Chapter 40: Chapter 37 – Shopping Entrepreneur

The sky had started to grow light again, and the light bouncing off of the atmosphere was starting to stream down in between the gaps in the roofs overhead. I scattered around some mana treats for the little fluff balls to kill time before the various places opened.

Pushing off of the wall, I deactivated my skills and joined the growing crowds on the main street, then entered the adventurer's guild building.

Inside, there were already people around. Some were gathered around the tables, having snacks and discussing thing quietly, but most were having a look at the filled requests wall. It was tempting to just pick up something, but I wanted to spend my day on moving my plans forward instead. It wasn't like I was hurting for money or anything. I hadn't even spent a single coin from what I've made since coming to this city.

"Oh Scarlet, welcome back."

So instead I walked up to the Lucy. She greeted me with a smile like usual.

"Hey, morning. Umm, rather than the usual, I've got some questions?"

"Is that so? That's fine. What do you want to know?"

"I've been wondering if you could point me towards some shops?"

"You're going shopping? What sort of shops are you looking for?"

"Umm...I need a butcher, a place that sells cloth, and somewhere that sells soap."

My eyes went up as I listed off the things I needed.

"Those are...certainly an unusual combination of stores."

"Well, I'm trying something out."

I didn't want to spread the news about what I was doing so early.

"I see? Well, the first two aren't too difficult, but the third..."

"I've heard that soap is expensive already. I haven't spent the money I made yesterday yet, so I should have enough to pay for it at least."

Or the money from the day before either.

"Umm...well, it is expensive, but the other problem is where you'd need to go. Soap would only be sold in the noble district."

"Oh. Is there a security checkpoint or something?"

"Huh? Do you mean a guard post? Well, they don't, though there are a lot of guard stations in the area, they won't stop you from entering. You don't look as bad as most of the other adventurers. At least if you put your hood down."

She leaned forward and looked up at my face. I instinctively took a step back, before I realized what I was doing and returned to my position. But by then, the damage had been done, and Lucy looked like she was pouting a little.

"Sorry..."

"...No, it's no problem. Anyways, like I said, you'll probably be fine if you lower your hood. They won't think you're some rough adventurer."

"From just that?"

"Rather, isn't that why you're hiding your face so much?"

"Ah, no. I just have a skin condition. If I don't wear something like this, I get burned pretty easily."

"Is that so? I've never heard of such a thing, but I guess the world's always bigger than you think huh?"

"...yea, I suppose..."

I wasn't lying, but even then it was difficult to keep looking her in the eye.

"Anyways, as for the other two places..."

 

After receiving the directions, I left the building and headed out.

First thing first was the butcher. My plush bag prevented things from going bad, so I might as well go get the cuts I needed first since it was closer. The butcher's was toward the centre of the city, a few blocks from the adventurer's guild.

The walk only took a couple of minutes, and I arrived at a small building. There were a bunch of signs on the large, open shutters that advertised the types of meat that was in stock. Some of the names weren't familiar, but others were those of various monsters that were on request. Apparently they even sold goblin meat. Even if I was still human, I couldn't see myself eating goblin meat no matter how desperate I was. Not even for these rock bottom prices that were listed.

A little bit disgusted and apprehensive, I opened the door and entered.

"Welcome! What can I kill for ya?"

A large macho man in a simple leather apron greeted me from behind a large counter that stretched across the entire room. On the customer's side, there was a pair of tables against the walls, but otherwise it was barren. On the employee's side, several large pieces of animal carcasses and chains of sausages were hung, with even more large pieces of meat laying on a bed of crushed ice.

I was surprised to see ice in a store at first, but then remembered that it was probably made with magic. It was a given that if magic existed, it would be used in this sort of manner. I already used magic in similar ways myself, so it shouldn't have been such a surprise just because it was the first time I've seen someone else do it.

My eyes returned to the macho man. He had big arms with hair that ran all the way up his shoulders and chest, as well as most likely his back. There was no hint of a shirt underneath that big apron. I really hoped he was at least wearing pants, but I couldn't see due to how the apron wrapped around his body.

(That said, why isn't he wearing a shirt?!)

I was feeling embarrassed in his place, and we hadn't even started a conversation yet.

"Umm..."

"Yea, what'cha looking fer little girl?"

My cheeks instantly cramped up.

(This guy, he's not deliberately trying to annoy me, is he?)

Not only was he dressed in a way in which I couldn't tell if he was wearing anything under that apron or not, but he was already treating me like a kid.

I took a deep breath before letting it out, and tried starting again.

"I'm looking to buy some lard. Do you sell any?"

"Ah, lard? Sure. How much do you need?"

"Quite a bit. Could I get a bucket worth?"

"Eh, that much ah? Sure. Gonna make some candles or something?"

"...more like something..."

I guess that would be a normal use for a large amount of lard.

"Gimme a sec."

The big man turned his body and went through a back door.

(Phew. He's wearing pants.)

The first thing I noticed was that he was, indeed, wearing pants. Full length brown leather pants. But he really wasn't wearing a shirt. Instead, his back was covered in black hair.

(They say that red meat puts hair on a man's chest, but if his back's any indication, I'd more suspect him of suffering from werewolf syndrome.)

The sound of metal against wood repeatedly rang out through the back door before the man returned with a large bucket with big chunks of lard sticking out.

"Here ya go. This enough?"

"Umm...yea, I think so."

He put the bucked down onto the counter and tipped it over so I could see inside. Not only were there lots of large pieces of fat sticking out of the bucket, the inside was filled to capacity with smaller chunks.

"Right then. Do you have something to carry it in? Or are you gonna buy the bucket as well?"

"Oh, right."

I hadn't thought of that. I was probably still too used to the idea of prepackaged goods and cheap plastic bags from Earth, so the thought of having to get my own container was still pretty novel.

But for every problem, there was a solution if you just took the time to look.

I removed an iron ingot from my bag, then applied some magic to form it into a large bucket.

"That should work."

"Little girl, was that magic? You some sort of magical smith or something?"

"Huh? It was just a bit of [Earth Magic] though?"

"Just some [Earth Magic] huh? It looks way more than that, but I'll take your word for it."

With his slightly confused words, the man sold me the lard for three copper plates. I had no idea if that was a lot or very little though.

Thanking him, I left the store and headed towards the tailor Lucy recommended.

 

The tailor shop was pretty close by as well, though it was a bit past the central plaza on the eastern side of the city. I quickly made my way through the main street, and arrived at a larger building than before.

The large window shutters were open and I could see some outfits hanging along the walls. The quantity of clothes was very little in comparison to Earth, and everything on display were things like capes, scarves, as well as large and loose outfits. If anything, it felt like what they were showing off were only things that could fit a wide variety of people with little to no work on fitting.

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Rather, that was probably the entire point. This place was a tailor shop, so most of their products were probably made to order. That also meant that they had plenty of sheets of cloth. The question would be if they would be willing to sell those directly to a customer or not.

"Welcome. Oh my oh my."

As I entered the building, I was greeted by a middle-aged woman in a moss-green one-piece dress with some simple yet eye catching white embroidery on the sleeves and neckline. She wore a white kerchief around her head with some dark green embroidery along the front edge. With how her sky-blue hair was folded in on itself underneath the kerchief, she gave a pretty homely feel. Or maybe the nice next-door granny feel? Though she didn't look to be that old yet.

(Maybe I'll keep that bit to myself?)

That said, she quickly made her way around the short counter in the back and shuffled straight towards me.

"Oh my, yes. You."

Before I knew what was going on, the woman grabbed my hands and held them in between hers as she pulled them up to her chest, or in other words, in front of my face.

"This simply will not do. For a girl to be wearing such concealing clothes when you've been blessed with so much. Please, I can't stand it. I'll even give you a discount if you'll let me chose a full outfit for you!"

"Uh...I mean..."

(I take back my impression entirely! She's not the nice granny next door! She's the fashion freak!)

I tried to take a step back, but rather than letting go of my hands, she pulled them even closer to her chest. I could feel something soft hitting my wrists!

"Please! You deserve so much more than mere robes. They're very much hidden, but I know that you have a body that deserves to be shown to all the world! It's practically a sin to hide it!"

"Umm...no, I...I only..."

The woman pulled even harder, fully pressing my hands against her collarbone. I could see how her moderately sized chest squished and pushed out around my wrists. Despite having my own much larger pair for the last three years, my mind still couldn't stop from focusing on the sensation that enveloped my arms.

"That body of yours! It's a gift! A gift from god himself! It would be a loss to the entire world if you continue to hide it!"

"I...I..."

As if due to being unable to push my hands even closer to her chest, the woman instead brought her face closer to mine.

"Oh my! That face too! It's like the face of a fairy tale princess! Those eyes! Those eyelashes! Those round cheeks! That nose! Those lips! That chin! It's a crime! It's a crime I tell you! Hiding such a thing is a crime to all the world!"

Unable to stand it anymore, I forcibly pulled back and ran out of the store. There was a small thud as the woman shrieked as she fell to the ground, but I paid it no heed and just continued until I was out of sight and in a side street.

Leaning against the wall, I pulled my hood down as far as it would go. I took in deep breaths, trying to stabilize my breathing. I could feel the presences of people stop for a moment at the entrance of the side street I was hiding in before moving on. Even that was too much, so I turned off [Sense Presence] and shut out the outside world the best I could.

After a few minutes, my breathing had calmed down and I looked up again. All around me, the little fluffballs were hovering close by, worried about me.

"Ah, sorry about that. I'm fine now."

(That woman was too much. I get that people can get pretty obsessive about their hobbies, but that was going too far.)

I needed some cloth, but that store was a no-go. Frankly, that storekeeper was pretty scary.

Gathering myself and reactivating my skill, I strode out boldly back to the main street. That said, I was careful to keep other people in between myself and that store, lest that woman was looking for me.

Once I built some distance from that store, I started to look around properly. That couldn't be the only tailor shop in this city. There had to be a bunch more. And lo and behold, it really didn't take long. I was still in the same shopping district with all the buildings on the main street being one store or another. It was pretty much a given that I'd find what I needed quickly.

The layout was similar to the other tailor's, but the clothes on display didn't look quite as nice. Well, I couldn't really be too picky after rejecting the one I was recommended.

I took a few hesitant steps and entered the store.

"Welcome. How can I help you?"

This time I was greeted by a man in a simple but stylish white shirt and brown waistcoat combo, with matching brown pants. The top of his dome looked like it could be used to signal a ship, and the short blond hair I could see from sides of his head puffed out, almost like a bristle. He sported a finely formed lip rug, but it was tarnished by the obvious stubble surrounding it.

"Ah, umm..."

"Are you looking for a dress, or an accessory?"

The man was staring at me. Before I knew it, my hand was tugging at the side of my hood. I quickly lowered it to avoid being too rude, but I had trouble raising my face to keep looking him in the eye. Rather, the fact that I had to look up just to look into his eyes when he was sitting kinda annoyed me.

"Umm...actually, I want some cloth..."

"Look little girl. We only sell finished works. We don't deal with that sort of thing."

It felt like his staring was intensified and threatened to bore holes through me.

"Uh, I...I need them as is. I need..."

My mind frantically turned, trying to ignore his intimidating presence, I tried to come up with something he would be satisfied with.

"What I need is handkerchiefs. Something of a bit of quality. Not scraps or material to make clothes with."

"Hmmm...if that's what you need, then you should just say so. Do you have any specifics in mind?"

"Umm...I don't know much about cloth, so could I see some samples?"

"Hmph. Well, I suppose that's fine. Do you have anything in mind you need at all, or are you planning on looking at everything I have?"

"Ah, no. I want something with a fine weave, but is durable."

It needed to be used as a filter, but also be reusable. The better it could do of both, the less likely the kids would be in trouble when I wasn't around.

"Fine but durable? You're a bit demanding, aren't you?"

"Sorry..."

My head sunk in further into my hood.

(The storekeeper was probably going to get even more annoyed, wasn't he?)

"Nah, it's fine. As long as you have an idea of what you want. Wait a sec, I'll be back."

Leaving those words, the storekeeper headed back to a backroom. After a few moments, he came back with several bolts of cloth.

"These are probably the ones most suitable for what you want little girl."

His tone had markedly gotten softer, making me less on edge, but in turn I was getting annoyed at the way he was referring to me. I sucked it up though in the worry that trying to correct him would make him angry.

He put four different bolts down on the counter. They were all roughly white. Or rather, more like light grey?

I took then in hand one by one, rubbing them between my fingers.

"Umm...which one's the most durable?"

"Ah, I'd say the silk from the Florian Silkmoth. This one here"

He pointed at the one at the end. The weave were much finer than the rest, and I could feel the softness of the silk between my fingers. It even had a slight golden sheen to it depending on how the light hit the surface. The weave was a clear winner over the rest, and was the most durable to boot. But in turn, the fact that it was silk made me a bit apprehensive. I doubted it would be cheap.

"Umm, how much for this one?"

"How much do you need?"

I measured out a square roughly 50cm on each side with my fingers. It was bigger than what I needed, but it was better than finding out that it was too small.

"Huh, that much huh? I'd say it would be three silver plates."

"That much?!"

"Yea, what do you expect? Florian Silkmoths are an expensive import. I only have this one bolt myself, though I can dye it if you want it in a different colour, it would take time."

"Ah no, it's fine. Could I get ten of them?"

"That much? You have the money for that?"

I nodded before pulling out the coins from my bag and placed them on the counter. An assortment of gold and silver amounting to three gold coins.

"Well, I'll be. Alright. I'll get it all ready if you give me a minute."

"Oh, and can you sew in the ends so it doesn't fray?"

"Of course. At this price, I'll even do it as a bonus, but it'll take a bit of time. It'll be ready in less than an hour if you want to go check something out."

"I'll do that. I'll be back later."

I moved to leave the store.

"Ah. If something crops up, I'll hold on to it since you paid in advance, but try to get it in the next few days."

I turned and gave him a nod before leaving. Even if I got distracted, I doubted I would leave it for more than a day. I wasn't in a hurry, but the more I waited, the longer it would take for the kids to become self sufficient.

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