I was hit by the Ketsy King’s mysterious magic when he got serious.
“Huh? My voice is high? But your voice is low too, Sharin.”
“Mine? Ah… now that you mention it, I guess so. Was it the magic I took back then?”
Everyone averted their gazes all at once. What was going on? They seemed to be hiding something.
“That’s right, Veronica, are you okay?”
Veronica, who was smoking a cigarette by the window, slowly turned towards me. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
“I’m not in any danger.”
My voice was low. What had happened to me? I happened to look at my hands and found them smooth and beautiful. Pink nails on soft-looking hands. Whose hands were these? Mine? I felt a strange emptiness in my chest.
“O-Oh, bu-bu-eh?! I’ve become someone else’s body! Did I somehow swap with someone?”
It was as if my body from the neck down was someone else’s. I pinched my side, and it hurt.
“This, this is…”
“As you can probably tell, our genders have been reversed. The two who woke up first are also like this.”
I’m a woman? Why? Such magic couldn’t exist. This had to be a dream. Right, so Nina and Philiana are men too? I hurried and opened the adjacent room. There, Nina was standing in front of a mirror.
“H-Hey, don’t just barge in, you idiot!! Ah, sorry.”
“N-No, it’s my fault…”
In my haste, I forgot my manners. Nina, now a man, seemed to have a slightly broader shoulder width. The other party seemed curious about me too, observing me intently. This was uncomfortable.
“Hmm, so you’ve also turned into a woman. In that case, I’ll lend you this. It’s mine, but it’s better than nothing, right?”
With that, she handed me underwear. C-Can I touch this? But honestly, I was in a bind; I had been thinking of just wrapping some cloth around myself.
“Alright, raise your hands. Don’t move.”
“No, I’m just embarrassed, hey Karubene, stop peeking!”
“It’s fine, we’re women now. Oh, lucky you, brother. You can even enjoy cross-dressing.”
Damn it, you’re enjoying yourself because it’s not your problem. My pants had also become loose, so I borrowed Nina’s skirt. I figured underwear was probably okay.
“What are we going to do about this?”
Getting flustered was useless. For the time being, let’s drink the tea Pauline made and have a strategy meeting.
“I don’t mind.”
“W-Well, I… not really yet. It’s just difficult that I can’t use my armor.”
“I don’t want to! My clothes don’t fit at all. Thanks to that, I have to wear Hiroaki’s uncool clothes.”
Sharin was cheerful, but Nina and Philiana seemed bewildered. And what was with him calling my clothes uncool? Veronica also seemed unconcerned, just like Sharin.
“Is everyone alright?”
Just then Lassie from the Kooshi Tribe arrived.
“I’m sorry for causing trouble. As you all suspect, the gender-changing magic is quite powerful. So, with my strength alone, I don’t know if I can undo it.”
I hadn’t thought it was such powerful magic. Right, even if Lassie can’t, Father is here, the Kooshi King.
“If we ask the King…”
“That… after the battle, I ended up like this.”
A small furball appeared beside me with a pop. C-Could this really be the elegant Kooshi King?
“Hahaha, I’m done for. I tried to absorb the opponent’s power right before, but I could barely contain it. It seems it will take time to recover.”
I could only say, “I see.” Should I wait for recovery like this, or continue our journey? Perhaps Sage Clarissa might know a solution.
“Um, we were traveling, but this place wasn’t on the map. We’d appreciate it if you could send us to a nearby town.”
“That’s an easy task. Well, I won’t be doing it myself. Tell Lassie if you need anything.”
He pushed the job onto his daughter and disappeared somewhere. Seeing his current state, it was clear he couldn’t use teleportation magic. It would be better to set off after the injured members have recovered to some extent. We wanted to rendezvous with the White Horn before they clashed with Bicorn.
Now, with everyone’s safety confirmed, there was one thing I wanted to do. By the way, I was alone in an unused room. Seeing the dusty books and strange tools, it looked like a storage room that hadn’t been used for a long time.
I took a deep breath and calmed myself. I had seen many things before. Even if something unimaginable appeared before my eyes now, I wouldn’t be surprised, I told myself.
After confirming there was no one around again, I gently peeked under my skirt.
