My first meeting with the Hero hadn't been long; all we had discussed was a meeting with the rest of the party later. With the rest of the day to myself, I decided to wander the city a little.

  The prosperity of the capital could be seen in the architecture of the buildings around me. The majority of the buildings had been constructed from brick and mortar instead of wood and nails. Technology flowed quickly into the city as demonstrated by the large and numerous plumes of steam and black smoke could be seen over the tops of the buildings. While the arrangement of the city's main street was uniform, the layout of the roads past was anything but consistent. On the side roads, it was possible to wander past storefronts and carts without ever needing to backtrack, but you traveling would be far more difficult in the maze of back alleys.

  I stuck to the side roads, opting to stay with the foot traffic instead of dealing with the various vehicles on the main roads. The dispersion of carts around me sold everything from food to mid-tier monster materials, creating a perfect environment for a crowd to form. I moved deftly through the crowd, using the proximity to help myself to the money of some of the more affluent looking individuals as well as take some of the unguarded materials and tools from the various carts, I passed. I would need some of them for my current objective, others I just liked how they looked. The lax behavior of those around me made the task all too easy."Too used to the ways a Thief steals things I supposed. Complacent."

  I needed to replace some of my clothes, my coat and mask, in particular, was on its last leg after the tournament. I had purchased a mask from a cart already, but it would need to be modified before I could use it. Proceeding smoothly down the street, I continued looking for a store that would fulfill my needs while gathering an ever-increasing assortment of items along the way.

  I spotted several tailors and equipment shops, but the flashy items displayed in the windows lead me to reject each one. What I was after wouldn't be in those stores, too many bright colors. I began making my way further and further from the main street in hopes of finding a store that met my needs.

  "This one should work." In front of my sat, an understated shop, with no window display of any sort and a rather bland sign, the building set nestled between two larger shops. With the position and appearance, you might have missed that this was a store if you didn't take a closer look at it. Upon entering, I saw an assortment of well crafted but dully colored suits and dresses, many had lace and stiching made from a fine silk.

  I made my way to the counter and rung the small bell to request assistance. I didn't need to wait long for a woman to come out of the back. She had a small frame, dark brown hair, and pale skin, she looked around twenty-five years old and judging by the eight spindly limbs coming out of her back, she was exactly what I was looking for, an Arachne.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  "Welcome to my store, what can I do for you?" Her voice was soft but audible in the near-silent shop.

  "I'd like to place a custom order." I wove the letters into the air using my mana.

  She only took a second to read the message before turning a glare towards me. "Like I have told every other nobles' servant, I will not make an entire outfit out of my silk, so go tell whoever sent you to sod off." With her words, she quickly returned to the backroom, not giving me a chance to reply.

  "Well, that was not how I expected this to go. Let's try that again." I rang the bell again and waited, but the clerk didn't respond. I rang the bell a third time and waited, but she did not respond. I continued to ring the bell every few seconds for around two minutes, alternating the time between the rings for maximum effect on the psyche.

  The Arachne returned with a red face glaring at me, but before she could begin shouting, I held up a prepared message. "I don't need it made of silk. I just need it done as quickly as you can."

  She looked upon the words with a perplexed gaze before turning to me. "You aren't going to ask me to make something out of an impossible amount of Arachne silk?" I shook my hand in front of my mask to say no. "oh, oH, OHHH. I am so sorry. what can I do for you?"

  "I need you to make a coat to the exact specifications on this paper, as well as modify a mask if you can." I handed over a folded piece of paper to go along with the glowing text. "These materials are for the indicated section on the inside." This message came with a small sack full of the materials I had acquired on my way through the city.

  The Arachne quickly scanned over the pattern before looking over the top with narrowed eyes. "when did you say you wanted this done?"

  "I need it as quickly as you can make it, I am willing to pay half the cost right now and the remainder upon receiving a satisfactory item."

  "The mask is easy, I can have that done for you in fifteen minutes, but this coat, it's not difficult; it's just time-consuming. If I rush, I might finish it by the end of the day. Why do you need al these patterns on the inside? Without those, I could have this done in about an hour."

  "Cultural significance. They have to be exactly as described." The look of doubt she gave me was the only further questioning she gave to the request. "How much will this cost?"

  "Rush order, plus the cloth and normal labor expenses, it comes out to 600 trin." The look in her eyes told me that the cost was higher than usual, if only slightly, but I didn't have the patience to haggle to price down. I handed over half the asked price, along with the spare mask, then made my way to the door. "Not gonna stick around for the mask?"  

  "I'll pick everything up later today." I created the message behind me as I walked out the door.

  I made my way down the street away from the shop. I was going to have some fun in my spare time. After all, a city like this was bound to have some exciting places.