After walking a fair bit, the reality of my situation finally began to sink in. To begin with, I had no food. Not to mention the fact that I had no water. Once I got into town, what then? I had no money. I still had my wallet, but what good was that? Was there an exchange rate for my country’s money? From a logical perspective, it was all worthless now. What to do...

As I was lost in thought, a sound steadily approached from behind. I turned around to check, and saw something off in the distance. It was heading this way, and it appeared to be... a horse-drawn carriage. I’d never seen a carriage before in my life, but it was generally something you’d find someone riding in.

This would be first contact with life in another world. Think, what should I do? Try and stop it? I could have asked for a ride into town, but I decided against the idea. Why? A simple enough reason.

As the carriage grew closer, I could tell at a glance that it was a very high-class vehicle. Its physical appearance showed that it was gorgeously adorned and built of the highest craftsmanship. Even I could tell at a glance that it was the sort of vehicle ridden by a noble, or at least some rich person of high status.

If I were to stop a carriage like that only to be met with a line like “Insolent knave! I’ll see you hanged for this!” then it’d be no laughing matter. I decided it was in my best interest to give way instead, so I simply moved to the edge of the road.

The carriage passed me by, kicking up a cloud of dust in its wake. Good. I was glad I’d managed to avoid any trouble. However, as I turned to resume walking down the road, I noticed that it had come to a stop a short way ahead.

“You! Yes you, over there!” A man slammed the carriage door open and stepped out. He was an older gentleman with gray hair and a splendid mustache. He wore a stylish scarf and mantle, and a rose brooch shone on his chest.

“Uhm, yes? What is it...?” Clearly excited about something, the older gentleman made his way over. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was mostly just relieved that we seemed to be speaking the same language. The man firmly gripped my shoulders and held me in place. His eyes wandered all across my body as though slowly savoring something. Er, wait... what? This could be bad...

“Wh-Where in the world did you get these clothes?!”

“Sorry?” I was taken aback, left utterly baffled by his question. The gentleman was so immersed in scanning my school uniform from every angle that he didn’t even pay any attention to my confusion.

“I’ve never seen a design such as this. And the way this was sewn... How could this have been made...? Hrmm...”

And then it all started to make sense. To put it simply, my uniform was rare. Maybe nothing else like it existed in this world. In that case...

“You can have it, if you’d like.”

“Are you certain?!” The mustachioed gentleman took the bait.

“I acquired these clothes from a traveling merchant. If you would rather have them, I don’t mind handing them over. However, that puts me at a loss, as I’d have nothing to wear. If you might kindly take me into town and help me find a new set of clothes, I would be very grateful.”

I couldn’t possibly have told him that my clothes came from another world, so I was forced to come up with an excuse. If I somehow managed to sell my clothes and make a bit of money off of them, that was one problem solved. Plus, it would help me get clothes that didn’t stand out so much. Killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.

“Very well! Step aboard and accompany me to town! I shall have new clothes prepared for you on the double. You may sell your current garments once that is taken care of.”

“Then we have a deal,” I sternly replied. The mustachioed gentleman firmly shook my hand in response.

After that, it only took three hours to reach the town of Reflet by carriage. During the journey, the gentleman, who introduced himself as Zanac, took my jacket and ran his hands over it several times, examining it down to every last seam. He seemed extremely interested in the make of the clothes. Once I learned of his job, it all made sense. Apparently Zanac worked in the fashion industry. That explained his initial reaction and all of his curious behavior. Today, too, it seemed he had been on his way back from a meeting of some kind.

As for me, I passed the time staring out of the carriage window. The scenery of a brand new world. A world which was my new home.