Right after I got up I decided I needed some new clothes for me and my bound goblins, I had some plans for them in the future. So after I finished another delicious breakfast I waved Stella over with a smile.
"Hey, Stella! Thanks for the great breakfast as always!"
"You're welcome! Do you need something?"
"Yeah, I was wondering where I can get some new clothes."
"I was also wondering when you were going to get new clothes", Stella winked before continuing, "the clothing store is on the road right behind the Blacksmith's."
Stella could tell? Uggg this is embarrassing.
"Ah, thanks, Stella!"
"No problem James!"
I arrived at the clothing shop. It was slightly run-down but overall the best-looking shop I'd seen so far. I wouldn't have been able to tell it was a shop without the sign that read, "Clothing Shop", however other than that it looked just like a typical house. The store owner had just bought a normal house and then converted it into a shop or something.
I walked up to the door and opened it. It opened very smoothly and I could tell it'd been oiled somewhat recently which was a welcome surprise compared to all the other creaky doors I'd opened around the town. I saw a somewhat plump woman sitting at what was presumably the counter of the store, seeming to survey the rows of clothing under her domain.
The woman noticed me standing there and smiled warmly.
"Hello, young man! Is this your first time here in my store?"
"Yes Ma'am", I replied politely.
"And such nice manners as well. Just call me Maradith, honey. What can I help you with?"
I did some quick mental math.
Hmm. So me and the two goblins. Okay, that's three people. Wait no three things. So I'll say we all need three sets of clothing each so that's nine sets of clothing. Darn, this is going to be a bit expensive.
"Well Maradith, I need nine sets of clothing. One set for someone my size and the other two sets for people slightly less than my size".
The woman ran her eyes down me.
She must be figuring out the sizes just from my appearance. That's impressive.
"How fancy do you want the clothing to be?"
"As cheap as possible while still being respectable."
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"Ah ok then. I'll go get the clothes ready for you. It'll be 4 Silver."
I winced but didn't let it show on my face.
Darn, that's a lot of money but it's cheaper than I expected. Well, I'll get it back and more if my plan works out.
I reached into my pocket and measured out 40 Copper Coins.
Maradith came back shortly after I finished my counting with a few boxes.
"Ok here's your clothes."
"Thanks, Maradith! I left the money on the counter. Oh and I'm James by the way."
"Nice to meet you, James! Come back anytime."
"I will! Have a good day Maradith!"
"You too James!"
Then I left the clothing store and after a quick stop at the Big Keg Inn to drop off the clothes I headed to my next stop which was the Potion Store that I'd stopped at to get my Healing Potions for my fight with the Goblin Boss.
The old man from before was still there. I wasn't sure if he'd have what I wanted but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask, at least not that much. The old man seemed concentrated on something so I just stood there. I then realized I forgot to get the man's name and introduce myself last time.
Darn, I probably seemed like a jerk during my last visit.
The old man finally seemed to notice me and smiled in my direction.
"Hello! I wanted to buy some more potions but first I realize that I forgot to introduce myself last time."
"Oh don't worry about it", the old man said, still smiling.
"Well, it was rude of me. I'm James."
"Well, I'm Patrick."
"Great to meet you, Patrick!"
"Same. Now, what potions did you need?"
Figuring I could trust Patrick I was completely upfront, "um this might sound weird but I need to disguise something as a human."
Patrick's eyes narrowed.
"Will this cause harm to anyone?"
"Well, I can promise you it won't be unjust harm."
"Yeah, that's what I meant. Hmm. Let me go in the back.", Patrick smiled mysteriously.
I'm getting creepy vibes. Why am I getting creepy vibes?!
Patrick came back a few minutes later. He was holding two potions filled with a purple-ish liquid.
"Okay, that'll be 50 Silver."
I guffawed.
50 Silver? That's more than my current net worth!
Noticing my expression, Patrick made a new deal, "if I can see what you're using them for I'll give them to you for free. I don't think you're up to anything bad but I'm interested."
Hmm. Could I really let this guy I just met know some of my secrets just for monetary reasons?
"Okay, you have a deal!"
"Great!", said Patrick, handing me the potions.
"Come on", I said opening the door, "we have a bit to walk."
Patrick quickly scurried after me, briefly pausing at the shop's door to lock it.
When I and Patrick got to the Goblin Dungeon it was near midday.
"So it's a cave?", Patrick asked, sounding slightly confused.
"Sort of. Just follow me."
I and Patrick walked into the cave and as we passed the weird barrier thing Patrick froze in shock.
"Is this a Dungeon?", he yelled.
"Yup! Minions assemble!"
Patrick yelped at my two goblin minions coming around the corner.
"James those are goblins!"
"Yeah but they're my goblins."
I took out the two potions and set one in front of each of the two goblins.
"Drink the potion", I commanded.
The goblins chugged down the potions extremely quickly and Patrick just watched in awe at my control over the goblins. The goblins began to shake and slowly morphed into humans. They looked very average and they also looked the same. They both had brown hair and dark brown eyes joined by pale sickly-looking skin.
Patrick explained, "the potions are from the same batch so they have the same appearance. If I were to make another batch of the potion the appearance would be randomized."
I felt relieved.
Having an army of identical-looking people in the future would be very suspicious. Thankfully I don't have to worry about that. I felt this was enough excitement for the day so I decided that I, Patrick, and the two transformed male goblins should go back to the inn. Thankfully they kept their old clothes so they weren't completely naked but I still wanted to have them change their clothes as soon as possible since right now they looked like beggars. So I and Patrick headed back to the town.