04. Goodbye, beard.
Now then, shall I go shave my beard?
Having finished the work of logistics corps, I went out of the room as I thought about my futures plans while rubbing my jaw.
Sure enough, neglecting my appearance more than this will make the surrounding"s gazes a bother.
As a matter of fact, the corps I belong to seems like it"ll head for the battlefield tomorrow.
Our numbers are finally complete ---- 29 people including me.
If I head out to the battlefield this way, there won"t be anytime to bother about physical appearance. Like in the game world, apparently the military has water magic users so one can at least wash their face.
I heard a razor blade will be provided to each group so I waited, but is it true?
It hasn"t been provided yet. The departure is already tomorrow, y"know?
It"s a rare chance so I"ll have a barber shave my beard and get a haircut while I"m at it.
Although we are conscripted soldiers a.s.sembling in Ruisel, basically, we are prohibited from entering the town wall.
Because there are too many people, there might be concerns regarding deterioration of public order and sanitary conditions.
Therefore, several tents surrounding the tall town wall were set up. The conscripted soldiers stay there.
The tent I"m staying in is also one of them.
With the soldiers gathering from every place, traders also showed up in the camp.
Apparently, they will travel behind the army and continue doing business.
But there will be danger even in the rear. How business-minded of them.
Shall I have my beard shaved and also get a haircut in that barber shop?
The knife I have is not that sharp so even cutting hair is a lot of work.
Although crafting items is my hobby, I can also make weapons and armors reasonably well. However, because I selected non-metals as player attribute, I don"t have good compatibility with metals. The dullness of my knife was a result of that.
"-------Kariya!"
As I was leaving the barracks to go outside the town, I heard someone call me from behind.
"If I"m not mistaken, you will leave for the battlefield tomorrow, right? Today might be your last day in Ruisel, have you finished your preparations? Uhm, if you don"t have anything planned----------"
"Oh, I was planning to get a haircut. And shave my beard, too."
I want to be neat after all.
When I answered with a wry smile, Sir Red looked at me somewhat awkwardly.
Perhaps, he had long wanted me to take care of my slovenly appearance.
"If that"s the case, there"s also a barber in the barracks. You should go there. Don"t worry, I will pa.s.s on the message."
***
Though I held back, in the end, I still presumed upon Sir Red"s favor.
In a room in the barracks used as a barbershop, there were no other guests.
I discovered there were two hand mirrors laid face down on the table. They must be used to get customers" approval.
The village I came from did not have high-cla.s.s items such as mirrors so I became a bit excited.
Oh, I have seen my face from the water collected in a bucket.
I do not think it was that terrible. and besides, a man isn"t defined by his face.
My beard was cut before my hair so I was sitting on a chair with my jaw raised and my eyes closed.
The feeling of the foamed cream being smeared is somehow ticklish.
Using a smooth blade, the ma.s.s of foam was skillfully scooped up.
As a finis.h.i.+ng touch, my face was wiped with a warm cloth.
"...This is..."
Because there were no particular instructions, I opened my eyes after hearing the barber"s murmur.
"Excuse me, can you lend me the mirror?"
In a fl.u.s.ter, the stupefied barber by my side pa.s.sed the mirror, which I accepted.
My face was reflected, I quickly checked the shaved part.
-----Thank goodness. It was too long ago so I started to forget, but it looks like I wasn"t the type whose stubble stands out after shaving.
Yup, it looks like there"s no thick hair roots either. Even the pores aren"t conspiscious.
It doesn"t really mean that I let my beard grew long because I like it. If I had a sharp razor, I would have shaved everyday like in the past life.
I"m gonna pay attention to my appearance starting tomorrow.
As expected, looking like a barbarian is not good.
"...I thought you were sunburt but that"s actually your skin color, Kariya?"
"Sorry, the color makes it hard to identify. Yes, this is natural. Avoiding sunburn is more advisable when living in the mountain. The clothes conceal it but every part of my body has this color, not just my face and hands."
I hooked a finger on the collar of my turtle-necked tunic and pulled it down a bit to show my olive skin.
However... I stared at my face reflected in the mirror.
"Uhm, describing myself like this is embarra.s.sing but, I-I have quite a nice face, don"t I?"
Ah, Sir Red burst into laughter.
Well I thought this face is fairly handsome but... was I too self-conscious?
Avatars can be customized in the game so there were a lot of beautiful and handsome people, but even in this world of > I reincarnated into, there are many good-looking people. Even Sir Red, if I had to say, is the handsome nice guy type.
I also somewhat expected to receive that blessing. I think my face is not that bad so I"m satistfied.