Ryuji’s fears were, Fortunately, unfounded as the interior of the money changers’ was quite refined. There were a few couches, little more than padded benches, for people to sit on. There were a few potted shrubs in the waiting area and a few paintings on the walls and then there were the desks. Instead of a single long counter as he had expected, there were numerous ornate desks each with a clerk sitting at them. Each desk reflected the personality of the occupant but all were rather tasteful.
Ryuji made his way over to one of the desks while Karen opted to wait on one of the “couches”. Most of the people behind the desks were already helping people but he found a couple, towards the back, that were as yet unfilled. After seating himself the young man at the desk looked at him with a big smile on a somewhat homely and pimply teenage face before asking if he could help him.
Ryuji proceeded to drop the heavy satchel full of copper onto the desk and asked for most of it in large silver but with several small silver and large copper in the mix. The clerk looked at the satchel of coins for only a second before throwing out a retort. “So you want the usual for a storefront not for a shopping spree?” when Ryuji inquired about the difference the young man told him that the storefront mix favored smaller coinage to provide change to customers while the shopping mix favored larger coins to cover purchases in one go and get change back. Obviously, Ryuji went with the second proposal.
After thanking the young man named Shoan Moneyhand, who Ryuji was quick to commit to memory since he was likely to be seeing a lot of him, he got up from the desk. He left him with a large copper tip and picked up Karen on the way out. It was time to really begin their date. Also, Ryuji began considering how he was going to keep explaining away the huge numbers of small copper coins and decided he needed to get a business going, something small like a stand or the like.
After leaving the money changer Karen immediately grabbed his arm and hugged it to her chest. Ryuji looked down at her and she just smiled up at him and innocently pressed his arm between her breasts as she leaned up to speak in his ear to be heard over the crowds. “Next up is a clothing shop, right? I know just the one to show you! They cost a little more than some others but they aren’t priced for nobles or anything. Oh, should I actually be showing you to the nobles' shopping plazas instead?”
She looked so cute with her face that close that he was tempted to lean to the side and kiss her right now but he decided it was probably too soon for that. Ryuji just shook his head lightly instead before insisting. “No, I don’t want to stand out like that. I don’t remember being a noble but another noble might recognize me. That might be a good thing but it might also be bad so I’d rather not risk it. Just show me to the place you were going to show me, please. And thank you again for taking the time to show me around.”
After hearing his response Karen turned to the side facing forward. She made sure that Ryuji’s arm rubbed fully across her breast in the process. As his arm rubbed across her nipple she couldn’t help sucking in a small gasp from the sensation. She was fairly sure that he heard her too which made her face get hot again. As she walked with his arm in hers, she savored the scent of the cologne the whole time. So much for not hanging all over him, she thought derisively. At least he didn’t seem to mind! She was savoring the scent so much that she was a little sad when she finally spotted the menswear shop coming into view.
As she was turning to lead Ryuji to the clothiers Karen’s breast rubbed across Ryuji’s arm and he thought he was about to pass out for joy at that moment. There was a bit of a springy soft sensation but it was muffled by the layers of clothing between them. But just as she was almost turned to face forward, she gasped and shuddered just slightly and his mind went completely blank. He couldn’t process what was happening anymore and as she pulled on him with his arm still clasped to the side of one of her breasts he just went without a thought in his head, just a big grin on his face.
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A moment later the crowd had closed in where the two had been and a frustrated sigh could be heard coming from a certain individual. A dark elf clad in a skimpy outfit with two giant meat cleavers hanging from the wide belt around her waist was trying to see through the crowd of people. She was certain she had just spotted the sun elf that she wanted to talk to but then she lost him in the crowd, and was that a woman with him? If she could just catch another glimpse of them, she would know for sure if it was him. As soon as the crowd parted a bit, she darted off in the direction that she thought they went.
He finally came to his senses when he realized that Karen was calling his name. as he looked over at her she had a look of concern on her face and he blushed slightly. Thinking furiously he came up with an excuse. “Sorry, I was just lost in thought about some of the things I need to do. This is one reason why I need your help so badly. Without you here I would get lost in thought and then get lost in the city with no idea how I got there.” He reflected that what he said was probably true since he had already done just that the day before.
The store they were in front of was a dedicated storefront. There were wide-open archways with folding shutter-style doors on them and large windows with iron latticework grates on two sides of the place to let in a lot of light and fresh air. The lower story of the building was slightly smaller than the upper and that was in turn smaller than the attic giving the whole store the impression of a ziggurat turned upside down. It did have sturdy-looking pillars at the corners so Ryuji supposed that the structure was stable enough. The windows had shutters beside all the windows and they were painted a gaudy orange color. Overall this was not what he was expecting.
Karen led him inside by his still clasped arm and only released him once they were inside. Almost immediately a small fussy-looking man about half Ryuji’s height with huge eyes came walking briskly over to them. He was wearing a very attractive v-cut shirt in a deep green with loose sleeves and laced cuffs. His pants were light brown leather that looked so well worked it was almost like cotton. Under that, he wore a large gold chain necklace with a motif worked into a large pendant hanging just at the split in the shirt. He was shod in a pair of what Ryuji could only call loafers but they were dyed the same dark green as the top. Overall he presented a very tidy picture as he bobbed to a stop in front of them.
“Hello, My name is Brant Tailor, may I help you find something you like, or perhaps you would like to go ahead and be fitted?” Ryuji was impressed that the man wasted no time and got straight to the point. He simply assumed that they wouldn’t be in his shop if they had no intention to buy anything and he was right.
Ryuji was impressed with the outfit he had on and told him so. He was also trying very hard not to stare at the bizarre little man, mainly because he couldn’t shake the notion that he looked like some kind of oddly drawn anime character with those large eyes of his. “I am quite fond of the outfit you are wearing. Perhaps I should just get a set of clothes like that. What do you think, Karen?”
With the question posed to her Karen froze for a second then she looked very critically at the suit the small man had on. She was looking back and forth between Ryuji and the suit. Brant was very obligingly turning this way and that to show her every angle of the clothing he was wearing. “I like it and I agree that you would look very dignified in it. Perhaps not as much as our fine host but I suspect that you would cut a very sharp figure in that outfit my great and noble lord.” She finally declared in a very serious and very forced tone of voice that was made to sound jokingly pompous.
All three of them shared a good laugh but only he and Karen knew that she was being half-serious. The fussy-looking little Brant had a huge grin on his face as he wiped a tear from his eye and declared. “Oh, well if it’s Lord elf, sir, then I think we should have a bit more help here!” he suddenly got a wicked glint in his eye as he put his fingers to his lips and produced an earsplitting whistle.