The Short Demon King

Chapter 11

Maya laughed as she stood up and threw our trash away. When she didn't return to the fountain, I raced after her. Once I caught up, we went further into the town center. She eventually stopped and opened the door to a large store.

Inside it was stuffed full of clothes hanging on racks and left loose on tabletops. A random assortment of clothes filled every open space, leaving sparse room to actually walk around.

"Just pick out anything you like," she instructed. "We'll figure out your size later."

Without another word she was gone. She had a habit of disappearing on me like that. I turned around to fully take in my surroundings. There weren't many others in the store, but it still felt overcrowded being encompassed by so many clothes.

How would anyone find anything in such a mess? Even the demonic monarchy had more organization than this.

I shuffled into the closest aisle and sifted through some of the available options. Every piece of clothing blasted me in the face with their vibrant colors and bold letterings. Most of the words were so obscure that I didn't even know what they meant. Each item had different textures too. Some so scratchy I recoiled from just a slight brush against the fabric. So much variety, so many options!

This starkly contrasted with back home. Clothes were a challenge to create, even for the most skilled artisans. One must first find soft and stretchy enough metals, then take days to meld it into shape. Metals were stretched so thin to even be usable that most broke from even the smallest mistake.

Few demons managed to get their claws on quality clothes, and only the most influential owned multiple outfits. And yet these humans tossed clothes around like there would always be an endless supply of them. In fact, there probably was.

Humans and their abundance of naturally soft resources; they didn't realize how good they had it.

With far too many options, I just grabbed anything that felt comfy and didn't contain an overwhelming amount of colors. Once I had a decent stack draped over my arm, I scanned the area for Maya. She would at least be somewhere in this huge store.

I explored other aisles, careful not to bump into anyone in the cramped space. I eventually found Maya near the back of the store, completely covered by the clothes she picked out.

"I grabbed some random stuff like you said. Now what do we do?" I asked.

Her face beamed. "Now it's time for the best part, trying everything on!"

She grabbed me with her only free hand and dragged me to the dressing rooms, then handed me some other clothes she found. "I got these for you to try on too."

Now the pile I carried seemed to reach the ceiling. How would we even get through all this? Maya ushered me into a changing room and left to try on the clothes she picked out for herself.

The whole space was quite cramped, leaving barely enough room for me, a tiny bench, and a mirror. I dropped the clothes onto the bench and gazed at myself. Unlike every other mirror I'd seen, this one reached all the way to the floor.

The miniature human glared at me, offended by my very existence. I softened my own expression; scowling at myself couldn't be healthy. As I examined each difference in this body, I imagined what it would be like to see my true self reflected back at me. Even shiny rocks back home would distort images. Had I ever seen my true reflection like this?

I could envision it. A spiky tail swooping around me, claws poised to strike, fangs laced with menace, and horns twice the height of my head. I missed my old strength. Who even was I without it?