Summer in Himlabacken arrived much earlier than in Percy Village. By the beginning of June, the air above the flagstones began to shimmer with heat. In the eastern part of the city, the open-air market was filled with colorful awnings, and long lines formed in front of stalls selling iced drinks.
Margarita thought she already had a sufficient understanding of just how ridiculous this world could be. She had survived a village massacre by the Demon Race, a soul fusion, cult infiltration, and being dragged into countless traps by the Student Council President—she thought she was immune to anything life could throw at her by now.
That was until Lovell and Irene grabbed her from both sides and dragged her into a shop at the end of the main street, which featured lace curtains and two wooden mannequins in swimsuits at the entrance.
“Welcome!” The female clerk behind the counter greeted them with a brilliant smile.
Margarita stood at the shop entrance, her pupils trembling with shock.
Before her were three entire walls of swimsuits. Some were hanging, some were folded, and some were displayed on mannequins. There were one-piece suits, two-piece suits, suits with skirts, suits with lace, and suits with straps. The colors ranged from pure white to vibrant red, forest green, and bright purple. The materials varied from cotton to silk to some kind of slippery fabric she couldn’t even name. On the left shelf, there was even a whole row of matching straw hats and scarves, while the right shelf held bottles of sunscreen and after-sun repair creams.
A swimsuit specialty shop. In another world. In the capital.
What is the meaning of this?! This world is definitely wrong! Why is there a specialty shop for swimsuits?! Better yet, why are there swimsuits at all?!
“This is the capital, after all. It’s normal for them to have everything,” Irene said, letting go of Margarita’s arm. She was already browsing through a row of light green two-piece swimsuits with great interest, pinching the fabric between her fingers. “Besides, vacationing at the seaside in summer is a noble tradition. The beaches in Arlan are packed every July. The academy even has elective courses for beach field trips during the summer break.”
“If we went to Arlan without a purpose, it would be too obvious. Going to play at the seaside is a good choice,” Erica’s voice popped up from the side. “Consultant, you said so yourself yesterday.”
I’m going back to strangle yesterday’s self right now.
Having cross-dressed for over a year, her male soul had almost been worn flat. The Magic Department uniform consisted of a shirt, a pleated skirt, and a trench coat. Back in Percy Village, her dresses had been loose styles that covered most of her body’s lines. She had even reached the point where she could tie the satin ribbon of her side braid without blinking an eye.
But those things could cover the body no matter what.
What were these things in front of her?
A few pathetic scraps of fabric connected by thin straps, dangling precariously from hangers and casting frivolous shadows in the afternoon sunlight.
“Erica! Come look at this!” Irene held up a deep blue one-piece swimsuit with a large cut-out design on the back. “This color would really suit your hair.”
Erica poked her head out from behind another row of hangers. She wasn't wearing her Magic Department uniform today; she had changed into a light gray short-sleeved shirt and dark trousers. Her long, deep purple hair was unusually down, cascading over her shoulders.
“I’ll... look for myself.” She walked over and took the swimsuit, flipping it over a couple of times with a slight frown. “The back is open too much.”
“It’s a swimsuit, not everyday clothes.” Irene tilted her head. “Just try it on. The fitting rooms are over there.”
Erica hesitated for a moment before clutching the swimsuit and heading toward the fitting rooms. Margarita watched her go, and before she could even breathe a sigh of relief—
“Little Mari~”
Lovell’s voice snuggled up beside her, carrying an extremely dangerous sweetness.
Margarita’s spine stiffened. She slowly turned her head to see the red-haired thief leaning against a clothes rack, holding a swimsuit. It was white, lace-trimmed, and a two-piece. The fabric for the top was probably only enough to cover—
“W-What is it?” A stiff smile pulled at the corners of Margarita’s mouth, her feet already starting to shimmy toward the shop entrance. “Haha, I think I can just wait for you guys outside...”
“Don’t be shy.” Lovell hooked her arm in one stride, her strength so great that Margarita couldn't break free at all. “Come~ let me help you pick one out~”
“No! Joshua, save me!”
“Consultant! I’m here to save you!” Irene emerged from the side holding two swimsuits, her smile bright.
No, I feel like you’re also here to ruin me.
Margarita wailed internally, but her mouth had already been covered by Lovell’s hand. The red-haired thief was incredibly strong, locking her shoulder with one arm while swinging the white lace swimsuit in front of her eyes with the other.
“Look at how pretty this is. The white matches your hair, the lace trim is exquisite, and a two-piece is convenient for moving around. Don’t you usually like things to be lightweight and easy to move in?”
I like things lightweight because I need to run away! Not because I want to run around the beach dressed like this!
“Or this one?” Irene held up the suit in her left hand. It was a pale pink one-piece, but the sides from the waist to the hips were filled with large mesh cut-outs, with opaque fabric only covering the critical areas. “This is more elegant and suits your aura.”
What kind of aura requires mesh cut-outs to be expressed?!
“I... I’ll pick for myself.” Margarita finally managed to wrench a hand free from Lovell’s clutches, pointing to the farthest corner. “Over there. I’ll go look for myself.”
Lovell and Irene exchanged a look.
“Fine.” Lovell let go, standing in place with her hands on her hips. “Pick for yourself. We’ll wait for you here.”
Margarita felt as if she had been granted a grand pardon and bolted for the corner. After a couple of steps, she heard Irene’s airy voice add from behind, “Consultant, don’t think about sneaking out the back. This shop’s back door is locked.”
Her steps faltered for a moment, and then she continued forward, the smile on her face almost crumbling.
The clothes racks in the corner were clearly the least popular area of the shop. The styles were conservative, the colors plain, and the designs had no highlights. Most of the swimsuits hanging here were dark one-pieces with wide straps, full back coverage, and skirts that reached the top of the thighs; some even had short sleeves.
Margarita quickly scanned them and pulled one out from the very back.
It was a deep navy blue one-piece swimsuit with straps about two fingers wide. The front was completely covered from the collarbone to the tops of the legs, and the back only had a small oval opening. The skirt hung down to the mid-thigh. No lace, no cut-outs, no straps. The only decoration was a simple white piping across the chest.
Perfect. Completely covered.
She walked toward the fitting rooms with the swimsuit in her arms. As she passed Lovell, the red-haired thief glanced at the fabric in her arms and let out a meaningful “Oho.”
“A conservative one,” Irene commented.
“Expected,” Lovell shrugged.
The fitting room area consisted of three small, adjacent cubicles with thick curtains. Margarita ducked into the innermost one, pulled the curtain shut, and began to change.
She kept her back to the curtain while taking off her uniform, trying her best not to look at her own body. The process of changing into the swimsuit was quick. The fabric felt cool against her skin. She adjusted the straps, pulled the skirt into place, took a deep breath, and turned around.
In the corner of the fitting room was a narrow, elongated bronze mirror.
Margarita looked at herself in the mirror and remained silent for a while.
...Fine.
The navy blue swimsuit was indeed conservative, showing almost no unnecessary skin from her collarbone to just above her knees. The white piping traced a shallow curve at her waist, outlining her torso into a slender silhouette. The skirt hung down, covering the upper part of her thighs and leaving only her lower legs exposed below the knees.
But the problem was... this swimsuit was form-fitting.
All those loose skirts, oversized trench coats, and layered uniforms she usually wore hid her body’s actual lines beneath the fabric. But now, this skin-tight swimsuit outlined her silhouette from head to toe.
Her waist was very thin, thin enough to see the faint shadows of her lower ribs. Her hips were narrow, and her shoulders were thin too. The area across her chest was perfectly flat, a straight plain without any curves requiring support.
Margarita looked at herself in the mirror with a complex expression.
To be honest, she had been a man in her previous life. Having a male soul for over twenty years meant that while she had been broken down by wearing female clothes, the sense of “as expected” calm when looking at this body outweighed any other emotion.
Barren. Exceptionally barren.
But her face was beautiful.
The face in the mirror, with long white hair cascading from her shoulders, made the lines of her neck look slender and long. Her features were exquisite, her skin was pale, and her blue eyes looked exceptionally deep due to the year of being tinged with melancholy and calculation. The tiny tear mole below the corner of her eye looked like a drop of ink in the dim light of the fitting room.
When Lovell had combed her hair before, she had said, “Little Mari, you’re a beauty.” Margarita hadn’t taken it seriously then. But standing before the mirror now, she had to admit that this face was indeed beautiful.
But it seems like only the face is good... sigh... why am I agonizing over this...
Margarita sighed and reached out to tuck her loose white hair behind her ear.
Just then, there was movement from next door.
“I’m done—” Erica’s voice came from the left cubicle, sounding a bit uncomfortable.
“Come out and let us see!” Irene was already pressing her.
The sound of a curtain being pulled back followed. Then, Lovell let out a short whistle.
Margarita hesitated before pulling her own curtain back an inch to peek outside.
Erica stood in the open space in front of the fitting rooms, wearing the deep blue one-piece swimsuit. The back was indeed very open, extending from below her shoulder blades all the way to her lower back. She had gathered her long, deep purple hair in front of her, exposing her entire smooth back.
But what surprised Margarita the most was that Erica’s figure was incredibly good.
Usually, that copy of Introduction to Elemental Magic and her oversized Magic Department trench coat fooled everyone. The deep blue swimsuit clung to her body, with lines flowing from her collarbone to her waist to her hips as if drawn with a ruler. Her waist was thin but not frail, her hips had just the right curve, and there was an unmistakable fullness at her chest. Her legs were long and firm beneath the hem of the swimsuit.
“Wow,” Lovell appraised honestly. “Erica, you’ve been hiding things well.”
Erica’s face turned visibly red. She reflexively reached back to pull at the fabric, but the cut-out was right there, and no matter how she pulled, she couldn't cover it. “It’s... too revealing.”
“How is it revealing? It’s just your back,” Irene said, crossing her arms as she evaluated. “The front is completely covered; it’s more proper than your textbook.”
“That’s a book!”
“Books have covers too; it’s the same principle.”
Erica couldn’t win the argument, so she could only stand there with a red face. Margarita silently pulled her curtain back and shrank into her fitting room.
At that moment, the curtain of the right cubicle was whipped open. Lovell jumped out, her red hair tied in a high ponytail, wearing a—
Margarita took another peek.
Are those even clothes?!
Lovell had chosen a two-piece swimsuit in lemon yellow. The top was a halter style, with two triangular scraps of fabric barely covering her chest, tied behind her neck with thin straps, leaving her entire back and midriff exposed. Below was a pair of low-rise triangle bottoms, with side-ties knotted over her hip bones in loose bows.
She was thin, but it was a lean, firm thinness. After years of training, her abdominal muscles showed a faint layer of definition, glowing with a healthy color. Her red ponytail swayed behind her, her amber eyes were filled with mirth, and her canine tooth was visible.
“What do you think!” Lovell put her hands on her hips and spun in place, the lemon yellow fabric serving as little more than decoration on her body. “You have to wear bright colors at the seaside!”
“Bright is one thing,” Irene said, looking her up and down. “But with that outfit, aren't you afraid of being washed away by the waves when you go in the water?”
“If it gets washed away, I’ll just buy a new one!”
“...You have more money than you know what to do with, don't you?”
Lovell giggled and leaned toward Margarita’s curtain, tapping on it. “Little Mari, are you finished yet? Come out and let us see.”
“I’m... still adjusting a few things.”
“Adjusting what? A swimsuit only has a few straps; what’s there to adjust?” Lovell’s hand was already on the edge of the curtain. “I’m pulling it—”
The curtain was pulled open.
Margarita stood in the fitting room, the navy blue swimsuit worn neatly, her white hair cascading over her shoulders, the skirt covering her thighs. She looked like she was simply wearing a slightly tight dress.
Lovell stared at her.
“That’s it?”
“That’s it,” Margarita said calmly.
Lovell stepped closer, looked down at the flat fabric across Margarita’s chest, then stepped back and scanned her from head to toe. Then she turned toward Irene and shouted, “Irene, look at what she chose!”
Irene walked over, took a look, and tilted her head. “That’s way too conservative, Consultant.”
“I think it’s fine.” Margarita lifted her chin. “It’s practical, easy to move in, and there’s no risk of exposure in the water.”
“Who cares about exposure at the beach!” Lovell reached out and poked her shoulder. “Look at Erica; she usually dresses way more conservatively than you, yet even her swimsuit has more courage than yours.”
From a distance, Erica said in a low, red-faced voice, “...Don’t drag me into this.”
Lovell looked back at Margarita. “And look at me. This is what you should be wearing to the seaside.”
Margarita looked at the two lemon yellow triangles on her and said expressionlessly, “What’s the difference between that and underwear?”
“It looks better than underwear!”
“In what way?”
“In the way that—” Lovell suddenly stopped. Her gaze moved from Margarita’s swimsuit to Margarita’s face, and a slow grin spread across her lips.
“Little Mari.”
“What?”
“Have you realized that you’re exceptionally beautiful?”
Margarita blanked for a moment.
Lovell reached out and tucked the loose white hair behind Margarita’s ear, exposing her entire face. Then she stepped back two paces, crossed her arms, and examined her for a while before turning to Irene. “Look, with a face this good, it doesn't matter if your figure is a bit flat.”
“True.” Irene nodded. “The Consultant has only been at the academy for a few months, and yet every day someone is asking who that white-haired girl from the Magic Department is.”
“Hey.”
“Besides,” Lovell continued, completely ignoring her protest, “there’s a way to wear things even if you’re flat-chested. The style you chose is just too plain. If you switch to something with a better cut, you can still pull off a great aura.”
“I don’t need an aura.”
“Yes, you do,” Lovell said firmly. “Come on, I’ll pick one for you.”
She dragged Margarita by the arm toward the racks. Margarita looked back at Irene, who just shrugged and gave her a gentle smile.
“Consultant, just accept your fate.”
“You two...”
Margarita stumbled a bit as she was dragged along by Lovell and could only follow. Her peripheral vision caught the open space in front of the fitting rooms, where Erica was still standing. The deep blue swimsuit hugged her curvaceous body, her deep purple hair fell over her shoulders, and she was looking down at a fold on the side of her swimsuit.
Sensing Margarita’s gaze, Erica looked up. A flash of hesitation crossed her deep purple eyes, and then she spoke softly, “...You really are very beautiful.”
Margarita: “...Thank you?”
“You’re welcome.” Having said that, Erica turned her head away, her ears still red.
Lovell stopped in front of a row of racks, her fingers flipping through them quickly. She pulled out a white one, a light blue one, and a pale pink one, held them up against Margarita’s body, shook her head, and put them back.
“This one.” She finally pulled out a mint green one-piece swimsuit.
The style was slightly narrower than the one Margarita had chosen for herself, with thinner straps. The back had a small V-shaped opening, and the front had a curved seam at the waist. The skirt was a bit shorter than Margarita’s choice, but still within an acceptable range. The chest had a crossover pleat design—even if she was flat, it wouldn't cling as tightly as the previous one.
“This color matches your white hair and blue eyes.” Lovell shoved the swimsuit into her hands. “Go change.”
Margarita looked down at the mint green fabric in her hands. It was indeed pretty. The color was refreshing, the cut was clean, and its level of revealing was somewhere between hers and Erica’s.
She was silent for two seconds before turning back to the fitting room.
The curtain was pulled, and she changed. The mint green swimsuit clung to her skin, the straps crossed below her collarbones, and the V-shaped opening in the back exposed a small portion of her spine. She looked in the bronze mirror.
Still flat. But the mint green color made her whole appearance pop, and the crossover pleats created a bit of visual texture on her chest so it wasn't a total blank slate like before. Although the skirt was shorter, it was still below the tops of her thighs.
Better than the previous one. Fine, I admit it.
She pulled the curtain open and stepped out.
Lovell was standing at the entrance, and the moment she saw her, her eyes lit up.
“Look, everyone!” she shouted to Irene and Erica. “What did I say?! Change the cut, and the aura comes out!”
Irene walked over, looked her up and down, and nodded. “True, this mint green really suits her. Consultant, you should wear this color more often in the future.”
Erica also came over, took a look, and said softly, “It’s beautiful.”
Margarita stood between the three of them, the mint green swimsuit snug against her skin, her white hair loose behind her, her blue eyes partially downcast, and a look of resignation on her face. Her collarbones were particularly clear under the thin straps, and her waist was so thin it looked like it could be held with one hand. She looked lean and clean, like a fresh sprig of mint.
“Fine.” She sighed. “I’ll take this one.”
Lovell grinned, her canine tooth sparkling. “That’s the spirit.”
...
The four of them walked back along the main street, their shadows cast on the flagstones and overlapping. Margarita walked on the far left, the mint green swimsuit inside a paper bag in her hand, as the wind blew a few strands of her white hair. Her face glowed white in the sunlight, her blue eyes were squinting slightly, and a relaxed smile, finally free of pretense, hung at the corners of her mouth.
“Little Mari.”
“Yeah.”
“This one really does look beautiful on you.”
“I know.”
“A hundred times better than that navy blue one you picked.”
“Lovell.”
“Hmm?”
“If you mention that one again, I’m going to tie all the straps of your set into dead knots.”
The red-headed girl immediately shut up.
Margarita withdrew her gaze and continued forward. The mint green swimsuit in the paper bag swayed gently with her steps. She looked down at it, and the corners of her mouth quirked up.
Ever since she had been reincarnated as a little white-haired girl, she had been fighting for her life in a world that felt like a galgame that had gone off the rails.
But now, she was walking down the streets of the capital in another world with three beautiful girls, with the sun on her shoulders and a summer breeze on her face.
She suddenly let out a laugh. Whatever happens later, can wait until later.
Lovell tilted her head to look at her. “What are you laughing at?”
“Nothing.” Margarita shifted the paper bag to her other hand. “I was just thinking about going to Arlan for the summer break.”
“Oh ho—” Lovell drawled. “You’re thinking about wearing your new swimsuit for Joshua, aren’t you—”
Margarita’s right hand drew a gun from behind her waist.
The red-haired thief bolted.
Irene laughed so hard she couldn’t stand straight, while Erica pursed her lips, her deep purple eyes reflecting the white and red figures chasing each other ahead.
The sun was just right in Himlabacken’s summer.
Rate on N.U.
