Chapter Sixty - Pretty Dresses

Exiting the Exploration Guild building was like dropping a heavy load off my back. Suddenly I went from being scrutinized and under someone’s careful watch to entirely free to do as I wanted in the space of a few steps.

“Whaa, that was stressful,” I complained to the open skies. Even the stinky Port Royal air was more welcome than the tension in the Guild.

Amaryllis shifted next to me. “That it was,” she agreed. “We should head out. We have a lot of things to buy and only one day to do so.”

“Buy?” I repeated. “I was thinking I would go to an inn. There’s a nice one in the East quarter, the owner’s a sort of friend.”

“That’s fine, but the day is still young and you need better equipment,” Amaryllis said. “That spear is... usable, but you’re carrying a shovel as a weapon. I don’t think I need to tell you why that isn’t the brightest idea.”

“But I like my shovel,” I said. I wanted to grab my shovel and hug it safe, but it was on my back, so instead I hugged Orange who was trying to shuffle her way out of my bandoleer. The poor kitty was already growing too big for the biggest pouch I had.

“We can get you a sword, or perhaps a dagger. Though those are traditional Harpy weapons. Humans like heavier blunt weapons, right? Maybe a warhammer? We’ll get you something nice and proper.” She started walking downhill towards the areas that I knew had more shops in them, so hiking up my backpack I jogged after her.

“Amaryllis,” I said. “We’re friends right?” I asked.

“I... yes, we’re friends,” she said. She didn’t sound completely sure, but I suspected there was a good reason for that. Amaryllis struck me as the sort of girl that had never had that many real friends. Which meant that it was up to me to teach her the joys of friendship!

“Amaryllis. Friends don’t make friends do things. Not unless those things are vitally important. I like my shovel, and unless it’s putting me and you at risk, there’s nothing wrong with it.”

The harpy slowed to a stop. Her face was blank for a while, then she huffed. “Well, fine, you can keep the shovel I suppose. But that armour of yours...”

“It’s been good for me,” I said as I looked down at my gambeson. It looked nice enough.

“It’s clean, certainly, but it's got holes and cuts all across it, and I can’t feel a single enchantment on the entire piece.”

I blinked. “There’s enchanted clothes? Wait, no, of course there’s enchanted clothes. That’s brilliant! What sort of enchantments are there?”

Amaryllis resumed walking, this time with her nose inching up into the air. “That depends entirely on the quality and age of the garb. That and the ability of the craftsman. There are a few good stores even in a backwater like Port Royal that ought to have something serviceable.”

I felt a grin growing. Shopping did sound like a good way to get rid of some stress. Plus I could find some totally awesome new stuff to wear while we gossiped. “Is it really a backwater?” I asked as I looked around. Port Royal seemed pretty big and pretty new. The buildings were all well-maintained and the area had a vibrancy to it that made it feel active and alive.

“It’s not the worst place. The smell could certainly be improved upon. But compared to the likes of Farseeing or Fort Sylphrot this is a quaint little city. The grenoil truly are trying their best but their culture is still... lesser.”

I hummed as I thought about that. It sounded a little... a lot racist. But maybe it wasn’t entirely wrong. Maybe this area was like a third world country compared to the rest of the world and I was just too ignorant to know any better. “I guess it is kind of... old fashioned.”

“Yes, I suppose it would be, even to you.”

I shook my head at that. “I think you’d be kind of amazed by the sorts of things we have back home,” I said. “I know that I sometimes miss the internet and phones... and toilets.”

Amaryllis laughed, high-pitched and birdlike. “I suppose some amenities are missed no matter where you’re from. The Nesting Kingdom has these great big bathhouses that I sorely miss.”

“I haven’t taken a bath since I came here,” I said. “Or a shower. I’ve been meaning to but... well, there’s always more adventuring to do.”

Amaryllis scoffed. “If we visit my home one day, I’ll show you the bathhouses; you’ll certainly enjoy them. The better ones have professional preeners. It’s excellent. Though I suppose they couldn’t do much for you.”

I shrugged. “So, um, back to enchantments.” Conversations were always speeding past the sorts of things I wanted to know.

“They’re a way to twist ambient mana into a specific shape. Essentially constantly casting a weak spell,” Amaryllis explained.

I touched the collar around my neck. Was there a spirit-kitty summoning spell out there? Was there one for puppies? I had so many important things to learn still.

Amaryllis seemed to know where she was going and led us across Central and to a small side street filled with shops laid out in a rough circle around a large fountain appropriately filled with statues of frogs.

There were people standing around or sitting on benches, lots of grenoil ladies in big dresses and men in suits carrying canes. I couldn’t help but gawk a little at the people passing by, though I did try to keep it to a minimum.

A human lady walking past us pulled up a black and green speckled handkerchief and pressed it to her nose as she strutted past. It wouldn’t have really caught my attention except the pattern on her handkerchief was distinct, and the moment it came to my attention I was suddenly seeing it everywhere. Ascotts and those little puffs of cloth in men’s breast pockets, even the lace of the dresses we passed were made of the same material.

Fortunately, I had an Amaryllis to help. “What’s with all those similar clothes?” I asked.

“Ah, you noticed that?” Amaryllis said. She lifted her neck a little to look extra haughty. “It’s a product from the city’s dungeon. Some sort of cloth dropped by the monsters that occupy the first floors. The material is pulled out by the cartload every day and the locals have taken to wearing it.”

That.. sort of made sense. “Does that happen a lot?”

Amaryllis shrugged a shoulder. “It depends on what the dungeon makes. There’s a dungeon in one of the independent cities where the first level monsters drop knives once in a while. Everyone there has the same sort of knife. They’re practically free.”

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“Huh,” I said. I was from a world where things were always, by necessity, made or grown or at the very least gathered. Things didn’t just... spawn from monsters. I already had some things just like that on me, but I hadn’t thought to connect that to the economic repercussions of easy to obtain and somewhat free... stuff.

“Here we are,” Amaryllis said as she stopped before a shop. Unlike the others in the square (was it a square if it was round?) this store didn’t have mannequins in pretty dresses and nice suits, but instead had leather armours and tough-looking but handy clothes on display. There were even heavier things like plate and mail sets within.

“I kind of expected a blacksmith for armour-related things,” I said.

“Only if you want to be weighted down all the time. Us harpies can’t afford to be lumbering brutes like you humans,” Amaryllis said. “This place has good equipment. Quality stuff.”

The shop didn’t exactly look like the kind of place where I would find a good bargain. Still, I followed when Amaryllis stepped in.

The inside smelled like leather and oils and a bit like perfume, as if the owner wanted to fight off the city’s stench. There were lanterns hanging over displays, but unlike the stores back home there weren’t that many things on sale compared to the size of the main floor.

A pair of grenoil at the back were measuring a customer’s arm length, one of them taking notes while the other worked the tape, and an older grenoil lady wearing an apron over a sundress was manning the counter off to one side. This last was the one to step up when we entered. “Hello and welcome to ze Rising Shield, how can I help you?”

“My friend here needs some better equipment,” Amaryllis said.

“Oh, and you should get a bandoleer,” I added. “Nearly everyone else at the guild has one.”

“Explorers!” the old grenoil lady said. “Excellent. We have all sorts of zings zat will keep you safe, warm and fashionable in any deep dungeon or far off land.”

I was already enjoying my shopping experience more than most of the times I’d gone shopping back home.

“What do you suggest?” I asked.

The grenoil lady looked me up and down. “Do you mind if I ask you some questions?”

“I don’t.”

“In zat case. How do you fight, how do you move and what is your position on your team?”

“Um. I don’t fight very well. I do have a makeshift weapon proficiency and a lot of Cleaning magic for that undead and such. I move a lot by jumping, it’s one of my best skills. As for my position, I want to be the ranged DPS.”

“A what?” Amaryllis asked before her eyes narrowed. “Is that one of the strange things from your... home?”

“Yup,” I said.

“I zink I see,” the grenoil lady said. With that, she moved back to the counter and opened up a large book, one filled with images. She looked back up to me a few times, then back down to the book.

“What is she doing?” I muttered to Amaryllis. I didn’t want to interrupt the lady, but I was starting to get weirded out a little.

“She’s creating an outfit,” Amaryllis said. “It’s what good tailors do.”

“From scratch?” I asked. “What about all the things on display?”

“Zose,” the lady said without so much as looking up. “Are pieces zat are ready for some discerning clients and ze occasional experimental piece. Now, what do you zink of zis?” She turned the book over and revealed a sketch of an outfit.

It was simple enough, a leather chest piece over a tight cloth gambeson that flared out at the bottom into a nice skirt. The sleeves were big and poofy and the armour seemed to incorporate a bandoleer already. There was a single pauldron over the left shoulder and a matching steel plate on the right hip. “Whoa,” I said.

“Ah, my eye hasn’t failed me yet,” she said. “Zis is a simple enough outfit. Ze skirt makes it a little unusual but some young ladies seem to favour zem. Ze price is for ze unenchanted version.”

Price? I looked over the page, then found a number at the bottom right and almost winced. One lesser gold, two pure silver. That was a fair amount of my gold. “How much do the enchantments cost? And what sort can you provide?”

“On a piece zat’s so new? It’s not very expensive.”

“New?” I repeated.

Amaryllis huffed next to me, it was her ‘of course you don’t know’ huff. “The older something is the more resistant it is to magical changes. The harder it is to add something like an enchantment to it.”

“Is that why Insight tells me the age of equipment?” I asked.

“Yes, actually.”

The grenoil lady picked up right where she had left off. “As for enchantments, ze most popular ones are durability and cleanliness. We can also make the cloth fireproof or wick off humidity. Zere are mana absorption enchantments as well. If you want somzing specific you need just ask and we can find an enchanter for a fee.”

“I think the fireproofing, durability and mana absorption would be best for you,” Amaryllis said. “No need for the cleanliness enchantments, of course, and the more specialized kinds of enchantments are all rather, well, specialized.”

“Ah, okay,” I said. “Can you tell me how much those three would cost?”

“Zree enchantments working concurrently, and none zat use ze same spell structure? Zat would be...” She scribbled some notes on a looseleaf, then opened a smaller book and raced through it, occasionally stopping to make a mark on the side. “Zat will be... two lesser gold, and seventeen sil.”

“That’s just for the enchantments?” I asked.

“Zat’s right.”

“Ah, well, I think that I can’t--”

“We’ll take it,” Amaryllis said. “But only if you can have it all ready within the next two hours.”

I almost choked. “H-hey, I don’t have that kind of money,” I said.

Amaryllis rolled her eyes. “I’m well aware. I, on the other hand, am not some poor peasant like you and do have some gold to my name. Consider it a gift for not letting me get kidnapped and ransomed.”

“Ah, but it’s too much!” I said.

“Don’t be an idiot, this is nothing. And now you’ll at least look like you can stand next to me without being an embarrassment with that torn up armour of yours.”

“Well zen miss, all zat’s left is for you to pick ze colour.”