Yojoti led us between the civic center and Divine Hall, along the row of buildings adjacent to the river. They were unremarkable wooden structures, each with some kind of platform where carts were loaded and unloaded, attached to a set of stairs leading to a long dock extending Westward along the river. We turned into one whose signboard had an image of a wolf pelt stretched on a drying rack. The furrier, presumably.

A brass bell jingled as Yojoti pushed the door open, and from behind shelves tastefully piled with gloves, hats, coats, and unsewn pelts came a call of “I’ll be right–ah has it been two months already?”

Upon catching sight of Yojoti, the proprietor–presumably–stopped himself short to charge over and clasp hands with my guide.

The man was a few inches taller than me and had reddish-blonde hair coiffed into a short pompadour, the sides trimmed to match length with his sideburns, which joined with an impeccably well-kept beard the length of my forearm. His shirt was cream-colored, with green-and-gold suspenders attached to a pair of trousers in the same forest shade. A gold chain was pinned to the suspenders, the other end disappearing into his breast pocket where a watch was most likely attached.

“Tenal!” Yojoti crowed in apparent delight. “The time flies when you’re making money hand over fist, doesn’t it? Ahahah!”

The furrier stepped back, rubbing his nose and glancing aside. “I wouldn’t say things are all that great. In fact, we seem to have reached a bit of a plateau–but that’s neither here nor there. Who is your friend?”

“Oh!” Yojoti twitched, suddenly reminded of my presence. “Tenal, meet Trevor. I found him in the middle of the grasslands in a very sorry state–not much to his name besides the strange clothing he wears. He didn’t even know how to speak Ozryn!”

I reached my hand toward Tenal and he grasped it firmly. Mustering up my best Ozryn pronunciation, I said “I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Tenal.”

Tenal clapped his other hand over mine and gave it a shake. “Any friend of Yojoti’s is a friend of mine!” He released my hands and continued, “It seems like you can speak well enough now, at least. Though I can’t vouch for Yojoti as the best tutor, heh!”

Yojoti gave a halfhearted smack to Tenal’s shoulder. “Hey now! I suppose I’ll take these furs to somewhere a little less articulate, then.”

The furrier raised his hands in defeat. “Alright, alright, let’s get these counted out,” He conceded, gesturing to the sled full of furs.

I tried my hardest to remain interested in Tenal and Yojoti’s negotiations, but I found myself tuning out the haggling and casting my gaze over the rest of the store. Here were the rabbit fur lined gloves Yojoti had mentioned, neatly arranged to show both the velvety interior as well as the tight stitching. Nearby were potlike hats made from fox and raccoon skins, their tails sticking out in a semblance of their original form. And on a rack were coats made from animals I couldn’t identify, from white to black and shades in between. It all looked very warm, and very expensive.

I was drawn back to the business at hand at the mention of my name.

“No!” Tenal exclaimed, “He managed to take down a gnoll by himself, but then dug a grave for it? Hahaha! He really must not be from around here.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Sheesh, my second act in this world was to embarrass myself. I’d never killed anything bigger than a mouse before, let alone something so human-shaped, how was I supposed to know what to do with it? At least it looks like they’re done with business.

Tenal invited us toward the rear of the building to an office, where he took at a seat at a simple but well-made wooden desk. “Sit, sit!” he said, gesturing to two chairs facing the desk. He turned around to a set of built in cabinets, unlocked one with a key hanging around his neck, and turned back with a pouch that clinked as he set it on the desk. He poured a handful out on the desk and began counting the copper and silver coins, pushing the gold ones aside. Each was about the size of a dime, back on Earth.

Ah, so this is what the currency looks like! Yojoti said the coppers are Aso, silver are Asi, and the gold are Insi. I suppose our haul doesn’t amount to a whole Insi. I wonder how much he usually brings in? I guess I should have been paying better attention to the negotiations, oops.

“Alright!” Tenal interjected as he leaned back from his counting. “Fifty-two rabbit pelts at one Asi and fifty Aso each, eight coyote pelts at three Asi each, three fox pelts at five Asi each, two squirrels at one Asi each, one raccoon at two Asi and fifty Aso, and one deer pelt at five Asi and twenty Aso totals one Insi, twenty six Asi, and seventy Aso total.”

Yojoti responded with “Agreed!” and Tenal pulled a roll of what I presumed was parchment from a different cabinet behind his desk, then reached for a quill in an ink pot to write the totals on the sheet. From my angle, it appeared that this was a continual sheet of several transactions–likely to save on requiring a new sheet per transaction. At the end of each entry were pairs of signatures, one of which was always identical–likely Tenal’s–and they seemed to shimmer in the diffuse light through the open door.

I wonder what makes it do that. Magic? Is this contract magic? Do I actually get to see magic performed? Sweet!

It seems that I had guessed right, because Tenal turned around once more to retrieve a black quill and a smaller ink pot with a brass stopper from the same cabinet as the receipt scroll, and signed his name to the transaction. He then turned the scroll around and handed the quill to Yojoti, who signed his own name, and then offered it to me.

“What?” I asked in surprise. “Oh, no, I am only here as a freeloader–I do not need to be part of the transaction!”

“Ha! Nonsense!” Yojoti scoffed. “You helped bring in the product, so you’re party here.”

I hesitated a moment more before reaching for the quill. “Well, if you insist.”

I haltingly wrote the characters to spell my name, much larger and messier than the other two signatures, but I did it all the same.

Tenal retrieved the quill, cleaned it, and stoppered the pot of presumably magic ink, setting them aside. He then waved a hand over the sheet and said “Contract.” The signatures flashed red, and I felt heat on my fingers which had held the quill.

Well, that was both more and less impressive than I had expected. Still, wow, actual magic! I don’t intend to break any kind of contract, but I still hope the consequences here aren’t too dire.

I must have had a more astonished look on my face than I thought, because Tenal spoke up, “Is this your first time experiencing magic?”

“Yes,” I responded, “I come from a place that does not have magic.”

Tenal looked as if I’d said that the sky was orange. “A place that doesn’t have magic? By the Divine, I can’t even imagine it!”

“See?” Yojoti chimed in. “I told you he was peculiar.”

Tenal raised his hands in surrender, then placed them back on the desk. “You did, indeed. Well, gentlemen, I suppose you’d like to be off to some rest and relaxation, I won’t keep you any longer. Just bring the pelts around to the platform to unload them on your way out.”

We all stood, and Yojoti scooped the payment into a pouch, which he secured under his belt. We made our way back to the front of the building and shook hands once more before stepping out the door, the brass bell jangling merrily.