Chapter 2: Slice of Shirotsume

POV: Taruko Hikari

Location: Shirotsume

"You kids be safe now, y'hear?"

"Sure thing! Thanks, Mr. Miyagi."

"Yes, thank you."

We waved goodbye to an elderly man, tugging on the reigns of his horse and moving his carriage along. We'd run into him on the road after dealing with the Steel Sabre Bandits, and he was kind enough to give us a ride to the nearest town. Initially concerned about what the two kids were doing on their own, especially after seeing Erza's current state. The moment we got a bed, we were ditching those bandages.

Speaking of which. We were dropped off at a town called Shirotsume. It was a small town in the countryside surrounded by mountains, the most notable location being Mt. Hokabe. How did I know this? Mr. Miyagi told me! Let me tell you, that guy can ramble when you got him talking. The information was appreciated, though.

"Shirotsume..." I glanced at Erza. The redhead stared at the town with a look of awe. I smiled.

"Surprised?"

"Yes... I've never been to a place like this before," she muttered in a hushed voice of awe. "All of these people... they seem so happy."

"Yeah," I really couldn't begin to fathom how she was feeling. I didn't go through half the shit she went through in both my lives. The least I could do was alleviate the pain. "Let's go explore, yeah?"

"Yes!" Erza bobbed her head with a smile, and I felt my own grow just a little bit more.

We made our way through town. Of course, we earned some stares from the occasional passerby. After all, seeing two kids wander around without their parents is rather concerning, but hey! What do they know? These kids can beat up grown men with magic superpowers! Take that, law!

Besides. The law in general in Earthland on what kids could and couldn't do was rather loose, with 10% of the populace being able to use magic and joining guilds at a young age. Fighting dangerous monsters, criminals, and dark guilds. When a kid reached a certain level of maturity, where their magic grew strong enough, say 10 to 11, they were given free rein to apply for guilds and gradually work their way through the more dangerous jobs as they started from the ground up.

It was kind of like Pokémon, in that regard.

I took all the jewels out of my pocket and began counting them. Looting bandits had their perks. We had approximately 100,000 jewels to our name. Searching through my memories helped me understand that the currency operated similarly to Japan. Luckily I knew how yen worked. Which means we around roughly... 600 hundred dollars in USD? I think? Whatever the case is, I'm lucky I studied this stuff before I ended up here... or else we'd be completely fucked otherwise. I'm like 95% sure Erza doesn't know how to manage money. Don't think Rob taught her that.

"What are you doing?" I glanced at Erza. She was giving me a curious stare. I huffed.

"Counting our money. We're under a strict budget right now until we make it to Fairy Tail, so we have to be careful with our money." she nodded in understanding. So that was good, at least we were on the same page.

"So what do we do?"

"Well..." I glanced up at a nearby shop labeled Hearts Kreuz. The name rang a bell... it was the name of Erza's base armor. From Taruko's memories, it was one of the biggest clothing distributions in Earthland. Selling non-magical and magical clothes alike, they were known for their quality work.

We entered the store. There were a lot of people inside, but surprisingly they didn't pay us any mind. That was cool. I walked up to the counter, and a woman with smooth brown hair tied in a ponytail turned to greet us with a kind smile. She blinked upon seeing me but rolled with it. "Welcome to Hearts Kruez! What can I do for you young man?"

"Me and my friend are just looking for the kids' section." I jabbed a thumb at Erza, "Can you show us where it is?"

"Of course. Just take a left there, and you'll be well on your way!"

"Thanks."

We followed her pointed finger and arrived at the kids' section. I shuffled through various clothes... in the girls' section. I was earning stares from some of the women in the store, but I ignored them in favor of getting clothes for Erza. Speaking of which...

"What are you doing?"

I gave her the side-eye. She was staring at me like a curious puppy. Good Lord, I'm not gonna survive... "Getting us clothes. You especially... you can't go walking around in that."

Erza blinked, glancing down at the tunic a size too big for her, and the tattered dress that lay underneath. She yelped when a stack of clothes was shoved into her hands. "Try those on."

She stiffly nodded as I nudged her into the changing booth. I made sure to grab clothes that were cheap, but still fashionable. I wasn't dirt poor in my previous life. Moderately well off... but me and my family still had to be careful of our budget. So I knew my way around managing my money.

I hummed a tune, Snow Fairy to be specific, as I grabbed some clothes from the boy's section. Some jackets, shirts, pants, and shoes. Despite Fairy Tail being medieval-ish, I had to admit, that Earthland had an impeccable fashion sense. Seriously, I'd have killed to have some of the outfits the people had here back home.

Praise be to Mashima.

"... Taruko? How is... this?"

I perked up, turning to look at Erza and pausing. She wore a white blouse and blue button skirt that stopped at her knees, with black kneesocks and brown boots. She was busy inspecting herself and spinning around to notice me going into cardiac arrest.

CUTENESS OVERLOAD! FUCK!

"... looks good on you," I muttered stiffly with a strained grin. Erza beamed softly, then frowned with a thoughtful look.

"Hardly suitable for combat, though." she mused, humming.

I snorted, rolling my eyes. "Well, it's more for comfort than anything else. They aren't meant to aid in combat. We can look into armors later, though... why don't you try on the rest, set apart what you like and don't like."

She nodded and retreated into the clothing booth. I stepped into my own and undressed, throwing on a quick outfit and checking myself out in the mirror. A high-collared red jacket with black trim with two pouches on either side and two laces attached to the back. A white shirt with a red pattern styled like a Y, baggy green trousers with a pair of pouches, and black combat boots.

... for some reason, this outfit is reminding me of someone, but I can't put my finger on it...

Oh well!

Folding my set of clothes back up, I stepped out of the booth to see Erza patiently waiting for me. She turned to me and blinked. "You're done already."

I smiled wryly. "Yeah, I'm fast with this kind of stuff."

"I see," Erza hummed, trailing behind me as I made my way back to the counter, where the retailer patiently waited.

Upon noticing it, she smiled warmly. "Find what you were looking for?"

"Yup," I smiled, placing my stack of clothes on the counter. Erza clumsily followed my example, as she was a few inches shorter than me.

The woman began placing our stuff in some plastic bags, humming. "That'll be... 5,000 jewels."

I forked over the cash and she handed us our bags. As we walked away, she bid us goodbye. "Be safe now, okay? And have a nice day!"

"We will! Thank you!"

"She was nice," Erza commented absentmindedly. I nodded in agreement.

"Yeah." I looked around idly, taking in the sights. It was rather surreal, being in a fictional town... everything was a lot more bright and colorful. Happy. It was... nice.

"You seem so used to this," Erza said, though it wasn't accusatory. More curious, if anything. I smiled.

"Yeah, I used to go shopping with my family a lot. My sister would always drag me around to get new clothes when we had the chance," I rambled wistfully as I remembered my old life. I wondered how they were holding up, without me... "Even though she was younger, she had an eye for fashion. She wanted to be a fashion designer when she grew up, making all kinds of outfits for big-name celebrities and stuff. So she was pretty knowledgeable on clothes design."

"She sounds nice..." Erza smiled.

"... Yeah. She was a great sister." I hummed, ignoring the pang of sorrow in my chest. Instead, I focused on what was in front of me. The smell of food caught my attention, and soon enough, both Erza and my stomachs growled something fierce.

Erza blushed in mortification while I laughed, shooting her a sly grin. "Hunger is the enemy,"

She huffed, glancing off to the side in silence. I chuckled. "Let's grab something to eat."

With that, we ended up finding ourselves in a restaurant known as Bluegarden. We got ourselves a table and we're currently looking over the menu. I already knew what I was going to get. Fried chicken wings, fries, and a cola. It's been... who knows how long since I've had fast food. May as well indulge myself for a bit.

I peeked over my menu to see Erza staring at hers with uncertainty. "You alright?"

"Huh? Oh... yes." she looked embarrassed. "There's just... so much food. How can anyone eat it all?"

I almost said 'Ask Natsu', but refrained.

"Why don't you try this?" I leaned over and tapped at her menu.

Erza squinted. "Bur...ger...?"

A young girl around our age, maybe a year or two older, wearing an apron with the words 'Bluegarden' plastered over it in bold blue walked over to our table. She wore a practiced smile and had wavy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. "Welcome to Bluegarden! My name's Becca, what can I get for you?"

"I'll have your fried chicken wings with a side of fries, and a cola. She'll have one of your burgers and fries." I replied easily. Becca wrote it down swiftly and nodded. I threw another order in for the hell of it. "Oh, and a vanilla and strawberry cake for dessert."

"Gotcha! Your food will be coming right over!" Becca beamed and scurried along.

... She looked familiar. It's making my head fuzzy.

"Vanilla and strawberry cake?" Erza murmured in confusion.

"You've never had cake?!" I feigned surprise when she shook her head and grinned. "Well then your life is about to change, my dear Erza."

The redhead's brows furrowed in deeper confusion. I could only stare at her in amusement as we waited for our food. Soon enough, Becca returned with our plates and set them down before us. "Enjoy your meal!"

"Thanks!" I bowed my head politely and rubbed my hands in anticipation. The joy of fast food at last! I didn't realize how hungry I was until I became aware I was scarfing my food down like some ravenous animal. I noticed Erza staring at me in surprise, and I blinked. "Not gonna eat?"

"Uh--yes. Sorry," she mumbled quietly, picking up her burger clumsily and biting into it. Her eyes widened in surprise, no doubt stunned at the flavor and taste. Considering she was a slave and didn't have the luxury of such food, this was probably a huge culture shock for her. "T-This...!"

"Good, right?" I smirked.

"It's heavenly..." Erza whispered, staring at the burger in her hands as though it were some deity that deserved worship. I snorted as I sipped my cola and watched on as she began to devour her foot at a speed that far surpassed my own.

It made me wonder how they ate so much. Everyone was human, well, mostly everyone, but the fact they could eat more food than a normal human being from Earth was stunning to see in person. I could probably attribute it to high metabolism, especially since mages tended to be fighters and needed to replenish energy somehow.

I wonder what that meant for me...

We finished our food in record time. All that was left was the cake. Erza stared at the strawberry cake in front of her with a confused frown, poking at it with her fork. I bit into my own, savoring the soft, velvety texture and rich vanilla taste. Erza eyed me quietly eat and mimicked my actions. It was kind of adorable, honestly.

The moment she took her first bite, her breath hitched, and her eyes sparkled like the brightest of stars.

And just like that, her strawberry cake addiction started.

X-X-X-X-X-X

"Room for two, please."

"Uhm--y-yes... right... away...?"

The amusement stirring within me at the utter confusion the receptionist was no doubt feeling was like a balm for my soul. I had enough restraint to not blatantly laugh in the man's face as I slid 70 jewels onto the desk. He in turn gave me the room key. Erza was far too busy looking around the motel to notice the frankly hilarious exchange between child and adult.

I was starting to LOVE Earthland, if you couldn't tell.

"Your room is 215, second floor." the receptionist, bless his soul, managed to act cordial enough.

I smiled gleefully in response. "Thanks! C'mon, Erza." as the redhead followed behind me, I quietly snickered under my breath as I heard him grumble something about mages.

Gotta love it.

The room wasn't anything extravagant, but it wasn't bad. Modest, but homey. Perfect for us. Also helps that it was cheap. Two beds, and a bathroom. We were only going to stay here for one night, anyhow.

"You can have the shower first, I'll be sorting our stuff out," I muttered, setting our bags down on our bed.

Erza looked at the bathroom and blinked, before nodding and grabbing a pair of clothes and stepping inside. I paused and realized she probably had no idea how to operate a shower.

...

Eh, Erza's a smart cookie, she'll figure it out.

Before we came to the motel, I went ahead and bought supplies we'd need for the rode. A map, compass, backpacks for Erza and myself respectively, medical supplies, food for the road, and a bunch of books on magic and sword arts. All in all, I think I covered about everything. Speaking of these books...

I sorted them out. The books I'd bought were guides on Requip Magic, Sword Magic, and Wind Magic, among other things.

Requip was self-explanatory. It was basically a portable inventory you could carry around everyone, placing stuff within a pocket space. It'd be absolutely criminal to not learn it. Besides, it would be better for Erza to learn it early, considering how skilled she would become with it later down the line. If I can get even half of her skill, it would be a great boon. Besides, I'm already getting ideas on how to put Requip to use beyond using it to hold my gear and weapons.

A certain King of Heroes came to mind...

Sword Magic was also self-explanatory. Taruko's goal before our assimilation was to become a powerful swordsman. I wasn't going to throw that dream away. Sword Magic was a combination of both magic control and skill, so it would be beneficial to myself to learn it. Another thing under my belt. There was one thing that bothered me, though...

"What the fuck is Sword Saint Magic?" I muttered, peering into the book.

Sword Saint Magic seemed to be an advanced form of Sword Magic, rumored to be modeled after the Sword Saint Dragon Kurnugi. A magic that emphasized the use of intertwining the user's own magic with their sword arts. In a way, the user and sword became one, as you're constantly enhancing both body and sword with magical energy. The benefits of this magic also came with more powerful sword techniques that cannot be properly used by normal Sword Magic.

... It intrigued me. Didn't know about this magic in the anime or the manga, I was still confused though.

What the fuck is a Sword Saint Dragon? Kurnugi? I've NEVER heard of him! And the book has little to no information on the guy, either. I knew that Dragons and Dragon Slayers became very abundant later on in the story, but really? Sword Saint? What kind of element was that?!

Do they... eat swords to replenish magical energy? Whatever. I'm not gonna worry my head over it. I'm gonna look into learning Sword Saint Magic, but I'll need to learn Sword Magic first.

The next magic book I grabbed was, as said before, Wind Magic. Why? Firstly, aerokinesis is one of my favorite abilities in any media, and is seriously underrated. Secondly, I wanted to model some of my style after Artoria. King Arthur, the Once and Future King, you get the idea. She was the pinnacle of what a knight should be, in my honest opinion, and was certainly powerful. However, I was interested in mimicking her Invisible Air ability. Concealing my weapons in a veil of wind can prove useful in a fight.

Also when I think of Wind Magic, I think of Yuno. Erigor can die in a ditch, Yuno is way cooler. And it'd be so awesome to fly around using wind. Provides some good maneuverability too.

I heard a startled shriek and sat up straight in surprise. The shower water was running, and I blinked. "Erza? You good?"

"Y-Yes!"

I snorted softly and shook my head, grabbing the Requip book and opened it, flipping through the pages. Better to learn this now, than later. It'll also help me gain a better grasp over my control over manipulating magical energy.

And so, begins what would be one of many all-nighters...

A/N

Shorter chapter. Mostly some slice of life stuff to unwind from the action of the first chapter.

Rise to the Top chapter 4 should be coming out soon if life doesn't throw me any curveballs. This was much quicker to put out, lol.

Also I wonder if anyone caught the references/easter eggs thrown in this chapter... and I'm not talking about the Fate ones.