Three hours had passed since breakfast, and Dila had returned to the quiet room where she'd been recovering. The straw bed creaked softly as she sat down, exhaling a tired sigh.
She glanced at her arms, still wrapped tightly in bandages. Her body felt stiff, sore in places that shouldn't logically exist. With a grumble, she leaned her head back against the wall.
"Nari," she called in her mind, "why do I still feel like a squished cabbage even though my HP bar says full?"
☆ Because, Master~ your body hasn't recovered from the trauma. Your health gauge might be full, but your body still thinks it lost a fight with a rampaging ox. You can move now, but take it easy~ ☆
"Great..." Dila muttered ntally. "So I'm like, functionally alive but emotionally bruised cabbage."
She shifted uncomfortably in place, her hands brushing the fabric on her sides.
"Also—why am I wrapped like a cursed mummy? I really hope that Toi guy didn't get weird while healing . I swear, Nari, I get shy enough just being looked at back ho, let alone bandaged up like a loot drop."
☆ Don't worry, Master~ He didn't do anything strange. In fact... he didn't even look at you once! ☆
There was a small pause before Nari's voice turned into a mocking whisper of the old man's voice.
☆ "O great God Luminous, forgive for what I have done!" ☆
☆ "Please don't smite for touching an unconscious girl—my hands are pure!" ☆
☆ "I'M JUST A HEALER, NOT A PERVERT—OH RCIFUL LIGHT, SHIELD MY EYES!" ☆
Dila's eye twitched. She slapped a hand to her forehead and groaned.
"Ughhh... so he was in the corner praying like he was defusing a bomb?"
☆ More like crying like a man who stepped into a sacred bath by accident, Master~ ☆
Dila facepald again.
"This world is weirder than I thought..."
She slumped back into the bed, resigned to her bandage-wrapped fate while silently praying she wouldn't start screaming to Luminous next.
As Dila sat quietly for a while, legs dangling from the edge of the bed, staring at the door like it had personally offended her.
"You know what," she muttered, puffing her cheeks. "This is getting boring. I've been in bandages for past days—I look like a poorly wrapped gift at this point."
With a huff, she pushed herself up and stretched with a mild wince.
"Alright. I'll just take off a few of these. Not all, just... a tactical peel."
She started with the bandages on her arm. The wrappings ca off slowly, revealing pale, mostly-healed skin underneath. "Okay... not bad." Then she moved to her thigh bandages.
As her hand brushed along her own leg, her face flushed instantly, and her ears twitched like antennas detecting embarrassnt.
"W-Wait... why am I blushing?! I'm touching my own leg! Get a grip, Dila!"
But then it happened.
She peeled a bandage too far and yelped.
"Eeeek! I touched sothing I wasn't supposed to touch!!"
From deep within her mind, Nari's giggles bubbled up like mischievous bells.
☆ Ufufu~ Master... you're being a bit suspicious right now~ ☆
"S-Shut up, Nari!" Dila hissed ntally, face burning. "I'm just unwrapping like... 30% of myself, max. Strategic exposure. I'm not a pervert!"
☆ Sure, sure. Keep telling yourself that while you blush at your own knees~ ☆
Red-faced and muttering curses under her breath, Dila left so of the more "sensitive" bandages in place and stomped—well, lightly padded.
Than Afterwards she go at the old wooden cabinet in the room.
She pulled the creaky door open and blinked. Her usual clothes were hanging neatly inside.
"Huh?" she muttered, picking up her outfit. "Why isn't this torn or dirty? Didn't I nearly explode in these?"
☆ Because~ your outfit has auto-repair~! ☆
"Auto what now?"
☆ Auto-repair, Master. A basic enchantnt in this world~ Minor tears, burns, and even bloodstains just... poof! Gone.☆
Dila squinted at the clothes in her hands, suspicious. "Okay, that explains it, but... if soone sees this fixing itself out of nowhere, I'm done for! They'll think I'm so weirdo laundry witch!"
☆ Oh don't worry~ Auto-repair spells are common here. Everyone uses them. It's just you who's new and panicking~ ☆
Dila groaned and smacked her forehead. "Ugh... this world is ridiculous."
☆ Yes, but magical~! ☆
She grumbled, holding up her magically restored clothes.
"Well... at least I don't have to do laundry."
☆ Welco to the good life, Master~ ☆
And with that, Dila began to dress—carefully, very carefully—while muttering under her breath like a soldier preparing for battle with her own wardrobe.
As Dila finished adjusting the last of her magically-repaired clothes—still a little ssy and half-bandaged—Nari's voice rang sweetly in her mind again, full of mischief.
☆ Umm... Master, are you really planning to go commando like that? Just using those leftover bandages for a bra and panties? ☆
Dila froze mid-stretch.
Her face turned red. Bright red.
"Wh-What are you talking about?!" she scread in her head, yanking at the edges of the bandages as if she'd just been told she was walking around naked. "I'm clearly a boy! A freaking guy! Don't ss with like that!"
☆ Ufufu~ I don't think so, Master~ ☆ Nari said, her voice full of innocent mischief. ☆ Judging by your biology... that's definitely not how a boy is built. ☆
Dila's face looked like it was about to explode from embarrassnt. She turned toward the wall, slamming her forehead into it with a soft thunk.
"I am clearly... clearly a boy!!" she groaned, each word trembling with crisis. "I just transmigrated into a female elf support mage, that's all! This isn't real!"
☆ Ahaha~! That's a cute excuse, but unfortunately... that's not how this world works~ ☆
Nari giggled again.
☆ If your original gender was male, you'd still appear male here—even with a cute girl avatar. But clearly, Master... sothing doesn't add up.☆
Dila dropped to her knees dramatically on the wooden floor, burying her face into her hands.
Dila's eyes welled up slightly. "What's happening to ? I thought I was just an avatar... a VR character!"
☆ Sorry to break it to you, Master~ but biology doesn't lie. You're built different now. Very elegantly, if I may say so~ ☆
"Shut up!" Dila sobbed in her mind, a swirl of denial and sha turning her thoughts into chaos.
"I'm still a boy... deep down inside... right? R-right...?"
☆ Mmm... that depends. Want to run a full scan?☆ Nari teased with a wink in her tone.
"NOOOO!" Dila shouted ntally, yanking the nearest blanket and wrapping herself like a burrito of denial.
As Dila sat quietly on the edge of the bed, wrapped in her blanket like a shivering loaf of denial, Nari's voice returned to her mind—soft this ti, almost like a whisper.
☆ ...I'm sorry, Master. ☆
There was no teasing now. No sparkle of mischief. Just quiet sincerity.
☆ I didn't an to make fun of you. I truly didn't know... I thought you were lying about being a boy from the start. I misunderstood. ☆
Dila sniffled lightly, her eyes stinging as she stared at the wooden floor. Her fingers clenched the edge of the blanket tightly, knuckles pale. Her voice was shaky, but she spoke inwardly with a broken calm.
"...It's okay, Nari. I get it...."
She paused.
"It's just... if this really is my body now—not just an avatar or so fake skin—I think I need to... accept it."
She gave a tiny, bitter laugh, more from fatigue than humor.
"I didn't think it was real, y'know? The biology, the... everything. I thought I'd wake up and still be . Just a guy in a weird world."
She hugged her knees.
"But it's not that simple. It's really hard to adjust."
For a mont, Nari said nothing. And then, in the gentlest voice Dila had ever heard from her:
☆ ...I'm sorry, Master. Truly. I won't question it again. You're still you. And no matter what form you take, I'll be with you—always. ☆
Dila's eyes welled again. This ti, the tears fell quietly.
No words. Just soft breathing, the sound of the wind outside the window, and the warmth of a companion's loyalty—even if only in her mind.
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