Seeing how the other party did not speak even after a minute, Alec chose to initiate the conversation.

  "Hello. I'm here to buy some clothes."

  "Um... Are you looking for something tailored or ready-made?"

  "Tailored would be preferable. How long would the clothes take to be made?"

  Hearing the creaking of a door being opened, the boy in front of Alec then looked past him and said.

  "That-hey, mom! We have a customer!"

  Turning around to look in the direction where the boy looked, he saw a brown-haired woman wearing a grey apron. She walked over to her son and spoke to him.

  "Thank you for looking after the shop, Lex. You can go out to play now."

  Not even a second after hearing that, the kid got up from the counter and got out of the door. The lady then walked to sit at the counter and then spoke to Alec.

  "I'm Jessica, nice to meet you dear customer. Coming to Brightfort for the first time?"

  "Yup. Just arrived here, the Captain of the guard recommended this as the best place to buy clothes."

  "Ha! Of course he did. We have a great selection that you can look from, I'm sure there is some for seafaring as well."

  "How did you know?"

  "The air of the sea hasn't gone left you. Don't worry it's not a smell but smal ingrained habits. I only recognised as me and my husband used to live near Jasmine port before our marriage. He got a job as a lieutenant in the city guard, so we settled here permanently."

  It took Alec a brief moment to reel in his reaction. Next he heard as she said.

  "Would you like something tailored?"

  Making a small nod he answered her.

  "Preferably. I have to meet some important people, I believe. Something formal would be good."

  She looked at Alec's shawl and smiled at him in a slightly apologetic manner.

  "Sorry. The royal crest is just that recognizable. I won't treat you any different from a regular customer if that's your concern, uh..."

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "I'm Alec. Alec Willows."

  "Nice to meet you Alec. Let me get your measurements for a second, could you stand with your arms wide opened. Yep, like this."

  Using a tape, she did her job in practiced motions. Noting a couple of numbers down, and when finally done, she told Alec that he could relax.

  She then went and brought back a number of supplies related to taking measurements. In the midst of that, Alec could not help but ask.

  "How much the cost would be?"

  "Depends. Would you like it enchanted? Then it's a gold coin each full outfit."

  By now Alec was completely used to these supernatural antics, allowing him to respond naturally with.

  "What kind?"

  "I can do the three including designing the outfit, for the price which I stated. Self-cleaning, repair, and uncreasing. There is no other shop in this city that can put as many in any one clothing. I can guarantee that."

  Immediately after hearing the three effects Alec made the order.

  "Please make two of these, with those enchantments please. One formal and other for comfort."

  Having learned how difficult it was to clean fabric with his powers while not causing it any damage, Alec definitely knew how much he needed these enchantments.

  "By what date should I come back to get these?"

  "Just sit down. It will take a few hours of your time. I will take you to a hairdresser after this. Since you are going to pay me in full, I will not see my customer's money going to waste."

  In the minutes following that, Alec was made to look through a catalogue of the latest fashions suitable for formal occasions. Out of which, Alec recognized nothing by seeing the names, causing him to draw what kind of clothing he wished to wear. That turned out to be a plain white shirt, a black tie, and black pants.

  "Oh. This would serve as great base. Here, we can add these things to it."

  Tracing Alec's drawing on other papers, Jessica then drew a vest while making the cuffs of the shirt looser. Then, making a coat that would hang from his right shoulder, on which Alec could layer his shawl. Connecting his pants and vest was a belt that looked intricate enough to be a corset. This was something Alec was adamant against, but he agreed to it in the end after getting an inner pocket for his rope on the half-shoulder cape.

  The color they decided for the vest was green, and there was no tie that could be found that could be matched for that. So the tie was scrapped from the design, and replacing that, the collar was made higher, which Alec was suspicious was this tailor's plan all along. Meanwhile, the half-shoulder cape was sunset orange that contrasted well with the smaller shawl cape.

  All of this took half an hour, which felt like half a day to Alec. The second one took only fifteen minutes as both parties understood how to deal with each other. For this, Alec chose darker gray pants, an oversized beige coat that, while shorter than the other half-shoulder cape, could still carry his ropes. The shirt was kept similar to the original design, though suspenders were soon added to it.

  The shoes that Alec chose were ones that worked well with both outfits. Only thing that was left now for him was for these clothes to be made, a headache which Alec thankfully did not have to take.

  As he stretched his arms up to relax, a cap was thrown into his grasp. Which Alec recognized as a light brown-colored beret. Looking towards the person who threw it to him, he heard.

  "You can wear this with your second outfit. The first one is for formal occasions only."

  Listening to this Alec could not help but think.

  'I thought both of these outfits were for formal occasions.'

  These thoughts did not linger much as his attention was grabbed by the tailor, who had picked up scissors and unfolded many rolls of cloth. Then, in a speed only matched by those machines Alec remembered seeing in the industrial visits during his college, she smoothly cut through large clothes without a single wasted motion.

  After she finished, a number of different color clothes were left behind. She kept them on the table while cleaning up all the other things from the table. Having done that Jessica then took out four sewing needles, holding two with each hand.

  At that moment, Alec could sense some kind of vibration coming off from those needles, as the tailor put a transparent thread through the end of each needle first.

  "This transparent threads comes from a normal thread treated under the clear river. It works well with my sewing techniques."

  Then she picked up a piece of cloth with a hand, and the needles left her hand while moving as if they had come to life. Though Alec recognized that the needles moved through the points that she had pressed with her thumb and index finger prior.

  Soon, the outfit with the beige overcoat and gray pants was done. Alec went inside the dressing room to wear it, and when he looked at himself in the mirror, he appreciated how he looked. Though his focus was more on how the outfit complemented his trained physique rather than overshadowing it.

  Finally, putting the beret on his head, Alec then stepped out from the dressing room and saw that Jessica was finished with his second outfit. The first thing he did after that was pay her for all the effort, and right as he was about to exit the shop with his clothes, she caught him.

  "I'm taking you to the barber shop myself if I have to, you can give me your coat."

  Hesitantly, Alec handed her the coat, as she locked the doors of her shop and they went to the barber shop she recommended.