The place I arrived at by carriage was called the Central Empire.
Fortunately, at least the language used for conversation seemed to be understood by the locals.
However, it was just the language that was understood; the common sense I knew didn’t apply here either.
It felt like the background was medieval, but the level of civilization was surprisingly high.
Amazingly, this was a world where magic existed. Any human could use magic, and there was a supernatural substance called ‘Mana.’
Because of this, it seemed they had developed their own civilization based not on science, but on magic.
Everyone had diverse hair colors. Perhaps silver hair wasn’t as special as I thought.
“······.”
But that wasn’t important right now.
I was glad to have found a human village. It was a relief that I could communicate with them.
But I had no money.
It was the same in this world; without money, you can’t do anything. Arriving in the village and being able to communicate were now completely useless.
I might as well be sitting on the street.
This was a particularly dangerous street even within the Central Empire. The place was called Dusty Lane, a space for the homeless.
I wondered how the atmosphere could be so different, even though it was still the Central Empire.
The scenery of the empire’s center and this street looked completely different. It seemed like wealth inequality existed in any world.
I could see homeless people sitting on the streets back where I used to live; they were surprisingly common.
Anyway, the first thing that caught my eye was the beggars lying on the ground. It looked like they had no homes; some were even lying on the ground, covered in trash trying to sleep.
Rats scavenged food scraps while beggars ate the rats.
It was a disgusting sight to behold.
Of course, being homeless was the same for me, so that could be my future.
Damn.
Was there any point in coming into the village if it ended up like this? Sleeping outside or sleeping in a place like this, it was all the same for a beggar.
The only difference was the potential danger from animals or perhaps from dangerous criminals.
‘······Still, is a human better than an animal?’
Even though it was late, I thought maybe tomorrow I might figure something out.
I leaned against a wall and closed my eyes. Just in case, I was gripping a piece of a magic stone.
If someone approached, I’d swing it right away.
I closed my eyes while keeping my guard up, attempting to catch a few moments of sleep.
My first night in the Central Empire was the worst.
*
Thankfully, nothing happened while I slept. Perhaps it was because I managed to cover myself with some garbage.
Being small, I was somewhat hidden by that.
It was an unpleasant morning. My hair was full of dirt, and my whole body smelled like trash.
But at least I wasn’t dead yet. I still hadn’t woken from the nightmare.
To survive, I had to get used to this trashy lifestyle, which I didn’t like.
Morning comes even in a filthy place. I probably wasn’t looking forward to this morning at all.
Honestly, I wished it had all been a dream, and I would see the familiar ceiling I was used to.
But reality is always cruel. I lifted my body.
Strangely, I wasn’t hungry. I hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday.
Perhaps this body didn’t need to eat much. Well, that was the only good news.
As a beggar in this world, I decided to fulfill my responsibilities. Sitting in the middle of the Central Empire’s street, maybe someone would toss me a coin.
“Don’t you have a place to go?”
Someone stood in front of me.
It was a girl with pink hair. She looked as ragged as I was, and when our eyes met, she smiled slightly.
She seemed weaker than me, who had turned into a girl. I didn’t let my guard down completely, but she appeared less threatening than the others around.
Her name was Riana. She was 17 years old.
After being abandoned by her parents because they had no money to feed her, she had been wandering the slums.
“······?”
I wondered how I knew that.
As soon as our eyes met, a flood of information rushed in, giving me a headache.
It was an unsettling sensation. It felt as if I had absorbed someone’s memories.
Dizzy from the unfamiliar sensation, I felt nauseous, as if I wanted to throw up again.
“Wait?! Are you alright?!”
She caught me as I briefly collapsed.
It was the first kind approach I had seen since coming to this world. I didn’t know the reasoning behind it, but I could tell from her memories that she had no ulterior motives.
She seemed to feel a sense of kinship with me.
Is any connection necessary in beggar life?
I accepted her help.
Riana taught me how to survive as a human without a place to stay.
She said the most important thing in this place was food, followed by hygiene.
I had heard that many people on the streets of Dusty Lane died of disease as often as they died from starvation.
This was a filthy place, and living here without washing for long periods was dangerous.
If eating garbage was acceptable, the first problem could be tackled somehow, but to manage the second, I had to engage in somewhat illegal activities.
Things like stealing or scamming, that kind of stuff.
I didn’t want to do it, but I made an effort to ignore the small bit of conscience lodged in my heart. There were no other options.
I hadn’t come to this world of my own volition. I justified it by saying it was someone else’s fault for dropping me here.
So I earned money and used it to rent a cheap inn to wash my body.
It was a cheap inn, but I was satisfied just to be able to wash myself and sleep in a place with a ceiling.
I took off my tattered clothes and entered the bathroom. There I saw my reflection in the mirror.
Dust-covered, dull silver hair, red eyes, and skin pale enough to be white.
It was the first time I was seeing my own appearance since falling into this world.
I looked dirty since I hadn’t showered, but that couldn’t hide my beauty.
After rubbing my eyes a few times and checking again, I confirmed it—I was indeed beautiful.
To the extent that, among everyone I’d met so far, I stood out as the prettiest.
Of course, that wasn’t a good thing.
Having a good appearance when I was financially secure could attract affection from people, but a beautiful woman with no money was easily tangled in various crimes.
“······.”
Fell down and ended up like this, of all looks?
I found myself drawn to the mirror because of my pretty appearance, but thinking this was me made me let out a sigh.
My name is Iria.
Age unknown, origin unknown, even my race is unclear.
It had been three days since I fell into this world. I had one special ability that set me apart from others—I could read the memories of those whose eyes I met.
I met the gaze of the woman with silver hair reflected in the mirror.
The original name of the body I possessed was Iria.
Yet for some reason, aside from the name, I couldn’t figure out anything else.
Her memories were empty. It was as if someone had deliberately erased them.
It was like a hollow shell, only retaining the name.
There were many questions rising in my mind, but nothing was getting resolved.
I was desperate to survive. I hadn’t had the opportunity to think properly.
Who is Iria, and why did I possess her body? Where am I, and how did I end up here?
And, if I possessed Iria’s body, what state was my original body in?
For now, I had no way of knowing anything. Because of this, I decided to focus on washing my body.
Surviving right now was more important than figuring out why I landed here.
Priorities naturally shifted backward.
I felt the water pouring down from above. The temperature was warmer than I expected. According to the innkeeper, it was heated using a fire magic stone.
Of course, I didn’t understand magic, so I didn’t get it.
“Ugh······.”
It was my first time seeing a beautiful woman’s body, so I couldn’t let my gaze wander.
Even just washing my body made my cheeks flush.
With a body that was unnecessarily soft and smooth, I hesitated countless times during the washing process.
But I couldn’t avoid it. After all, I had been rolling around in a filthy place, and if I didn’t wash today, I would get sick.
Hygiene is of utmost importance, especially here.
I half-closed my eyes and began washing every corner of my body. Sensitive areas tend to get dirty easily, so I scrubbed despite my embarrassment.
There weren’t many bathing tools in the cheap inn, so I had to wash with my hands.
The first shower after transforming into a girl would remain memorable for various reasons.
I completed the most humiliating shower.
“Speaking of which, I don’t think I’ve heard your name yet. What’s your name?”
“······.”
As I stepped out of the bathroom, Riana asked me.
I couldn’t use the name I had from my original world in this one.
“······I think I’m Iria.”
There was no need for complex considerations. I didn’t need to rename this body; it already had a name.
I thought changing the name arbitrarily wouldn’t be respectful to the original owner.
“Okay, you’re Iria. My name is Riana. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before.”
I reacted as if I didn’t already know, even though I did. I wanted to close my eyes quickly since I was tired today.
But today, Riana seemed to have many questions.
She sat beside me and asked.
“By the way, how did you do that earlier?”
“······?”
“When you won money at the gambling den. You seemed really confident when you placed your bets. Do you have some kind of secret?”
The money to rent the inn today was earned from a big win at the gambling den.
A secret.
I did have one.
In games that required psychological warfare, I read my opponent’s memories and only bet on games I could win.
Of course, if I kept winning repeatedly with the same method, I would be suspected, so I had to manage it properly.
But it wasn’t something I could easily explain to others. It wasn’t an easy story to believe.
“It was just luck.”
So I made an excuse.
Using my ability too much tired my eyes, so I turned away while keeping them closed.
“Speaking of which, are you sure you’ll be okay not eating anything? It’s not just for a day or two. If you keep this up, you’ll hurt yourself.”
“······I’m fine. How do I put this? I think the food here just doesn’t agree with me.”
It wasn’t just a matter of it not agreeing; my body was rejecting it.
At first, I thought it was just because I ate garbage, but even today, it was the same with perfectly fine food.
They looked pretty appetizing, but for some reason, I didn’t feel the slightest urge to eat.
The food in this world was seriously tasteless. Perhaps my taste buds were different from others.
So I had eaten nothing. For a whole three days.
‘······I’m definitely hungry though.’
It wasn’t that I didn’t feel hunger.
But I couldn’t eat ordinary food. I didn’t even know what I could eat, so I had just starved.
I was holding up better than I expected.
For not having eaten anything for three days, my body didn’t feel much different.
I thought I needed to find something I could eat relatively soon.
