All righty. Time to get my beard shaved.
I had wrapped up my work for the day, and I rubbed my chin as I left, lost in thought about my upcoming schedule. If I continued neglecting my appearance, people would never stop staring at me, and that bothered me a lot more than my beard. Well, that and the fact that my unit was going to be deployed to the front lines tomorrow.
We finally had a good number of soldiers, and including me, we were twenty-nine men strong. If I didn’t deal with my scruffiness now, and if we left while I was looking like a wild barbarian, I wouldn’t have the right to complain about my appearance later. Unsurprisingly for a game world, the army had mages skilled in water magic, so I’d at least be able to wash my face.
I’d heard that razors would be distributed to each section, so I had waited for ours to arrive...but would we really be getting them? We were literally going to be leaving tomorrow, but we still hadn’t gotten any.
Since I was heading to the barber to get my beard shaved, I figured I might as well get my hair cut at the same time.
Drafted soldiers continued to arrive at Ruicerl, but as a rule, they were forbidden from passing through the gates into the city proper. I guess they were worried that public safety and sanitation might be compromised if a ton of people poured in at once.
That being the case, dozens of tents were erected around the city’s walls to house the conscripts. My sleeping quarters were likewise in one such tent.
Of course, wherever large groups of people went, opportunistic merchants were sure to follow. These types popped up around our camp, intent on bartering with the newly arrived conscripts. Apparently, they were planning to move out with us once we departed so they could continue with their business. While we comprised the rearguard, we were still heading into a war zone. Never underestimate a businessman’s desire for profit, I guess.
One of those opportunists must’ve set up a barbershop... Yeah, I’ll have them take care of my beard and cut my hair. The one knife I owned was so dull that cutting my hair was a whole ordeal in itself.
While crafting items was my hobby, I also dabbled in making weapons and armor. Unfortunately, I had chosen a non-metal alignment for my character, so my affinity with metals was pretty bad. I was fairly sure that was part of the reason the blade on my knife was so dull.
“Hey, Kariya!”
As I left the barracks to look for a barber, a voice called out to me from behind. The person who stopped me was none other than Leto.
“You’re leaving for the front lines tomorrow, right?” he asked. “Have you already finished packing and everything? This might be your last day in Ruicerl, so, um, if you’re free at the moment—”
I had to interrupt him. “Oh, I was about to go get a haircut. I gotta do something about my beard too,” I said, laughing awkwardly. I really wanted to clean myself up before we left.
Leto looked at me as I laughed, and I felt like withering under his gaze. I really should have taken better care of my appearance...
“If that’s the case, then there’s a barber in the barracks as well. You can go ahead and get trimmed there,” said Leto. “Don’t worry; I’ll talk to them and make sure that they know you’ve got permission.”
I tried to object, but in the end, I decided to take him up on his goodwill.
There weren’t any other patrons in the room in the barracks being used as a barbershop. I noticed two hand mirrors lying face down on a table—they must’ve been for customers to check their cut once it was finished. There had been nothing even remotely like a mirror in my village, or any other luxury items, for that matter. Seeing them got me a little excited.
Oh, but that wasn’t to say I didn’t have a general sense of what I looked like—I’d seen my face reflected in buckets of drawn water, at least. I didn’t think I looked that bad. Besides, looks don’t make the man!
Well, here I am. Seated in a chair, I closed my eyes as I lifted my chin. I asked the barber to shave off my beard before cutting my hair. The sensation of having my beard scrubbed and having shaving cream lathered into it kind of tickled. After that, the smooth edge of the razor deftly cut away at the bubbly mass of hair there. Once that was finished, the barber ran hot water over a cloth, wrung the excess water out, and wiped down my face with it.
“Well, well,” I heard him mutter.
Since he didn’t give me any further directions after that, I figured he must’ve finished. I opened my eyes.
“Oh, could I get a look at myself in the mirror?” I asked.
The barber seemed a little distracted, but he snapped out of his daze and hurriedly handed me one. I looked at my reflection and promptly checked my stubble.
Thank god. The last time I had been clean-shaven was so long ago that I had completely forgotten whether I tended to end up with a five o’clock shadow or not. It seemed like I was on the lucky side. My roots weren’t thick or wiry either, so the hair follicles didn’t stand out.
I was relieved—it wasn’t as though I had grown a beard because I’d wanted to, after all. If I’d had a decent razor with a sharp blade, I would’ve been shaving daily, like I had in my old life. I swore to myself that I’d take better care of my appearance starting tomorrow—it felt much better not looking like a barbarian.
Leto peered at me curiously as well. After a moment of study, he quietly commented, “I thought you might’ve had a tan, but has your skin always been that shade?”
I nodded. “It’s hard to tell if it’s from the sun or not, yeah. But to answer your question, yes, this is how I was born. Since the sunlight’s so harsh up in the mountains, it’s best to avoid overexposure. I was always careful about keeping my skin covered. But even so, it’s not that my face and hands are tan—this is just how I am.”
To accentuate my assertion, I tugged the collar of my top down a little, revealing the smooth, olive tones beneath.
Still, though... I looked back at the mirror and couldn’t help but continue staring at my reflection in it. “Um,” I started hesitantly, “It’s kind of embarrassing for me to ask this, but... I’m, uh, pretty good-looking, don’t you think?”
Oh, how Leto laughed at that.
I had been thinking that the face in the mirror looking back at me was, well, rather handsome, but maybe I had been overestimating myself. After all, most people in this world were better looking than not. Since Golden Dawn allowed players to customize their character’s appearance, the game was populated with tons of gorgeous people. The world I had reincarnated into was no different.
If I had to say, even Leto was real easy on the eyes, and he was such a nice guy to boot. I’d been kinda hoping that I had been blessed with a pretty face too. In the end, I was satisfied with my looks. Honestly? I was even kinda dashing.