sleeping beauty finally woke up," Elena said and smiled.

"Good afternoon, Sister Vivian. You're just in time," Marie said and smiled.

"Good afternoon, Sister Vivian. Sorry if we were too noisy," Kara said and bowed.

Vivian got up from her bed and sat down as she rubbed her eyes and let out a yawn.

"What do you mean just in time…?" Vivian asked, her eyes still half-opened.

"We're close to arriving at Brew Town and we're allowed to walk around before curfew. And then in the morning, traveling will resume and we will finally reach the Holy City late in the afternoon."

Vivian let out another yawn and then went back to bed.

"Hey! Don't fall back asleep! We only have less than 2 hours before we arrive at Brew Town!"

The 3 women grabbed her and raised her up.

Vivian was wearing nothing but a short dark blue nightgown and underwear.

Meanwhile, the 3 women were half-naked.

"Ugh… What's the big deal…? I just want to sleep…" Vivian murmured lazily.

"Sister, you're very soft," said Marie.

"Yes, your skin is so smooth like a baby…" said Kara.

"Sister Vivian, you're very pale. You should go out in the sun more often," said Elena.

Although Vivian's skin was flawless and smooth as a baby after using [Greater Origin Transformation], they couldn't help but notice her abnormally pale skin. She was so pale that they could see the veins underneath her skin and her lips were almost purple.

Hearing Elena's comment, Vivian's eyes suddenly became alert and she quickly decided to change the subject.

"So less than 2 hours?"

"Yes. And good luck if you can use the bathroom. There's already a lot of people waiting in line."

"Then I rather go back to bed."

"Nooo…!" the 3 women cried and stopped her.

"I can't and don't want to go out without taking a bath."

"It's okay, you just have to comb your hair and clean up," Marie said and then presented some wipes. "These are Soft Wipes. They're safe to use on the face and it gets rid of the oil and dirt on the face. It can also remove makeup. It's a lifesaver."

Vivian stared at the Soft Wipes.

I have some wipes similar to this…

I think it was called Travel Wipes…?

But they're for wiping the body only…

I used them back when I was in my period…

"Is it really safe?"

She grabbed one and sniffed it.

"It's not like those normal wipes, like the Travel Wipes. These are safe to use on the face," said Marie.

"But you will need more when removing makeup though," said Elena.

"Really?" asked Kara.

"Yes, you will need at least 3, depending on how thick your makeup is."

"Oh…"

Vivian tried wiping her face.

"It doesn't sting and doesn't make your skin feel dry, right?" asked Marie.

Vivian felt her skin with her fingertips.

"Yeah…"

Hmm…

I'm surprised to learn this…

This is really helpful…

But is this really safe, though…?

Vivian had her own makeup remover. It was 2 separate items: a bottle of liquid and a dry wipe. And then after that, she still had to wash her face with soap and water.

She turned to the women.

"Are you sure there are a lot of people waiting in life for the bathroom?"

"Yes. Even some of the boys are waiting," said Marie.

"Ugh…"

"Let us clean you and then let's dress up each other!"

"Yes, let's dress each other up!" Kara said excitedly.

"Yes, let me dress you up, Sister Marie!" Elena said excitedly and licked her lips.

Well…

This would be my first time to see how women of this world actually dress up…

It would also be a very valuable learning experience for me, given that I know almost nothing about being a woman…

And fuck I'm hungry…!

***

The convoy finally arrived at Brew Town.

The town itself was quite small that it looked more like a village and had a cozy summer-dream aesthetic as if it were specifically designed for young people to walk hand-in-hand around town and fall in love. All of the houses were only one or two stories tall, nothing dared to stand too tall. The road was paved with bricks, there were plants and flowers everywhere, and small animals either sleeping or running around and playing with the children and adults. There was a small bridge with a stream underneath it, and small park filled with different kinds of flowers and a fountain at the center with a statue of a young couple and a child sitting over the shoulders of the father on top of it.

Vivian stepped out of the carriage with an exhausted look on her face despite wearing makeup and having hours of sleep.

Never again…

I swear to God…

Never again shall I put myself in such a hellish experience…!

Back when she was dressing up with Marie, Elena and Kara, she couldn't count how many times they changed their hairstyles, clothes and makeup.

They were already about 30 minutes away from the town and they still haven't decided.

Not even close.

Because of that, she had to step in and take control of the situation.

In the end, Marie wore something white mixed with yellow and gold, Elena wore something blue mixed with gold, and Kara wore something red with yellow. Meanwhile, Vivian just wore black or her usual fighting attire.

But what really pained Vivian the most, despite all of their efforts in choosing clothes, they were still going to wear a White Cloak on top of it that it took all of her strength to suppress the urge of wanting to strangle them one by one.

As for their hair and makeup, since it wouldn't be covered by their cloaks because it's not like they would be wearing their hood, she didn't interfere anymore and did her own thing.

In Vivian's case, she went for the soft glam look and her hair down.

And God, I'm still hungry…

I haven't eaten since I woke up…

"The curfew is before dinner, right?" asked Kara.

"About 1 hour and 30 minutes from now. And the meeting place is at the Inn," said Elena.

"Got it…" Kara muttered with a small voice and clasped her hands while she stared blankly at the floor as if she were deep in thought.

"What are you going to do, Sister Vivian?" asked Marie.

"I want to study the layout of the town and see what stores are here and what goods they sell."

"Oh, you're interested in such things?"

"More or less."

Since this was Vivian's first human settlement aside from Luxen City and she rarely gets any free time to go around and explore for fun because all she did back in Luxen City was work, train, and investigate things related to increasing her Physical and Magic Force, she wanted to do a little sight-seeing.

Elena grabbed Marie's hand.

"Sister Marie, let's go to the park and see the fishes."

When Vivian heard the word "fish", something stirred inside her head but she couldn't exactly tell why. It was similar to a feeling where you know the hum of a song but you forgot about the lyrics and title.

Whatever…

Who cares about that…

"Huh? But --" Marie tried to protest but Vivian interrupted her.

"I'll see you guys, later! Bye~!"

She didn't wait for a reply and already left.

***

Vivian was walking down a street.

There were a number of small animals nearby, most of which she had never seen before except for one -- the one that she used to see back in Shirley's Tavern and the eatery beside The Silver Wing Inn. 

It was a small animal that was as large as an adult cat but its appearance was that of an anteater and had fur with black and white stripes.

When Vivian got close to the animals, they all ran away, leaving the children confused and some of them chased after the animals.

Figures…

Vivian looked around her surroundings.

I'm not gonna lie, this town really looks peaceful…

Based on what Vivian can see, there were no high walls surrounding the town like in Luxen City. It was only surrounded by wooden fences.

I wonder if there's an Adventurer's Guild here…

She recalled what Robert, the Guild Master of the Adventurer's Guild Luxen branch, told her.

Vivian continued walking until she saw a shop.

Is that…

Is that dried fish and fermented fish…?

Dried fish were hanging in front of the shop and jars of fermented fish.

When she got close to it, she was immediately greeted by an old lady.

"Greetings, Honored Priestess, would you like to have a taste of some of Brew Town's fermented fish?"

"Huh?"

Back in her previous world, there was fermented fish and she tasted it. However, what was strange about the fermented fish in this world was that instead of tiny fishes, it was a large fish inside a jar.

Perhaps this is sardines…?

But no matter how much Vivian looked at it, it was fermented fish.

It also doesn't look like any fish that I'm familiar with…

At least compared to the world I came from…

"Here, have a taste."

The old woman opened a jar and plucked a bit of the fermented fish's meat and spread it on a piece of bread with some kind of cream.

"Our fermented fish is mixed with beer that's also brewed here."

This woman is touching the bread with her bare hands and is giving it to me…

What the fuck…

"Thank you," Vivian said and smiled as she accepted the food.

"Please try it. I promise you won't regret it. That's authentic Fermented Fish from Brew Town," the old woman said proudly.

"Oh… Haha… That's really amazing to hear...!"

"Please try it, you will definitely love it!"

Gulp.

Vivian swallowed before putting the food in her mouth.

As she started to chew it, her eyes became wide because there was an explosion of flavors inside her mouth.

What the fuck is this…?!

It was hard to explain. At first, all she could taste was the saltiness of the fermented fish. However, it was then followed by a sour and spicy taste, and then a tinge of sweetness.

Vivian, who was already hungry to begin with because she hadn't eaten ever since she woke up, became hungrier.

"Do you accept payment through this?" she asked and held her pendant.

"I'm very sorry, Priestess, but no," said the old woman. "However, you can withdraw coins at some shops.

"Ah, I see…"

Vivian had some coins inside her belt pouch but didn't want to use them because she was currently traveling and not all shops accept such payment method. Furthermore, based on experience back in her previous world, all travel-related food and souvenirs were crazy expensive. 

Yeah…

It's best to try a bit of everything than go all in at a single store…

"Thank you for the food, but I want to explore the town more. Maybe I'll come back later," she said and flashed a very warm and kind smile.

"I hope you will enjoy your stay in our little town, Honored Priestess," the old woman said and smiled.

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Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

By the way, I posted some Chapter Drafts at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. And to view them, you can read them at…

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Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when those said Chapter Drafts will be published here, there will be some edits. They also involve a few secret outline notes/details that I won't publish here because they contain a lot of spoilers or dispel a lot of mysteries. And at the moment, Chapter Drafts 225-230 are posted there.

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Thank you once again and I will see you in the next chapter.