Dillion and Aldrich had gone to his fathers blacksmith shop and apparently his father had left to do something so they left the items on a counter. After that Dillion stayed true to his promise and explored the town with Aldrich. Right now they were currently walking through the crowd of townspeople.
"So, Aldrich, what are you doing here?" Dillion said quizzically. Aldrich clearly wasn't a commoner at least that's how Dillion saw it. He was too pretty to be a borish commoner.
"I thought I told you that. I'm here to explore and meet new people." Aldrich said. Aldrich's tone came off sort of standoffish due to him not knowing how to interact with people his age. He had been able to fake emotions but he didn't need to with Dillion as he had no ulterior motive like the nobles he had to interact with.
It was easier for him now to sense if a person had ulterior motives and when he looked at Dillion it felt like Dillion didn't even have a single thought in his head.
"Hmm? So I'm guessing you wanna see what this town has to offer? Alright! Let's go to the mall."
"Mall?"Aldrich said, surprised. He hadn't heard of a mall in the capital and dukedom but apparently this town had one.
'Also I thought we were going to a market place' Aldrich had a fleeting thought like that but quickly swatted it away.
"Yeah, the mall! There's a bunch of food and places to buy jewels, ores, clothes and even books! Though the books are pretty expensive. It's a bit small but it's sure to get your attention!"
"Oh, ok." As Aldrich asked about the mall Dillon explained its use. Unlike fantasy worlds that had street vendors, this one had walk-in shops like modern earth. That isn't to say that street vendors didn't exist but if someone wanted to make more money they'd have a walk-in shop. Therefore a mall was created, only popular shops got to be in there.
Dillion didn't know about earth, so Aldrich had reworded it to make sense for himself. Aldrich had started staring at Dillion as he noticed Dillion's manner of walking.
'His walking is rather clumsy but there's no doubt he's also a swordsman.' Aldrich thought. Unlike Aldrich who made no sound when walking Dillion made audible steps and he was in a stance as if someone would attack him. Though as Aldrich said it was clumsy.
It wasn't surprising to Aldrich as Dillion's father was a blacksmith so Dillion must've taken a fancy to the sword.
"Sooo, you're a merman right? Well a half merman."
"Yeah. I'm assuming that you're a human?"
"Human and half dwarf." Dillion corrected.
"Well that makes sense. Your fathers a blacksmith. Humans don't take up blacksmith jobs due to creation magic."
"Yup. My father says "Creation Magic is a shit way to make tools and those humans are fucking retarded."
"Wow. Are you sure you don't speak like that? I'd say it suits you more."
"Haha. No no I take after my mother in that regard." Dillion said, laughing at Aldrich's amazement. Aldrich hadn't heard many expletives in his current life but seeing Dillion reminded him that there existed people like that.
"What about you? I'm guessing you take after your father when it comes to your hair and eye color?"
"Yes. I'm sure you already know but Mermaids and Mermen all have a shade of blue or ocean green color. Though I do have a bit of my mothers hair color in streaks of my silver hair." Aldrich said, grabbing locks of hair which showed his emerald green hair.
"When it comes to your face though, you definitely take after your mother. I'm kinda disappointed you're a boy."
"You know, saying that implies you'd be interested in me if I was. Are you the type who goes after a girl just because she's pretty?"
"H-huh n-no I just thought it would be pretty cool to know a girl as beautiful as a noble."
"Hmmm, well that's good. But don't judge others by looks. A rose is a beautiful flower but the thorns will stab you."
"Yeah I know that very well." Dillion said in a self deprecating tone.
"?" Wishing to know what Dillion was speaking about Aldrich was about to ask but Dillion said something before he could Dillion announced they were at the mall.
"We're here!" Dillion exclaimed. The two of them stood in front of a large building that was very reminiscent of the ones on earth.
'This is very earthlike. Was this perhaps featured in one of the routes?' The design was like the malls Aldrich had been to when he was Kenji. The malls here didn't have air conditioning or technology like the ones on earth but the architecture did not fit the era this world was in.
'Wait. Dillion, Dillion, Dillion, DILLION!' Aldrich then began to go through his memory and remembered. Apart from the game there was a Dlc that featured 4 other routes. Each route was a commoner boy who had been betrayed by their loved one.
The route was basically Alice comforting them and getting revenge on the partner that betrayed the capture target. Dillion was one of them; he was created to be the boy next door type and his story was that he and his childhood friend had made a promise to marry and become adventurers.
His childhood friend had had an affinity test done on her and she had an Superb affinity for light magic and good for nature magic. While Dillion had no affinity to any element. After that his childhood friend had gone to register as an adventurer.
She had joined a party as a healer and after 7 months started a relationship with the party leader. She had told Dillion that
'You have no affinity to magic and you're not good with weapons. You could never become an adventurer. Give up on the promise it means nothing to me anymore.' Was what his childhood friend Hecate said when they met after 7 months.
Dillion, being heartbroken, started training with the sword. Only to fail as he was not talented with the sword. Instead he was more suited to the spear. Alice had taught him spearmanship she had learned from her knights and Dillion had quickly improved. She also taught him how to utilize his mana to strengthen his body.
In the end the party leader Asmodeus had looked at Alice with eyes full of lust and attempted to grope her but Dillion after being trained by Alice had easily beaten him. Of course Alice could've beat Asmodeus to a pulp but Dillion didn't want her to.
As a conclusion it seemed Asmodeus had been cheating on Hecate with multiple women and had raped multiple women and selling them to slave traders which had caused him to be sent to the camps.
Hecate was also pregnant at 15 so her parents had decided to not help her due to her being an adult. Hecate's parents loved Dillion like their own son and were disappointed in their daughter for choosing a worthless man. While Alice and Dillion had gotten their happy end like a bitter sweet rom com.
The route was short as it was a dlc but in this route Alice was far more tolerable. She had none of her bad traits she had in the original game and was even likable! Aldrich had forgotten about the dlc due to it not involving him but the mall had reminded him of it.
'Damn why did I have to run into a capture target? Well at least he's not as bad as the original 5.' Unlike the delicate boys who needed to be protected, Dillion had wanted to protect Alice. Dillion was an honest boy who was very straightforward which made him liked by the players of the game.
"Well let's go!" Dillion said loudly and the two of them walked in the mall. As Aldrich looked around he could see the resemblance to malls in Japan. There were various shoe stores, clothing stores, weapon shops, and a food court.
"Let's walk around for a bit before you decide what to do." Dillion said.
"Nn." Aldrich replied. Aldrich himself needed more clothes as the clothes he had made him look like a noble. He had taken a shirt and pants from the Gardener at his house but that wasn't enough for him.
"Let's go to that clothing shop. It seems nice."
"Oh that one's a bit pricey."
"It's fine I can pay." Aldrich said and walked towards the clothing store. There were simple shirts and pants but they were clearly made from a good quality. The women's side however had beautiful looking dresses. It was clear this shop catered towards men while also trying to lure women in with dresses.
"I'll go try these out. Wait here."
"Oh ok." Aldrich had gotten 5 pairs of pants and shirts. He hasn't known much about fashion, especially in this new world but he chose what colors he thought would look good.
As Dillion was waiting looking at the clothes around him he heard a nasty voice.
"Well well if it isn't the pipsqueak. Why are you here?"
"Yeah why are YOU of all people here. Your family is poor, you can't afford anything here."
A tall man with slightly above average looks and a perverted expression had walked in with a woman fairly shorter than him. The girl herself was barely reaching his chest and was also slightly above average. They looked at Dillion with clear provocation and even insulted him.
Dillion froze at the voices. To make it clear he wasn't imagining anything he turned around and there they were. Asmodeus and Hecate. Hecate was dressed rather provocatively with her cleavage showing and legs bared open. While Asmodeus was dressed sleazily.
Asmodeus had his arm around Hecate's shoulder while his hand was groping Hecate's somewhat large boobs. It was clear at a glance what their relationship was. Dillion didn't say anything, rather he couldn't.
He was angry, sad, disappointed, scared. He wanted to punch Asmodeus in the face but he knew he'd get his ass kicked in a matter of seconds. He could only ball up his fist and dig his nails into his palms, nearly drawing blood.
"What's the matter brat? Angry? I'd be as well if the girl I loved had been getting fucked by another guy. You know her moans are cute, you know. Gyahhahaha!" Asmodeus had gotten angry not seeing any sort of physical reaction from Dillion and had begun to taunt him.
Asmodeus put more strength into the hand he was groping Hecate with and Hecate made a loud yelp. Dillion forced every single ounce of his will power to refuse to do anything. He knew If he attacked Asmodeus, Asmodeus could hurt him extremely badly and he'd be able to say it was in self defense.
Asmodeus was already in trouble with the guild due to his violent nature but if he were to attack Dillion without Dillion instigating it, he'd be expelled and sent to a slave labor camp. Dillion wanted to walk away but Aldrich was inside and he was too scared to move.
'Ah I forgot. This cliche.' As Aldrich was dressing he heard an extremely disgusting laugh so he glanced outside to look and saw Dillon. It was the classic cliche of the ex-lover coming with her new lover to mock the old one. This cliche was usually found in Chinese novels where the ex lover would then buy everything in the shop.
Aldrich saw that he wasn't the only one disgusted by that laugh as the shopkeepers who were also women were clearly disgusted. They couldn't do anything though as Asmodeus had built up a reputation as a C rank adventurer
They knew him very well and they knew if they tried anything he'd use force. Aldrich had been contemplating what to do as this is where Alice would step in and help Dillion. Aldrich had later guessed that no matter where Dillion went he'd always have this interaction as this was the world ensuring this event happened .
Aldrich was about to just go and exert pressure on the two of them but then he saw the dresses across from the dressing room. With a long sigh Aldrich decided what to do.
'Haaaaaaaa. This idiot is going to owe me for this.' Aldrich said begrudgingly and teleported to the dresses and quickly took one his size. He hid his presence with mana so no one noticed him. He quickly put the dress on and used dark magic to disguise himself and change his voice to sound more feminine.
He had hidden his Adam's apple and made fake boobs on his chest. Aldrich already didn't have a very manly frame so he didn't have to change much there.
'There. I should look like a woman right?' Aldrich thought. He had thought it wouldn't matter if he just went out there and beat Asmodeus to the point where he cried for mercy but he thought that wouldn't be satisfying and helpful to Dillion.
Alice had gone and beat Asmodeus up for their first meeting. Asmodeus had thought it was a fluke at first and tried to grope her in their second meeting but as said before Dillion stopped him.
Aldrich felt that if Dillion had someone who didn't fight his battles for him it would boost his confidence allowing him to rely on Aldrich. What better way to boost your confidence than showing off you have a far better partner than the one your enemy has?
Though it was very superficial, Asmodeus wasn't exactly the type of man to care about what type of personality a person had, only their looks. So he would embarrass Asmodeus and Hecate.
"Hey~ Dillion, what do you think of the dress?" Snapping Dillion out of his state he looked towards the dressing room to see an extremely beautiful girl. Everyone else had looked as well. The shopkeepers were extremely shocked as well as they thought Aldrich had been a boy.
Aldrich had walked up to Dillion and gave him an expectant look to answer "her" question. Aldrich was still taller than Dillion even though he wasn't at his maxed height yet. So he made himself 10 cm shorter, being 155 cm.
"O-oh I- u-hm y-you l-look very beautiful!" Dillion stammered and stuttered through his sentence but was finally able to squeak it out. Dillion had no idea what Aldrich was doing.
"Hehe. Thank you very much." Aldrich Letting out a beautiful laugh hugged the arm and whispered into dillons ear.
'You owe me for this.'
'Ah.' Dillion's eyes went wide as he understood what Aldrich was doing. He hadn't asked for help from anyone due to him being scared that Asmodeus would do something to the people he asked. But Aldrich had helped him.
He wanted to tell Aldrich to stop and get away but when he saw Aldrich's smile he somehow knew everything would be fine.
"So Dillion, who are your friends?" Still clinging to Dillion, Aldrich faced Hecate and Asmodeus. The two had been stunned by the appearance of Aldrich. But Asmodeus' surprise had quickly turned into a nasty grin. His eyes clearly showed the lust when looking at Aldrich.
Hecate looked angry for some reason but she couldn't say anything as Asmodeus was stronger than her.
"Hee~ how'd a wimpy little loser like you get such a hot woman? Seems like a waste to be honest." Asmodeus licked his lips as he stared at Aldrich while mocking Dillion.
"They aren't my friends." Dillion replied to Aldrich ignoring Asmodeus.
"Hmm. That's good. I especially find that thing that calls itself a man disgusting." Shifting from his innocent expression he showed Dillion he showed an extremely disgusted expression towards Asmodeus.
Turning bright red at the shame of the cold words Aldrich directed at him Asmodeus yelled angrily.
"The fuck?!? Who are you calling disgusting you whore?!?"
'Even his reactions are cliche. It's fun to play it out though this isn't a game, but I kinda wanna make fun of him.' Aldrich thought.
"I clearly called you disgusting. Are you perhaps stupid as well? Also I'd be pleased if you didn't call me a "whore" when you have that woman by your side." Aldrich said in an ice cold tone. Hecate not expecting to be called upon just simply looked down. She felt intimidated by Aldrich.
'What a weak woman.' Aldrich thought to himself, seeing her not even raise a rebuttal. Finally catching on that Aldrich was saying words to make him angry Asmodeus calmed himself down and decided to target Dillion.
"Heh, you say that when you have that pathetic little man there. Hey, how about you come with me? I'll change your mind and show you what a true man is." Asmodeus said with a lustful tone.
'Okay. The cliche was fun but this is already getting old.' He was having fun at first but now Aldrich was just getting annoyed.
"Hmm? Why would I want a man like you? You're a disgusting, smelly, loud, and arrogant man. You have no redeeming qualities. You're utterly pathetic." Keeping his cold tone Aldrich looked at Asmodeus with scorn.
"Why you dumb bit-"
*growwllll*
Just as Asmodeus was about to berate Aldrich again his stomach growled.
"W-what the?!" He crouched down holding his stomach in pain. Hecate went to see what's wrong with him and went to go help him up but he slapped her hand away.
"S-shit, I have to go to the bathroom!" He yelled and got up running. Hecate looked at Dillion and Aldrich one last time before running towards Asmodeus. The shopkeepers looked happy that he was gone and had thanked Aldrich.
"H-hey why'd you
"Let's talk about it later. I'm going to get out of this thing." Aldrich stopped Dillion and went back to the dressing room. He made an exhausted face. Dillion wanted to say thank you but Aldrich had told him he'd owed him so he'd say thanks later.
By the way, what Aldrich had done was using dark magic to make a sort of laxative effect. It was far more powerful Than a regular laxative made from earth so he doubted Asmodeus would make it to the bathroom. Rather he made sure Asmodeus wouldn't and made it so that Asmodeus did it in front of a crowd of townspeople.